There are lots of occasions in which democracy is a great idea. Government, for example, seems to do pretty well in a democracy. Family meetings are sometimes a good place to hold a vote. In book club, however, I think democracy’s time has come and gone. ‘But Katie,’ you ask, ‘how do we make sure […]
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Changing My Mind: Occasional Essays – Zadie Smith It’s been a few years now since I read On Beauty and White Teeth, but I remember really loving both and I’d consider myself a fan of Smith’s. I would imagine if you are as educated in the world of literary criticism as Smith you might get more enjoyment out of this […]
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The Word Exchange by Alena Graedon This was a quick, fun-ish read that reminded me a lot of a book I read last year, Lexicon, by Max Barry. Lexicon is a bit more tense with serious implications for complex characters. The Word Exchange, however, had slightly less dire stakes and was more quick-paced romp than dark thriller. The […]
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The Buried Giant by Kazuo Ishiguro The only other book by Ishiguro that I’ve read is Never Let Me Go, which I loved. Other than a similarity in that feeling of being plunked abruptly into a world (a feeling I love), these books have almost nothing in common. I’d heard a little buzz about The Buried Giant when […]
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Pretty much as far back as I can remember, I’ve been a hardcore bookworm. I can still conjure up the feeling that I always got reading the first three chapters of every Baby-sitters Club book, when they have to introduce the characters all over again, in case you were just joining us now in the middle […]
Read more...Although I’ve been an avid reader for most of my life, it wasn’t until a few years ago that I finally got around to joining a book club. In school I was obnoxiously opinionated and, for the life of me, I couldn’t manage to keep my mouth shut even when I knew I should. What’s […]
Read more...My favorite book is The World According to Garp, but I don’t usually say that. When people ask me my favorite book, I usually lie. More often, I rattle off several and usually list the authors I like, rather than the books I love. Don’t get me wrong—I almost always remember to include John Irving […]
Read more...I’ve got jury duty for the next two weeks, and although it seems complaining about your jury summons is the popular thing to do, I’m really kind of enjoying it. I get paid time off from work to sit around and read books, and everybody keeps commending me for performing my civic duties. I finally […]
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I keep two pretty well maintained lists of likes and dislikes on my facebook profile. I recently added the item “everything ever written by Nicholas Sparks—I’d probably even hate his grocery lists” to my dislikes list, which gave me a grand idea. I’m pleased to present Nicholas Sparks’s grocery list: messages bottles a row boat […]
Read more...At first, I only admired the clever irony of the Hot Mormon calendar but lately I’m starting to think those sexy blasphemous heathens were on to something. Elder Freeman and Elder Jones came to my door a few months ago and when I wasn’t staring deep into their eyes, hoping to impart some telepathic anti-cult […]
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