book club
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The Anthropocene Reviewed: Reflection
The first time I became aware of John Green, I was choking back loud, messy sobs in my room at two in the morning. I was eighteen, it was 2012, and I’d just stayed up engrossed in his breakout hit… Continue reading
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One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest: Reflection
When I first created the Book of the Month Club, I only had two rules: No books I’d read before and no classics. Since I started the blog to expand my reading horizons, the first rule was easy enough to… Continue reading
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Experimental Film: Reflection
For me, October is a month of contradictions. On the one hand, I bask in the cooler weather and return of the rain, enjoying how each day my afternoon walks offer a changing tableau of color. On the other, even… Continue reading
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The Last Words We Said: Reflection
Literary categories are famously hard to define. I’ve gone on before about who decides what’s considered “literary fiction” vs. “genre fiction”, and whether the distinction is important. Plenty of books we’ve read in our Book of the Month Club straddle… Continue reading
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All About Love: Reflection
In this month’s book, All About Love: New Visions, author bell hooks writes, “Creating a false self to mask fears and insecurities has become so common that many of us forget who we are and what we feel underneath the… Continue reading
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Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow: Reflection
Over thousands of years of human evolution and technological innovation, there are a few pieces of humanity that persevere through the ages: the love of a good meal, the appreciation of beauty, and the need to tell stories. Stories in… Continue reading
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Stone Butch Blues: Reflection
54 years ago, a gay bar in Lower Manhattan was raided by the police. Tempers flared. Handcuffs were pulled out. People were beaten. It wasn’t the first time this had happened, and it certainly wouldn’t be the last, but what… Continue reading
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On a Sunbeam: Reflection
There’s a prevailing idea in the literary scene that comics and graphic novels have no place amongst capital “L” Literature. It’s not surprising– after all, these are the same people who turn up their noses at genre fiction and romance,… Continue reading
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Ghost Of: Reflection
A confession: There is nothing I dislike more than not understanding something. Last April for National Poetry Month, I took on Terrance Hayes’ Lighthead. I hadn’t had any exposure to poetry since I’d left college and found myself floundering within… Continue reading
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Anxious People: Reflection
There was a funny moment last year when, in the introduction for March’s Book of the Month Conversations With Friends, I rallied against judging a book by its cover. Determined to get over my own prejudices, I’d chosen Sally Rooney’s… Continue reading
Tea Reads 