Week 4 (11/18-11/22) Mind Openers: One of the greatest things about reading nonfiction is the way it can open your eyes to the world around you–-no plane ticket required. What nonfiction book or books have impacted the way you see the world in a powerful way? Is there one book that made you rethink everything? […]
2 Books That Opened My Eyes and My Mind Read More »
ABA CEO Warns of New Challenges Post-Election In a letter to American Booksellers Association membership accompanying the publication of Wednesday’s Bookselling This Week newsletter, ABA CEO Allison Hill provided cautious words of encouragement following Tuesday’s election results. Acknowledging that the ABA does not know how its members voted in the election, Hill wrote that the
Week 3 (11/11-11/15) Book Pairings: This week, pair up a nonfiction book with a fiction title. Maybe it’s a historical novel and the real history in a nonfiction version, or a memoir and a novel, or a fiction book you’ve read and you would like recommendations for background reading. Or (because I’m doing this) two
3 Nonfiction/Fiction Book Pairings Read More »
Who’s Really Writing Celebrity Novels? “The writers and agents working behind the scenes tell us how it actually works.” “. . . what does it mean when a celebrity decides to write fiction?” Sophie Vershbow interviewed some “ writers and agents working behind the scenes on similar books [to] tell us how it actually works.”
Week 2 (11/4-11/8) Choosing Nonfiction: What are you looking for when you pick up a nonfiction book? Do you have a particular topic you’re attracted to? Do you have a particular writing style that works best? When you look at a nonfiction book, does the title or cover influence you? If so, share a title
Nonfiction November Week 2: Choosing Nonfiction Read More »
Because I have a personal penchant for alliteration, I’ve been reading nonfiction in November for the past few years. Only a couple of months ago did I discover that Nonfiction November is An Actual Thing, an established book-blogging meme: Announcing Nonfiction November I apologize to the hosts for not acknowledging them in past years, and
Nonfiction November Week 1: My Year in Nonfiction Read More »
Echoes of the Past in Crime Fiction Clinical psychologist and novelist Lucy Burdette understands exactly what I value most about crime fiction: we humans are always affected by our history. Our families shape our stories with their presence or absence, their quirks and patterns, their healthy traits and unhealthy, and sometimes their serious trauma. We
To read or not to read: Does COVID-19 belong in our books? Logan Brown, an arts writer for The Michigan Daily, writes the “ability to escape into another world is an essential requirement for me to like a book — when I am reminded of my own reality that escape is often broken.” She then
Books Aren’t Mental Movies: You’re Missing the Best Part of Reading BookRiot writer Danika Ellis caught my attention with this opening paragraph: Sometimes, when people describe what they love about reading, it feels like we’re doing two very different activities. They talk about a movie playing out in their mind’s eye as they read, imagined
I don’t remember when I originally read this book, although I bet it was in high school, since the book has been a staple of the high school curriculum for generations. Rereading it now, almost 60 years later and about 6 weeks before the U.S. Presidential election (2024), I was struck by how eeriely contemporary
