Author Archive

My interest in reading lately has taken a backseat to other activities, such as watching TV, video games and assembling jigsaw puzzles. But, slowly, I’ve been tackling my To Be Read pile. I spent about a week on “A Time to Kill,” John Grisham’s first novel. The conflict begins when two white men rape a young black girl. Authorities catch the men... »

It’s hard not to judge a book by its cover. For my first writing class in college, I wrote an essay analyzing book covers of my beloved Sweet Valley High series: one from the 1980s and another from recent years. Before that I hadn’t thought much about what impression the illustrations, photographs and summaries of the stories. I cannot remember my exact... »

Four years ago, when I was home from college for summer break and needed a job, I applied to a bookstore. It seemed like a good fit. I like to read. I like books. During the interview though, a question stumped me: What books or authors did I like? By that time I had phased out of my dedication to teen series and... »

Having finished Stephenie Meyer’s “Twilight” saga, I tried out another vampire series. I wasn’t impressed. “Dead Until Dark” is the first of Charlaine Harris’ Sookie Stackhouse series. The HBO series “True Blood,” which I have not seen, is based on it. In Sookie’s world, people know vampires exist and, in a way, accept them in society. The vamps order blood substitutes at bars,... »

Sue Grafton’s alphabet mystery series has captivated me in recent years. In a span of a year (probably less than that) I read her books, A through T, and am awaiting her next installment, U, to come out. As I wait, I’m turning my focus on older mysteries. I started with a Perry Mason book I obtained a few years ago through... »

I don’t have many books I have read several times, but for some reason Madeleine L'Engle’s “A Wrinkle in Time” has captured by attention at least half a dozen times — enough that the cover has detached from the pages. For that reason, it claims the title of my favorite book. The story focuses on Meg Murry, her younger brother Charles Wallace... »

At least three of this summer’s movie releases — one of which is already in theaters — are based on books: Dan Brown’s “Angels & Demons,” Jodi Picoult’s “My Sister’s Keeper,” and J.K. Rowling’s “Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince.” I saw “Angels” without reading the book first but have long ago read the other two. Yet, as with any book, I... »

I wanted to use this post to advertise the efforts some seventh-graders are taking to build a book collection for the Domestic Violence Center. Four cadette Girl Scouts in Troop 131 are working on their Silver Award, the highest award available to scouts at this level. They have to complete a series of pre-requisites, which took them the entire school year to... »

I try to balance my reading with different genres and varying levels of depth. But, I’ve got to say, sometimes nothing beats a fun, mindless read. “Forget About It” by Caprice Crane is one. It’s like ABC’s now-canceled sitcom “Samantha Who?” except the heroine pretends to have amnesia in order to reinvent her doormat self into a more assertive personality. For example, she stops... »

I’m not one to give up on books. Even with snoozers I try to get to the end, even if it means — like in seventh-grade English with “Watership Down” — skimming the text and not quite absorbing the story. But, I must admit, I have quit some: books my college literature class didn’t get to by the end of the semester... »