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Firestarter by Stephen King

July 26, 2026 / Horror, Reading

I set a goal a few years ago to read every Stephen King novel. I had already read many of his books, as I consider him our generation’s master storyteller. Since then, I’ve made good progress. I’ve read 25 of his books in the last three years, with just a handful to go. As I reviewed which book to read next, I kept passing over Firestarter. I saw the movie many years ago, which was pretty awful. I wasn’t keen on reading an entire novel centered on a tweener child with pyrotechnic powers.

I finally read it, and like almost all Stephen King novels, it had unexpected dimensions to the story and characters that elevated it from typical horror to something greater. The suspense begins on page one as we are thrust into a frantic escape scene in medias res. Through flashbacks, we learn the origin story of how this young girl came to possess her powers. A corrupt government agency illegally tested experimental drugs on a group of unwitting college students. Many died, but two developed mental powers, got married, and had a child. Ultimately, it’s the bond of family love that fuels the story. What would you not do to save your child, even one who could incinerate you in a crying fit?

“It’s gonna be all right,” he told her, and rocked her, not really believing it, but it was the litany, it was the Psalter, the voice of the adult calling down the black well of years into the miserable pit of terrorized childhood; it was what you said when things went wrong; it was the nightlight that could not banish the monster from the closet but perhaps only keep it at bay for a little while; it was the voice without power that must speak nevertheless.

There are villains in the story, but they share a complexity that is often lacking in typical horror novels. Each had strengths and understandable motivations. They weren’t purely evil, just as the protagonists possessed their own demons and weaknesses.

The story catapulted into a satisfying conclusion. As is usually true, the book was definitely better than the movie.

Nonesuch by Francis Spufford

July 16, 2026 / Fantasy, Reading

This novel had all the ingredients for a terrific story: a strong, conflicted female protagonist, a menacing Nazi villain, Narnia-like magic, time travel, all set in wartime Britain. Yet, the execution missed the mark for me. Too many inconsistencies with the main character to be believable; a weak time travel mechanism, and an unsatisfying ending. The prose often felt overwritten and indulgent. I’m fine with sex in novels, but I didn’t enjoy how this male author described the sexual obsessions of the leading female character. It felt wrong to me. It was a slog to finish.

The Greatest Sentence Ever Written by Walter Isaacson

July 3, 2026 / History, Reading

I read this gem on the eve of the 250th birthday of the United States. It’s far and away the shortest book by Walter Isaacson that I’ve ever read. It’s just 80 pages, which include the full text of the Declaration of Independence and related historical writings from Rousseau, Locke and others. Here, Isaacson parses every word of this famous sentence:

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.

In short, vivid chapters, he explores the Founding Fathers’ debate and intentions for the formation of this country. In a time when our country is so politically divided, Isaacson encourages all of us to look for ways to find common ground in our positions. There’s a lot to think about here.

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The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood

June 30, 2026 / ★★★★★, Reading, Science Fiction

I was slow to pick up this classic dystopian novel, but now I’m glad I waited. Had I read this five years ago, it would have struck me as merely imaginative. But the current political environment, coupled with a recent study of history, particularly the rise of Nazi Germany, made the premise of this book seem all too plausible. In fact, there’s very little here that isn’t drawn from some dark period in our human history, which adds to the novel’s prophetic feel.

I had forgotten what a gifted writer and storyteller Margaret Atwell is. Her lush descriptions of Offred’s world feel cinematic, as if her obscured eyesight transforms her vision into a panning camera.

Given our wings, our blinkers, it’s hard to look up, hard to get the full view, of the sky, of anything. But we can do it, a little at a time, a quick move of the head, up and down, to the side and back. We have learned to see the world in gasps.

