Two New Foodoirs: A Restaurant Critic’s Tales of the Trade and Writers On Their Comfort Foods

The Book of Eating, by Adam Platt Eat Joy: Stories of Comfort Food from 31 Celebrated Writers, edited by Natalie Eve Garrett I don't know what it is about this time of year, maybe just because it's when we tend to spend more time at home cooking or ordering comfort-food takeout, but there are always so... Continue Reading →

Joan Didion and the Blues

Book review: Blue Nights, by Joan Didion (Amazon / Book Depository) ...there comes a span of time approaching and following the summer solstice, some weeks in all, when the twilights turn long and blue...suddenly summer seems near, a possibility, even a promise... you find yourself swimming in the color blue: the actual light is blue, and over... Continue Reading →

The Art of Losing It All

Book review: The Rules Do Not Apply, by Ariel Levy (Amazon / Book Depository) Until recently, I lived in a world where lost things could always be replaced. But it has been made overwhelmingly clear to me now that anything you think is yours by right can vanish, and what you can do about that... Continue Reading →

Conversations About the Other Side

Book review: Psychics, Healers & Mediums, by Jenniffer Weigel It's Halloween! Time for a ghosty post! I haven't read much recently that's Halloween-applicable, but as a favorite spooky read, I recommend Colin Dickey's scary but skeptical Ghostland. Now for the less skeptical... Jenniffer Weigel is a Chicago Tribune columnist, radio host, and reporter who's already written about her... Continue Reading →

The Life-Saving Magic of Poetry

Book review: Poetry Will Save Your Life, by Jill Bialosky "All poems become, to a certain degree, personal to a reader." Poet, editor, and novelist Jill Bialosky writes a memoir structured around the poems that have helped her through life, imbuing it with deeper meaning and giving subtle guidance and reassurances through turmoil and joy. Sometimes they act... Continue Reading →

Guilt, Grief, and Finally Getting the Truth

Book review: Alligator Candy, by David Kushner When he was four years old, journalist and writer David Kushner's older brother Jon took off on his bike, riding through the woods of their neighborhood in Tampa, Florida en route to the 7-11, on a quest for candy. Before he left, David asked him to bring him the... Continue Reading →

True Solace is Finding None

Book review: The Solace of Open Spaces, by Gretel Ehrlich (Amazon / Used or new @ SecondSale.com) "I came here four years ago. I had not planned to stay, but I couldn't make myself leave." Achingly beautiful, emotionally charged prose essays with a distinctly lyrical style, written by a young woman as she initially pursues a... Continue Reading →

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