How Does Your Bookshelf Grow?

Having this conversation several times – “Can you recommend a book?” “How about Room?” “No, I can’t/don’t want to/won’t read that.” – has made me think about the books we…

I’ve been a book reader for as long as I can remember, but as of this week — Tuesday October 25, to be precise — I will finally be a…

Am I the only one who starts to shake when someone utters the words book and club in close proximity? From the bottoms of my toes and the tips of…

Two months ago, Eva announced that she did not like old books because they were long and hard. Last month she read Little Women in a week. How did it…

I just finished Allegra Goodman’s new novel, The Cookbook Collector, which is adept and enjoyable (despite the lamentable 9/11 narrative opportunism), and got me thinking about books and food. It’s…

I gave birth to my first child fifteen years ago, which is to say, Before Parenting Trended. In the B.P.T. era, maternity clothes were ugly, car seats had no bases…

We are making a pilgrimage to Haworth, the Yorkshire home of 19th-century British novelists Charlotte, Emily, and Anne Brontë. Mara has recently read Jane Eyre, and Eva’s best friend’s cats…

Lately, we’ve been all about the television. Of course we’re also reading. I just reviewed Orlando Figes’s fantastic history of The Crimean War. Having discovered my renowned collection of old…

It’s been a long responsible adulthood, with a long way to go. I’ve breastfed my children, worked out, marched against the war, done meaningful work, paid taxes, cooked meals, watched…

Bitch Magazine’s list of 100 Young Adult Books for the Feminist Reader clearly struck a chord with feminist moms, given how many of my friends emailed, Facebooked, and Twittered it.…

I loved everything about teaching swimming except cold water. I loved the kids who eagerly followed my every direction: putting their entire heads underwater to blow bubbles; flailing their arms…