The times they are a’changing. Nights have been in the fifties, summer’s humidity is gone, and last week my home town even squeezed in a few rain showers. Next week our temperatures return to summer, but it’s clear the end is near. I went to a greenhouse last night for “Mums and Merlot,” a little …
: to make or produce with care, skill, or ingenuity. Merriam-Webster The annual Grammy’s Christmas break sleepover has evolved over the past few years, but simply must include crafting, hot chocolate, the movie Elf, at least one argument over who will sleep where, more crafting, and pancakes for breakfast. (And did I mention crafting?) It …
What I read For the past several years, the best sellers lists have been heavy with World War II fiction. Think The Tatooist of Auschwitz, The Nightingale, The Book Thief, All the Light We Cannot See. I’ve read and reviewed plenty on this blog. But when you read a lot there’s a kind of weariness …
Paris By the Book Liam Callanan Dutton Paris By the Book is a love story, plain and simple. About a girl and her guy. A reader and the author. A bookseller and her shop. A mother and her children. An artist and Paris. Leah was trying to finish her masters thesis on Albert Lamorisse’s 1956 movie …
In some ways, my life–the life I live now as a teacher and writer–began in a bookstore. When I turned thirty and my last babe was potty trained, I started working part time in an independent bookstore. It was the late eighties and I’d been a stay-at-home momma for several years. It was time to …
Readers of the Broken Wheel (NetGalley) Katarina Bivald Sourcebooks Landmark Katarina Bivald’s Readers of the Broken Wheel is a love letter to books I could have written myself. The reviews of this wonderful little nugget are plentiful, so I thought another wasn’t really necessary. There’s Sara, let go from her job in a book shop, …
I’m almost finished with my summer digital reader’s copies and when I am, man-oh-man, I am diving into this shelf of real, honest-to-goodness print books as soon as I can. I’ll breathe that thick paper and glue smell deeply and bookmark my pages with an honest-to-goodness dog-ear, not a wimpy little icon inserted at the …
What reader doesn’t like reading about books … or bookstores or libraries or authors, for that matter? I’m surprised, really, at how many I’ve read over the past year or two: A.J. Fikry, Small Blessings, Mill River Redemption, The Bookman’s Tale. Here are two recent releases, one about a powerful book and the other about …
The Storied Life of A.J. Fikry by Gabrielle Zevin Algonquin Books What’s better than a book recommendation from a book-lovin’ friend? Nothing. So as soon as a friend wrote on my Facebook wall that The Storied Life of A.J. Fikry was fast and fun and right up my alley, I was on it. Plus I’m …
The Scrapbook of Frankie Pratt Caroline Preston Harper Collins One of my most precious possessions is a “School Friendship Book” I found at a flea market several years ago. It is the real deal. None of this photos cropped, matted, and embellished with stickers stuff that we do today. No, this is a leather journal-sized wonder with dusty …
This is my symphony 