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.
The Paper Palace and The Nest
Two novels taking place in the Northeast. Stereotypes: intact. Shabby “chic” family compounds, seemingly erudite New Yorkers who jostle to be a part of a scene, breezy yet overly confident in *everything.*
A Calling for Charlie Barnes
Why, in fiction, do women have the corner on: being neurotic, desperately seeking one’s purpose, and/or flirtations with malaise? Carol Shields upended that narrative with Larry’s Party, and Joshua Ferris has done it also with A Calling for Charlie Barnes.
The Neighbor’s Secret
Here’s why this book — so different than what I normally read — caught my eye. The Neighbor’s Secret by L. Alison Heller was featured as a recent NYT Group Text “book club” pick, and I was taken in because a neighborhood book club acts as the grounding “institution” for the subtly catty yet loud and proud I-just-want-to-raise-good-and-kind-humans crowd of mamas. (🥴) I suspected some blink-or-you’ll-miss-it sarcasm would abound...and I was right.
Brothers on Three
I recently read something, somewhere (#precise) about the book Brothers on Three: A True Story of Family, Resistance, and Hope on a Reservation on Montana by journalist Abe Streep. So I checked it out from the library. And then I read it, and now I am recommending it to you.
Bewilderment
Is Richard Powers’ entire MO to gently prod readers to flip life on its side so we can learn to approach our investigation of it differently? Bewilderment is only the second novel of his that I’ve read, but it seems fitting to (almost) end out 2021 with his latest — an Oprah pick, btw — after jumpstarting this crazy year reading The Overstory with my husband. I guess I’ll have to read more Richard Powers to find out.
Rising Out of Hatred
Gearing up to discuss this one tomorrow with a handful of high school classmates. Yes, I read Rising Out of Hatred: The Awakening of a Former White Nationalist by Eli Saslow over Thanksgiving break, which feels inappropriate for some reason, i.e. it’s not exactly a sweet or #blessed tale.
Matrix
Everyone’s raving about Matrix by Lauren Groff (I mean, this book sure roared in with a bang, right?), and here I am googling “psychology of preference” and scouring an old NPR transcript of an interview with Ira Flatow, Yale professor of psychology and author of How Pleasure Works. (In other words, why we like certain things.)
Harlem Shuffle and Real Estate
Harlem Shuffle by Colson Whitehead is a heist novel. But heist stories are not my thing, so I’m billing this as a novel about real estate. Because it partly is. And because I read it in tandem with Real Estate, the third installment of Deborah Levy’s “A Living Autobiography” series.
A Long Petal of the Sea
Once again, another wonderful book club meeting with alumnae from my high school. This time, we ranged from the Classes of 1948 to 2004. (I think I got that right.)
The Wolf Border and The Electric Michelangelo
Two totally different novels by the same author. One about wolves, one about tattoos. (Duh, of course I’m simplifying.) Highly recommend both, but for some reason Wolves > Tattoos for me?
In This House of Brede
Is a novel about a group of nuns in an enclosed monastery in England a bit dated? Well, yes…but I think that’s the point. Or maybe it’s not. I think the point is that Everything Old is New Again ™️. In This House of Brede, Rumer Godden’s 1969 book that was made into a film in 1975, explores life in the Western world around the time of Vatican II.
The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks
I shared in my stories the other week that I’m trying to read more non-fiction, and that The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot was where I was starting. (Now, cue the 7 fiction books that I’ve got lined up. I guess you can say that my intentions are good; execution is poor.)
The Cost of Living
I struggled with this one. I recently read about Deborah Levy’s new book Real Estate: A Living Autobiography, not realizing that it is a third installment in a series. But I learned all this after I decided to check out the second in the series — The Cost of Living. (I’ve got Real Estate on hold!)
I Couldn’t Love You More
I reserved this book at the library and it came in right away…but now it is due basically yesterday because someone else has put in on hold. I love thinking about the zipzapzing of books being shelved and shuttled from one branch to another. Who had this book before me? Did they like it? Is it someone similar to me…or is it, like, an 85-year-old man? And in the case of a *kind of* obscure book — meaning it’s not the latest hot new release that’s being made into a movie — I really, really wish I knew who was checking it out it too.
The Ninth Hour
I am often described as “so nice.” This is not meant as a weird humblebrag; I think it’s usually said when people don’t know me well. Or are surprised that someone isn’t a jerk? I suppose you could exchange “nice” for “polite” or even “sensitive.” Both are true to an extent…
Florida
Stories that explore “home” in the most visceral sense. (People living in your crawlspace … a young woman who lives in a station wagon … a tent city… a French farmhouse…) ✅
Burnt Sugar
How do you feel about book blurbs?
The Middlesteins
I finished up The White Lotus on HBO about a week ago. That’s about the same time I started The Middlesteins by Jami Attenberg, so let’s hear it for Americans’ ability to find themselves in despondent situations despite incredible resources and relative wealth. That’s one of our “modern ails,” right?
How Long ‘Til Black Future Month?
Until maybe 5 or 10 years ago, there were two truisms about my entertainment preferences. I — without a doubt — did not like: 1) Country music, and 2) Sci-fi/fantasy/dystopian/speculative literature.
The Secret Lives of Church Ladies
How often do you find yourself in an outsider’s role? There’s a certain degree of freedom (as well as a bit of awkwardness) in not knowing certain things, in being completely ignorant to “how it goes.” I think many of us could benefit from adopting this posture once in a while. (The flip side, I know, is that there are people who may *always* feel this way and what I personally might call “purposeful naivete” turns into something very exclusionary when pinned on someone else.)
