Burn before reading. What starts as a puzzling statement unravels in the sweeping novella This Is How You Lose the Time War by Amal El-Mohtar and Max Gladstone. Red and Blue are at odds, and they might also be in love. They might always have been in love, and its their stories - past, present,... Continue Reading →
Family heirlooms, travel items link immigrant stories to lives in the Midwest at the end of the 19th century, on view at the Kauffman Museum at Bethel College through June 1. "Unlocking the Past: Immigrant Artifacts and the Stories They Tell," at the Kauffman Museum in North Newton, Kansas, foregrounds the stories of Mennonite immigrants.... Continue Reading →
Rules for Ghosting is a great read for anyone who enjoys novels like The Dead Romantics or the Seven-Year Slip (both by Ashley Poston), and shows like Six Feet Under.
Here's a fun, new segment: archived book reviews! I'll post these for funsies as they pique my interest (and as long as they don't embarrass me too terribly much). Many of these first appeared in newsletters for Watermark Books and Cafe, a local, independent bookstore where I worked as a bookseller (and for a five-year... Continue Reading →
Most people here know I'm an English teacher, an avid fan of Shakespeare (we have the same birthday), and an even bigger fan of Scotland (a Caledonophile). So when my sister-in-law gifted me Lady Macbeth by Ava Reid, I put it at the top of my TBR pile. And it doesn't disappoint. Shipped from Breizh... Continue Reading →
In all the ways that food can call us to gather, it can also show us ways to rebel and to feed our resistance to power. And that’s the focus of Julia Turshen’s tiny but powerful cookbook; she gathered recipes from chefs and activists seeking a way to feed those who helped push for change... Continue Reading →
The cover alone lets you know that this cookbook is about celebration: its vibrant hues and punny title portend the vivacious dishes outlined within, the recipes from a small but mighty restaurant in Hudson, NY called Lil’ Deb’s Oasis. (The restaurant has - sadly - closed, but thank your lucky stars that the recipes are... Continue Reading →
While cooking can be about community and resistance, it can also be entirely personal. My wife Mallory and I love to cook, and she especially loves beans. I know that I can entice her to a recipe if it features beans, and Joe Yonan’s cookbook is the early-holiday gift I’m giving us this year. Yonan... Continue Reading →
As soon as Halloween is over, I'm in full holiday mode. I want cocoa spiked with peppermint and warm, fuzzy socks by a fireplace (or a space heater). And I definitely want a holiday romance novel. In fact, I want all of them. The first holiday romance of the 2024 season for me was an easy... Continue Reading →
Anyone who tells you that listening to an audiobook isn’t “technically” reading is lying. When George M. Johnson’s newest nonfiction - Flamboyants: The Queer Harlem Renaissance I Wish I’d Known - hit the audio shelf, I made it my top priority to give it a listen, and this slim book - mixed with poetry by... Continue Reading →
shelly. walston. writes. 