Thoughts – Tillie's Void

Reflections on Conversations with Zionists

My dad has often said I have “the gift of gab.” I can talk circles around just about anyone on just about any topic. Sometimes, I think arguing is the only thing I’m any good at. So, since around October 8th, keeping my skill set in mind, I’ve been having conversations. I’ve talked to “friends,”Continue reading “Reflections on Conversations with Zionists”

Writing to Remember

One of the hardest things about living after a brain injury has been scraping together what remains of my sense of self, gluing it all back together with only my notes to guide me. I don’t feel like the person I was before. I’m not the person I was before. She died. It is so easy to feel like a stranger in my own life, to feel like everything I have isn’t really mine. My old friends, my family, and even my writing is someone else’s. I’ve merely inherited them.

Review: The Lost Apothecary (Sarah Penner)

An apothecary named Nella sells poisons to wronged women in 1791 London. Twelve-year-old Eliza seeks her help on behalf of her employer, a woman who wants her husband dead, and soon after, Nella’s world begins to crumble around her. In present-day London, history enthusiast Caroline Parcewell spends her 10th wedding anniversary alone, trying to figureContinue reading “Review: The Lost Apothecary (Sarah Penner)”

Thoughts on How to Stop Time (Matt Haig)

I have often wondered what it would be like never to die. I wouldn’t have to worry about illness, aging, or the slow but inevitable cognitive decline that leads one with varying degrees of dignity into the grave. There would be no sense of personal urgency, but I would live in fear of losing people.Continue reading “Thoughts on How to Stop Time (Matt Haig)”

Review: Billions and Billions (Carl Sagan)

I was not prepared to cry this much. It’s my fault; I should have done my research before reading Carl Sagan’s last work without tissues on hand. Reading this in 2023 is hard, and not just because of the tear-jerking epilogue by his window, Ann Druyun. Sagan touches on a number of topics in hisContinue reading “Review: Billions and Billions (Carl Sagan)”

Thoughts on The Stranger (Camus)

I haven’t read much Camus, but I picked up The Stranger to give a more productive critique of a friend’s upcoming novel. She is a big Camus fan, so I decided to give it a whirl. Reading this and Slaughterhouse Five on the same day was NOT good for my mental health, but it made me think, and IContinue reading “Thoughts on The Stranger (Camus)”