In a world that seems to be growing ruder, stupider, and more contentious every day, what a pleasure it is to come home to find a parcel from Slightly Foxed in the post. Publishers of what is surely one of the most civilized periodicals on earth, their eponymous journal subtitled “The Real Reader’s Quarterly,” they […]
Book of the Month This month is the first time I think I’ve reviewed four new releases in a row (other than in brief overviews). And it was an unusually fine group of them too — some of my favorite books of the year so far. I wasn’t blown away by most of my other […]
Wendy Warren, New England Bound (2016) New England likes to position itself as the cradle of liberty, home of many of the figures behind American independence from Britain, as well as a land of freedom in opposition to the slave-owning South. But in this new study by historian Wendy Warren, we are given a very […]
It’s hard to believe, but the year is already half over and so is the year-long Reading New England Challenge. I’ve had such a wonderful time so far with this challenge; how about you? If you’re participating, do you feel the challenge has been a positive experience? What do you still want to accomplish this […]
Review of the Month Thanks to Books and Chocolate for an insightful review of a vintage novel, The Shuttle by Frances Hodgson Burnett. I’ve been meaning to read this for a long time, and now I’m even more excited about it — sounds like a perfect summer read. And I’d also like to thank those […]
I’m away this week for my quarter-century (!) reunion at Carleton College, which is a literary landmark as well as a wonderful school. As regular blog readers may recall, Carleton is the model for Blackstock College in the fantasy classic Tam Lin by Pamela Dean, and I did a post on the real-life locations behind […]
This three-month challenge seems like a fun way to interact with and support other bloggers, so I thought I would give it a try! Here’s the official description: If you love comments and are looking for a fun blogging challenge to participate in this summer, then the Comment Challenge is for you. Hosted by Lonna […]
Images are important in the blogging world in general, for obvious reasons — they grab attention, convey emotion or information quickly and economically, and give instant impressions about a blog and its message. It’s interesting to me that among book bloggers, there are minimalists who use few or no images, perhaps (quite logically) choosing to […]
It’s been two years since I joined The Classics Club, so here is an update on my progress. I’ve kept up quite well so far, with nineteen books checked off my list of fifty+. Here’s what I read and posted about in the last twelve months, all very interesting and worthwhile reads: The Aspern Papers […]
Alison Anderson, The Summer Guest (2016) Alison Anderson is perhaps best known as a translator — maybe you’ve heard of a little phenomenon called The Elegance of the Hedgehog? — but she’s also a novelist in her own right. With her latest novel, The Summer Guest, she seems poised to come to greater prominence in […]