General News from the World of Literature
In December of 2021, the literary world lost two very important women–bell hooks and Joan Didion. It’s painful for me to admit that I only knew a bit about Joan Didion and had never heard of bell hooks. The first image of this post is that of bell hooks. In 2020, she was named one of ‘100 women of the year’ by Time Magazine. A
One of the first posts of this blog featured the effects of reading on emotional intelligence. The entry referenced Jessica Stillman’s article about how reading a variety of different authors and genres can make one more emphathetic. Stillman has once again reported on findings having to do with the positive benefits of reading. In a newsletter entitled “Inc.” (February 22, 2021), Stillman cites research done
Editors at The Times Book Review choose the best fiction and nonfiction titles this year. Nov. 30, 2021 FICTION How Beautiful We Were By Imbolo Mbue Following her 2016 debut, “Behold the Dreamers,” Mbue’s sweeping and quietly devastating second novel begins in 1980 in the fictional African village of Kosawa, where representatives from an American oil company have come to meet with the locals, whose
Have you ever been to New York City during the Christmas Holidays? It’s quite a treat!! The decorated store windows, the carriages of Central Park, the skating rink at Bryant Park! And, in case you never noticed, the NYC Public Library is right there, behind or front of depending on where you are standing, Bryant Park. A recent article in the ‘untapped new york’ section
The following post is borrowed from the Seabrook Island Tidelines post of November 20, 2021–In 1950, the National Book Awards were established to celebrate the best writing in America. Since 1989, they have been overseen by the National Book Foundation (NBF), a nonprofit organization whose mission is “to celebrate the best literature in America, expand its audience, and ensure that books have a prominent place
Readers select books in a bookstore by the Xinglong lake in Chengdu, Southwest China’s Sichuan Province, Oct. 28, 2021. (Photo: China News Service/Wang Lei) Located in Tianfu New District, the “underwater bookstore” has a glass curtain wall that extends into the water on one side of the bookstore, allowing readers to see water plants and fish in the lake. (from Shelf Awareness, November 2, 2021/Issue
Today I was priviledged to hear a talk from Jonathan Haupt, director of the Pat Conroy Literary Center in Beaufort, South Carolina. Haupt was a speaker for the ongoing Our World series held on Kiawah Island. In addition to being a polished speaker, Haupt also had interesting information about Conroy and how he became a writer. I know that my next trip to Beaufort will
While living in Sandy Springs, a suburban area adjacent to Atlanta, GA, we experienced excitement throughout our neighborhood when Trader Joe’s moved into a space, right up the street, that had previously been occupied by Kiddie City. I don’t remember the exact year the store opened, but spreading neighborhood events via e-mail was not yet popular so we heard about the new store at garden
Interest in iconic American millionaires and billionaires never seems to wane, whether they are currently wealthy or were people from the past. Cornelius Vanderbilt and his descendants have captured the limelight for years. In doing some preliminary research, I learned that Cornelius and his wife (also his first cousin) had thirteen children. Cornelius had little use for his ten daughters. When he died, most of
We are coming to the end of “Banned Book Week.” This year’s theme is “Books unite us. Censorship Divides Us.” Libraries love this week, not because they are glad that books are banned but because they like to advertise the books that are banned. There is nothing like promoting a banned product. Why? — people (especially children) ask themselves. Then they read the book to
