A large, brown building taking up most of a city block, labeled "Tacoma Public Library." Several cars are parked in front of the building, and a bicycle is chained to a signpost outside the entrance.

Library Snapshot Day

(Feature image: Main Branch, Tacoma Public Library, Tacoma, WA) Today is Library Snapshot Day! This day is celebrated in 38 states of the U.S. some time in the first half of each year, and for 2023 that day is today. But Library Snapshot Day is no April Fool’s joke: It is an engaging way to […]

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Book covers: Born to Run by Bruce Springsteen; Born on a Blue Day by Daniel Tammet; A Yellow Raft in Blue Water by Michael Dorris; The Banana King by Rich Cohen; The Descendants by Kaui Hart Hemmings; To Paradise by Hanya Yanagihara; Hawaii by James Michener

6 Degrees of Separation

This month’s starting point is Bruce Springsteen’s autobiography, Born to Run. first degree Another autobiographical work with a title that begins with the word born is Born on a Blue Day: Inside the Extraordinary Mind of an Autistic Savant by Daniel Tammet. second degree Another book with the word blue in the title is Michael

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Reviewer Jeana Jorgensen Interviews Thomas Cirotteau, Coauthor of Lady Sapiens: Breaking Stereotypes about Prehistoric Women The book Lady Sapiens “corrects mistaken stereotypes about prehistory, asserting the primacy of women in past societies and honoring the foremothers who advanced civilization with their art, knowledge, and power,” writes reviewer Jeana Jorgensen. “In reality,” she notes, “early women

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Last Week's Links

Literary Links

What Are We Protecting Children from by Banning Books? “Reading the titles that have been challenged and removed from public-school libraries across the country.” I’ve lately given up on posting links to articles about censorship across the United States because they’re too numerous and, frankly, too depressing to keep up with. But this article by

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Women are now publishing more books than men—and it’s good for business “Women have gone from publishing just 18% of books in the 1960s to more than half today, driving up revenue and diversifying readership” Categories: Publishing, Writing The End of the English Major I looked at a different link about this same topic last

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Historic photo: black and white image of a crowd of women suffragettes dressed in white marching on a city street lined by men in dark suits.

5 Memoirs to Read for International Women’s Day

(Feature Image: From the [U.S.] National Archives catalog; National Archives Identifier: 593556) Related Post: Here are memoirs by five strong women with whom to celebrate. The Dance of the Dissident Daughter by Sue Monk Kidd Sue Monk Kidd was an established Christian inspirational writer when an incident involving her teenage daughter called her to question

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Women’s History Month grew out of a weeklong commemoration by Jimmy Carter in 1980 “Years before it became a full month, there was Women’s History Week.” More on the history of Women’s History Month. Category: Et Cetera Don’t worry, Roald Dahl’s original texts will still be published after critics call new editions ‘absurd censorship’ Yet

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Book covers: Passages by Gail Sheehy; The Second Sex by Simone de Beauvoir; The Feminine Mystique by Betty Friedan; Writing a Woman's Life by Carolyn G. Heilbrun; Composing a Life by Mary Catherine Bateson; The Heroine's Journey by Maureen Murdock; The Seasons of a Woman's Life by Daniel J. Levinson

6 Degrees of Separation: Women’s History Month Edition

This month’s starting book was a best-selling self-help title in the seventies – Passages by Gail Sheehy, published in 1976. I read Passages before I started keeping a reading journal, so I can only estimate when I read it. It would have been in the mid 1980s, as my 40th birthday approached. I remember it

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Historic photo: black and white image of a crowd of women suffragettes dressed in white marching on a city street lined by men in dark suits.

March Is Women’s History Month

(Feature Image: From the [U.S.] National Archives catalog; National Archives Identifier: 593556) According to Wikipedia, Women’s History Month is celebrated during March in the United States, the United Kingdom, and Australia; and in Canada during October. Origin Women’s History Month had its origins as a national celebration in 1981 when Congress passed Pub. L. 97-28

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Roald Dahl’s books are nasty by nature – editing a word or two won’t make them nice A bit different aspect of censorship has been in the news lately: “An investigation by the Telegraph has revealed that hundreds of changes have been made to the most recent editions of Dahl’s books, published by Puffin (the

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