Happy July 4th to everyone in the U. S. Although the record heat and drought have nixed most of the fireworks displays here in the midwest, you can still celebrate with an all-American book. Here are a couple of lists to choose from: The 100 Greatest American Novels, 1891-1991, from BookRiot 88 books that shaped […]
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The Millions : Most Anticipated: The Great Second-Half 2012 Book Preview. You’ll definitely want to check out this list to get yourself ready for fall and winter reading. There are books by some big-name authors here, including J. K. Rowling (yes! Her novel is due in September), Zadie Smith, Michael Chabon, Martin Amis, Junot Diaz,
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Here are a few things that caught my eye over the past week. What Makes Bad Writing From Cynthia Crossen in the Wall Street Journal Invitation to World Literature From Gilgamesh to Gogol, the world has been enriched by the writings of gifted people from a wide range of cultural traditions and regions of the
McDermid, Val. Beneath the Bleeding (2007) Audiobook by Recorded Books (2010), narrated by Gerard Doyle This book opens with Dr. Tony Hill in his office late one night at the psychiatric facility where he works. When one of the most violent patients stages an escape, Hill manages to distract him long enough to allow
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iPhone 5th anniversary: How I accidentally became an iPhone user | TUAW – The Unofficial Apple Weblog. This post on The Unofficial Apple Weblog reminds me where I was 5 years ago today: standing in line outside a local AT&T store hoping to be one of the lucky ones to snag one of the store’s
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I finally got around to watching the film Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close (2012), based on Jonathan Safran Foer’s novel of the same title. Our book group read the novel several years ago and loved it, so I’ve been looking forward to seeing the film adaptation. The story involves 10-year-old Oskar Schell, whose father died
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McDermid, Val. The Mermaids Singing (1995) Audiobook by Dreamscape Media (2011), narrated by Graham Roberts Note: This novel contains graphic descriptions of torture and sexual violence. The bodies of four men, brutally tortured and murdered, have been found in the fictional town of Bradfield, England. Police have no leads in the case and have
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LeBron James, open book The NBA championship, recently won by the Miami Heat, was big news in the sports world. But a secondary story was the focus on Heat star LeBron James, who focused before games by reading. Yes, reading—all kinds of books, fiction and nonfiction. And lots of sports reporters, including ESPN’s Michael Wilbon here,
NEA Arts Magazine The National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) has published their fine quarterly magazine since 2004. This site provides access to the NEA Arts Magazine, a great resource for anyone with an interest in the cultural milieu of the United States. Visitors can read the entire magazine as a pdf, or they can
A 20th century interlude: Happy Bloomsday! « Shakespeare In Action In honor of the day, here’s an explanation and meditative reflection that’s well worth reading. It concludes: Ulysses is a novel that celebrates home even as Leopold Bloom is estranged from it. Bloomsday is a day to celebrate Dublin if you are there, but home
