It’s Christmas Eve, which means I’m type type typing, attempting to finish my long list of deadlines before I put on my Santa hat and artfully arrange presents around a tree for my baby daughter who doesn’t even know who Santa is quite yet. Anyway, here’s a short list of the reads that made my 2019 delightful and fun. I firmly believe that we are absolutely, completely, one hundred percent…
I’m not usually one for “beach reads.” I mean, I’m always reading, but I also would almost always prefer a big, heavy, literary tome to something light and funny. I see no problem with sobbing over the ending of Anna Karenina while sipping a Mai Tai on vacation. When I was eleven, I took on the task of reading The Executioner’s Song because I was looking for something…
An American Marriage by Tayari Jones** From the publisher: Newlyweds Celestial and Roy are the embodiment of both the American Dream and the New South. He is a young executive, and she is an artist on the brink of an exciting career. But as they settle into the routine of their life together, they are ripped apart by circumstances neither could have imagined. In this deft exploration of…
Origin Story: I am the sum of so many things and it is at once easy and difficult to place labels on myself. I’ll begin in the most obvious ways: I’m a daughter to an academic; my dad is a mathematician and was immersed in the world of biostatistics and multi-variant statistical analysis for more than a half-century before retiring this year. I saw how much he loves math —…
Leonardo da Vinci (biography) by Walter Isaacson: A masterpiece befitting its remarkable subject, this epic tome about one of history’s most fascinating human beings is not a quick read. Nor is it a light one: aside from medical textbooks and coffee table art books, it’s the heaviest book I own. I nearly fell over when I first picked it up. But I’ve long been consumed with curiosity about da Vinci,…
Merry Christmas to those who celebrate it! This week, the Debs are looking back at some of our favorite books of 2017. Choosing favorites is always tough for me when it comes to books, and limiting myself to 2017 releases only helped a little. But here goes — a few of my favorite reads from this past year: Roar, by Cora Carmack: This book absolutely blew me away. I picked…
So far 2017 has been a terrific year for great books. But I’ll be perfectly honest: This has NOT, in my opinion, been a terrific year politically. In fact, these days I spend most of my time feeling horrified, disgusted, appalled, and sad. I read the news (online and in print) throughout the day and appreciate journalists more than ever. Staying on top of current events is overwhelming and depressing….
I read so many amazing books in 2015, however, my feeling is that many of them would not be of interest to a lot of folks, as they are books I’ve read as research. Captivating for me; maybe not so much for others. For instance, I devoured WE ONLY KILL EACH OTHER: THE LIFE AND TIMES OF BUGSY SIEGEL by Dean Jennings, a book that is a total cliche with its…
One of my favorite things to do is share book recommendations! In fact, when we decided that this week would be summer reading recs, I was super-excited. But when I sat down to write the post, I froze. How do I even begin to narrow down this list? THERE ARE SO MANY AWESOME BOOKS TO READ. But here are a few of my recent favorites. (And note, I’m not including THE…
Books are my go-to gift. Most of the adults in my life have enough “stuff.” They don’t need another scarf or candle or necktie. But, if they are anything like me, they always need something new to read. Here are some books I’ve given as gifts to people I love. You’re Not You by Michelle Wildgen. My mom is an occupational therapist and has worked for the last 30+ years with…
