You’ve already read Nathaniel Philbrick’s In the Heart of the Sea: The Tragedy of the Whale Ship Essex, you’re this-close to making plans to see the film (starring Chris Hemsworth, Cillian Murphy and Ben Whishaw), and the whole thing has provoked a deeper curiosity about the whaling industry, perhaps, or maybe you’d like to read…
The Hunter Killers: The Extraordinary Story of the First Wild Weasels, the Band of Maverick Aviators Who Flew the Most Dangerous Missions of the Vietnam War – Dan Hampton The Hunter Killers‘ prologue reads a bit like a combined manufacturer’s manual for a plethora of fighter aircraft, radar equipment and surface-to-air missiles. This pages-long deluge…
One Soldier’s War is the memoir of Babchenko’s service as an infantryman in the Russian army during the First and Second Chechen Wars in the 1990s. Both these wars grew out of attempts by Chechnya to break away from the Russian Federation. Fresh out of college, Babchenko was drafted into the army and sent to…
Charlotte recommends: Waking Up White by Debby Irving; and Under the Same Sky by Joseph Kim and Stephan Talty.
Every once in a while we come across a book that we think our patrons will just love. We buy it for the library and then it sets on the shelf and sets on the shelf. This series is a way for use to promote under appreciated books we think you might love.
Mezrich’s Once Upon a Time in Russia: The Rise of the Oligarchs is a hard book to categorize which in my mind says it’ll will appeal to a wide variety of people. This is a book that could be read as a history of Russia in the 1990s and early 2000s It could be read as true crime literature. It also has the machinations of big business, the intrigues of government and the shadowy feel of espionage. All of this is set against the background of Russia after the collapse of Communism.
I think Vanity Fair sums up the book pretty well: “It’s an unexpectedly serious work about the challenges and pitfalls of looking for love in the Digital Age via Match.com, OkCupid, Tinder, Twitter, Facebook — the whole techno shebang…”
Immerse yourself in the world of letters–real and imagined.
Recommended by Jen |
“Two decades after the end of the Cold War, an average American guy in his twenties helped to bring down a top Russian spy…
Staff review by Rachel | I don’t remember when “feminist” became such a buzz word in the pop culture strata during the last 3-5 years, but I do know that I started noticing it in my vocabulary a lot just last year…
If Marilyn Johnson’s name looks familiar you may, like me, remember her from her first book This Book is Overdue! How Librarians and Cybrarians Can Save Us All. In fact Lives in Ruins: Archaeologists and the Seductive Lure of Human Rubble basically follows the same premiss
Reviewed by Rachel If you’re not a huge fan of either pop culture or history, microhistories can be a tough sell on their own; reading at length about the historical, political, economic, and cultural factors that both contributed to – and also occurred because of – a huge film series like Star Wars is really…
There’s no lie in that subtitle: the birth of the comic book (the storytelling, the art, the characters, the industry, all those egos) is the axis on which Men of Tomorrow turns. The thing is, a whole, beaming-bright universe of American history glommed on for the ride. There be decades in these pages, long years that hosted war and prohibition and depression and hope that ebbed and flowed like the tide. And I loved every minute spent on delving into the details.
If you are like most fans of Hilary Mantel’s Wolf Hall series you’ve been climbing the walls waiting for PBS to release the BBC miniseries (which they’ve been watching in England for months the lucky devils). But there’s a problem you can only watch one episode a week and you’ve already reread Wolf Hall and…
May 7 will be the 100 anniversary of the sinking of the Lusitania (see Chris’s review of Lusitania: Triumph, Tragedy and the End of the Edwardian Age) by German U-20 off the Irish coast. Like a lot of anniversaries of major historical events this one has spawned a lot of books on the subject. Here…
Reviewed by Chris Much like the 100th anniversary of the Titanic in 2012 inundated us with retrospectives and movie rereleases, expect a flood of books on the Lusitania for its centenary coming up in May. You may remember the Lusitania from the footnotes of your high school textbook: a British passenger ship that was torpedoed…
I don’t normally read books with “A Natural History” in the title; for all that I love the natural world and history, I have a hard time getting excited about the life and times of, say, a Western Blue Throated Snow Toad (which I totally made up just now). However, I’ve always liked Cormorants.
So you’ve seen the recently released Kingsman: The Secret Service and have been bitten by the spy craft bug. One: Trust me, you’re not alone. Two: We can help fill the time between now and when you go back to the theater to see the movie again, or between now and when it’s released on DVD, whichver is in keeping with how you roll. The majority of the titles on this list, both fiction and non-fiction, can be found on display in the new book room.
