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
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
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 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
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…
Reading In the Catskills 