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.

Pride Flag from Bookish

Bookish and Proud: A Literary Pride Month Flag

The editors at Bookish have created a literary flag in honor of Pride Month. Check out the article to see a larger version of the flag and the list of nearly 350 book covers used to create it: “Each book used in this collage is either written by an author or features a character who […]

Bookish and Proud: A Literary Pride Month Flag Read More »

6 Degrees of Separation: From “Murmur” to “Eat, Pray, Love”

Here’s my second entry in Kate’s 6 Degrees of Separation Meme from her blog, Books Are My Favourite and Best. Here’s how it works: Books can be linked in obvious ways – for example, books by the same authors, from the same era or genre, or books with similar themes or settings. Or, you may

6 Degrees of Separation: From “Murmur” to “Eat, Pray, Love” Read More »

Books I Read in May

May proved to be a success. I hit my unofficial monthly quota of books completed (5), including one for my classics club list. Better yet, three of the five reads get the recommended rating. Sometimes I Lie by Alice Feeney text © 2017   Macmillan Audio, 2018   Narrated by: Stephanie Racine Here’s how the

Books I Read in May Read More »

The Classics Club

CC Spin: Review, “The Iceman Cometh” by Eugene O’Neill

Eugene O’Neill (1888-1953) O’Neill, nevertheless, remains all but unique in his persistent and increasingly more nearly exclusive attempt to deal with modern life in such a way as to achieve the effect of classic tragedy. . . . Certainly no other significant playwright has so persisted in the conviction that, if a drama is to

CC Spin: Review, “The Iceman Cometh” by Eugene O’Neill Read More »

Quotation: Elena Ferrante: Storytelling as Power

There is one form of power that has fascinated me ever since I was a girl, even though it has been widely colonized by men: the power of storytelling. Telling stories really is a kind of power, and not an insignificant one. Stories give shape to experience, sometimes by accommodating traditional literary forms, sometimes by

Quotation: Elena Ferrante: Storytelling as Power Read More »

girl reading

15 Novels: Learning History through Reading Fiction

Novels Mentioned The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini, translated by Berliani M. Nugrahani The Light Between Oceans by M.L. Stedman My Brilliant Friend (and 3 companion novels) by by Elena Ferrante, translated by Ann Goldstein The Three-Body Problem by Liu Cixin, translated by Ken Liu Cold Mountain by Charles Frazier The Book Thief by Markus

15 Novels: Learning History through Reading Fiction Read More »

Quotation: Susan Sontag Was a Monster

“She took things too seriously. She was difficult and unyielding. That’s why Susan Sontag’s work matters so much even now.” This is how I see her monstrosity: residing not in whether she was or was not likeable, but in her relentlessness, and her refusal to pander. The word ‘monster’ comes from the Latin monere, to

Quotation: Susan Sontag Was a Monster Read More »

Close Reading: A Pivotal Scene in “The Silent Patient”

When I posted about The Silent Patient by Alex Michaelides, I wondered how many people actually engage with the text of mysteries or thrillers instead of just skimming to find out how the story ends. Michaelides leads the reader along so scintillatingly that a large part of the pleasure of reading this novel lies in

Close Reading: A Pivotal Scene in “The Silent Patient” Read More »

6 Degrees of Separation: From “The Dry” to “Oliver Twist”

While exploring other book blogs after I came home from my vacation, I discovered the 6 DEGREES OF SEPARATION MEME. I was immediately drawn to it because I like the way it makes me think about how the books I read may be related. Here, from the meme description page, is how it works: Books

6 Degrees of Separation: From “The Dry” to “Oliver Twist” Read More »

Worst Fears Realized: Results of “Thirteen Reasons Why”

I take no pleasure in reporting this. Back in 2017 I read Jay Asher’s book Thirteen Reasons Why in preparation for the Netflix series. I wrote about the mixed messages I found in the book, which disturbed me so much that I refused to watch the Netflix production, in Thoughts on “Thirteen Reasons Why.”  Now

Worst Fears Realized: Results of “Thirteen Reasons Why” Read More »

Scroll to Top