Book Review
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The Year of Less by Cait Flanders
“More was never the answer. The answer, it turned out, was always less.” In this insightful memoir, Cait Flanders shares the story of her year of less — twelve months during which she challenged herself to buy only the essentials (groceries, gas, etc.), declutter her home, and break free from the detrimental shopping habits she’d Continue reading
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Tortilla Flat and The Pearl by John Steinbeck
Steinbeck feels like such a summer author to me. This summer I read two of his novels: Tortilla Flat (1935) and The Pearl (1947). Although these aren’t my favorite Steinbeck novels that I’ve read so far — I just didn’t connect with the characters or story as much as I did when reading East of Continue reading
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Shirley by Charlotte Brontë
“If you think, from this prelude, that anything like a romance is preparing for you, reader, you never were more mistaken.” Jane Eyre is likely the most popular Charlotte Brontë novel, and perhaps for good reason: it has an iconic romance and main character, it is brilliantly told, and it raises so many interesting themes Continue reading
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All the Lovers in the Night by Mieko Kawakami, translated by Sam Bett and David Boyd
“I became unsure of how to leave the mirror, how to leave the me in the mirror behind.” Fuyuko Irie is a freelance copy editor in her mid-thirties. Working and living alone in a city where it is not easy to form new relationships, she has little regular contact with anyone other than her editor, Continue reading
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Pond by Claire-Louise Bennett
“The large-scale changes in fact were of no interest to me at all; it was the small things that remained constant which sort of attracted me.” We all have those books that we pick up and put down in the library or in bookstores — pick up and put down, time and time again, but Continue reading
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The Overstory by Richard Powers
“Until today, he has never planted anything. But Now, that next best of times, is long, and reunites everything.” There are good books, and then there are those that make you fall in love with reading all over again, that make you savor each word and feel for each character. The Overstory is one of Continue reading
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Dinosaurs by Lydia Millet
“Inside the castle hovered a shadow version of him, alone, watching this full, well-lit house from the other’s emptiness. Looking through the glass, he was divided in two.” When I first learned the premise of Dinosaurs — a man moves into a new home next to a house with a glass wall, showing him his Continue reading
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My Life in France by Julia Child with Alex Prud’homme
“Upon reflection, I decided I had three main weaknesses: I was confused (evidenced by a lack of facts, an inability to coordinate my thoughts, and an inaility to verbalize my ideas); I had a lack of confidence, which caused me to back down from forcefully stated positions; and I was overly emotional at the expense Continue reading
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Birnam Wood by Eleanor Catton
“A gripping psychological thriller from the Booker Prize–winning author of The Luminaries, Eleanor Catton’s Birnam Wood is Shakespearean in its drama, Austenian in its wit, and, like both influences, fascinated by what makes us who we are. A brilliantly constructed study of intentions, actions, and consequences, it is a mesmerizing, unflinching consideration of the human impulse to ensure Continue reading
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Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy
“Anna read and understood everything, but she found no pleasure in reading, that is to say, in following the reflection of other people’s lives. She was too eager to live herself.” What an incredible, incredible novel. I’d been intimidated by Anna Karenina for years, despite reading Tolstoy’s tome War and Peace a few summers back Continue reading
About ME //
i’m holly — former english major, current twenty-something book lover, allergic to nuts. drop me a line at nutfreenerd@gmail.com or on instagram.
nut free nerd 