National Poetry Month: Elegy for Jane
Reasons this poem resonates with me: Its quiet beauty: no wasted words, nothing overblown. Its devotion to honesty: at the end, Roethke freely admits he doesn’t know how to feel. Its content: as a...
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The Porous Border Between Love and Violence
Most of us who are over 20 can point to a few big events that set us on the road to adulthood. For the never-named narrator of M.O. Walsh’s debut novel, My Sunshine Away, it was the rape of his teen...
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From the Archives: The Story of Land and Sea
My favorite books are ones that speak to my heart and head, ones that make me think but also affect my emotions. The Story of Land and Sea is one of these books. With lucid prose, historical and...
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Learning about a quiet, respectful love
Initially, I was unsure about reading Meanwhile, There are Letters: The Correspondence of Eudora Welty and Ross Macdonald. The feeling of voyeurism was unsettling, disturbing. I soon talked myself...
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Get to know Jamie
How long have you worked at Lemuria? Two Years this January. What do you do at Lemuria? Just a part-time bookseller. I spend a lot of time in the poetry section, and I do a lot of the literal heavy...
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Ron Rash and his powerful ‘Poems’
I’ve stopped fighting Ron Rash. This is how it usually happens: I see a book on the shelves at the store, hear other booksellers talking about it, and think to myself Sounds good, but I really need to...
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The Table as Communion
Last weekend, I was in the store buying some gifts with my 5-year-old, and as is tradition, he and I sat at the booth and read. Sometimes I buy a book for him, and sometimes I don’t, but we always sit...
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Gifting the Perfect Book: For Grit Lit Aficionados
Ron Rash, man. Ron. Rash. In a previous blog, I waxed poetic (or, maybe I approached giddy) about Ron Rash’s writing. I’ve yet to encounter a writer who can shift gears so seamlessly between genres....
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Civil Rights Superheroes: ‘March’ by John Lewis
The graphic novel is a strange beast. Though I’m not as well versed in them as our beloved Hunter is, I still enjoy reading them. Most of the graphic-format books I’ve read have been about superheroes:...
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Jamie sings the praises of ‘Sing, Unburied, Sing’
Since I’ve been working at Lemuria, I’ve self-imposed a rule of not writing about a book till I’ve finished it. I am currently breaking that rule. Demolishing it. Splintering it without a shadow of...
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Michael Chabon’s ‘Pops’ is a tasty morsel
The fatherhood book is a weird thing. They’re either trite and cheesy beyond description, or filled with horror. And, typically, the fathers themselves aren’t the ones writing about being dads; it’s...
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Khaled Hosseini’s ‘Sea Prayer’ is a powerful plea for peace and safety
Khaled Hosseini writes beautiful books. My favorite is (was?) A Thousand Splendid Suns, a heart-wrenching, lush novel that follows two generations of Afghan women beginning from before the Soviet...
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Kiese Laymon’s new book has some ‘Heavy’ truths
One reason we read is to escape from ourselves and see others, particularly others who aren’t like us. And simultaneously, one reason we read is to find ourselves, to be seen by someone else. For me,...
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Do the ‘Dead Man’s Float’ with us on March 26 to honor Jim Harrison
If you stick around the store long enough, you’ll hear John talk about Jim Harrison. The average time span for this happening is 5.68 minutes. I’ve timed it. And if you read any of Harrison’s work,...
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Extending the Narrative: David Blight’s ‘Frederick Douglass: Prophet of Peace’
I’ve read and taught Frederick Douglass’ first autobiography, The Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, for years, so when I saw David Blight’s Frederick Douglass: Prophet of Peace, I was...
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Dog Blog: The ‘Dog Man’ series by Dav Pilkey
So, I’m a bit particular about what I read. I favor prose and description over plot, character over conflict. John Milton’s Paradise Lost is the greatest achievement of English writing. No American...
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Your Moment of Zen: Frank LaRue Owen’s ‘The Temple of Warm Harmony’
“Afoot and light hearted, I take to the open road.” So begins Whitman’s long poem “Song of the Open Road,” a delightful, meandering meditation on what it means to be human. A theme that Whitman hammers...
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