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.
St. Patrick’s Day with Roddy Doyle
“If you are a writer you're at home, which means you're out of touch. You have to make excuses to get out there and look at how the world is changing.” – Roddy Doyle
I Finally Read American Dirt
From Newsletter Issue No. 13:
Remember when a little novel called American Dirt by Jeanine Cummins was published in 2020? It was a much-anticipated work of fiction that was meant to shed light on and give voice to people who found themselves in the crosshairs of the migration crisis happening at the border between the United States and Mexico. Oprah selected it for her book club. Stephen King provided a blurb and called American Dirt “Extraordinary.” Sandra Cisneros (family roots in Mexico) and Julia Alvarez (family roots in the Dominican Republic) both praised the book.
Laura Zigman and Gap Khakis
In January, The Boston Globe published a story about the writer Laura Zigman. Maybe you remember her as the author of the bestselling 1998 novel Animal Husbandry. Or maybe you just remember the movie adaptation called Someone Like You starring Hugh Jackman and Ashley Judd. When I think of Animal Husbandry, I think of chick lit that was more literary than what is currently marketed that way. Remember the 1999 novel A Girl’s Guide to Hunting and Fishing by Melissa Bank? To me, these two novels — plus Bridget Jones’ Diary by Helen Fielding — encapsulate a specific late 90s vibe. They were like the literary world’s version of Gap’s dancing-in-khakis ads.
Snow-Bound: A Winter Idyl
We’ve got another snowy day today, and I’ve been thinking about how snow is often romanticized. Don’t get me wrong: There is something so satisfying about “tucking in” and feeling unburdened by the rigmarole of daily life. Especially if it’s over a weekend; today is Saturday. Somehow Laura Ingalls Wilder even managed — in the rose-colored, made-for-publishing view of her childhood — to make The Long Winter seem dreamy.
Frances Ellen Watkins Harper
The NYT’s “Overlooked” column, “a series of obituaries about remarkable people whose deaths, beginning in 1851, went unreported in The Times” — has got to be one of the most interesting recurring features in a daily newspaper. (Just my 2c.) I’ve posted about different ones before, including Theresa Hak Kyung Cha (author of Dictee). This one, about the 19th-century Black poet Frances Ellen Watkins Harper, was published toward the beginning of February, Black History Month.
Through the Window
Nearly 10 years ago, I read this: “…writing is a matter of examining the world, reflecting upon it, deducing what you want to say, putting that meaning or message into words whose transparency allows the reader, now gazing through the same window-pane from the same position, to see the world exactly as you have seen it.” – Julian Barnes, Through the Window: Seventeen Essays and a Short Story
What a Reader Wants
“That’s all a reader really wants — to know the author better. Even if it’s a novel, they want to know the author.” – the novelist Cecil Dawkins to Natalie Goldberg.
Let’s BeReal
From Newsletter Issue No. 12:
Sometime this autumn, I became a BeReal-er. (I just made up that term. We have TikTokers, so what shall we call people who use the app BeReal?) If you’re not familiar, BeReal sends a notification at a different (i.e. unexpected) time each day to all users with the cue, “It’s time to BeReal!” Users then take a photo of whatever they’re doing, wherever they are at the moment — simultaneously, the app takes a quick snapshot of your face. Here's a rundown of the app from the New York Times Magazine back in August.
Turning Nairobi’s Public Libraries Into ‘Palaces for the People’
Here’s a NYT article about the McMillan Library in Nairobi and how a dedicated group of organizers and fundraisers have gone about restoring the colonial-era institution — initially serving only white patrons — and turning it, and other libraries like it, into “palaces for the people.” According to Keynan publisher Angela Wachuka, “…we are here to also reclaim history, to occupy its architecture and to subvert its intended use.”
Sartorialists, Fashionistas, Readers
Survey says? 💃🎩🪡🧑🏽🎤
Literary Fandoms
Do you have a favorite author? I do. (Yes, I’m talking about Carol Shields again.) However, I can’t follow her on Twitter or subscribe to her newsletter because, well, she is deceased.
No Thanks to the Colleen Hoover Coloring Book
Two truths and a lie specific to this account:
* Salka Valka is my favorite Halldór Laxness book. (IYKYK)
* Favorite author = Carol Shields.
* I have read a Colleen Hoover book.
Memoir as Fantasy
Hello. In case you weren’t aware, there is a new tell-all memoir out called Spare. Have you heard of it?
A Book Prize From Those Behind Bars: Goncourt des détenus
As always, I’m spending too much brain space on this notion of celebrities becoming book pushers. So this NYT article from a couple of weeks ago was a nice change-up. The Prix Goncourt is France’s version of the Booker or the Pulitzer, but in some ways it might be more akin to being bestowed the Oprah stamp of approval: The monetary prize is only €10, but the payoff in book sales is considerable.
Curiosity > Accomplishment
Ahh, New Year’s Eve…the dawn of a New Life ™️. I truly love Jan. 1 — clean slate, fresh start — and do spend time thinking about how I’d like the impending year to unfold. Or rather, how I’d like to respond to how the year unfolds. I love a good quantifiable challenge —which, let’s face it, is what most people’s resolutions are — but I’m more interested in how an outcome might shape my outlook on life instead of just “I lost 5 pounds.” (Or, to tie in to this account: “I read 1,000 books.”)
Library or Police Station in McFarland?
Whooooo… (Picture me whistling in an ‘oh boy’ kind of way, not that I know how to do that). I picked up this article the other day. It’s part of the New York Times’ “Across the Country” series. In this installment, a reporter goes to McFarland, California, a migrant farming community. The Police Department needs more space, and it’s eyeing the public library. Not surprisingly, conflict has ensued. The library of course offers services beyond checking out books: “Perhaps more so than in wealthier places with more options, the library serves a vital role. On average, 200 to 250 people come through the doors daily.” And many would agree that communities need effectively staffed and resourced police departments. McFarland, in particular, is seeing higher crime rates and an uptick in violent gang activity.
Sam Bankman-Fried Doesn’t Read
Booklovers went bonkers over this WaPo headline the other day: ‘Sam Bankman-Fried doesn’t read. That tells us everything.’ I shared it in stories because Matt had sent it to me with the comment that it sounds a bit “vegan-ish,” meaning people who create their entire identities as “book people” project the same sort of superiority and inflexibility that vegans stereotypically do.
A Selfie of One’s Own With Virginia Woolf
If you could take a selfie with an author, would it be…Virginia Woolf?
Public Benefit and Jack Kerouac
The Jack Kerouac Foundation is on the road, searching for donations. OK, dumb #ontheroad joke — and the Foundation is not on the road, per se. BUT it has kicked off a capital campaign as it seeks funding for what will hopefully be The Jack Kerouac Museum and Performance Center, repurposing the former St. Jean Baptiste Church in Lowell, MA, where Kerouac once served as an altar boy and where his funeral was held in 1969. This was first reported in the Boston Globe in early January 2022…which I found out about because a news story from Boston.com showed up in my newsfeed the other day sharing that architectural renderings are now complete and public. (See pictures, obviously! And btw, all 4 images are courtesy of The Jack Kerouac Foundation & SCB Architects.)
Spotify, Apple, and Audiobooks
Separate from Elon Musk and his sink, here’s some other tech news: Spotify wants to jump aboard the audiobook revolution, but Apple is playing gatekeeper.
