I sent my sister a copy of Sleeping with Schubert (2004) by Bonnie Marson for her birthday many years ago. I had just read a copy from the library, and I thoroughly enjoyed the ridiculous premise of this book, that a woman is possessed by the spirit of Franz Schubert and suddenly becomes a crack... Continue Reading →
I can't wait to see The Martian starring Matt Damon, because I'm positive it is going to be better than the book of the same name by Andy Weir. I decided to read Weir's The Martian (2011) after I saw a friend reading it, and I always like to read book versions before I see... Continue Reading →
From July of 2013 to August of 2015, I worked in a history library as an intern for a remarkable scholar who has become one of my dearest friends. Her name is Jenny, and she is fighting leukemia again. I don’t want to focus on her illness, however. I want to focus on her influence... Continue Reading →
A Circle of Wives (2014) by Alice LaPlante has two critiques from me: 1) it is more of a murder mystery than it is a book about the marriage relationship, and 2) it is more about the husband than it is about the wive(s). This novel is this month’s pick for the Literary Wives Series.... Continue Reading →
Welcome to the latest post in the Literary Wives series. Every two months, a group of bloggers reads a book with word “wife” in the title, and we attempt to answer the following two questions in our posts for that month. 1. What does this book say about wives or about the experience of being a... Continue Reading →
I've been hearing buzz about Ta-Nehisi (pronounced Tah Neh-hah-see) Coates's work for a few months now, so I decided to "read" his book Between the World and Me (2015) by listening to it while driving to and from school. It is a heavy book, one that I wish I had been able to take notes... Continue Reading →
While watching an old episode of The Good Wife on Amazon Prime the other night, Alicia Florrick commented that To Kill a Mockingbird (1960) made many lawyers. It reminded me that I had recently read Go Set a Watchman (2015), the newly released “prequel” to that classic and monumental American novel by Harper Lee. I know there’s... Continue Reading →
Yes, I’m obsessed with Laura Ingalls Wilder. It began when I was a young girl staying up late to read her books. It has grown since I’ve read those Little House books to my daughter. And now that I’ve visited her home at Rocky Ridge Farm in Mansfield, Missouri, I can’t stop reading about her.... Continue Reading →
Did you know that in the early 1950s, three planes crashed in Elizabeth, New Jersey, within a few weeks of one another? I didn’t either, until I started reading Judy Blume’s latest novel for adults In the Unlikely Event (2015). As I read about the first tragedy, I realized how hard it would be on... Continue Reading →
Every two months, a group of bloggers reads a book with word “wife” in the title, and we attempt to answer the following two questions in our posts. 1. What does this book say about wives or about the experience of being a wife? 2. In what way does this woman define “wife”—or in what... Continue Reading →
The Bookshelf of Emily J. 