A New Vision?

Dear reader,

This may be your first or five hundredth time checking in on this wee ole site. I had made a commitment to myself a long time ago to work on my blog but, as things go, I have managed to let all of life get in the way of that.

I’ve come back here and looked at the things I’ve posted and I’ll be honest, it feels like I was writing haphazardly to create content for the sake of creating content. And that’s not what I want to do.

So I’ve left a number of posts up on here, and the rest I’ve made private. I am going to take some time to work on what I have to see if I can salvage them, and otherwise, I’m working towards a new version of daryawrites.com

Thank you, whoever you are, for taking a few moments to read this, and I hope you will be back when I have new content for you.

The Mirror Shop by Nicholas Bundock

While I love a good suspenseful drama on TV, I’ve never really been one to pick up any type of mystery or thriller when looking for my next read. So when The Mirror Shop was presented to me as a “cozy mystery” I wasn’t really sure what to expect, but I am happy to say that I was not disappointed.

In the grand scheme of things, this novel felt like a crumbling love story. Eva and Luke, together for nearly two decades, are introduced as a happy enough couple who are in a comfortable relationship. Arguably too comfortable, as they continue to live separately despite a monogamous relationship. Early on, we feel some tension in their relationship which doesn’t feel like it will amount to anything, but oh how it does! Not to mention the prologue opening with Luke confessing to a murder. Having that opening scene in mind kept my intrigue throughout the novel. Continue reading The Mirror Shop by Nicholas Bundock

Surviving PTSD and Moral Injury by Erik Krikke

When I started reading this book, I didn’t really know what to expect. I was interested in the topic because our world is full of so much war and so many people are involved with the efforts. Recently, I’ve read a few books set in World War II, a time from which we are quite disconnected though the stories are still so fresh for some people. So when I picked up Erik Krikke’s memoir and saw the title “Surviving PTSD and moral injury” I didn’t know what I was getting myself into. Continue reading Surviving PTSD and Moral Injury by Erik Krikke

Fifty Ways I Screwed Up My Life and How You Can Avoid This by Francois de Waal

Fifty Ways I Screwed Up My Life and How You Can Avoid This is unlike any self-help guide I’ve ever read.

Raw and honest, François de Waal attempts to lay everything out on the line to his readers. In my eyes, he tries to show that just like anyone else, he’s made mistakes in the way he’s dealt with the trials and tribulations of his life; that maybe he hasn’t always done the right things; that hindsight is 20/20.

Continue reading Fifty Ways I Screwed Up My Life and How You Can Avoid This by Francois de Waal

Reflecting on 2017

The last year has taught me how much life can change from day to day. Even more so the number of peaks and valleys that can exist through the course of a year.

I could sit here and write through every little thing that happened, because SO MANY things happened, but I want to take a moment to outline (chronologically by month) the things that were most memorable to me, at least as I sit here and write it out on the first Wednesday morning in 2018.

This is not to say there were not many many more wonderful and not-so-wonderful moments, but these are the things that come to mind when I think about the year.

Without further ado, here’s a list of some memorable-to-me stuff that happened in 2017. Continue reading Reflecting on 2017