Not a big dent, but it’s something — Is it me, or did February feel like it dragged? For being the shortest month of the year, it felt like the longest. It felt like that trying to read some books this month, too. I had some books I needed to finish from the library, so I didn’t read…

And my first taste of it is Rainbow Rowell’s Eleanor and Park — The first Book Club is always the most nerve-wracking. You don’t know who will be there, and you don’t know how anyone will react to the story. I’ve been to Book Club before, but it was a general book club. I didn’t know what to expect from YA Book Club…

Mudbound by Hillary Jordan — Do you know why I like Book Club so much? I can talk about books for an hour, and I read books I wouldn’t pick for myself. Some of the books that end up on my Best of the Month articles are ones I find in Book Club. And sometimes…

They’re a scam, no matter where they come from — In a small town, a high school senior is applying to college. The kid is poor and feels guilty about asking their parents for money to apply. It’s the third college the kid applied to in a month. They shake as they hit “Submit” hoping this one accepts them. Meanwhile…

A small start, but going strong — Last year, I put so much pressure on myself to read as many books as I can get my hands on, I burned out from reading. I got so bad I started returning unfinished books, unable to get into the story. Slowly, I’m pulling myself out. I checked out five…

Sound familiar? — I wanted to write a sentimental article about turning thirty-five last month. I had this idea of creating thirty-five life lessons and observations and taking a shot at humor. I’m thirty-five, but I’m not dead, right? But the night of my birthday, I started coughing, and my throat started hurting…

“A Thousand Splendid Suns” By Khaled Hosseini — Have I mentioned how much I love being a part of a book club? It’s wonderful finally going to a place where we can have a conversation about a book. And that book conversation morphs into more meaningful conversations that help you learn about one another. This year, I want…

A film adaptation to a book where I understand why the changes happened — Film adaptations of books are a crap shoot. We want them to be good, but they take the meat out of most of the story and replace it with Hollywood trash. Subtleties disappear, and you’re left with ham-fisted garbage. And then A Man Called Otto comes along, and suddenly, I…

It’s not you, it’s me — Picture yourself scrolling through Facebook one day. You’re not doing anything interesting but passing the time. You look at your likes and your comments, and then you see a Friend Request. The name doesn’t sound familiar. When you look at the pictures, you don’t recognize anyone. So you check mutual…