Dear everyday reader,

What to read next? That's always the question after you finish a good book. As a teenager I dove into books headfirst--whether they were good, bad, or indifferent. After reading some emotionally charged novel like Jane Eyre or Gone with the Wind I would feel a sense of loss. I had to go back to my ordinary life and return Jane and Mr. Rochester to the library shelf. I sometimes feared that I had now read all the good books, and would never again be deliciously swept away by a good story. I needn't have worried; decades later I am still discovering books and authors that thrill me, although perhaps not in the same way that I was thrilled as a teenager. I would like to share some of those books in this space, which will be part book review, part journal, and part commonplace book*.


*A commonplace book is a small notebook or journal where you write down bits--quotes, lines, or paragraphs that strike you when you are reading so that you can always have them at your fingertips. If you don't have one, try starting one. I keep mine on my nightstand and read it often.