Writer, Reader, English Teacher
Sara Orne Jewett was a turn-of-the-century novelist, poet, and short fiction writer, known especially for emphasizing nature and descriptions of coastal Maine in her work. Two pieces she is most well known for are:
And
In The County of Pointed Firs, Jewett inserts throughout a dueling yet complementary sense of loss and perseverance. The rural town setting of coastal Maine drives the piece, and the environment is as harsh and …
There's nothing more natural than making a homemade/home-grown pasta sauce on a steamy August afternoon. Do you disagree? Well, consider the bounty of our backyard garden, and maybe you'll understand. We had many, many tomatoes, and an embarrassment of basil and blue sage. I decided I couldn't let it all go to waste, and after pursuing various pasta recipes on the web, I came up with my own way to combine the ingredients. I think it turned out pretty well, because both (husband) …
It's unusual for me to read nonfiction, but I was drawn to Ronan Farrow's Catch and Kill for several reasons. I'd already watched Farrow v. Allen and Untouchable, both of which are documentaries on HBO, and which deal with sexual abuse and abuse of power, focusing on the allegations against Woody Allen and Harvey Weinstein, respectively. After watching both I came away with several conclusions: both Allen and Weinstein are no doubt guilty; powerful men like to …
Tell Me Everything, by Cambria Brockman, is a riveting novel that can fairly be compared to Donna Tartt's highly esteemed The Secret History.
The protagonist of Tell Me Everything, Malin, goes to college in New England. It's not quite Ivy League, but it's elite and attracts a certain kind of accomplished of student, like the wealthy type who just fell short of getting into Harvard, Brown, or Penn State. There's Ruby, a British theater major who is the life of the …
All Your Twisted Secrets, by Diana Urban, has an intriguing premise. Amber, our main character and narrator, is attending a dinner with the mayor and several of her other classmates, all of whom have supposedly won a college scholarship. All of the classmates have a close connection to Amber, as in they are her boyfriend, her estranged best friend, her current bitchy best friend, her secret crush, and a stoner who always seems to be around. The mayor never shows up, and suddenly the …
