8 Answers2026-07-18
So a more studious way of approaching her work would be to read New and Selected Poems, Volume One, then read a biography of her and some interviews, then read New and Selected Poems, Volume Two. From there you can read some of the more specialized volumes such as Felicity or Blue Iris. Having the core chronological work first helps to establish a framework of her growth as a poet, and then you can explore further in certain areas. This is a far more coherent ‘study the poet’ experience than an immersive, single-volume read.
4 Answers2026-04-27
'Norwegian Wood' by Haruki Murakami is a lot like talking to an old friend who knows all of your wounds. The book reveals little about its characters in the way of backstory, but what there is (Naoko’s fragility, Midori’s boldness, Watanabe’s numbness) contains the whole of human experience. The global appeal of the book likely comes from the fact that love and loss sound the same in any language.
4 Answers2026-02-24
If you enjoyed the historical aspect of ‘Typhoid Mary’, you may enjoy ‘The Great Influenza’ by John M. Barry. Another book which combines personal stories with the wider social history, this time covering the 1918 flu pandemic rather than a single person. Plenty of tragedy but plenty of resilience too.
Another book on this topic, ‘Patient Zero’ by Marilee Peters, is a YA novel about disease detectives. It is a much lighter read than ‘The Great Influenza’ and ‘Typhoid Mary’ but does give an insight into how much we have learned about illness and how much we still don’t know.
15 Answers2025-10-22
I was cemented in my mind as a tragicomic figure in the classical sense. The reader has followed this very flawed and often enemy-like person and gotten her. The last reveal to understand about Olive is that her inability to express softness to those she loves in her life is a limitation that is not absolute. She can be soft. But she shows softness to a stranger and a bunch of flowers. It is funny. It is ironic. The gap between how she feels and what she can express to others even at the end of her life is heartbreakingly large. And that is a very private, lonely space.
3 Answers2025-07-18
I am also a huge fan of Mills & Boon’s ‘Desire’ series which is a very popular line of theirs. The books in this series are very intense, emotional and even erotic. The settings are usually very glamorous and the books follow the very intense relationships of the main characters. There are many titles in this series but I’ve listed a couple of examples such as ‘The Billionaire’s Secret Child’ by Jackie Ashenden and ‘The Spaniard’s Pregnant Bride’ by Maisey Yates.
If you are after something a little sweeter then you can always opt for the Cherish series by Mills & Boon, which incorporates some of the most emotional romances available, with an emphasis on the romance itself, rather than peripheral issues. Titles like The Prince’s Convenient Bride by Marion Lennox and The Single Dad’s Holiday Proposal by Susan Meier are two examples of Cherish books available, all of which evoke feelings of warmth and love.
11 Answers2026-07-27
First of all, the soundtrack of a movie plays an immense, largely unrecognized role in the different endings of a film. The ending of the book hangs silently in the air of your imagination. You may hear the faint strains of “Orinoco Flow.” But the ending of the film is underscored by a sweeping and emotional score that tells you exactly how you have to feel in that moment. This score sets up a single, unified emotional experience that everyone in the theater is having. But the ending of the book is a far more personal and solo experience. There is no composer telling you how to feel. The music in the movie fills in any emotional gaps left by the plot and ensures that you are feeling exactly what the filmmaker intended you to feel. The film ending is a guided tour of your heartstrings. The book ending is a solo expedition into the same general area.
10 Answers2025-11-16
I’d love to explore how the rise of the audiobook has impacted the bestseller list. While a title may not be selling a lot of print copies, when you factor in the Audible audiobook units, the numbers are quite different. Celebrity narrated memoirs or full cast productions can generate huge amounts of money for publishers. Is bestseller measured by units, by dollar, by format? An audiobook costs more than a print book, so therefore it generates more per “sale”. This isn’t the world of simply counting hardcovers on the Barnes & Noble shelf anymore.
3 Answers2026-04-25
Love how each new generation finds new relevance in Frost’s work. And since his works have begun to enter the public domain (e.g. the first half of Colloquy in Beat Salad was pub. this summer), they’re starting to pop up in all sorts of new contexts: a meme here, a Reading of Frost on TikTok there, even a few fragmentary lines scrawled in graffiti here and there.
Just the other day Frost’s late poems including ‘In the Clearing’ (1962) were placed in the public domain. Interesting to see people creatively re-working his material, as long as it’s done correctly (as seen in the punk song above or as a beautifully calm podcast below). I suspect Frost would have raised an eyebrow at such works.
3 Answers2026-01-08
Every Last Word by Tamara Ireland Stone is another amazing story of mental health and finding your people, all in a really moving way. Another book that deals with personal struggles in the face of really big issues for society is The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas. While very different from It Happens All the Time in terms of story, the personal struggles are balanced with the bigger issues of the story in a really similar way to this book.
If you want something with a little bit of a thriller twist, Sadie by Courtney Summers is amazing. It’s part of mystery and part of podcast, basically a heart breaking story of a girl and her experience with trauma and how she deals with it. I Have Lost My Way by Gayle Forman is also a great book and very similar to the emotional depth that it provides to its readers. It’s about three strangers whose lives intersect with each other in unexpected ways. Together, these books can evoke emotions of anger, sadness, and hope.
3 Answers2025-08-30
This is a very fast way to access Maya Angelou’s readings on YouTube. Official channels, event clips and user created videos abound featuring her reciting her famous poems such as “Still I Rise” and “On the Pulse of Morning”. You can find cleaner audio on streaming services such as Spotify and Apple Music as well as on Audible where full readings as well as compilations of her work are available. Your local library’s digital app (OverDrive/Libby) is another favorite of mine – search for her name and borrow her audiobooks for free.
When I need to access Maya Angelou’s archives, like interviews or old radio recitations, I head to the Library of Congress’ wonderful site and Internet Archive. C-SPAN has great coverage of public events that Maya Angelou participated in, including some inauguration archives. Search tip: If you want to find Maya Angelou reading a particular poem, put “Maya Angelou reading” and the name of the poem in quotes in the search box. Some of this material is copyrighted and therefore is locked behind a pay wall. I include university sites and reputable publishers who will often have licensed material. Enjoy the listening. Her voice really brings her poems to life.