Category: News

A friend recently sent me an article from Inc. in hopes that my blog readers would find it interesting. The article states what we already know– the act of reading a book for pleasure is interesting fewer and fewer people. Or perhaps I should say that fewer and fewer people are reading books for pleasure. Some people may really want to read more but don’t

Fiction–Angel Down, by Daniel Kraus, is set during World War I in France. The novel combines historical fiction, horror and magical realism. History–We the People: A History of the U.S. Constitution, by Jill Lepore, traces the history of the Constitution and the importance of the amendment process. Biography–Pride and Pleasure: The Schuyler Sisters in an Age of Revolution, by Amanda Vaill, focuses on the lives

If I have heard of the National Book Critics Circle Awards, I certainly don’t remember. This award is very prestigious, however, and worth taking a look at. Each year, a panel of 24 book review editors and critics choose one book in several categories to win the award. Winners for books pubished in 2025 were announced in March. Here they are: Fiction— We do not

Those of you who have read my blog know that I admire and respect Dolly Parton. I certainly know that she isn’t a fool. I used to think she was a bit fake, and some of her IS fake, but underneath her show biz persona is a brilliant and talented mind with a knack for business and music, and a tender heart with a love

I am happy to introduce you to another author who resides on Kiawah Island. His name is Herb Jansen. He is retired from a career working first with Ernst and Young and later with Arthur Anderson. When Herb was 19 years old, he served as an Infantry Sergeant in the U.S. Army and was assigned to Vietnam for a year. Several years ago, Jansen came

I featured author David Schaeffer’s Letters from Sweden a few years ago. His new book Initiation at the Scum Pond is a story based on an actual event. This book is different from the other books Schaeffer has written in that it is a novel. Although I am not a literary critic by any means, I will have to say that this book demands one’s

Did you happen to read Wild Swans when it came out in 1991? The book was chosen by my Atlanta Book Club, and I initially balked at reading such a long one. After all, I worked and went to school and ran a household and had a husband and two children and two dogs–whew!! Lots more energy in those days. Well, I read the book,

This is the time of year when I see list after list of “best historical fiction of 2025” or “best mystery Novels of 2025” or “Notable Books of 2025.”  There are so many books published every week.  Before we start looking back on the year, however, there are a few books I have not mentioned in the blog and want to point out below: Remember

The Woman at the Wheel, by Penny Haw How many of you have owned a Mercedes? I bought and drove a used one for many years. I loved that car. Most of us, however, had no idea that Bertha Benz, wife of inventor Carl Benz, secretly drove her husband’s invention on a long distance test drive to prove the car (if one may call it

The 45 events of this year’s festival will take place at the Dock Street Theatre. People from around Charleston simply say The Dock Street! Having scoured the events thoroughly, and knowing how difficult it is to go to all of them, we have pointed out a few authors and their books that are of special interest to us. Tim Bouverie, author of Allies At War–November