TED Talk

“[A] stirring saga…” says the Wall Street Journal: “Vivid and intimate, Ms. Sankovitch has made a compelling contribution to Massachusetts and American History.”

“Meet American’s Most Extraordinary Family: the Lowells of Massachusetts,” says The Washington Post: “one feels deeply attached to the individual Lowells, while also exhilarated at having experienced this grand sweep of American history.”

From The New Yorker: Sankovitch’s “skillful blending of context and detail makes the vicissitudes of one family emblematic of a nation’s.”

O Magazine: Tolstoy and the Purple Chair is “book to read now.. Anyone who has ever sought refuge in literature will identify.”

Christian Science Monitor: Tolstoy and the Purple Chair is one of “the smartest nonfiction titles for summer reading” and “a tribute to the power of books to enrich our daily lives.”

Independent Book Sellers named Tolstoy and the Purple Chair to their list of Great Reads for June 2011 and to their Summer 2012 Paperback Next List: “the best description of the power of books that I have ever encountered!”

Oprah.com: “Part memoir, part meditation, part artful history lesson…and part reminder to put a pen to paper when it comes to people we care about…”

Publisher’s Weekly: “Perfect for devotes of pen and paper… will likely inspire both old-fashioned letter reading and letter writing.”

How to Read All Day

Always have a book with you.
Read while waiting.
Read while eating.
Read while exercising.
Read before bed.
Read before getting out of bed.

Read instead of updating FB.
Read instead of watching TV.
Read instead of vacuuming.
Read while vacuuming.
Read instead of updating blog or website.
Read instead of weeding.

Read what you want.
Read a book a friend wants you to read.
Read a book a bookseller swoons over.
Read a book loved by your local librarian.

Read with a book group.
Read with your kid.
Read with your cat.
Read to your dog.

Read on a schedule. Set the timer for twenty minutes and let everything else go.