tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-224641122012-02-01T12:34:00.124-06:00Campaign for the American ReaderThe official blog of the Campaign for the American Reader, an independent initiative to encourage more readers to read more books.Marshal Zeringuenoreply@blogger.comBlogger67061100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22464112.post-32034385836351932142012-02-01T12:34:00.000-06:002012-02-01T12:34:00.135-06:00Five top novels on American frontier social historySimon Winchester's books include Krakatoa, The Map That Changed the World, and Atlantic: Great Sea Battles, Heroic Discoveries, Titanic Storms,and a Vast Ocean of a Million Stories, a history of the world’s second-largest ocean.
With Daisy Banks at The Browser, he discussed five novels about the social history of America's expanding frontiers from the late 19th century to the Great DepressionVivian Darkbloomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00890686845513992399noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22464112.post-87834260275342388222012-02-01T10:10:00.000-06:002012-02-01T10:10:00.437-06:00Pg. 99: Elizabeth Popp Berman's "Creating the Market University"Today's feature at the Page 99 Test: Creating the Market University: How Academic Science Became an Economic Engine by Elizabeth Popp Berman.
About the book, from the publisher:
American universities today serve as economic engines, performing the scientific research that will create new industries, drive economic growth, and keep the United States globally competitive. But only a few Marshal Zeringuenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22464112.post-93806142854755592012-02-01T08:08:00.000-06:002012-02-01T08:51:02.678-06:00Coffee with a canine: Nancy Jensen & GordyToday's featured duo at Coffee with a Canine: Nancy Jensen & Gordy.
The author, on how she and Gordy were united:
It was a frigid mid-February day, five inches of snow on the ground with more expected. The sun was just going down when I heard a piteous cry coming from the hill sloping down from my deck. I saw a tiny black smudge racing across the yard, so I ran out to my front porch and Marshal Zeringuehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05464230832444725698noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22464112.post-61533070727453470472012-02-01T00:34:00.000-06:002012-02-01T00:34:00.812-06:00Pg. 69: Susan Sherman's "The Little Russian"The current feature at the Page 69 Test: The Little Russian by Susan Sherman.
About the book, from the publisher:
The Little Russian spotlights an exciting new voice in historical fiction, an assured debut that should appeal to readers of Away by Amy Bloom or Cold Mountain by Charles Frazier. The novel tells the story of Berta Alshonsky, who revels in childhood memories of her time spent with Marshal Zeringuenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22464112.post-3281300815041684012012-01-31T16:44:00.000-06:002012-01-31T16:44:00.201-06:00Dispatches from Sundance 2012: 3Ray Taras regularly reviews world literature for the Campaign for the American Reader and has represented the site at the Sundance Film Festival since 2008.
Taras's third report from Sundance 2012 (read Dispatches from Sundance 2012: Part 1 & Part 2):
Sundance Festival has earned a reputation for lionizing documentary films that take on large issues and causes. The winner of the 2012 Grand Marshal Zeringuenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22464112.post-18233633014601576652012-01-31T14:34:00.000-06:002012-01-31T14:46:54.310-06:00What is Lucy Burdette reading?Today's featured contributor at Writers Read: Lucy Burdette (aka Roberta Isleib), author of An Appetite For Murder.
Her entry begins:
Ever since I signed a contract with NAL/Penguin for three books in the Key West food critic mystery series, I've had a marvelous excuse to immerse myself in foodie books--both fiction and nonfiction. I've always loved reading culinary mysteries, like Diane MottVivian Darkbloomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00890686845513992399noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22464112.post-12421916374703038462012-01-31T12:34:00.000-06:002012-01-31T12:34:00.406-06:00Five best books on theatreJohn Heilpern's books include Conference of the Birds: The Story of Peter Brook in Africa and How Good Is David Mamet, Anyway? Writings on Theater—and Why It Matters. He writes the "Out to Lunch" column for Vanity Fair.
One of his five best books on theater as told to the Wall Street Journal:
The Empty Space
by Peter Brook (1968)
Peter Brook's manifesto was considered revolutionary when it was Vivian Darkbloomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00890686845513992399noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22464112.post-82265259061076901852012-01-31T09:11:00.000-06:002012-01-31T09:11:00.156-06:00Pg. 99: Mark Peel's "Miss Cutler and the Case of the Resurrected Horse"Today's feature at the Page 99 Test: Miss Cutler and the Case of the Resurrected Horse: Social Work and the Story of Poverty in America, Australia, and Britain by Mark Peel.
About the book, from the publisher:
Social workers produced thousands of case files about the poor during the interwar years. Analyzing almost two thousand such case files and traveling from Boston, Minneapolis, and Marshal Zeringuenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22464112.post-57295411668916908122012-01-31T03:33:00.000-06:002012-01-31T07:14:20.694-06:00Hillary Jordan's "When She Woke," the movieNow showing at My Book, The Movie: When She Woke by Hillary Jordan.
The entry begins:
I can never see real people as my characters until I’m done creating them—I suppose I prefer to make the actors fit the characters rather than the other way around—so I didn’t start thinking about the casting for When She Woke until I was doing final revisions in early 2011.
The book is set in an Marshal Zeringuenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22464112.post-49091413466484553572012-01-30T16:44:00.000-06:002012-01-30T16:44:00.069-06:00Dispatches from Sundance 2012: 2Ray Taras regularly reviews world literature for the Campaign for the American Reader and has represented the site at the Sundance Film Festival since 2008.
Taras's second report from Sundance 2012 (read his first dispatch here):
The worldwide movement against apartheid launched in the 1970s constituted one of the rare instances during the Cold War of Western and Eastern bloc nations working Marshal Zeringuenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22464112.post-39619958874200990042012-01-30T14:34:00.000-06:002012-01-30T14:47:27.116-06:00What is Philip Gooden reading?The current featured contributor at Writers Read: Philip Gooden, author of The Ely Testament.
His entry begins:
I’ve just read Piece of Cake by Derek Robinson. It came out about 30 years ago as a kind of sequel to Goshawk Squadron, Robinson’s novel about aerial combat in World War One. Seen largely through the eyes of the young pilots of the fictional Hornet Squadron, Piece of Cake takes us Vivian Darkbloomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00890686845513992399noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22464112.post-25921446988657142282012-01-30T12:34:00.002-06:002012-01-30T12:44:39.718-06:00Ten of the worst nightmares in literatureAt the Guardian, John Mullan named ten of the best nightmares in literature.
One novel on the list:
Wuthering Heights by Emily Brontë
Poor Lockwood gets snowed in on a visit to Wuthering Heights and has to stay the night. He dreams that he puts his hand through the bedroom window and has it seized by "the fingers of a little, ice-cold hand". There is a sobbing voice and suddenly a terrifying Vivian Darkbloomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00890686845513992399noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22464112.post-3075573972398350282012-01-30T10:01:00.000-06:002012-01-30T10:01:00.267-06:00Pg. 69: Bill Fitzhugh's "The Exterminators"The current feature at the Page 69 Test: The Exterminators by Bill Fitzhugh.
