“The fact is, these widespread efforts to challenge and ban Lawn Boy have only driven sales and raised awareness of the book. So, what are the book banners actually accomplishing?” —Jonathan Evison, “My Life in Book Banning,” Poets & Writers, Sept/Oct 2022 Despite some disturbing hate mail, the challenging of Jonathan Evison’s novel Lawn Boy might not have been such...
“When Marek reached the bottom of the mountain and looked out at the dark pasture, he saw his old home and smelled the stench of death floating on the slow breeze as he walked toward it.” —Ottessa Moshfegh, Lapvona Ottessa Moshfegh is one of my favorite living authors. I will read anything by her. Her prose is both straightforward and...
“My writing career, like all writing careers, has been one of dashed hopes, of rising from failure, and of trying again. Writing is a pick-yourself-up, dust-yourself-off profession. It’s a business of endurance.” —Siân Griffiths, “When the Affair Is Over,” Poets & Writers, Sept/Oct 2022 Indeed. That’s why I’m so excited to have a string of wins to report to you...
What’s the loneliest month for a Silent Book Club organizer? Find out in my latest post for the SBC blog. It’s about the changing calendar year and what it means for clubs like mine. Check out the article here! (HINT: It’s not the current month. . . . But seriously, can you guess?)
The Sackler family is known for its intense secrecy . . . as well as, ironically, for getting their family name prominently installed in famous art museums and universities in the U.S. and abroad through philanthropic gifts. Despite the family’s secrecy, journalist Patrick Radden Keefe somehow obtained the intimate and detailed information needed to write the tour de force Empire...
“No one is immune from acting differently with someone positioned higher than himself than with someone situated lower. The whole world depends on this dynamic, and this hierarchy is deeply ingrained in men.” —Olga Tokarczuk, The Books of Jacob When I was younger, I had a philosophy that I should treat everyone equally and assume that everyone was basically the...
The online literary journal Brief Wilderness has published three poems from my unpublished collection Two Novembers: A Memoir of Love ‘n’ Sex in Sonnets. Click here to read them on the Brief Wilderness site. Read the poems to learn about complications and ironies of my love life and to watch me riff on my last name. I hope you enjoy...
One of the most unique and gripping books I have read in the past few months is called Furious Hours: Murder, Fraud, and the Last Trial of Harper Lee, by Casey Cep. The first half of the book is a gripping, true-crime story about a preacher who murdered his relatives to collect on life insurance policies. The second half of...
“Luck is such an interesting concept. Personally, I think you have to work very hard to be lucky. But even then you have to be lucky.” —Betsy Lerner, from her blog post You Don’t Know How Lucky You Are Boy In other words, you can have hard work without luck, but you can’t have luck without hard work. You can...
The inquisitive one was on a date with a tall person originally from Puerto Rico. They talked about their book reading, their exercise routines, and their work lives. Then suddenly, the date said something that surprised the i.o. “I have a request,” said the date. “I’ve read Liza’s blog. Liza writes about you fairly regularly. You must tell Liza not...
“For women are to a considerable extent slaves of this world, knowing nothing of their freedom, having not been taught how to be free.” —Olga Tokarczuk, The Books of Jacob What a statement. Bowled me over when I read it. But is it true? The novel it comes from is set in eighteenth-century eastern Europe. Certainly women were not taught...
No one knows what to think about Haruki Murakami. That is, everyone knows what to think, but no one can agree. The Japanese fiction author is both beloved and pooh-poohed around the world, by throngs of admiring fans and those who hold their noses in the air. Love him or hate him, he has a new book out called First...
The inquisitive one takes so many pills that it is hard to keep track of them all. So the inquisitive one bought one of those Sunday thru Saturday, am and pm, pill boxes. Every Sunday morning, the inquisitive one fills the Sunday thru Saturday, am and pm, pill box. The inquisitive one does this very carefully, as a screw-up could...
I love this wisdom from a novel I am currently reading: “There are four types of readers. There is the reading sponge, the reading funnel, the reading colander, and the reading sieve. The sponge absorbs everything it comes into contact with; and it is evident he remembers much of it later, too. But he is not able to filter out...
I love browsing brick-and-mortar bookstores, especially indie ones. It’s great to move through the cute spaces and notice which books are featured on tables, aisle ends, and face-front on shelves, and which are tucked away unobtrusively, lined up with a bunch of others. It’s great to see the staff picks to learn which books others have loved. There are the...
Klara is a robot with sophisticated artificial intelligence. The sun is the sun: beautiful, replenishing, worthy of worship. Kazuo Ishiguro is a master storyteller most famous for his brilliant novel The Remains of the Day (1989), which has many similarities to Klara and the Sun (2021). In both novels, written an astonishing 32 years apart, the protagonist is wholeheartedly dedicated...
Someone knocked on my door. It was the inquisitive one, panting, and wearing fashionable running clothes that stank like rotten food tossed on a hot compost pile. “Come in!” I said warmly. “What an unexpected surprise! Would you like to join me on my back porch?” “What’s that big truck in your driveway?” said the i.o. “That’s my landscaper. Would...
