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Recently, I took a fifteen-hour road trip with my oldest son, ferrying him home from school for the measly three week break that will act as his “summer.” After flying in to help him move out of the dorm, and into his new digs, we made the trek back to California via the open...

Many people seem to view working in the restaurant industry as some sort of failure – a melting pot of people who either can’t or won’t get a “real job,” or who are still working their way towards the opportunity to find one. The reality is, while there are those types of...

Those of you that recognize the name Jean Hastings Ardell, likely know her as both the columnist who writes the Indy’s own “Left of Center” political column, and a staunch local Democrat. What you may not know about Ardell, however, is that she is an equally staunch fan of the...

Love is in the air, and perhaps also on your TV screen. Of course, the word love is subjective, as is the love story depicted in the new Amazon original series, “Z: The Beginning of Everything.” Recounting the saga of one of the literary world’s most well-known love stories, “Z”...

Happy New Year, book lovers! It is hard to believe that we have collectively turned the page on another chapter—one more volume of life now closed and tucked away into a grand library, to be looked back upon only occasionally as we move forward in pursuit of what is yet to come....

The holiday season is, at its root, a time of joy. When we remove the commercial trappings, and blatant consumerism, we are all celebrating a joyous event—Joy at a redeemer born in a manger long ago, or joy at the miracle of light, born of oil that lasted eight whole nights. We...

The countdown is on. Christmas and Hanukkah are almost upon us, shipping deadlines are drawing near, and children everywhere can tell you exactly how many days until school is out and the gift-giving begins. Mothers and fathers are carefully checking their shopping lists, to...

I’ve been in a bit of a book drought lately, my reading time dwindling to the levels of a conservation-era watering schedule. This tends to happen to me cyclically – I’ll be fired up about a book, to the point where I have it with me everywhere I go, in hopes of catching a few...

As a society, we have become so entirely reliant upon our technology that to imagine our daily existence without its myriad assistances becomes almost mind-numbing. How do we get from point A to point B, if not by plane, train, or automobile? How do we check in with mom two...

The Newport Beach Public Library Foundation is preparing to kick-off their annual Library Live series, and while always providing patrons with the opportunity to hear from world-class speakers right in their own backyard, this year, the foundation has something extra special up...

Today would be my mother’s 70th birthday. An age with a strong foothold in the golden years, 70 is supposed to usher in a decade of retirement, grandchildren, and relaxation from the workaday world. It brings with it slower steps, but also, the wisdom born of having experienced...

Historically, the Olympics have been a time when a truce is called, and city-states that were typically warring with one another put their differences aside for a show of sport. As the torch is lit tonight (Aug. 5), we enter a period when (hopefully) we will follow suit. For the...

I love the Olympics. I unapologetically thrill at the pomp and circumstance, and become enthralled (if for but a few short weeks) with the joy of sport, completely buying in to the cliched thrill of victory and agony of defeat. My love of the Olympiad goes back a long way—to...

In between evaluating which mementos should be taken along to college and which should be relegated to a dusty garage storage shrine, while also attempting to plan for an upcoming winter unlike any experienced by California natives, and embarking on a days-long farewell tour, it...

It’s that time of year when our hearts turn to the holidays. Sentimentality reigns, and if you are like me, you are quick to tear up upon hearing a favorite song, or sharing a favorite story. In our house, this week brought the return of advent calendars, Elf on the Shelf, and...

After gorging yourself on turkey and fixings, and spending more hours than you care to admit perusing the annual Black Friday ads, opportunity will be ripe for a little relaxation. While I’m sure there are no shortage of ways in which to fill that “food coma me time,” unwinding...

This November, we can add a plethora of great book suggestions to the list of things for which we are thankful. Last week brought us the goodreads.com best book nominations, and hot on the heels of that announcement, this week Amazon.com has released its Top 100 Books of 2015....

I have long espoused the notion that when it comes to reading, it doesn’t matter so much what you read, as long as you are reading something. The potential for discovery exists in the pages of everything, from People magazine to “War and Peace.” Of course, you need to have...

“In love we find out who we want to be. In war, we find out who we are.” So asserts author, Kristin Hannah in her new book, “The Nightingale,” our Under Cover Book Club selection for April. Chapter one opens with an aging woman going through her belongings as she prepares to...

Since we’re entering February, the month of cupid, chocolate hearts, and overpriced roses, I had planned to choose this month’s book club book with a love story in mind. Of course, there are many kinds of love stories, so that still left me with a deep pool to select from. In the...