Jacobo’s Rainbow by David Hirshberg May 2021 Although set in the nineteen sixties, David Hirshberg’s Jacobo’s Rainbow is infused with prescient relevance today. This hero’s journey shines a light on activism and protest on a college campus as well as the idea of patriotism and serving in the army. Most profoundly, it depicts a search […]
Cassandra Speaks is Lesser’s musing on how it might be different if women told our civilization’s earliest stories, how it might be different if our society valued attributes found predominantly in women as opposed to those found predominantly in men. Layers and layers of patriarchy are hard to strip off, however, as both women and […]
I finally had a hair appointment and while the grey is back under control and the cut is cute and bouncy, the best thing about the appointment was somewhat unexpected. The act of reclining back toward the sink to have my hair shampooed brought on a state of near ecstasy I hadn’t anticipated. It wasn’t […]
The Ten-Year Nap by Meg Wolitzer So I’m late to the party on this one but The Ten-Year Nap belongs on the shelf of important feminist novels, addressing issues around motherhood and women spend their time. I am a big fan of Meg Wolitzer and picked this one up after really enjoying her more recent […]
Transcendent Kingdom by Yaa Gyasi ** spoiler alert ** I picked up this book because I loved Gyasi’s debut, Homegoing. I kept reading because TRANSCENDENT KINGDOM is a treasure. The protagonist, Gifty, reconciles an evangelical christian upbringing with a career as a scientist. She processes the addiction and loss of a brother, the debilitating depression […]
Daddy by Emma Cline Daddy is a wonderful collection of stories that struck a chord with me for its insights into dark situations. The sense of knowing and revelatory observation kept me reading these sometimes everyday, sometimes twisted stories. Was excited to read because I was a big fan of The Girls. Cline writes about […]
The Yellow House by Sarah M. Broom What I loved most about this memoir was Sarah’s voice, and her honest, unsure assemblage of memory, research, and interview that combines to paint a history of a house, a family, and a city. I loved being privy to Sarah’s confusion and frustration along the way, her hesitancy […]
A Very Punchable Face by Colin Jost I became a fan of Colin Jost after he delivered the commencement speech at my daughter’s high school graduation – more of a stand up comedy routine than a speech, but he did end up delivering a great message in the end. So I pre-ordered his book as […]
This essay originally appeared on Medium.com. I propped my head on pillows this morning, listening to the sound of the rain on the roof. Still early, I picked up The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath and finished it in one last gulp. It’s a classic I rued not already having read, if not for its importance in […]
The Days of Abandonment by Elena Ferrante Wow, The Days of Abandonment was well written with important things to say, but still pretty tough for me to read. As Olga navigates the dark days and weeks after her husband’s departure, the reader cringes and worries for the helpless beings in her care. It really triggered […]
