Books Archives - Page 2 of 9

23Jun

Favorite Summer Book Club Picks

(Please note this is a sponsored post in support of Little Mercies but all opinions are my own.) Summer has arrived, and for me summer means a lot of reading. Beach reading. Poolside reading. Lying in the hammock reading. Time to read new books like Little Mercies by Heather Gudenkauf. After I had my first child, I joined a book club through a local group for town newcomers. That was nearly eleven years ago and my group is still together. While we’ve evolved over the years – some people have left, new people have come in – many of us have been in Read More

01Mar

Thinking About The Fault in Our Stars

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I finished the book The Fault in Our Stars in a few days. I have to admit I didn't know much about it beforehand, and I read in the hopes of passing it onto my 10 year-old daughter who's an avid reader when I finished it. After more than one attempt to start a book club with the moms of her friends, I've finally decided that the two of us can have it alone. While I found the book quite beautiful, it was also quite jarring and I'm not quite sure whether or not to share it with her. Should I keep the experience to myself and wait a year or two? I'm not Read More

13Feb

Talkin’ About a Revolution: The Mary Tyler Moore Show

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I grew up in the 1970s and clearly remember watching The Mary Tyler Moore Show with my mom and two sisters. I was really young when it aired, but even then I knew it was revolutionary. Mary and the rest of the cast had us all paying attention to a show about a single female news producer living and working in a male dominated world. What was amazing was that it was made during the height of the blossoming of women’s rights. How they did that is a story worth telling, and Jennifer Keishin Armstrong has skillfully done just that in her new book Mary and Read More

05Feb

The Unofficial GIRLS Guide to New York

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I love GIRLS. I write about the show often. I wrote it about it on BlogHer recently and I've written about the provocative and daring show here several times, as well. I'm a huge fan, even in light of Hannah's newly discovered narcissism this season. Last season it was OCD, now she's full of herself. As a matter of fact, all the characters are and it doesn't bother me because I know and remember being in my 20s living in NYC and, believe it or not, my life was not that dissimilar. Take as you will from that statement. I'm such a fan that the show's Read More

24Jan

Book Review: Beautiful Ruins

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I recently broke a reading drought with Beautiful Ruins, a remarkable and transporting novel that swept me away not only to a remove village in Italy on the coast but also to Hollywood. It goes back and forth in time to tell the full story of a group of people whose lives intermingle. There's a famous film producer, his assistant, a once known actress, the real Richard Burton during the time he broke up Elizabeth Taylor's marriage, an Italian fisherman and his family and a struggling screen writer. It doesn't take long for the reader to figure Read More

03Nov

Getting Up Close and Personal with the Cast and Crew of “The Book Thief”

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Five years ago, someone in my book club selected The Book Thief by Australian author Markus Zusak. As soon as I turned to the first page, I was mesmerized. Let me preface this article by saying that I am Jewish and I'm someone who has always felt a profound sense of responsibility towards my people and heritage because of what happened during the Holocaust. I read a lot of books about this time period. I watch movies about it. I have even thought about going back to school to study the Holocaust. I am currently interviewing survivors for my Read More

31Oct

Good Reads

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Now that I'm commuting to the city, I'm finding myself with seventy minutes more than I ever had before, time for some good reads. It's time to myself, with no interruptions and no one to worry about. I can literally keep my head down for an extended period of time. Since I live in a small town, there is always the chance of bumping into people on the way in that I have to spend time talking so I do my best to avoid talking types (and I'm quite sure they try to avoid me, as well). It's a quiet ride, and I'm doing my best to stay off my phone and Read More

21Oct

Are You Lost in Suburbia?

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Join us for a twitter party to celebrate the launch of Lost in Suburbia Stories, a new site that celebrates the challenges of being a mom. Are you lost in suburbia? It's much more than needing directions when you get off the Turnpike. It happens to a lot of women after having kids, and it's easy to think you're alone. But you're not. Talk to any mom after she's given birth and you'll find we all have a similar story. One that involves a changing identity, a new waistline and new challenges. Tracy Beckerman, the author of Lost in Suburbia: A Read More

20Oct

The Soupmaker’s Kitchen by Aliza Green

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When I make homemade soup, I'm a hero in my house. My family loves soup. Butternut squash, lentil, broccoli, cauliflower. Whatever I make, they love. Best of all, besides the mutual soup admiration club, I always feel good that I'm serving something healthy. Pureed vegetables with water or milk and very little else, what can be better than that? I also love the fact that a pot lasts several days and takes us through several meals. There is no downside (except the cleanup). According to a new book THE SOUPMAKER'S KITCHEN (Quarry Books, July 2013, Read More

19Oct

Angel Heart Music Storybook

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The haunting, evocative music storybook Angel Heart, released in September as a deluxe CD package, makes its New York premiere as a live multimedia family concert narrated by actor Chris Noth at Carnegie Hall’s Zankel Hall this Monday, October 21. Hailed as “a fairy tale for the digital age” (Wall Street Journal), Angel Heart enjoyed a sold-out world premiere at UC Berkeley’s Cal Performances earlier this month. With a new story by best-selling children’s fantasy writer Cornelia Funke, interspersed with lullabies and songs arranged for voices, Read More