Of manners and mystery
A wealthy bachelor drops dead. A young lady becomes a detective. The first of my October murder mysteries.
All posts filed under: Monday Musings
Books are to be treasured, not banned
October 4-10, 2026 is Banned Books Week. Annoy the book banners and read. Let Books Be!
A lingering, loving, nutty, melancholy portrait
Nancy Lemann’s 1985 debut novel is “hilarious, haunting, poignant;” a treasure I discovered at Solid State Books.
The singularity of consciousness
A dreamy, haunting, and evocative novella about a young girl’s year in the Austrian countryside.
Molded by the past, yet inevitably changed by the future
Molly Crabapple’s story of the Jewish Bund is an ambitious yet flawed work of discovery and history.
So you want to find a treasure?
Elizabeth Buchanan looks at why despots over the centuries have tried—and failed—to own Greenland.
Attention is the beginning of devotion
An ordinary yet extraordinary day with Mary Oliver and one of DC’s premier independent bookstores.
When you don’t see it coming
Jackie McMahon’s debut murder mystery was a discovery from DC’s first romance bookstore.
Whitewashing history won’t make America great
The whitewashing and bulldozing of our history seeks to serve the vision of a small group of powerful people.
Why not?
Building a robust sense of the common good comes about in part by asking ourselves tough questions.
