It's October, people, and almost All Hallows Eve, so this month's letter is devoted to what's scary. Because of my taste for disaster, I read a lot of books and stories that are intended to be scary, with mixed results. Gore is not always scary and neither is violence and cruelty unless you know how to pair it with elements of circumstance that evoke horror. Originally published October 28, 2021.

This month's back-to-school newsletter is titled How to Save Your Life in Four Not-So-Easy Lessons or Everything I really needed to know I'd learned by 1964. Originally published September 2, 2021.

Don’t tell your book club, but some books are not meant to be read on the beach. Whether difficult, deep, or just straight depressing, these books pair well with air conditioning and isolation. Cozy up to that grumbling HVAC and enjoy my list of books that are not beach reads. Originally published July 29, 2021.

If you're traveling this summer and stuck some afternoon in an uncomfortable corner of a backseat or airport terminal or time-share, you may want to bring a book about some faraway place to escape into. Originally published June 30, 2021.