February 6, 2010
Rosetta Stone, the language instruction company, has been featured on NPR for its endangered-language program. RS is working with American Indians to preserve their languages and to offer language instruction to younger members of their tribes. Have a listen. Mary B. ( Reader’s Services)
February 4, 2010
Okay, okay, I know, I’m a longtime children’s librarian, so I know that children’s books are a larger portion of my thinking and reading than for the average person. Even so, I really appreciate when I find that children’s literature is important to other adults, too. I was checking into some online library literature and found […]
February 3, 2010
As the 2010 Sundance Film Festival wrapped up last weekend, word about one film in particular came echoing down the Utah mountainside to catch the ear of the literary community. With a Grand Jury Prize nomination to its credit, the experimental biopic “Howl” has the book world buzzing. Based on the life of poet Allen Ginsberg and the 1957 […]
January 29, 2010
Chicago Tribune cultural critic Julia Keller writes about Scandinavian mystery novels and authors in this article. (Laura H.)
January 27, 2010
A departure from his usual subject matter, Krakauer’s latest chronicles the events that led to Pat Tillman’s tragic death in remote Afghanistan. While Tillman’s death was initially blamed on an enemy ambush, weeks later the Army released information that suggested he was instead the victim of fratricide – killed by his own men. Where Men […]
January 25, 2010
Lydia Peelle was born in Boston, received her MFA from the University of Virgina, and now lives in Nashville, Tennessee. Her stories have earned her the O. Henry Prize as well as two Pushcart Prizes. She has twice been featured in the Best New American Voices anthologies. Her first collection of short stories Reasons for […]
January 22, 2010
Call it a guilty pleasure, call it weird, call it nerdy, but so help me, I love seeing what books people are reading on their commutes to and from work. Despite the periodic breathless articles and studies bemoaning the death of books and even the demise of reading itself, there are still people out there […]
January 22, 2010
For some they are delicious literary treats akin to the chocolate and peanut buttery combo that made Reese’s famous. For others they are as unappealing as a handful of nuts and gum. Whatever your reading tastes, however, it is impossible to deny the raging popularity of “literary mash-ups” and their novel pairing of novels in titles such as […]
January 18, 2010
“I refuse to accept the idea that man is mere flotsom and jetsom in the river of life unable to influence the unfolding events which surround him. I refuse to accept the view that mankind is so tragically bound to the starless midnight of racism and war that the bright daybreak of peace and brotherhood […]
January 15, 2010
‘Tis the season for love, joy, peace, and religious rejoicing. ‘Tis also the season to express these most profound of human emotions through conspicuous consumption. As the months long pre-holiday shopping bonanza gives way to post-holiday and New Year’s sales, the message and the urge to buy, buy, buy remains unrelenting. (Was I the only one slightly horrified to overhear my […]