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Hidden Potential by Adam Grant

June 27, 2026 / Psychology, Reading

Hidden Potential is about the importance of character, persistence, and passion in how we learn, Hidden Potential is about the importance of character, persistence, and passion in how we learn, grow, and ultimately reach our goals. The book is a self-help guide masquerading as business science, using a predictable format. A framework is introduced in a self-contained chapter, then elements of that framework are covered in detail with stories that mostly support the thesis, research studies are cited, and a conclusion is reached before moving on to the next chapter. I keep expecting more innovation from how these books are written, but almost every one I’ve read follows this same blueprint. I wouldn’t complain if the advice in this one weren’t so basic and uninspired. Examples:

Make learning fun by turning study and practice into a game.
Take breaks from work so you don’t burn out.
You can improve if you have the passion for it.
etc.

In 240 pages, I don’t think I picked up a single new idea. I kept wondering why this wasn’t a ten-minute TED Talk. Still, the book is well-written, almost breezy, and Grant weaves in his own success story along the way, which was interesting. Maybe this would be more useful for someone just starting out. I’m jaded from having read so many books like this over my career. This one was a miss for me.

The End of the Affair by Graham Greene

June 22, 2026 / Literary Fiction, Reading

This classic novel from Graham Greene explores the fine line between love and hate in post-war London. Short chapters and crisp writing make this book feel like a tight suspense novel, but one that surprises with its probing, deeply human themes: fate vs. individual responsibility, the problems with either atheism or blind faith, the angst of romantic longing, and the corrosiveness of jealousy.

I have never known a woman before or since so able to alter a whole mood by simply speaking on the telephone, and when she came into a room or put her hand on my side she created at once the absolute trust I lost with every separation.

This is one that raised questions that will stick with me for a long while.

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Housekeeping by Marilynne Robinson

June 14, 2026 / Literary Fiction, Reading

On the surface, this is a story about Ruth and Lucille, two young girls who are raised by a succession of relatives in an impoverished lakeside village in Idaho. The girls face a series of abandonments that create a tension throughout the book of when they might find themselves adrift and alone again.

Yet there are layers within layers in this one. This is a novel, yes, but also a ruminative memoir on grief, on loneliness, and on the power of memory to rekindle these losses again and again over time. I’ll be reading along and following the story, and in the middle of a paragraph, slip through a rift to find myself on a whole different level in the novel with deeply symbolic references, many of them Biblical, and all of them a lifetime away from Ruth’s first-person narrative. I might read a passage three or four times and not suss it at all. I understand the words, but not the meaning, at least on the intellectual level. But, at the same time, I do understand on a subconscious level. Like the best kind of poetry.

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My Ántonia by Willa Cather

June 6, 2026 / Literature, Reading

A literary classic set in rural Nebraska during the late 19th century. The book is narrated by Jim, an orphaned youth who comes to live with his grandparents just as a family of immigrants arrives to stake their claim to this new land of plenty. Cather’s descriptions of the Nebraska countryside are so rich and atmospheric, I felt a longing for a place I’ve never seen.

As I looked about me I felt that the grass was the country, as the water is the sea. The red of the grass made all the great prairie the colour of winestains, or of certain seaweeds when they are first washed up. And there was so much motion in it; the whole country seemed, somehow, to be running.

We follow the lives of these two families as they endure bitterly cold winters and lush summers. The American settlers are stoic, self-reliant, and often miserly. The immigrants are full of life, completely unprepared, and generous to a fault. The contrast between these two groups is a key theme that runs throughout the novel.

The story unfolds in episodic adventures, which felt a bit like something out of Little House on the Prairie. Most of the book centers on Jim’s relationship with Ántonia, four years his senior, and on whom the book is titled. In one way, this is a traditional coming-of-age story of friendship, romance, and small-town values. Yet, what made the novel special for me was its use of place and memory as anchors for happiness.

Some memories are realities, and are better than anything that can ever happen to one again.

It’s hard to share more about the story without spoiling it. Ultimately, this is a love letter to a place and time that now exist only in memory — and in classic novels like this one.

