READ ALL ABOUT IT
Since 2012, I’ve been writing about books. And the act of reading. And the importance of story and narrative. But, mostly, the underlying theme of all I write is how taking a moment to stop and digest some longform text — instead of scrolling, instead of watching a video, instead of multitasking — can be one of the most grounding things we can do for ourselves. Here’s the one-stop online home for all this writing.
You can read more about me and my work by moseying over here. Want to peruse periodic “essay drops” — excerpts from my work-in-progress essay collection about Homesickness? Here ya go.
America’s Next Great Author
I’m conjuring the teaser theme music and possible lasers as I type this. America’s Next Great Author is being pitched as a show in the same vein as Project Runway, American Idol, and X-Factor. Kwame Alexander has come alongside Arielle Eckstut and David Sterry (The Book Doctors) to bring it to life.
Barnes and Noble Appreciation Post
⚡️📚Barnes & Noble Appreciation Post ⚡️📚
An (Expected!) Boom of Diverse Bookstores
“Diverse Bookstores See a Boom No One Was Expecting.” Strange headline, but I’ll get to that in a sec. Here’s the subhed: “Over 300 bookstores have opened in the past couple of years — a revival fed by demand for ‘real recommendations from real people.’”
TikTok and Bestsellers
I like TikTok. Unlike Snapchat — which my friend Rebekah and I decided to investigate in 2015 and which resulted in me texting her, “I think I just accidentally sent you a picture of a plant across from me in the orthodontist waiting room” — I’ve stuck with TikTok. (No, I’m not trying to pretend that I’m not 46. Spin it this way: I want to remain as “tech-aware” as I can until the day I die.)
I Heart Gish Jen
Last year right around July 4, I posted a picture of Gish Jen’s novel Typical American with the caption “We’re all typical Americans.”
Can Books Start a New Chapter?
Excellent cover story in Sunday’s NYT Magazine. “Can Books Start a New Chapter? For generations, America’s major publishers focused almost entirely on white readers. Now an effort is underway to open up the industry.”
Mixing Culture and Politics
“They think you cannot mix culture and politics. I said: Maybe *you* cannot. I can!” – Andrey Kurkov
We Are Not Ourselves Was My Night Book
Maybe this is odd to many of you, but I generally don’t read in bed before falling asleep. I think this may be atypical for “readers” – after all, during my Covid isolation in May, I started re-watching Little House on the Prairie (hey, it was what I was in the mood for!), and I noticed that even Pa read in bed before reaching peak shut-eye mode. While Ma munched on popcorn. Btw, my family will tell you that I enthusiastically embrace both reading and nightly popcorn, ergo I am clearly an Ingalls at heart…aaaaand now my childhood dream has come true.
Preserving the Books in Trinity’s Old Library
One of my favorite things to see in Dublin is the Book of Kells, which is housed in the library at Trinity College Dublin.
It Appears That Celebrities and Wedding Guests Love Books
Is giving books out as wedding favors an awesome idea? Yes, yes, it is. (Thanks, Holly, for sharing this article with me!) Couples having a “book bar,” couples creating book centerpieces, couples giving out books to each guest. I love it all. Especially because — to paraphrase the subhed — if books appeal to celebrities, then they will certainly appeal to your wedding guests. 😎🤔
Plagiarists Keep On Keepin’ On
We heard about this on ‘Wait, Wait…Don’t Tell Me!’ yesterday while driving, but here’s a screenshot of a blurb about it from the New York Times.
Measuring the Wrong Things: Machine Learning, Human, Learning, and AI
What do you think? This morning, my husband sent me this article that posits that “male characters are four more times more prevalent in literature than female characters.” (As an aside, Matt’s commentary with the link was “Ironic since men don’t read books.” He’s being funny. But let’s for sure save space for a post about how reading is seen as a “women’s activity” for another day!)
Margo Jefferson and Guilty Pleasures
I always love the “By the Book” column in the Sunday NYT. And I especially love the question “Do you count any books as guilty pleasures?” This past week, Margo Jefferson, literary critic and author of the memoir Constructing a Nervous System, had a zinger answer:
NYPL Got Rid of Late Fees and Check Out What’s Being Returned
Has your library gone fine-free? Mine did starting earlier this year, but I’ve been paying attention to this phenomenon for years — pretty much since I started this account. There’s a bunch of research as to why eliminating late fees is a smart choice, but the research doesn’t take into account the added benefit of seeing all the interesting things that get returned once people feel that’s it “ok” to untether themselves from things they’ve (likely inadvertently) had for years and years and years.
Kurt Vonnegut’s Grandson
Here’s a fun story from my alma mater, Tufts University. But first a bit of backstory: Tufts has something really great called the Experimental College (Ex College) that allows students to take slightly off-the-beaten-path classes like “Investing, Psychology, and Human Behavior” or “Sorry, Not Sorry: The Apology Through the Social Justice Lens” (those are current course offerings). My minor — Communications & Media Studies — was under the umbrella of the Ex College and allowed me so many amazing opportunities, including internships. So there’s that.
Not Locked Out of a New Zealand Library
Fun story on NPR’s Morning Edition the other day.
Post-Pandemic Reading Skills
“Pandemic Has Pulled Reading Skills Down Into ‘New Territory.’” We saw this coming — and this NYT article explains that the US was seeing lower literacy levels even before 2020 — but this just makes me so very sad. There’s a lot at play here: missed school (both remote and in-person), teaching vacancies, fewer educators trained in phonics and phonetic awareness.
Anna Dugan Mural in Maynard
The multiple stages of jumping into a 600-plus-page novel?
Reading Rainbow’s New ‘Book Club’
“We love the idea of this being like a book club.”
Reading Rainbow is back, but sans LeVar Burton. And it’s going to be livestreamed on a platform called Looped, so no free PBS content.
Serendipitously Inspired by Marge Piercy
Story time.
