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.
Why Teachers Assign Books 101
It’s not news that being a school employee or on a school board is the most thankless thing ever these days. (No thank you x 1 million.)
The Every by Dave Eggers Will Not Be on Amazon
I guess this is kinda old news — this clip is from the June 16 NYT — but Dave Eggers has a new novel coming out this autumn. It’s called The Every, and the hardcover will only be released in independent bookstores.
Tatty
Tatty by Christine Dwyer Hickey is a remarkable book, and it’s a real shame that it’s so difficult to acquire it in the US. (I knew about this book — originally published in 2004 — since it’s sort of an Irish mainstay; in fact, it was 2020’s One Dublin One Book pick. When I learned this, I ended up ordering a copy from the wonderful Gutter Bookshop.)
Wayward
As I’ve noted many times before, I’m not really a “beach read” kinda gal. So I suppose it’s appropriate that one of my literal beach reads has been about a middle-aged woman going through a probable “mid-life crisis.”
Early Morning Riser
Well I loved this book — it reminded me of Schitt’s Creek. But not in a ‘Ew David’ meme kind of way. Instead, Early Morning Riser by Katherine Heiny is a deceptively simple story about a — wait for it — small town full of quirky characters where everyone knows each other’s business. Unlike another book I read in November that made me roll my eyes with its attempts at “quirkiness,” Early Morning Riser completely endeared itself to me. Maybe because it’s set in Michigan and not a try-hard town trying to replicate the tv show Parenthood.
Reading as ONE in MetroWest: An Interview with Amy Wilson Sheldon and Jennifer De Leon
Literary Boston
An interview with MetroWest Readers Fest founder Amy Wilson Sheldon and featured author Jennifer De Leon, about Communal Reading and a celbration of Boston’s Book Origins.
Read Here or at LiteraryBoston.com
Reese: My Kingdom for Those Book Rights So I Can Make Movies
Well hello (sunshine)! Of course I couldn’t let this big news pass by without posting. Reese’s media company Hello Sunshine (of which her ever-popular book club is a part) has been sold to Blackstone and is valued at $900 million.
Bay Area Librarians Bring Information to Inmates, One Letter at a Time
When inmates don’t have access to the internet but would like some information, they might turn to the San Francisco Public Library and its department of Jail and Reentry Services.
Neverhome and Kind One
I would love to sit down and hear the “story” of Laird Hunt and his novels.
Storyville Gardens
Well here’s a novel idea. (Yes I did.) It’s Storyville Gardens, a “story-driven theme park” — and the developers behind it are hoping to break ground in Middle Tennessee in mid-2022.
MetroWest Readers Fest to spotlight books by Framingham State University professor Jennifer De Leon
MetroWest Daily News
A Book Event with MetroWest Readers Fest founder Amy Wilson Sheldon and author Jennifer De Leon
Mountain Reads
The Sudbury Town Crier
“...I’m more of a ‘mountain person,’ so I’ve decided to coin the phrase ‘Mountain Reads.’ These books might still be relatively fun and breezy — I mean you’re presumably on vacation after all — but Mountain Reads require just the tiniest bit more effort than a traditional beach read.”
Sorrow and Bliss
Planning on tearing through Sorrow and Bliss by Meg Mason this weekend.
If You Kept a Record of Sins
This is a beautiful book.
Apeirogon
In college I took an art history class – for fun, I guess, since I don’t think it fulfilled any requirement. I traipsed over to the Museum of Fine Arts one Saturday with my friend Keith because I had to write a paper on Rothko. I did, and I managed to make it a 10-page paper. Not a BS paper, which I’m sure some would like to think. No, it was actually a magnificent afternoon at the MFA as Keith and I spent about an hour talking about just one solitary painting because nothing in this artist’s work is straightforward, despite surface simplicity. Rothko is tricky like that.
Buying Novels in Our Pajamas
The Sudbury Town Crier
Independent Bookstore Day is always the last Saturday in April. (A good reason to get out of our pajamas, yes?)
Winter Loon and Shuggie Bain
Holy smokes: I read Shuggie Bain and Winter Loon basically concurrently and although that was accidental, I have never, ever experienced a more complementary pairing.
Pillow Platitudes: On The Overstory by Richard Powers & Instagram Influencers
The New York Times recently published an interesting Opinion piece called “The Empty Religions of Instagram: How did influencers become our moral authorities?” Well, I focused straight away because the type of influencers that this piece discusses – namely, Glennon Doyle – is my kryptonite. I, a middle-aged white mom, fall squarely in Glennon’s target demographic, yet my fascination with her and her ilk is more of the sideshow variety. This category mostly doesn’t appeal to me – and the questioning cycle of “why does this not appeal to me?” of course makes me feel completely out of sync with my peers – but it’s interesting watching her peddle self-help-with-an-edge while everyone seems to fall into lockstep. If I get too far down this rabbit hole, I (and my heart), get stuck in a cycle of cynicism.
RAWTS: Amy’s Take on The Overstory
Well, I cried.
RAWTS: Matt’s Take on The Overstory
The Overstory is a book about trees...an incredibly beautiful & well-researched book that weaves plant science through everything, painting the background for the individual narratives driving the plot line as well as being the plot itself. The book follows the lives of numerous characters—scientists, professors, engineers, lawyers, etc—and how their lives intersect, mostly related to some interest in trees.
