Nina Sankovitch has always been a book lover, and now she’s an author as well. In June the former Evanstonian celebrated the publication of her debut book Tolstoy and the Purple Chair – an inspiring memoir that recounts her year spent reading one book a day in order to heal from her older sister’s tragic death. Moving and insightful, Purple Chair has been lauded by of the L.A. Times, O Magazine, and Publisher’s Weekly who called it “an entertaining bibliophile’s dream… [that] champions the act of reading not as an indulgence but as a necessity.” On July 14th Ms. Sankovitch visited EPL to read from Tolstoy and the Purple Chair, and as an encore, she recently spoke with us via email about how her reading journey evolved into a book, the pleasures and perils of sharing books, Purple Chair’s life lessons, and letters as an “endangered species.”