literature
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Mini reviews: Art, dystopia, history, and therapy
It’s been a little while since a posted some mini reviews. Here are some brief thoughts about a handful of books I’ve read in the past few months: two fiction reads, and two works of nonfiction. Mona’s Eyes by Thomas Schlesser (translated by Hildegarde Serle) tells the story of Mona, a young girl living in… Continue reading
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I can’t get enough of personal essays
I love personal essays. I’m not sure if this is a distinct genre with a definition, or something that I just refer to as “personal essays” in an “I-know-it-when-I-see-it” kind of way. This Writer’s Digest article by Robert Lee Brewer describes a “personal essay” as follows: “the personal essay is a piece of nonfiction writing… Continue reading
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Summer reading plans
I love planning my summer reading. It reminds me of summers spent in and out of my local public library with their summer reading program, eagerly filling out book bingo or tracking the number of pages I read to get a little trinket. My library’s reading program would always have a theme–like the ocean, outer… Continue reading
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Mini Reviews: Fiction I’ve been reading lately
It’s been a while since I did a round of mini reviews. Here are some brief thoughts about some fiction I’ve been reading lately. The Wilderness by Angela Fluornoy. This novel mainly follows a group of friends from their twenties in the 2000s to 2027, through relationships, careers, marriages, kids, loss, and everything in between.… Continue reading
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Planning my summer reading
Each season comes with its own reading pros and cons, but I think reading in the summer might be my favorite. I love reading outside, bringing books with me on long weekend adventures, and hearing the cicadas outside my open window as I turn the pages. With May nearly in the rearview mirror, it’s time… Continue reading
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Mini Reviews: Productivity, priorities, and gardening
Yet another round up of some eclectic reads. Let’s go! The Garden Against Time by Olivia Laing. I loved this book. It’s so many things at once: Laing’s relationship with gardening generally and a garden they recently started tending to; an exploration of the horrific colonial roots of so many famous gardens; a discussion of… Continue reading
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Books that have August energy
I love pairing my books to the energy of the season. August is such an interesting month in this regard. Summer is still here, but autumn is peeking around the corner. At least where I live, the mornings and evenings are beginning to crisp, but the midday sun is still hot. I feel an underlying… Continue reading
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Favorite books of 2024 so far
July! Somehow we are over halfway through 2024 already. There have been lots of ups and downs in my person life this year, but thankfully reading has remained a constant through it all. So far in 2024 I’ve read 40 books. Here are my favorites of the bunch, in the order that I read them.… Continue reading
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The Waves by Virginia Woolf
“Like a ribbon of weed I am flung far every time the door opens. The wave breaks. I am the foam that sweeps and fills the uttermost rims of the rocks with whiteness; I am also a girl, here in this room.” Beautiful. Lyrical. Nostalgic. Devastating. Bittersweet. The Waves follows a group of friends from… 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
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 