

Absalom, Absalom! by William Faulkner
Read my review of this book here! #absalomabsalom #williamfaulkner #thesoundandthefury #jess


Matchless by Gregory Maguire
Matchless by Gregory Maguire "I think I'll tryyyyyy Defyiiiiiiiiing Gravity..." Okay. Ignore me. I love me some Gregory Maguire. He's built his writing career doing interesting, dark (even sometimes darker than the original. Those Grimm brothers be fucked up... amirite?) reimaginings of classic children's stories. One of his books even inspired a long-running, award-winning Broadway musical. I picked up Maguire's reimagining of Hans Christian Andersen's The Little Match G


Daring Greatly by Brene Brown
Daring Greatly: How the Courage to Be Vulnerable Transforms the Way We Live, Love, Parent and Lead I decided that for 2016, I'm going to sport a rather charming existensial crisis. So I figured the start of a new year was the perfect time to let someone who has her shit together (like Ph.D. level "shit together") tell me how to get my shit together (me... with my completely-unused bachelor's degree). And also, I picked this book for our January backlist selection for my awe


Important life lessons in 2016
So, next up on the BWR Challenge is Absalom, Absalom! by William Faulkner. Previously I'd only read The Sound and the Fury (and fucking hated every second of it) so my exposure to Faulkner is pretty limited. I'm actually enjoying Absalom, Absalom! so I wanted to learn a little more about the man behind the words. And the most important thing I've learned so far... WILLIAM FAULKNER WAS HOT AS SHIT! This vital information brought to you by Sir Google and my eyeballs. And all


The Blind Assassin by Margaret Atwood
The Blind Assassin by Margaret Atwood Remember how Margaret Atwood and I are besties? Remember how we totally enjoyed a cocktail together at the Rare Book Room in Strand Bookstore? Remember how I got my copy of The Blind Assassin signed by Her Majesty? Now that I've gotten the entirely exaggerated bragging out of the way... There is a reason this book was an international bestseller and winner of The Booker Prize (look guys! I can read too!) This is the tale of the utter d


Your Rightful Home by Alyssa Knickerbocker
Your Rightful Home by Alyssa Knickerbocker In full disclosure, Your Rightful Home was written by a childhood friend of mine. However, Lauren Groff (of Fates and Furies fame) blurbed this before her book became Obama's #1 book of 2015. So... legit. Absolutely legit. A unique narrative voice lends an incredible sense of urgency to this tale of two friends. The reader is immediately placed in the middle of the tale of Lydia's disappearance and is made to feel like the event