About the book, from the publisher:
All Bob Dillon ever wanted was a truck with a big fiberglass bug on the roof. All he had to do was survive a half dozen assassination attempts, pull a ten million dollar con on a Bolivian drug lord, and then fall off the face of the earth with his family and his new best friend, Marshal Zeringuenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22464112.post-39557700868320371672012-01-30T01:23:00.000-06:002012-01-30T07:12:35.880-06:00Pg. 99: Fritz Allhoff's "Terrorism, Ticking Time-Bombs, and Torture"Today's feature at the Page 99 Test: Terrorism, Ticking Time-Bombs, and Torture: A Philosophical Analysis by Fritz Allhoff.
About the book, from the publisher:
The general consensus among philosophers is that the use of torture is never justified. In Terrorism, Ticking Time-Bombs, and Torture, Fritz Allhoff demonstrates the weakness of the case against torture; while allowing that torture Marshal Zeringuenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22464112.post-1220591258356042012-01-29T14:34:00.000-06:002012-01-29T14:36:24.150-06:00Rosamund Bartlett's "Tolstoy: A Russian Life," the movieNow showing at My Book, The Movie: Tolstoy: A Russian Life by Rosamund Bartlett.
The entry begins:
The image of Tolstoy as an old sage is now deeply ingrained thanks to The Last Station. Christopher Plummer did a marvellous job, even if his character lacked Tolstoy’s gravitas. If they ever made my biography into a film, I'd like to concentrate on Tolstoy’s earlier years, when he was a Marshal Zeringuenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22464112.post-61195245007608535092012-01-29T12:34:00.000-06:002012-01-29T12:34:00.176-06:00Five top books on dissent in Central EuropeTimothy Snyder is professor of history at Yale University. His books include Bloodlands: Europe Between Hitler and Stalin.
One book tagged in his dialogue with Alec Ash at The Browser about books on the experience of dissent in Central and Eastern Europe:
Homage to Catalonia
by George Orwell
Your first book is Homage to Catalonia by George Orwell, which you describe as a prehistory of dissentMarshal Zeringuenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22464112.post-28113500494368926922012-01-29T07:55:00.000-06:002012-01-29T07:55:23.611-06:00Dispatches from Sundance 2012: 1Ray Taras is professor of political science at Tulane University in New Orleans where he also directed its World Literature Program until Hurricane Katrina forced its closure. Comparative literature and world cinema have been teaching and research interests of his for many years.
He regularly reviews world literature for the Campaign for the American Reader and has represented the site at the Marshal Zeringuenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22464112.post-60623053598617706862012-01-29T00:34:00.000-06:002012-01-29T07:30:56.238-06:00What is Elizabeth Popp Berman reading?The current featured contributor at Writers Read: Elizabeth Popp Berman, author of Creating the Market University: How Academic Science Became an Economic Engine.
Her entry begins:
I have more time to read fiction in the summer, when I’m not teaching. And I’m the kind of person who likes to create arbitrary projects for herself. So last summer I started reading the Man Booker Prize winners Vivian Darkbloomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00890686845513992399noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22464112.post-54070689379341850462012-01-28T14:34:00.000-06:002012-01-28T14:34:00.346-06:00Pg. 99: Meredith H. Lair's "Armed with Abundance"This weekend's feature at the Page 99 Test: Armed with Abundance: Consumerism and Soldiering in the Vietnam War by Meredith Lair.
About the book, from the publisher:
Popular representations of the Vietnam War tend to emphasize violence, deprivation, and trauma. By contrast, in Armed with Abundance, Meredith Lair focuses on the noncombat experiences of U.S. soldiers in Vietnam, redrawing the Marshal Zeringuenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22464112.post-66647611764537817602012-01-28T10:01:00.002-06:002012-01-28T10:01:00.524-06:00Five best books by the homesickSusan J. Matt is Presidential Distinguished Professor of History at Weber State University in Ogden, Utah. She is the author of Keeping Up with the Joneses: Envy in American Consumer Society, 1890-1930 and Homesickness: An American History.For the Wall Street Journal, she named a five best list of books by the homesick.One title on the list:Twelve Years a Slaveby Solomon Northup (1853)In 1841, Vivian Darkbloomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00890686845513992399noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22464112.post-47112471656977816252012-01-28T00:34:00.000-06:002012-01-28T01:03:35.714-06:00Pg. 69: Chris Morgan Jones's "The Silent Oligarch"This weekend's feature at the Page 69 Test: The Silent Oligarch by Christopher Morgan Jones.
About the book, from the publisher:
A London intelligence agent pursues a money launderer to expose the dealings of a shadowy Russian oligarch.
In a world where national borders shrink to insignificance in the face of colossal wealth and corporate power, The Silent Oligarch offers a new kind of hero toMarshal Zeringuenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22464112.post-23859552342621491002012-01-27T14:34:00.000-06:002012-01-27T14:36:22.045-06:00What is Rosamund Bartlett reading?The current featured contributor at Writers Read: Rosamund Bartlett, author of Tolstoy: A Russian Life.
Her entry begins:I’m particularly pleased to be asked this question now, as I’m currently abroad and having a bit of time off, so have been reading all kinds of things simultaneously. When I am at home in Oxford, I usually have my head in a book, but mostly with a view to writing about an Vivian Darkbloomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00890686845513992399noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22464112.post-63795336772768210622012-01-27T11:11:00.000-06:002012-01-27T11:11:00.475-06:00John Burdett's "Vulture Peak," the movieNow showing at My Book, The Movie: Vulture Peak by John Burdett.
The entry begins:
I have always wanted Tony Leung (The Lover) to play Sonchai. That bony face and the way he can play the put-upon Asian to perfection seems right to me. Also, that obvious intelligence strikes me as fitting for my central character. Of course, I'm thinking of the movie as something with psychological content - Marshal Zeringuenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22464112.post-73084650926328473492012-01-27T07:07:00.000-06:002012-01-27T07:07:00.356-06:00Pg. 99: William Cook's "In Pursuit of the Traveling Salesman"The current feature at the Page 99 Test: In Pursuit of the Traveling Salesman: Mathematics at the Limits of Computation by William J. Cook.
About the book, from the publisher:What is the shortest possible route for a traveling salesman seeking to visit each city on a list exactly once and return to his city of origin? It sounds simple enough, yet the traveling salesman problem is one of the Marshal Zeringuenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22464112.post-11935194962629018692012-01-27T00:34:00.000-06:002012-01-27T07:05:41.800-06:00Ten of the best seductions in literatureAt the Guardian, John Mullan named ten of the best seductions in literature.
