Of course I love books. Of course I will celebrate wonderful books, and the power of story to change hearts and minds, to change life trajectories, until the end of time. Of course I want to highlight and celebrate books by Black authors, whose works are, in turns, hilarious, heartbreaking, thought-provoking, complex, goofy, sophisticated, old-fashioned, […]
Readers and writers and lovers of books! The amazing community of children’s book authors have put together an auction to help the victims and families of the mosque shootings in Christchurch, New Zealand. On Friday March 15, a gunman opened fire in two Christchurch Mosques, Masjid Al Noor and Linwood Masjid Mosque. During this terrorist […]
It’s the shortest day, today, which always feels important. One of my favorite poems in the world, by Susan Cooper, begins: And so the Shortest Day came and the year died And everywhere down the centuries of the snow-white world Came people singing, dancing, To drive the dark away.* Of course there are twenty-four hours […]
Please, have a 12th century image of a knight battling a snail. I insist. The Smithsfield Decretals, decretals of Gregory IX, Tolouse, c. 1300
No matter how mild the winter, no matter how fast it passes, I’m always delighted to see these. Happy spring!!
Given how extremely rarely I DO blog these days, perhaps I should change the title to “Why I Sometimes Blog” or “Why I Used to Blog” or even “Why I Mean to Blog Even Though I Never Get to It.” But you know, short simple titles are best, so I’ll stick with the original. There […]
YA author and fellow New Englander Jo Knowles had a lovely writing exercise on her blog yesterday that I want to imitate. (I would have done it yesterday if I hadn’t been felled by some hideous stomach/fever/virus thing. Misery). Anyway. The assignment: 1) Find a photo that makes you happy 2. Make a “list poem” […]
Remember when I used to blog? Yeah, I do too. No, I haven’t been trapped under a large piece of furniture, unable to reach the keyboard to share a snippet from Swim. It’s just that November has grasped me in it’s saliva-filled mandible and masticated the ever-loving crap out of me. I am chewed up […]
