The days are shorter, the air is colder and holiday stress threatens to overwhelm holiday cheer. Distractions that provoke laughter, or at least inward chuckles, are in order. A satirical novel (or two), could be just what you need to divert your attention from your heating bill and anything else that ails you. “Infinite Jest”…
Continue reading "Literary Links: Satire" Adults
I thought I’d highlight some nonfiction this time! Sometimes it can be hard to convince fiction lovers (like myself!) to read nonfiction, but often a good narrative nonfiction will do the trick. And because I can’t resist all the amazing fiction titles coming out this month, I picked two nonfiction and two fiction books. Picture…
Continue reading "Brianna’s Books: April Favorites 2023"
As I wrote last month, I have been thinking a lot lately about family traditions. Growing up, my siblings and I spent car rides looking out the window for Volkswagen Beetles. I loved being the first to spot one because the game opened up a wormhole of permissible behavior and allowed me a single sharp…
Continue reading "Eagle Days in Missouri" Kids
I’m baaaack! I missed writing for you all! I’ve recently returned from maternity leave, so I’ve got so many fun books from January and February to share with you. I promise that next month we’ll be back to our regular brand new releases, but in the meantime please enjoy these titles from the beginning of…
Continue reading "Brianna’s Books: Early 2022 Favorites" Kids
“That’s one, small step for [a] man… One, giant leap for mankind.” ~Neil Armstrong, July 20th, 1969 “Space: the final frontier. These are the voyages of the Starship Enterprise. Its five-year mission: to explore strange new worlds; to seek out new life and new civilizations; to boldly go where no man has gone before! ~Captain…
Continue reading "Where No Woman Has Gone Before: Women in Science Fiction and Space Exploration" Adults
“Machine intelligence is the last invention that humanity will ever need to make.” – Nick Bostrom As a child, I would watch reruns of “The Jetsons” and dream about the days when my car would fly and a robot would clean my house. It’s difficult to believe, but that future of which I dreamt is…
Continue reading "Literary Links: Artificial Intelligence" Adults
Literature’s contemplation of the banality of existence was once a male-dominated field… but not anymore! If you are interested in narratives of women wading through dread and anxiety, who seek meaning and intimacy in strange, desperate, and painfully human ways, you have a breadth of material to choose from. Here are four books I’ve enjoyed…
Continue reading "Women vs. The Void" Adults
The best stories are the convincing ones — the ones that feel real. The ones with living, breathing characters who contain constellations of motivations and fears, likes and dislikes. Characters who connect with each other in complex and sincere ways. The worst stories are the ones that make you feel like you’re being lied to…
Continue reading "Real Romance" Adults
Evelyn Kominsky Kumamoto is the adult daughter of a distant Japanese father and a dead Jewish mother. When we meet her, she is preparing to start a new job at a large internet company, having set aside her philosophy dissertation in search of a change. Evelyn is somewhat anchorless — in identity, in work and…
Continue reading "Staff Review: Happy for You by Claire Stanford" Adults