In graduate school, I began annotating the books I read. Unlike lots of things from graduate school that I should still be doing, this habit stuck. I do it to this day. I love making that short entry in my tiny notebook when I finish reading something—an intentional assessment of resonance, failings, delights—and I find […]
Guest Blogger Christine Byl | What Shall I Read Next? Read More »
It is the day after the Women’s March and I am asking the question: Am I a well-balanced reader when it comes to the multiplicity of writers, especially that of women writers and characters? I sit down in my office this morning to take stock of all the books on my shelves. I want to
Guest Blogger Bryan Allen Fierro | Taking Stock Read More »
Fireside Reading: Some books of nature writing As a “nature writer” myself, I read voraciously in this field. In part, this is research for my own nonfiction projects. I’d also like to know what fellow writers are up to, and about new developments. Lastly, I read these books for inspiration, to be reminded of some
Michael Engelhard | Fireside Reading Read More »
I love reading lists, and the ones I’m tracking down lately are the reading lists of writers at key moments in their lives. A while back, I listed the books George Orwell was reading in 1949, the last full year of his life. This week, I stumbled upon a blogpost mention about books left on
Andromeda: What They Were Reading — The Books on John Updike's Desk, 2009 Read More »
I picked up “13 Ways” maybe two years ago, read parts of it (it’s organized in a way that invites skipping around), liked it well enough, and put it back on the shelf. I must have been involved in a tricky revision then and reading in search of easy-to-apply fiction solutions, which I did not
In grade school, I felt like a prisoner most of the time, and I’ve chosen to homeschool my own two children. And yet… each fall, as the leaves turn, I still remember the excitement of new backpacks, pencils, erasers and glue, and the promise of new beginnings. Maybe that’s why I went on a book-buying
‘Back to school’ reading about writing Read More »
I just finished reading David Lebedoff’s THE SAME MAN: GEORGE ORWELL & EVELYN WAUGH IN LOVE AND WAR (Random House 2008), a double biography that argues that Orwell, aka Eric Blair (liberal/radical, anti-status, atheist) and Evelyn Waugh (social climber and party boy, strict and self-tormenting Catholic) actually had much in common, including a dread that
George Orwell’s 1949 Reading List Read More »
