"There's rosemary, that's for remembrance. Pray you, love, remember. And there is pansies. That's for thoughts."—Ophelia, Hamlet, act IV, scene V. There is something remarkable in the state of Stratford, at least as rendered in Maggie O'Farrell's Hamnet: A Novel of the Plague. Something I turn over and over, like an array of items rising … Continue reading Rosemary and Pansies, Remembrance and Thoughts: Maggie O’Farrell’s ‘Hamnet’
Choose! Your Dead Author Quarantine House
Which group of dead authors would you choose to quarantine with, if forced (able) to choose? That is the question of the week. Each has, by design, pros and cons. Is Zora Neale Hurston worth being stuck inside with Normal Mailer? Could you stomach Ayn Rand if it got you Maya Angelou? These are the … Continue reading Choose! Your Dead Author Quarantine House
Going off Book: Inauguration Fashion and Bernie’s Mittens Memes
I promise this is not going to become a blog of "Sarah's random thoughts about miscellaneous things." It is, primarily, a blog devoted to books and the reading life. And I've been reading things. Great things. Stephen Graham Jones' The Only Good Indians blew my mind. It's super fun and scary and you should read … Continue reading Going off Book: Inauguration Fashion and Bernie’s Mittens Memes
Notions, January 2021 Edition
This is the time of year I realize just how much dark time we still have to go. Work is busy. The outside is dark and dreary. And I mostly want to just curl up with a book. Alas. While we wait for spring, here are some of the fun, interesting, and/or gorgeous things I've … Continue reading Notions, January 2021 Edition
Going Off Book: Gorogoa and The Shady Part of Me
I have really bad hand-eye coordination. I blame my parents (because, why not?) who did not allow us to have a video game console in the house when we were kids. However, this was during the golden age of the Nintendo and Super Nintendo so, of course, I still found ways to dabble. I played … Continue reading Going Off Book: Gorogoa and The Shady Part of Me
Reading During Difficult Times
In the last couple weeks I have found myself pinned between the return to work and busyness after the relative quiet of the holiday season and a national crisis. I hit a point last week staring at a stack of partially-read books feeling the existential anxiety of not having enough time to read all the … Continue reading Reading During Difficult Times
2020 Reading List – The Final
In one of the two holiday movies I watch without fail, It's a Wonderful Life, lead character George Bailey is a man who has always resented his meagre, small town life until he gets a chance to see what said town would have been like if he'd never been born. George discovers that he actually … Continue reading 2020 Reading List – The Final
Here’s the Thing About … Jane Austen
Friends, we are barreling toward the arbitrary deadline when we recognize the changing of one year into the next. I may work my way up to a longer Jane Austen series. (We live in hope!) But for now, a highly subjective and yet unquestionably correct ranking of all Austen's novels. (Just kidding—question me!) 6. Mansfield … Continue reading Here’s the Thing About … Jane Austen
Going Off Book – ‘Mank’ and ‘Great British Bake Off’
I remain in the throes of the painter-centric behemoth but I have broken away from it to intake some other media from time-to-time. For today's post, some brief conversation around two pieces: David Fincher's newest film, Mank, and the quarantine season of Great British Bake Off. MankFor his newest film, director David Fincher made a … Continue reading Going Off Book – ‘Mank’ and ‘Great British Bake Off’
The Wheelhouse Project – New Addition! – Tantalizing Taste Books
I know I promised some hot Jane Austen content. I planned for this focus because I'm currently working my way through a history of five female abstract impressionist painters that, while mesmerizing, is a 700-page beast of a book. But last weekend I took a break from the behemoth because a slim, YA fantasy needed … Continue reading The Wheelhouse Project – New Addition! – Tantalizing Taste Books
Dogs, Coffee, & Books 