Kitchen Yarns by Ann Hood

December 04, 2018

Ah, Ann Hood. I know she’s written other books, and I’ve read other ones, but I identified with her memoir/essay collection Morningstar: Growing Up with Books. Now, she has given us a memoir about another essential part of her life. Kitchen Yarns: Notes on...

The Widower’s Notebook by Jonathan Santlofer

August 26, 2018

Jonathan Santolofer’s book, The Widower’s Notebook, is a memoir. The author of The Death Artist and Anatomy of Fear did not write an instructional manual as to how to survive grief. It’s a very personal account of the sudden death of his wife, Joy,...

The Wine Lover’s Daughter by Anne Fadiman

December 29, 2017

I’ll admit I know nothing about wine, and I really don’t care to. That doesn’t make Anne Fadiman’s memoir, The Wine Lover’s Daughter, an odd choice for me. This is the story of her father, Clifton Fadiman, and, her yearning to...

Promise Me, Dad by Joe Biden

November 19, 2017

Cancer is such a pernicious disease. There isn’t one of us who hasn’t been touched by it, or knows someone who has. Joe Biden’s book, Promise Me, Dad: A Year of Hope, Hardship, and Purpose, is the story of the year the Biden family stood with...

Morningstar: Growing Up with Books by Ann Hood

September 03, 2017

Author Ann Hood is only a few months older than me. As a lifelong reader, her memoir, Morningstar: Growing Up with Books, made me nostalgic for my adolescence. No, not for the adolescence itself. For the discovery and freshness and awakening brought about by...