20 Books of Summer! All About Provence
This summer I’m writing a novel set in Provence so I’ve been dreaming about France. Since I already have a stack of books to inspire me, I thought I’d lengthen my list and join this summer’s 20 Books of Summer…
An Escape to Italy with Donna Leon
What author do you turn to for predictability? For a story that’s not too unlike one the author wrote previously? Perhaps, it’s a fantasy series set in a particular world (a la George R.R. Martin) or a mystery series featuring…
Gretchen Rubin on How to Be a Better Person
Gretchen Rubin’s Better Than Before fits right in with The Cultivated Life principle: how to grow for the better. This warm, down-to-earth book tackles the subject of personal habits and how to master them. Habits are the architecture of our lives, Rubin…
Ross Gay: Singing About Plants and People
September is a month of transition. The warm, bright freedom of long days wanes into the chilly introspection of rainy nights. It’s a warning about the coming of the great sleep that is winter. It’s in the morning dew on…
Tracy Chevalier, Apple Trees & Me
Tracy Chevalier has published a book about apple trees and I’m jealous. I saw it a few weeks ago in my local, independent bookstore, Third Place Books. (I know I’m a bit late in noticing.) Multiple copies were nested in…
The Only Book You Need for Valentine’s Day
My love for my husband isn’t about flowers and candy on a particular day of the year. It’s about the surging ache I feel when we’re apart and I think of him. It’s about a random image, the shine of…
Why Kazuo Ishiguro Gives Me Hope
The British writer Kazoo Ishiguro has now released a fantasy novel called The Buried Giant. It was actually the first novel he attempted many years ago but later set aside. He said he had trouble forming it fully. Now, as…
The Inspiring Idea of Being a Linchpin
A few weeks ago, I came across the perfect book to inspire new behavior. It’s called Linchpin by Seth Godin. Godin is a motivational guru and book writer who writes about living up to one’s potential at a job. But Linchpin is about more…
