The Books We Read Blog is conducting a series of interviews with contributors and friends of the blog to get a snapshot of our reading habits: the things we like to read, the circumstances in which we read, and more. Harmony Birch, MI 2022, was a SC&I Graduate Assistant and Summer Tales/Books We Read member … Read More
This post is part of our series to inspire students at the Summer Session to consider continuing their studies. When I tell people I’m getting a master’s degree to become a librarian, it’s often met with disbelief. Most people don’t know that most librarians need an ALA-accredited master’s degree focusing on library science and information … Read More
Content warning: this post mentions sex, sexual assault, and suicide. I read my first soft-core romance novel at nine years old. It was called The Undomestic Goddess and was written by one of my favorite authors, Sophie Kinsella. The book featured a high-strung attorney who ends up in the middle of nowhere working as a … Read More
The short story “Diem Perdidi” by Julie Otsuka is about a woman with dementia. The story is written in the second person as the woman’s daughter narrates her mother’s memory loss. The narrator’s mother is still herself and yet not herself. She can remember how to play Claire de Lune on the piano; she remembers … Read More
The library is more than a house of information; it’s a community center. At libraries, we promote community work, learn new skills, and are given a space to simply hang out and be. It’s a less formalized place of learning where patrons aren’t restrained by classroom rigidity. At Rutgers, we have many libraries to serve … Read More
Motherhood, genre, and form took center stage during the first session of Summer Tales when we examined the story “Eight Bites” by Carmen Maria Machado. Machado is the author of Her Body and Other Parties, in which the SummerTales story selection “Eight Bites” is published; and In the Dream House, a memoir on her experience … Read More
Please note: This post discusses abusive relationships. If you or someone you know needs support regarding domestic or dating violence, please go to The National Domestic Violence Hotline or Rutgers Counseling Services. Carmen Marie Machado (the first author being examined in our Summer Tales program) doesn’t pull punches when exposing the grotesque realities of humanity. … Read More
I don’t usually “get” poetry. I secretly scoffed at my friends in undergrad who called themselves poets. The Poetry Club seemed like a contest to out-pretentious and out-angst one another. As a reader, I usually prefer prose. It makes sense; I don’t usually have to guess at anyone’s meaning. But poetry is a different beast … Read More