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.
Graywolf Press
Once in a while I post about the publishing industry. (Most recently Aug. 3, July 7, July 17, June 29…) To sum it up rather simplistically: There are 5 (maybe one day 4?) dominating publishing houses that put out so much of what we read. Publishing has a “diversity” problem. And there are definitely people trying to make things more accessible.
Everything Sad is Untrue + Daylight Forever
We’re only three quarters of the way through 2022, but here are my “you NEED to read these” recommendations for the year..
Small Things Like These
A reminder that small things add up to big things.
Chinatown
I love thinking about language, although — sad face — I’m only fluent in English. (This could’ve gone differently. Dear young people: Take advantage of your ability to converse and get around in a different language and keep using it lest you become like me…aaaaaand probably a large swath of Americans.)
Stephen King Testifies in Publishing House Merger Trial
Stephen King testified yesterday for the Department of Justice in its antitrust trial regarding a merger of Penguin Random House and Simon & Schuster. He volunteered to testify.
Minor Feelings + Dictee
I love logic, facts, clear arguments. But when you’re exploring something that doesn’t fit in neat and tidy categories — such as, say, a person or an identity — simple and straightforward doesn’t necessarily work.
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.
