Thanks, Batavia Library!

By Barbara Josselsohn / June 10, 2022

My mother was the assistant to the director of Syosset Library when I was growing up, so the library was my second home. I loved being around all the books and the people who read, shelved, and recommended them. I thought it was so special that I saw places few others could — like the…

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An exploration of the nature of reality in Brett’s page turning novel The Schrödinger Girl

By Barbara Josselsohn / May 6, 2022

In The Schrödinger Girl by Laurel Brett, Garrett Adams, a psychology professor, meets Daphne, a compelling young woman who appears to exist as four separate versions of herself – and suddenly everything changes. In a word, Garrett is obsessed: Can he understand who Daphne is and what’s behind her seemingly impossible multiple existences? With the…

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A Delicious Old Hollywood Read

By Barbara Josselsohn / April 29, 2022

  I enjoyed this quick read, with its delicious depiction of Old Hollywood seen through the eyes of a fictional one-time movie star ready to share her life story. But I was also struck by the serious questions underlying the story: When is it time to tell the truth? To whom do you tell it?…

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Gratitude for books in the wild…

By Barbara Josselsohn / April 25, 2022

I’m so grateful for writer friends who know what will bring a smile to my face! Thanks so much to the talented writer Elizabeth Sumner Wafler for spotting my first book at the Bryan Park NYC lending library and posting it!  

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Weekend sofa time travel

By Barbara Josselsohn / April 25, 2022

Historical fiction was on my reading list this weekend — The Letter by Kathryn Hughes and The Storyteller of Casablanca by Fiona Valpy. Did anyone else time-travel on their sofa this weekend?  

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A Blessed Seder Interruption…

By Barbara Josselsohn / April 18, 2022

I’m so very grateful for Passover seders that get cancelled for the best of reasons! Our traditional seder at my sister’s house became anything but traditional when this little cutie, my niece’s first daughter, decided to make a month-early appearance! With my sister’s side of the family wrapped up with the new arrival, my crew…

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Today in the Taxi — a poetry collection by Sean Singer

By Barbara Josselsohn / April 15, 2022

I’m so excited to recommend Today in the Taxi, a new poetry collection by Sean Singer, based on his experiences as a driver for ride-sharing companies. I had the great privilege of hearing Singer read at a recent conference, and I found his renderings of and reflections on his experiences unforgettable – at times moving,…

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Monday Gratitude: Celebrating the Class of 2020

By Barbara Josselsohn / April 11, 2022

I’m grateful for a Sunday spent clothes shopping with my daughter – and not just any shopping: we were shopping for a dress for her to wear to her twice-delayed college graduation, now scheduled for the upcoming Memorial Day weekend! I know that my family’s pandemic experience pales in comparison to what so many others…

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French Braid by Anne Tyler

By Barbara Josselsohn / April 8, 2022

  Anne Tyler is the author who made me want to be a novelist, so I pick up her books the moment they release! And I’m so excited to have FRENCH BRAID in my hands! I’ve just started it but already cannot put it down. Tyler is the quintessential author’s author — she does so…

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Friday Reads: The Lions of Fifth Avenue by Fiona Davis

By Barbara Josselsohn / April 1, 2022

  What a treat to spend time exploring the inner workings of the New York Public Library with novelist Fiona Davis as a guide! THE LIONS OF FIFTH AVENUE puts us into the minds of Laura, wife of  the superintendent of the library in 1913, and her granddaughter Sadie,  curator of a special exhibit at…

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