No one would call 2020 a banner year for movies, with many major releases being pushed to 2021 with the hope of a theatrical release post-pandemic. Despite this, awards season is barreling ahead, with a strong crop of films to boot. In the lead up to this year’s Oscars, I will be watching as manyContinue reading “Watching the Oscar contenders, part 1”
Author Archives: Andrew Pieterick
March reading preview
Today, I’m going to walk you through my reading goal check-in, and then write a little about some of the books on my TBR (to be read) for March! Yearly reading goal report card At the start of each year, I create some reading goals to challenge myself and help me broaden my reading. Here’sContinue reading “March reading preview”
February 2021 reading wrap-up
When I started putting this together, I thought that the story of this month would be the long reading slump that I endured during its middle. Realizing that I had read more books this month than I had in January, I figured I had to reframe that just a bit. This month is marked byContinue reading “February 2021 reading wrap-up”
Midas touch: an overview of celebrity book clubs
As an avid reader, I’d always romanticized the idea of belonging to a book club. Reading was always such a solitary activity for me (and for most people), but the idea of a shared experience reading and gathering with close friends to discuss a title every month warmed my heart. Having recently started a bookContinue reading “Midas touch: an overview of celebrity book clubs”
A Toni Morrison read-through, part 1
A few weeks ago, a foundational belief of mine was shaken. In a casual discussion with a friend, I had mentioned that I will probably suggest a Toni Morrison novel for my book club when it was next my turn. “I don’t know who that is,” they responded. I was in disbelief, and, unable toContinue reading “A Toni Morrison read-through, part 1”
A primer on Joyce Carol Oates
There are very few writers as prolific as Joyce Carol Oates, and even fewer who are able to maintain a high level or literary quality like Oates can. Since her first novel in 1963, Oates has published 58 novels, as well as numerous collections of short stories, poetry, and nonfiction. She has won a NationalContinue reading “A primer on Joyce Carol Oates”
January 2021 reading wrap-up
I kicked 2021 off with a new set of goals and aiming to knock a few books off of my overly long TBR list. Check out my recommendations from my January 2021 reading. Best of the month “It’s impossible to let go of the people we love. Pieces of them remain embedded inside of usContinue reading “January 2021 reading wrap-up”
We tell stories to remember
We are coming up on a full year in some version of lockdown, as our country’s failure to respond to the COVID-19 pandemic becomes clearer every day, taking the lives of over 400,000 people in the United States alone. But this wasn’t the first time. Over 40 years ago, HIV/AIDS ravaged queer and black communitiesContinue reading “We tell stories to remember”
Vegetarian cookbooks to up your green game
I love cookbooks. It’s a love instilled in me by my mother, who would sit with a cookbook on a Saturday morning, paging through and looking for something that struck her with inspiration. For me, vegetarian and vegan cookbooks provide the most inspiration. My love of vegetables only took shape in the past decade, andContinue reading “Vegetarian cookbooks to up your green game”
What art will define this era?
Good art connects with people. Oftentimes, these connections are made because of the message and the world surrounding the audience. It can be a film that directly comments on current events, a book the satirizes world news, or a TV show that uses escapism to unite an audience, good art reflects the world. The UnitedContinue reading “What art will define this era?”