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 […]
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 […]
Free Haruki Murakami Short Stories, Essays, Interviews, Speeches
Keywords Free Haruki Murakami Short Stories, Blind Willow, Sleeping Woman, Men Without Women, The Elephant Vanishes, After the Quake I know how fiction matters to me, because if I want to express myself, I have to make up a story. Some people call it imagination. To me, it’s not imagination. It’s just a way of […]
The Best Books for Studying Literary and Critical Theory
Critical theory is not hard for students to grasp when it is explained well. These are the best books to introduce students to literary theory and criticism.
Behind the Author | Therese Anne Fowler
We’ve been reading through Z: A Novel of Zelda Fitzgerald together with the Book Oblivion community this fall. Reading books in a community, whether it’s with one friend, my book club, a church community group, or my husband, brings such joy to my heart. Instead of breezing through the book and forgetting half of what […]
Frankenstein Ballet
To celebrate the Halloween season, I went to my very first ballet. It wasn’t just any ballet, though. I got to see one of my favorite gothic novels, Frankenstein by Mary Shelley, performed before my very eyes. Watching the Frankenstein Ballet was incredible but appreciating story told through dance is something that will stay with […]
Women & Madness in Literature & Life
“I believe that reading and writing are the most nourishing forms of meditation anyone has so far found. By reading the writings of the most interesting minds in history, we meditate with our own minds and theirs as well. This to me is a miracle.” ~R.D. Laing Zelda Fitzgerald At book club a few weeks […]
Reading Beyond Murakami
Like many of you, I no longer hold my breath for Murakami to win the Nobel Prize in Literature. For some reason, they don’t see the brilliance or the depth in his work. Every year I hope for it, and every year I am disappointed. I’ve read some pretty depressing articles that try to explain […]
Zelda’s Heart Was of July
Hey there, book club! If you’re reading along with us this fall, you probably just arrived in New York City with Zelda. First stop? A Catholic Church to marry Scott of course! I’m thankful they actually tie the knot. After reading about their romantic beginnings, I was really rooting for them. Despite knowing they got […]
A Banned Books List That Might Surprise You
“Any book worth banning is a book worth reading.” Isaac Asimov This is a big week for book lovers all over the world. We celebrate the freedom to read not only commonly banned books but all books without censorship. Schools all over the world, including right here in the United States, censor the written word […]
When Nietzsche Wept and the Christian Faith
Time cannot be broken; that is our greatest burden. And our greatest challenge is to live in spite of that burden.” Last night I read past my bedtime to finish a remarkable book. For some reason When Nietzsche Wept: A Novel of Obsession by Irvin D. Yalom was never on my radar before a few months […]
I Consume Libraries – Infinite Jest Inspiration
‘I read,’ I say. ‘I study and read. I bet I’ve read everything you’ve read. Don’t think I haven’t. I consume libraries. I wear out spines and ROM-drives. I do things like get in a taxi and say, “The library, and step on it.” When Hal tells the administration of the Enfield Tennis Academy, “I […]