As you noticed from my Oscars series, I love awards, and luckily there is no shortage of awards to be found in the book world. But what do these awards really mean? While publishing companies will not hesitate to include any award that a novel received on its cover, some are significantly less prestigious thanContinue reading “Your guide to the major literary awards”
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#Booktok made me read it
Your guide to the most popular books on TikTok A little over a year ago, the mobile app TikTok gained a significantly larger audience at the start of the pandemic, going from a Gen Z dominated platform to an app that seemingly everyone with a smartphone was on. The app’s impressive algorithm was able toContinue reading “#Booktok made me read it”
Best of the rest: my favorite films of 2020
Each year, Oscars Sunday is my official cutoff for my favorite films of the previous year list. This year, because of the Academy Awards pushing their ceremony two months, I’ve had extra time to catch up of 2020 films. I’ve already written about some of my favorite documentaries from last year, and each of thoseContinue reading “Best of the rest: my favorite films of 2020”
“A blank place on a map is the most valuable part”: my favorite nature writing
I’ve always celebrated the coming of spring by reading books about nature, trying to defrost from long winters and appreciate the warmer months ahead. The best nature writing helps us connect to the natural world, and better understand the active role we play in its survival. Today, I’m giving you nine of my favorite piecesContinue reading ““A blank place on a map is the most valuable part”: my favorite nature writing”
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 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”
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?”
Three recent documentaries about the state of our world
It’s been a great few years for documentaries, and 2020 was no exception. Each of these films, released last year and available to watch at home, shine a light on the world we currently live in, from our electoral politics, to the American prison system, all the way to government corruption at the highest levels.
