I have a two year old, and he has a ridiculous library of picture books. Even so, we go each week to the public library. In February, the children’s section featured a display of books for Black History Month. There were picture books that discussed important events in African American history, including the horrifying history […]
March
03
What Stacy’s Reading Now: My Age of Anxiety by Scott Stossel
posted by Stacy
A footnote found early in My Age of Anxiety, Scott Stossel’s recent memoir/social history, notes something that I’ve always suspected: “…there are plausible evolutionary explanations for why both intelligence and imagination ten to be allied with anxiety” (18). I have always hypothesized that anxiety is a “smart person” problem, and now I have evidence to […]
February
19
Endings
posted by Stacy
I realized last week something that I probably always knew – my favorite part of a book (or poem or story or movie) is the ending. In two different courses with two wildly different texts in front of me (a collection of contemporary Chinese short stories and a poem from 1633), I gushed in front […]
February
14
Love & Poetry
posted by Laura
In honor of today, my favorite love poem: number six from Sonnets from the Portuguese by Elizabeth Barrett Browning. Go from me. Yet I feel that I shall stand Henceforward in thy shadow. Nevermore Alone upon the threshold of my door Of individual life, I shall command The uses of my soul, nor lift my […]
February
04
“The birth of the reader must be at the cost of the death of the Author”: Or, Ron + Hermione 4-Ever
posted by Stacy
One more reason I love my job: I spent my January sitting around a conference table talking with students about book covers, fan fiction, and the role of the “Author” and “Reader” in contemporary culture. My “Culture of the Book” class is always a favorite to teach – it’s based on my own research interests […]
January
29
Lettered Ladies Book Club: Tolstoy and the Purple Chair
posted by Lynne Nugent
Although I have yet to deliver an unqualified rave of a book in this blog (except for the occasional children’s book), I swear I’m not a book snob. To prove this, I will now make a confession that could forever destroy my credibility in certain circles: I enjoyed Elizabeth Gilbert’s Eat, Pray, Love. Though it’s been […]
January
17
Speechless: Part II
posted by Laura
When I heard Lynne was writing a post about wordless picture books, I knew I had to write a piggy-back post. I fell in love with wordless picture books when my girls were old enough to handle books but a long way from being able to memorize and recite them. While board books and picture […]
January
16
Speechless
posted by Lynne Nugent
Sometimes, when I’m reading aloud to my three-year-old, especially if it’s something I’ve read ten thousand times before, I’ll go the teeniest, tiniest bit into autopilot. So while I’m saying this— I would not like them here or there. I would not like them anywhere. I do not like green eggs and ham. I do […]
January
13
Lettered Ladies Book Club: Tolstoy and the Purple Chair
posted by Laura
I still can’t believe that Nina Sankovitch did what she did. Reading a 250-300 page book every day — and then writing about it! — for an entire year seems frankly impossible to me. Truly it does. Lettered Lady Kate could totally do this. She sacrifices no comprehension at all for her enviable speed, which […]
January
12
(Un)sympathetic Characters
posted by Stacy
I tell my students that my favorite characters are the messy, complicated ones – the ones who do horrible things and are mean and rude and unlikeable, but still tug at our heart and push us to question our own values and choices. They are completely unsympathetic…yet at the same time completely sympathetic, too. Take […]
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