Her Reading Life is my personal corner of the bookish world—a place for the books I’m reading, the stories I’m thinking about, and the little ways reading finds its way into everyday life. Come pull up a chair and see what’s on my shelves.
If you enjoy spending time here and would like to support my reading and writing, you can buy me a coffee. It helps me keep making these little corners of the internet for fellow readers.
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Tea with Sarah McCoy, Author of Marilla of Green Gables
Discover the story behind Marilla of Green Gables in my conversation with author Sarah McCoy. From Marilla and Matthew’s enduring bond to the magic of Prince Edward Island, Sarah shares the inspiration behind her beloved novel and the life she imagined for Marilla before Anne Shirley arrived at Green Gables.
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Lady Tremaine: The Truth Behind the Ball
Hochhauser spins a clever tale that reminds us that we needn’t lose ourselves or our dignity in search of romance, of a prince. Indeed, the acquiring of a prince will often cause grief, rather than the happy ending that we are conditioned to expect.
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O Caledonia: The Novel That Outlived Its Author
What strikes me most about O Caledonia is that Elspeth Barker’s only novel feels strangely alive. Janet is a bookish daydreamer who never fits into her world, and Barker gives her the wide-eyed wonder of Anne Shirley in a much darker landscape. If Barker were alive, I would want to ask her how this one…
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The Rain Watcher: When Nature Gets Angry
When nature gets angry, human concerns can suddenly seem very small. In *The Rain Watcher*, a family reunion in Paris is overshadowed by catastrophic flooding, a father’s devastating stroke, and the secrets that have kept a family divided for years. The novel’s meditation on trees, time, mortality, and humanity’s lack of control is often haunting—even…
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A Death in the Family by James Agee: A Reflection on Grief and Loss
James Agee’s ‘A Death in the Family’ is a haunting novel about death, grief, childhood, family, and the mystery of loss.
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The Artist and the Feast by Lucy Steeds: A Review
What does it mean to love a monster? In Lucy Steeds’s The Artist and the Feast, a young woman’s talent is buried beneath years of cruelty and control—until an unexpected visitor begins to see the artist she has always been.
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6 Books I’d Gift to a Woman I Care For
Six books to give a woman you love, from Virginia Woolf and Louisa May Alcott to Barbara Pym and L. M. Montgomery. Books about womanhood, friendship, family, education, and independence.
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5 Novels That Celebrate the Power of Female Friendship
Friendship is complicated, which is precisely why it makes such wonderful literature. From sisters who grow up together to women who meet later in life, the friendships in these five novels remind us that we are not meant to navigate life entirely alone. Sometimes all we need is a woman beside us—and, perhaps, a good…
