For The Book Obsessed
[ad_1] A young academic has been granted permission to travel to a mining outpost on a small planetoid far from the sun to study the culture of a small squatter population that lives in total darkness. “It is a simple prescription. Avoid the darkness. It is a simple prescription, but you will not … Read more
[ad_1] As the days blend together and our minds wander, many of us are looking for gripping reads that can hold our attention. While creepy short stories may not scream “stress relief,” successful horror rewards us for our complete attention with full-body thrills and chills. Here are some of the most memorable scary stories you … Read more
[ad_1] Everything feels different this year. When we’d normally be heading out for weekend get-aways, picnics, and sunlit family time, most of us are still honoring social distancing guidelines and staying put as much as possible. And with Father’s Day coming up (on June 21, by the way) , no matter who you’re celebrating—fathers, grandfathers, … Read more
[ad_1] In my early days as a published author, I was invited to visit a book club made up of professional women from the local university. If you have ever been part of a book club, you know how delightful such meetings can be. You’re surrounded by fellow book lovers. There are delicious snacks, sometimes … Read more
[ad_1] “Oh, that cover has a woman in a pretty dress on it. I really don’t read that sort of thing.” If you’ve ever thought this while coming across an unknown title in a book store, chances are the novel you just passed on based on its cover is historical fiction. Before you set it … Read more
[ad_1] Women’s fight for equality is an old song. From Susan B. Anthony to Margaret Sanger to the #MeToo era, the struggle for equal gender opportunity and recognition is as American as a June Clever baked apple pie. Progress takes innovation, though, and innovation takes nerve. It also takes time and patience. This kind of … Read more
[ad_1] At fourteen years old I was assigned Paolo Coelho’s landmark novel The Alchemist for summer reading. I threw it on my bed in disgust, barely able to finish the slim volume. To my literal mind it read like nothing more than vague, repetitive abstractions, amounting to almost nothing in the end. Today, over ten … Read more
[ad_1] What happens when a son returns home and he’s sick with the most feared disease of our time? This is the question at the heart of Carter’s Sickels second novel, The Prettiest Star. This question is posed by a charismatic TV host in the novel and it serves as a guiding question throughout the … Read more
[ad_1] In January, weeks before Iowa’s first-in-nation presidential caucuses, I met Saundra, a 73-year-old Republican from rural Iowa. Saundra thinks American politics are broken. Like so many of her neighbors, she voted for Donald Trump, the only candidate who promised “a change, something different,” Saundra told me. “You couldn’t get too much different than Donald … Read more
[ad_1] From the hilarious Chevy Chase Vacation movies to the harrowing 1981 novel Mosquito Coast, the family adventure story ends in a rainbow of fates. One hopes that the family, when put under stress, will rise to the occasion, and nurture and protect one another. But who behaves like a saint under stress? I have … Read more