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.

PW Staff: The Best Books We’ve Read This Year « PWxyz

PW Staff: The Best Books We’ve Read This Year « PWxyz PW has already named its Best Books 0f 2011, but since readers rarely get to see the faces behind the scenes, we thought we’d let our staff share the best book they read in 2011, because deep down, we’re all just book nerds. Here […]

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The overlooked sci-fi of 2011 – Salon.com

The overlooked sci-fi of 2011 – Salon.com When compiling best-of lists at the end of the year, it’s easy to overlook certain classes of deserving books. In a year filled with massive, highly publicized releases — a new Neal Stephenson, a Vernor Vinge sequel awaited for twenty years — wonderful books with less flash can

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book review

“Seabiscuit” by Laura Hillenbrand

Hillenbrand, Laura. Seabiscuit: An American Legend Ballantine Books, 2001Trade paperback, 399 pagesISBN 0-449-00561-5 Recommended In Seabiscuit Laura Hillenbrand tells the classic American story of the underdog. A mud-colored horse with a crooked leg and not much ambition, Seabiscuit became the icon of rags-to-riches fame and accomplishment for an American population beaten down by years of the

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Monday Miscellany

How the literary female detective has changed In The Christian Science Monitor Randy Dotinga says of Scottish mystery writer Denise Mina: [she] has become one of the finest mystery writers of the 21st century. Her deeply perceptive grasp on the inner lives of crooks, cops, journalists, and their families has allowed her books to transcend

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Crime Fiction Lover | Top Books of 2011

Crime Fiction Lover | Category Archive | Features. I love a good mystery. If you do too, you’ll want to take a look at the top 5 mysteries as chosen by each of 4 reviewers for Crime Fiction Lover.

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Best of 2011: 3 More Lists

Yes, the lists just keep coming. Here are 3 more from NPR: Fired Up: The Year’s Best Science Fiction, Fantasy Here are five of the best, most interesting, most mutated science fiction and fantasy novels published this year. A Dance with Dragons, George R. R. Martin The Girl Who Circumnavigated Fairyland in a Ship of

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Steve Jobs Biography and Other Hot Titles Bookstore Lures

Steve Jobs Biography and Other Hot Titles Bookstore Lures – NYTimes.com the initial weeks of Christmas shopping, a boom time for the book business, have yielded surprisingly strong sales for many bookstores, which report that they have been lifted by an unusually vibrant selection; customers who seem undeterred by pricier titles; and new business from

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Books | Tops in crime fiction: Best mysteries of 2011

Books | Tops in crime fiction: Best mysteries of 2011 | Seattle Times Newspaper. The top 10, according to Adam Woog.

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32 of the year’s best books | Seattle Times

Books | 32 of the year’s best books | Seattle Times Newspaper Seattle Times book editor Mary Ann Gwinn is a bit of a rebel when it comes to these annual book lists. Here’s how she introduces this one:   Before I share The Seattle Times list of 2011’s most worthy books, I’m going to

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Monday Miscellany

If your life is anything like mine, you’re swamped right about now with holiday preparations and festivities. This week’s installment of Monday Miscellany, therefore, will be mercifully short. An Introduction to Psych You Up. Literally. Maria Konnikova is a woman after my own heart. At Scientific American she has just introduced her new column, Literally

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