By Robin Weaver
Rupert Brooke, the World War I poet, once wrote in thinking of his beloved, “Today, I have been happy. I held a memory of you.” Brooke’s sentiment resonates with many of the characters in the romantic reads listed below. Here is a sampling for your Valentine’s Day [...]
Romantic Reads for Valentine’s Day — And Any Day
The world’s eyes are now focused on Haiti. As the death toll rises, experts look back on Haiti’s history. Why has this island experienced such tragedy? While the talking heads on TV deliver their opinions, here are two books that shed light on Haiti and can help educate us all.
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By Pamela Weinberg
What is it like growing up as an identical twin, looking at someone else and feeling like you are looking into a mirror? Abigail Pogrebin drew on her own personal experience growing up with her identical twin, Robin, but she wanted to cast a wider net and explore [...]
By Carol Toscano
In a discussion with the Mystery Writers of America’s New York chapter at The National Arts Club on January 6, Joyce Carol Oates discussed her theory that we are all, somehow, fueled by mystery. “The yearning to satisfy the mystery in our lives is never satisfied,” she said. [...]
By Kenley Ferrara
For dessert tonight, try whipping up some delicious Chocolate Almond Avocado Brownies - yes, avocado! This may sound like a strange addition to the normal brownie recipe, right? Well, in Dave Lieberman and Anahad O’Connor’s book, The 10 Things You Need to Eat, a full description of [...]
By Robin Weaver
Wolf Hall, Hilary Mantel’s Man Booker Prize-winning novel, takes a well-known historical event and gives it a fresh and original perspective. Covering the period from 1500-1535, Wolf Hall brings to life the Tudor Court of Henry VIII with its great cast of characters: ambassadors, spies, ladies-in-waiting, and [...]
Linda Fairstein’s mysteries also serve as tour guides into some of New York’s storied landmarks. In Lethal Legacy, her eleventh, we go behind the scenes at the New York Public Library, one of the most magnificent and, we are soon to learn, mysterious buildings in the city. Fairstein takes us [...]
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By Charlene Giannetti
When Sue Grafton began her alphabet series in 1982 with A Is for Alibi, female detectives in the mystery genre were rare. (Marcia Muller’s detective, Sharon McCone predated Grafton’s Kinsey Milhone by five years). Grafton’s debut drew rave reviews and a great deal of attention. After all, this [...]
By Michall Jeffers
It’s great to give books as gifts for the holidays, but remember there’s also no better way to start the New Year. Stuck for a hostess gift? Don’t bring yet another bottle of cheap wine. I have some better suggestions, and I’ll tell you why I think these [...]
By Michall Jeffers
There’s just no bad time to give books as gifts. Just be mindful of a few simple rules: always get gift receipts, because the stores are getting snarky about returns; it’s better to give to a child a book that’s too advanced, rather than one that may seem [...]
