Tolstoy and the Purple Chair

January 15, 2021

by Nina Sankovitch The subtitle of Sankovitch’s book is “My Year of Magical Reading,” and it must have been a …

Why I Don’t Write and Other Stories by Susan Minot

November 13, 2020

The satisfaction of a short story: a glimpse into a life, a space, a possibility (or lack thereof). A glance, …

September 8, 2020

When William Deresiewicz decided to pursue a Ph.D. in English literature, he had to read classics he’d previously managed to …

August 6, 2016

Why did I delay reading this book for so long? I finally brought it to work, where it sat on …

December 30, 2012

BONUS: A final book for “55 at 55” Bookstores and libraries are magical places, inviting us to discover new reading …

December 17, 2012

I like Anna Quindlen’s writing: novels such as Black and Blue and essays enjoyed over the years. I have a …

June 16, 2012

A brief pause in praise of reading . . . Canadian-American novelist Carol Shields wrote in The Republic of Love: …

April 18, 2012

I was afraid something like this would happen: I’d get ahead of myself on the reading side of the equation, …

October 20, 2011

I’m hardly the first reader to appreciate the surprising connections that can arise between writer and reader—those random references or …