One novel on the list:
David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens
We do not exactly see the seduction of Little Em'ly by handsome, heartless Steerforth, for the young David does not understand what he is witnessing. He sees her "listening with the deepest attention, her breath held, her blue eyes sparkling like jewels, andVivian Darkbloomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00890686845513992399noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22464112.post-73490147065416541352012-01-26T17:55:00.000-06:002012-01-26T17:55:00.147-06:00Pg. 69: Wessel Ebersohn's "The October Killings"The current feature at the Page 69 Test: The October Killings by Wessel Ebersohn.
About the book, from the publisher:
Abigail Bukula was fifteen when her parents were killed in a massacre of antiapartheid activists by white security forces. Because a soldier spoke in her defense, she was spared. Now she’s a lawyer with the new government, and while she has tried to put the tragedy behind her, Marshal Zeringuenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22464112.post-69734172827672282762012-01-26T14:34:00.000-06:002012-01-26T14:34:00.018-06:00What is John Burdett reading?The current featured contributor at Writers Read: John Burdett, author of Vulture Peak.
His entry begins:
I'm reading Thomas E. Ricks's Fiasco: the American Military Adventure in Iraq and The Operators by Michael Hastings (inside story of the Afghan war and how Hastings' reporting brought down General McChrystal). They are research for my next novel which features a Vietnam Vet who cannot Marshal Zeringuenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22464112.post-91329452443293578702012-01-26T10:01:00.001-06:002012-01-26T10:01:00.050-06:00Top 10 books of the nightIan Marchant's books include two acclaimed memoir/travel books, Parallel Lines and The Longest Crawl, and the recently released night-owl's guide to Britain, Something of the Night.One of his top ten books of the night, as told to the Guardian:The Left Hand of Darkness by Ursula Le GuinI wonder if the wonderful Ursula Le Guin had read [Cherry Apsley-Garrard's] The Worst Journey in the World Vivian Darkbloomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00890686845513992399noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22464112.post-30264450116062252542012-01-26T00:34:00.000-06:002012-01-26T06:31:20.499-06:00Pg. 99: Eben Miller's "Born along the Color Line"Today's feature at the Page 99 Test: Born along the Color Line: The 1933 Amenia Conference and the Rise of a National Civil Rights Movement by Eben Miller.
About the book, from the publisher:
In August, 1933, dozens of people gathered amid seven large, canvas tents in a field near Amenia, in upstate New York. Joel Spingarn, president of the board of the NAACP, had called a conference to Marshal Zeringuenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22464112.post-67029616240809037312012-01-25T17:55:00.000-06:002012-01-25T17:55:00.540-06:00Henry Alford's 6 favorite booksHenry Alford has written for the New York Times and Vanity Fair for over a decade. He has also written for the New Yorker. It is entirely possible that you have heard him on National Public Radio.
He is the author of a humor collection, Municipal Bondage, and of an account of his attempts to become a working actor, Big Kiss, which won a Thurber Prize. His book How to Live: A Search for Wisdom Marshal Zeringuenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22464112.post-12050260124684747522012-01-25T14:34:00.000-06:002012-01-25T14:34:00.156-06:00Stephanie Deutsch's "You Need a Schoolhouse," the movieNow showing at My Book, The Movie: You Need a Schoolhouse: Booker T. Washington, Julius Rosenwald, and the Building of Schools for the Segregated South by Stephanie Deutsch.
The entry begins:
When my friend Tony Rizzoli asked me what Julius Rosenwald looked like I gave a rather flip response. I said, “kind of nebbishy.” But even as these words were leaving my mouth I realized they were Marshal Zeringuenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22464112.post-34849981041006829122012-01-25T12:34:00.000-06:002012-01-25T12:34:00.396-06:00What is Matt Bondurant reading?The current featured contributor at Writers Read: Matt Bondurant, author of The Wettest County in the World and The Night Swimmer.
His entry begins:
I’m currently reading Out of Africa by Isak Dinesen, which is one of those great books that has long been on my list and I’ve finally gotten around to it. What is surprising to me is the gorgeous prose; I had assumed I would get plenty of rich Marshal Zeringuenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22464112.post-18513800361596626842012-01-25T10:01:00.000-06:002012-01-25T11:05:49.996-06:00Five top books on mountaineeringOne title on the Barnes & Noble Review's list of five top books about mountaineering:
The Ledge
by Jim Davidson and Kevin Vaughan
Davidson and his friend Mike Price were coming down Washington State's Mount Rainier when the pair fell 80 feet into a crevasse. The fall killed Price and left Davidson badly injured, stranded on the ledge that gives this harrowing book its title. Against all odds, heVivian Darkbloomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00890686845513992399noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22464112.post-53168706018239175292012-01-25T00:34:00.000-06:002012-01-25T06:50:17.362-06:00Pg. 69: Colin Cotterill's "Slash and Burn"The current feature at the Page 69 Test: Slash and Burn (Dr. Siri Paiboun Series #8) by Colin Cotterill.
About the book, from the publisher:
Dr. Siri might finally be allowed to retire (again). Although he loves his two morgue assistants, he's tired of being Laos's national coroner, a job he never wanted in the first place. Plus, he's pushing 80, and wants to spend some time with his wife Marshal Zeringuenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22464112.post-38712368095865513882012-01-24T14:34:00.000-06:002012-01-24T14:34:00.717-06:00Pg. 99: Hendrik Hartog's "Someday All This Will Be Yours"The current feature at the Page 99 Test: Someday All This Will Be Yours: A History of Inheritance and Old Age by Hendrik Hartog.
About the book, from the publisher:
We all hope that we will be cared for as we age. But the details of that care, for caretaker and recipient alike, raise some of life’s most vexing questions. From the mid-nineteenth to the mid-twentieth century, as an explosive Marshal Zeringuenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22464112.post-79292364603887366132012-01-24T12:34:00.000-06:002012-01-24T12:34:00.072-06:00Five notable science fiction classicsAdam Roberts received his MA (English and Classics Jt-Hons) from Aberdeen University and his PhD (Robert Browning and the Classics) from Cambridge University. He has worked in the English Department at Royal Holloway, University of London, since 1991, and he is currently Professor of Nineteenth Century Literature.
His books include The History of Science Fiction as well as numerous science Vivian Darkbloomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00890686845513992399noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22464112.post-16063488156169476412012-01-24T10:01:00.000-06:002012-01-24T16:53:05.107-06:00John Lescroart's "The Hunter," the movieNow showing at My Book, The Movie: The Hunter by John Lescroart.
The entry begins:
The Hunter is my third Wyatt Hunt novel, and I’d love to have Taylor Kitsch (the Tim Riggins character from Friday Night Lights) take on the role of Wyatt. He would be perfect. In fact...[read on]
Learn more about the book and its author at John Lescroart's website.
Writers Read: John Lescroart.
The Page 69 Marshal Zeringuenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22464112.post-76570297738944089982012-01-24T00:34:00.000-06:002012-01-24T06:53:08.124-06:00What is Jesse Browner reading?The current featured contributor at Writers Read: Jesse Browner, author of Everything Happens Today.
