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.

Going for Literary Olympic Gold

Just in time for tonight’s opening cermonies of the 2012 Olympics, USA Today offers Literary gold for Olympic readers. Here are book recommendations for the following groups of people: armchair athletes the statistically minded those seeking inspiration armchair tourists those seeking a post-Olympics prince young fans There are books for all ages here. Publisher Simon […]

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Best-Ever Teen Novels? Vote For Your Favorites : NPR

Best-Ever Teen Novels? Vote For Your Favorites : NPR. NPR asks for your help in choosing the best YA novels from their list of 235. I am not up enough on YA lit to participate ethically, but I’d be interested to hear in the coments which 10 you pick.

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Free Samples of the 2012 Man Booker Prize Longlist – GalleyCat

Free Samples of the 2012 Man Booker Prize Longlist – GalleyCat The longlist for the 2012 Man Booker Prize has been revealed, a list that includes four debut novelists. We’ve researched these 12 finalists, finding free samples of these books scattered across the world–a number of titles aren’t even available in the U.S. yet. More

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Monday Miscellany

Jane Austen’s Northanger Abbey to be reworked by Val McDermid I haven’t been this literarily excited in a long, long time. One of my favorite authors, Val McDermid, has been chosen to update Jane Austen’s least well known novel, Northanger Abbey, for a modern audience: Northanger Abbey is the story of the gothic novel-obsessed 17-year-old

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Featured Review: “The Black Echo”

Featured Review: The Black Echo In honor of Michael Connelly’s birthday, here’s a review of The Black Echo, that book that introduces Connelly’s franchise series character LAPD detective Harry Bosch.

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book review

“Mrs. Robinson’s Disgrace” by Kate Summerscale

Summerscale, Kate. Mrs. Robinson’s Disgrace: The Private Diary of a Victorian LadyBloomsbury, 2012Hardcover, 303 pages ISBN 978-1-608-19913-6 Recommended Kate Summerscale’s book showcases the precarious position of women in Victorian England. When Isabella Hamilton Walker married Henry Robinson in 1844, she was a 31-year-old widow with a young son. Her first husband had willed his estate to

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Monday Miscellany

The Best Stephen King Book: Readers’ Picks Readers have spoken. The Stand won in a landslide as Stephen King’s most popular novel. If your King favorite is something else, check the pie chart here to see how it stacked up. New & Forthcoming: The Algonquin Reader Download Algonquin Books’ big list of books due out

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Quotation of the Day

“Everything I write is about the stories people tell themselves about themselves to make life more bearable, which basically is what all people do all the time.” — mystery novelist Laura Lippman Source: ‘Most Dangerous Thing’ a tale of summertime & secrets kept

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