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RACHEL’S READS

Rachel’s Reads – August 2022

“The whole purpose of education is to turn mirrors into windows.” – Sydney J. Harris As we enter the period where students and parents get ready to head back to school, I find myself thinking about education in general. Receiving an education can open minds to new perspectives, and knowledge obtained is (hopefully) gained forever. […]

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Rachel’s Reads – Tie The Knot

“The giving of love is an education in itself.” – Eleanor Roosevelt In the English language, love is a word that has many different dimensions. It is uniquely personal, as no experience with it is exactly the same, and yet it is an experience that we all strive to understand better. Love is the foundation […]

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Rachel’s Reads – June 2022

“If music be the food of love, play on.” – William Shakespeare With the world feeling so heavy and dark right now, music is a language that can truly speak to the soul. It takes over when words fail and can feel like the soft moonlight only seen in the darkest of nights. It expresses […]

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Rachel’s Reads – May 2022

“The difference between the almost right word and the right word is the difference between the lightning bug and the lightning.” – Mark Twain Between the popularity of Wordle and other word games, thoughts about words have been constantly percolating in the back of my mind. On a recent trip to New York, I popped […]

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Rachel’s Reads – April 2022

Sometimes everything can be overwhelming. There have been several times during the last few years with the pandemic, war, and the terrible news cycle, where it all just feels like too much. Even my usual methods of escaping into a new world or character can feel like just another thing to be accomplished rather than […]

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Rachel’s Reads – March 2022

“The most difficult thing is the decision to act, the rest is merely tenacity.” Amelia Earhart In this toast to trailblazing women, I wanted to recommend memoirs and biographies of women who have changed history in eight different fields. There is a politician, an activist, a scientist, a writer, an artist, a sportswoman, a business […]

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Rachel’s Reads – February 2022

“The books that help you the most are those which make you think the most.” – Carlos Ruiz Zafón It’s no surprise that book clubs are still going strong as we head deeper into 2022. There is something immensely satisfying about connecting with other readers and discussing books. It doesn’t matter whether you hated or […]

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Rachel’s Reads – January 2022

Happy New Year! As promised in my December column, a few of our reader favorites from 2021 were The Push by Ashley Audrain, The Rainbow by Carly Schabowski, Detransition, Baby by Torrey Peters, Cultish: The Language of Fanaticism by Amanda Montell, and Intimacies by Katie Kitamura. To celebrate a new year of fantastic books, I […]

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Rachel’s Reads – December 2021

As the year wraps up and we cross our fingers that our gifts will arrive on time, I am continuing the tradition I started several years ago of sharing my top books for 2021. I hope you find something new or see that one of your favorites made my list! Fiction What Strange Paradise by […]

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Rachel’s Reads – October 2021

“Double, double toil and trouble; Fire burn and caldron bubble.” – William Shakespeare’s Macbeth The temperature is finally dropping, the nights are getting longer, and fall has finally arrived. While autumn may be associated with the beautiful array of colors as the leaves change, and pumpkin spice in everything, it really heralds the arrival of […]

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Rachel’s Reads – September 2021

When I was quite small, I stumbled across a copy of Edith Hamilton’s Mythology and became absolutely enthralled with the world of Greek mythology. From there, I tore through every anthology about the myths of Ancient Greece that I could get my hands on. Although there isn’t anything supremely unique about Greek mythology, in fact […]

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Rachel’s Reads – August 2021

What do Dan Brown, Michael Crichton, and Stieg Larsson have in common? They have all written books that are considered techno thrillers.What exactly is a techno thriller? It is a literary genre that combines two others into one: science fiction and thrillers. It takes the best of science fiction, a world without limits, and pairs […]

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Rachel’s Reads – Tie The Knot

Wedding season has officially returned! After the quiet of last year, the summer weather has arrived and brought with it an extremely full calendar of ceremonies, showers, and parties. Weddings can certainly bring out the best and the worst in us: family drama, seating charts, food choices, and fancy locations. Here are a few books […]

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Rachel’s Reads – June 2021

It’s summer reading season! With vacations seemingly right around the corner again, the eponymous “beach read” is flying to the top of my to-be-read list. Although I feel that anything can be read at anytime of the year, something about the heat of summer calls for either a fun and frothy book, or a page-turning […]

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Rachel’s Reads – April 2021

Throughout history, stories have been told through poetry. My first introduction to these wonderful tales was through The Odyssey as I first delved into Greek mythology. After digging into other epic poems, the ability for stories to shape their culture became increasingly apparent. These works are kinetic and often times visceral with words that have […]

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Rachel’s Reads – March 2021

“A woman with a voice is, by definition, a strong woman.” – Melinda Gates Throughout the world there are incredible women doing remarkable things. With International Women’s Day taking place on March 8th, I wanted to recommend a few memoirs and biographies by or about women from around the world. These are just a few […]

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Rachel’s Reads – February 2021

“Always laugh when you can. It is cheap medicine.” – Lord Byron With the pandemic still raging and the news cycle attempting to drive us all into some new form of madness, laughter as medicine has never seemed so enticing. As usual, I have been turning to books for respite, and I wanted to share […]

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Rachel’s Reads – January 2021

“There are no truths, only moments of clarity passing for answers.” – Michel de Montaigne After finishing high school and college, I thought I would be happy to never read or write another essay. Fast forward several years, and once again the saying of “never say never” completely applies. I think school got me too […]

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Rachel’s Reads – December 2020

As this crazy year draws to a close, I have noticed my tendency to take more time for reflection than in previous years. There are quiet moments that I have worked into my morning routine that add a sense of serenity and stillness that I appreciate. As part of my reflection, I figured what better […]

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Rachel’s Reads – November 2020

As Halloween and Daylight Savings have passed, I find myself looking forward to the quiet slowdown before things usually ramp up for the holidays, even though this year they may look markedly different. I enjoy taking in the chillingly cold mornings and the subtle stillness that permeates until Thanksgiving. It’s a time that reminds me […]

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Rachel’s Reads – October 2020

As we have entered a new season with new demands on our time, sometimes the most satisfying feeling is sitting down and devouring an entire book in one sitting. It might be rare to find the time for some uninterrupted binge reading, but below is a selection of recent releases that are all short enough […]

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