A Marriage at Sea by Sophie Elmhirst

June 1, 2026 / Reading, Travel

I thought I was getting a modern-day account of a shipwreck at sea. But instead, the author rehashes a fairly well-known account from the 1960s of a couple enduring the sinking of their sailboat after colliding with a whale in the middle of the Pacific Ocean.

The book focuses on the marriage between this English couple as they struggled to survive at sea and later under the pressure of media interest in their story. The husband is an introverted pessimist with asshole tendencies. The wife believes things happen for a reason and everything will work out if only they keep a positive attitude.

It is not so much the feats of endurance that keep people alive as the absence of surrender.

Elmhirst circles back so often to this idea that the couple’s ultimate survival hinged on a positive attitude, that I guess that’s the main point of the book. I’m sorry, but these sailors made so many errors in seamanship that it’s shocking they survived at all. The author admits in the afterward that she’s never stepped foot on a sailboat. She doesn’t know port from starboard, stem from stern. Who writes a survival at sea story without having sailed?

I am clearly not the target audience for this one.

The Book of Alchemy by Suleika Jaouad

May 31, 2026 / Reading, Uncategorized, Writing Guides

Suleika Jaouad is a true believer in the power of journaling. Here, she shares 100 mini-essays by notable writers and artists, with tailored journaling prompts after each. You read the short essay, then respond to the prompt in your journal. The prompts are organized into ten sections that plumb the depths of human experience. Jaouad introduces each section with perspectives from her own life, many sharing how her journal helped her navigate her battles with cancer.

Every morning for the past four months, I read one of these short essays and answered the journal prompt as I sipped my coffee. For some, I wrote a few paragraphs. For others, I carried on for two or three pages. Often, how I thought I would approach a prompt changed as I wrote in surprising ways. This is one of those special books that gives back what you put into it.

Any collection of one hundred essays is bound to have its share of duds. No exception here. There were a few that felt rushed, or pointless, or disconnected from the journaling prompt. And the included essays from Jaouad’s family and friends felt indulgent. But most found a ready pathway to my subconscious through the power of quiet reflection with pen and paper.

If you’re looking for a book to help you start a journal or reinvigorate an existing journaling practice, this is a great choice.

The Bazaar of Bad Dreams by Stephen King

May 24, 2026 / Horror, Reading

My multi-year quest to read the entire Stephen King catalog continues with this 2015 short-story collection. I listened to this one, which included a bonus story (Cookie Jar) not in the original print edition.

King shows his range of writing styles in this collection. There are straight-up horror stories, mysteries, a western, a creepy noir story, a sparse, depressing story that felt very much like a Raymond Carver story, and a short epic poem.

My favorite was UR, a novella featuring an e-reader that taps into books and news stories from millions of parallel universes. This is a must-read for any diehard Dark Tower fans.

In looking back over the twenty other stories, there were two really good ones (A Death and Summer Thunder), but the majority were just okay. King wrote introductions for most of the stories, which I often liked as much as the stories themselves. There were some terrific insights into how he approaches the craft of writing. Our generation’s greatest storyteller makes it look effortless, but, as he says in one introduction, “easy reading is the product of hard writing.”

I’ve now read all twelve short story/novella collections King has written (so far). For me, this one ranked near the bottom in terms of overall enjoyment. My top two recommendations in this category are Night Shift and You Like It Darker.

Raising Hare by Chloe Dalton

May 23, 2026 / ★★★★★, Memoir, Nature, Reading

Chloe Dalton, burned out from a hectic career as a crisis-management policy expert, leaves London to work remotely near her family in the English countryside. She stumbles upon a helpless baby hare and rescues it from certain death. Thus begins a story of how this woman raised a wild hare.

Underlying the wonderful and often humorous stories of coexisting with this wild animal, we watch an adrenaline-addicted professional find balance and peace through a connection with nature. Thoreau had Walden Pond; Dillard had Tinker Creek. Dalton makes a meditative study of a Buddha-like hare within a few acres of wild English countryside. Buried within her observations of the hare and its environment are subtle lessons: let go of any illusions of control; find the joy and serenity in the present moment; and understand that your place is within the natural world, not outside of it.

