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“Who knows why Fabritius painted the goldfinch at all? A tiny, stand-alone masterpiece, unique of all its kind? … Why this subject? A lonely pet bird? … Why does it seem so significant to me that the wall is plain—no tapestry or hunting horns, no stage decoration—and that he took such care to inscribe his… Continue reading

Over at BookTok they are doing a half-year yes, no, maybe review for all of the books they have read so far in 2026. I thought I might do something similar. And so here are the books I did read cover to cover in 2026 that I did not get around ro reviewing at the… Continue reading

​”At forty, Peter, an asylum lawyer in New York City, is overworked and isolated… But when the asylum case of a young gay man pierces Peter’s numbness, the event that he has avoided for twenty years returns to haunt him.…As Peter’s case plunges him further into the memory of his first love and the night… Continue reading

“John Barton was not far wrong in his idea that the Messrs. Carson would not be over much grieved for the consequences of the fire in their mill. They were well insured… It was a pleasant thing to be able to lounge over breakfast with a review or newspaper in hand .. There is another… Continue reading

I read The Correspondent (2025) by Virginia Evans about a month ago and I was sure at the time that I would be posting my thoughts. But the energy wasn’t there to write a review. The words just wouldn’t come. And I am not sure the words are here now but when I learned today… Continue reading

Samuel Pepys was a 26 year old civil servant in London when he began his diary on January 1, 1660. He kept his diary which ran to several volumes until May 31, 1669. Pepys never meant his diary to be published because it would have landed him in big trouble with the court of Charles… Continue reading

“Sheila definitely doesn’t love her sister when Angie takes the last pancake at breakfast, the one that is Sheila’s by any standard of decency since Angie already ate four and Sheila only two. Sheila is eating slow so she can pretend they don’t live like animals … Then Angie grabs the pancake with the fingers… Continue reading

“To Laurie, I was essentially fatherless… If I had once been Billy Barber’s son, by the time I met Laurie I had long ceased to be, except in strict biological terms.” – William Landay, Defending Jacob I’ve been reading some top-quality novels as of late. The Correspondent and Broken Country deserve the praise they are… Continue reading

I decided to go back and make a list of my 15 favorite stand-alone books that I have reviewed on Reading Matters from 2015 – 2025. Each of these novels affected me deeply and I highly recommend all of them. In no particular order here are my favorites Life and Other Near Death Experiences by… Continue reading

I check into Booktok regularly where they have been giving high praise to Lotus Shoes (2025) by Jane Yang. And since I’ve been wanting to read a historical novel set in a country and a time period I know very little about, Lotus Shoes seemed like a good fit. And I am pleased to say… Continue reading