Cloud Cuckoo Land, by Anthony Doerr
Any author who gets me to read science fiction has absolutely earned their Pulitzer Prize. I don’t know if it’s Konstance’s mass of curls that “haloes” her head or the fact that her socks are full of holes, but I was entirely sunk by the end of the very first paragraph of Cloud Cuckoo Land. […]
The Exiles, by Christina Baker Kline
There are only a few cardinal rules for a writer: you must not be boring (I’m looking at you, Trust by Hernan Diaz, whom I can pick on because you won a Pulitzer Prize). You must also not have plot holes (Doerr, what were you thinking? I haven’t finished Cloud Cuckoo Land yet, so I […]
Vera Wong’s Unsolicited Advice for Murderers, by Jesse Q. Sutanto
What to read when… …your boyfriend’s moved in and you’re trying really hard to be normal about it. It had been 13 years since a man lived in my house, and for all the ways his nearness turned me into a warm gooey brownie inside, his permanent presence in my previously unmanned house baked me […]
Teacher Field Trip to Ireland
I’m so excited to share that The Storyhouse Writers Showcase has published my article on my trip to Ireland—the land of some of the greatest writers on the planet! Here’s the link, if you’d like to take a look. I’m also posting the article in full below so that I can share pictures! “I went […]
The Dictionary of Lost Words, by Pip Williams
I think some of us always remember the first time we’re called a “dumb b*tch.” It happened to me at 19—stalled out in the middle of an intersection, in the driver’s seat of a car I could not drive. The car was an ’87 Pontiac Sunbird, five-speed…manual transmission. I had been taught to drive the […]
The Good Earth, by Pearl S. Buck
No one has time for a slow-start book anymore, which is a shame, since it’s the build in The Good Earth that makes this story so powerful. Read the book for Wang Lung’s loveable characters, or O-lan’s frightening determination, or simply to have your eyes opened to a new way of understanding our relationship with […]
The Nightingale, by Kristin Hannah
If you’re a book snob like me, you might have passed over this one simply because EVERYONE has been talking about it. I’m not one for hype, which is why I still haven’t forgiven Taco Bell for taking away their Mexican pizza, then bringing it back with such ridiculous fanfare. And I still haven’t forgiven […]
Anne of Green Gables, by Lucy Maud Montgomery
What to read when… …you just need a soft place to go to sleep. Do you have a “comfort” book? Something like mashed potatoes, or macaroni and cheese, or ice cream? A book you read on a bad day but with less calories? Or maybe a book you switch over to when you’re finishing Colson […]
The Midnight Library, by Matt Haig
I dropped out of school in 9th grade, was married at 17, and had two children by 21, so um, yes, I’ve been in Nora’s shoes and wondering what my life might look like if I’d made different choices. Sadly, we meet Nora at the lowest point in her life—possibly the end of her life […]
West with Giraffes, by Lynda Rutledge
If your summer plans don’t include a road trip with giraffes while being chased by a murderous traveling circus and falling in love with the wrong person, what are you even doing? This book does an amazing job of pulling the reader out of our humdrum lives (or in Woody’s case, pulling him from a […]