The summer between my junior and senior year of college I did summer stock at U of I. I’ll never forget that summer. The rehearsals, the friendships, the romances, the drinking, the smoking, the late nights, the FUN. Oh to be young and have your whole life ahead of you.

When I read Ann Patchett’s book Tom Lake I was suddenly reliving my own summer and reflecting on the decisions I did and didn’t make since those heady days of youth.

In Patchett’s book, we meet a family during the pandemic. … [Read more...] about Tom Lake

The opening line of this BANNED children's book is “There will be days when you walk into a room and no one there is quite like you.”

Ever felt that way?

The book follows the first day of school for children who feel like they don’t fit in because of their language or looks or what they eat or whatever.

Woodson offers her reader a remedy toward the end of the book: “There will be days when you walk into a room and no one there is quite like you……until the day you begin to share your … [Read more...] about The Day You Begin

For those who can never get enough of the Kennedy’s, there’s a new book out just this week to satiate your passion for this storied family. It’s called White House By the Sea by Kate Storey. The book focuses on the Kennedy lives from the vantage point of their summer house at Hyannis Port, also known as the Summer White House, where for a hundred years America’s most famous political family has come to swim, play, celebrate, and bond. It is also the setting of so many events we remember: JFK … [Read more...] about White House by the Sea

Beware the Woman by Megan Abbott is a suspense novel that turns the age-old “woman in trouble” plot on its head.

I loved Abbott's other bestseller, The Turnout. I learned from my favorite NPR book reviewer Maureen Corrigan that Abbot has a Phd in literature and that she wrote her dissertation on the figure of the macho “tough guy” in the mysteries of writers like Dashiell Hammett. Corrigan says, “Abbott is one smart dame when it comes to sussing out the sexism inherent in those mysteries that … [Read more...] about Beware the Woman

The Power of Wonder!

Author Monica Parker in her new book The Power of Wonder reveals what wonder is, why we need it, and how to cultivate it in your life.

In our technology-obsessed world, Parker points out that many have traded wonder for the “facsimile of electronic novelty-seeking": scrolling on Facebook, Instagram, or whatever your current jam is.

Whether you’re aware of it or not, wonder spirals its way through our shared human experience. From artistic expression to religious … [Read more...] about The Power of Wonder

Aimee Nezhukumatathil writes the foreword to this wonderful collection of poems about gardens and the hands that tend them. Nezhukumatathil is a poet and the author of one of my favorite books World of Wonders—which is astonishing. In her forward to this collection of poems Leaning Toward Light, she writes, “I’ve been tickled for years to learn that the word anthology means a ‘gathering of flowers.’ Even if your garden grows vegetables or fruit, flowers need to bloom to make the harvest … [Read more...] about Leaning Toward Light

Billy Collins was Poet Laureate in 2001 and he wanted to keep the love of poetry alive, especially among teenagers. As he notes, “High school is the focus of my program because all too often it is the place where poetry goes to die.” He gathered a series of 180 poems that were short, clear, and that anyone could basically get in one hearing. The number matched the approximate number of days kids are in school, and he encouraged schools to read a poem a day over the loud speaker during … [Read more...] about Poetry 180: A Turning Back to Poetry

“There are moments that cry out to be fulfilled. Like, telling someone you love them. Or giving your money away, all of it. Your heart is beating, isn't it?” Anything by the Pulitzer Prize winning and astonishing Mary Oliver is wonderful! I love Felicity and Dog Songs. … [Read more...] about Felicity

I used to have a chair in my bedroom I felt guilty about. It was stacked high with clothes I had taken off but didn’t quite know what to do with. They were’t really dirty enough to be laundered but at the same time I didn’t want to put them back with my totally clean clothes.

When we moved a couple of years ago, I was determined not to have an unkempt laundry chair. I would put everything away. Today, I keep a little round stool in my closet to sit on, like for hoisting on a pair of Spanx, … [Read more...] about House Love