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Gretchen Lida

Gretchen Lida is an essayist and an equestrian. Her work has appeared in The Washington Post, Brevity, The Rumpus, The Washington Independent Review of Books, and many others. She teaches composition in Illinois, lives in Wisconsin, sometimes lives on Nantucket Island and is still a Colorado Native.

The Young Goodman Brown Effect in Education

A reader and teacher on the educational philosophy she calls the Young Goodman Brown effect, named after the story by Nathaniel Hawthorne.

How Anthony Bourdain Taught Me to Write About Horses

How one writer found Anthony Bourdain's writing influential in understanding their own writing.

What to Read When FROZEN II Turns You Into an Environmentalist

Heads up: This post contains spoilers. The week after it came out, my friend Jera and I went to see ...

The Little Free Libraries of East Rogers Park

One reader takes a trip through their neighborhood of East Rogers Park in Chicago and explores the Little Free Libraries.

2 of the 2019 New Releases Every Coloradoan Should Read

Like its terrain, Colorado's history is ragged and complicated. Get to know the U.S. state through these 2019 books.

My Year of Unfinished Books

A reader looks back at a tough year in reading, the books left unfinished, and a title that turned out to be the right book at the right time.

Four Contemporary Collections to Make You a Believer in the Short Story

These short story collections are irresistible.

30 Tiny Lessons From 30 Memoirs, 2019 Edition

Family, healing, and finding your voices are among the biggest lessons one reader found in thirty memoirs this year.

5 Boss Lady Books of Nonfiction

Give your fall TBR a boost of inspiration with these powerful nonfiction books covering everything from disability to cultural criticism and more.

The Strange and Beautiful Harmony of Two Irish Farmer Memoirs

A reader of Irish heritage gets acquainted with the country through two books set against farms in Ireland.