The Miracle Worker by William Gibson
My AP students are rounding the bend on the school year and I assigned them one final out of class reading of their choosing, so I have been reading and rereading some of their choices. I really pressed some of them who have shown some weariness to look at plays as a source for their final reading. … [Read more]
Book Lovers by Emily Henry
The tenth time I laughed out loud reading Book Lovers was the moment I decided it was a 4.5-star romcom rather than a 4. Another that many others have read and reviewed so it's less important to provide a synopsis than it is to write about how it feels. Here we go: This is a book that, no doubt, … [Read more]
Drop City by TC Boyle
"The morning was a fish in a net, glistening and wriggling at the dead black border of her consciousness, but she'd never caught fish in a net or on a hook either, so she really couldn't really say if or how or why." I read this years ago, and I more or less liked it, but I don't think I … [Read more]
Beyond the 100th Meridian: John Wesley Powell and the Second Opening of the West by Wallace Stegner
"This book is an attempt to write a biography that is the history not of a personality but of a career." I am not from the West and have spent almost no time there, except through books and movies and one trip to California, where I flew over most of it. I also wasn't sure about Wallace Stegner as … [Read more]
The Rector of Justin by Louis Auchincloss
This is a decidedly tender novel that I wasn't exactly expecting to be as good as it is. For one thing, I just read some Louis Auchincloss nonfiction, and while his thinking is very strong in those essays, the writing itself felt too pedestrian or pragmatic. But here, the language is very strong, … [Read more]
Memphis by Tara M. Stringfellow
This is an example of a multigenerational story, with many different timelines, done well. For a story of such breadth it's really quite short, which felt refreshing. The characters in this novel experience some brutal tragedies, and yet the tone is overall quite hopeful. This is the story of the … [Read more]
