Mary Daniels Brown

My mother always insisted that, as soon as I was old enough to sit up, she’d find me in my crib after my nap babbling away, with a Little Golden Book on my lap. I’ve had my nose in a book ever since. I grew up in a small town, with the tiny town library literally in my backyard. As an only child in an unhappy home, I found comfort and companionship in books. As an adult I wanted to be Harry Potter, although I admit I’m more Hermione. My life has been a series of research projects. Reading has taught me that human lives are deliciously messy and that “it’s complicated” isn’t a punchline.

bookshelves: Literature and Psychology

What Your Favorite Books Tell You About Your Writing

My major life activities are reading (usually fiction) and writing (always nonfiction). So I’m delighted when I come across something that combines the two: something like Marcy McKay’s writing challenge What Your Favorite Books Tell You About Your Writing. Marcy runs The Write Practice, a web site and newsletter aimed at fiction writers, but even […]

What Your Favorite Books Tell You About Your Writing Read More »

Harper Lee Lawyer Offers More Details on Discovery of New Book – NYTimes.com

Harper Lee Lawyer Offers More Details on Discovery of New Book – NYTimes.com. Last week’s announcement that another novel by Harper Lee, author of the beloved classic To Kill a Mockingbird, had been discovered and would be published in July stirred up a lot of controversy and questions. The recently discovered novel is titled Go

Harper Lee Lawyer Offers More Details on Discovery of New Book – NYTimes.com Read More »

Harper Lee to Publish Second Novel

Yesterday’s announcement that Harper Lee, author of To Kill a Mockingbird, would publish a second novel this July rocked the literary world. Here’s a collection of articles on the significance of the news. Harper Lee, Author of ‘To Kill a Mockingbird,’ Is to Publish a Second Novel Alexandra Alter reports in the books section of

Harper Lee to Publish Second Novel Read More »

Harper Lee, Author of ‘To Kill a Mockingbird,’ Is to Publish a Second Novel – NYTimes.com

Harper Lee, Author of ‘To Kill a Mockingbird,’ Is to Publish a Second Novel – NYTimes.com. What a surprise! I’ll definitely read it. Will you?

Harper Lee, Author of ‘To Kill a Mockingbird,’ Is to Publish a Second Novel – NYTimes.com Read More »

woman reading

On Reading

I love Mark Zuckerberg’s book club: Unpacking his quest for literary meaning I had seen references to Mark Zuckerberg’s book club but, despite being a fan of both books and book clubs, I wasn’t much interested in learning about it. But Laura Miller, senior writer for Salon and a self-described “book-recommender,” was. Most of the

On Reading Read More »

Blog a Day Challenge: January Report

I admit that when I set this challenge up for myself near the end of December, I did so with trepidation: Would I be able to find something to write about EVERY SINGLE DAY? Would I be able to do all the research necessary for each post during a single day? Would I be able

Blog a Day Challenge: January Report Read More »

bookshelves: Literature and Psychology

Review: “The Girl on the Train,” Paula Hawkins

Hawkins, Paula. The Girl on the Train New York: Penguin Group, 2015 ISBN 978–1–59463–366–9 Rachel rides the same train every day on her commute to and from London, right past the street where she and her husband used to live. She’s still reeling with despair over the failure of her marriage two years earlier. Looking

Review: “The Girl on the Train,” Paula Hawkins Read More »

Best Snow Day Reads: 19 Page-Turners To Enjoy While Snowed In

Best Snow Day Reads: 19 Page-Turners To Enjoy While Snowed In Read More »

The Classics Club

“Revolutionary Road”: The Film

In an earlier post I reviewed the novel Revolutionary Road by Richard Yates, one of the books on my Classics Club list. The book contained some passages that presented Frank Wheeler as a melodramatically theatrical man always concerned about how he appears to others: He let the fingers of one hand splay out across the

“Revolutionary Road”: The Film Read More »

On Novels and Novelists

Sarah Gerard, Dean Koontz, Margaret Atwood, Zadie Smith

The 10 Best Books Shorter Than 150 Pages Sarah Gerard, author of Binary Star, recommends 10 short novels. I’ve got this one bookmarked for next December, when I may be scrambling to complete by personal reading challenge on Goodreads. Dean Koontz on Life, Literature & His New Book ‘Saint Odd’ (INTERVIEW) “I’ve always loved the

Sarah Gerard, Dean Koontz, Margaret Atwood, Zadie Smith Read More »

Scroll to Top