by paige on August 1, 2010
A FEW YEARS back, my family made its own venture into the wilderness, moving from the urban sprawl of Los Angeles to the expansive green hills of the Hudson Valley. It’s paradise, yet the climate where we live can be wretched and unforgiving, the land hilly and full of stones. We marvel aloud at the tenacity and sheer strength of this area’s early settlers, the people who cleared all the trees, built the stone walls that still stand. We are awed by what they accomplished, and quite certain we, with our reliance on power tools, the internet, and central heating, would not have a prayer of replicating their achievements. [click to continue…]
by paige on July 29, 2010
AM I ALONE in having a too-long list of authors I’ve been meaning to read, it seems forever, yet somehow never get around to? Allegra Goodman, a prolific and much-beloved novelist, is on that list for me, but I’m taking charge. Right now. [click to continue…]
by paige on July 14, 2010
WHO COULD RESIST a book with the subtitle “My Life in a Harem”? OK, probably a lot of people. But I’m not one of them. [click to continue…]
SOMETIMES, YOU JUST HAVE to read a book. You love (or know!) the author, the subject compels you, something on the dust jacket sucks you in, a review is so provocative you cannot skip it…I have hundreds of different paths to reading, but the one I took to my latest favorite read is roundabout, for sure–and yet, at least for my life here on TSP, it feels totally inevitable. [click to continue…]
by paige on March 31, 2010
Five of the six Mitford sisters
CALL ME BIASED, but I don’t think of the Wall Street Journal as the most sisterly-leaning publication. But after this week’s installment of their regular “Five Best” book column, I may have to reconsider my position. [click to continue…]
by paige on March 18, 2010
IF YOU’VE SPENT much time here, you already know how we TSP sisters feel about the power of memoir, and Mary Gordon’s layered remembrance of her mother is an outstanding example of the genre. [click to continue…]
by paige on February 7, 2010
RAISE A CUPCAKE today to Laura Ingalls Wilder, memoirist and chronicler extraordinaire. Her Little House books were a staple of my childhood (and probably yours) and, I’m pleased to report, my own little Rock and River love her, too, giving me license to continue to indulge my Ingalls fixation well into adulthood. Though Laura has no living direct descendants, I think it’s not too hyperbolic to say that she’s a part of every family who ever read her tale–and that’s a lot of us. So, wish a happy birthday to Sister Laura, and be sure to read all about The Little House Cookbook!)
A FEW YEARS back, my family made its own venture into the wilderness, moving from the urban sprawl of Los Angeles to the expansive green hills of the Hudson Valley. It’s paradise, yet the climate where we live can be wretched and unforgiving, the land hilly and full of stones. We marvel aloud at the tenacity and sheer strength of this area’s early settlers, the people who cleared all the trees, built the stone walls that still stand. We are awed by what they accomplished, and quite certain we, with our reliance on power tools, the internet, and central heating, would not have a prayer of replicating their achievements. [click to continue…]
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