Hooo-wee, April was a busy month! I went to two library book sales: the book sale for the smaller of my two local libraries was at the beginning of the month, and the book sale for my “big” local library was at the end of the month (and my dad drove all the way here […]

Today I am giving you a special edition of Breakfast & Books to kick off the series (again). The bigger of my two local libraries had their bi-annual book sale this past weekend, and today (Monday) was BAG DAY. If you don’t know what bag day is, it’s usually the last day of library book […]

It’s April, and it’s still cold. Hmph. My weather app tells me it’s supposed to be getting warmer very soon, though. I am very much in need of sunshine and warmer weather. March was another good reading month, and another month of not blogging as much as I’d like to. I swear it’s the weather. I […]

The Orchardist by Amanda Coplin Fiction — Historical Harper, August 2012 Hardcover 448 pages From the inside flap: At the turn of the twentieth century, in a rural stretch of the Pacific Northwest, a reclusive orchardist, William Talmadge, tends to apples and apricots as if they were loved ones. A gentle man, he’s found solace […]

It’s March, it’s March! Here in the northeast that means we only have one more month until nicer weather! CAN I GET AN “AMEN”?! February is usually a slow reading month for me–I think because there are fewer days in the month, and because by February I’m starting to get really sick of crappy weather […]

The End of Your Life Book Club by Will Schwalbe Nonfiction — Memoir Knopf; October 2, 2012 Hardcover 352 pages Will Schwalbe’s mother, Mary Anne, came home from a humanitarian trip to Pakistan and Afghanistan with what seemed to be a rare form of hepatitis. When she still wasn’t feeling better a few months later, […]

Volcano by Shusaku Endo Fiction Peter Owen Publishers, March 2012 Paperback 175 pages Synopsis from the back cover: One of Shusaku Endo’s finest works of fiction, Volcano is a powerful novel of ideas as well as a sensitive and moving depiction of the trials of old age, set in the central region of Japan. With […]

In One Person by John Irving Fiction Simon & Schuster Release date: May 8, 2012 Hardcover 448 pages Synopsis from the publisher: In One Person is narrated by Billy Abbott, one of Irving’s most tormented and impassioned protagonists. Billy grows up in First Sister, Vermont, a small town with two defining institutions: a boarding school […]

Jillian of A Room of One’s Own came up with an awesome idea to host a book club of sorts, which she has named The Classics Club. The idea is for individual readers to set a goal to read a certain number of classics over a certain period of time (say, 100 classics over a period of five […]

The Western Lit Survival Kit: An Irreverent Guide to the Classics, from Homer to Faulkner by Sandra Newman Nonfiction — Literary Criticism (Humor) Gotham Books, January 2012 Paperback (Advanced Reader’s Edition) 304 pages (I received this book through the publisher and TLC Book Tours in exchange for an honest review.) Remember having to read all […]