Rachael - Page

Born To Read (And Reread)

I learned to read well late (around age 8). I've been trying to catch up ever since. I read to visit far off places, to learn about language, culture, and how people think. I read to argue until I better understand where I'm coming from and why I believe what I believe. I read to fall in love and to learn what I want in relationships. I read to learn how to write better.

Essentially, I read to learn how to live outside the pages of books.

History: The Remix

These historical novels don't tell the story the way you heard it in school. Some tell stories with magic alongside muskets. Others venture back from now into times not so different from our own; they're grim, hopeful, and complex. Yet others wander to places so gently rendered you'll wish they'd stuck around until you remember why you're glad to live now.

I'm sad to say before this graphic novel and it's companion volume, "Saints," my lone exposure to the Boxer Rebellion came from a "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" episode. Though they're quick reads, they stick with you and leave you thinking how every story has more than two sides.

Music, history, and contemporary pain collide in this novel of the French Revolution.

This novel of time travel, the continuing pain caused by slavery in America, and the complexities of family history made my brain explode.

Smart, romantic, and funny, this novel rewrites history by righting the wrongs done to Lady Jane Grey and adding shapeshifters.

Much Too Good for (Solely) Children: Kids Books That Adults Should Try or Revisit

Many adults only read kids books when their children are too young to read on their own. This is a mistake. No less a writer than C. S. Lewis wrote, "A children's story that can only be enjoyed by children is not a good children's story in the slightest." While that may be taking it a bit too far, he had a point. Look at "Harry Potter" or "Charlotte's Web." Quality writing for kids…

A Victorian era boy wanders through Ankh-Morpork learning about the uses of what might otherwise go to waste.

Though primarily remembered for his children's books, E. B. White wrote for "The New Yorker," and his children's books show that when writing for children one must write up not down.

Told after the events of the tale, Margaret Rose Kane's story rereads well. It's the kind of book for those who prefer not to follow the crowd when the crowd is wrong. If you lived through the 1980's, this book is a subtle blast from the past.

Moving and Grimm, this retelling of lesser-known and familiar Grimm's Fairy Tales brings gore you might not want to read right before bed. But, it's also funny and wise.

Oh, Death: Mind How You Go

Death remains an inevitable reality. But, fear of death and lack of understanding surrounding it or not facing it when it comes can make it worse. These books, both fiction and non-fiction, touch on facing it from places of wellness and illness, from places of youth and age, and from a place of dealing with the aftermath.

This moving work of narrative non-fiction shows that preparing for death can teach you how to live.

I loved that in this series, of which this is the first, Death looks most often like Kurt Cobain.

It deserves the hype. In luminescent prose, Kalanithi writes about living while dying and the challenges of being a doctor and a patient.

An insider's look at the American death industry written with wit and compassion

Books for People Who Love Books About Books

When you love books, you want to talk about them with whomever will listen. When you're all talked out but still want the experience of connecting with another mind over reading and loving books, libraries, bookshops, librarians, and shelves, here's where you can turn.

Paintings of book spines accompanied by essays from the literate luminaries the volumes inspired.

A memoir of the author's time working in a prison library.

Not a ghost story, this story is about a bookshop that is haunted by the ideas and authors contained within it. A little remembered classic that deserves to be better known.

It's been likened to "Ready Player One" for book lovers. An apt, if insufficient, comparison.

It's Not the Book You Start With...

These are books that have led me to another story, novel or work of non-fiction. Whether because they overtly or covertly reference another title, because they act as a homage or a parody, or because the title is derived from another piece of writing, one book leads to another.

The book is more complex. The movie is still great.

Believe it or not, I love these books for the books they led me to. Also, I'm on Team Edward.

"Breaking Dawn" led me here.

The spirit of "Jane Eyre" suffuses "The Twilight Saga." But first, I delighted in this alternate historical fantasy where the Crimean War raged on into the 20th century, and characters from literature need protection from real police within the British government.