I first read Things Fall Apart in a World Civilizations course at Westmont College. World Civ was supposed to be one of the most challenging classes at Westmont, at least as far as gen eds were concerned, so I decided to take it during a Mayterm when I had nothing else going on. True to reputation, that class involved a [...]
Peter Nimble is quite possibly the greatest thief in the whole world. He’s also 10 years old. And an orphan. Oh, and, he has no eyes. Sad? Yes. Perfect beginning to the most awesome children’s novel you’ve read since Harry Potter/Lemony Snicket? Most definitely. Peter Nimble and His Fantastic Eyes (2011) is Jonathan Auxier’s first novel, and it is one [...]
Guess what guys? I am not the only female writer who totally adores baseball! I mean, I know it’s Super Bowl season (GO NINERS!) and spring training doesn’t start for another few weeks, but I have to share with you this memoir I just read by Doris Kearns Goodwin called Wait Till Next Year (1998). Based on the cover, I [...]
I know it’s cliche, but I thought, given that it’s Thanksgiving week, I’d write about some books for which I’m thankful in lieu of an typical review. Have you ever had that experience where you pick up a book and begin to read and it’s like the author wrote it just for you? Maybe it even feels like a voice [...]
In the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy and the storms that came, unfortunately, to join it, I decided to talk to my students about the idea of “bearing witness” as a legitimate gesture in the movement toward social justice. On my way to work earlier that week, I was listening to NPR and the host was relating, in detail, the ways [...]
Remember when you were a hyper-intellectual college student and had everything figured out and were totally annoyed with rest of the world for being so clueless? And remember how just the other day you were getting a Pumpkin Spice Latte at Starbucks (soy milk, of course) and you ran into some of those late-adolescent idiots and were like, “Okay, I [...]
Finally! I have a super fun book for you guys. Super fun! I would say it’s great “summer reading,” but summer has already passed so maybe that isn’t the best selling point. Unless you’re in Southern California and you’re still spending your afternoons by the pool because, no matter how much you may want to start wearing your cardigans, it’s [...]
We haven’t done a memoir in a while, right? Cool. I’m feeling in the mood. Plus, my gentleman friend and I just finished reading one (I read out loud to him. Sooooo cute, right? Totes adorb.) Translation: it’s convenient. Thing is, you’ve probably never heard of this book. And I don’t mean that in a ‘How Many Hipsters Does It [...]
A coworker recently lent me Chad Harbach’s novel The Art of Fielding (2011). I’m not very far into it yet, but hopefully I’ll have a review for you sometime soon. In the meantime, Harbach’s book, being about baseball (among other things), inspired me to take a look back at one of my favorite novels of all time: The Brothers K by David James Duncan [...]
It will probably come as no surprise that I was one of those kids who read, and finished, every book assigned to me in high school. It’s not as if I actually enjoyed them all; I was just…dutiful. Dutiful to the tune of almost straight A’s (I’m lookin’ at you, AP US History) which got me into a well-regarded and [...]
