Skip to content

Kana's Chronicles

Life in Kana-text (er… CONtext)

  • About Kana
  • Kana’s Archives
  • Kana’s Books

Category: Books

The “Year in Books”

January 1, 2026 ~ Kana Smith ~ 20 Comments

The first kiss of the New Year tasted like coffee! We didn't stay up to usher in the New Year at midnight---we go to bed much earlier than that. We turned on our "white noise" machine, with its sound of ocean waves, to filter out the sound of people's fireworks, which are distressing to my … Continue reading The “Year in Books”

Spenser “With an ‘S,’ Like the Poet”

Robert B. Parker
December 14, 2025 ~ Kana Smith ~ 10 Comments

I'm re-reading Robert B. Parker's 'Spenser' novels, stories narrated by a wise-cracking Boston private eye. Parker is long gone, but the series has been continued by writers appointed by his sons, and I continue to enjoy them. One of the things I've always liked about the Spenser novels was how he described people---and specifically, how … Continue reading Spenser “With an ‘S,’ Like the Poet”

Wall of Heroes

writer surrounded by the faces of her heroes
November 26, 2025November 26, 2025 ~ Kana Smith ~ 30 Comments

I've always been drawn to the aesthetic of collage, and my office door in our house is a perfect example. Actually, two examples---the door to the room that used to be my office (now our guest room) is entirely collaged with stickers about books and reading and travel and ocean and prayer, with some photos … Continue reading Wall of Heroes

A Virtual Sit-Down with Author Keshav Porwal 

boy with a superhero cape triumphantly raising a book, a map of India in the background
November 22, 2025November 23, 2025 ~ Kana Smith ~ 16 Comments

I've been undecided as to whether I should begin with or finish with this author's age. Because here's the thing: his writing is GOOD. No qualifiers needed, this guy writes well. And what makes it all the more extraordinary (ah, I've made up my mind) is that he's only fourteen years old. The reason I … Continue reading A Virtual Sit-Down with Author Keshav Porwal 

Welcome to the Future

woman juggling a lot of things, with a phone in one hand
November 20, 2025November 21, 2025 ~ Kana Smith ~ 12 Comments

Journal entry from December of the year 2000: I'm about to embark on a week-long sailing trip, and I'm agonizing over what book I feel like taking. It has to "fit the mood," it has to have at least the possibility of sparking poetry-writing... and it has to last the week. Correction: It has to … Continue reading Welcome to the Future

A Virtual Sit-Down with Author Dan Beachy-Quick

writer in a whaleboat with a book, drifting on a calm ocean
November 20, 2025November 20, 2025 ~ Kana Smith ~ 4 Comments

Usually, when you read a book, it's easy to tell how far along you are, and how much you have left. Not so with Dan Beachy-Quick's A Whaler's Dictionary---at least, not if you follow its instructions. Usually, when you read a book, you don't need instructions, but this one comes with a "How to Use … Continue reading A Virtual Sit-Down with Author Dan Beachy-Quick

The Lost Map

watercolor map of the world, with pins in many countrires
November 15, 2025November 16, 2025 ~ Kana Smith ~ 22 Comments

WordPress used to have a widget I loved. I love maps in any case---I'm a certifiable cartophile, and this map I loved in particular. A blogger could put this widget on the side of the page, and its map showed all the countries in which the blog had been read. SO cool. I can still … Continue reading The Lost Map

Posts navigation

Older posts
Follow Kana's Chronicles on WordPress.com

171,876 hits

author on her sailboat

13 Adventure Backyard Homestead Barefoot Barter & Scrounge Biker Bipolar Blogging Books Camping & Fishing Cats Chickens Coffee Dragon Family Freelancing God's Humor Hawai'i Home Economics Idaho iPad Language Lists Marriage Mental Health Names Navigation Neighbors OCD Oregon Trail Owl Packing Prayer Reading Recovery RV Life Sail & Sea Sustainable Living Synchronicity Tattoos Technology Travel Turquoise Work Writing

Kana is reading…

  • About Kana
  • Kana's Archives
  • Kana's Books

"As for me, I am tormented with an everlasting itch for things remote. I love to sail forbidden seas, and land on barbarous coasts."

~ Herman Melville, Moby-Dick

  1. judy thompson's avatar
    judy thompson on The Accidental Cat LadyFebruary 3, 2026

    I suspect we have a magic 'hobo' sign on our mailbox, for forty + years cats have wandered up our…

  2. Metal Odyssey's avatar
    Metal Odyssey on What is WRONG With People?January 31, 2026

    After reading this, all I can say is you have a soul of gold to put up with such Neanderthal…

  3. Jimena's avatar
    Jimena on In Which We Don’t Sail Into the SunsetJanuary 29, 2026

    It looks good on you ;) In my case, it"s not like it has completely disappeared from my belongings... Once…

  4. Kana Smith's avatar
    Kana Smith on In Which We Don’t Sail Into the SunsetJanuary 29, 2026

    My "teal phase" has lasted four decades, and shows no sign of waning. ;)

  5. Kana Smith's avatar
    Kana Smith on In Which We Don’t Sail Into the SunsetJanuary 29, 2026

    Exactly true!

"It is not down on any map; true places never are"

~ Herman Melville, Moby-Dick

What is WRONG With People? A Pain in the Neck If the Present is a Gift, so is the Past Cow Physiology 101 The “Year in Books” On the Palm Tree as an Antidepressant Untitled Dragon Biography The Christmas-Tree Trade-In
  • Marginalia & Time-Travel
  • When you Assume... you make an ASS out of U & ME
  • Burning the Script
  • Pushed Over the Edge?
  • Contest Contribution: "Christmas Memory with Mother"
  • Hunting for Answers in Pink Camo: Why is it...
  • Hill-Climbing, Hummingbirds, and Handguns
  • To "Re:" or Not to "Re:"... That is the Question
  • Rescue Diver
  • Reprise: 'Blogger Call to Action'

"Not all those who wander are lost."

~J.R.R. Tolkien, The Fellowship of the Ring

Website Powered by WordPress.com.
Kana's Chronicles
Website Powered by WordPress.com.
  • Subscribe Subscribed
    • Kana's Chronicles
    • Join 2,717 other subscribers
    • Already have a WordPress.com account? Log in now.
    • Kana's Chronicles
    • Subscribe Subscribed
    • Sign up
    • Log in
    • Report this content
    • View site in Reader
    • Manage subscriptions
    • Collapse this bar
 

Loading Comments...