We all have in mind a sense of fairy tale: that story type and what it’s composed of, along with favorite examples. Certain names no doubt spring immediately to mind: Grimm, Anderson, Disney. You’ll encounter those familiar stories, names, and more in Warner’s short history. In the prologue, Warner offers an at-a-glance definition of fairy…
I normally do four events for the Today in History reading list but I just couldn’t choose this time so I did five. Check out a day full of Emperors and presidents, Samurai and various kinds of rebels. We give you one non-fiction and one fictional work to go with each event.
Recently there has been a resurgence in interest in the character of George Smiley with the reboot of Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy. Although Gary Oldman does a credible George Smiley for me he’ll always look like Alec Guinness from the BBC Mini-Series that follows the John le Carre novel very closely. I was thrilled to see Michael Jago’s The Man Who Was George Smiley: The Life of John Bingham
Sons of Liberty priemeres on History Channel on January 25th. Get caught up in the Revolution, and then stop by the library to check out our display of books dedicated to this rabble-rousing lot and other key Revolutionary figures; look for the display just beyond the new book room.
Rachel has been accidentally reading quite a bit of non-fiction in the past couple of months, so here are some thoughts on four newish real-life releases (and one not-so-new at all).
The name William Marshal was not wholly unknown to me going into Asbridge’s The Greatest Knight, but the details of Marshal’s life, those were very sketchy indeed. I’ve only just started the second section of the biography, which opens in 1166, shortly after Marshal had been knighted, but prior to that my notes on his…
Staff suggestions of non-fiction and poetry.
We’ve got some music and musicians and big political events on this day in history. Enjoy a nice reading list with a work of fiction and a work of non-fiction commemorating them.
Linda recommends this true story of Louis Zamperini, a famous runner and survivor of a Japanese concentration camp in WWII.
I was afraid November 12 was going to be all World War I stuff (winding down from Veterans/Armistice day) or Pilgrims (winding up for Thanksgiving). How wrong I was. I had to pick and choose what went in this list.
I was on vacation a couple weeks ago. I went no where and I roamed around the right side of the globe from the comfort of my wing back chair in my living room (coffee and cats were added bonuses). Here’s were I went.
For today’s historical reading list we’ve got inventions, bohemian radicals, naval disasters and more. Wherever possible I’ve tried to do a work of non-fiction and a work of fiction for each event.
Two weeks ago I was also discussing What I’m Reading Now, with that list capped off by Meg Wolitzer’s Belzhar, a young adult novel that tangentially relies on the life and works of Sylvia Plath to support a small handful of the story’s themes. I’ve read Plath’s The Bell Jar, Ariel, and assorted brief articles…
Because you know you have always wanted one. Ok maybe not but if you are into either European, African or Middle Eastern history you should really check them out. They started out as a tribe of Turkish horsemen wandering around in Anatolia. While still basically a nomadic horde (although they were early adopters of artillery)…
As anyone who reads any of my reviews on this blog knows I read a lot of non-fiction (Especially history. See my last review). Even when I read fiction I love it when there is some kind non-fiction connection. This holds true with graphic novels and here are a few for the non-fiction lover that are fictional but still have some historical connection.
Ever looked up the historical events of a particular day just to see what happened? Well I have done that for this lovely September 5 but I’ve added a twist. I’ve included some reading material to go along with some of today’s events. Where ever possible I’ve tried to do a work of non-fiction and a work of fiction for each event.
I’ve been reading a lot of history lately so I decided to take a break and indulge one of my other interests: cooking. Part of the reason Sous Chef: 24 Hours On The Line caught my eye (besides being bright red and having a knife on the cover) was that it is different from your average book on the world of fine dining.
There are a few books you can choose from if you want to know more about the Boer War, but I settled on Martin Meredith’s Diamonds Gold and War. I liked this one because it’s not just about the Boer War itself but takes the reader through the whole 19th century and shows how all those events lead to the war.
