Occasionally, I will do a review of a movie or a TV series if it is particularly literary. I’m pretty sure Merlin (2008-2012) counts, and I’m also pretty sure it was all an excuse to keep watching a TV series which I was almost immediately addicted to. At any rate, I have taken this post-Merlin…
I am headed into hibernation. Let me first apologize for the lack of posts on this blog. For a time, I have been too busy to post and, honestly, I haven’t known what to say. I haven’t known what to say for two reasons, and the most important is that I didn’t know what the…
The Bronte Sisters: The Brief Lives of Charlotte, Emily, and Anne, by junior biographer Catherine Reef, and published fairly recently by Clarion Books in 2012. When I ordered this book with pretty good reviews and a charming cover, I had no real idea what it was. I mean, I guess I knew it was a…
The Land of Stories series, by Chris Colfer, published from 2012-2015 by Little Brown. The series consists of four books so far, and Colfer says the series will end with the fifth book, assumed to be published in 2016. I read the series because my daughter–and just about every other kid her age–is in to…
Continuing to list the Best Books and breaking it up by genre, we have now made our way to nonfiction and journalism. (Then later I added science, because honestly I love to read in this nonfiction category more than most the others.) Actually, I compiled this one long ago, but the length of the list…
Dictionary.com defines writer’s block as “a usually temporary condition in which a writer finds it impossible to proceed with the writing of a novel, play, or other work.” Wikipedia defines it as “a condition, primarily associated with writing, in which an author loses the ability to produce new work or experiences a creative slowdown. The…
I have long been intrigued by graphic novels. I have many times wandered to their section in the bookstore and run my finger along their spines, wondering which one I might like, pulling them out and flipping through the intense illustrations. But I have so little exposure to them, I really wouldn’t know where to…
I am real good at literature. I read it well. I write it well. I thoroughly enjoy it. I intuit it well. I went to school for English literature. I was editor-in-chief of my college literary magazine. I was an assistant editor for a big publishing company. I was a freelance editor. I’m a writer,…
There is nothing new under the sun, is there? And with ever-advancing technology and a growing (and growing) world population, there’s less new under the sun now more than ever. We are exposed to more than ever before, and there are just more options! And more options! More options worldwide and yes, more options in…
Japanese Soul Cooking, by Tadashi Ono and Harris Salat, published in 2013 by Ten Speed Press. This book is the first that I am reviewing from the Best Books: Food and Cookbooks list. I will try to review these books as cookbooks, but also as books. Capice? I just purchased this book with birthday money,…
Go Set a Watchman, by Harper Lee. I read a Kindle copy given to me on the day the book was released, in July 2015. For further comments and articles on this book, Harper Lee, and the hype surrounding all of it, see these blog entries: Haven Kimmel Month Postponed; What? Harper Lee Is Back…
“Miss Maudie Atkinson baked a Lane cake so loaded with shinny it made me tight.” Scout Finch, in To Kill a Mockingbird. I am a foodie. I am also, as you know, a writer, publisher, avid reader, and reviewer. Therefore, it is only too appropriate that I dot this literary blog every once in a…
To Kill a Mockingbird, by Harper Lee and published in 1960. I read the paperback Grand Central Publishing version. I read this book, right now, for all the obvious reasons. It is a classic and won the Pulitzer Prize, but I could barely remember anything about my high school reading of it. (It’s also very…
The Life of Charlotte Bronte, by Elizabeth Gaskell. First published in 1857 in two volumes. The version I read, bought gently used, is the 2005 Barnes & Noble Classics edition. I read this book for two reasons: one, I am in the middle of a Bronte project for Owl and Zebra Press, and two, it…
I have a secret I would like to share with you. Turns out self publishing isn’t so new. In fact, it’s older than “traditional” publishing. Say what?! Maybe you’re not totally surprised. Personally, I had been coming to this conclusion slowly, over time. And in no way do I have great knowledge of the history…
Literature news!: Literature is news! (Did that make sense? What I’m saying is that it’s news that literature is news. Everywhere I go, I keep hearing about Harper Lee and To Kill a Mockingbird and Go Set a Watchman. It’s like the literature world has busted right open and for a brief amount of time…
It’s been two and a half years since I posted “Sound Advice,” an entry on The Starving Artist about reading. At the time, I was wanting to read more and also seeing it as part of my job as a writer, but I was struggling with a long string of books which were sub-par. I…
***BLOG UPDATE: As of July 28, 2015, I am no longer on this directory because I do not take review suggestions. It is still a great place to go looking for reviewers, however.*** I have no recollection how I came across The Book Review Directory a couple months ago. It might have been while looking…
Man do I love food. And I love cooking. I am what you would call a foodie. Therefore, it makes sense for me to include a food version of the Best Books list. If you enjoy food nearly as much as I do, you might appreciate this list. Surprisingly, I have not read very many…
For the best books list of poetry, I broke the list into poets, books of poetry, and anthologies. It’s hard to separate one from another, but I didn’t want to just grab best books of poetry when a beloved poet might not get included. I also didn’t want to skip over all the great poetry…
the starving artist 