Recently, a dear friend reached out to me asking for recommendations of "classics." She reads a lot but primarily contemporary works and felt like she missed the boat on a lot of those "big" books that people "should" read. Because I love both making lists and being a busy body, I offered to create a … Continue reading Literary Essentials for Cocktail Parties, a Syllabus
literature
Rosemary and Pansies, Remembrance and Thoughts: Maggie O’Farrell’s ‘Hamnet’
"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
The Wheelhouse Project: Significant Jumps in Time—Brit Bennett’s ‘The Vanishing Half’
*Light spoilers for The Vanishing Half by Brit Bennett* When done well, I love a novel that jumps forward significantly in time with each chapter, often giving us a different characters' perspective as it goes along. This technique functions as a way to look at the novel's facets from different angles, turning the characters and … Continue reading The Wheelhouse Project: Significant Jumps in Time—Brit Bennett’s ‘The Vanishing Half’
Notions, Early April Edition
Hello. How are you? Doing okay or not so much or a combination of all of the above? Man, I miss bookstores and libraries.Image by Gerd Altmann from Pixabay Here are some fun things from the internet to entertain, delight, and/or tickle your brain: Doing some reading while social distancing? Check out Bookshop, an online book retailer that … Continue reading Notions, Early April Edition
Bookish NYC
This week's post was delayed because...I went to NYC with my younger sister! And because I'm me, the trip included some literary highlights. For one, I fulfilled a life goal of visiting the main branch of the New York Public Library. The building is beautiful (even if the famous lions flanking the front were under … Continue reading Bookish NYC
Anxieties
At any given time, I am a ball of anxieties. Like a tangle of yarn, I clump and loop, circling back to where I started and then knotting around again. I worry about the people I love, global warming, refugees in cages, if people like me, work, racism, cancer, the uncrossable gulfs between people, why … Continue reading Anxieties
Dogs, Coffee, & Books 