One book unsettled me with its closeness to evil, the other impressed me with its cold, deliberate distance. Both lingered long after the last page. January arrived with long nights and quiet hours, a space that invited reading without interruption. This month held two books that could not have been more different in form, yet … Continue reading Close to the Edge: Reading Dig Me a Grave and The Land in Winter
The reading never stopped. The blog did. Stepping away seemed necessary, if only to trust that the words would wait, as if they ever do. Journaling began last year. This year, while setting up my 2026 Traveler’s Notebook, it became clear that returning to the blog was overdue, two entries in, and the work that … Continue reading The Blog is Back!
“Folks had the nerve to call it Coleman Hill after y’all as if you was proud to own it.” – Kim Coleman Foote Coleman Hill Written by Kim Coleman Foote Published Sept 5, 2023 When I got my hands on the arc of this incredible story, I was intimidated beyond measure. I put off reading … Continue reading My thoughts on Coleman Hill
“Her stories only had a dramatic ending, never a sequel.” The Sinner Written by Petra Hammesfahr Published January 1, 1999 Originally a German thriller, The Sinner, is perhaps one of the darkest and most disturbing novels I’ve ever read this year. The novel introduces the reader to a young wife and mother named Cora Bender. … Continue reading The Sinner
“Everyone had their own theory about everything, and they believed that their truth was the only one that mattered.” Veronika Decides to Die Written by Paulo Coelho Published January 1, 1998 When I first heard about Veronika Decides to Die, it was seeing film stills from the 2009 movie starring Sarah Michelle Gellar. … Continue reading Veronika Decides to Die
I anxiously awaited the release of A Quitter’s Paradise, the first of hopefully many in the SJP Lit collection. As an avid reader and a fan of Sarah Jessica Parker’s former imprint SJP for Hogarth, I knew this story would be captivating, thought-provoking, and fresh, expanding my perspective beyond measure. One might call that an … Continue reading A Quitter’s Paradise
Two thousand, One Hundred and Seventy-Two Pages. Three short stories, a collection of three short stories, seven novels, and a graphic novel I say that February was a great reading month for me. How Lucky Written by Will Leitch I read How Lucky mostly because I wanted something fun and light-hearted. Not to mention … Continue reading
Despite being a classic and its enormous size, once I began reading Don Quixote, I realized that the intimidation I initially felt was silly. As I embarked on this adventure with Alonso Quijano, a simple man nearing his 50s, who decided to become a knight due to his obsession with chivalric romances, was that I was in for … Continue reading My Appreciation for Don Quixote
Beginning the 2023 year off with a bang, I set a slow, steady pace, reading only six books at 2,067 pages. According to my StoryGraph Stats, my most read genre of the month was Literary Fiction, Thriller, and Classics! I even had a True Crime read in there as well. Unfortunately, the only five-star … Continue reading Wrapping Up My January Reading Month
Yesterday, while in Asheville, North Carolina, I visited Battery Park Book Exchange & Champagne Bar with a friend. The ambiance of this unique destination was out of this world, or at least not what I had anticipated. It almost felt like we had stepped right into an Agatha Christie novel. Well, without the murder and … Continue reading Adventures with Alexa at Battery Park Book Exchange & Champagne Bar
Books and Mischief 