Reading this on the train to VT and it‘s *perfect* for that. I love a mystery novel with brilliant, fierce girls at its core.

Liked but didn‘t love this book. The art was amazing, though, and I‘d loooove a large print of this panel to hang above my bed as a headboard.

Plans for the duration of my Christmas Eve.

Perfect book to read as I returned home to my suburban roots.

I found the language in this book beautiful but so stark that it left me feeling... unmoored. I don't know that I liked it but I'm not sure I didn't, either.

This book has some lovely bits but, on the whole, feels very dated and very male.

I feel *deeply* conflicted about this book. And yet, parts of it really resonated with me-- teaching as a kind of seduction and all that. Still. I can't imagine recommending it to anyone.

I feel 100% okay about keeping all my books. See also @bookriot on this matter: http://bookriot.com/2017/07/19/keep-all-your-books-really/ #purge #packrat #itsnothoardingifitsbooks

And now for the relaxing on the roof with a beer and reading about continuity of government during the Cold War part of Sunday...

This book opened with a hook: "the answer, inasmuch as there is an answer for these things, involved hope, poverty, pride, Walmart, erectile dysfunction, Steak-umms (the chopped meat sold in the frozen food aisle), intrigue, and America. America: the way it's disappointing sometimes, the ways it's never what it used to be." I'm not sure the book quite lived up to that thesis statement but it was a great story of rural crime. #BotM

If you're in on the D.C.-area tomorrow, join me and Atlas Obscura for an evening talking about the history and folklore of summer herbs. Did you know that marshmallow is an herb, not just the puffy white sugar things you get at the store? Tickets here: http://www.atlasobscura.com/events/sweet-summer-herbs

This book was such a disappointment. The central mystery was interesting enough and the setting was great but I was never able to get into the language. Plus, there's a plot device that gets the central character and narrator off the hook for having to actually put clues together. At least I got to use this silly bookmark? See here for the backstory: http://bookriot.com/2017/06/15/my-partner-doesnt-use-bookmarks-and-it-stresses-m...

Maybe a book about a slightly (very?) depressed PhD student in a bunch of failing relationships wasn't the best choice... because I think this is a good book but a book that was profoundly NOT for me right at this moment in my life.

I won't be going on a vacation this summer but finishing this book on the roof on a darn near perfect Monday evening seems pretty good.

This is a good book with a quick pace. It moved me to tears (hit a liiiiitle close to home at moments). This is a dark book with some real joy in it? It's about suicide and family and the way we make lives for ourselves. I didn't love it but it got me thinking.

The bookstore where I work just got this ok and I am working haaaaaard on not buying it for myself.

Spent the morning catching up on comics. Didn't love any of these but they were all more or less interesting.

If you had told me at age 17 that, at nearly age 34, I would one day say in all honesty, "I have too many workout clothes," I'd have laughed in your face. Yet, here we are. Reminded again of TINY, BEAUTIFUL THINGS: 8/10 things you believe about yourself aren't true, the other two are *so true* you have to laugh. From this column: http://therumpus.net/2011/05/dear-sugar-the-rumpus-advice-column-72-the-future-h...

Whitman with some real talk that's as relevant today as it was in 1860.

Believe it or not, I've actually never read LEAVES OF GRASS all the way through. #BadHistorian

Today is #InternationalArchivesDay so I'm sharing this piece I wrote for @bookriot on my deep and abiding love for novels set in archives and museums-- including BATS OF THE REPUBLIC! A book I just adored. http://bookriot.com/2016/05/03/genre-kryptonite-books-archives-museums/‬

Starting to fill in some of my gaps in the history of radicalism/radical movements. I'm only a few pages and already enjoying this one a lot-- easy to follow and clear. #Resist

I'm wondering a lot these days on the boundary between true crime and "proper" history. This is more fuel to my fire.

This is a fantastic, brutal novel that managed to be funny at times. There is real joy sneaking through this complex, difficult story of racism, code switching, police violence, protest, and the families we make. It's a pleasure to read even if it's not easy to read.

This is a truly beautiful graphic novel that hit every single beat. I am a little biased, I imagine, because this book could be written about me: loneliness, history, hearts, death, and the ways we find meaning. The art is beautiful and the tone melancholic.

Starting this on a cold, rainy day in May. Seems appropriate. Also grabbed a mint Micah frappucino.

