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.

Monday Miscellany

Because I am currently in the process of leaving my heart in San Francisco, this week’s Monday Miscellany is short. 10 of the Best Independent Bookstores Across the U.S. Barnes & Noble will always be there with a stack of bestsellers, and Half Price Books is likely to have the novel you’re looking for in […]

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Daniel Keyes, a Novelist of the Mind, Dies at 86 – NYTimes.com

Daniel Keyes, the author of “Flowers for Algernon,” the story of a man with an I.Q. of 68 who temporarily becomes a genius after surgery — a book that inspired the film “Charly,” starring Cliff Robertson — died on Sunday at his home in South Florida.  He was 86. via Daniel Keyes, a Novelist of

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Monday Miscellany

Anthony Burgess on James Joyce: the lost introduction Written in 1986 as the introduction to a Dolmen Press edition of ‘Dubliners’ illustrated by Louis le Brocquy, but never used, this brilliant essay, recently found among the papers of the author, who died in 1993, appears here for the first time Happy Bloomsday! (June 16, the

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Monday Miscellany

THE STARS OF THESE YOUNG ADULT BOOKS SWEAR, STRUGGLE, AND GENERALLY ACT LIKE REAL TEENS In the new novel Aspen by Rebekah Crane, the teenage title character is an awkward, artsy kid who gets into a car accident that kills the most popular girl at school. The book traces the bizarre fallout in her Boulder,

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Monday Miscellany

Death of Maya Angelou The biggest story of the literary world this past week has been the death of Maya Angelou at age 86. The coverage has been extensive, but here are a few stories I’ve chosen as providing a good overview of her influence and significance: Maya Angelou: The essential reading list From USA

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Monday Miscellany

When the Water’s Too Cold, Something Else to Dive Into: A Critic’s Survey of Summer Books As for this summer’s brand-new reading, if there’s one overriding motif, it’s this: the crazier, the better. Here’s a whole long list of recommended summer reading. Norman Mailer’s A Fire on the Moon: a giant leap for reportage On the

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Monday Miscellany

Gillian Flynn: By the Book In this interview with The New York Times, the author of the wildly successful thriller Gone Girl reveals what books she’s currently reading, who is her all-time favorite novelist, what makes a great thriller, and how she’s faring with the self-imposed project of reading every Pulitzer Prize-winning novel in chronological order.

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Mary Stewart, British Writer Who Spanned Genres, Dies at 97 – NYTimes.com

Mary Stewart, British Writer Who Spanned Genres, Dies at 97 – NYTimes.com. Mary Stewart, the British author of romantic thrillers who jumped genres in her 50s to create the internationally best-selling trilogy of Merlin books, reimagining the Arthurian legend from a sorcerer’s point of view, died on May 9 at her home in the village

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