For The Book Obsessed
[ad_1] When I think about summer reading, I think about a stone bench in a sun-dappled park where I imbibed the misadventures of Don Quixote, errant knight extraordinaire. I think about a gnarled tree stump on a rocky mountainside where I shook my head over the adultery of Emma B. Say “summer reading,” and tents, … Read more
[ad_1] Erik Larson is the author of five national bestsellers: Dead Wake, In the Garden of Beasts, Thunderstruck, The Devil in the White City, and Isaac’s Storm, which have collectively sold more than nine million copies. His latest, The Splendid and the Vile, delivers an intimate chronicle of Winston Churchill and London during the Blitz—it’s … Read more
[ad_1] I’ve always loved books, but I didn’t fully understand their power to help and heal until I met Christy Moore. Christy was one of the hundreds of people I interviewed as part of a five-year effort to collect life stories of Americans in all 50 states who’d been through wrenching life changes. Spurred by … Read more
[ad_1] For a time, I tried really hard not to write a book set in New York. I remembered why I was so resistant when, the other day, I asked my mother what it had been like for her, moving to New York from the Midwest with my father a few years before I was … Read more
[ad_1] Small, tight-knit communities and how they rally around those in need may be more relevant than ever in the current environment, but I have always been an old-school believer in the idea that “it takes a village.” When I was eleven years old, my father died in an accident and my life changed forever. … Read more
[ad_1] Kiley Reid earned her MFA from the Iowa Writers’ Workshop, where she was awarded the Truman Capote Fellowship and taught undergraduate creative writing workshops with a focus on race and class. Her short stories have been featured in Ploughshares, December, New South, and Lumina. Reid lives in Philadelphia. Such a Fun Age, Kiley’s debut novel, is an extremely important book. … Read more
[ad_1] Social media. Two words that sometimes make us cringe. We might embrace it. We might try to ignore it. We might change the settings on our phones to black and white so we’re less tempted to look at it. But, no matter how we view social media, it’s here to stay. At least until … Read more
[ad_1] Reading isn’t always easy or enjoyable. Sometimes, it can be incredibly difficult to focus and engage with the text you’re trying to read, especially if your mind is elsewhere. Lately, on social media, I’ve been seeing a lot of people relate to this. They’re finding it hard to read during these strenuous times. I … Read more
[ad_1] The stereotypic image of a book club, perpetuated by the 2018 movie starring Jane Fonda and Candice Bergen, involves women sipping chardonnay in front of a cheese plate gossiping about their love lives with the occasional reference to the book of the month. When wine can’t be shared and book clubs are more likely … Read more
[ad_1] I’ve always gravitated towards novels involving families. True to real life, there’s so much inescapable conflict to be had, and so many calamities that can take shape. It’s a wonder how the human race has survived, considering, but we crave the payout: familial love and understanding. In my debut, The Big Finish, an elderly … Read more