Even the terrible, frustrating Adobe digital reader app couldn't distract me from this beautiful book. I got it from the library and may end up buying a hard copy to keep as a kind of devotional. It was a balm on my heart at a moment when things are a bit tougher than normal.

I just started LUMBERJANES and it is so good!! I know y'all all told me... but what the junk?! It's amazing.

This book came highly recommended but fell a bit flat for me. Parts of it were lovely and charming but, on the whole, it was a little too long and a little to unmoored for me.

I loved this book. It is such a clear articulation of why abortion is a GOOD thing not a "necessary evil." Dr. Parker is an inspiration both because of the challenges he overcame and because of his clear-eyed view of American reproductive rights. This book is a must read for anyone who is #prochoice or who identifies as a liberal Christian.

Coffee and the new book by one of my heroes. #ProChoice and proud. #readersresist

📚🎂🎉Happy 217th birthday, LoC! In honor of its anniversary, I collected some LoC trivia for a post at @bookriot 🎂🎁🎉 http://bookriot.com/2017/04/24/happy-217th-birthday-library-of-congress/

Not a bad way to wait for a friend...

Hey D.C.! #ObscuraDay is going to include some tawdry local history-- all about DC's working girls. Join us May 6! http://www.atlasobscura.com/events/obscura-day-washington-dc-s-working-girls

Oh my gosh, we're close to raising one million dollars nationwide for abortion access! Can you help us get there with a donation to the D.C. abortion fund? Let's keep choice accessible, not just theoretically available. https://bowl.nnaf.org/fundraiser/920487

Join me and the Obscura Society DC on May 6 for a walking tour of DC's brutalist architecture. Learn to love this iconic but maligned style! You'll also get a copy of the Brutalist DC map (a $10 value). http://www.atlasobscura.com/events/obscura-day-rethink-brutalist-washington-dc

An excellent introduction to an era and movement I'm increasingly interested in!

Starting this one after hearing very mixed opinions...

Finally getting around to this! I wasn't in the mood for ages but feel ready now.

Rise and #resist! Before the day gets away from you, call or write your reps about the National Endowment for the Humanities, National Endowment for the Arts, and IMLS. I wrote about just a few of the programs I'll miss if these agencies go away. http://bookriot.com/2017/03/18/what-book-lovers-lose-if-we-lose-the-nea-and-neh/

Happy #StPatricksDay, everyone! Please don't pinch me.

If you're in DC, come join me and Atlas Obscura on George Washington's teenage stomping grounds! On April 8 we're visiting the sites in Alexandria where Washington worked as a surveyor (and so much more). http://www.atlasobscura.com/events/survey-george-washingtons-alexandria

This is the book that made me want to go to grad school for history of medicine. It's on this list of 100 must-read books on the history of medicine that I put together for Book Riot!l It's like grad school without all the angst. http://bookriot.com/2017/03/15/100-must-read-books-about-the-history-of-medicine...

It's #Bowl17 time! I'm raising money for the D.C. Abortion Fund. We're an all-volunteer organization that works to ensure everyone can access the abortion care they need regardless of income or insurance status. I hope that, if you're able, you'll consider a donation: https://bowl.nnaf.org/fundraiser/920487

I loved this book until the last 30 pages or so when it just kind of... fizzled out.

Mahajan's brilliant novel follows the lives of several families connected through their proximity to a bomb blast in India in 1996. The book has some really wonderful passages on what it means to be exposed to trauma, how people make sense of the irrational, and how 9/11 reshaped the media's relationship to militant groups. I found the whole book excellent.

I wrote about reading this book for the first time as an adult in the first weeks of the Trump administration for @bookriot http://bookriot.com/2017/02/28/reading-wrinkle-time-first-time-trumps-america/ #Resist

I love this book and push it on everyone I know. So creepy and so smart.

Thee onnlly wway ttoo ccope withh ssometthingg ddeadly ssrriouss iss ttoo trreatt itt a llittlle lligghtly. p57

Picked this up thinking I'd read a little before getting back to work... 150 pages later there's no hope I'll get anything done today #BotM

This was a great page-turner. I am not a huge fan of books about sexual violence and there were parts of this one that were pretty graphic but it didn't make me put the book down. It was great to read about a doctor in addition to a detective.

I'm giving a *free* talk at the Clara Barton Missing Soldiers' Office on March 9! It's from my favorite dissertation chapter and is sneaky feminist history. It'll be fun, I promise. https://www.facebook.com/events/1325492674129997??ti=ia