Dolce Bellezza

I have never been in a Japanese garden... seen the cherry blossoms in front of Mt. Fuji... eaten real Japanese food...

Clara and Mr. Tiffany is a work of historical fiction by Susan Vreeland, the author who also wrote The Girl In Hyacinth Blue. It is an eloquent look at the woman who designed the intricately detailed Tiffany lamp. Clara Driscoll is the woman who works with Mr. Tiffany, the son of the man who b

I've just begun In One Person which Simon and Schuster sent to me earlier this month. And it occurs to me that I have stacks of John Irving novels as yet unread on my shelf by the fireside. Stacks. Unread. Ridiculous. So, as soon as I finish and review In One Person, I'm making it my goal to

"On the day after my mother's death, I returned to 83 Beals Street for the first time in fifteen years. I had stolen something from there when I was almost nine years old and kept it long after my reasons for holding on to it had lost their urgency. I suppose it was one of many talismans, rea

After writing down the names of the eligible readers who expressed an interest in receiving I Am Forgiven and folding their names in half, it was determined that the winner for this novel is: Sara! Congratulations, Sara, I've emailed the publishers with your name and address so you

Another Mother's Day has come and gone. The men were lined up by the Hallmark cards at Target yesterday, searching for just the right words someone else wrote for their wives. Or, mothers. I smiled as I saw them, torn between admiring them for buying the card in the first place and scorning how

"Judith unfastened the clasp of her pearl necklace, Yoel's present, that she had already chosen as her sign to let him know when she would be permitted. She placed the necklace next to the prayer book and stepped away from the lattice. The women pressing forward to see Zalman Stern jostled her

In my blogging travels today I came upon a read-along invitation for The Secret Garden hosted by Book Journey. The idea is to read this lovely children's book and post on it May 31 with a garden party of sorts at Sheila's. Doesn't that sound like the most wonderful antidote to heavy novels? Gray-ish

Can we talk about this book for a minute? Because a minute is about all I want to give it. In fact, I never thought I'd stoop to putting up a post about it on my blog, but truly, I'm curious as to how you feel. My exposure to the book started like this. In the school at which I am a faculty member,

which doesn't even begin until a month from today! But by then I'll be out of school and able to read (gasp!) and blog (gasp!) and cycle (gasp!) almost full time. The schedule is listed here on the site, which I'll briefly summarize here: Monday, June 4: Introductions where participants