Last night around 10:00, I foolishly opened The Life and Afterlife of Harry Houdini — just to take a quick peek. You know, to see if it looks like something I might want to read. Next thing I knew, I‘d gobbled up 100 pages and it was way past my bedtime.
Well, that sure was an unexpected page turn! 😱😂 All you other Sarah Millers out there, beware!
I'm reasonably sure there's stuff I'm supposed to be doing today, but I'm awfully tempted to stay right here in my bed with Deborah Heiligman's new book, Torpedoed, for the foreseeable future.
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Steve Sheinkin's newest book is superb. Su. Perb. I know this because when the New York Times asked me to review it, I gobbled it up in a single sitting. And I don't even like airplanes!
Full review here:
https://tinyurl.com/NYTborntofly
Uh, you guys? I've never actually read/seen It, so I'm not sure whether to laugh or run away screaming. Please advise!
pickI devoured this book of deliciously morbid questions way, WAY faster than your cat will eat your eyeballs after you die. Like, in one sitting. And now I really need to learn more about corpse abuse laws, because if they‘re the reason you can‘t keep your parents‘ skulls, how were Lizzie Borden‘s parents‘ skulls allowed to be removed, defleshed, and used as evidence in her murder trial? 😱
Last night I read the first 38 pages of The Whisper Man and I honestly don't know whether I have the nerve to go on. Largely because I am a wimp, but also because I don't want to have to sleep with the windows shut for the rest of my life.
Next month I get to be on a panel with Akilah Hughes for the SLJ TeenLive Virtual Summit, so this is totally me doing my homework. Doesn't feel like homework, though. ?
Also, I just read the Disney chapter and I'm a little worried that the first thing I say to Akilah Hughes is going to be "OMG, I did my WDWCP in Tomorrowland, too! And I did a character audition and got a callback (Ariel) and also ultimately got rejected, too!"
After a long day of writing about conjoined twins, I like to kick back and read about...conjoined twins. The Less You Know, The Sounder You Sleep is a novel of Masha and Dasha Krivoshlyapova -- born in the USSR in 1950 -- by the British journalist who knew them for fifteen years.
THIS BOOK IS TREMENDOUS. AND DISTURBING. (And worth the discomfort.)
A porch and a book.
I foolishly picked up Kid Gloves at bedtime last night and stayed up until 1:17am to finish it. That good.
Schlitzie Surtees appeared alongside Violet and Daisy Hilton in Tod Browning's cult horror classic, "Freaks," and was apparently beloved by everyone who worked with him. Can't wait to delve into this graphic biography, which includes a 'translation' of my favorite scene in Browning's film.
This book is absolutely FLYING by. A fast read with substance is such a treat. (And so is the long-awaited sunshine in the background.) ☀️📚
My day was pretty bluh until about 20 minutes ago, when I picked up The Five: The Untold Lives of the Women Killed by Jack the Ripper, by Hallie Rubenhold. I predict that I will not be putting it down any time soon. 😱
It has taken me 11 pages to discern that Pay Attention, Carter Jones is going to be an utter delight. I am about to gobble up every last thing in this photo.
Also, to whoever stuck that barcode right smack over Gary D. Schmidt's name: 🤦♀️
All the world had agreed that a blue-eyed, yellow-haired, pink-skinned doll was what every girl child treasured. “Here,” they said, “this is beautiful, and if you are on this day ‘worthy‘ you may have it.” I fingered the face, wondering at the single-stroke eyebrows; picked at the pearly teeth stuck like two piano keys between red bowline lips. Traced the turned-up nose, poked the glassy blue eyeballs, twisted the yellow hair. I could not love it.
Usually I am more of a book-gobbler than a savorer, but Bowlaway is so delightfully, sweetly bossy that it demands to be savored — and I don't mind a bit.
Cara Robertson quoted me in The Trial of Lizzie Borden, AND she called The Borden Murders “elegant.” I‘m even in the index and bibliography! Please excuse me while I go die of nerd-vanity. 😍🤩
“This desire to see Lizzie Borden as a whole person rather than ‘a Halloween tchotchke,‘ as Sarah Miller puts it in her elegant 2016 young adult study of the Borden murders, informs recent imaginings of the story.”
Renni Edo-Lodge‘s definition of white privilege is the best I‘ve ever seen:
“…I don‘t mean that white people have it easy, that they‘ve never struggled, or that they‘ve never lived in poverty. But white privilege is the fact that if you‘re white, your race will almost certainly positively impact your life‘s trajectory in some way. And you probably won't even notice it."
pickWow. Just wow. As tough to read and as impossible to put down as Living Dead Girl.
Today is the 152nd anniversary of Laura Ingalls Wilder‘s birth! If you haven‘t read her memoir, Pioneer Girl, I highly recommend it — life wasn‘t all gingham and maple sugar, and this book gives a glimpse into just how skillfully Wilder transformed her impoverished childhood into the fictional comfort food cherished by generations.
Also, as a point of pride, my copy came from De Smet, SD, the real-life Little Town on the Prairie.
Kindle deal! Caroline: Little House, Revisited is on sale for $1.99 for the month of February 📚💕📚
Coincidentally, today is also Caroline and Charles Ingalls's 159th wedding anniversary.🎻🧶💒
Kindle deal! Caroline: Little House, Revisited is on sale for $1.99 for the month of February 📚💕📚
Coincidentally, today is also Caroline and Charles Ingalls's 159th wedding anniversary.🎻🧶💒
A very big novel about very small acts of resistance. I read Every Man Dies Alone several years ago, but I expect it to resonate more deeply now.
Shamefully long overdue New Year‘s resolution: READ the books on racism that I bought after Charlottesville.
This book is definitely headed somewhere ugly, and I can‘t wait to see where 😱
(Yes, those are my actual baby teeth — too much? #sorrynotsorry That‘s the gruesome kind of mood Baby Teeth will inspire.)
Serendipity: When you say to yourself, “I‘d like to read Sadie,” and the very next day it‘s on sale for $2.99.
If I gotta spend another weekend sitting around with an Ace bandage and an ice pack, I might as well enjoy myself, right?
Today is Caroline Ingalls‘s birthday! I‘ll be celebrating with red yarn and an antique crochet hook. 🧶 And I might read the scene where Ma dances at the maple sugar dance in the Big Woods. What‘s your favorite Ma moment?
Today is Caroline Ingalls‘s birthday! I‘ll be celebrating with red yarn and an antique crochet hook. 🧶 And I might read the scene where Ma dances at the maple sugar dance in the Big Woods. What‘s your favorite Ma moment?
“Pain demands to be felt.”
(Color-coordinated my reading with my ice pack.)
#sprainedankle #kissingbook #cryingbook
Why do you suppose that 95% of the graphic novels I read are memoirs?
On sale today only — $2.99 on Kindle!
If you love Little House on the Prairie, I recommend you seriously consider reading Killers of the Flower Moon for the story of what happened to the citizens of the Osage Nation after the Ingalls family moved on. Be forewarned, there‘s far more cold chills than warm fuzzies in this very true story.
Binge-watched the last three episodes of Feud last night. Now, whose bio do I start with? One of them is bound to feel slighted. 😢
The appropriate accessories for Mrs. Madrigal are, of course, a kimono and a joint. As I am lacking in both departments, a generically bohemian backdrop will have to do. 😉
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Also, I have finished the entire series. 😫 NOW WHAT ON EARTH DO I READ?
Can anyone explain why I keep failing to enjoy LOTR? 10+ years ago I made it to page 125. This time I‘ve reached 254. Prevail or bail??
