Cinco de Grab Bag! #5
The Book Bag edition!
Hi Friends!
Welcome to another edition of The Grab Bag or, as Vanilla Ice would say, “If there is a bag, yo, I’ll grab it!” (Totally unfalse). The Grab Bag is a periodic segment of odds and ends. It’s the newsletter equivalent of socks without a mate.
It’s still summer, so let’s Triple Lindy it right into the deep end.
NEW Book News!
I am so very thrilled to announce that there will be a new addition to my book family in the spring of 2026! Yes, we have a name picked out and everything! Book Lover’s New England: A Guide to Literary Landmarks (Globe Pequot Press).
In the course of the last year I’ve over hill and daled it around my beloved region of Newish Englandia visiting the homes, estates, and inspired stomping grounds of some of the area’s most enduring and iconic literary luminaries: Stephen “Spooky” King; Edith “Mo Mirth Mo Problems” Wharton; Mark “Chuckles” Twain; Emily “Will Not Attend” Dickinson; Rudyard “Don’t Call Me Rudy” Kipling; J.D. “Also Will Not Attend” Salinger, and more.
The book features my original photography and writing about the lives and legacies of these figures. Did you know that Nathaniel Hawthorne and Herman Melville were friends with benefits? You guys, the nineteenth century was a real steam fest! Or that Dr. Seuss was literally walking home in New York City intending to burn the manuscript for And to Think That I Saw it on Mulberry Street because it had racked up so many rejections he thought it was hopeless when he bumped into an old college classmate who just happened to be the editor of juvenile books at Vanguard Press? I’m not saying it pays to stay on LinkedIn, but let Dr. Seuss be your cautionary tale of you never know who you might run into who could change your life forever. Or how Robert Frost wrote his famous poem “Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening” from his home in Vermont in the middle of June? Typical New Englander–obsessed with death and the weather.
Book Lover’s New England is part unique travel guide and part pure celebration of reading, writing, and book culture in all its forms. I also hope it amplifies the vital need for making art and supporting creatives. The outcome might seem magical–the book, the movie, the album, the musical starring Streep and Mirren (!)--but there are no genie-granting-wishes involved in doing this kind of work and walking this particular path. There isn’t a single person featured in this book whose story goes: “She wrote this amazing thing one day, millions of people read it and still do, and everything else she did until the day she died was flawlessly brilliant. And scene! Roll credits.” There are stories in this book of personal and professional struggles, heartbreak, setbacks and failures, self-doubt, self-sabotage, and plenty critical hatorade. The Boston Post reviewed Melville’s Moby-Dick, which was selling for $1.50 a book, writing: “The Whale' is not worth the money asked for it, either as a literary work or as a mass of printed paper.” Harsh. Barley. Artists may be heroes, but they still have to be human. A good ‘ism to keep in your back pocket.
Pre-order info will be coming in the next few months–so stay tuned and thanks for the support!
Book Nooks!
In early July my friend Julie, who lives in California, came for a visit. She had never been to Boston so we went hard. For us that meant walking around looking at cool stuff, going to museums, hanging out at cafes, visiting gardens and other natural naturey locales, and checking out bookstores and libraries. Repeat this cycle of activities until one of us dies of exhaustion. KIDDING! At that point we will have someone Weekend at Bernie us around. Am I in my Gilded Age Mrs. Effigenia Snootie Van Hoitytoityerson era? God I hope so. The world is too much! Let us put on hats with enormous Phoenix feathers in them, buy art, and lounge around on fainting couches until it all gets better. Julie came with a list of bookstores to visit. A list! Everyone should have a Julie.
Not to brag, but I will brag: Boston is lousy with fantastic bookstores. It is my secret wish that they will be plentiful in the same way as Dunkin Donuts and terrible drivers. We need bookstores. We need them now more than ever. Fascists heart trying to control information, strangle free thought, silence diverse voices/stories, and pretzel twist ideas to mirror regime ideology. Bookstores and libraries are on the frontlines of making sure that does not happen, and they are not having an easy, breezy, beautiful Covergirl time of it. Support these institutions in any way you can.
Here are some book-related highlights:
Parkside Bookshop (260 Shawmut Ave) is a darling new store tucked into Boston’s idyllic South End neighborhood.
Beacon Hill Books & Cafe (71 Charles St.) is a real aesthetic bodice ripper. Books live on three floors of a gorgeously renovated brownstone with cozy window seats, fireplaces, and design charm up the wazoo (technical term).
A stop in at any city’s main library branch should land on your travel list. I would bet my remaining 32 eggs that you will find art, culture, history, and other fantastic goodies inside any of these institutions. The Boston Public Library (main branch, 700 Boylston St.) is no different. Keeping lit things lit since 1848, the BPL is overrun with beauty and books in equal measure.
And don’t forget to give your local Little Free Libraries some love! I always delight in happening upon these; it’s like spotting a Bird of Paradise in the wild, BUT IN BOOK FORM!
That’s a wrap on this ole bag! Thanks everyone!
So fascinating about Herthaniel! Or was their Brangelina name Nateman or Hawville perhaps? Can't wait for your new book to come out Sheils, I loved your Boston one so much. Agree BPL is a must-see on any visit to Beantown; one day I hope to go through it again, hopefully with you as my expert tour guide ❤️
Man! Would I ever love to come join you two in your walking exploration. Sounds like heaven. Here's to you, Sheila, on your newest book! Such gorgeous photos. As I cannot go to Boston, you will bring it to me. Thank you.