This year was a really good reading year for me. I read 50 books, which is more than I’m usually able to read in a year, I average around 30 books, and quite a few were surprisingly good. First Book I Read I like to start the new year off with a book that I … More My Favorite Reads of 2025: 10 Surprisingly Good Books
It’s Christmas Eve. I’ve wrapped up my work day, (yes, I worked today) and it’s quiet here at home. I’m waiting for my husband to get home (yup, he had to work too) before starting the holiday celebration. Our festivities will be low key, just sharing cookies, wine, and good conversation with a few friends. … More Looking Back on A Year of Reading in 2024
A few years ago I read Andrew McCarthy’s memoir, “Brat: An ‘80’s Story,” and rather enjoyed it. I read it long before I knew McCarthy was working on the documentary Brats, which was released this past summer, June of 2024. Once I learned about the Brats documentary I decided to make a small reading project … More Brat Pack Reading Project: 3 Celebrity Memoirs
I need a vacation. Ideally, someplace warm and sunny. I’ll plan a trip soon. I’d like to put my toes in the sand! But for now, I’m going to lean into books for some short-term escapism. When I need a “virtual vacation” I read travel writing, stories of other’s adventures to boost my mood. I’ve … More Enjoy Your Stay. 3 Books About Hotels.
I discovered this new book, A Waiter in Paris: Adventures in the Dark Heart of the City, published just this month, August 2022, on another book lover’s blog. The book summary reads … “A waiter’s job is to deceive you. They want you to believe in a luxurious calm because on the other side of … More Laboring in the City of Light
I’m interested in people. I love listening to people’s stories. I enjoy hearing folks talk about their life experiences and I’m especially curious about others career paths. It’s no surprise that I enjoy reading memoirs. Unlike autobiographies, which have always seemed a bit dry and too detail-driven to me, memoirs are more personal, more intimate. … More Mixed Feelings on 3 Memoirs I Read This Summer
This is the first in an occasional series about my 2022 reading project on loneliness. Reading Project on Loneliness I often have some sort of reading project going. I like projects and having a reading project gives me a way to challenge myself. This year one of my two reading projects is to read about … More Reading Project: Loneliness
I picked up this memoir in the summer of 2020 after listening to an interview with Natasha Trethewey on Fresh Air on NPR (you can find that interview here) and I read it over a long weekend away at the Oregon coast. Natasha Trethewey is a poet, her writing is beautiful and the elegant way … More Memorial Drive: A Daughter’s Memoir by Natasha Trethewey
Anna Wiener writes well. I enjoyed this memoir of her time working in the tech industry in the bay area because it is so well written. On the downside, it felt too long in spots and I was annoyed by her use of lists (key annoyance was including reference to sous vide, a water bath … More Uncanny Valley: A Memoir by Anna Wiener
I was in college when “Exile in Guyville” was released. I listened to it all the time. Liz Phair basically wrote the soundtrack to my coming-of-age years. I saw her at the Warfield in San Francisco in 1998, which felt like a big deal at the time given her stage fright. There she was under … More Horror Stories A Memoir by Liz Phair
The Seventeenth Line 