Melissa Gouty7 days ago4 minWhy We Love a Sinister, Gothic Mystery: Lucy Foley's The Guest ListLucy Foley's Guest List is the perfect example of a Gothic Mystery, filled with the psychological push and pull of human nature.
Melissa GoutyApr 285 minWant to Know About "The Dust Bowl?" Read The Four WindsKristin Hannah's novel, The Four Winds,depicts life in The Dust Bowl, but don't make it your only source. Try The Worst Hard Time by Egan.
Melissa GoutyApr 225 minDo Your Regrets Cause You Agony? You Should Absolutely Read The Midnight LibraryMatt Haig's The Midnight Library is an intriguing story about a life teetering on the brink between regrets and possibilities.
Melissa GoutyMar 317 minDoes Humility Still Exist in a World Focused on Social and Self Promotion?Radical Humility: Essays on Ordinary Act is not an easy read, but a valuable one; a look at how to be humble in a world focused on "self."
Melissa GoutyMar 228 minHit Hard: How to Deal With Ambiguous LossGrieving Those Who Are Alive But Not What They Used to Be Photo by John Torcasio on Unsplash Honest. Raw. Painful…Helpful and Healing...
Melissa GoutyFeb 255 min8 Heartfelt Life Lessons from Fredrik Backman's Novel, Anxious PeopleBackman gradually drew me in, weaving threads of detail and story into a fine tapestry of literary art. I came to love the book.
Melissa GoutyFeb 256 minNeed Spiritual Sustenance? Read the Novel, Gilead, to See the Power of FaithGilead is a tribute to the skill of a writer who created a literary work that is readable, relatable, and wondrous all at the same time.
Melissa GoutyFeb 185 minFive Helpful Tips For Choosing Which Books to Take on a TripIf you love to travel, but you also love your books, you know how hard it is to decide which ones to take with you. 5 Tips for Choosing.
Melissa GoutyDec 31, 20202 minSerendipitous Insight on the New Year from the Novel, Anxious PeopleBy Fredrik Backman Call it “Literary Luck” Sometimes, I read something that, by coincidence, is perfectly timed with an upcoming holiday....
Melissa GoutyDec 9, 20205 minWhat is a Picaro Novel and Why is This Tender Land One of Them?The Picaro Novel I dredged up this term from the sea mud of my mind, remembering it from a college literature class. The term had been...
Melissa GoutyNov 30, 20202 minAchieving a Nearly Impossible Task: Choosing the Top Ten Books of 2020The best of the best Oh, the Editorial Stress! It happens every year, this task that must be as difficult as a tropical ant hiking to...
Melissa GoutyNov 27, 20203 minHave You Ever Taught Writing? Three Novels You'll AppreciateSeduction of Water, Punjabi Widows, Lost Friends The Art of Teaching Writing and the Unexpected Results of Doing It Well How do you...
Melissa GoutyNov 7, 20206 minChoose Carefully. Pick Three Writers to Come to Your Dinner Party TonightIf I could choose three writers to come to a literary dinner party today, they'd be Louise Penny, Rick Bragg, and Ben Shattuck.
Melissa GoutyNov 5, 20206 minHow Books Connect to the Epic Moments of Your LifeBooks are emotionally linked to every momentous occasion of my existence. Your life is probably "book-marked" too.
Melissa GoutyNov 4, 20203 minCan a Book That Costs $22,000 Be Better Than a Trip to Italy?The Sistine Chapel 3-volume set reproduces artwork at a 1:1 proportion, making you feel "as if you were a bird on Michelangelo's shoulder."
Melissa GoutyOct 27, 20204 minIf You Love Elephants, Read These Two Very Different BooksIf you love elephants, read Leaving Time by Jodi Picoult and The Elephant Company by Vicki Croke. Two books that both honor elephants.
Melissa GoutyOct 22, 20203 minOne Book That Will Make You a Better WriterBen Blatt's book Nabokov's Favorite Word Is Mauve uses data to examine the elements of great writing: similes, cliches, adverbs, and more.
Melissa GoutyOct 22, 20204 minThe Overstory: An Epic Tale of Our Relationship with TreesThe best in environmental fiction, Richard Powers' The Overstory depicts the intertwined destiny of humans and trees.
Melissa GoutyOct 13, 20205 minThe Precarious Balance of Life in "The Atomic Weight of Love"The Atomic Weight of Love is a story of a woman trying to find herself, torn between dreams and demands and the secrets of Los Alamos.
