Mr. Dickens and His Carol by Samantha Silva
After surviving the wonder and betrayal that is Christmas as a child, we reassemble the holiday as adults, only to have it break again, one piece at a time over the years as our children age and eventually grow up to continue the cycle of merriment and misery themselves. First is the reveal to our […]
The Goose Waltzer, by Samantha Leigh Miller
On the spectrum of self-indulgence, writing a book blog about a book you wrote yourself, seems a bit on the “I’m so special, where’s my gold star” end. Be that as it may, I started this blog to log the books I’ve loved in my life, and for all its faults and maddeningly uncooperative characters, […]
How to Read a Book, by Monica Wood
Think a moment on the absolutely worst thing you’ve ever done in your life. And I don’t mean that time you rushed by an old woman who’d dropped her purse on the floor, lip balms and prescription bottles rolling everywhere (I was in a hurry, but I still have guilt). No, I mean THAT thing. […]
Yellowface, by R. F. Kuang
Yellowface is a book about book publishing that should probably be put under the category of “what NOT to read” when you’re about to take your own tiny words written on a leaf and toss it into the hurricane that is AMAZON. Not only is Kuang such a powerhouse of a writer that she intimidates […]
She and Her Cat, by Makoto Shinkai and Naruki Nagakawa
If you have a cat, you must read this book. If you don’t have a cat and don’t WANT to suddenly have a cat, definitely DON’T read this book. If you hate cats, you won’t read this book anyway, so I suppose you’re safe there. She and Her Cat hooked me from page one with […]
The Cemetery of Untold Stories, by Julia Alvarez
I’ll always remember The Cemetery of Untold Stories as the book I was reading when my uncle died. I’m not done reading the book yet, as he just passed two days ago, but my mind is filled with so many ideas about where this book crosses with his death, I decided to take the book’s […]
Ordinary Bear, by C.B. Bernard
I was driving somewhere about three years ago (it was Target, who am I kidding, it’s always Target) when traffic came to a sudden stop. Something was blocking the road about fifty feet ahead of me, causing cars to make a wide arc into oncoming traffic, which had also stopped. When it was my time […]
Sisters with a Side of Greens, by Michelle Stimpson
So my husband and I were in the car engaging in my favorite activity (no, not that one, lol). We were headed to Bruster’s for an ice cream treat after dinner. We were also having the dumbest fight we’ve had in a while. We don’t argue often, but sometimes, he gets this look on his […]
The Berry Pickers, by Amanda Peters
I’m not sure if everyone has a moment in their childhood that defines who they grow to be, but I have no doubt many of us do. For me, it was a certain night during the summer of 1980 that forever lowered my tolerance for conflict and created in me the kind of peace-making personality […]
The Story of Arthur Truluv, by Elizabeth Berg
If you’ve been teaching the apartheid in South Africa, the genocide in Rwanda, and the human rights violations of the chocolate industry in western Africa, then you absolutely should be reading The Story of Arthur Truluv at the end of your day. But even if this hasn’t been your week, Berg’s novel is something everyone […]