A few years ago, I fell in love with a book called Rules of Civility by Amor Towles. At the time, I was hesitant to pick it up for a number of reasons but it ended up on my list of favorites that year and I knew that I would read Towles' next book. It took a few years, but that book, A Gentleman in Moscow, is finally here. It's a long, serious, novel that demands you pay … [Read more...]
Beautiful and Intricate, Why We Came to the City Shines
I picked up Kristopher Jansma's latest novel for two reasons: it's getting rave reviews from readers I trust and he's a #30Authors contributor. It's hard to say which convinced me to pick it up sooner rather than later but I'm so glad that I did. Why We Came to the City is a stunning novel about a tightly knit group of friends, their relationships with each other, and how … [Read more...]
Exploring the Power of Ideas in ‘Originals’
Note: Although this is non-fiction and there's no plot to spoil, I do discuss topics contained within the book.When I was in elementary school we were tasked with inventing something. This was before everyone had a computer and well before smartphones so I'm sure some of our inventions would seem benign now but I remember being very certain that my idea would take off … [Read more...]
A Tale for the Time Being by Ruth Ozeki (Book Review)
You know how sometimes you read a book and it raises so many philosophical questions that you know you'll be thinking about it for a long time to come? Well, A Tale for the Time Being by Ruth Ozeki is one of those books. On the one hand, it's a novel, but on the other it's a philosophical discussion about life, time, and what's real in this world. This is likely because the … [Read more...]
Nafisi’s New Book Links Fiction and Democracy
From the author of Reading Lolita in Tehran comes a mind-expanding followup called The Republic of Imagination. The idea for the book is the result of a question about whether Americans appreciate their fiction and spirals into an analysis of three American classics and their impact on our democratic ideals. The driving argument through the book is that to appreciate … [Read more...]