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The Good Life by Jay McInerney

May 14, 2026 / Literary Fiction, Reading

New York City may be the greatest city on earth, but it’s sure tough on marriages. That seems to be the theme that runs through The Good Life, book two of the Calloway saga. The Calloways are now in their forties, raising twins, and still struggling to keep up with the frenzied and moneyed lifestyle of Manhattan.

The novel is set just before and a few months after September 11, 2001. That terrorists could so dramatically disrupt New York, and could do so again at any moment, serves as a midlife crisis accelerator for Corinne and Luke, who meet as volunteers at Ground Zero. They form a special, once-in-a-lifetime bond and must balance their own desires with the needs of their families in a war-torn city.

I loved Brightness Falls, the predecessor to this one, which wrestled with such big themes that I felt it was one of the very best American novels of the past century. This one, with its modest scope and almost cliched theme, was merely good.

The First Forty-Nine Stories by Ernest Hemingway

May 6, 2026 / Literature, Reading

I’m slowly making my way through a reread of the Hemingway canon. I read many of these stories in college, but I’ve never read all of them straight through like this. This time, I read just one story a night, letting it sink in, and then ruminating over it in my journal the next morning.

These stories are, of course, pure Hemingway: short, punchy sentences; deep emotions tucked just below the surface; a palpable disdain for characters who aren’t manly enough, especially those who relinquish their masculinity to a woman’s charms. Such persistent misogyny felt wearisome by the end of forty-nine stories.

My favorites from the collection: The Snows of Kilimanjaro, Cat In the Rain, Fifty Grand, Hills Like White Elephants, A Clean, Well-Lighted Place, and Fathers and Sons.

I’m sure there are stories here that would have alarmed readers when published, but the world has moved on since the first half of the 20th Century. I wonder how a modern-day Hemingway would shock readers today. I’m pretty sure Papa would have found a way.

Departures by Julian Barnes

April 17, 2026 / Literary Fiction, Reading

Julian Barnes’ latest book, Departure(s), is difficult to classify. It’s part memoir, part literary analysis, part diary, and part meditation on friendship, memory, and the finality of death, while still leaving room for the story of how the narrator (unreliable?) introduced two friends at Oxford, and how, after a 40-year gap, he brought those same friends together again with hopeful intentions. Unlike a novelist’s artistic godlike designs, we are soon reminded that there are few happy endings in life. Things happen for no reason. Or don’t. And death is cruel and final.

It seems to me that humans are often so busy living that they forget they are human – or at least forget what it is to be human, and what its consequences are – and therefore what it means to be dead.

Along the way, we are treated to glimpses of the author’s private life: his adoption of a dog, his insomniac writing in the middle of the night on his IBM Selectric typewriter, his eccentric journaling practice, the many vagaries of aging, his battle with cancer, and his grief of losing his wife of thirty years. There is a continual flow of dark wit, though melancholy lies just below the surface of almost every page.

Barnes turned eighty when this book came out. He says it will be his last, preferring to have the final word, and dreading the potential for dying in the saddle, mid-sentence. And yet, I can’t help wondering if he might still have more to give us. Earlier this year, he married his former publisher and long-time partner. This seems like an optimistic act. If not another book, we can at least hope he finds peace and love. We should all be as lucky.

Roads of Destiny by O. Henry

April 12, 2026 / Literature, Reading

I got the idea to read some O. Henry during our time last year in Manhattan. While wandering around Gramercy Park, we happened upon Pete’s Tavern, where the author allegedly scribbled out his stories, including his famous The Gift of the Magi.

The twenty-two stories in this collection were all good. My two favorites were A Retrieved Reformation and Friends in San Rosario. The language is peppered with slang and colorful metaphors:

I was coming out of a printing-shop one afternoon with a batch of fine, sticky prospectuses when I ran against Denver coming round a corner. I never saw him looking so much like a tiger-lily. He was as beautiful and new as a trellis of sweet peas, and as rollicking as a clarinet solo.

