October 15, 2013
Business Insider has an interactive map of The Most Famous Book Set in Every State. Now “most famous” doesn’t necessarily equal “best” and there are some lively debates occurring in the comments section. Representing Illinois is Upton Sinclair’s The Jungle. What do you think? Heather N.
October 15, 2013
Starting today Oct. 15 the Chicago Poetry Foundation is asking Chicagoans to submit their favorite poem. This is not a contest, so you won’t win any prizes. But Five entries will be chosen to participate in a video that will be featured during National Poetry Month in April 2014. You can submit your poem by […]
October 14, 2013
Prolific and beloved author Alexander McCall Smith will be speaking next month in Oak Park and Glen View over two days. Recent titles at EPL: The Limpopo Academy of Private Detection, The Uncommon Appeal of Clouds, and Trains and Lovers. The author of four popular series has another career as Professor of Medical Law at the […]
October 14, 2013
I see this as an educational tool. This online library of fashion design videos serve as a course in sewing. Assembled by FIT (Fashion Institute of Technology) instructor Francesca Sterlacci, a viewer will gain an education, though not a degree, through careful watching and practice. The goal is to make accessible the expertise of design professionals […]
October 14, 2013
Cuban-American novelist Oscar Hijuelos who who the Pulitzer Prize for his 1989 novel The Mambo Kings Play Songs of Love, died of a heart attack on Saturday. He won international acclaim for his novel and was the first Latino writer to receive the Pulitzer Prize for fiction. The story of the Castillo brothers who travel […]
October 10, 2013
Scott Lynch’s long-awaited and long-delayed third volume in his Gentlemen Bastards series is finally out! The Republic of Thieves hit the shelves on October 8. Fans familiar with the series will need no encouragement to rush right out to discover what the Gentlemen Bastards have gotten themselves into this time. For those unacquainted with these […]
October 10, 2013
Sociologist Eric Klinenberg, who wrote a book about the summer of 1995 in Chicago where nearly 700 people died from heat, is suggesting that library branches be outfitted to cope with extreme weather. More than that, he’s saying we should actually build more branches for this purpose. He argues that in emergencies people gravitate to […]
October 10, 2013
Canadian writer Alice Munro has won this year’s Nobel Prize for literature. Announcing the award in Stockholm, the Swedish Academy said that Ms. Munro was a “master of the contemporary short story.” Now 82, Ms. Munro has said that she would most likely retire having completed her 14th short story collection, Dear Life. In today’s […]
October 9, 2013
Want to increase your emotional intelligence? You might want to put down that Danielle Steel book and start reading Chekhov. Researchers from New York’s New School for Social Research recently published a study in the journal Science which found that “people performed better on tests measuring empathy, social perception, and emotional intelligence after reading literary […]
October 9, 2013
We just have to be patient, I guess. According to this recent interview on NPR with author Martin, the sixth installment in the hugely popular fantasy series A Song of Fire and Ice (aka Game of Thrones), “Winds of Winter,” is getting written albeit slowly. Part of the reason is Martin’s involvement in many other […]
