Books That “Play Ball!”

Tonight is Major League Baseball’s All-Star Game here in the U. S. Why not celebrate by reading a book about the national pastime? Here are some suggestions, both fiction and nonfiction.   Fiction Bang the Drum Slowly by Mark Harris The Natural by Bernard Malamud The Brothers K by David James Duncan The Great American […]

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Monday Miscellany

16 Fiction Book Characters’ Myers-Briggs Personality Types The Myers-Briggs Type Indicator is a psychological categorization tool based on the theories of Carl Jung. If you don’t know your type, this page includes links for finding out more about how this assessment works and what the results mean. I’m an INFP myself, a group that includes

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Ernest Borgnine, Tough but Tender Actor, Is Dead at 95

Ernest Borgnine, Tough but Tender Actor, Is Dead at 95 – NYTimes.com Ernest Borgnine, the rough-hewn actor who seemed destined for tough-guy characters but won an Academy Award for embodying the gentlest of souls, a lonely Bronx butcher, in the 1955 film “Marty,” died Sunday in Los Angeles. He was 95.  

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‘A Farewell to Arms’ With Hemingway’s Alternate Endings – NYTimes.com

A Farewell to Arms’ With Hemingway’s Alternate Endings – NYTimes.com A new edition of “A Farewell to Arms,” which was originally published in 1929, will be released next week, including all the alternate endings, along with early drafts of other passages in the book. The new edition is the result of an agreement between Hemingway’s

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Featured Review: “Room” by Emma Donoghue

Featured Review: Room by Emma Donoghue In a writer’s group I participate in someone recently asked for recommendations of novels to look at as examples in creating the voice of a child narrator. I’ve always been interested in books with child narrators because I think one of the hardest jobs writers can set for themselves

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Celebrate the 4th of July with Books

Happy July 4th to everyone in the U. S. Although the record heat and drought have nixed most of the fireworks displays here in the midwest, you can still celebrate with an all-American book. Here are a couple of lists to choose from: The 100 Greatest American Novels, 1891-1991, from BookRiot 88 books that shaped

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The Millions : Most Anticipated: The Great Second-Half 2012 Book Preview

The Millions : Most Anticipated: The Great Second-Half 2012 Book Preview. You’ll definitely want to check out this list to get yourself ready for fall and winter reading. There are books by some big-name authors here, including J. K. Rowling (yes! Her novel is due in September), Zadie Smith, Michael Chabon, Martin Amis, Junot Diaz,

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Monday Miscellany

Here are a few things that caught my eye over the past week. What Makes Bad Writing From Cynthia Crossen in the Wall Street Journal Invitation to World Literature From Gilgamesh to Gogol, the world has been enriched by the writings of gifted people from a wide range of cultural traditions and regions of the

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“Beneath the Bleeding” by Val McDermid

McDermid, Val. Beneath the Bleeding (2007)   Audiobook by Recorded Books (2010), narrated by Gerard Doyle This book opens with Dr. Tony Hill in his office late one night at the psychiatric facility where he works. When one of the most violent patients stages an escape, Hill manages to distract him long enough to allow

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