Mary Daniels Brown

My mother always insisted that, as soon as I was old enough to sit up, she’d find me in my crib after my nap babbling away, with a Little Golden Book on my lap. I’ve had my nose in a book ever since. I grew up in a small town, with the tiny town library literally in my backyard. As an only child in an unhappy home, I found comfort and companionship in books. As an adult I wanted to be Harry Potter, although I admit I’m more Hermione. My life has been a series of research projects. Reading has taught me that human lives are deliciously messy and that “it’s complicated” isn’t a punchline.

Darkness Too Visible

Darkness Too Visible Contemporary fiction for teens is rife with explicit abuse, violence and depravity. Why is this considered a good idea? Authors and publishers are all atwitter about this article that appeared over the weekend in the online edition of The Wall Street Journal. Meghan Cox Gurdon, who writes regularly about children’s books for […]

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Virginia Woolf, my mother and me | Books | The Guardian

Author Michael Cunningham writes about how, as a teenager, he discovered Virginia Woolf through a reading of her novel Mrs. Dalloway, and how his own mother figured in his attempt to write about Woolf in his novel The Hours. As a woman, Woolf knew about the sense of helplessness that can afflict women given too

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What Oprah has done for books

On this, the final day of Oprah’s long-running network TV show, I have a confession: I have never watched an Oprah show, not even one of her famous book discussions. But so many other people have watched Oprah’s show that publishers are wondering what their fate will be with the loss of “the Oprah effect,”

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Publishers Make a Plan: A ‘One Stop’ Book Site

Publishers have spent a lot of time and money building their own company Web sites with fresh information on their books and authors. The trouble is, very few book buyers visit them. In search of an alternative, three major publishers said on Friday that they would create a new venture, called Bookish.com, which is expected

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Dispute Continues on Harper Lee Book

Strange doings over the upcoming publication of a book about Harper Lee, famous reclusive author of To Kill a Mockingbird:   The statement did little to clear up the confusion surrounding the book, “The Mockingbird Next Door: Life With Harper Lee.” It was announced on Tuesday as “the story of Mills’s friendship with the two

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2011 Pulitzer Prize Winners Announced

This article in the New York Times includes all winners. Here are the winners in the arts and letters categories: FICTION – “A Visit from the Goon Squad” by Jennifer Egan (Alfred A. Knopf) DRAMA – “Clybourne Park” by Bruce Norris HISTORY – “The Fiery Trial: Abraham Lincoln and American Slavery” by Eric Foner (W.

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Borders Files for Chapter 11, Announces Store Closings

Borders Group, Inc. Website The book world has been speculating on this for a long time, and now it’s official. Borders will file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy and, as part of its reorganization strategy, will close about 200 stores nationwide. You can download the store list from the sidebar on the left of this page.

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