His entry begins:
It is difficult to credit, or to explain, just why so many masterpieces were written in Hungary in the early part of the twentieth century. Perhaps it has something to do with the rich loam created by a decaying empire. In any case, whenever I tell anyone about my thing forVivian Darkbloomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00890686845513992399noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22464112.post-488542947795125102012-01-23T14:34:00.000-06:002012-01-23T22:02:40.045-06:00Five notable books on the gods of OlympusOne title on the Barnes & Noble Review's list of five books on the Olympians:
The Iliad
by Homer, translated by Richmond Lattimore
The gods and goddesses of Greek mythology are at their most destructive in Homer's bloody epic. While the focus is on the rage of the human hero Achilles, the meddling deities are both spectactors and manipulators of the battle between Trojans and Acheans -- and Vivian Darkbloomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00890686845513992399noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22464112.post-76822297155916113012012-01-23T10:01:00.000-06:002012-01-23T10:01:01.023-06:00Pg. 69: Hillary Jordan's "When She Woke"The current feature at the Page 69 Test: When She Woke by Hillary Jordan.
About the book, from the publisher:
Hannah Payne’s life has been devoted to church and family, but after her arrest, she awakens to a nightmare: she is lying on a table in a bare room, covered only by a paper gown, with cameras broadcasting her every move to millions at home, for whom observing new Chromes—criminals Marshal Zeringuenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22464112.post-55612702301211044262012-01-23T06:36:00.000-06:002012-01-23T06:36:00.352-06:00Pg. 99: A. W. Moore's "The Evolution of Modern Metaphysics"The current feature at the Page 99 Test: The Evolution of Modern Metaphysics: Making Sense of Things by A. W. Moore.
About the book, from the publisher:
This book is concerned with the history of metaphysics since Descartes. Taking as its definition of metaphysics 'the most general attempt to make sense of things', it charts the evolution of this enterprise through various competing Marshal Zeringuenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22464112.post-71504771631772160442012-01-22T14:34:00.000-06:002012-01-22T21:26:15.918-06:00Sandra Balzo's "Triple Shot," the movieNow showing at My Book, The Movie: Triple Shot by Sandra Balzo.
The entry begins:
Uncommon Grounds, the first Maggy Thorsen coffeehouse mystery, was published in 2004. Since then, I've written six more, the most recent being the just-released Triple Shot.
Over the course of my series, Maggy has weathered countless storms (including a "thunder-snow" that destroyed her shop), the loss of Marshal Zeringuenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22464112.post-54882492286634793322012-01-22T11:11:00.000-06:002012-01-22T11:11:00.643-06:00Five books on secret agents featured in seriesJeffrey T. Richelson is the author of several books on intelligence, including Defusing Armageddon: Inside NEST, America's Secret Nuclear Bomb Squad and Spying on the Bomb. He is currently a Senior Fellow with the National Security Archive.
In 2008 he named a five best list of books on secret agents featured in series for the Wall Street Journal, including:
The Quiller Memorandum
by Adam Hall
Vivian Darkbloomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00890686845513992399noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22464112.post-71971762623013714362012-01-22T08:08:00.000-06:002012-01-22T08:08:01.112-06:00What is Rick Mofina reading?The current featured contributor at Writers Read: Rick Mofina, author of The Burning Edge.
His entry begins:
Right now I am reading True Grit by Charles Portis. I confess that my introduction to the story came through the John Wayne movie when I was probably about the same age as the heroine, 14-year-old Mattie Ross. Mattie's quest is justice for the murder of her father by Tom Chaney, a Vivian Darkbloomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00890686845513992399noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22464112.post-62526449042757663162012-01-21T22:05:00.001-06:002012-01-21T22:05:55.848-06:00Pg. 69: John Lescroart's "The Hunter"The current feature at the Page 69 Test: The Hunter by John Lescroart.
About the book, from the publisher:
New York Times bestseller John Lescroart delivers a dark, intimate thriller about the price we put on family and the terrible costs of seeking the truth.
Raised by loving adoptive parents, San Francisco private investigator Wyatt Hunt never had an interest in finding his birth Marshal Zeringuenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22464112.post-64083605637109716812012-01-21T14:34:00.000-06:002012-01-21T21:08:05.834-06:00Five notable books on the art of livingRoman Krznaric is a cultural thinker and founding faculty member of The School of Life in London, which offers instruction and inspiration on the important questions of everyday life. He advises organizations including Oxfam and the United Nations on using empathy and conversation to create social change, and has been named by the Observer as one of Britain’s leading lifestyle philosophers.
Vivian Darkbloomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00890686845513992399noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22464112.post-88382892055973610082012-01-21T10:01:00.000-06:002012-01-21T10:01:00.240-06:00Pg. 99: Paul M. Barrett's "Glock"This weekend's feature at the Page 99 Test: Glock: The Rise of America's Gun by Paul M. Barrett.
About the book, from the publisher:
Based on fifteen years of research, Glock is the riveting story of the weapon that has become known as American’s gun. Today the Glock pistol has been embraced by two-thirds of all U.S. police departments, glamorized in countless Hollywood movies, and Marshal Zeringuenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22464112.post-28543952635714280572012-01-21T00:34:00.000-06:002012-01-21T08:06:15.795-06:00Five best: French noir fictionR.J. Ellory's novels include the bestselling A Quiet Belief in Angels, which was the Strand Magazine's Thriller of the Year, nominated for the Barry Award, and a finalist for the SIBA Award. His novel, A Simple Act of Violence, won the Theakston's Crime Novel of the Year Award.
He named his five best French noir novels for the Wall Street Journal.
One book on the list:
The Stranger
by Albert Vivian Darkbloomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00890686845513992399noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22464112.post-4769208695009090142012-01-20T14:34:00.000-06:002012-01-20T14:34:00.492-06:00Top 10 popular mathematics booksIan Stewart is Emeritus Professor of Mathematics at the University of Warwick. His many books include From Here to Infinity, Nature’s Numbers, Does God Play Dice?, The Problems of Mathematics, Letters to a Young Mathematician, and Why Beauty Is Truth. His writing has appeared in New Scientist, Discover, Scientific American, and many newspapers in the U.K. and U.S.
His new book is In Pursuit of Vivian Darkbloomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00890686845513992399noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22464112.post-17797863241200370852012-01-20T11:11:00.000-06:002012-01-20T11:11:00.377-06:00What is Randy Rawls reading?The current featured contributor at Writers Read: Randy Rawls, author of the Ace Edwards, Dallas PI series.
His entry begins:
I have to open with the fact that I am an avid reader. I always have a book near me, ready to open—home (of course), doctor's office, bank, post office, etc. Of course, that's easy because I read on a Kindle. I've had one since early in the K-life and am now using Vivian Darkbloomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00890686845513992399noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22464112.post-77512753267509496682012-01-20T09:11:00.000-06:002012-01-20T09:11:00.646-06:00Michael T. Cannell's "The Limit," the movieNow showing at My Book, The Movie: The Limit: Life and Death on the 1961 Grand Prix Circuit by Michael T. Cannell.
