General News from the World of Literature
The Sandcastle Book Club met via Zoom on November 9. Martha Zink reviewed Erik Larson’s The Splendid and The Vile. Even though over 20 book club members tuned in, everyone had a chance to comment or ask questions. Martha stressed many of the book’s most interesting aspects and clarified questions some members asked. All agreed it was a a very worthwhile hour and thanked Martha
If you think that Dolly Parton has been in the news a lot lately, you are right. Her most recent newsworthy venture was to donate 1 million dollars to Vanderbilt University Medical Center in honor of her longtime friend, Naji Abumrad, MD, and professor of surgery at the medical center. In April, Abumrad mentioned to Parton that funds were needed to advance the study of
Marty Feldman in Young Frankenstein (Photo by Herbert Dorfman/Corbis via Getty Images)CompSave Many of us know that a nineteen year old woman named Mary Shelley wrote what is considered to be the first science fiction novel. What we may not know is the story behind this Nineteenth Century author and her now famous book Frankenstein.. While not intending to ‘create a monster,’ Shelley may as
Remember when Sandy Springs had its Town Turtles? Maybe not, if you aren’t familiar with all things Atlanta. Many cities around the globe have decorated cows. A town in Kansas decorates outdoor squirrel statues. Hendersonville, NC had a ‘bearfoot artwalk’ this year to reveal new decorated bears in the downtown area. So, it should come as no surprise that we now have park benches in
Today’s best-seller list has Jodi Picoult’s newest book The Book of Two Ways at #1. People must like this author, right? Well, not everyone. Picoult doesn’t write feel-good books. She probably will not win a Pulitzer prize for literature. Her books, however, make the reader think because she often presents complicated family situations and deep ethical issues. The Sandcastle Book Club read Small Great Things
In the UK, the Women’s Prize is given annually for the best work of fiction written in English by a woman of any nationality. This year’s Women’s Prize, worth $39,000, went to Irish born Maggie O’Farrell (pictured befow) for her book Hamnet. Hamnet is about the life and death of William Shakespeare’s son Hamnet. And yes, Hamlet and Hamnet have something in common. The book
The above picture is of Fletcher Library, a joint Chattanooga city library and a library for the University of Chattanooga. It was built on McCallie Avenue in 1940 and remained the joint library until 1974 when a new library was built for the university after it became part of the University of Tennessee system in 1969. This was MY library. Thankfully, it still stands but
The picture below is a pastel by Louis Comfort Tiffany. It is of his wife Louise. It currently hangs in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York. Does it remind you of yourself when you fall asleep while reading? This next photo is of a watercolor by Carl Olaf Larsson. It hangs in the Louvre, Paris. Now that I have a kitten in addition to
Remember July 21, 2020? That is today. The date of July 21 almost slipped by me without my noticing its importance. Remember July 21, 1969? Where were you? I distinctly remember that morning, sitting in my living room in our apartment in Atlanta, GA, on a pulled out sofa bed (we had company at the time who had slept on the sofa bed) watching an
Geraldine Brooks is an Australian born author who began her professional career as a foreign correspondent for the Wall Street Journal. She married Tony Horwitz, a fellow reporter and author, and spent many years on the go around the globe. While in Nigeria working on a story in the Niger Delta, Nigerian authorities arrested and jailed her. As soon as she was released, she resigned
