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.

A stack of three closed books. Next to them lies an open notebook and a pen. Title: 2022: A Literary Review

2022: A Literary Review

‘Expressive times’: Publishing industry an open book in 2022 “In 2022, the story of book publishing was often the industry itself,” writes Hillel Italie for AP News. A Novelist’s Review of the State of 2022 Literary Fiction Mateo Askaripour is a Brooklyn-based writer whose first novel, Black Buck—which Colson Whitehead calls a “mesmerizing novel, executing

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Screenshot: Text: 2022 My Year in Books. 15,609 pages read; 44 books read.

2022: My Year in Reading

Thanks to Goodreads, here are my reading statistics for 2022: I’m gratified to see that, despite treating 2022 as a year of unplanned reading, these statistics are nearly the same as those for the previous 10 years. In that January post I also listed some general goals for 2022: Did I meet those goals? 1. to

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A layout of book covers: 1989 by Val McDermid; Best of Friends by Kamila Shamsie; Eileen by Otessa Moshfegh; The Hero of This Book by Elizabeth McCracken; Clark and Division by Naomi Hirahara; Cloud Cuckoo Land by Anthony Doerr; The Last Chairlift by John Irving; Lessons by Ian McEwan; Ely by David Berenbaum; We Spread by Iain Reid; Trust by Herman Diaz; Babel by R.F. Kuang

Most Recent Additions to My Book Collection 

Here are the newest additions to my book collection, nine that I got as presents this holiday season, followed by three I bought. Links are to Goodreads, as I haven’t read any of these yet. 1989 by Val McDermid Best of Friends by Kamila Shamsie Eileen by Otessa Moshfegh The Hero of This Book by

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Last Week's Links

Literary Links

The dawn of AI has come, and its implications for education couldn’t be more significant The anxiety and questions about AI-generated writing continue: “t’s safe to say we can expect some challenging years ahead.” Vitomir Kovanovic, Senior Lecturer in Learning Analytics at the University of South Australia, speculates. Category: Writing Women Talking Embraces the Drama

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A stack of three closed books. Next to them lies an open notebook and a pen. Title: 15 years of blogging with WordPress.

15 Years of Blogging with WordPress!

Look what I found in my WordPress notifications today! I did not remember exactly when I switched Notes in the Margin to WordPress, so I was glad of the reminder. The site has been self-hosted on Dreamhost since 1999, and existed elsewhere for a couple of years before that. Notes in the Margin has been

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A group of black silhouettes of people standing in front of a large open book. The word "lists" is on the left-hand page. The phrase "Best Books of 2022" is on the right-hand page.

More Best Books of 2022 Lists

Related Post: Our Favorite Books of the Year From the editors of Oprah Daily, “its list of 45 Favorite Books of 2022, spanning fiction genres, including romance and suspense, to nonfiction standouts in memoir, science, and biography.” The Ten Best History Books of 2022 From Smithsonian magazine. Award Winning Nonfiction Books of 2022 “Five Books

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stack of 3 books plus open book with pen. Title: Top Ten Tuesday

#TopTenTuesday Books I Hope Santa Brings This Year

Cloud Cuckoo Land by Anthony Doerr  Clark and Division by Naomi Hirahara  Best of Friends by Kamila Shamsie 1989 by Val McDermid Lessons by Ian McEwan The Hero of This Book, by Elizabeth McCracken Eileen by Ottessa Moshfegh Our Missing Hearts by Celeste Ng The Last Chairlift by John Irving Mercury Pictures Presents by Anthony

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Last Week's Links

Literary Links

A (hopefully premature) obituary for Bookforum and the magazines that connect us David L. Ulin laments the closing of Bookforum, a review journal “positioned in the middle territory between service journalism and the academy”: To engage with an issue has long felt to me like going to a fabulous party where the guests are not

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