Those who consider themselves bibliophiles generally like to receive books for Christmas. I do consider myself as such, and I very much like to find books under my Christmas tree. I also understand the difficulty of buying a book for a bibliophile. Absent some sort of wish list, it can be difficult to select a book that the bibliophile would a) like and b) not have read. The market solution to this challenge is the book-adjacent gift. Barnes & Noble has been aggressive in thi

Acadia National Park, Maine There isn’t a lot to say about The Heaven and Earth Grocery Store  that has not been said. Published in 2023, the book belongs to the over-one-million-copies-sold club, boasts various prizes and awards, and is still prominently on display in the window of my local Barnes & Noble. Much has been written and said about the book, and it has been showered with deserved praise. It is a good book, notable for its strong characters, intricate plot, and sat

The beginning and end of 2025 Around mid-December, a certain number begins popping up in the various places the literary world communicates today—Bookstagram, Good Reads, Substack, Book Tok, etc. This figure represents the number of books read over the course of the year coming to a close. The number is often accompanied by some variant of the list, such as the top ten best books of the year. I find the list uninteresting—I don’t know you, why would I care what books you like