Lighten Up

Animal Joy: A Book Of Laughter and Resuscitation, by Nuar Alsadir. Jeevika Verma, with NPR Morning Edition, interviews the author about her new book on laughter. Alsadir tells us that there are two kinds of laughter. Social Laughter,the most common type, is situational. We laugh to ease tensions, promote comraderie or create a safe space. Spontaneous Laughter, on the other hand, is when we burst

What is unrealistic fiction?

When thinking about genres of literature, one usually thinks things such as: “I don’t really like science fiction” or “All I really ever read is non-fiction” or “I love that mystery writer.” Book publishers have developed elaborate algorithms using artificial intelligence to chart who buys what type of book, how many pages the book should have and what subjects are most likable. Some books, however,

Beyond Beach Reads

If you are planning to do a bit of reading this summer and want to tackle some books that aren’t just ‘beach reads,’ I have a few to suggest…….. While I haven’t read this book yet, I plan to. Some have suggested that it is another glorious ode to trees, a novel that compares to Richard Power’s Overstory. The book has also been praised by

Let’s hear it for grandparents!

Grandparents are certainly important family members. No scientific study is needed to verify that fact. When your grandparents are the President and the First Lady, however, it’s worth writing about. Agreed? That is exactly what Jenna Bush Hager has done with her new book Everything Beautiful in Its Time. The book is a collection of journal entries Hager began writing in 2018 when her grandmother