The entry begins:
Believe it or not, I sold the movie rights to The Limit: Life and Death on the 1961 Grand Prix Circuit before writing its first sentence. It was pure luck.. Another book about mid-century racing was soon to be published with its own movie deal. My agent managedMarshal Zeringuenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22464112.post-23248597196339341482012-01-20T00:34:00.000-06:002012-01-20T06:48:43.980-06:00Pg. 69: Lucy Burdette's "An Appetite for Murder"The current feature at the Page 69 Test: An Appetite For Murder by Lucy Burdette.
About the book, from the publisher:
Hayley Snow’s life always revolved around food. But when she applies to be a food critic for a Key West style magazine, she discovers that her new boss would be Kristen Faulkner—the woman Hayley caught in bed with her boyfriend! Hayley thinks things are as bad as they can Marshal Zeringuenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22464112.post-72287778064693412922012-01-19T14:34:00.000-06:002012-01-19T22:26:50.313-06:00Pg. 99: Ronald Weitzer's "Legalizing Prostitution"The current feature at the Page 99 Test: Legalizing Prostitution: From Illicit Vice to Lawful Business by Ronald Weitzer.
About the book, from the publisher:
Some towns in Nevada have legal brothels where sex can be bought lawfully, yet in Las Vegas, prostitutes and their patrons are regularly prosecuted for exchanging sex for money, just as they are elsewhere in the United States. While sexMarshal Zeringuenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22464112.post-36652326741071436182012-01-19T10:01:00.000-06:002012-01-19T10:01:00.713-06:00Six novels about grand passionsThe Christian Science Monitor culled six novels about grand passions from Thomas Craughwell's Great Books for every Book Lover.
One title on the list:
Madame Bovary, by Gustave Flaubert
Madame Bovary (née Emma Rouault) is a flighty but beautiful young wife with delusions of grandeur. She rejects her husband Charles for his failure to provide her with high romance and a grand literary style of Vivian Darkbloomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00890686845513992399noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22464112.post-32013968922634879342012-01-19T00:34:00.000-06:002012-01-19T00:34:00.136-06:00What is Beth Fantaskey reading?The current featured contributor at Writers Read: Beth Fantaskey, author of Jessica’s Guide to Dating on the Dark Side, Jekel Loves Hyde, and the newly released Jessica Rules the Dark Side.
Her entry begins:
Right now, I am under the gun to finish my doctoral dissertation, which is dictating everything that I read. (If I don’t finish by May, I’ve wasted seven years of schooling!) Anyway, my Vivian Darkbloomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00890686845513992399noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22464112.post-77997878710507481082012-01-18T14:34:00.000-06:002012-01-18T22:38:35.486-06:00Pg. 99: Wesley Moody's "Demon of the Lost Cause"The current feature at the Page 99 Test: Demon of the Lost Cause: Sherman and Civil War History by Wesley Moody.
About the book, from the publisher:
At the end of the Civil War, Union general William Tecumseh Sherman was surprisingly more popular in the newly defeated South than he was in the North. Yet, only thirty years later, his name was synonymous with evil and destruction in the South,Marshal Zeringuenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22464112.post-31876456150937894872012-01-18T13:23:00.000-06:002012-01-18T13:23:00.177-06:00Helen Landalf's "Flyaway," the movieNow showing at My Book, The Movie: Flyaway by Helen Landalf.
The entry begins:
In order to cast my contemporary realistic YA novel, Flyaway, which is about a 15-year-old girl struggling to come to terms with the fact that her mom is a meth addict, I’d need to find three strong actresses. For the main character, Stevie, who remains fiercely loyal to her mom in spite of mounting evidence thatMarshal Zeringuenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22464112.post-53787847202382066052012-01-18T11:11:00.000-06:002012-01-18T11:11:00.086-06:00Top 10 dystopian novels for teenagersIn 2007 Gemma Malley complied a top 10 list of dystopian novels for teenagers for the Guardian.
One title on the list:
The Children's Story by James Clavell
I'm ashamed to say that I borrowed this book from my school library when I was nine and never returned it. In my defence, it's one of the most chilling books I've ever read. Set in a classroom, it shows how susceptible young minds are, howVivian Darkbloomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00890686845513992399noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22464112.post-63267675497406096932012-01-18T09:09:00.000-06:002012-01-18T09:09:00.442-06:00Coffee with a canine: Paul M. Barrett & BeauToday's featured duo at Coffee with a Canine: Paul M. Barrett & Beau.
The author, on the dachshund's best skill:
Singing. He has a lovely singing voice and is always ready to have a family choir session. Actual words not necessary, just good old fashioned high-pitched howling. We discovered his talent when he spontaneously began singing to some opera on television. He also likes classical Marshal Zeringuehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05464230832444725698noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22464112.post-32018592028266360242012-01-18T00:34:00.000-06:002012-01-18T06:11:43.981-06:00Pg. 69: John Burdett's "Vulture Peak"The current feature at the Page 69 Test: Vulture Peak by John Burdett.
About the book, from the publisher:
Nobody knows Bangkok like Royal Thai Police Detective Sonchai Jitpleecheep, and there is no one quite like Sonchai: a police officer who has kept his Buddhist soul intact—more or less—despite the fact that his job shoves him face-to-face with some of the most vile and outrageous crimesMarshal Zeringuenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22464112.post-2301488913398233642012-01-17T17:55:00.000-06:002012-01-17T20:18:49.613-06:00Five top books on Las VegasMatthew O'Brien is an author and journalist who's lived in Las Vegas since 1997. His first book, Beneath the Neon: Life and Death in the Tunnels of Las Vegas, chronicles his adventures in the city's underground flood channels. His second book, My Week at the Blue Angel: And Other Stories from the Storm Drains, Strip Clubs, and Trailer Parks of Las Vegas, is a creative-nonfiction collection set inVivian Darkbloomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00890686845513992399noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22464112.post-90769785973498789032012-01-17T14:34:00.000-06:002012-01-17T20:23:17.317-06:00What is Paul M. Barrett reading?The current featured contributor at Writers Read: Paul M. Barrett, author of Glock: The Rise of America's Gun.
