#Essays

6 Questions to Help You Shape Your Reading Practice

Just as many people have spiritual practices, these questions help to cultivate a thoughtful reading practice to achieve your goals.

Who Was Agatha Christie?

Agatha Christie, the Queen of Crime, was arguably the best detective novelist of all time. We look at Christie's life and legacy.

We Are More Than Our History: On Also Reading Books About Joy

Books about Jewish history and tragedy are important...but as important, and often missing, are books on Jewish joy.

Elizabeth Bennet Lives: Literary Present Tense

Books and other media are discussed as if they exist in an "eternal present" — Elizabeth Bennet lives in Hertfordshire, not lived. But why?

How To Read Through Burnout

Who *isn't* burnt out? I've rounded up some tips for reading through burnout. Try one, try them all, or take a break! Do you.

Why Horror Is Such A Hard Genre to Crack

If you've put off reading horror because of your assumptions of how scary it is, reconsider how broad a category it is.

How Your Book Club Can Fight Against Books Bans and Censorship

Censorship attempts and book bans are at an all time high, but even a handful of people in a book club can make a difference. Here's how.

Should Goodreads Users Be Able to Review Books before They’re Published?

Before a book comes out, it can be flooded with 5-star GIF-filled reviews or 1-star rants. Should Goodreads allow pre-publication reviews?

I Went Low Where Hemingway Went High… Maybe

Two whole years of Hemingway's work was lost and he just brushed it off. I think I'd have burst into flames.

Are Books About the Pandemic Cathartic or Anxiety-Producing?

I didn't realize how badly I wanted to read a book set in the world I was currently experiencing until I started one. It was a relief.