British writer Caitlin Moran has a lot to say, and she isn’t afraid to say it. “Of course, there are lighter, more enjoyable aspects of living in London: Regent’s Park rose garden, tiny dogs, spotting celebrities, getting keys cut in Timposon’s. And the 5:2 [intermittent fasting] diet. For a brief …
Brenda Berkman was in her apartment in Brooklyn the morning of Sept. 11, 2001 when she got a call from a friend in Kentucky telling her to turn on her TV. That was the moment that Brenda, one of the first female firefighters in New York City, knew something catastrophic …
With dozens of books to her name, author Denise Swanson could be forgiven for easing up on the publishing pedal a bit. After all, her cozy mystery and romance novels have sold tens of thousands of copies worldwide, and her audience on Facebook and other social media has crossed the …
“My mother wanted us to understand that the tragedies of your life one day have the potential to be the comic stories the next.” – Nora Ephron Raised in Beverly Hills, Nora Ephron dreamed of living in New York and becoming the next Dorothy Parker. Instead she became the first …
Visit the children’s room at any public library or shop any Scholastic Book Fair in any elementary school, and it’s easy to see that children’s book author Beverly Cleary is a rock star. Henry Huggins, Ramona and Beezus, Socks the Cat — each of these beloved characters are like family …
The author of Nancy Drew books, Carolyn Keene, is actually a group of 29 writers who brought this wildly popular series to life beginning in 1930. Publisher Edward Stratemeyer thought a female detective would complement his already successful Hardy Boys series, launched in 1927. Not looking to write the books …
The tiny rooms look pleasant enough, with curtains in the windows, a light overhead, a coffee cake fresh out of the oven. But look closer, because things aren’t what they seem: in one room, a body’s fallen on the floor; in another, a woman lies face-down in a bathtub. The …
Let’s take a trip to Hawaii today, where this week native Hawaiians honored Queen Lili´uokalani, the first woman and the last monarch to rule the islands. The chain of islands that would become America’s 50th state was originally established as a monarchy by King Kamehameha I, who conquered the islands …
In January of 1958 a gardener and birdwatcher in Massachusetts sent Rachel Carson a letter describing the dead birds she kept finding in her back yard. She believed they were dying from chemical exposure, specifically the pesticide DDT. Prompted by the letter and her decades of work with the Fish …
Sometimes you read something that breaks your heart. Yesterday Vanity Fair magazine published an essay by Jesmyn Ward, a writer and two-time National Book Award winner (for her novels Salvage the Bones and Sing, Unburied, Sing), about her husband’s death earlier this year from Covid-19. Jesmyn’s husband was just 33 …