The entry begins:
I've been on a David Foster Wallace kick lately, catching up with my wife, the documentary film maker Julie Cohen, who is a DFW scholar and admirer. Consider the Lobster is probably the best collection of nonfiction essay-like journalism I have ever read. Wallace Vivian Darkbloomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00890686845513992399noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22464112.post-65761074237542139052012-01-17T11:11:00.000-06:002012-01-17T11:11:00.557-06:00Five notable books on the telephoneOne title on the Barnes & Noble Review's list of five books on the telephone:
The Telephone Gambit: Chasing Alexander Graham Bell's Secret
by Seth Shulman
We all know that Alexander Graham Bell invented the telephone. But while a writer-in-residence at MIT, Shulman uncovered a slew of sources that indicated Bell copied the idea with the help of an alcoholic patent officer. Even more surprising,Vivian Darkbloomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00890686845513992399noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22464112.post-21090062694431404812012-01-17T00:34:00.001-06:002012-01-17T07:22:02.567-06:00Pg. 99: Michael R. Powers's "Acts of God and Man"The current feature at the Page 99 Test: Acts of God and Man: Ruminations on Risk and Insurance by Michael Powers.
About the book, from the publisher:
Much has been written about the ups and downs of financial markets, from the lure of prosperity to the despair of crises. Yet a more fundamental and pernicious source of uncertainty exists in today's world: the traditional “insurance” risks ofMarshal Zeringuenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22464112.post-66769536442094112012-01-16T14:34:00.000-06:002012-01-16T14:34:00.216-06:00Eben Miller's "Born along the Color Line," the movieNow showing at My Book, The Movie: Born along the Color Line by Eben Miller.
The entry begins:
Casting my book as a movie, I'll start with the easiest role to fill. In this collective biography, the role of a distinct place—the Troutbeck estate in Amenia, New York—actually nears in significance to some of the main figures involved. Happily, the sylvan setting where the men and women I writeMarshal Zeringuenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22464112.post-46022632684491585082012-01-16T12:34:00.001-06:002012-01-16T12:34:00.702-06:00Ten best literary tear-jerkersHallie Ephron is an award-winning mystery reviewer for the Boston Globe. Her books include Come and Find Me, Never Tell a Lie, which was a finalist for the Mary Higgins Clark Award and was made into the film And Baby Will Fall for the Lifetime Movie Network, and Writing and Selling Your Mystery, which was nominated for both an Edgar and an Anthony Award.
One of her ten best books for a good cryVivian Darkbloomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00890686845513992399noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22464112.post-40582794548012092492012-01-16T09:11:00.000-06:002012-01-16T09:11:01.742-06:00Pg. 69: Alex Gilvarry's "From the Memoirs of a Non-Enemy Combatant"The current feature at the Page 69 Test: From the Memoirs of a Non-Enemy Combatant: A Novel by Alex Gilvarry.
About the book, from the publisher:
High fashion and homeland security clash in a masterful debut.
Boyet Hernandez is a small man with a big American dream when he arrives in New York in 2002, fresh out of design school in Manila. With dubious financing and visions of Fashion Week Marshal Zeringuenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22464112.post-82415354584211462342012-01-16T00:34:00.000-06:002012-01-16T06:23:22.558-06:00What is Dominique A. Tobbell reading?The current featured contributor at Writers Read: Dominique A. Tobbell, author of Pills, Power, and Policy: The Struggle for Drug Reform in Cold War America and Its Consequences.
Her entry begins:
For fun reading over the Christmas break, I read Susan Orlean’s incredible Rin Tin Tin: The Life and the Legend. I have always loved German shepherds; I grew up with one in England and am now the Vivian Darkbloomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00890686845513992399noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22464112.post-11421146678185232012-01-15T14:34:00.001-06:002012-01-15T14:56:05.922-06:00Ten good books about Martin Luther King, Jr.The staff of the Christian Science Monitor came up with ten of the best books about Martin Luther King, Jr., including:
The King trilogy, by Taylor Branch
Branch’s Pulitzer-prize winning trilogy consists of “Parting the Waters: America in the King Years 1954-1963” (Simon and Schuster, 1088 pp.), “Pillar of Fire: America in the King Years 1963-65” (Simon and Schuster, 768 pp.), and “At Canaan's Marshal Zeringuenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22464112.post-63437879029110013782012-01-15T10:01:00.000-06:002012-01-15T11:36:06.332-06:00Pg. 99: Steven Mock's "Symbols of Defeat in the Construction of National Identity"The current feature at the Page 99 Test: Symbols of Defeat in the Construction of National Identity by Steven Mock.
About the book, from the publisher:
If nationalism is the assertion of legitimacy for a nation and its effectiveness as a political entity, why do many nations emphasize images of their own defeat in understanding their history? Using Israel, Serbia, France, Greece, and Ghana Marshal Zeringuenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22464112.post-67327930673508925222012-01-15T00:34:00.000-06:002012-01-15T07:35:40.575-06:00Beth Fantaskey's "Jessica Rules the Dark Side," the movieNow showing at My Book, The Movie: Jessica Rules the Dark Side by Beth Fantaskey.
The entry begins:
I can’t, for the life of me, choose actors to play my characters. As I write, the people I create become very vivid in my imagination, and they never look like anyone but... themselves. Every now and then, readers will send me pictures of actors and say, “This is who I imagine as Lucius Marshal Zeringuenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22464112.post-33279444277596334032012-01-14T14:34:00.000-06:002012-01-14T14:53:33.791-06:00Five top books about Austrian economicsPeter Boettke is professor of economics at George Mason University. His books include Why Perestroika Failed and, as editor, The Elgar Companion to Austrian Economics.
He discussed five books on Austrian economics with Sophie Roell at The Browser.
One title on the list:
The Invisible Hook
by Peter Leeson
You gave me two other examples as well. One was the The Invisible Hook, by Peter Leeson, Vivian Darkbloomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00890686845513992399noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22464112.post-31497132921512823542012-01-14T10:01:00.000-06:002012-01-14T12:08:18.732-06:00What is John Lescroart reading?This weekend's featured contributor at Writers Read: John Lescroart, author of The Hunter.
His entry begins:
I'm reading two books at the moment, going on three, which is more or less typical. My daughter gave me a copy of Steve Jobs by Walter Isaacson and I picked it up, somewhat reluctantly, and found myself totally gripped by it. The guy was prickly, to say the least, and I don’t think Marshal Zeringuenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22464112.post-3753111748175471892012-01-14T00:34:00.000-06:002012-01-14T08:02:18.702-06:00Pg. 69: Margaret Maron's "Three-Day Town"This weekend's feature at the Page 69 Test: Three-Day Town by Margaret Maron.
About the book, from the publisher:
Judge Deborah Knott and Sheriff's Deputy Dwight Bryant are on a train to New York, finally on a honeymoon after a year of marriage. January in New York might not be the perfect time to visit, but they'll take it. The trip is a Christmas present from Dwight's sister-in-law, who Marshal Zeringuenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22464112.post-12791556251045843012012-01-13T15:03:00.000-06:002012-01-13T15:06:01.022-06:00Four essential Graham Greene novelsPico Iyer's new memoir is The Man Within My Head.
