The Vanishing Point: A Novel

There is only one kind of novel I like to read and only one kind I like to recommend to you --- novels I can’t put down, novels that, if I must go out, I read on the street. Those books are well written, but they’re not about the writing....

The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society: A Novel

GUEST BUTLER: Elise O'Shaughnessy was my editor at Vanity Fair. Ah, those were the days. I'm not crazy about clubs, whether they'd have me as a member or not. And I don't like reading about book clubs, knitting circles, or sweet potatoes. So when the unfortunately titled "The...

Transitions and Life Events: Graduations and Weddings, 2018

SHOPPING ON AMAZON: The first business model of this site is Amazon. You start here, buy something there, Butler gets a commission. And not just on the item reviewed. Anything you buy during a session that starts with a click from Butler helps this site. There are two ways to...

Mother’s Day, 2018

My mother is now 101. My Mother's Day gift? I call her every day. Your mother or wife or daughter is not 101. You may want to give her something tangible. So here are 14 suggestions.... BOOKS Georgia: A novel of Georgia O’Keeffe This uniquely American story — told in this novel by...

The Affliction

When we last saw Maggie Detweiler and her old friend Hope Babbin, the recently retired private school head and the socialite were investigating a murder at the Oquossoc Mountain Inn in Maine, and I was rapidly turning the pages of Death at Breakfast, eager to see them crack the case....

Holiday Giving 2013

A Note from the Marketing Department: We often get e-mails like this: “You’ve said that Head Butler’s financial goal is to earn enough commission from Amazon so The Child can go to a community college. How can I help?” There’s no better time than the holiday season to explain how...

Artisans: A Crafty Bunch

Some of you are handy, and not just around the house. At the holidays --- and beyond --- two Butler readers are very crafty indeed. Bookish: Amanda Tobier buys old books in libraries and thrift shops, then transforms them. “I make art from art,” she says. You can see her...

Comfort

Video Ann Hood talks about knitting and grief Comfort is a very great book. I don't think most people would read it if I paid them. Consider: In April of 2002, Ann Hood's 5-year-old daughter spiked a fever. Rushed to the hospital, Grace was diagnosed with the kind of strep that...