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.

Book covers: Wintering by Katherine May, Winter by Ali Smith, Winter's Bone by Daniel Woodrell, In the Bleak Midwinter by Julia Spencer-Fleming, Little Fires Everywhere by Celeste Ng, Gone, Baby, Gone by Dennis Lehane, I'll Be You by Janelle Brown

6 Degrees of Separation: Of Winters and Motherhood

This month’s starting point is Wintering by Katherine May: “ Wintering is a poignant and comforting meditation on the fallow periods of life, times when we must retreat to care for and repair ourselves. Katherine May thoughtfully shows us how to come through these times with the wisdom of knowing that, like the seasons, our […]

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

#TopTenTuesday Books On My Summer 2022 To-Read List

Related Post: Top Ten Tuesday: Books On My Spring 2022 TBR My first Top Ten Tuesday, back in March, was Books On My Spring 2022 TBR. I knew at the time I put the list together that creating it was an exercise in futility, since other books would probably come along that begged to be

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Last Week's Links

Literary Links

9 Unputdownable Historical Fiction Picks for Pride Month Off the Shelf recommends “some of the most moving, passionate, and unputdownable works of queer historical fiction, whisking us from the streets of Victorian London to ancient Greece, gilded New York City, and beyond.” Categories: Book Recommendations, Fiction Summer reading: 5 books on the joys and challenges

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

#TopTenTuesday Science Fiction and Life Stories in Literature

Today’s topic is books on my wishlist that I’d like to own, including links so that people may gift me said books. But I already have most of the books I want to read. Therefore, I’m not going to go that route. Instead, I’m going to marvel over the fact that, in about the past

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Last Week's Links

Literary Links

The Best LGBTO Books of the Year, According to Lambda Literary BookRiot has some reading suggestions for Pride Month. Category: Book Recommendations The 2022 Pride Reading List: 72 New Books to Read All Year This list from Goodreads includes books that are currently available as well as books that will be published later this year

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

#TopTenTuesday Books with “Day” in the Title

This week’s assigned topic is Books I Wish Had An Epilogue. Although I do love a good prologue, I’m not big on epilogues. If, after finishing a book, I feel the need for more, I usually figure one of two possibilities is operant: The author is planning a sequel. The author wants me to sit

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Last Week's Links

Literary Links

A History of the Lambda Literary Awards “a look back to the origins of the awards, the judging process, and the main controversies that have come up over the years” All about the Lambda Literary Awards. Category: Literature & Culture A List of Feminist Thrillers “To me, a feminist thriller explores the experiences of women

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A Roundup Of The Books That Colleges Are Assigning Their Incoming Students

Here’s a quick look at some of the books assigned by colleges and universities as their common readers for incoming students in 2022. Source: A Roundup Of The Books That Colleges Are Assigning Their Incoming Students

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

#TopTenTuesday  Books With a Unit of Time In the Title 

Today we shine the spotlight on books with a unit of time in the title. I haven’t read The Ten Thousand Doors of January or any of the novels in “The Seasonal Quartet.” But I have read the others and recommend each one. 11/22/63 by Stephen King Specific date, a specific time in history. Tolstoy

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Last Week's Links

Literary Links

It’s Pride Month. Here’s what you need to know From CNN, a look at the origin and history of Pride Month. Category: Personal The Novel That Started the Trans Literary Revolution “Imogen Binnie first published Nevada nine years ago. In the near decade since, a renaissance of trans fiction bloomed. Now republished this summer, Binnie

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