This article was originally published on Medium.com as “Time to Adopt a Morning Ritual.” Disclosure: This page may contain affiliate links, meaning if you decide to make a purchase through one of these links, I may make a small commission (at no additional cost to you), which I will donate to literary organizations in Boston. […]
Trust Exercise by Susan Choi Wow. This was really an interesting book. It is intellectually rigorous as well as original, thoughtful, observant and timely. The points of view (3 I believe) tell stories that overlap, repeat and advance and retreat in time. The story of Sarah and David in the beginning is a cutting description […]
The Middlesteins by Jami Attenberg This was a great look into a troubled family, told from the point of view of multiple characters and across a broad spectrum of time. I was drawn to reading it as it was Attenberg’s break-out novel and I just recently discovered her work when I recently picked up “All […]
This post was originally published on the Boston Book Blog. A writer’s day can be a mixed bag. Yes, my ideal is four uninterrupted, morning hours at my desk, but writers can’t always be writing – there are many other activities that go along with the job. Some days I take a class, meet with […]
Such a Fun Age by Kiley Reid I’m always eager to read debut fiction that is getting lots of hype. I heard a podcast interview with the author which left me even more intrigued. On the plus side, Such a Fun Age left me wanting to discuss it with somebody. It is provocative in that […]
Motherland: A Memoir of Love, Loathing, and Longing by Elissa Altman Motherland is the type of memoir I absolutely love, not constrained by chronology, it works the way memory works when we try to make meaning of the past and the to understand the most fundamental relationships. Altman’s language and imagery is pristine and carried […]
Normal People by Sally Rooney A reminder of how tiresome young relationships are. It wore me out. I stuck with the book and enjoyed some of the turns of phrase, but in real life I would have walked away from the mess a lot earlier. I was anxious to love this book given the hype, […]
All This Could Be Yours by Jami Attenberg A tale of a dysfunctional family that I gobbled up. In Attenberg’s latest novel we witness the fall out of a terrible father and an equally terrible, albeit not criminal, mother. What ensues is a weird kind of pseudo vigil while waiting for a bad man to […]
Red at the Bone by Jacqueline Woodson What beautiful language and innovative structure. Red At The Bone and specifically the character of Iris was illuminating and thought provoking. This was a short read chock full of poetic language. A huge fan of books about the cycles of motherhood and sacrifice, I truly enjoyed this fresh […]
This essay was originally posted on Medium.com. John and I flew down to the Dominican Republic to spend New Year’s with friends at Casa de Campo. It was the afternoon of our arrival and we were enjoying cold drinks and their view of the sun lowering over the sea when I reached for my phone […]
