The Sweet Sorrow of Purging My Bookshelves
I’m excited to introduce you to Kate from Parchment Girl. Kate is wild about books and fits right in here. A reader’s drama is usually contained within the pages of a book, but I’m willing to bet you’ve had to face the same dilemma as Kate as your pile of books starts to block the […]
In Search of Lost Time Reading Group
Have you always wanted to read In Search of Lost Time by Marcel Proust? Myself and a handful of other ambitious, literary enthusiasts are setting out on what a friend termed, “A Reader’s Everest.” Over the next two and a half years, we are reading this seven volume, 4,215 page tome and using a reading […]
The Best Reviews of Men Without Women
The Best Reviews of Men Without Women by Haruki Murakami Did Haruki Murakami’s newest collection of short stories, Men Without Women, arrive on your doorstep this week? My Murakami community is pretty dedicated, so I’ve seen my Instagramfeed flooded with photos of the new book, friends have added it to their Currently Reading shelf on […]
The Fatal Flaw in Donna Tartt’s The Secret History
The Fatal Flaw in Donna Tartt’s The Secret History Aristotle coined the term Hamartia which literally translates “to miss the mark” or “to err”. We’ve come to understand this term as the fatal flaw and find it in most tragedies, especially Greek tragedies. Basically, there is a reversal of fortunes that needs to take place in the plot. It’s […]
Giveaway! Men Without Women by Haruki Murakami
Giveaway! Men Without Women by Haruki Murakami “The other thing that puzzled him was the fact that their lovemaking and her storytelling were so closely linked, making it hard to tell where one ended and the other began.” ~Haruki Murakami, Scheherezade By Jessica S. Manuel We are officially one month away from holding the English […]
Announcing Spring Book Club
Spring is in the air! Hopefully the sunshine will grace you with its presence and you’ll be able to sneak outside with our Spring Book Club pick – at least for a few pages. As you know, we pick books we think you’ll enjoy AND that we’ve never read. We’re not always sure what we’re in […]
How to Talk About the Book of Laughter and Forgetting
Winter Book Club is almost over! As you probably know, this online version of book club mirrors the in-person get together we have every season. Real friends in real life get together to talk about a book. It’s incredible and I look forward to this night for months. Earlier this season was our in-person book […]
My Favorite Female Authors
Strengthen the female mind by enlarging it, and there will be an end to blind obedience.” ~Mary Wollstonecraft By Jessica S. Manuel Today is International Women’s Day. I feel the same about today that I do about Earth Day: we should celebrate our female accomplishments everyday. Nonetheless, I want to carve out some mental space to […]
Introducing the Reading Beyond Murakami Course Series
I’m excited to introduce a brand new way to engage with Haruki Murakami’s mind-bending stories. The Reading Beyond Murakami Course Series is a systematic approach to understanding the author in a whole new way. Life-long learners will delight in learning and re-learning what makes literature so profound. The first course launches March 20 and is an in-depth look […]
The Book of Laughter and Forgetting | Go Beyond Laughter
Beyond Laughter in Milan Kundera’s The Book of Laughter and Forgetting Today we explore what it means to “go beyond laughter” as Kundera writes in the last section of the book. Warning: we ask more questions than we answer. The narrative called Border might be the most intriguing part of the book, which might be […]
Reclaim Conversation With Books in Your 21st Century Friendships
A few years ago, I read a book called Alone Together: Why We Expect More from Technology and Less from Each Other by Sherry Turkle. I teach an excerpt from this book in my English Composition course during our visual rhetoric unit. Students tend to identify with the truths Turkle articulates in this text. Some […]
Authors Similar to Haruki Murakami in Mind-Bending Contemporary Fiction
Authors like Haruki Murakami and Italo Calvino have redefined contemporary fiction to teach readers everywhere the overwhelming power of language.
10 Books I Can’t Wait to Get My Eyes on in 2017
10 Books I Can’t Wait to Get My Eyes on in 2017 “And now we welcome the new year. Full of things that have never been.” ~Rainer Maria Rilke By Jessica S. Manuel As if the new year isn’t exciting enough, we have 10 incredible new reads on the horizon to build anticipation all year […]
One Sentence Reviews of the Best Reads of 2016
This year was full of half-read books, tons of audiobooks, and plenty of research. Out of the books I read and finished, these are the ones that made the cut. Below is this year’s list of one sentence reviews of the best reads of 2016. Check out previous years here: 2014 Winners 2015 Winners Professional […]
Winter Book Club 2017 Announced
Winter Book Club is here! We are excited to read our next book club pick with you that is sure to keep us warm over the next few months. As you probably know, we choose books we think you’ll enjoy AND that we’ve never read. Last year I wandered the streets of Prague and thought […]