What are the novels that you remember most fondly, even long after you’ve read them? Here are five that have stuck with me over the years. 1. Broken for You by Stephanie Kallos Margaret Hughes, age 75, has just learned that she has a brain tumor. Margaret lives alone in a huge mansion in the […]
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My husband and I are getting ready to leave on a one-month vacation. I’ve already decided what clothes and accessories to pack, but I’m stressing out about what reading to bring along. I’m talking about those big, frothy stories that you can dive into on a long plane trip or while sunning on a ship’s
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Tips for Writers and Readers Last night I dreamed I went to Manderley again. —Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier Read that sentence, one of the most famous first sentences in literature, aloud. Notice its cadence. The rhythm lulls you toward sleepiness—appropriate for a dream. And the rest of the book hinges on that final word,
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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
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
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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.
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How Stephen King Made Pop Culture Weird If you’ve ever been to Austin, TX, you’ve seen the bumper stickers: “Keep Austin Weird.” Even my new hometown of Tacoma, WA, likes to call itself weird, as does Portland, OR, in the photo above. Lincoln Michel explains that these are not isolated occurrences: If you haven’t heard,
As Far As Your Brain Is Concerned, Audiobooks Are Not ‘Cheating’ I love audiobooks; they enable me to read while plodding along on the treadmill or doing chores around the house. I’ve always thought that listening to a book instead of reading it is not cheating as long as I listen to the unabridged version.
Fall is the time for “big books,” whatever the page length, and some of the top fiction authors from around the world have new works coming, including Ian McEwan, Zadie Smith, Margaret Atwood, T. Coraghessan Boyle, Rabih Alameddine, Emma Donoghue, Jonathan Safran Foer and Michael Chabon. Ann Patchett, owner of Parnassus Books in Nashville, Tennessee,
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It’s time to report back on The Classics Spin #13, as explained in my post. 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
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