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 covers: The Pigman by Paul Zindel, I Am the Cheese by Robert Cormier, The Chocolate War by Robert Cormier, The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie by Alan Bradley, The Help by Kathryn Stockett, The Violin Conspiracy by Brendan Slocumb, A Conspiracy of Paper by David Liss

6 Degrees of Separation

This month’s assignment is to start with the book that we ended with last month. That was The Pig Man by Paul Zindel, which I described as a “seminal work in the movement to portray teenagers and their lives realistically (well before the designation young adult literature came into use).” first degree Another author who […]

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Stack of 5 books lying horizontally: The Woman in the Library by Sulari Gentill, Delphi by Clare Pollard, The Violin Conspiracy by Brendan Slocumb, Girl Waits with Gun by Amy Stewart, Fellowship Point by Alice Elliott Dark

When All Your Library Holds Come in Simultaneously

My plan was to make September my month of rereading, but I’ll have to adjust my schedule. I don’t think I’ve ever before hit a jackpot like this one. And those two chunks at the bottom of the pile weigh in at 400 + 575 pages.

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feature: Life Stories in Literature

#TopTenTuesday   Multigenerational Family Dramas 

Today’s assigned topic is a freebie related to school. But I’ve decided to go off on a tangent that will help me set up my next reading project. And home is at the heart of much of the fiction that I most like to read. Novels that treat both the joys and the sorrows that

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Last Week's Links

Literary Links

Good Company: Depictions of Older Women in Literature Jane Campbell has some reading recommendations: For some time, I have been relishing literature that offers wonderfully varying depictions of old women. They are good company. These are pieces that expose the cruelty inflicted on older women and that impress me with their capacity to pursue the

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stack of books and open notebook. Label: Quotation

The Power of Fiction

“fiction is not only one of the great escapes from the “real world” but also one of the great reflections of it. A good novel can contextualize a moment in history and bring us to understand or accept it with more clarity. Reading can even be a humbling experience, allowing us to discover new perspectives

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stack of 3 books plus open book with pen. Title: Top Ten Tuesday

#TopTenTuesday   Completed Series I Wish Had More Books

Related Post: Authors/Series I Stopped Reading–For Whatever Reason Kinsey Millhone series by Sue Grafton Also known as the alphabet series. Sue Grafton began her career writing screenplays. But she had always been fascinated by mysteries. Between 1982 and 2017 she published 25 novels featuring private investigator Kinsey Millhone, one of the first women investigators to

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Last Week's Links

Literary Links

Is Publishing About Art or Commerce? “The antitrust trial to block the merger of Penguin Random House and Simon & Schuster has riveted the industry—and raised larger questions about the business of books.” If, like me, you’re having trouble keeping up with the trial to prevent the merger of two major publishers, here’s a good

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Banner: Bookstore Romance Day. Join us 8/20/22.

Bookstore Romance Day

Bookstore Romance Day Bets on the H.E.A. (Happily Ever After) Created in 2019, the aim of Bookstore Romance Day is to bring indie bookstores and the romance community together for a day of celebration. 

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stack of 3 books plus open book with pen. Title: Top Ten Tuesday

#TopTenTuesday   Books I Love That Were Written Over Ten Years Ago

I had such a hard time whittling down this list that I’ve added an honorable mention section at the end. The numbers on this list are not ranks, just a way of keeping count. 1. The Blind Assassin (2000) by Margaret Atwood (scroll down the linked page) 2. Where Are the Children? (1975) by Mary

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Last Week's Links

Literary Links

What We Gain from a Good Bookstore “It’s a place whose real boundaries and character are much more than its physical dimensions.” “You may have heard that we’re experiencing a renaissance of the independent bookstore, but the situation is far from rosy,” writes Max Norman in this piece about how independent bookstores enhance communities. Category:

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