American Daughters, by Piper Huguley, is based on the real life friendship of Portia Washington and Alice Roosevelt. Alice Roosevelt, of course, was the daughter of Teddy Roosevelt. Booker T. Washington was Portia’s father. While the two women were different in their aspirations and social status, they shared a desire to support their famous fathers. Through their letters to one another, the author reveals both
Gilbert Cruz is the editor of The New York Times Book Review. He has suggested three books that his team thinks are the best books of 2024 so far. Two are surprises, and one certainly is not. That book is James, by Percival Everett. I don’t think I can overemphasize the power of this book judging from the critical reviews. A wonderful opportunity awaits those
The Librarian of Burned Books author, Brianna Labuskes, has written a new book entitled The Lost Book of Bonn. The new book is also about a librarian. The story begins when the Library of Congress sends Emmy Clarke to Germany to rescue literature that the Nazis had practically destroyed during World War II. Once in Germany and while going through discarded books, Clarke discovers a
The Sandcastle Book Club has published its reading list for 2024-25. It appears below. If your book club has a new list, please send it to me, and I will put it on the blog. Sandcastle Book Club book list for 2024-2025 September 9, 2024 The Frozen River, Ariel Lawhon—The fictionalized story of real life midwife and general practitioner Martha Ballard, who lived in colonial
From Becki McSwain–And in follow-up to Reading Around’s post on Jimmy Fallon’s bookclub, Annie Bot is a great read for those who wonder how we’ll be integrating robots with humans. It’s multi-layered and ethically thought-provoking. Word of caution: it’s very sexual. So if you find that offensive and you don’t want to skip over those parts, you might want to pass on this book. On
Book Clubs are not a recent phenomenon. They go back as far as the 17th Century. But this post is not about the history of book clubs in general. Instead, I am featuring Celebrity Book Clubs! The undisputed ‘queen’ of celebrity book clubs is Oprah Winfrey. Now we have Reading with Jenna and Reese’s Book Club. In fact, a recent article in the NYT about
(Taken from a Mental Floss quiz, May 13, 2024) Sometimes authors begin writing a book without knowing exactly what the title will be once they finish. They may give the book a ‘working title.’ Other times, the author’s editor will suggest that the title be changed in order to better describe the subject or sell the book. This quiz is a shortened version of one
People often use the word ‘awe’ is ways that don’t do it justice. For example, we may say to someone, “That was just awesome!” when what we witnessed was that person doing something exemplary but not necessarily really ‘awesome’. Young people seem to use the term quite a bit. Another expression we may say is, “I am just in awe of the way you make
FICTION WINNER Night Watch, by Jayne Anne Phillips–A story about a mother and a daughter surviving war and its aftermath. HISTORY WINNER No Right to an Honest Living by Jacqueline Jones–An examination of the American West and its transition during the mid 19th Century. BIOGRAPHY WINNER King: A Life, by Jonathan Eig–A biography of a well known man based on newly released materials. MEMOIR OR
The first book a friend recommended is Absolution by Alice McDermott. I enjoyed the book but kept wondering what the “absolution” was, who the absolution was for. The book is set in Viet Nam in 1963. The main characters are American women whose husbands work in the country. My friend liked it because, “the writing style is lovely, the story takes place in my young
