If you’ve come to talk books, you’re in the right place. If books are slowly stacking up on your windowsills and countertops, or in the nooks and crannies of your home, you’re a kindred spirit. CrookInABook is a place for all things literary: from book reviews and recommendations to literary gossip and industry news.
While you’re here, if you feel inspired to order a new book, be sure to check out the bookshop, where you can support independent bookstores with your book purchases. And don’t forget to come back and share your own thoughts after you read!
The latest from the blogs…
Hamnet – To Read or Not To Read?
Definitely “To Read.” There really is no question on this one. Maggie O’Farrell has done such a brilliant job in Hamnet of reimagining the life of Shakespeare and his family. I dove into this one because, as a book nerd,… Continue Reading →
Paulo Coelho’s The Alchemist
The Alchemist, by Paulo Coelho, is one of those books you’ve seen a million times – in airport bookstores, on the subway, on your own shelves… At least, that’s how it seemed to me and yet, it took me until… Continue Reading →
The Tiger’s Wife
I’ve been meaning to join an official book club for a while now, because obviously I love discussing books, and Téa Obreht’s The Tiger’s Wife is the book that has finally made me pull the trigger on that. In other… Continue Reading →
James Baldwin, “Go Tell It On The Mountain”
Having only read If Beale Street Could Talk, I’ve been eager to get to more of Baldwin’s work for a long time, and was excited to pull Go Tell It On The Mountain off the shelf. And while I have… Continue Reading →
“Our Souls at Night”, Refreshing & Lovely
After a few epic, dense reads, I was looking for a story that would be a little lighter – something with a high entertainment factor. I took a recommendation from my mother with Our Souls at Night by Kent Haruf…. Continue Reading →
Book Review: The Overstory
It’s been a while since my last post, and that’s partially because The Overstory by Richard Powers is a long and dense – though also beautiful – novel, much like the trees that inspire it’s plot and characters (and partially… Continue Reading →
Love. By Toni Morrison. Love. Love. Love.
I have never read a novel by Toni Morrison that wasn’t worth raving about. And yet, I have found that my favorites are not the same ones that get all the hype. Most of us have read, or at least… Continue Reading →
Review: Kim Jiyoung, Born 1982
Kim Jiyoung, Born 1982 by Cho Nam-Joo turned up on my radar when I started seeing posts about the book on Instagram with a variety of covers. I soon learned that the book has been translated into more than a… Continue Reading →
How Much Of These Hills Is Gold
The answer: One. Hundred. Percent. I have had How Much of These Hills is Gold on my TBR list for months, and I’m kicking myself now for putting it off even that long. I think C Pam Zhang does an… Continue Reading →
Fran Lebowitz: Essays vs. Docuseries
I didn’t know of Fran Lebowitz until recently, when I watched the docuseries Pretend It’s A City on Netflix. Several friends recommended this series to me, thinking I would love it, and they were so right. The series is really… Continue Reading →
Review: The Year of Magical Thinking
Joan Didion’s National Book Award-winning memoir, The Year of Magical Thinking, is a book about loss, grief, and Didion’s slow return to a new “normal” after the death of her husband. It is not a book about gratitude. But a… Continue Reading →
The Catcher in the Rye – J.D. Salinger
I’ve known the name Holden Caulfield – known him to be the protagonist and unreliable narrative of The Catcher in the Rye – for years and years. It’s one of the books that my professors in college would reference without… Continue Reading →
The Whispering House – A “Beach Read” for 2021
As Spring Break fast approaches, I’ve been seeing a lot of books being marketed as “Beach” or “Spring Break” reads, and have been thinking about what those terms really mean. As it turns out, I’m not first to investigate… In… Continue Reading →
Historical Fiction You Need to Read: The Nickel Boys
Recently, I had a conversation with someone a generation older than me about a non-fiction book they were reading (I forget which one… It doesn’t matter for my point here, except that I want to read it), and at least… Continue Reading →
My Reading Adventure: The Hours
I just finished The Hours, a Pulitzer Prize-winning novel by Michael Cunningham, which has been on my TBR list for years. But I never got around to it because, until recently, I hadn’t got around to a necessary pre-read: Mrs…. Continue Reading →
You’re In Luck
Full disclosure: I’m a huge fan of all things Irish. I mean… whiskey, potatoes, luck. What’s not to love? And at the top of my favorite Irish things is, of course, the rich literary tradition of Ireland. So, this St…. Continue Reading →
