As he leaned against the door of a New York City subway train, my adult son fainted. Like a giant redwood tree, he toppled over, his head crashing against the edge of a hard plastic seat. Out cold, he lay on the filthy floor, blood gushing from his eye…

Many of my friends make book-reading resolutions each year. They might set up a personal Reading Challenge on Goodreads, a free book recommendation site. Bookworms decide how many books they’d like to read in the next 365…

Four years ago, we sold our big house in Texas and moved 800 miles away to a small home in Nashville. As we sorted through our belongings, and packed up our life in Houston, we donated, purged, consigned, and sold…

Don’t most of us love to receive books? How much fun is it to unwrap a cookbook we wouldn’t think of buying for ourselves? Or flip through the novel we’ve heard so much about? Or snuggle with a grandchild as we share a picture book?

In a recent conversation, a friend raved about a movie she’d seen. “I laughed the whole way through. You will love it,” she said. But I didn’t. The experience was like reading the list of Academy Award nominations, rushing to watch an acclaimed movie…

As summer ends and kids head back to school, I remember the days when I’d prepare for my new grade. I loved covering my textbooks with brown paper, organizing my pencil case, arranging outfit combinations, and labeling my folders and notebooks….

“If you learn one thing, it was worth your time.” Many decades ago, a college professor repeated that mantra over and over during the semester. She preached to our class of seniors, all of whom thought we were ready to set the world on fire, that if we…

During the summer months, we hear lots of chatter about “beach reads.” Those light, uncomplicated books where we skip through the pages. We don’t have to work hard to focus on characters and plot lines. Sometimes, that’s exactly the type of book…

or the past decade, I’ve had a front-row seat to the devastating effects of Alzheimer’s. The neurodegenerative disease has wreaked havoc on my mother-in-law. And those who love her. According to neuroscientist Dr. Jeanette Norden, Alzheimer’s…

Still Alice, published in 2007, was a tough book for me to read. My dear mother-in-law suffered from Alzheimer’s, and the novel hit way too close to home. As I muddled through the touching story, a combination of neurological facts…