Let’s Just Read

Some people think it’s wrong to write in books, but I’m glad my daughter Mary, who gave me my copy of Edward P. Jones’ THE KNOWN WORLD, wrote the date of her gift on the title page. In 2003, I … Read More

Often, when I’m well into a really good novel, thirty or forty pages from the end, eager to find out how the author will tie up the multiple story threads she (or he) has spooled out in the early chapters, … Read More

The cover of Toya Wolfe’s debut novel, LAST SUMMER ON STATE STREET, tells us Wolfe grew up in the Robert Taylor Homes on Chicago’s South Side, so it was no surprise to find the story set in Chicago’s notorious projects. … Read More

Back in the 1990s, when TV screens were small and VHS tapes were the available vehicle for home movie-watching, I binged on a boxed set of LONESOME DOVE. I loved the story so much I drove to Barnes & Noble … Read More

I picked up Andrew J. Graff’s novel, RAFT OF STARS kind of as an assignment. Graff is among the presenting authors for this year’s Washington Island Literary Festival, September 15–17. I serve on the lit fest committee and volunteered to … Read More

When I pluck a title from my stack of purchased-but-not-yet-read books (mostly fiction, generally soft-cover), I begin by examining the book itself. I study the back cover copy, the author’s head shot, the biographical note. I open the front, flip … Read More

When my children were little, I (and others) read to them every day. When Hannah—four years older than Mary, seven years older than Rebecca—learned to read, she read to us. Being sick in bed with a nasty ear infection or … Read More

No one would deny I know a thing or two about quilts. Having learned to read before I started Kindergarten, I know a thing or two about literature as well. I went on to major in English in college, and … Read More

Launched by PBS in 2018, The Great American Read was an eight-part television series that invited viewers to choose American’s favorite novel from a list of one hundred candidates. (The list was created through a survey of over 7000 people.) … Read More