Collage of book covers: Long Island by Colm Toibin; Sag Harbor by Colin Whitehead; The Last House Guest by Megan Miranda; The Night Guest by Hildur Knútsdóttir; Before I Go to Sleep by S.J. Watson; Night Woman by Nancy Price; The Woman Upstairs by Claire Messud

6 Degrees of Separation

This month’s starting point is Colm Tóibín’s Long Island. Here’s the description from Goodreads: From the beloved, critically acclaimed New York Times bestselling author comes a spectacularly moving and intense novel of secrecy, misunderstanding, and love, the story of Eilis Lacey, the complex and enigmatic heroine of Brooklyn, Tóibín’s most popular work, twenty years later. […]

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A stack of 3 closed books, next to an open notebook on which rests a ballpoint pen. Text: Literary Links: Life Stories in Literature

Literary Links: Life Stories in Literature

What I Wish Someone Had Told Me 30 Years Ago Jim VandeHei adapted this article from his recent book Just the Good Stuff: No-BS Secrets to Success (No Matter What Life Throws At You). I give the book’s full title, including the long and awkward subtitle, because it carries the true point: This is not

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feature: Life Stories in Literature

Review: “The Drowning People”

Related Post: Writing the post about how The Drowning People contributed to my development in reading reminded me to put this novel on my list of books to reread this month. I’m glad I reread it. What I initially remembered was how the gothic elements gave the novel an air of timelessness and oppressiveness. What I didn’t

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Last Week's Links

Literary Links

Seven Books That Demystify Human Behavior I firmly believe that reading fiction teaches us a lot about being human. Here freelance writer Chelsea Leu suggests books, both fiction and nonfiction, that can increase our understanding of people. Make it awkward! “Rather than being a cringey personal failing, awkwardness is a collective rupture – and a

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Discussion

How I Review Novels

Related Post: I’ve been blogging about books since the late 1990s. During that time I’ve thought a lot about why I blog but not so much about how—or rather, how I approach reviewing a book. I’ve put off writing this post for quite a while as I looked back over past reviews I’ve written, especially

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Last Week's Links

Literary Links

When Emily Dickinson Mailed It In “The supposed recluse constantly sent letters to friends, family, and lovers. What do they show us?” Kamran Javadizadeh looks at The Letters of Emily Dickinson, “a new, definitive edition that collects, reorders, and freshly annotates every surviving letter that Dickinson sent (or drafted) to someone else, along with the

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Collage of book covers. Large cover on left: After Story by Larissa Behrendt. Smaller covers: top row: Black Cake by Charmaine Wilderson; Searching for Sylvie Lee by Jean Kwok; Everything I Never Told You by Celeste Ng. Bottom row: The Center of Everything by Laura Moriarty; The Center Cannot Hold by Elyn Saks; Brain on Fire by Susannah Cahalan.

6 Degrees of Separation

This month’s starting book is After Story by Larissa Behrendt. I haven’t read it, although it sounds like a book I would appreciate. Here’s the description from Goodreads: When Indigenous lawyer Jasmine decides to take her mother Della on a tour of England’s most revered literary sites, Jasmine hopes it will bring them closer together

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Background: 3 stacked, closed books; open notebook with pen on top. Text: September Is Rereading Month

September Is Rereading Month

For the past few years I’ve set aside September as a month for rereading works that I’ve continued to think about since I first read them. I don’t remember exactly when I started doing this or even why, but knowing that it will eventually come up gives me comfort all year. And once I started

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