keep calm & carry on

I love this poster, which was originally printed–though not really used–in Britain as a morale booster during WWII.  (Here is the story of the poster.)  Since its rediscovery many years after the end of the war, facsimiles of the poster have been selling like hotcakes, and if you browse design websites, which I do, you’ll […]

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loving this book

A totally fascinating look at the evolutionary origins of good (social, empathetic, kind, joyful, warm, selfless) human behavior–as well as the psychology of facial expressions and non-verbal communication.  Get your pen out for underlining! Here’s a random smattering of interesting info from the book: Women laugh more than men. Laughter and talking happen in different […]

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fantastic review from the Mommy Blog

When I got a message from Kristijana at the Mommy Blog saying that she’d really loved Everyone Is Beautiful and that she’d be posting a review soon, I made some assumptions.  I know she has a toddler and a baby, and when my kids were that age, I was lucky if I wasn’t wearing my […]

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great review from Kirkus!

Kirkus Reviews just gave Everyone Is Beautiful a great review!!  The full text includes many plot points and several spoilers, so in an effort to protect the story’s surprises, I’ll just give you the best line: “In less deft hands, the horrors of the out-of-control Coates toddlers would resemble bad reality television, but Center’s breezy […]

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now we’re moving to England

Mieka Smiles, writer for the British paper The Journal, just gave the UK edition of Bright Side a terrific review! She writes: “Another chick lit book?  Well, the answer is yes and no. The Bright Side of Disaster certainly nestles very well into that genre.  But but rather than being just another one of a plethora […]

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great review from 101 books in 1001 days

Katie in Florida gives Everyone is Beautiful a great review!  She writes: “I loved this book. (Maybe even better than her first book, The Bright Side of Disaster, which I reviewed here.) I felt like I was there with Lanie, watching her just move through each day until she found her own passion again. Then it was […]

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letterpress books

I was just messing around online, waiting for my kids to fall asleep, and I stumbled on these charming little letterpress books at the crafty website of Jaime Rugh. They are tiny (3 X 4 1/2) with letterpress quotes and sayings inside.  I cannot resist letterpress, or tiny little books, and I want them all.

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super sweet

Kristjana, at the the Mommy Blog, just posted the sweetest blog entry about Everyone Is Beautiful.  After writing about how she’s not posting as much since her new baby (look at that handome face!) came last summer, she said this: Fortunately, inspiration comes in unlikely packages.  Though I have begged off the most recent slew […]

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we have to move to Philadelphia

I had many thoughts at the movie theater last night as my sister and I wept our way through the end of Marley & Me–thoughts about devotion and loyalty, about family and marriage, about pets I have loved and lost, about how much I love stories that validate my own life choices.  But one of […]

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took down the twinkly lights

It always makes me kind of sad to see them go.  If it were up to me, I’d leave them up all year–along with the blow-up snowman.  But I’ve been informed that’s too eccentric.  Maybe 2009 will be so awesome I won’t even miss them.

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our friend Mike

Mike Putnam is a friend of my sweet husband’s from college.  When I hear about Mike from back in the day, it’s usually stories about diving off trestle bridges and other crazy things college boys do. So how amazed was I to find out that he is, in addition to being a veterinarian and former […]

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I had a wakeful child last night

–and found myself awake in the wee hours, long after everybody else was back asleep–cruising around on ETSY looking at beautiful, handmade things and wishing I were an artist with studio full of windows and sunlight.  Here are some photos from a series called Through The Viewfinder at a shop called Scarlet Beautiful.

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I want to marry BOOKLIST!

Just got word of a terrific review for Everyone Is Beautiful from Booklist, which calls it a “superbly written novel filled with unique and resonant characters.”  Please see the whole delicious concluding sentence below: “Center takes a woman at her most vulnerable time and sets her on a journey to find herself without losing what […]

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