He named his four favorite Graham Greene novels for The Daily Beast. One title on the list:
The End of the Affair
Greene’s most personal novel was called “one of the best, most true and moving novels of my time,” by William Faulkner, no less. Told, unusually for Greene, in the first person, it’s a characteristically raw, intimate and unsparing Vivian Darkbloomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00890686845513992399noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22464112.post-11437522637205078452012-01-13T12:34:00.000-06:002012-01-13T13:00:31.728-06:00Pg. 99: Lea Ypi's "Global Justice and Avant-Garde Political Agency"The current feature at the Page 99 Test: Global Justice and Avant-Garde Political Agency by Lea Ypi.
About the book, from the publisher:
Why should states matter and how do relations between fellow-citizens affect what is owed to distant strangers? How, if at all, can demanding egalitarian principles inform political action in the real world? This book proposes a novel solution through the Marshal Zeringuenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22464112.post-71042543704529312172012-01-13T10:01:00.000-06:002012-01-13T10:01:00.817-06:00Nine of the best books on The EnlightenmentSophie Gee is Associate Professor and Director of Undergraduate Studies in Princeton's English department.
In 2007 she published her first novel, The Scandal of the Season, a comedy of manners set in eighteenth-century London, and a retelling of "The Rape of the Lock." The novel was named one of the Best Books of 2007 by the Washington Post and the Economist and is published in 13 countries.Vivian Darkbloomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00890686845513992399noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22464112.post-46505890535067677712012-01-13T00:34:00.000-06:002012-01-13T06:00:25.902-06:00Charlie Price's "Desert Angel," the movieNow showing at My Book, The Movie: Desert Angel by Charlie Price.
The entry begins:
When I learned about this blog I was surprised to realize I don't think about my characters as movie actors. I usually build them from an early quixotic impression and they grow more distinct as I write. I start with an overall person in mind --- fourteen year-old girl, spiky blond hair, waif-like, tomboy Marshal Zeringuenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22464112.post-91173627869612127232012-01-12T15:03:00.000-06:002012-01-12T16:58:46.552-06:00What is Katie Ward reading?The current featured contributor at Writers Read: Katie Ward, author of Girl Reading.
Part of her entry:
Jon McGregor is a writer I deeply admire, and Even the Dogs was my train journey reading whilst visiting relatives over the Christmas season. It’s about the discovery of a body in a council estate flat, and the damaged or drug-addled people who might have prevented the tragedy from Vivian Darkbloomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00890686845513992399noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22464112.post-17223306302949187672012-01-12T12:34:00.001-06:002012-01-12T12:34:00.531-06:00Top 10 books on the internetJohn Naughton is Vice-President of Wolfson College, Cambridge and Emeritus Professor of the Public Understanding of Technology at the Open University. He is also an Observer columnist and a prominent blogger at memex.naughtons.org. His new book is From Gutenberg to Zuckerberg: What You Really Need to Know About the Internet.One of Naughton's top ten books about the internet, as told to the Vivian Darkbloomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00890686845513992399noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22464112.post-67136321722781637232012-01-12T09:11:00.001-06:002012-01-12T09:11:00.045-06:00Pg. 99: Jonathan Lyons’s "Islam Through Western Eyes"The current feature at the Page 99 Test: Islam Through Western Eyes: From the Crusades to the War on Terrorism by Jonathan Lyons.About the book, from the publisher:Despite the West's growing involvement in Muslim societies, conflicts, and cultures, its inability to understand or analyze the Islamic world threatens any prospect for East–West rapprochement. Impelled by one thousand years of Marshal Zeringuenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22464112.post-22483815916728983492012-01-12T00:34:00.000-06:002012-01-12T08:00:51.284-06:00Pg. 69: Randall Silvis's "The Boy Who Shoots Crows"The current feature at the Page 69 Test: The Boy Who Shoots Crows by Randall Silvis.
About the book, from the publisher:
A riveting new psychological thriller from a "a masterful storyteller" (New York Times Book Review).
Yesterday, a local boy went missing in Cumberland County, Pennsylvania. Transplanted painter Charlotte Dunleavy was used to seeing him go into the woods, rifle in hand, to Marshal Zeringuenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22464112.post-62015523330993925992012-01-11T16:11:00.000-06:002012-01-11T17:01:46.902-06:00Five books on the civil rights movementOne title on the Barnes & Noble Review's list of five books on the civil rights movement:
Carry Me Home: Birmingham, Alabama: The Climactic Battle of the Civil Rights Revolution
by Diane McWhorter
The Civil Rights Movement reached a crescendo in 1963, as marchers braved fire hoses, police dogs, vitriol, and violence to demonstrate against segregation in Birmingham, Alabama. The Ku Klux Klan Marshal Zeringuenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22464112.post-89817718237231274952012-01-11T12:34:00.003-06:002012-01-11T12:43:18.243-06:00What is Benjamin Buchholz reading?The current featured contributor at Writers Read: Benjamin Buchholz, author of One Hundred and One Nights.His entry begins:Right now I'm ingesting huge doses of original source material in Arabic -- the tales of the raids conducted by Muhammad and his followers, the Muhajaroon and the Ansar, in the first years after the Hijra to Medina, along with hadiths, hadith commentaries, tafsir, etc. Marshal Zeringuenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22464112.post-45394633628821969482012-01-11T10:01:00.001-06:002012-01-11T11:57:14.471-06:00Five notable books on journalismToby Young is a British journalist and author of the memoir How to Lose Friends and Alienate People.
One of his five top books on journalism, as told to Alec Ash at The Browser:
Child of the Century
by Ben Hecht
I discovered Ben Hecht through His Girl Friday, one of the few great Hollywood films of the 1930s and 40s that he didn’t write. It was based on The Front Page, a play that Hecht Vivian Darkbloomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00890686845513992399noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22464112.post-22345724674505676522012-01-11T00:34:00.000-06:002012-01-11T06:34:20.262-06:00J.H. Trumble's Don’t Let Me Go," the movieNow showing at My Book, The Movie: Don’t Let Me Go by J.H. Trumble.
The entry begins:
Casting for Don’t Let Me Go has proven to be more difficult than writing the book! Believe me, I’d much rather write. I think everyone forms an image of a character in their minds. Movies really have to sell the casting to the people. Take Robert Pattinson as Edward. At first, I thought no, no, no, no, no.Marshal Zeringuenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22464112.post-61077237986889147172012-01-10T17:55:00.001-06:002012-01-10T17:55:00.132-06:00Five notable books about VeniceOne title on the Barnes & Noble Review's list of five books on Venice:The World of Veniceby Jan MorrisSometimes it seems as though no writer has visited Venice without producing a volume in honor of the trip. Of the hundreds of books the city has inspired, few have stood the test of time as well as Jan Morris's vivid portrait of the city, written with a traveler's alertness and a historian's Vivian Darkbloomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00890686845513992399noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22464112.post-56908992859054423352012-01-10T14:34:00.000-06:002012-01-10T14:44:01.293-06:00Pg. 99: James Clay Moltz's "Asia’s Space Race"The current feature at the Page 99 Test: Asia's Space Race: National Motivations, Regional Rivalries, and International Risks by James Clay Moltz.