August 1, 2014 marks the hundred year anniversary of the out break of World War I. The world wide tragedy that took the lives of millions, wounded and crippled millions more, and forever reshaped society has fascinated and horrified authors for ages. Here is a World War I reading list that attempts to give you…
“Outlander follows the story of Claire Randall, a married combat nurse from 1945 who is mysteriously swept back in time to 1743, where she is immediately thrown into an unknown world where her life is threatened. When she is forced to marry Jamie, a chivalrous and romantic young Scottish warrior, a passionate affair is ignited…
Garden Spells – Sarah Addison Allen “A pinch of marigold for affection, a dash of snapdragon to repel evil, finish with rose petals to encourage love, then let nature take its course. It may be the recipe for Claire Waverley’s successful catering business, but when it comes to working its magic on her own love…
Reviewed by Jim Eric Jager’s Blood Royal may not take place at the time of Dumas’ The Three Musketeers (in fact, it takes place 200 years before in 1407) but it would be a good choice for anyone who likes Dumas or French history. It has street fights, mystery and political intrigue. Bonus: It has…
“BBC AMERICA’s new co-production drama series, The Musketeers, is set on the streets of seventeenth century Paris, where law and order is an idea more than a reality. In addition to being King Louis XIII’s personal bodyguards, Athos, Aramis and Porthos stand resolutely for social justice, honor, valor, love – and for the thrill of…
A mysterious drifter and an ardent Japanese warrior both arrive in a town terrorized by criminals. Guided by The Bartender at the Horseless Horseman Saloon, the two join forces to bring down the corrupt reign of Nicola and his lady Alexandra. Remember Ethan Chandler (from this post on Showtime’s Penny Dreadful)? Well. Josh Hartnett plays…
Reviewed by Julie About the book: “Out of the depths of the Depression comes an irresistible story about beating the odds and finding hope in the most desperate of times – the improbable, intimate account of nine working-class boys from the American West who at the 1936 Olympics showed the world what true grit really…
“Set in Toronto at the dawn of the 20th century, Murdoch Mysteries is a one-hour drama series that explores the intriguing world of William Murdoch (Yannick Bisson), a methodical and dashing detective who pioneers innovative forensic techniques to solve some of the city’s most gruesome murders.” [Image & Text: Murdoch Mysteries Official Website] You may…
Reviewed by Chris An engrossing biography of one of the most powerful American politicians of the 20th century. Despite never holding elected office, Moses weilded absolute power over urban planning and development in New York City from the 1920s – 1960s. Caro’s in-depth research into his subject gives the reader the context and facts necessary…
Reviewed by Rachel Fast Food Nation, a journalistic exploration into fast food – or what author Eric Schlosser terms the “dark side of the all-american meal” – turned 13 this year… and its age is showing. There’s no doubt in my mind that the book was a first of its kind, or that the information…
Like many people, my to-read pile of books sets on my dresser next to my bed (unlike most people, I hope, the finished books are on a pile on the floor next to my bed) and seems to be growing faster than I can read. In this pile are a wide range of things: fantasy,…
The Silk Road, that myriad of trade routes crisscrossing Asia in the middle ages, has always held a certain fascination for me. The imagery alone is spellbinding: trackless deserts, vast mountain ranges and endless steppe and in this massive space, caravans of camels and yaks carrying the luxury goods across centuries. That’s what first drew…
Tranforming Libraries, Building Communities: The Community-Centered Library by Julie Biando Edwards, Melissa S. Robinson, and Kelley Rae Unger – Foreword by Kathleen De La Pena McCook Reviewed by Kim Given that more and more libraries , not just in the U.S., but other countries as well, are either closing or having their hours drastically reduced,…
“The extraordinary life of the man who founded Islam, and the world he inhabited—and remade. Muhammad’s was a life of almost unparalleled historical importance; yet for all the iconic power of his name, the intensely dramatic story of the prophet of Islam is not well known. In The First Muslim, Lesley Hazleton brings him…
“Like all mothers, Emily Rapp had ambitious plans for her first and only child, Ronan. He would be smart, loyal, physically fearless, and level-headed, but fun. He would be good at crossword puzzles like his father. He would be an avid skier like his mother. Rapp would speak to him in foreign languages and give…
On the eve of World War I a string of pink pearls worth a small fortune disappears somewhere between Paris and London. Molly Caldwell Crosby’s The Great Pearl Heist is the story of those pearls, the men and women who stole them and the Scotland Yard detectives tasked to get them back. I was attracted…
