Reviewed by Melynda Fuller Barnheart: The Incurable Longing for a Farm of One’s Own By Jenna Woginrich (Storey) At some point, every city-dweller utters the words, “I wish I could just move to the country and start a farm.” In her new memoir, writer Jenna Woginrich lays out that idyllic landscape found so often in the deep sighs of those who feel trapped by urban life. After a short stint as a homesteader in Idaho, ... Read More

Reviewed by Amber Tamblyn The Bigger World By Noelle Kocot (Wave Books) Noelle Kocot’s 2006 book Poem For The End Of Time and Others Poems—a collection about the death of her husband and the subsequent burning cyclone of grief that followed—contains some of the most painful and powerful verses ever unearthed on the subject. But today, Kocot is looking at The Bigger World (Wave Books) and telling the dark, ... Read More

I love books. A lot. I have a book in my purse at all times (last month it was The Small Room by May Sarton, right now it’s The Russian Dreambook of Color and Flight by Gina Ochsner—next up will be Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger) and spend many of my lunch breaks browsing at Barnes & Noble. For part of our summer holiday, my college roommate and I went to the little town of Hay-on-Wye, Wales, which makes its living off ... Read More

Flavorwire recently ran a piece on “10 Legendary Bad Boys of Literature,” and, as game as I am for any discussion of Lord Byron’s poetry/incestuous affairs/commitment to culturally-appropriated fashion, I couldn’t help but agree with one commenter that the “bad girls” of literature deserved their due-- and are, in fact, even more compelling than their male counterparts.  Luckily, Flavorwire editor ... Read More

A thought that has never crossed my mind: Man, I could really use some help with this pressing life matter—what would Ozzy Osbourne do in this situation?  I mean, I’m a big Black Sabbath fan, but Ozzy is not exactly the first person I’d think of to impart wisdom (that person would be Roseanne Barr, which is totally convenient because she just happens to be BUST’s new advice columnist).  The Sunday Times of ... Read More