Once upon a time I had trouble finding books that I enjoyed. I am pretty picky with my reads, and often a book that is getting a lot of press and accolades leaves me cold. Suffice it to say that I had to figure out some ways to find books that I loved without relying … Continue reading Beyond the Bestsellers: How to Find Your Next Favourite Book
Literary paper dolls. Has anyone had a better idea, ever? I'm a little bit late to this party, but starting in May 2019, The Paris Review writer Julia Berick partnered with illustrator Jenny Kroik to create: "what us bookworm-clotheshorse child-adults have always wanted: literary paper dolls." The first one in the series was my very … Continue reading Rereading Old Favourites: an Interlude (with Paper Dolls)
I just finished reading Hot Milk by Deborah Levy, and I have emerged from its pages feeling sunburned. The novel is set in Almería, in southeast Spain, on the Mediterranean Sea. It's an unfriendly landscape, with blazing sun, burning sand, and harsh salt. There are sweltering plastic greenhouses, unlovely gas canisters lining the beach, and … Continue reading Mothers, Daughters, and Jellyfish: Hot Milk by Deborah Levy
The lady herself: Muriel Spark in 1960. For a long time, Muriel Spark was a name in the back of my mind. I saw her books in used bookstores and thought, I should read those. I knew of the film adaptation of The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie, but I wasn't sure about it—not only … Continue reading Muriel Spark & Me
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