A Foul-Weather Friend: Reading Alice Thomas Ellis in the Rain
The “fair-weather friend” gets a bad rap; flighty, prone to ditching when the going gets tough. On the other hand, rare is […]
Michelle Zauner’s “Crying in H Mart”: An Illustration of the Intensive Parenting Trap
Michelle Zauner’s memoir “Crying in H Mart” is proof that most people have no business writing memoirs in their 30s. Offering a […]
Joyce Lankester Brisley’s “Milly-Molly-Mandy” Stories: Sweetness Itself and Enduring Enchantment
Anyone who has spent time in the fictional world of Millicent Margaret Amanda will recall the details of her life. Memorably nicknamed […]
The Secret to Becoming a Reading Family
Who does not aspire to have a house full of good and well-loved books? It is obvious that many people do not […]
Rumer Godden’s “The Doll’s House” and the Lesson of Beauty Found in Old Things
Rumer Godden’s imaginative stories for children evoke fairy tales. At once sumptuous and innocent, many of her stories, like The Story of […]
First Draft Fiction: A Wanted Child, Part 3
Read Part 1 here, and Part 2 here. Olivia panted, her swollen pregnant belly squished between the driver’s seat and the steering […]
First Draft Fiction: A Wanted Child, Part 2
Read Part 1 here. A Saturday morning found them walking through the farmer’s market, selecting ingredients for brunch. Weeks had turned into […]
First Draft Fiction: A Wanted Child, Part 1
In honor of NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month), we return to some abysmal, unedited fiction, a throw-spaghetti-at-the-wall-and-see-what-sticks approach to exploring the art […]
Folk Music to Get You Started: Roundabout’s Singsong Pennywhistle and the Okee Dokee Brothers
Singing in the home is a civilized activity to which we should all aspire. Starved of real music and prevented from ever […]
“Weird Al” Yankovic’s Children’s Book “When I Grow Up” Beats the Pants Off Average Library Fare
Combing the library stacks in the children’s section will often return drivel. Fuzzy illustrations of anthropomorphized bears who speak only in monosyllables, […]