“To Kill a Mockingbird”: much loved, often challenged

Powerful writing has a way of removing our social blinders. That’s why good books can also feel so dangerous to some people. Harper Lee’s sole and Pulitzer Prize–winning novel, To Kill a Mockingbird, is considered to be one of the greatest novels of the twentieth century. It is also one of the era’s most banned […]

Bill Bryson returns as the “Thunderbolt Kid”

Brysonians, rejoice! Bill is back.
Bill Bryson is a hoot. He’s also a Renaissance man, having summarized his galactic knowledge in the humbly titled A Short History of Nearly Everything and expanded on his global travels in tomes like In a Sunburned Country and A Walk in the Woods.
The wry Bryson has returned to entertain his […]

Your vote counts in the 2006 Quill Book Awards

Call them The People’s Choice Awards for books and you won’t be far off. The nominees for the 2006 Quill Book Awards have been announced, and now it’s time for you, dear reader, to be heard. Five nominees in each of 19 categories have been assembled by a venerable and invited group of librarians and […]

Read books others would want to ban or burn

This month begins with Labor Day, is crowned by September 11th remembrances, and ends with Banned Books Week. It’s a momentous month and a perfect time to celebrate freedom. In a world where riots break out over controversial cartoons in newspapers, where authors have been targeted for murder for publishing their opinions, and where books […]

College textbook prices cause blogger revolts

University students across the country are standing in lines to buy textbooks for their new classes. They’re handing over clenched fistfuls of cash. They’re griping. And, in some cases, they’re protesting. Reacting to exorbitant textbook prices, illogical and self-serving bookstore policies, and few choices about where else to turn, students are up in arms.
The red […]

Read around the planet with Salon’s Literary Guide to the World

Are you stuck at home this summer, aching to escape the pedestrian heat of your neighborhood in favor of the exotic swelter of somewhere like New Guinea? Well, Salon’s nifty, newish book feature, The Literary Guide to the World, will take you globe-trotting and book-hopping.
Bug spray isn’t required, and neither is a passport. Just put […]

Foodies rejoice: Books on food are selling like hotcakes

American readers will eat up culinary books just as fast as food writers can cook ‘em up. That’s no wonder, when you consider the quality of the following food-related titles from last week’s Book Sense list (see the most current list), which are selling strongly in independent bookstores and big chains alike:

Garlic and Sapphires, by […]

New Orleans Public Library rebuilds, and you can help

Hurricane Katrina completely ruined eight out of the 12 public libraries in New Orleans. Wind, water, and mold caused damage estimated at $30 million, and entire buildings full of books had to be discarded as a result. Renovations to library facilities are underway (some have been completed), and book lovers from across the country have […]

Rebecca Solnit exhorts “critical reading” at Berkeley commencement

What would summer be without at least one electronically reproduced, Internet-circulated graduation speech to inspire those of us who are staring at computer monitors indoors instead of basking in UV rays outdoors?
In her recent commencement address for the English department at U.C. Berkeley, author Rebecca Solnit extolled the virtues of reading—not just the act of […]

Salon’s smart, suspenseful summer reads

“Where are the page-turners that don’t make you feel like you’re pouring Karo syrup directly over your brain?” That’s the question posed by Laura Miller as she rolls out Salon’s list of six summer reads that are intense but also intelligent. It’s a very intriguing list, which has me moving several of these titles to […]