I was opening my Book of the Month box just as my dad called yesterday. I told him what I was doing and he (84 years old) immediately said he remembered the first Book of the Month they ever received: Silent Spring by Rachel Carson (1962) He also said he remembered ordering To Kill a…
Category: book reviews
ROCK PAPER SCISSORS by Alice Feeney
“Shhhhhhut UP!” That is what I yelled into my empty home. It was just me, alone, reading the twists in this fast-paced thriller. “Wait. What?!”, I continue my one-sided conversation as I rapidly flipped back to the earlier chapters. I still have questions. I’ve never googled, so quickly, to compare plot ending explanations online. 1….
WHEN THOUGHTS AND PRAYERS AREN’T ENOUGH by Taylor Schumann
An excellent, excellent, excellent book. I have been following Taylor Schumann for a little while now on Instagram and Twitter. I was excited when she decided to write a book because I was interested in reading her story in whole rather than the bits and pieces I’ve picked up over time. What I didn’t expect…
THE PERSONAL LIBRARIAN + Book of the Month
I was very honored that Book of the Month posted one of my pictures today on their social media. It was a photo of this fantastic book about J.P. Morgan’s assistant, Belle da Costa Greene, who helped build the J. Pierpont Morgan Library in New York City in the early 1900’s. THE PERSONAL LIBRARIAN is…
SING, UNBURIED, SING
This family drama was true southern prose full of spirits and stories and spells. Sin and family and forgiveness. No one dies quite like a southerner, taking their specific cooking and unique lineage, leaving us our heritage and pockets full of stories to embellish for many generations to come. “…. sorrow is food, swallowed too…
fines are no longer fine
I started a new jigsaw puzzle and am in that never-mind-it’s-too-hard-put-it-all-back-in-the-box stage. It’s a puzzle of classic paperback book covers. USA Today published an article recently about library fines and how much they impact those who can least afford the fines or the punishment of no longer being able to check out books. Library fines…
reading. listening. learning.
I reach for books to learn while listening to people who have lived the injustice. There is so much for all of us to learn…
library love.
Feeling very…sentimental…today about all the trips to the library I’ve made in my lifetime. The excitement never changes. I am so deeply appreciative that libraries have coped and adapted so that we can still sail to other lands while huddled safely in our homes. Thank you from the bottom of my heart, library systems. Your…
THE INVISIBLE LIFE of ADDIE LARUE by V. E. Schwab
What is it about my weirdo brain that says, ‘Oh…this is a really popular book out there in the world? Then let’s be sure and NOT read it yet.’ What? Why?? Whatever mental defect I have, it happens every time a book skyrockets to popularity. But I’ve heard so many fantastic things about this one,…
INTIMATIONS by Zadie Smith
I didn’t check to see what this book of essays was about before starting to read it. Some respected people recommended it, so I opened the front page with no expectations. I found a collection of essays filled with reflections on the first half of 2020. Unique reflections. Powerful comparisons. But all with room enough…
Finding Calm
These are a few books that have meant a lot to me personally during this pandemic season. I find reliance on the liturgy comforting when you don’t feel like praying. Leaning into ancient traditions (even rote memorization) gets you through at times when your heart just isn’t in it. I especially recommend the book, Flee….
THE STUFF OF LIFE by Hilary Robertson
The past few days have been spent in between the pages of this beautiful book from called The Stuff of Life: Arranging Things Ordinary and Extraordinary. I can hardly make it through two pages without jumping up and rearranging something or another around my house. Tweaks here and there. I’m a bit too picky about…
i’m just g. 