“I hope we’re as good friends when you finish your book as we are now,” Ben Bradlee, the legendary former executive editor of The Washington Post, told Jeff Himmelman in March 2010. “But I don’t give a [expletive deleted] what you write about me.” No author could make this man uninteresting. Yours in Truth, begun…
I first took notice of this book when I saw the author, actor Frank Langella interviewed on The Tavis Smiley Show to discuss his memoir of the remarkable people encountered over his fifty year career. He presents them, not as they might have described themselves, but as he perceived them – a theme he emphasizes…
This book appealed to me because I’m part of its target audience – folks in their 30s or 40s who experienced MTV as teenagers – when its programming was all videos, all the time, and kids watched to see their favorite bands, learn about new music, and have something to talk about at school the…
An exhaustive explanation of the history of consumable energy in the industrialized world, from animal oils to petrochemicals to nuclear power to renewables (solar, wind etc.). Daniel Yergin somehow manages to cram an improbable amount of information into a considerable amount of pages (804 in all!). “The Quest” delivers an illuminating (and, often, surprisingly entertaining)…
If you’re looking for something to get you in the spirit of the holidays, try one of the books on our New Holiday Fiction Booklist. If you’re looking for a good book your favorite booklover, we have some suggestions for you. Books to Give the Reader in Your Life This Holiday Season is a compilation…
Publisher’s Summary: “When Harry de Leyer first spotted Snowman, the future jumping champion was a scarred plow-horse being toted away to the slaughterhouse. Something about this regal outcast attracted the Dutch immigrant’s attention; he bought the horse for eighty dollars. He later sold him, but Snowman would not stay away; clearing six-foot high fences, he…
Alice Ozma is the author of The Reading Promise: My Father and the Books We Shared. Publisher’s Summary: “When Alice Ozma was in 4th grade, she and her father decided to see if he could read aloud to her for 100 consecutive nights. On the hundreth night, they shared pancakes to celebrate, but it soon…
Publisher’s Summary: “The unique life story of one of the most talented and inventive comedians, star of Shaun of the Dead, Hot Fuzz, and Star Trek. Zombies in North London, death cults in the West Country, the engineering deck of the Enterprise: actor, comedian, writer and self-proclaimed supergeek Simon Pegg has been ploughing some bizarre…
Publisher’s Summary: “The Greater Journey is the enthralling, inspiring—and until now, untold—story of the adventurous American artists, writers, doctors, politicians, architects, and others of high aspiration who set off for Paris in the years between 1830 and 1900, ambitious to excel in their work. After risking the hazardous journey across the Atlantic, these Americans embarked…
“Legendary actress Elizabeth Taylor, a two-time Oscar winner and Hollywood beauty whose screen success was sometimes overshadowed by her tumultuous personal life, died on Wednesday at age 79.” [via Los Angeles Times] The library owns several biographies on Elizabeth Taylor, including: (linked to the catalog) Elizabeth by J. Randy Taraborrelli “A portrait of Oscar award-winning…
Rick Springfield’s recently released memoir is not for the faint of heart – or at least those clinging to the lily white image of Dr. Noah Drake. While he managed to avoid the plague of drugs and alcohol, the rocker was admittedly a BAD boy for a LONG time. But in this intimate and not…
Here’s a book trailer for all you dog lovers out there: Steven Kotler was forty years old and facing an existential crisis—which made him not too different from just about every other middle-aged guy in Los Angeles. Then he met Joy, a woman devoted to the cause of canine rescue. “Love me, love my dogs,”…
J.R. Ackerly’s Memoir My Dog Tulip has just been re-released in anticipation of the new animated film based on the book. The distinguished British man of letters, Ackerley hardly thought of himself as a dog lover when, well into middle age, he came to adopt Tulip – a beautiful, yet intolerable 18-month-old German shepherd. To…
Ah, the pleasures of doing the “hard work” in reading. Let David Lipsky guide you on an amazing, intimate and poignant journey with the late writer, David Foster Wallace. Lipsky has transcribed the tapes of a week-long “interview” with DFW during the book tour for his breakthrough work, Infinite Jest. Originally planned for Rolling Stone,…
Have you read William Kamkwamba’s The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind? In it, a fourteen year old William uses the information he found in a library book to rig a windmill in his village, providing much needed electricity and running water. His narrative is charming and his story inspirational. Amazon’s blog, Omnivoracious, recently caught up…
HarperCollins, the publisher of an upcoming biography that focuses on the love story that played out between Richard Burton and Elizabeth Taylor, has a neat feature that allows you to look inside the book, sample the writing, the story. They’re offering up that look inside for Furious Love: Elizabeth Taylor, Richard Burton, and the Marriage…
