

Bear's Best of 2015!
As we start to wind down 2015, I've been seeing a lot of best-of lists. You know I need everyone to know what I think. So here are mine. My favorite books published in 2015. I'm ready for you, 2016... come at me, brah! Have you ever read a debut novel by an author and saw in stunning clarity the respect and awards in that author's future? Chigozie Obioma's first novel gave me that vision from the first paragraph. [read more] The greatest and most transformative moments i


The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien
The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien I read this for my local independent bookstore's monthly book group. I was a little afraid going into it. My stepmother (a HUGE Tolkien fan) had tried to get me to read this book so many times in my childhood and adolescence. And I just could never get into it. Hell, I couldn't even bring myself to watch The Lord of the Rings movies (the filters bother me... everything is so... blue). And besides Harry Potter (actually another series my stepm


Savage Beauty by Nancy Milford
Read my review here! #nancymilford #savagebeauty


Modern Romance by Aziz Ansari
Modern Romance by Aziz Ansari I've been with my husband for over half my life. He was my prom date. We grew up five minutes away from each other. We started dating before cell phones (nevermind smartphones) were something everyone owned. Hell, it wasn't long before our first date that the internet first caught on. So Jay and I lived a very different experience than the one Aziz Ansari speaks about in Modern Romance. And that's exactly why I think it was important for me