books & more
The long list of finalists for the Booker Prize in literature were announced yesterday! I'm a sucker for awards and lists like this, and it's a great place to find new book recommendations. If you aren't familiar with the Booker Prize, it's one of the most coveted awards in literature. It's given to exceptional novels [...]
This year I'll be teaching American Literature at our homeschool co-op, and we've finally narrowed down our reading list. I'm a real "look at all the options" type, and I constantly struggle with the tension of balancing classics that are important with modern books I know they'll likely enjoy more. Here's what homework looks like [...]
It's one of my favorite times of the year to browse around the bookstore, so I wanted to share the books I've read this year to give you some ideas on what to buy...and what not to buy...for yourself or the people on your list. Good, bad, and in-between, here's my 2025 reading list. I've [...]
I loved this book. Catherine Newman's Sandwich is, in short, the story of a family's annual trip to the Cape Cod coast for their summer vacation. Empty nesters Rocky and Nick are there with their two just-barely-adult children, Jamie and Willa, and Jamie's girlfriend Maya. Mid-week, as always, Rocky's parents join them for two nights. [...]
You may be wondering why I'm spending time writing about books that hit the shelves of bookstores years ago. Well, two things have happened. I've joined a book club, which I've already told you about. And I've made a promise to myself that I'm absolutely sure I will break, and that is to read the [...]
Our book club read Claire Keegan's Foster this month, and it's the type of book that continues to settle in you over the days and weeks after you finish it. The cover is riddled with blurbs like, "A small miracle," or "A thing of finely honed beauty," or even, "As good as Chekhov." In my [...]
This post contains affiliate links. For about a year, Satoshi Yagisawa's Days at the Morisake Bookshop (trans. Eric Ozawa) sat on my Amazon wishlist, just waiting to be purchased. It was an impulse add, thanks to its charming cover design. Great work, Ilya Milstein and Milan Bozic! It captures perfectly the cozy, book-loving atmosphere the [...]
Spilled Milk 