I am currently reading Julia Franck’s novel Die Mittagsfrau for the second time as I prepare a talk on it for an upcoming conference. I first read the book in 2008, when I directed an honors project that focused on its depictions of gender and sexuality in Germany during the turbulent first half of the …
I have been a long time fan of the band Paramore but the group’s newest studio album, After Laughter, is my favorite project by the band. Being a bass player, the first thing that caught my ear were the melodic and interesting bass lines. Outside of that, what I find extremely interesting about this whole …
Alex DeJonge’s “The Life and Times of Grigorii Rasputin” offers up a fascinating glimpse into the life and times of one of the twentieth century’s greatest enigmas, the so-called “Mad Monk” Grigorii Rasputin. DeJong’s work leads us through Grigori Yefimovich Rasputin’s life, beginning with his childhood in rural Siberia, a bleak landscape that was saturated …
A couple of months ago, while browsing at Royal River Books in Yarmouth, my daughter and I stumbled across Goodnight Stories for Rebel Girls. “Great choice,” the woman at the counter told us. “I can barely keep this one on the shelf.” I had never heard of it, but we quickly discovered why it’s so popular: …
Currently I am reading (and re-reading) Tony Kushner’s play Angels in America: A Gay Fantasia on National Themes. I think it was instantly popular when it originally came out, but I’d never heard of it until Professor Hansen’s ‘Modern and Contemporary American Literature’ course. I’ve already recommended it to so many of my friends. The …
I’m reading On Tyranny: Twenty Lessons from the Twentieth Century by Timothy Snyder. A friend of my mother’s recommended the book as a timely look at the parallels between current political turmoil and the Fascist forces that gave rise to WWII. This woman has sent On Tyranny to every US Senator, as a means of encouraging them all to rise above partisan squabbles and, together, stand up …
Over winter break, I was asked by a family friend to recommend some literary readings for her four Chinese American children, ages 5, 7, 9, and 14. For the teenage daughter, I immediately thought of one of my favorite books, Maxine Hong Kingston’s classic memoir The Woman Warrior. But what of the younger kids? It …
During winter break I reread a book that continues to keep me engaged and anxious to turn the page with every read. Defending Jacob by William Landay, is the deceptively remarkable story of a 14 year old boy named Jacob who is accused of murdering a fellow classmate. When the bludgeoned body of the murdered …
I picked this up when it first came out and have found it to be a fresh perspective on something I talk about all of the time. Levitin takes a look at the different types of information that constantly surrounds us and provides a critical lens through which to view them. Wondering how someone can …
It has been just over three years since Seamus Heaney died. Considered one of the greatest Irish poets since Yeats, Heaney was awarded a Nobel laureate in literature in 1995 for his “works of lyrical beauty and ethical depth, which exalt everyday miracles and the living past.” For some reason, I cut out his obituary …