Nina Sankovitch

From October 2008 through October 2009, I read a book a day and wrote a review of each book here on Read All Day. I began my year in an effort to come to terms with the tragic death of my oldest sister, Anne-Marie, and to find purpose and meaning in my life. I called my year of reading The 365 Project.

I am a mother, sister, daughter, and friend. I fold prodigious amounts of laundry, create ingenious but less than delicious meals from whatever I can find in my fridge, obey the three cats that deign to live within my house, and I read lots and lots and lots of books. A graduate of Tufts University and Harvard Law School, I've worked at many jobs and pursued a variety of careers, but I have now found where I am most happy: at home, reading and writing.

My posted reviews brought me new friends from around the world. Wonderful readers write to me every day, offering book recommendations and comments on my reviews, and sharing with me their own experiences of being saved by books. My year of reading was picked up by The New York Times in October of 2009, and followed up by other news organizations, including The New Yorker and CNN.

I have continued to read and review books since my year of intense reading ended, and I wrote my own book, Tolstoy and the Purple Chair, which came out in June 2011.

My whole life I've loved to read. My earliest memories are of heading off to the local book mobile with my sisters Anne-Marie and Natasha to pick out our books for the week. When we arrived back home, Anne-Marie would pull me up on her lap and my mother or my father would read to us. Throughout my life, I've turned to books when I needed pleasure or escape, comfort or wisdom. After Anne-Marie died, it was all the gifts offered by books that brought me back to a place I never thought I'd find again, a place of energy, hope, and joy.