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.

book review

“Forgive for Good” by Fred Luskin

Luskin, Fred. Forgive for GoodSan Francisco: HarperCollins, 2002Trade paperback, 240 pagesISBN 0-06-251721-X Highly Recommended This book changed my life. Extensive research has shown that forgiveness is good for us, both physically and emotionally. We can understand this intellectually. But, as most of us also know, it’s much harder to find forgiveness in our hearts. I […]

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“An Arsonist’s Guide to Writers’ Homes in New England” by Brock Clarke

Clarke, Brock. An Arsonist’s Guide to Writers’ Homes in New England: A Novel Chapel Hill: Algonquin, 2007  ISBN 978-1-56512-551-3  Random House Audio, narrated by Daniel Passer This quirky novel is about stories–the stories we tell about our lives and about ourselves, and the stories we tell to others and to ourselves. The story’s narrator is

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“The Pillars of the Earth” by Ken Follett

Follett, Ken. The Pillars of the Earth   New York: Morrow, 1989  Penguin Audiobooks, narrated by John Lee Highly recommended “It’s a truism of the book business that the best advertising is the kind you can’t buy: the personal recommendation of one reader to another,” says Ken Follett in the preface to the recently rereleased

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The Best Books I Read in 2006

Listed alphabetically by author Atkinson, Kate. Case Histories Auster, Paul. Oracle Night Auster, Paul. The Book of Illusions Harwood, John. The Ghost Writer Lipton, Bruce. The Biology of Belief Phillips, Arthur. The Egyptologist Picoult, Jodi. Plain Truth Setterfield, Diane. The Thirteenth Tale Walls, Jeannette. The Glass Castle

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The Best Books I Read in 2005

Listed alphabetically by author Atwood, Margaret. Oryx and Crake Frankl, Viktor E. Man’s Search for Meaning Gross, Joel. The Lives of Rachel Hosseini, Khaled. The Kite Runner Krakauer, Jon. Under the Banner of Heaven Shriver, Lionel. We Need to Talk about Kevin Tartt, Donna. The Secret History Turow, Scott. Ordinary Heroes Wharton, Edith. The House

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The Best Books I Read in 2004

Listed alphabetically by author Ehrenreich, Barbara. Nickel and Dimed Eugenides, Jeffrey. Middlesex Franzen, Jonathan. The Corrections Goodman, Carol. The Seduction of Water Gross, Joel. The Books of Rachel Haddon, Mark. The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time Haruf, Kent. Eventide Hoffman, Alice. Blue Diary Larson, Erik. The Devil in the White City Niffenegger,

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book review

“3000 Degrees” by Sean Flynn

Flynn, Sean. 3000 Degrees Warner, 2002Hardcover, 245 pagesISBN 0-446-52831-5 Recommended On December 3, 1999, six firemen died fighting a fire in an abandoned storage warehouse in Worcester, Massachusetts. 3000 Degrees tells the story of that fire, of the six who died and their families, and of several Worcester firefighters who survived that night. Like Sebastian Junger

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“The Lovely Bones” by Alice Sebold

Sebold, Alice. The Lovely Bones (2002)   Little, Brown, 328 pages, $21.95 hardcover   ISBN 0-316-66634-3 “My name was Salmon, like the fish; first name, Susie. I was fourteen when I was murdered on December 6, 1973” (p. 5). So begins Susie’s story, her narrative of watching from heaven as her family and friends go

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book review

“The Midnight Disease” by Alice W. Flaherty

Flaherty, Alice W. The Midnight Disease Houghton Mifflin, 2004Hardcover, 307 pagesISBN 0-618-23065-3 Trained as a scientist, neurologist Alice W. Flaherty always enjoyed writing. But after the birth and death of premature twin boys, she had a mental breakdown that made her write nearly constantly, a condition known as hypergraphia. She took medication and was hospitalized for

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“Q” Is for Quarry by Sue Grafton

Grafton, Sue. “Q” Is for Quarry (2002)Putnam, 385 pages, $26.95 hardcover  ISBN 0-399-14915-5            After her worst outing yet (“P” is for poor), Kinsey is back, this time helping two aging police detectives take another crack at a cold case—a still unsolved murder from 18 years earlier. Found with her hands

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