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.
Marrying the Ketchups
Aw, this book is like Early Morning Riser (Katherine Heiny)-plus.
Broken Horses
When a book makes you homesick…
Seven Steeples
When one’s world becomes smaller — because of, say, a pandemic, or in the case of Sigh and Belle, a couple who are “too solitary, with a spike of misanthropy…[and who become] curious to see what would happen when two solitary misanthropes tried to live together” — there are questions to be asked…
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.
The Other Black Girl
A couple of years ago, I read a popular book and mused that I would have liked it better if it had been released as serialized fiction, à la Dickens. With that book, what I was probably thinking in the back of my head was: This would be better on screen — like a miniseries. I liked the book “ok.”
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.’”
The House of Broken Angels
The House of Broken Angels by Luis Alberto Urrea is a VIBE.
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.)
Homesick
Blind Date with a Book (Amy's Version)
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.”
Homesick
Homesick is a memoir by the writer and translator Jennifer Croft. (She won the Man Booker International Prize in 2018 for her translation of Flights, by Olga Tokarczuk.) If I had to use just two words to review it I’d say, “Mic drop.” (Alternate reasoning: If I were Michael Scott and tasked with reviewing books.) I’m not trying to be glib, but if ever there were a time to use “mic drop” in full sincerity, it would be in reference to this book, a memoir/”real-life novel” with photographic elements. I’m truly amazed by it. (As is the pooch, apparently.)
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.”
Homesick
Oh, this one was really, really good. Carmen Maria Marchado’s praise adorns the cover (of course with this library copy, it’s obscured…), and it’s true: If you like her work, I think you’ll like this one.
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.
The Candy House
I’ve thought a lot about Jennifer Egan’s The Candy House in light of news stories that have popped up this year. If you know Egan’s brilliant A Visit From the Goon Squad, you’ll catch on quickly with The Candy House and its thinly interwoven storylines and exploration of technology, socialization, and human behavior/motivation. Whereas Goon Squad was very much about the music industry, The Candy House is more or less about the tech industry. Everything is subtle and clever and pretty much mind-blowing with her work, and what The Candy House spends a lot of time focusing on is authenticity and memory. (Just some ✨light topics.✨)
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. 😎🤔
Homesickness
I’m trying to read as many books as I can with some variation of “homesick” in the title. So, ta da, this is Homesickness, a short story collection by the Irish writer Colin Barrett.
