Thanks to Madame Writer, on whose blog I found this tag. (She in turn traced the tag back to here.) I undertook this challenge because I’m in favor of anything that makes me stop and think about the books that I own, read or unread. 1. Find an author name or title with a Z […]
Bookshelf Scavenger Hunt Tag Read More »
Tash Aw in Conversation with Chia-Chia Lin Chinese Malaysian novelist Tash Aw discusses his latest novel, We, the Survivors, and the relationship between literature and the immigrant experience. Of course there are always local details that make more sense to some. But when a very specific story of racism is committed to paper, it acquires
It’s time for another Classics Club Spin: Spin #21. Here’s how it works: I am to post a list of 20 titles of books as yet unread on my classics club list by next Monday, September 23rd. On that date the Classics Club will post a number. I then have until October 31st to read
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A Different Look at YA Novels Sonia Patel, a child and adolescent psychiatrist who has written three YA novels, argues that “YA fiction needs to expand its boundaries beyond safe, popular stories that only affirm and praise different cultures. It needs to push past the expectation that all diverse teens can conquer adversity in a
Commentary on one of my all-time favorite Big Books: The Blind Assassin (2000) is a multilayered and deftly plotted work of autobiographical and historical fiction set in 20th-century Canada. In just the first few pages, layers of family history and mystery unfurl by way of a trifecta of memoir flashback, newspaper clippings and novel-within-a-novel narratives.
On Margaret Atwood’s “The Blind Assassin” Read More »
WHEN MURDER COMES HOME Psychologist J.L. Doucette also writes mystery novels. When a body was found buried in the back yard of a house formerly owned by her grandmother, Doucette began to “question my choice of genre as if by writing about murder I was somehow complicit in bringing violence into the world.” The 50
Here’s my 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 choose to
6 Degrees of Separation: From “A Gentleman in Moscow” to “The Chatham School Affair” Read More »
Feature image by Hermann Schmider from Pixabay Recently my husband and I traveled back to our neighboring hometowns for a family funeral. We’d been back for visits periodically, of course, but we haven’t lived there for 50 years. Each time we visit, I feel a distinct sense of dislocation. The adage “you can’t go home
5 “You Can’t Go Home Again” Novels Read More »
The Edgar Awards Revisited: The Suspect by L. R. Wright (Best Novel; 1986) The Edgar Awards Revisited, a series in Criminal Element, looks back at award winners not only in their own right, as outstanding novels, but as representative of the their time. In fact, looking back on 1986, The Suspect may have been the
