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"Books are Antidotes to Loneliness"
I was interviewing Karen Russell recently about her Dust Bowl-era novel, "The Antidote" (so, so good!) when we found ourselves roaming and reading through the dusty shelves of the libraries we each grew up with.
The Bemus Point Public Library, of which I was a proud card-holder, still stands at the edge of Chautauqua Lake. It was founded in 1908 by Elizabeth Bemus, who donated the land next to her house and then promptly appointed herself Head Librarian.
I spent hours there, free to borrow whatever I liked once my mother told the librarian that that was how we rolled in our household.
Russell, who grew up in Miami, borrowed library books that she would read in a dry tub and we reflected on how subversive, even thrilling reading felt in our adolescence.
So how is it that we find ourselves in a moment where, in an overnight purge, the Naval Academy removed 381 books; where money that keeps the doors open to rural libraries has been zeroed out; where Trump signed an executive order that is designed to eliminate the Institute of Museum & Library Services.
In January, Karen Russell mused to Publisher's Weekly that books "have always been the antidotes to loneliness, offering the most radical intimacy to another consciousness."
And the libraries that hold those books, we agreed in our recent conversation, are the keepers of our imaginations and our dreams.
The Libraries, Historic Homes & Moody Moors of Jane Eyre's England, May, 2027!
When "Jane Eyre" by Currer Bell was published in October of 1847, one of London's most prominent critics raved about the novel's "freshness" and astute perceptions of "the crudeness of youth."
For six months, the mystery of the author's true identity gripped London. Was it a man or a woman? Experienced or novice?
Charlotte Bronte concealed the truth that she'd written the bestseller for nearly three years, revealing it only after both of her sisters, Anne and Emily, had died. In writing a "Biographical Notice" for the new editions of "Wuthering Heights" and "Agnes Grey," Charlotte provided enough clues about her own authorship of "Jane Eyre" that the mystery was solved.
Scholars say Charlotte wrote the novel as she struggled with a series of personal tragedies, conceiving the novel even as her heart was "constantly lacerated by searing regrets."
I love, LOVE this novel, so to celebrate the 180th birthday year of "Jane Eyre's" publication, I am adventuring to the moody moors of Yorkshire!
We'll visit historic homes, treasure-filled libraries & bookstores, and sweep ourselves into the landscape from which this classic was born. The full itinerary is coming soon.
And the book list will be scrumptious!
Sirens, it's a Chick's Only adventure and it's going to be just so AMAZING! Why have I waited so long to do this??
If you're interested in coming with me, drop me an email at SirenSojourns@gmail.com. I have a feeling this trip will fill up quickly,
Read to Roam Book for May/June: "The Last American Road Trip" by Sarah Kendzior
Here's an undeniable truth that Midwesterners will not need a compass to confirm: "When you start from the center, you see America from all sides."
Sarah Kendzior hails from St. Louis and when she, her good sport of a husband and endlessly curious kids set out on one of the dozens of road trips they've taken as a family, they are seeing their country "through wide eyes, it's wonders and flaws...."
And, along for the ride as the reader, so are we.
Here's the cabin where Mark Twain grew up near the ghost town of Florida, Missouri, rarely visited where it sits in the middle of an empty field.
There's the majesty of Theodore Roosevelt National Park where the sight of a herd of bison was both "blissful and heartbreaking" because they had so nearly been hunted to extinction.
And there's the majesty of her hometown's own Gateway Arch. "a triumph and a tragedy, a gateway and a memorial, a monolith with no practical purpose that looks dramatically different depending on where you stand."
Kendzior is both clear-eyed and wonderfully, convincingly sentimental about America.
As her children hike alpine trails in the Grand Tetons and watch wild horses play in Pahrump, Nevada, and belt out songs from the back seat, she writes, "I don't want my children to chase American illusions marketed as American dreams, but I want them to understand why things went wrong. To appreciate every day miracles and not think them small. To have reverence for the good that endures and the work to protect it."
My interview with Sarah Kendzior airs Friday, July 11th.
Roaming, Reading & Eating More Sustainably
Travel burns fossil fuels. No way around that. And while carbon offsets help, we're still contributing to the greenhouse load every time we jet from here to there.
So when I opened my latest climate newsletter from the NYT with a headline that asked: "What's the Best Thing I Can Do for the Planet," I braced for an admonition that said: "Stop getting on airplanes."
Instead, I found this: A recommendation to eat less meat. And the numbers back it up:
“On all these different metrics, eating a plant-based diet broadly improves sustainability,” said Seth Wynes, a scientist specializing in climate change mitigation at the University of Waterloo in Ontario.
Livestock production accounts for about 14.5 percent of global greenhouse gas emissions. It’s also a major driver of habitat destruction and other environmental harms, including antibiotic resistance, water scarcity, biodiversity loss and pollution. The industry is linked to animal welfare abuses, and, in some cases, it might increase the risk of a future pandemics.
"Even modest reductions in meat consumption can make a meaningful difference. If the average person in a high-income country skips meat just one day a week for a year, for example, they can save the carbon equivalent of driving 850 miles in a gas-powered car, and enough water to take a shower for 38 hours straight, according to the Johns Hopkins Center for a Livable Future."
Food is a terrific portal into the culture of a new place. But minimizing the meat and maximizing the plants that appear on your plate in that international cafe may be a great way to salve your (my!) guilty conscience.
https://www.nytimes.com/2025/04/21/climate/earth-day-what-to-do.html
Round & Round Go the Romances.
I've been reading romance novels this spring to prepare for an August Romance Roundtable on Big Books, Bold Ideas (MPR).
So, when I spotted this delightful examination of romance book covers in the WashPo, I was hooked. https://www.washingtonpost.com/books/2025/04/30/romance-novel-cover-art/
Long story, short: romance publishers are using what the Post calls "the vector couple" on their covers, "Their faces and bodies are rendered minimally....They’re anchored at a chaste distance on a bold, unbroken expanse of color. They bookend a short, punchy title printed in a condensed font that’s easy to read on a screen."
Bottom line? The pared-down covers communicate simpler times, when catching someone's searing gaze across the room gave you the kind of sexy frisson that swiping left never could.