Faithful Place by Tana French, 2010
Get ready for a shocker: I read a novel marketed to grown-ups. This almost never happens, unless the author is dead. I don’t have a good reason for avoiding contemporary […]
The Lodger Shakespeare: His Life on Silver Street, by Charles Nicholl
When I visited London in 2011, a tour guide pointed out the location where a house once stood where William Shakespeare rented a room for a period of time, as […]
Out of the Easy by Ruta Sepetys
I was fortunate to receive an advance reader copy of OUT OF THE EASY by Ruta Sepetys. I cracked it open intending to read the first few chapters one afternoon, […]
Two poems for Sandy Hook School, Newtown, Connecticut
[for the parents] Precious one, my heart’s delight, I helped you choose your clothes, Fed you, packed your lunch, zipped your coat, And sent you on your way. How far […]
It’s an Author Invasion at the Chenery Winter Book Festival, Belmont, MA, 12/6
So excited to share info about this exciting upcoming event! I get to hang out with some *very* cool people. Come join us and we’ll all be cool together. 🙂 […]
Aurora Rising: a poem for 7/20/12
Aurora Rising by Julie Berry When murder stalks through midnight halls To snatch from peace its grisly bite, Drunk on its carnal hour, and fear, Braver men and women Will […]
Red Riding Hood Romp
I was once part of a challenge given to authors to retell “Little Red Riding Hood” in 25 words or less. Competitive nut that I am, I was all over […]
Cow Breast Soup
My invitation to visit The Fenn School in Concord, MA, and conduct author presentations and workshops, unfolded in a roundabout way. I met a Fenn student, Johnny, at a local […]
Recent reads (a rhapsody)
I’m always late. Late to blog, late to read the books the rest of the world raves about. Late to meetings, late with paperwork. Never late for meals. Here at […]
Alchemy and Meggy Swann, by Karen Cushman
Karen Cushman is a delight, and I could stop my review right there. The integrity and authority with which she embroiders unsentimentalized and yet hopeful, trimphant narratives of Elizabethan England […]