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.

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My One-Month Anniversary on Mastodon

Related Post: Yesterday was my one-month anniversary on Mastodon. Because I had a terrible time crunch for most of November, I didn’t do as much exploring there as I had wanted to do. However, I’m starting to feel more at home there now. And I like it. Here are some reasons why: I’m beginning to

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Last Week's Links

Literary Links

Why I teach a course connecting Taylor Swift’s songs to the works of Shakespeare, Hitchcock and Plath Elizabeth Scala, professor of English at The University of Texas at Austin, explains how and why she created the course “The Taylor Swift Songbook,” an introductory English course. Categories: Literary Criticism, Literary History, Reading Why read old books?

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Book covers: The Snow Child by Eowyn Ivey; The Light Between Oceans by M.L. Stedman; The Island by Adrian McKinty; The Last Thing He Told Me by Laura Dave; The Last to Vanish by Megan Miranda; Then She was Gone by Lisa Jewell; Gone, Baby, Gone by Dennis Lehand

6 Degrees of Separation

This month’s exercise begins with The Snow Child by Eowyn Ivey, set in Alaska in 1920. Jack and Mabel, a childless couple homesteading in the lonely wilderness, build a child out of snow. The next morning, the snow child has come to life. She hunts and roams the forest, like a creature out of a

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Banner on purple background: Nonfiction November, Notes in the Margin. Photo of stack of books with the following titles: Hidden Valley Road, Words Are My Matter, The Self Delusion, The Power of Regret, Women in White Coats, The Doctors Blackwell, A Kind of Mirraculas Paradise

Nonfiction November: (Semi) Wrap-Up

I did manage to finish the books I wanted to read during November, but I’m still working on reviewing them. Nevertheless, here’s what I did last month. I’ll update this post with links as I finish my reviews. Books I Read Before November But Reviewed During November What About the Baby? Some Thoughts on the

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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.

Lists: Best Books of 2022

Happy December! If you’re in the market for some gifty books (and who isn’t?), here’s a gigantic list of Best Books of 2022 lists. Happy gifting! Barnes & Noble’s Best Books of 2022 This is the first such list I saw. It was posted on October 10. Top 10 Best Thrillers of 2022 From Canadian

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

Top Ten Tuesday 7 Books to Introduce Myself

This week’s suggested topic for Top Ten Tuesday is: Cozy Reads (Share books that give off a cozy vibe, whether through atmosphere, setting, or some other factor.) I can’t remember the last cozy book I read. Therefore, I’m doubling up here on a topic that’s going on over on Mastodon for readers and book bloggers to

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Last Week's Links

Literary Links

Atoms as They Fall Upon the Mind This article from The Point magazine extols James Joyce’s Ulysses as an example of the experimental literary technique of stream of consciousness: “When in prose carefully structured to imitate the patterns of the mind these aspects of consciousness reveal themselves to us as they do in life, through

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A man and woman on a sandy beach as ocean waves roll in. Text reads "Thanksgiving at Long Beach."

Top Ten Tuesday  Things I’m Thankful For

Since this week’s Thursday is Thanksgiving in the U.S., our topic this week is Thankful Freebie. Ever since my husband and I retired to the coast of Washington, where our daughter was already living, the three of us have spent Thanksgiving week at a beautiful spot in our state. For the last several years, that

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