Here's another installment (the second!) of archived reviews from my time as a bookseller and marketing manager at Watermark Books and Cafe. The Elegance of the Hedgehog by Muriel Barbery, translated from French by Alison Anderson, is perhaps one of the most beautifully written books I’ve ever read. I don’t make this statement lightly, for... 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.
If you’re not hugely excited, jumping for joy, and making your carpool plans in advance of the US Figure Skating Championships happening in Wichita, KS at INTRUST Bank Arena from January 22-26, you’re doing it wrong. This is a big deal. Huge. Monumental. Here are a few reasons why you should buy your tickets now (and then spend the last three weekends before Championships bedazzling your scarves and gloves and catching up on this season’s podcast episodes of The Runthrough, hosted by Olympic medalists Ashley Wagner and Adam Rippon).
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 →
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 →
I know, I know. Baseball season is “technically” over, but KT Hoffman’s debut queer sports romance The Prospects is a line drive straight to your heart. Every baseball season starts with one thing: hope. The hope that your team will go farther, run faster, and make it to the playoffs. And that’s the case for... Continue Reading →
shelly. walston. writes. 