Last month was an easy month. We used to say this in my previous library all the time. Little did we know that the sentence will travel through continents and decades. The #rutgersurbansketching project is almost over and I am ashamed to realize didn’t have time to create a single sketch in November 2021. Without any … Read More
Last month I participated in a bibliotherapy session called On the Road geared toward Hungarians living outside the country. What a great idea, I thought when I saw the invitation. I was not disappointed. For those new to the concept of bibliotherapy, it implies guided reading, including subsequent conversation, for therapeutic purposes. The texts usually … Read More
A chance to go goofy and embrace our inner child for most, Halloween is probably my least favorite holiday. Even though I take pleasure in watching kids dressed up and testing their courage knocking on the doors of unfamiliar neighbors, even though I understand the holiday’s diverse and rich origins, the night will remain the … Read More
When I was asked to join the “Books We Read” team, I thought nothing of writing about the book I was reading at the time (sounds like the objective, right?). I had just started Amia Srinivasan’s “The Right to Sex: Feminism in the Twenty-First Century,” recommended by the New York Times Book Review the week … Read More
You might have noticed books on a shelf in your public library labelled “bibliotherapy.” You might have read about a bibliotherapy display in a bookstore. What the heck is this bibliotherapy again? Are you supposed to read books or attend group sessions? Lie on a couch? Would picking up a book help when your mind … Read More
Does a book’s main character always have to be likable? If you think back on your favorite main characters, many were almost surely ones you liked, or at least admired or related to on some level. Even villains are sometimes not totally unlikable, especially when they have a powerful quality or a character flaw that … Read More
This post starts with a confession: Middlemarch, by George Eliot (pen name of Mary Anne Evans), is widely considered one of the greatest novels ever written––certainly the odds-on favorite for greatest English novel. It is my fiancée’s favorite novel and she has written about it extensively. She’s not alone––many of the greatest literary critics of … Read More
A children’s book shredded in public by a member of the parliament. A poster outside a bookstore warning customers of books with “homosexual propaganda dangerous to children.” A mayor demanding that a book should be removed from a library display, upon (alleged) complaints from the public. Finally, a newsletter polling librarians whether professional organizations should raise … Read More
I have always enjoyed children’s and young adult (YA) books and continue to read them even as an adult. When I became a parent, I loved reading books to my kids, sharing my favorites with them and finding new ones we could appreciate together. Once they started reading on their own, I started screening many … Read More
If you’re appalled by violence and graphic details in a book or movie but––pun intended––you’d kill for a good mystery, cozy mysteries are for you. Rest assured, you are not alone. Cozy mysteries became one of the most popular escapist genres during the pandemic. What the heck is a cozy mystery anyway? Sounds like an … Read More