Random Connect Points:
Reba's Stories

When traveling light, I still indulge in the luxury of carrying a hard copy book with me. For a recent vacation trip, I chose Cathy Rigg’s just-released “That Which Binds Us.” Cathy is a Columbia-based, first-time author with roots in the Virginia mountains. The book weaves a story around five beautifully written characters living through the horrors of the Civil War in southwest Virginia’s Appalachian Mountains. I will admit that historical fiction isn’t usually my top reading genre choice. But between the fact I know Cathy and her talent, plus I’d just gotten my signed copy at her book launch party, I couldn’t wait to get started. From the first chapter (which Cathy read aloud at the book launch event), the writing kept me engaged with the characters’ individual narratives that she skillfully connects through their intersecting stories. What really brought this book alive for me is the dialects, the spoken cadence and the language that Cathy hones to perfection. Each chapter is...

(Writer's note: I wrote this review in 2019 shortly after the book came out. The podcast mentioned below is still online and is as relevant today as it was when the interview was done in 2019. This book is a must-read for anyone who thinks they might have an understanding of this complex story). Rarely does a book appeal to all my “reading” senses – well written, important message, compelling story and human connections. “Grace Will Lead Us Home” about the shootings at Mother Emanuel A.M.E. Church is one of them. J ennifer Berry Hawes  wrote the book while a reporter for the Post and Courier and witnessed first-hand many of the details surrounding this tragedy. Currently she writes for ProPublica. When I read writing by an author whose work really grabs me, I like to mark up the pages and go back and read those favorite lines over and over. This book is dog-eared with turned-down pages, numerous bookmarks and notes scribbled in the margins. For anyone who thinks they...

I’m not usually one to pick memoirs by sports icons. Musicians, journalists, writers or politicians, yes. But not often sports heroes.  I admit, I just don’t know that much about women’s basketball. And I sure don’t have personal experience with a full-on commitment to any type of athletic endeavor. But " Uncommon Favo r" by Dawn Staley quickly hooked me because it’s about far more than basketball. The book is organized around 12 life lessons as a primer on leadership by example, caring about people over process, perseverance, family, acceptance … and yes, there’s even a heartwarming dog story thrown in. As a Columbia resident, Carolina alum and fan, I knew of Dawn Staley as a hometown hero. But this book gave me a fuller picture of her Philly roots, Olympic glory, pro basketball days, national championships, family ties, and early coaching career. This was 100 percent an audiobook for me. Listening to Dawn tell her story felt like I was cruising around town with her si...

Summer means the return of my Blink Book Review series . In the summer of 2022, I vowed to get off my screens and back to books. My accountability was writing short book reviews that can be read in a blink (thus the name Blink Book Reviews). I’m back at it again this year with the added impetus of participating in a friend’s family summer reading challenge. “Countdown 1960: The Behind-the-Scenes Story of the 312 Days that Changed America's Politics Forever” by Chris Wallace caught my eye on the sale table at one of my favorite local bookstores because of the year in the title. I was born in 1960 the day after this presidential election. I never really thought much about that fact until I picked up this book and read the dust cover description. That short snippet pulled me in to learn more about the countdown to the Nixon/Kennedy election. As a self-avowed political nerd, I was intrigued to learn more about the face-off between the surly policy wonk that Nixon was perceived...

If it’s summer, that means it’s time to gear up for summer reading. Remember those summer reading clubs from childhood? In my family, we would go to the Cooper Branch Library to sign up the first day school was out. We’d get a fancy paper brochure where we’d painstakingly keep up with all the books we’d read over the summer. While I don’t really remember the prizes we got, I do remember the deep feeling of satisfaction from knowing I’d met a goal … and enjoyed doing it! My adult version of summer reading the past several years grew from a 2022 commitment to get off the screen and back to books for the summer. My accountability was a series of short book reviews I called “Blink Book Reviews” – so short they could be read in a blink (that means 300-ish or less words). Blink Book Review Rules I have only a few rules for myself. 1 – During the summer, I don’t finish books I’m not enjoying. Thus all the reviews are positive. 2 – I try to mix up genres a bit, but you’ll find a l...

‘Tis the season for graduations, new jobs and life transitions. It’s also the season for my annual updated “20 lessons” list. A number of years ago, I started a list of professional life lessons for a presentation to a group of college seniors. Since then, I like to revisit and update this list annually as a way to reflect on the past year. Recently, I’ve helped several folks fine tune their resumes and cover letters for “second career” job changes. Over the past year, I’ve approached this with a “let’s figure this out together” perspective instead of a “I have all the answers” perspective. The reason? I don’t have all the answers (see item #2 below). That’s a great lesson for me to remember for life in general and the perfect addition to the top of this year’s list. It’s been interesting to see how the style of resume writing has kind of come full circle back to the simple format used when I first graduated from college. Today, AI and Applicant Tracking S...

At my age, there's not much that can gin up a full blown case of FOMO anymore. But when I recently realized I was the only one of my "DC supper club" girls who didn't happen to be planning to be in the same place over a pretty spring week-end, FOMO kicked in big time.  This supper club started as a crew of Mississippians by birth, college or marriage (that would be me). We formed a supper club in the late 1980s while living in DC as young marrieds. By the mid-90s, we had scattered to new places to start families and grow careers.  But in spite of the distance over the years, we all grew our own unique individual friendships and, at the same time, created a really special group connection that's spanned four decades. Between us, the years have brought 15 children ranging from 24 to 40, 10 weddings, six grandchildren, numerous job changes, group travel, health challenges, football weekends, family upheavals, aging parents, and a years-long text thread t...