This weekend, I went with some of my students to ring the bells for the Salvation Army. I love taking time to give back to my community, and I love it even more when I can share that experience with my students. I am aware that my life is a life of privilege and any …
The Restorative Properties of Hallmark Movies
Today, I curled up in bed, exhausted from Thanksgiving and Black Friday and ready to dive into a good book. My 50-pound mutt climbed up in the bed with me and snuggled up (don’t tell my wife. We don’t allow dogs in the bed.) I didn’t like the silence, so I turned on the Hallmark Channel …
Review – The Golden Sequence by Jonni Pollard
I recently had the opportunity to read The Golden Sequence by Jonni Pollard. This book came as a surprise to me, just bundled in with another book I had been asked to review. Let me tell you, surprise books are the best kind of surprise. The Golden Sequence is much along the same vein as …
The Zone – How I Conquer NaNoWriMo
This year I am participating in NaNoWriMo. For the uninitiated among you, NaNoWriMo, short for National Novel Writers Month, is an annual challenge writers take to try to write an entire novel in the month of November. Since its inception, NaNoWriMo has changed slightly. Many writers, myself included, are using the month to focus hard …
Review – Brother John by August Turak
Recipient of the prestigious Templeton Prize, Brother John is the true story of a meaningful encounter between the author going through a mid-life crisis, and an umbrella-wielding Trappist monk. This magical encounter on Christmas Eve eventually leads the author, and us all, to the redemptive power of an authentically purposeful life. Uplifting, deeply moving, and set …
Review – The Burn Zone: a Memoir by Renee Linnell
If you’re anything like me, you find the psychology of cults very interesting. I cannot tell you the amount of hours I have devoted to reading about Heaven’s Gate, Scientology, Children of God, and Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh. Growing up, I had friends who were in a cult and I think that probably sparked the fascination …
We Are All New York
I’m sitting here in an apartment overlooking Midtown and listening to the sounds of New York City. I’m at a white desk, typing on my laptop and I wonder: is this what Carrie Bradshaw felt like? Did she sit, narrate in her head, and write with awe and wonder at the city around her? Or …
Banned Books Week – Of Mice and Men
Did you know that 56% of book challenges take place at public libraries? Libraries which are supposed to represent the communities which they serve. Libraries which are supposed to be places of acceptance and information. It doesn’t make sense to me that people ask libraries–the public forum for books and information–to ban books. But maybe …
Banned Books Week – A Separate Peace
Do you want to know the quickest way to get me to read a book? Call it a “filthy, trashy sex novel.” And in 1980, somebody did just that with today’s challenged book. You’ll notice from the graphic above (provided by ALA.org) that one of the biggest reasons books are challenged is sexual content. Because, …
Banned Books Week – To Kill a Mockingbird
You’d think that in this forward-thinking society, books would stand a chance, right? Wrong. Books are being banned and challenged today. And I don’t mean just new releases. It’s not like people are standing in line picketing the latest Stephen King novel. I don’t mean to say that modern releases aren’t being challenged. I just …
