I picked up Wally Lamb’s She’s Come Undone on a whim. A mass market paperback version was just laying about in the store, in a pile of used books I was sorting to shelve. They don’t really sell for us, those little block-like books, so I figured nobody’d be itching to buy Read more…
I’ll be upfront with you… I have aspirations of getting my PhD in Southern Literature. And, sure, there are lots of the Southern classics that I haven’t made my way through yet. But when I was looking at a syllabus for a graduate level Southern Lit class, I ran across Welcome Read more…
The pull to a specific place has occupied my thoughts for the better part of 5 years now. This idea of place as a piece of who we are is what drew me to Atlanta. This city called me until I could no longer ignore it. I had to be Read more…
I’ve been thinking a lot about place lately: how where we are from constructs who we are. And I’ve been drawn to books that explore place as internal landscape. My mother’s family is from South Georgia. Although I grew up in Florida, I always considered myself a dis-placed Southerner. According Read more…
I’ve never kept my love for middle grades novels secret. Given the option between a book for a full-grown & a middle grades book, well… middle grades wins every time. As a bookseller, I have a place to channel my love of middle grades fiction: 4th & 5th grade book Read more…
This book is one I return to repeatedly. Partly for its clear message that, yes, enlightenment is possible for everyone. And partly because I find the discussion of how to meditate simple and refreshing. But my favorite aspect of 3 Pillars of Zen is absolutely the personal anecdotes, transcribed and Read more…
Holy Good Lord. My feelings about this book are complicated at best. If you’d asked me any time over the past several weeks (and yes, I actually stretched out the reading of this novel for w-e-e-k-s, even though its only 237 pages) what I thought, I’d have told you I Read more…
By Charlie Noack Charlie, age 10, wrote this story during our Super Rad Summer Writing Camp. Our focus was on storytelling and the unwavering belief that every kid has a story to tell–and every story matters. Prologue Isaac stood on a hill overlooking the border. “Here goes nothing”, he thought Read more…
Isabelle the Unicorn was written by 9 year old Jane Lee-Kellogg, as part of the Bookish Super Rad Summer Writing Camp. We focused on storytelling–because everyone’s got a unique story to tell & every story matters. Prologue: Late one night deep in the woods a unicorn named Lillian walked quietly Read more…
by Lily Toledano “Greg’s Expedition” was written by 9 year old Lily Toledano as part of the Bookish Super Rad Summer Writing Camp. Our camp focused on storytelling–because kid has a story to tell & every story matters. Greg was sitting in his room eating snap crackers. He was looking Read more…