January was certainly an eventful month. We went from deeply disturbing to inspiring, and now I’m hopeful we can settle into something that feels a little more like daily life. My parents are still waiting to receive vaccinations, but I’m hoping that happens soon. It was a good month for reading, and I’ve gotten off…
I had mixed feelings about this book, which generated a lot of buzz when it came out, but I continue to think about it. It’s an unusual blend of character-driven horror, something like Station Eleven. It’s a book where not much happens, but it’s still terrifying. I would have liked it more except that sometimes…
This is my second book by O’Neill, and while it wasn’t nearly as powerful as Asking for It, it still kept me thinking well after I put it down. O’Neill draws characters that feel very real, and her books leave an emotional impact. Only Ever Yours is set in a dystopian future where girls are…
I moved to Washington, DC in September 1996. I’ll never forget the first time I visited, and how excited and awed I was by the city. I still am, even though I’ve come to know this region as much more than just the seat of government. It’s not just museums and monuments, but a region that…
Dear Miss Kopp is the sixth book in the Kopp Sisters series by Amy Stewart, and I was thrilled to receive an advanced review copy from NetGalley. This is one of my favorite historical series, and if you haven’t read it, I strongly recommend picking up the first book, Girl Waits With Gun. What makes…
This week’s Top Ten Tuesday, hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl, is about our reading goals and challenges for 2021. In my last post, I wrote about my reading and blogging trends in 2020, so now it’s time to think about what I want out of the coming year. It’s not quite a “top ten” list;…
I’m about a week late in wrapping up my year — and what a week it’s been! It hardly matters what or how I read in 2020 at this point, but 2020 was such an unusual year it seems worth thinking about. Things I missed in 2020: seeing family and friends, traveling and exploring new…
The first time I heard about this book, I was struck by how much it sounded like my own family. Neumann grew up in Venezuela, but her father was born in Czechoslovakia. He survived the Holocaust but never talked about it, and she grew up not knowing any of his family, except for her father’s…
Happy New Year! Despite pandemic stresses, the holiday season was lovely and we’re happy to see an end to 2021. We were sad to miss throwing our annual Latke Brunch and see our friends, but we spent a lot of time talking to family and we even shared an online wine tasting. Mr. CG and I…
This week, we’re sharing our favorite books of 2020 for Top Ten Tuesday (hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl). I found it hard this year to identify ten favorite books, maybe because I read more than usual or because I read a wider range of books. Or maybe just because it’s 2020. I found myself struggling…
At the beginning of 2020 I focused on four challenges: Read Harder, Reading Nonfiction, Reading Around the World, and reading books I already owned. My goal in January was to keep things a little simpler. And then 2020 happened. I ended up reading a lot more for comfort this year, but still read a lot…
Every year I try to read as many books as possible that are set in other countries. I keep track of each new country read as part of the five-year Reading Around the World challenge. And I joined a book club that reads books by women authors from other countries. In 2020 (so far) I…
I read, breathe, and live in bookish worlds.
Book Reviews
"Books are a uniquely portable magic" - Stephen King
*somewhere to collect my (mostly) bookish thoughts*
"She had read novels while other people perused the Sunday papers" - Mary Elizabeth Braddon
"The world was hers for the reading."
Thoughts on Literature, Expressing Creativity, Being Authentic
books, libraries, life
Reading, Writing, Cats - Life is pretty good.
Books and Beverages
