I would love to have that available to try on on some novels. I used to be a fast reader, but as my eyesight has worsened and my attention span has deteriorated, I find it difficult to read for more than a few minutes at a time. Then, I have to stop and go do something else. For someone accustomed to gulping down novels in one sitting, it's very frustrating to take days and days to finish one. I'd also like to try it on some technical writings because I know how it feels to cudgel one's brain into focusing and comprehending certain types of documents. In fact, I was trying to read about the holacratic process yesterday and it felt like I was reading gobbledygook. There were words in sentences, but they seemed to have no meaning.

What a beautiful poem! I have tears in my eyes. My FIL died in 1990, MIL followed in 2005, exactly 15 years to the day after he passed. My own Dad passed in 1998. My Mom has all her mental facilities (a blessing) but is physically very weak. I know she is waiting to join him.

We love the TV show Castle!! When I first saw the books when looking at Kindle books on Amazon, I ignored them because, like you, I knew there isn't really anyone named Richard Castle. But then I thought about the fact that someone writes the scripts for the TV episodes, and if that same someone is writing the books -- they ought to be decent. So, I've got them on my Kindle(s) but haven't read them yet.

Tim and anyone interested in plagues and pestilences I have a very interesting book The Scourging Angel: The Black Death in the British Isles by Benedict Gummer. This is not a book about what caused the plague but instead concentrates on the spread of the disease. The author must have studied thousands of ancient records from church archives, town and county courts and even lesser manorial roles which have enabled him to track the plague as it made its way through Europe and up the British Isles. Amazing to think that a country at the height of medieval prosperity could be so devastated within a couple of years probably losing almost half the population and changing the economy and way of life for virtually everyone. The author argues that the breakdown of the feudal system, church corruption, 'peasant power' etc would have happened anyway, but that the Black Death probably speeded it up. Lots of useful maps to help you find your way along the 'plague routes'. Here is a link that might be useful: The Scourging Angel