When I first began this site, my reviews were limited to DC books, authors, bookstores, and events. Though I’ve since expanded my reviews to cover all of my interests, you never forget your first love. And so, I give you my top ten list of DC authors!
Title: What Language Is: And What It Isn’t and What It Could Be Author: John McWhorter ISBN: 9781592406258 Pages: 240 Release date: […]
Short and sweet: Northwest Corner picks up twelve years after Reservation Road ended.
Theme song: “How to Save a Life” by the Fray (See “random pop culture references” below.)
Recommended for: Baseball fans who appreciate the lasting effects of latent violence.
Dwight Arno served his time in prison for not reporting his fatal accident with Josh Learner, and he is now living quietly in California. But in waiting to turn himself in, did he miss his shot at redemption? Will the mistakes he’s made continue to haunt him?
Last month, I hosted a giveaway of Stefan Merrill Block’s Storm at the Door and Ellen Feldman’s Next to Love. They are both excellent books that examine post-World War II relationships in very different ways. And the winner is…. Margaret! Congratulations! Stay tuned for my next giveaway, to be announced on Wednesday!
I started the month of strong in terms of books read, but Sapphire’s The Kid dragged on and George R.R. Martin’s A Dance with Dragons tops 1,000 pages–I’m about halfway done with it.
This week, I’m highlighting my top books that address ten difficult social, cultural, and emotional issues. I’m sure I could think of many more books if I tried–“tough topics” are kind of my thing.
This week, I’m supposed to be highlighting the top ten books that I believe should be required reading for teens. But I think that making something required makes it seem like work, and as a result many kids don’t understand why a required book is so good. So instead, I want to focus upon books I think should be introduced to kids that usually aren’t.
Babe, Millie, and Grace have been friends for as long as they can remember. They have their differences—pugnacious Babe grew up in the poor section of town and never met with approval from Grace’s upper-class mother, while sweet Millie dealt with the loss of her parents at a young age. But now, as World War II summons their husbands and boyfriends, the women must come to terms with the reality of an America at war, where romance and joy are replaced with grief and loss and then with strength and wisdom.
This week, I’m highlighting the top ten authors (living or dead) I would love to meet. (The original list was “authors I would DIE to meet,” but that sounded a little extreme to me; I’m a book nerd, but I couldn’t think of a single author that I’d die to meet. Does this mean I need to quit reviewing?)
Long before Stefan Merrill Block was born, the marriage between his grandparents, Frederick and Katharine Merrill, was pushed to the breaking point. Frederick’s alcohol abuse and infidelity had wounded Katharine for years, but his manic depression took him too far one night. Katharine convinced the police to take him to a renowned mental hospital in Massachusetts instead of placing him under arrest.
I’ve been a big fan of Shelf Awareness, a daily e-newsletter, for years. It has the best book news, reviews, and interviews, mixing humor with serious questions about the future of books and reading. As I’ve mentioned before, Bethanne Patrick, the newsletter’s editor, also began #FridayReads, the weekly roundup of what everyone is reading on Twitter and Facebook. They’ve just launched “Shelf Awareness: Enlightenment for Readers,” and I can’t get enough of it! Right now they’re running a contest for new subscribers: […]
Who are your favorite literary rebels?
Melody Schreiber 