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.

Last Week's Links

Last Week’s Links

Dystopian dreams: how feminist science fiction predicted the future Innovative narrative game Dialogue: A Writer’s Story out now Studio co-founder and designer of Dialogue, Dustin Connor, added: “Conversation can be different depending on the context and participants, and we wanted to craft different visuals and mechanics for different conversations to reflect that. Some are timed […]

Last Week’s Links Read More »

Last Week's Links

What I’ve Been Reading

What Makes a Person: The Seven Layers of Identity in Literature and Life Why ‘The Outsiders’ Lives On: A Teenage Novel Turns 50 A FEW WORDS ABOUT THAT TEN-MILLION-DOLLAR SERIAL COMMA Critical thinking instruction in humanities reduces belief in pseudoscience New Crop of Young Adult Novels Explores Race and Police Brutality  

What I’ve Been Reading Read More »

Last Week's Links

My Recent Browsing History

Here are some of the recent articles that have caught my eye. Is the human brain hardwired to appreciate poetry? George Saunders: what writers really do when they write Storyhealing Literature can enthuse medicine, and medicine can inspire literature. They are complementary treatments for being human. The Stubborn Optimist Following the persevering example of the

My Recent Browsing History Read More »

The idea of time travel has fascinated artists, scientists, and historians for centuries. Authors have used the possibility of traveling through time to explore some of the big questions of human existence. Here are five examples. Time and Again by Jack Finney When a secret government organization recruits advertising artist Si Morley for its time

Read More »

Books I Read in February

  Lillian Boxfish Takes a Walk by Kathleen Rooney Rooney, Kathleen. Lillian Boxfish Takes a Walk St. Martin’s Press, 2017 ISBN 978–1–250–11332–0 I am old and all I have left is time. I don’t mean time to live; I mean free time. Time to fill. Time to kill until time kills me. I walk and

Books I Read in February Read More »

5 Examples of Why I Like Mysteries

I love reading mysteries because a well written mystery delves deeply into the depths of the human heart and psyche. I’m in partial agreement with Beth O’Brien, who says: For me, the mystery books to read are personal. I want to know what happens to those directly affected. The family, the friends, the victims themselves.

5 Examples of Why I Like Mysteries Read More »

Review: “Cold Sassy Tree”

Burns, Olive Ann. Cold Sassy Tree Dell, 1984; rpt. 1994 ISBN: 0–385–31258-X On July 5, 1906, Grandpa Blakeslee instructs his grandson, 14-year-old Will Tweedy, to summon relatives to a family meeting. Grandpa then informs the family that he intends to marry Miss Love Simpson. The announcement causes a scandal in the town of Cold Sassy,

Review: “Cold Sassy Tree” Read More »

Books I Read in January

January was my month for reading memoirs, according to my reading plan for 2017. I only read two, but both, which had been on my TBR shelf for quite a while, were very good. Macdonald, Helen. H Is for Hawk Grove Press, 2014 ISBN: 978–0–8021–2341–1 Highly Recommended When Helen Macdonald’s father died unexpectedly, she was

Books I Read in January Read More »

11 Memoirs by 20th-Century American Radicals | Literary Hub

With the Trump era now a week old and storm clouds gathering, many decent, salt-of-the-earth Americans not previously given to shows of popular unrest, never mind civil disobedience or outright vio… Source: 11 Memoirs by 20th-Century American Radicals | Literary Hub

11 Memoirs by 20th-Century American Radicals | Literary Hub Read More »

25 Great Books by Refugees in America – The New York Times

From Bertolt Brecht to Vu Tran, a sampling of major contributions to American literature by those who were forced to leave their own countries. Source: 25 Great Books by Refugees in America – The New York Times

25 Great Books by Refugees in America – The New York Times Read More »

Scroll to Top