General News from the World of Literature
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
That’s the question I asked when Vanessa Ward, friend and former Kiawah resident, told me about a recently published book by her sister-in-law. The title of the book is Roscoe Turner: Plows to Planes. The author is Boots Hensel. The story of Roscoe Turner centers around a farmer turned aviator who flew wild and risky missions with his pet lion. It is an ideal adventure
A friend asked me to recommend to her a good ‘beach read.’ I asked her what she meant. First of all, she needed a paperback book she could take to the beach. Didn’t want to take the tablet to the beach, of course. Then she said the story needed to be light. Most books that our book clubs read are NOT ‘beach reads’. Some of
Checking out a book from the satellite library has never been easier. Just drive by Mary Hoffman’s house from 8:00 a.m. – 6:00 p.m. to choose a few books from her garage. If you have books to donate, please let Mary know.
Advice for Wives (circa 1896) (author unknown to me) “The indiscriminate reading of novels is one of the most injurious habits to which a married woman can be subject. Besides the false views of human nature it will impart, it produces an indifference to the performance of domestic duties and contempt for ordinary realities”.