When The Game Was Ours by Larry Bird and Earvin Magic Johnson with Jackie MacMullen For Boston sports fans growing up in the 1980s, nothing was bigger than the Celtics vs. the Lakers. The nearly two decades that have passed since the retirement of their franchise players has left this Generation X-er sorely missing Larry…
We’ll Be Here For the Rest of Our Lives: A Swingin’ Show-biz Saga by Paul Shaffer As a longtime Late Night/Late Show with David Letterman fan, Paul Shaffer’s memoir was a must-read for me. And while he shares plenty of great behind-the-scenes stories about this now 28-year stint in late night television, Shaffer offers a…
David Grann is a reporter for the New Yorker Magazine who likes to write about people who are obsessed with one thing or another, so writing about Percy Fawcett’s obsession with the Amazon rainforest and a lost civilization in that region was a perfect assignment for him. Grann gives the reader a wonderful look at…
If you haven’t yet discovered the talented and passionate writer Louise Desalvo, On Moving is a wonderful opportunity to begin to glimpse this unapologetic feminist and highly accomplished scholar’s inner life and to share her fascinating musings and insights into the lives of writers you may also have read and loved . Marilyn Demario writes:…
“At villa Donnafugata, long ago is never very far away,” writes bestselling author Marlena de Blasi of the magnificent if somewhat ruined castle in the mountains of Sicily that she stumbles upon one summer while traveling with her husband. There de Blasi is befriended by Tosca, the patroness of the villa, who shares her own…
The late French photographer, Didier Lefevre, covered a Doctors Without Borders mission through war-torn Afghanistan in 1986. His good friend, Emmanuel Guibert turned his fascinating story into a stellar graphic novel. The team of doctors, nurses and mujahaddin traveled from Peshawar, Pakistan to their makeshift hospital in the Badakhshan region of Afghanistan. The journey itself…
Funny, cute, totally different, with a bit of the bizarre thrown in, this is how I’ve been describing this book to friends. If you’re expecting a complete re-telling of Ms Austen’s classic, you will be disappointed. The author has instead kept much of the original work intact and thrown in his zombie mayhem for good…
More than a century ago, a school was constructed in Fort Worth, Texas, for the purpose of housing and educating the orphans of Texas Freemasons. It was a humble project that for years existed quietly on a hillside east of town. Life at the Masonic Home was about to change, though, with the arrival of…
The true story of thirteen women who took a risk on an expensive diamond necklace and, in the process, changed not only themselves but a community. Four years ago, in Ventura, California, Jonell McLain saw a diamond necklace in a local jewelry store display window. The necklace aroused desire first, then a provocative question: Why…
One of our good friends passed on recently. He was a loyal library patron and an avid reader of non-fiction. True crime was his favorite, but he enjoyed any book that taught him something new. He submitted many written reviews of the books he read. Here are few excerpts. We’ll miss you RA! The Poet…
John Grogan, the author of the very popular book Marley & Me, has written a biography centered around his dying father. The utmost homage is paid to his dad while he regales his audience with flashbacks from his own life. He and his siblings were subjected to a strict Catholic upbringing. Several chapters of the…
They are the troops that nobody wants to see, carrying a message that no military family ever wants to hear. It begins with a knock at the door. “The curtains pull away. They come to the door. And they know. They always know,” said Major Steve Beck. Since the start of the war in Iraq,…
From the Book Jacket: O’Shea charmed readers with her elegant and witty For the Love of Letters. Now, in Note to Self, she’s back to guide us through the fun, effective, and revelatory process of journaling. Along the way, selections from O’Shea’s own journals demonstrate what a journal should be: a tool to access inner…
In this groundbreaking, bestselling graphic memoir, Alison Bechdel charts her fraught relationship with her late father. In her hands, personal history becomes a work of amazing subtlety and power, written with controlled force and enlivened with humor, rich literary allusion, and heartbreaking detail. Distant and exacting, Bruce Bechdel was an English teacher and director of…
Engel is the longest serving broadcaster in Iraq and the only American television reporter to cover the country continuously before, during, and after the 2003 U.S. invasion. Fluent in Arabic, he has had unrivaled access to U.S. military commanders, Sunni insurgents, Shiite militias, Iraqi families, and even President George W. Bush, who called him to…
I will admit that I did judge this book by its cover. The pup on the front looked so much like Seamus, my Bichon mix that I had to investigate further. The difference is however, that my rescue dog has four legs, while Baby, the dog whose story unfolds in these pages, has only three.…