Hello Blog Readers, As you know, I have been mostly in absentia for the past few months. I wrote a book during that time. It is a memoir, and it chronicles unusual thoughts and experiences that I have had from the age of 5 to the present. Upon completing the book, I pitched it to literary agents. I have received...
Have you ever read a book with no paragraph breaks, the entire 289 pages consisting of one extremely long paragraph? If you take my advice, you are about to. Dead Souls is the title of a famous nineteenth-century Russian novel by Nikolai Gogol, but that’s not the Dead Souls I’m writing about today. The Dead Souls I’m writing about today...
I’m excited to announce that three love sonnets from my sonnet sequence Two Novembers have been published by Tofu Ink Arts Press. The poems can be found in Tofu Ink Arts Press, Volume 4, available in print from various booksellers. Purchase Tofu Ink Arts Press, Volume 4 through Bookshop. Purchase Tofu Ink Arts Press, Volume 4 through Barnes & Noble....
I have read the masterpiece Don Quixote, by Miguel de Cervantes, twice in my life. The two experiences were quite different. This was in large part due to the fact that I read two very different translations of the book. Don Quixote Reading #1: Bargain-Bin Translation The first time, I was in my early 30s. I had picked up the...
I recently met a guy who disclosed to me that his personal motto is “Not my circus, not my monkeys.” Despite this expression having been popular for a number of years—it’s all over the Internet—I did not remember hearing it before. But I instantly took to it. What lovely imagery. And what lovely meaning: so metaphorical, yet so obvious. At...
Mind the gap! This I will do. Yes, sir; yes, ma’am! It would be a shame to drop a personal item between the platform and the train—or, God forbid, a body part. I am finding that the gaps here in London are more irregular than in Washington, D.C., and truly do require some minding. Sometimes the train is flush with...
Everything in moderation, including moderation. Heard that before? Now you have, in any case. Feel free to attribute that quote to me. After all, I wrote it. (Look above, if you don’t believe me.) Take it and run with it, Internet! Origin of the Quote Oh, so you require more persuasion before quoting me on that? You wish to know...
Humor me for a moment, and mentally discard all those books that are, in your opinion, page-turners. Any reads that you find to be quick, easy, fun, fascinating, lovely, exciting, or otherwise engrossing are irrelevant to this discussion. Next, add to that discard pile all those books that lack redeeming qualities, as far as you can tell. You’ve read a...
The following is a true story about if vs whether grammar pitfalls that can happen in business communications. The First Email A few weeks ago, one of the leaders of the company I work for sent all employees an email announcing an upcoming company event and listing possible dates on which it might be held. The leader also wrote this:...
I got into a minor Facebook spat with a friend. I had posted an image of Kamala Harris wearing the Converse sneakers she has become famous for wearing. And I wrote that I was excited about this clothing choice by a woman at the top levels of government. My friend objected. She said, why are people commenting on a female...
Do you remember that card game called War? Was it only Gen X’ers like me who played this game as a kid? Do you older and younger folk also remember draggingly long afternoons when Mom was taking forever to start making dinner, and there was nothing on TV, and you had no one to play with except your staggeringly stupid...
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Books previewed
Lapvona Ottessa Moshfegh
Empire of Pain Patrick Radden Keefe
Furious Hours Casey Cep
First Person Singular Haruki Murakami
Klara and the Sun Kazuo Ishiguro
Dead Souls Sam Riviere
The Pale King David Foster Wallace
Lightning Flowers Katherine E. Standefer
Beautiful World, Where Are You / Normal People / Conversations With Friends Sally Rooney
Swan Dive Georgina Pazcoguin
A Passage North Anuk Arudpragasam
Lucky Jim Kingsley Amis
Projections Karl Deisseroth
The Indian Lawyer James Welch
Atomic Habits James Clear
The History of Philosophy A. C. Grayling
Dusk, Night, Dawn Anne Lamott
Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? Philip K. Dick
Nothing to See Here Kevin Wilson
Change Damon Centola
Homeland Elegies Ayad Akhtar
Becoming Attached Robert Karen
Piranesi Susanna Clarke
Don Quixote Miguel de Cervantes
Solitary Albert Woodfox
Girl, Woman, Other Bernardine Evaristo
Enlightenment by Trial and Error Jay Michaelson
Death in Her Hands Ottessa Moshfegh
The Cooking Gene Michael W. Twitty
The First Bad Man Miranda July
Upheaval Jared Diamond
A Journal of the Plague Year Daniel Defoe
Creatures Crissy Van Meter
Indelicacy Amina Cain
Say What You Mean Oren Jay Sofer
Habits of a Happy Brain Loretta Graziano Breuning
Bad Behavior, This Is Pleasure Mary Gaitskill
The Brother Gardeners Andrea Wulf
Severance Ling Ma
How to Be an Antiracist Ibram X. Kendi
The Museum of Modern Love Heather Rose
Why I Write George Orwell
The Woman Destroyed Simone de Beauvoir
Educated Tara Westover
The Gift Hafiz
The Collected Schizophrenias Esmé Weijun Wang
Your Duck Is My Duck Deborah Eisenberg
Sapiens Yuval Noah Harari
Milkman Anna Burns
Under the Banner of Heaven Jon Krakauer
Waiting for Bojangles Olivier Bourdeaut
A Mind Unraveled Kurt Eichenwald
Eugénie Grandet Honoré de Balzac
The Body Keeps the Score Bessel van der Kolk, M.D.
