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Channel: Jenny Sawyer
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Confessions of a Bleeding Heart Book Critic

Innocent beginnings. Just a girl and her book. (Yes, this is a picture of Christopher Robin, who was a boy, but we had the same haircut.) Like many bookish children, I dreamed about reading and writing...

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Stop Me Before I Obsess Again

Will you believe me if we make it ten? My sister and I have both been known to listen a song to death. Not intentionally. It’s just that, when we find a piece of music that we really, really like, we...

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Reading Rituals: Dos & Do NOTS

NOT a reading ritual. I tried reading like Matilda once. It lasted for about five seconds. And I got rug burn. There are certain rituals associated with the things we love. In the Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle...

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The (Sort of) Great Gatsby (Movie)

This is what happens when you Google the phrase “love letter.” Dear Hollywood, I know it’s been complicated between us over the years. I know I’ve been caught saying some things behind your back. I...

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Little Books, Baby Goats: Just a Few of My Favorite Things…

When will an obsession strike? And why? Do we choose obsessions, or do they choose us? Some of my obsessions, like my never-ending love affair with children’s books, took hold before I was even...

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60second Recap: An Update

I should recite this to the mice in my kitchen, but we’re not exactly on speaking terms. At 17, I encountered the poetry of Robert Burns for the first time. I was hooked. At home each night, with my...

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My Favorite Books. Ever.

I really did it. I really narrowed my list of favorite books down to 10. Er, for now anyway. One of the questions I get asked the most frequently is: What are your top ten favorite books? This is akin...

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The No Complaining Cure

Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle loved children, but some of her cures were, admittedly, rather demented. Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle (whom I referenced on this blog once before) supposedly had the cure for every iteration...

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Paging Thelonious Monk

I wasn’t always so diligent (or obsessive) about practicing during my childhood… Obsessions aren’t necessarily passive. They aren’t just about listening to a song over and over (though you know I’ve...

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Cover Girl

YA author Maureen Johnson thinks too many people judge books by their covers–especially those in charge of designing the artwork intended to grab readers’ attention. Why so many female-centric cover...

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Reading Rituals: Scary Stories

Thanks, Quentin Blake, for an image that has been permanently seared into my memory. (Illustration from Roald Dahl’s “The Witches.”) I have never been good with suspense. Perhaps I was scarred for all...

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You Light Up My Life

There is actually deep significance to every aspect of this picture. Which is why I chose it. So you go so crazy with curiosity that you’re forced to read the books. In Philip Pullman’s “His Dark...

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My Favorite Book. This Week.

A new favorite. At least until the next one comes along. Just because a book doesn’t make it onto my Top 10 list doesn’t mean that it can’t be a temporary favorite. Ask any of my friends, and they’ll...

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Haul Out the Challah

A loaf of challah is supposed to evoke this kind of loveliness. Mine evoked frustration and mania. As an avid baker, nothing gets me obsessed like a recipe that doesn’t turn out quite right. Baking,...

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Reading Rituals: Comfort Books

“Parting,” wrote the Bard, “is such sweet sorrow.” Count on books to make it more bearable. My friends are moving away. This isn’t accompanied by the bleak, devastating sadness I felt the first time...

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Ghosts of Obsessions Past

Yes, she’s a doll. And yes, I’m still obsessed. Do unfulfilled childhood obsessions ever really leave us? Perhaps their presence isn’t felt with the same intensity. But they linger somewhere in the...

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This Week’s Favorite: Orphan Train

This week’s favorite is one I just had to read in one sitting. You won’t be able to put it down, either. In a shocking twist, I have a new favorite book. Maybe not a favorite favorite. But certainly...

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Balloon Poodles and Petite Pomeranians: This Week’s Obsessions.

Feeling crabby? Like many children, I had an obsession with balloon animals. I loved the complicated ones, twisted and sculpted by adults in clown costumes–usually at a birthday party or a carnival. I...

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This Week’s Favorite: The Lucy Variations

Put this on your reading list. Like, now. Even occasional visitors to 60secondrecap.com may be aware of the fact that I am a bit of a Sara Zarr fangirl. So when I heard–was it eight, nine months...

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Bread, But Mostly Jam, for Jenny

Is there such a thing as too much jam? I guess you could say I’ve always been a little obsessed with jam. Or, if not jam itself, stories about jam. Before the days when I had the wherewithal to gorge...

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