Its difficult to imagine anyone who has’t been touched by breast cancer either in their own family or that of friends and acquaintances. Jessica Queller’s book is a powerful reminder of how insidious and often ubiquitous this disease is – every woman Jessica encounters in her emotional sojourn has an important story to tell. Queller…
Nicholas Dawidoff’s haunting memoir of his childhood in New Haven, Connecticut is a moving and richly realized family portrait. No doubt armed with the courage of his impressive successes as a writer (The Catcher Was a Spy and The Fly Swatter, a Pulitzer Prize finalist) and editor (Baseball : A Literary Anthology) Dawidoff confronts his…
Hobart Elementary School is located in the heart of downtown L.A., and as I look back at my elementary school years, I think about the horrible environment I grew up in. A rape or abuse case occurred at least once a week at school, and policemen were frequently seen on campus. Yet during fifth grade,…
Closed to foreigners under Romanov and Soviet rule, Kazakhstan has remained largely hidden from the world – a remarkable feat for a country the size of Western Europe. Few would guess that Kazakhstan – a blank in Westerner’s collective geography – turns out to be diverse, tolerant, and surprisingly modern, the country that gave the…
One of our avid senior readers had this to say about the stories of two master criminals: Catch Me If You Can by Frank Abagnale, Jr. Don’t let the fact that you’ve seen the movie stop you from reading this fast-moving and fascinating story. It’s a much more comprehensive and exciting account of Frank Abagnale’s…
Brought it to boil, often. – Mario Batali I was born some assembly required. – Eric Jordan Macular degeneration. Didn’t see that coming. – Ian Gould Compiled by the editors of Smith Magazine, this book of six-word memoirs is impossible to put down. I found myself saying, “I’ll just read two more pages and then…
You’re the writer, but remember, I’m your author”. These words, spoken by the author’s mother, reveal the truth behind this memoir. Despite growing up in the shadow of a controlling, substance-abusing mother, Felicia manages to get into Fordham University, become a creative writer and secure a position at an up-and-coming dot.com company. Though she is…
The Richistanis like to consider themselves ordinary people who just happen to have tons of money, but they live in a world where people buy boats just to carry their cars and helicopters behind their primary yachts, and ordering an alligator-skin toilet seat won’t make even your interior designer blink. But Frank doesn’t just focus…
Long before she was born, Dominika first appeared to her mother in a dream, so when she came to be, she was welcomed with eager expectation and much love. Though her arrival was auspicious, as the child of recognized dissidents associated with the failed Prague Spring uprising, Dominika’s life would be far from charmed. Her…
If you enjoy history, and can snag a copy of this popular read, do so immediately! Award winning historian Hodes does a masterful job of recreating the life of a woman, Eunice Stone Connolly, in the 19th century through her letters to her family before during and after the American Civil War. Connolly was rendered…
Photographs that catch people in the act of everyday activities are among my favorites. Kertesz photographs people from all over the world and all walks of life reading books and newspapers. Some of the photos are great because they capture the way a book can possess and transport a reader while others tell stories about…
A Baker’s Odyssey is a rich collection of recipes and culinary history, all gleaned from Patent’s exhaustive research in the American home kitchens of immigrants from around the world. Through his travels across the country, Patent learned the secrets to traditional baked goods originating from thirty-two different nations. From Scotland and Austria to India and Thailand…
Who wants to be a librarian??? After holding many diverse jobs, the author takes a Civil Service Test and is soon hired as a librarian. His definition of a library is a place you can “walk in off the street, pull books off the shelf without an employee looking nervously, and take them home. All…
Here’s a post from our resident pop-culture maven: Don’t You Forget About Me: Contemporary Writers on the Films of John Hughes “The angst-ridden films of John Hughes remain vital viewing to a generation of writers old enough to have seen The Breakfast Club in theaters, and this collection of musings from 20 such contributors” is…
My kids find it hard to believe, but when I was a child I’d never heard of zucchini….our lives changed forever the day [my father] brought home zucchinis. ‘It’s Italian food,’ he explained. We weren’t sure how to pronounce it. And while the artichokes had brought us to tears and throat lozenges, we liked these…
“In Shaggy Muses, we visit Elizabeth Barrett Browning and Flush, the golden Cocker Spaniel who danced the poet away from death, back to life and human love. We roam the wild Yorkshire moors with Emily Brontë, whose fierce Mastiff mix, Keeper, provided a safe and loving outlet for the writer’s equally fierce spirit. We enter…