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.
I Hosted an Event with Gish Jen!
What an absolutely delightful person! I was so honored to meet the writer Gish Jen in person last night for MetroWest Readers Fest. If you weren’t able to join us, do yourself a favor and YouTube her; whatever video pops up for you, I can guarantee you’ll be enthralled by what she has to say — and how she says it. Her work isn’t included in The Best American Short Stories of the Century and she’s not on the board of the MacArthur Foundation for nothin’, after all.
Visible Man Review
Here’s an example of how book clubs can be so much more than a social way to get your wine-and-cheese fix…in other words, how a book club can actually be a wonderful way to both give and receive support as well as find community.
Jane Austen and the Pursuit of Status
Amanda Taub and Max Fisher write a column for the NYT called “The Interpreter,” which gives context and analysis allowing the reader to — ta da! — interpret current events. Occasionally, Taub does a dispatch called “What I’m Reading” and gives people some tips on (nonficition) books that provide more in-depth knowledge to stories that she’s reporting. For instance, in early August her “What I’m Reading” version of the column had the subhed “The seismic shifts of the 1960s are still reverberating in the Democratic Party”; in the body of the column, she gave some examples of books that helped illuminate this theme. (If you’re interested, they included The Warmth of Other Suns: The Epic Story of America’s Great Migration, by Isabel Wilkerson and Racial Realignment: The Transformation of American Liberalism, 1932-1965, by Eric Schickler.)
Julia Whelan is Reading to You
Audiobooks are big business. Unfortunately, I do not participate in this big business as I can’t bring myself to listen to books. This isn’t a purist thing, it’s a processing thing. For instance, I have very specific parameters for listening to podcasts: I cannot listen in the car if I’m the driver. Music only for my driving self, but I can listen and enjoy if I’m a passenger. I can listen with earbuds while I’m walking, but not running. I’ve never thought of myself as high maintenance, but maybe my ears prove otherwise.
Read Like the Wind
I’m really enjoying the new-ish “micro column” ‘Read Like the Wind,’ penned by Molly Young and appearing each week in the NYT Sunday Magazine. In it, Young “recommends old and new books.” Which is very to-the-point, as is the format: Quick summations and breezy — not to mention interesting — “read if you like” comparisons. None of this generic “If you like hot-book-of-the-month, you’ll like…” No, it’s more like, Read if you like… “cryptic crossword puzzles” … “suffering from an inability to link cause and effect” … “eavesdropping” … or “the film My Dinner With Andre.”
Graywolf Press
Once in a while I post about the publishing industry. (Most recently Aug. 3, July 7, July 17, June 29…) To sum it up rather simplistically: There are 5 (maybe one day 4?) dominating publishing houses that put out so much of what we read. Publishing has a “diversity” problem. And there are definitely people trying to make things more accessible.
Stephen King Testifies in Publishing House Merger Trial
Stephen King testified yesterday for the Department of Justice in its antitrust trial regarding a merger of Penguin Random House and Simon & Schuster. He volunteered to testify.
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:
