
The Goldfinch by Donna Tartt
The Goldfinch by Donna Tartt After many false starts, I finally was able to make it more than 20 pages through this book. My love of art was the sole thing that kept me engaged. Tartt's obvious appreciation for the talent of the masters was sincere and inspiring. However, the rest fo the book was solidly "meh" for me. I understand why it won the Pulitzer, but I'm planning on giving Tartt a second chance when I read The Secret History. From what I've heard, that should've

Small Business Saturday
Any lover of Stars Hollow should appreciate just how important it is to support local businesses. And to combat the insanity of Black Friday, November 29th is Small Business Saturday. Tomorrow, grab a coffee and join IndiesFirst in shopping at your local independent bookstore! Chances are you have at least one book on your holiday shopping list. And if not, email/Facebook/Twitter/Morse code/smoke signal me and I'd be happy to send you my TBR list! You think I'm kidding...


The Tale of the Dueling Neurosurgeons: The History of the Human Brain as Revealed by True Stories of
The Tale of the Dueling Neurosurgeons by Sam Kean I'm such a sucker for weird medical shit, so this was right up my alley. In addition to the fascinating anecdotes about problems with people's domepieces, Kean's voice was informative while maintaining a sense of humor. Because let's be honest, a rod going through a guy's brain and him sitting around joking about it while a chunk of his skull flap is sticking up is AWESOME! Synopsis: The author of the bestseller The Disappea


Yes Please by Amy Poehler
Yes Please by Amy Poehler On the BookRiot podcast, Rebecca Schinsky was recently singing the praises of this book so much, even though I've never seen an episode of Park & Recreation, I had to "read" it. it was the only saving grace of a 5 hour drive to Newport, RI for an hour long client lunch. Besides the amazing lobster mac n' cheese. That might've been worth the drive. The interesting thing about this book is, besides totally delivering on the funny that you expect fro


morning coffee at luke's | Candide Indeed!
November 21, 2014 Happy Birthday, Voltaire! To celebrate, I'm going to share some great quotes from the birthday boy... "Every man is guilty of all the good he didn't do." "It is difficult to free fools from the chains they revere." "God is a comedian playing to an audience that is too afraid to laugh." And too perfect not to include... "A witty quote proves nothing." #voltaire #candide #birthday #morningcoffeeatlukes


morning coffee at luke's | Important Day in Mayo History
November 20, 2014 On this day in 1934, Lillian Hellman's The Children's Hour opened at Maxine Elliott's Theater on Broadway. Set in an all-girls board school in Scotland, the two women who run the school are accused on being on the down low by an angry student who attempts to run away and is trying to convince her grandmother not to send her back. The screen version starred Shirley MacLain and Audrey Hepburn. Not too shabby! And in 2011, Broadway saw a revival starring Keira


morning coffee at luke's | That's the dream
November 17, 2014 Listening to BookRiot's "Reading Lives" podcast yesterday, I was struck by something essayist Ashley Ford said about a book (Roxane Gay's An Untamed State): "That novel broke me apart and put me back together..." It got me to thinking... that's what we're usually looking for when we pick up a book for the first time, isn't it? A book that can break our heart but then proceed to fix all of the heartbreaks we have suffered in our lives. For me, that book was


morning coffee at luke's | We've got us a Pippi virgin!
November 14, 2014 Happy Birthday, Astrid Lindgren! If the author of Pippi Longstocking was alive today, she'd be celebrating her 107th birthday! To honor that, I'm sharing with you a scene from Gilmore girls in which Lindgren's beloved ginger is featured prominently. #morningcoffeeatlukes #pippilongstocking #astridlindgren #birthday


Where they lead, I will follow
The ATX Festival announced today that they are hosting a panel reuniting Lauren Graham, Alexis Bledel and Amy Sherman-Palladino in June... ...And guess who has one thumb (because I wasn't asking anyone to take this photo for me so I had to use the other thumb to click the photo) and is going??? Join me, wont you? #atxfestival #laurengraham #amyshermanpalladino #alexisbledel


morning coffee at luke's | Birthday Treasure
November 13, 2014 Happy Birthday, Robert Louis Stevenson! Did you know? The Royal Bank of Scotland issued a £1 banknote featuring Stevenson's likeness in 1994 heritagearchives.rbs.com When first published as a serial in Young Folks magazine, Treasure Island was titled The Sea Cook courtesy of mental_floss RLS was a teenager once too, and like any teenager... he routinely asked his parents for money. Here is how he did it: “Every year I have cost you an enormous — nay, elepha