General News from the World of Literature
To some, James Patterson is a household name. Their bookshelves are lined with books authored by him. Patterson was born in 1947. His first job was in advertising. When he wrote his first book in 1973, it was rejected by 31 publishers. The book The Thomas Berryman Number went on to win an Edgar Award! His best known book is Along Came a Spider, and
Of course they do and we all know it. It’s just that we may not hear so much about them right now. Below are a few I have been seeing in the publications I read: Elon Musk by Walter Isaacson is not a new book, and it was published before Musk rose to his current level of fame. Isaacson spent two years with Musk, going
At the Sandcastle Book Club this week, someone asked about the books on the best sellers lists. They wanted to know why few of the books we read are on the list. Another member asked, “What do people read now?” The book club likes to think we read literary fiction, but I’m sure that at times we read regular fiction or mystery or whatever. We
Happy Lands by Dole Perkins-Valdez Dolen Perkins-Valdez is a new author to me, but she has been producing award winning historical fiction since 2010. She seems to write about little known aspects of African American history. In her first book Wench, she tells the story of four enslaved women who meet their white masters each summer at a vacation house in Ohio. Of course, it
When Georgia Hunter was 15, she learned that her grandfather and his entire family of 22 people were Holocaust survivors. Her first book We Were the Lucky Ones is about their journey to escape the Nazis. Hunter spent years doing extensive research including interviews with many members of her family. The book has been made into a series on ‘Hulu’. One Good Thing is a
Seabrook resident Mary Fleck asked me to share the following announcement: Join us for an engaging discussion with Roger Jones, local businessman, philanthropist, humanitarian, and avid athlete!Roger will be discussing his debut novel, The Final Victory, a powerful story of resilience and unity centered around competitive dragon boat racing and the courage of cancer survivors. And you’ll hear from our special guest—the wife of “Tom,” one
Ann Tyler has been writing books for 60 years. Her first one, If Morning Ever Comes, was published in 1964 when Tyler was only 22 years old. The first Ann Tyler book I remember is The Accidental Tourist. I hate to admit that I found the book difficult to get into, but my husband read it and liked it a lot! I read French Braid
Golfer and retired executive Jimmie James sat out on a remarkable journey in 2017 to play the Top 100 Golf Courses in the USA. He achieved his goal and wrote about the experience in an intriguing book. AND I got to hear him speak today at Our World on Kiawah Island. If you are a golfer and/or know a golfer, this book will interest you.
Every year, the Sandcastle Book Club and the Kiawah Island Club Book Club hold a joint luncheon. The clubs alternate the responsibility of planning the lunch and getting an author to speak. This year, the Sandcastle hosted at the River Course thanks to a Kiawah Island Club member Kit McMurray. Instead of having one author talk about his or her book, the program featured four
In a month or so there will be numerous articles in which publications and other media sources share their picks for Best Book, Best Fiction, Best Non-Fiction, etc. The Booker Prize and Nation Book Award have already been announced. In case you missed it, read the following: Let’s hear it for James by Percival Everett. Most people are not surprised by the choice for the
