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 Latecomer
A quick primer if your book club is going to read The Latecomer by Jean Hanff Korelitz. (Which it totally should! This would be a great book club book.)
Serena
I mentioned in a post yesterday that I had read the novel Serena by Ron Rash and couldn’t get my mind off the idea of “power.” Here is all I could think of while reading Serena: Claire Underwood from House of Cards. (Played so wickedly and convincingly by Robin Wright.) OMG OMG OMG.
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.)