The Bookshop Penelope Fitzgerald
Digital Minimalism Cal Newport
The Sisters Brothers Patrick deWitt
Dare to Lead Brené Brown
My Year of Rest and Relaxation Ottessa Moshfegh
Almost Everything Anne Lamott
Born to Run Christopher McDougall, Bruce Springsteen
The Ladies’ Paradise Émile Zola
The World Beyond Your Head Matthew B. Crawford
All the Birds, Singing Evie Wyld
Barracoon Zora Neale Hurston
Dandelion Wine Ray Bradbury
JavaScript & jQuery Jon Duckett
Home Fire Kamila Shamsie
The Weather Detective Peter Wohlleben
Play It As It Lays Joan Didion
The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck Mark Manson
Convenience Store Woman Sayaka Murata
Perfect Me Heather Widdows
Sorry to Disrupt the Peace Patty Yumi Cottrell
Why Buddhism Is True Robert Wright
What Is Real? Adam Becker
Kudos Rachel Cusk
The Days of Abandonment Elena Ferrante
F*cked Corinne Fisher & Krystyna Hutchinson
Searching for Stars on an Island in Maine Alan Lightman
Wide Sargasso Sea Jean Rhys
Infinite Jest David Foster Wallace
A Room of One’s Own Virginia Woolf
Empire of Pain Patrick Radden Keefe
Furious Hours Casey Cep
First Person Singular Haruki Murakami
Klara and the Sun Kazuo Ishiguro
Dead Souls Sam Riviere
The Pale King David Foster Wallace
Lightning Flowers Katherine E. Standefer
Beautiful World, Where Are You / Normal People / Conversations With Friends Sally Rooney
Swan Dive Georgina Pazcoguin
A Passage North Anuk Arudpragasam
Lucky Jim Kingsley Amis
Projections Karl Deisseroth
The Indian Lawyer James Welch
Atomic Habits James Clear
The History of Philosophy A. C. Grayling
Dusk, Night, Dawn Anne Lamott
Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? Philip K. Dick
Nothing to See Here Kevin Wilson
Change Damon Centola
Homeland Elegies Ayad Akhtar
Becoming Attached Robert Karen
Piranesi Susanna Clarke
Don Quixote Miguel de Cervantes
Solitary Albert Woodfox
Girl, Woman, Other Bernardine Evaristo
Enlightenment by Trial and Error Jay Michaelson
Death in Her Hands Ottessa Moshfegh
The Cooking Gene Michael W. Twitty
The First Bad Man Miranda July
Upheaval Jared Diamond
A Journal of the Plague Year Daniel Defoe
Creatures Crissy Van Meter
Indelicacy Amina Cain
Say What You Mean Oren Jay Sofer
Habits of a Happy Brain Loretta Graziano Breuning
Bad Behavior, This Is Pleasure Mary Gaitskill
The Brother Gardeners Andrea Wulf
Severance Ling Ma
How to Be an Antiracist Ibram X. Kendi
The Museum of Modern Love Heather Rose
Why I Write George Orwell
The Woman Destroyed Simone de Beauvoir
Educated Tara Westover
The Gift Hafiz
The Collected Schizophrenias Esmé Weijun Wang
Your Duck Is My Duck Deborah Eisenberg
Sapiens Yuval Noah Harari
Milkman Anna Burns
Under the Banner of Heaven Jon Krakauer
Waiting for Bojangles Olivier Bourdeaut
A Mind Unraveled Kurt Eichenwald
Eugénie Grandet Honoré de Balzac
The Body Keeps the Score Bessel van der Kolk, M.D.
The Bookshop Penelope Fitzgerald
Digital Minimalism Cal Newport
The Sisters Brothers Patrick deWitt
Dare to Lead Brené Brown
My Year of Rest and Relaxation Ottessa Moshfegh
Almost Everything Anne Lamott
Born to Run Christopher McDougall, Bruce Springsteen
The Ladies’ Paradise Émile Zola
The World Beyond Your Head Matthew B. Crawford
All the Birds, Singing Evie Wyld
Barracoon Zora Neale Hurston
Dandelion Wine Ray Bradbury
JavaScript & jQuery Jon Duckett
Home Fire Kamila Shamsie
The Weather Detective Peter Wohlleben
Play It As It Lays Joan Didion
The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck Mark Manson
Convenience Store Woman Sayaka Murata
Perfect Me Heather Widdows
Sorry to Disrupt the Peace Patty Yumi Cottrell
Why Buddhism Is True Robert Wright
What Is Real? Adam Becker
Kudos Rachel Cusk
The Days of Abandonment Elena Ferrante
F*cked Corinne Fisher & Krystyna Hutchinson
Searching for Stars on an Island in Maine Alan Lightman
Wide Sargasso Sea Jean Rhys
Infinite Jest David Foster Wallace
A Room of One’s Own Virginia Woolf
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