Like Father, Like Daughter
When my daughter Ann was a child she liked to read (and still does) as much as I did as a child (and still do) so I would recommend books/authors to her such as The Lord Of The Rings (she … Continue reading
Category Archives: Authors
Happy National Author’s Day
Each year on November 1st, we observe and celebrate National Author’s Day. As book readers, we all owe a great debt of gratitude to….AUTHORS! Because without authors, we would have no books to read. We would have no bookstores, no … Continue reading
Book Review – The Bad Weather Friend by Dean Koontz
You’re familiar with the old adage, “Nice guys finish last”, right? Made famous by legendary Dodgers baseball manager Leo Durocher, it posits that if you’re going to get ahead in baseball (or anything in this world) then you better not … Continue reading
Happy Tolkien Reading Day 2018
Today is Tolkien Reading Day and the theme of Tolkien Reading Day 2018 is Home and Hearth: the many ways of being a Hobbit. I first fell in love with Tolkien’s work when a classmate in the 10th grade sold … Continue reading
Posted in Authors
Tagged Bored of the Rings, J.R.R. Tolkien, Lord of the Rings
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Book Riot’s “10 Scariest Books You’ve Read” Survey
A few weeks ago Book Riot ran the results of a survey they took about the “10 Scariest Books You’ve Read” and while the outcome was not all that surprising (Stephen King books grab the majority), I thought I’d throw … Continue reading
Samuel ‘Mark Twain’ Clemens Died On This Date In 1910
It was on this day 105 years ago that the man who is often quoted as saying “The rumors of my death have been greatly exaggerated” did, in fact, really die. What Samuel ‘Mark Twain’ Clemens actually said to the … Continue reading
Posted in Authors
Tagged Author, Books, Mark Twain, Samuel Clemens
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“The Scarlet Letter” Published 165 Years Ago Today
It was on this day in 1850 that “The Scarlet Letter” by Nathaniel Hawthorne was first published. I remember my 11th grade American Literature teacher in high school assigning it to us to read and how legalistic in their religious … Continue reading
Posted in Authors, Bestsellers, Books
Tagged Author, Books, Nathaniel Hawthorne, The Scarlet Letter
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Happy Birthday Jack Kerouac!
It’s the birthday of Jack Kerouac, born Jean-Louis Kerouac in Lowell, Massachusetts in 1922. He was from a working-class French-Canadian family; he grew up speaking French, and he wasn’t fluent in English until he was a teenager. In New York … Continue reading
Happy Birthday Dr. Seuss
I first discovered Dr. Seuss when I was 5 years old and in kindergarten. Our bookshelf contained “The Cat in the Hat”, “The Cat in the Hat Comes Back”, “Horton Hears a Who”, “Green Eggs and Ham”, and “How The … Continue reading
Posted in Authors, Birthday
Tagged Birthday, Dr. Seuss, Theodor Geisel, Theodor Seuss Geisel
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The Parable of Writer James Joyce
The following story about James Joyce is told by Stephen King in his famous memoir, “On Writing” (which I need to read again). A friend came to visit James Joyce one day and found the great man sprawled across … Continue reading
Posted in Authors, Writers
Tagged Books, James Joyce, Writers
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Happy 148th Birthday, Laura Ingalls Wilder
Laura Ingalls Wilder was born on this date in 1867 in Pepin, Wisconsin. I have to admit I’ve never read any of her books, though I used to immensely enjoy the TV series “Little House on the Prairie” starring Melissa … Continue reading
Posted in Authors, Books, Writers
Tagged Author, Books, Laura Ingalls Wilder, Little House on the Prairie, Writers
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Happy Birthday Charles Dickens; Here’s Your Stuffed Raven
It’s the birthday of novelist Charles Dickens, born in Portsmouth, England in 1812. By the mid-1850s, Dickens was a popular and successful writer; his novels included The Posthumous Papers of the Pickwick Club (1836-37), The Adventures of Oliver Twist (1837-39), … Continue reading
Posted in Authors
Tagged A Christmas Carol, A Tale of Two Cities, Charles Dickens, David Copperfield, Oliver Twist
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Of Mice And Men
It was 78 years ago today that “Of Mice and Men” by John Steinbeck was first published. I remember reading it for the first time in my 10th grade American Literature class 47 years ago and it’s probably time for … Continue reading
Happy Birthday, Edgar Allan Poe
My favorite works of Poe’s are “The Tell-Tale Heart” and “The Masque of the Red Death”, both written in 1850 by Poe and read by me (the first time) in junior high school. But he is most well known for … Continue reading
New York Times’ “By The Book” with Patton Oswalt
Last week, actor, comedian and author Patton Oswalt was interviewed for the New York Times’ “By The Book” Sunday feature. I always love reading these because I usually come away from them with a new perspective on a book I’ve … Continue reading
Posted in Authors, Books, New York Times
Tagged Author, Books, New York Times Sunday Book Review, Patton Oswalt
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Happy Birthday J.R.R. Tolkien
Today would have been the 123rd birthday of J.R.R. (John Ronald Reuel) Tolkien, born in 1892 to English parents in Bloemfontein, South Africa, where his father was working in a bank. Tolkien was always fascinated with languages; he went to … Continue reading
Posted in Authors, Birthday, Fantasy
Tagged Author, Books, J.R.R. Tolkien, Lord of the Rings, The Hobbit
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Book Review – What Every Author Should Know
This is the first “How to” book for authors and those who want to be that I’ve read (and I’ve read a lot of them) that covers ALL of the bases involved in writing and publishing your book, from the … Continue reading
Posted in Authors, Books
Tagged Book Review, Books
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What George Bernard Shaw Had To Say About Christmas
It was on this day in 1946 that George Bernard Shaw wrote to the Reynolds News: “Christmas is for me simply a nuisance. The mob supports it as a carnival of mendacity, gluttony, and drunkenness. Fifty years ago, I invented … Continue reading
Happy 171st Anniversary To “A Christmas Carol”
It was on this day in 1843 that Charles Dickens published “A Christmas Carol”, the story of Ebenezer Scrooge, whom Dickens described as “a squeezing, wrenching, grasping, scraping, clutching, covetous old sinner. Hard and sharp as flint, from which no … Continue reading
Posted in Anniversary, Authors, Books, Holidays
Tagged A Christmas Carol, Charles Dickens
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Happy Birthday Madeleine L’Engle
Today would have been Madeleine L’Engle’s 96th birthday, had she not passed away in 2007. Madeleine L’Engle was the author of the Newbery Medal Award-winning novel “A Wrinkle in Time”, which is one of my favorite books from my childhood. … Continue reading
Posted in Authors
Tagged Author, Books, Newbery Medal Award, Writers
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