Below are articles I've contributed to the Sullivan County Democrat as part of my monthly book column Reading in the Catskills. You can also find additional information on where to buy, borrow, and hang out with books from Kingston to Callicoon. Links to other published work (travel, adventure, profiles, etc.) are in 'writing while riding'.… Continue reading Dear Reader…
The Girls Who Got Me to Read This Book
Her shiny blond hair brushes the black leather of her bomber jacket.Her browline glasses say smart but stylish.Her voice is enthusiastic but precise.Her grade in school? Sixth. Aria Storm Partridge holds The War That Saved My Life and its equally exciting sequel, The War I Finally Won Aria Storm Partridge goes to Sullivan West Elementary… Continue reading The Girls Who Got Me to Read This Book
Good People in the Bad Lands
There are many stories of earth’s creation, but the one an Ojibwe father tells his son in Louise Erdrich’s The Night Watchman is one of my favorites. “In the beginning,” the father says, sitting outside in the autumn sun, “the earth was covered with water . . . “ And when the Creator decided there should be… Continue reading Good People in the Bad Lands
“Every night is girls night”
On the drive home from the Barbie movie not long ago, my niece and I cranked up the volume on songs by Beyoncé, Rihanna, and Taylor Swift, letting their powerful voices swirl around us. My niece had her hands firmly on the wheel, but with the sunset glow in our windshield, we felt like we… Continue reading “Every night is girls night”
No Swimming Back to Shore: Rowing Solo Across the Atlantic
“The smell of salt air filled my nostrils. . . . I searched the southwest horizon, trying to find the light from Bodie Island. There were no landmarks. There was no land. I’m committed now; no diving over-board, no swimming back to shore.” Earlier in the summer I picked up Tori Murden McClure’s A Pearl in the… Continue reading No Swimming Back to Shore: Rowing Solo Across the Atlantic
“Agonizing, Unrelenting, & Impossible”: Biking the Continental Divide
En route to the Berkshires Just about a month ago, I put my books down and got on a bike strapped with bags stuffed with clothes, snacks, tools and tire tubes, and a swimsuit. A few months prior I had met a college friend for dinner and she asked me if I was going to… Continue reading “Agonizing, Unrelenting, & Impossible”: Biking the Continental Divide
Ma and Me: a memoir that is so much more
Sometimes I believe in book karma. I pick up a book for one reason and by the end it’s given me dozens more reasons to recommend it. This was the case with Ma and Me a memoir by Cambodian American journalist Putsata Reang. I began reading it because I thought I might slip this column in before… Continue reading Ma and Me: a memoir that is so much more
Girls in Bands: One Real, One Not
“Stunning” . . .”Explosive” . . . “All-consuming” . . . “Addictively voyeuristic.” The praise on the back jacket of Daisy Jones and the Six by Taylor Jenkins Reid was captivating, if not a little high in amperage. And having been a book editor for many years, I know that hardcover jacket blurbs are somewhat… Continue reading Girls in Bands: One Real, One Not
Escaping Underground and into the Clouds
The woman seated next to me at the book group describes almost word for word the image I’ve been trying to put out of my thoughts since reading it a few days earlier. It is worse than grim, but part of me is glad that we cannot forget it. So many stories move quickly in… Continue reading Escaping Underground and into the Clouds
New Year, New-ish Books
The women in almost-matching black down coats are grazing a table full of books and both still look hungry for more. I recognize a title by Amor Towles under the arm of one of them, an author I’ve developed a taste for. This cozy little bookstore is busy on an early January Saturday. There are… Continue reading New Year, New-ish Books
A Book Lover Finds Gifts Close to Home
A chalkboard standing on the sidewalk reads “Everything that Amazon is not.” Peering in a window, my eye is caught by a red, white, and blue book cover The United States of Cocktails and two vintage lowball glasses perched on a wrapped present. I open a door and the warmth of a cast iron stove… Continue reading A Book Lover Finds Gifts Close to Home
Reading In the Catskills 