While I was in Europe this spring, I got to make a pilgrimage that was very special to me. I took a day trip from Berlin to Dresden and visited the shelter / meat locker where one of my favorite authors, Kurt Vonnegut, survived the bombing of Dresden as a prisoner of war during WWII.… Continue reading Happy Birthday, Kurt Vonnegut
Category: bookish things
On Weeding Your Book Collection
In my dream future, I live in a cozy cottage that has a comfortable, lovely library with floor to ceiling shelves and plenty of room for all of my books. In my current reality, I live in a small 1 bedroom apartment in Brooklyn with a book collection that pushes the limits of my (not… Continue reading On Weeding Your Book Collection
Weekend Reading
I caved and bought The Goldfinch yesterday. Despite the stacks of unread books all over the place in my apartment, I was craving something new and absorbing, and I decided Donna Tartt’s highly praised new book was it. I’m enjoying it so far. Here’s what I’ve been reading this week/weekend: I’m always interested in people’s… Continue reading Weekend Reading
Weekend Reading
It’s Sunday morning, and I’m drinking coffee and staring at a stack of books, trying to decide which one to read next. Yesterday evening I finished The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry on the 4 train home. While I sit here deciding what to read next, here are some posts/articles I enjoyed reading this week.… Continue reading Weekend Reading
2013 Five Book Bucket List Challenge
At the beginning of the year I set a reading goal on GoodReads: Read 80 books in 2013. It was somewhat arbitrary, but reasonable. In 2012 I read 63 books, which was a 5 year low. I didn’t think I could crack 100 though, so I set my goal in the middle. Tonight I finished… Continue reading 2013 Five Book Bucket List Challenge
Weekend Reading
Hello, Sunday evening. This was my first weekend home since Hawaii, and I relaxed like a boss. The soundtrack to my weekend was the beautiful and mellow “Autumn Leaves” by Vince Guaraldi. It’s finally cool enough to have a candle lit, which makes the apartment feel snug and cozy. The crisp air and strong winds… Continue reading Weekend Reading
Weekend Reading (delayed flight edition)
When life hands you huge travel delays, well… more blogging and reading time! A plane part is flying across Michigan as I type to fix our plane in Grand Rapids. Then I will eventually fly to Detroit myself and then on home to Brooklyn. It’s a beautiful Saturday and I’m rooting for my Spartans to… Continue reading Weekend Reading (delayed flight edition)
Fall Book Excitement
A few reasons why fall is the best season ever: College football. Crunchy leaves on the sidewalks. Homemade chili. Sharp, crisp air. Hooded sweatshirts. School supplies. Scary movies. Pumpkin flavored treats. Fall book releases. Here are the ones I can’t wait to read. In a hoodie. Drinking hot coffee. Eating pumpkin pie. Bellman and Black… Continue reading Fall Book Excitement
Behind the Scenes at the Museum by Kate Atkinson
Here’s a little Teaser Tuesday, from Behind the Scenes at the Museum by Kate Atkinson. I picked this one up because I loved Atkinson’s Life After Life so much, and I’m completely engrossed. I don’t think I’ll be able to sleep tonight until I finish the last 100 pages. I’m obsessed with Ruby Lennox’s hilarious… Continue reading Behind the Scenes at the Museum by Kate Atkinson
Audiobook Week!
There’s a lot of fun audiobook discussion happening on Devourer of Books for audiobook week, and since my Mom and I spend a significant amount of time on the phone with each other discussing audiobooks, I figured I should get in on the conversation. Today’s prompt is: “How do you decide what you’ll listen to?… Continue reading Audiobook Week!
Slightly Foxed
I’d like to recommend a fantastic literary quarterly to you. It’s called Slightly Foxed. I found it by way of Quarterly.co – I subscribed to Gretchen Rubin as soon as I saw that she was a curator. (Last year I read and loved Gretchen’s book on positive psychology and the importance of the things you do daily, The… Continue reading Slightly Foxed
How to become a Tolkien fan, for the reluctant
1. Steadfastly avoid Middle Earth for 28 years. Middle Earth is not for you. 2. During the latter part of those years, start a book club with your friends and listen to them tell you how great Tolkien is and how you really need to read Lord of the Rings or you can’t really call… Continue reading How to become a Tolkien fan, for the reluctant