Summer means different things to different people, depending on their age, their life situation, their life goals—and their reading habits. Some folks read their one book a year over the summer, lazing on a beach. Others sail into June with a reading list arranged alphabetically and by length. Some just like to wander into bookstores […]
SURPRISE! I know, it’s not your birthday, but it is that most divisive of holidays: April Fools’ Day! As I tend to find most pranks more heart attack–inducing than amusing, I wanted to be sure you got at least one pleasant surprise: Books! I’ve tallied the six most surprising (in a good way) books I’ve ever read. Not a […]
Words are tools. Even if you’re not a writer, you use them every day in order to exist in the modern world (unless you order your daily grande iced sugar-free vanilla latte with soy milk by grunting and pointing). As with any set of tools, the more of them you have, the more accurately and effectively […]
Maybe it’s the smell of gunpowder, or the flashy fashions, or the fact that hipster-ish facial hair was considered absolutely required, but nothing quite says adventure like a good romp through the 19th century, especially the early bits when Napoleon was threatening to turn the world into all the worst parts of France. This was […]
It’s tempting, if you’re not already interested in war stories, to overlook the works of Alan Furst. “Oh yeah,” you might say, “that guy who writes all the books about World War II.” I know that’s how I approached him for a long while. Then, one night, staying with my grandparents and having finished whatever […]
