Up until a few weeks ago, I’ve been in the same office for the duration of my job. It was a great space with a large window that overlooked the University’s main plaza, and the first thing I did was paint it lavender, cover the bookcases with batik throws and quirky knick-knacks, and pin up some posters just because they were colorful. I made no attempt at creating a specific atmosphere. And things just sort of stayed that way. The only thing that changed was the natural accu

I'm not sure everyone is aware of this, but the book club discussion questions you see in the backs of your favorite novels are often written by the authors themselves. I think that's sort of funny because my urge in composing questions is to try to encourage a Polly Prissy Pants style conversation: But that's not how book club discussions go, is it? Even when the author is present, the group is usually pretty frank about what they liked, disliked, or flat-out didn't get abou