Almost every story included the trademark twist in the last few lines. After reading the first ten stories, this became predictable and a little tiresome. I got the feeling that O. Henry cranked out these stories on a deadline in the smoky confines of that old tavern, probably after a few beers. There’s genius here, but it’s formulaic. It’s maybe best to dip in and out of these stories when the mood strikes, not straight through like I did.

The Left Hand of Darkness by Ursula K. Le Guin

April 11, 2026 / Reading, Science Fiction

This classic science fiction novel drops you in the deep end of the pool from the start. There’s strange new vocabulary and culture to learn from an alien race on the planet of Winter. Even stranger is the gender fluidity that all the inhabitants of the planet possess, except for the rare sexual deviants born exclusively male or female.

I love the elaborate world-building of truly successful science fiction writing. Le Guin brings this world alive by tapping into all the senses of what being on this frigid planet is like: the perpetual chill, the descriptions of the mountainous terrain, the unique architecture designed for the deep cold of long winters, the strange smells and tastes of alien food, and the many different kinds and even sounds of snow. The immersive descriptions for a completely imagined world is astonishing. Couple this with luxuriant writing that flows with such rhythm, bordering at times on poetry. Even if I didn’t always understand the vernacular, I marveled at the language.

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So Late in the Day by Claire Keegan

March 29, 2026 / Literary Fiction, Reading

Claire Keegan is fast becoming my favorite living author. This latest book features three short stories, though just the title story is new. The others were reprinted from her earlier two collections of short stories (Antarctica and Walk The Blue Fields, both of which I now have on order).

A theme connects these stories, as hinted by the book’s subtitle: “Stories of Women and Men.” Indeed, each story depicts an unhappy encounter between the sexes with unsettling consequences.

My favorite was So Late in the Day, where a man reflects on his sad life on what should have been his wedding day. He treated his fiancée horribly, but can’t seem to accept responsibility for his deplorable behavior once she broke off the engagement. A flashback to a breakfast with his family when he returned home from college will haunt me for a long time.

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Tiny Beautiful Things by Cheryl Strayed

March 24, 2026 / ★★★★★, Essays, Reading

How to sum up this wise, wonderful book? Cheryl Strayed, writing under the pseudonym Dear Sugar, wrote a weekly advice column from 2010 through 2012. The questions covered the gamut of the human experience: grief, love, infidelity, abuse, parenting, estranged families, friendship, wedding planning, divorce, you name it. Sugar’s response often included heartfelt sorrow or sometimes an upbraiding, but almost always a story from her life that fit the situation perfectly. These weren’t two or three-paragraph responses. These were beautifully crafted, thoughtful, deeply moving essays. This book collects the best of those essays.

I listened to this while driving and taking walks around the neighborhood. Since this book is narrated by Strayed, the feeling of a personal connection was amplified, especially when her voice cracked with emotion as she related her own stories. There were times I would stop on a walk and marvel at this raw emotion wrapped in unconventional yet utterly appropriate advice.

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The Man Who Fell to Earth by Walter Tevis

March 20, 2026 / Reading, Science Fiction

An alien from a dying planet arrives on Earth to establish a sanctuary for his home world. All goes well until the alien decides to deaden his homesickness and sensory terrors of humanity with copious amounts of gin. Substance abuse runs through all of Tevis’s books. Even extraterrestrials aren’t immune. Tevis himself battled alcoholism for most of his life, so there is an autobiographical ring to the struggles that almost every character in this novel faces with drinking.

He had discovered, quite by accident, that it could be a fine thing, on a gray, dismal morning—a morning of limp, oyster-colored weather—to be gently but firmly drunk, making a pleasure of melancholy.

The broader message of this cautionary tale is that while sufficiently advanced technology may bedazzle us, it will eventually destroy us.