“What I think of all the time is how to have more patience, and a wilder will – how to see better, and write better.”

August 31, 2026

A review of “A Poetry Handbook” in 100 words by Catherine Stover

A recent program about Mary Oliver on PBS reminded me of why I love her Poetry Handbook so much. It set a new standard for textbooks when it was published in 1994. It’s less like … Read More

“I decide that Ole and Oline . . . choose each other in spite of everything.”

August 22, 2026

A review of “Clearing Out” in 100 words by Catherine Stover

I have never read a book like this one. The author tells us about characters she is inventing for a novel while she tells us about her own life. She skillfully braids fact with fiction while … Read More

“You always wanted to do something big. Something important.”

August 13, 2026

A review of “Loving Frank” in 100 words by Catherine Stove

At the heart of this novel is this question: what should you do when you’re pulled in two different directions, and one choice comes at the expense of the other? It’s a great premise for … Read More

Ten Years of Writing about Poetry Has Taught Me This

July 29, 2026

From the archives

Poetry is the most textured form of writing. It attracts artists who weave sounds and images with mystery. They may be cranky (T. S. Eliot) or homesick (Seamus Heaney) or humorous (Billy Collins). They may believe that poetry … Read More

“We are, I know not why, double within us.”

July 23, 2026

A review of “The Red House” in 100 words by Catherine Stover

Mark Haddon’s extraordinary novel The Red House appears to be built on the ideas and style of the essays written by Michel de Montaigne in the 1500s, and I can’t think of a better, more … Read More

“We had strong white teeth. We shone them on the world.”

July 14, 2026

A review of “The Horizontal World” in 100 words by Catherine Stover

Unlike fiction writers, who create plots that keep their readers in suspense, memoirists have to stick to telling stories about things that already have happened. For example, author Debra Marquart grew up in North Dakota, … Read More

“The name of the author is the first to go, followed obediently by the title, the plot…”

June 25, 2026

A review of “Sailing Alone Around the Room” in 100 words by Catherine Stover

The poem “Forgetfulness” by Billy Collins continues: “the heartbreaking conclusion, the entire novel which suddenly becomes one you have never read, never even heard of, as if, one by one, the … Read More

“What followed was . . . a collective sigh of relief, as if a cactus had just left a room full of balloons.”

June 20, 2026

A review of “Theo of Golden” in 100 words by Catherine Stover

A retired judge writes his first novel, and he sells a million copies. Sound unlikely? What if we add this: he self-publishes it on Amazon until a big publisher distributes the book. It sounds like … Read More

“I stepped into an open crack in time and fell backwards.”

June 11, 2026

A review of “Whistler” in 100 words by Catherine Stover

Writers who would like to see how to structure a story that’s about the interplay between the past, present, and future could learn a lot by studying this novel. Its central tension is in the recollection of … Read More

“To his wife, he appeared the most considerate man she had ever known, though irritating in his way.”

May 29, 2026

A review of “The Things We Never Say” in 100 words by Catherine Stover

Of the four ways a story can convey information—action, dialogue, description, and commentary—Elizabeth Strout excels in the most difficult one: commentary. It’s the hottest spice, and calibrating the right amount is an … Read More

“We are all of us haunted by ghosts because they are not ghosts, these people we once knew . . . [they] continue to touch us.”

May 21, 2026

A review of “Modern American Memoirs” in 100 words by Catherine Stover

This collection of excerpts from memoirs by 35 American writers gave me a chance to discover the work of Frederick Buechner (1926-2022). He was a novelist and a Presbyterian minister who wrote several “spiritual autobiographies.”… Read More

“I know this life that I’ve lived is false at its core, and while I yearn for another, I’m afraid . . .”

May 14, 2026

A review of “The Personal Librarian” in 100 words by Catherine Stover

As luck would have it, I saw the haunting painting “The Drop Sinister – What Shall We Do with It?” by Harry Wilson Watrous during the same week that I read  the historical novel … Read More

“I’d like to talk about some of the things he will remember, and then I’d like to forget them myself.”

April 29, 2026

A review of “Up Front” in 100 words by Catherine Stover

Some memoirists hope that writing about a tough experience will help them get it out of their system so that they can move on. That was  Sergeant Mauldin’s goal. But the odds were against him: … Read More

“You asked if you are supposed to stand by and watch your friend’s life be ruined.”

April 20, 2026

A review of “Liberation Day” in 100 words by Catherine Stover

Let’s say you wanted to write a story about an American who watches an authoritarian regime crush democracy. What could you do to challenge as many readers’ expectations as possible? Well, you could decide the title … Read More

“Everything seemed immovable. Everything seemed impossible. And yet I knew I had to change my life.”

April 13, 2026

A review of “A Life of One’s Own” in 100 words by Catherine Stover

Hands down, hybrid memoirs are my favorite type of memoir. All hybrids have the same plot: “I’m going to explore this really important subject because I think it might transform my life.” The … Read More