It can be argued that rugged individualism and American are synonymous. You can't have the American dream without the idea that if you work hard and rely on your own resources, you will ultimately succeed. Instead, as income inequality rises around us, we are left with shame and self-blame for our condition. Why is there so much poverty adjacent…
This week I decided to travel back millennia to rediscover the myths I thought I knew. We begin with the tale of Pandora's box jar. Author Natalie Haynes discovers that it wasn't until somewhere after the Middle Ages and before the 20th century that the jar became a box. Haynes then compares Pandora with the…
Zelda is having a moment. The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom was released less than two weeks ago and is already making its mark. A direct sequel to the largely successful Breath of the Wild (2017), Tears of the Kingdom is breaking records, selling over 10 million copies in the first three days.…
If you’ve been on the internet at any point since 2016, you’ve probably seen Maggie Smith’s viral poem “Good Bones.” It’s breathtakingly sad and also the tiniest bit hopeful, and any time the world seems especially disastrous, it pops up all over social media as a way to put words to unspeakably hard situations. At…
This month, I have not one, but two picks for you. Both of my picks this week are memoirs, and that's where the similarities end. For the reader, Jennette McCurdy's memoir, I'M GLAD MY MOM DIED, and Vanessa Schneider's memoir, MY COUSIN MARIA SCHNEIDER take very different turns. Child actor Jennette McCurdy didn't have the easiest…
Getting lost amidst the trees of Sasha LaPointe's poetry collection is a happy experience. We are met with crystals and tarot cards, fables, and fairy tales. The cover itself evokes a scene of an alter amidst pines, with candles, stones, roses, and feathers. LaPointe’s autobiographical memories are laced with imagery and weaved into stories spaced…
One of the small-but-significant joys of reading is figuring out the meaning behind the title. The moment when I make the connection – “oh, that’s what the author was going for” gives me the same sense of delighted satisfaction as finding the a tricky piece in a jigsaw puzzle. In the case of Rebecca Makkai’s…
There were other books I considered for this post. At first I considered TRAVELERS TO UNIMAGINABLE LANDS: STORIES OF DEMENTIA, THE CAREGIVER, AND THE HUMAN BRAIN / Dasha Kiper ; foreword by Norman Doidge, which was an excellent read for caregivers of dementia patients. I would recommend this book for anyone who's life has been…
Have you ever read something that took you somewhere, only to look back and realize the experience has changed you completely? “Wadia man” Ajay is in the driver’s seat after a car jumps the curb in 2004, killing five laborers, one pregnant. He says he works for Gautam Rathore, the vehicle owner. Rewind 13 years.…
There are many stories that will never be told, narratives lost to history. Whether they were erased purposefully, or lost in the annals of time, there are a great number of stories which will never be known. Such is not the case for William and Ellen Craft. Theirs is a story that is so unbelievable,…
