Cynthia D. Bertelsen's Blog

I am writing on a new website over on Substack: “Reading George Orwell.” Please subscribe – it’s free and will remain so. What’s it about? “Reading George Orwell” presents brief commentaries and analyses about Orwell’s work and life. Not only was he a prescient and prolific writer, but also one of the most fascinating figures […]

My newest book is now available on Amazon. And it soon will be listed on other online locations as well. I’ve loved to read since that eureka moment when I cracked the code and made sense of the squiggles on the page. Since then, I’ve read thousands of books. And that’s one of the reasons […]

Surviving the Current Apocalypse Winston Churchill, the British Prime Minister who led Britain to victory in World War II, was quite a wordsmith. As a witness to the rise of tyranny in Fascist Hitlerian Germany, he was well equipped to write The Gathering Storm. Members of Parliament at the time ignored him as he repeated […]

A Trip Down Memory Lane, and a New Cookbook to Savor As with any country, food habits change from region to region. Germany is no different in that regard. Most of the so-called German food familiar to Americans originated in southern Germany, particularly Bavaria. The Nazi movement first gained a foothold in Munich, in Bavaria. […]

Yes, I am still here. It’s been a rough summer, with a cancer diagnosis (very treatable) and some post-surgical complications. But I am not done with writing. Not yet! So, for my first canter, I’m going to share a few book titles that may be of interest to you, books I read while coming to […]

I recently read Shelby van Pelt’s sensitive and informative book about octopuses, Remarkably Bright Creatures. Word on the street is that Netflix is making a film based on the book. Oh goodie! Ever since I watched “My Octopus Teacher,” I have been fascinated by octopuses. And I will no longer eat their flesh. This summer, […]

One good thing about living a relatively long life is all the memories that bubble up when I least expect them. And lately I’ve been dipping into my vast reservoir of memories like a man overboard in a violent storm. At times, I envy the man overboard: he sees what’s beneath the storm. Right now, […]

Note: I am trying to maintain a sense of optimism even as I watch my beloved country descend into chaos. And so I am limiting my writing to my new book, A Kitchen Library: The Romance of Reading and Cooking, due in December 2025.

Serfdom, world wars, collectivism, famine, invasion, Sovietization — all these historically threatened Ukrainian kitchens with the loss of traditional dishes and culinary rituals. Once again, Ukraine faces extremely challenging days as Russia and the U.S. have formed an alliance. Russian dictator Vladimir Putin is eager to swallow up Ukraine and force it to become subservient […]

Books tend to take me to places where I might never, ever go in real life. Such as Soviet Russia at the height of the Cold War. Or even places I could never visit, as much as I might want to. Or even not want to! Think a banquet in Apicius‘s ancient Rome or the […]