About the book, from the publisher:
In contrast to the close cooperation practiced among European states, space relations among Asian states have become increasingly tense. If current trends continue, the Asian civilian space competition could Marshal Zeringuenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22464112.post-38867849922736859852012-01-10T10:01:00.000-06:002012-01-10T11:14:21.983-06:00Top 10 books set in a wintry landscapeMegan Miranda was a scientist and high school teacher before writing her first novel Fracture, which came out of her fascination with scientific mysteries—especially those associated with the brain.
Miranda has a BS in biology from MIT and spent her post-college years either rocking a lab coat or reading books. She lives near Charlotte, North Carolina, where she volunteers as an MIT Educational Vivian Darkbloomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00890686845513992399noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22464112.post-72358403004025684292012-01-10T00:34:00.000-06:002012-01-10T05:41:47.698-06:00Pg. 69: Leighton Gage's "A Vine in the Blood"The current feature at the Page 69 Test: A Vine in the Blood: A Chief Inspector Mario Silva Investigation by Leighton Gage.
About the book, from the publisher:
It is the eve of the FIFA World Cup, the globe's premier sporting event. The host country is Brazil. All eyes are on the country's principal striker, Tico "The Artist" Santos, the greatest player in the history of the sport. All the Marshal Zeringuenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22464112.post-58998315219443639962012-01-09T15:03:00.000-06:002012-01-09T15:03:01.583-06:00What is Katherine Govier reading?The current featured contributor at Writers Read: Katherine Govier, author of The Printmaker's Daughter.Her entry begins:I just finished The Beak of the Finch by Jonathan Weiner. I was in the Galapagos so this recent non-fiction Pulitzer Prize-winning book about evolution was perfect to read in the evenings after a day of seeing the many species of Galapagos finch, the giant tortoises, the Vivian Darkbloomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00890686845513992399noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22464112.post-5751885928369820722012-01-09T12:34:00.000-06:002012-01-09T12:34:01.057-06:00Ten books to keep you laughingHallie Ephron is an award-winning mystery reviewer for the Boston Globe. Her books include Come and Find Me, Never Tell a Lie, which was a finalist for the Mary Higgins Clark Award and was made into the film And Baby Will Fall for the Lifetime Movie Network, and Writing and Selling Your Mystery, which was nominated for both an Edgar and an Anthony Award.
One of her ten best books for a good Vivian Darkbloomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00890686845513992399noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22464112.post-64838124019370942012012-01-09T09:09:00.000-06:002012-01-09T09:34:33.167-06:00Benjamin Buchholz's "One Hundred and One Nights," the movieNow showing at My Book, the Movie: One Hundred and One Nights by Benjamin Buchholz.
The entry begins:
I bet every author has this same recurring daydream or fantasy . . . who stars in the movie production of their first novel. I certainly did (and do) think about this!
But, because this story is set in Safwan, Iraq, I'm faced with a dilemma. Do I cast someone relatively unknown who fits Marshal Zeringuenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22464112.post-49515689978093129832012-01-09T00:34:00.000-06:002012-01-09T07:13:47.320-06:00Pg. 99: Maxwell Boykoff's "Who Speaks for the Climate?"Today's feature at the Page 99 Test: Who Speaks for the Climate?: Making Sense of Media Reporting on Climate Change by Maxwell T. Boykoff.
About the book, from the publisher:
The public rely upon media representations to help interpret and make sense of the many complexities relating to climate science and governance. Media representations of climate issues – from news to entertainment – areMarshal Zeringuenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22464112.post-86570103264018744522012-01-08T14:34:00.000-06:002012-01-08T15:04:58.622-06:00Ten of the best clocks in literatureAt the Guardian, John Mullan named ten of the best clocks in literature.
One entry on the list:
Great Expectations by Charles Dickens
"It was when I stood before her … that I took note of the surrounding objects in detail, and saw that her watch had stopped at twenty minutes to nine, and that a clock in the room had stopped at twenty minutes to nine". So too the great clock on the outside of Vivian Darkbloomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00890686845513992399noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22464112.post-9057423958996135502012-01-08T10:01:00.000-06:002012-01-08T14:37:01.249-06:00What is Sabrina Benulis reading?The current featured contributor at Writers Read: Sabrina Benulis, author of Archon.
Her entry begins:
I'm ecstatic when I actually have the time to read, so unfortunately my book list grows and is finished slowly. So, since reading is an investment, I try to pick up only what I know will be worth my while. Every so often I'm also given books as gifts, and lately I've received ARC copies Vivian Darkbloomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00890686845513992399noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22464112.post-38777150622237598582012-01-08T00:34:00.000-06:002012-01-08T07:35:56.244-06:00Pg. 69: Molly Shapiro's "Point, Click, Love"The current feature at the Page 69 Test: Point, Click, Love by Molly Shapiro.
About the book, from the publisher:
In Molly Shapiro’s fun and sexy debut novel, four women try to sort through the wild and complicated world of text messaging, status updates, and other high-speed connections.
Best friends and fellow midwesterners Katie, Annie, Maxine, and Claudia are no strangers to dealing Marshal Zeringuenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22464112.post-7747514366829842862012-01-07T14:34:00.000-06:002012-01-07T14:34:00.164-06:00Five best books about MormonismSamuel Morris Brown is Assistant Professor of Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine at the University of Utah/Intermountain Medical Center and the translator of Aleksandr Men's Son of Man.
His new book is In Heaven as It Is on Earth: Joseph Smith and the Early Mormon Conquest of Death.
For the Wall Street Journal, Brown named a five best list of books on Mormonism—its history, its meaning and Vivian Darkbloomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00890686845513992399noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22464112.post-11390291365224134872012-01-07T10:01:00.000-06:002012-01-07T10:01:01.070-06:00D.C. Brod's "Getting Lucky," the movieNow showing at My Book, the Movie: Getting Lucky by D.C. Brod.
The entry begins:
I would love to see Laura Linney play Robyn Guthrie, my slightly larcenous heroine. Although Linney doesn't physically resemble Robyn as I've imagined her, she's an amazing actress who can put a lot of layers into a character.
I don't usually have an image of a character when I begin the book. Each becomes Marshal Zeringuenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22464112.post-15258739811472265842012-01-07T00:34:00.000-06:002012-01-07T07:24:04.166-06:00Pg. 99: Lawrence Peskin & Edmund Wehrle's "America and the World"This weekend's feature at the Page 99 Test: America and the World: Culture, Commerce, Conflict by Lawrence A. Peskin and Edmund F. Wehrle.
About the book, from the publisher:
Although the twenty-first century may well be the age of globalization, this book demonstrates that America has actually been at the cutting edge of globalization since Columbus landed here five centuries ago.
LawrenceMarshal Zeringuenoreply@blogger.com