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.

Last Week's Links

Literary Links

The Queen of arts: Elizabeth II in fiction “It wasn’t until 1988 that the Queen began to make appearances in fiction, but since then she’s had many, largely sympathetic portrayals” Categories: Fiction, Literary History How Will Overturning of Roe v. Wade Influence Book Trends? “Without Roe v. Wade, we probably never would have gotten the […]

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Collage of book covers: Notes on a Scandal by Zoe Heller, In the Margins by Elena Ferrante, How to Read Now by Elaine Castillo, Writing in an Age of Silence by Sara Paretsky, A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens, Sorrow and Bliss by Meg Mason, The Sense of an Ending by Julian Barnes

6 Degrees of Separation: Reading About Reading and Fiction

This month we start with Notes on a Scandal by Zoë Heller. I thought I had seen the film adaptation of this book, but from the description I see that I have not. I saw something, probably on Netflix, similarly titled, but about a politician. first degree However, not having seen the film or read

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

#TopTenTuesday   10 Novels of Female Friendship

This week’s topic is Typographic Book Covers (covers with a design that is all or mostly all words). I honestly don’t think much about book covers; I’m more interested in content And one content area that interests me is female friendship. Here are 10 novels that examine aspects of female friendships, both the good and/or the

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Last Week's Links

Literary Links

How Librarians Can Counter Lies from Book Banners This problem isn’t going to go away any time soon, so we need to stay informed. Categories: Censorship, Libraries 5 Messy Characters You Can’t Help But Love My favorite phrase for describing humans is “deliciously messy.” So I immediately zoomed in on this list by Zeniya Cooley:

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Banner: Celebrate Banned Books Week, September 18-24, 2022 (from the American Library Association). Several brightly colored birds fly over a muted background of open books.

Banned Books Week Wrap-Up

The Banned Books You Haven’t Heard About A Colorado Library Board Has Voted to Ban Book Bans Alexie, Evison, Hopkins Speak Up in Defense of Banned Books Book bans reflect outdated beliefs about how children read I’m a retired teacher. I know you can ban books, but you can’t ban their ideas: Opinion Overwhelming Majority

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stack of books and open notebook. Label: Quotation

Quotation: On the Writing Process

“writing a book is still bloody hard work. I usually start by letting an idea percolate and take shape in my brain, which looks a lot like re-watching things on Netflix and shopping for stationery. Then I superfluously color-code an Excel spreadsheet and use it to plot out the major twists, turns and reveals. Then

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

#TopTenTuesday 10 Books On My Fall 2022 To-Read List

I haven’t been participating in Top Ten Tuesday for very long, but already I can tell that soon I’ll have to start skipping these reading-season updates. All I do is carry over unread books from one of those lists to the next. Here are 10 books I hope to read soon. You’ll recognize several of

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Banner: Celebrate Banned Books Week, September 18-24, 2022 (from the American Library Association). Several brightly colored birds fly over a muted background of open books.

Banned Books Week 2022

The theme for Banned Books Week 2022 is “Books Unite Us. Censorship Divides Us.” For More Information BookRiot has put together an extensive list of information and suggestions on how you can advocate for literacy and the freedom to read during this year’s Banned Books Week: A Banned Books Week Action List: Book Censorship News,

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Last Week's Links

Literary Links

American Library Association’s New Book Censorship Data Released in Advance of Banned Books Week As you have probably already guessed, the statistics are pretty grim. Category: Censorship Series on Historical Fiction from The Atlantic On the occasion of the death of Queen Elizabeth II, The Atlantic carries a series of feature articles about historical fiction.

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