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.
Libraries are Benevolent
The two books I’ve read by Richard Powers — The Overstory and Bewilderment — are so full of profound nuggets of wisdom about, well, life. And you can probably find many of them aggregated on sites like Goodreads. This one isn’t really “life wisdom,” but it really is a nice way to describe a library, isn’t it?
What Happened to Amazon’s Bookstore?
I just finished Bewilderment by Richard Powers. (Really great!)
I have way too many books out from the library at the moment, including A Calling for Charlie Barnes by Joshua Ferris, The Paper Palace by Miranda Cowley Heller, and Why We Can’t Sleep: Women’s New Midlife Crisis by Ada Calhoun (that’s funny). Plus 3 others. Like a kid in a candy shop…
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.
Just a Pic of a Little Free Library
I just finished Bewilderment by Richard Powers. (Really great!)
I have way too many books out from the library at the moment, including A Calling for Charlie Barnes by Joshua Ferris, The Paper Palace by Miranda Cowley Heller, and Why We Can’t Sleep: Women’s New Midlife Crisis by Ada Calhoun (that’s funny). Plus 3 others. Like a kid in a candy shop…
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.)
How to Recommend a Book
Ha. The “Tip” column in the New York Times Magazine from Oct. 24 is “How to Recommend a Book.”
City of Asylum in Pittsburgh
I learned about an incredibly interesting organization today. It’s called City of Asylum, and it’s a Pittsburgh-based nonprofit; I’m just going to copy their mission directly:
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.
‘The Clique’ Books Taught Hate (?): Books Are Not the Problem
If you’re a parent, you are already well attuned to how television and film affect your offspring. (Or at least how we think they affect them.) Let’s rewind to me appalled at the iCarly episode my daughter was glued to in a Montana emergency room when she was six.
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.
Goncourt Scandal and Drama
SCANDAL & DRAMA!
In case you didn’t know, French literary culture is Serious Business. Très sérieux.
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.)
Burnt Sugar
How do you feel about book blurbs?
Book Club Crashers: The Authors
The Sudbury Town Crier
“Having an author drop in to your meeting takes your gathering to a new level: It allows you to get answers and insights to very specific questions, and hey, it might give you the extra nudge to make sure you actually finish the book..”
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
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.”
