Category: Books
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Reading goals for 2023 (informed by Atomic Habits)
January has arrived with its usual buzz around New Year’s resolutions. So many of us are reflecting on 2022 and thinking of how we want to feel and what we want to achieve in 2023. I love this process of reflection and goal setting, but I’m always cautious about not setting the bar too high […]
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December reading plans
It’s “stick season” as they say where I live, which means that all the leaves have fallen and the forests are like webs of bare branches. Mornings are frosty, days are short, and I’ve gone searching in my drawers for my favorite knit hat again. Downtown they’ve hung wreaths and lights from the lampposts and […]
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November reading plans
My October was filled with cozy, spooky reads, from Frankenstein and The Scarlet Letter to Practical Magic and everything in between. I embraced reading seasonally and loved how much more connected it made me feel to autumn. I hope to read similarly in November. November has always felt like a sort of resting period to […]
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The best books I read in 2020
I thought making this list would be easy. Yet this year has gone by so quickly in hindsight (and so, so slowly in the moment) that somehow I forgot just how many fantastic books I read this year. In the midst of everything that became 2020, I managed to read 70 books, several of which […]
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Dear Northanger Abbey by Jane Austen: a take on the Gothic novel
Dear Northanger Abbey by Jane Austen: After a bit of an Austen drought for me, I decided to listen to the audiobook version of you. I have been slowly working my way through Austen’s novels for years (besides you, I have read Pride & Prejudice, Persuasion, and Emma), so I was excited to finally read […]
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Dear The Reivers by William Faulkner: a much-needed exhale
Dear The Reivers by William Faulkner: After finishing what ended up being my most stressful semester of school yet (third semester of law school, it was a lot), I immediately knew what book I needed to pick up: you, the unread Faulkner book that had been waiting for me on my shelf for months. I’ve […]
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a book for every song in Taylor Swift’s album “evermore” | recommendations
During my first listen through Taylor Swift’s recent album “evermore” I knew that I would eventually make this list. Each song so clearly and lyrically tells a story. It’s hard not to get swept up in the emotions of all these lost loves, lost chances, bittersweet memories, newfound feelings of contentment, and realizations of one’s […]
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Dear THE COUNT OF MONTE CRISTO by Alexandre Dumas: A gold star for this year’s Big Book of the Summer
Dear The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas: For the past handful of summers, I’ve chosen a larger, more intimidating book to read over the summer months. Previous participants in this little challenge have been Moby Dick by Herman Melville, Gone with the Wind by Margaret Mitchell, and War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy. […]
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Dear SUMMER CROSSING by Truman Capote: A triple-layered surprise
Dear Summer Crossing by Truman Capote: Lately it seems as though I’ve acquired a knack for picking up the most recent book an author has written or published without ever having read any of their other work. Although you were the first novel ever written by Truman Capote, you weren’t published until over fifty years […]
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Dear DIGITAL MINIMALISM by Cal Newport: Interesting from a pandemic perspective
Dear Digital Minimalism by Cal Newport: Given the current pandemic and ensuing lockdown measures, it’s not an overstatement to say that the majority of my daily communication for the past few months has been digital. From online classes and Zoom lectures to work emails and phone calls, I’ve gotten used to going about my day […]