One of the few good things to be said about 2020 is that it gave us plenty of time to read. Of the dozens of books we borrowed, bought, Kindled, and Audibled, each of us had one stand-out favorite. Presenting our top book picks for 2020, perfect for gifting to yourself …
With dozens of books to her name, author Denise Swanson could be forgiven for easing up on the publishing pedal a bit. After all, her cozy mystery and romance novels have sold tens of thousands of copies worldwide, and her audience on Facebook and other social media has crossed the …
“My mother wanted us to understand that the tragedies of your life one day have the potential to be the comic stories the next.” – Nora Ephron Raised in Beverly Hills, Nora Ephron dreamed of living in New York and becoming the next Dorothy Parker. Instead she became the first …
The author of Nancy Drew books, Carolyn Keene, is actually a group of 29 writers who brought this wildly popular series to life beginning in 1930. Publisher Edward Stratemeyer thought a female detective would complement his already successful Hardy Boys series, launched in 1927. Not looking to write the books …
Most people know Ann Patchett for her fourth book, Bel Canto, an award-winning novel about a hostage situation at a presidential palace in Latin America. What no one knows about Ann Patchett, aside from me, is that she’s my literary crush. A graduate of Sarah Lawrence College and the Iowa …
While we traditionally recommend a weekend read, we thought a roundup of places for free ebooks, audiobooks and yes, even magazines, might be more helpful. Many have their own apps for reading on a variety of devices. Here are some of our favorites: Scribd, the world’s largest digital library, is …
I learned to really love crafting years ago when a family vacation at the lake came with terrible weather. First was the rain and lightning, then the tornado warnings that kept us inside for most of the week. Distractions weren’t as plentiful as they are today – no internet, cable or videogames – but …
Today on Amazon for $1.99: Fates and Furies by Lauren Groff. Lotto and Mathilde meet in college and fall madly in love. They begin their lives in New York in the 1990s where Lotto pursues acting while Mathilde works in an art gallery to support them. When one drunken night …
In honor of baseball’s spring training I recommend The Resisters by Gish Jen. In a post-new world order called Auto-America, much of the country is under water and divided into two classes: The Netters, fair-skinned people living on higher ground and afforded life’s luxuries and The Surplus, mostly copper-toned people …
Don’t let the premise deter you. Dear Edward is a beautifully written novel that deftly moves the reader between heartbreak and hope in the aftermath of unspeakable tragedy. Twelve-year-old Edward is the only survivor of a horrific plane crash that takes the lives of 191 people, including his parents and …