Win an indie bookstore gift certificate! First Lines of Books I’m addicted to great first lines—I even have a document of first lines for which I want to someday write a book. If you’re a first-line admirer, or a book addict *like me* here’s your chance to show some chops. Below are ten of my … Read more
If you read as I do (unceasingly, never sticking to any one genre, and always with a backup book (or ten) just in case, you’re always seeking books to match your current mood, yes? Pride and Prejudice won’t do when you’re in a Frankenstein mood. There are times nothing will work except dark and broody-moody, to … Read more
I can’t imagine I am the first person to come up with the above title, but I can think of no other way to express my admiration for this book. And by admiration, I do not mean the awe-struck, wow-this-is-pretty-writing regard that I would give a brilliantly constructed book that engendered my respectful yawning. Mudbound … Read more
Four years ago, at an event at the incredibly wonderful Reading Public Library (in Reading Massachusetts) one of the librarians bought my second novel book, The Comfort of Lies, for her mother. For Mother’s Day. Using a large amount of not-usually-available-to-me control, I didn’t say any of the following: “Nothing says Happy Mother’s Day like a … Read more
Roman à clef is a form of fiction I’ve always enjoyed reading, from Primary Colors to The Devil Wears Prada). Encyclopaedia Britannica defines roman à clef like this: (French: “novel with a key”) novel that has the extraliterary interest of portraying well-known real people more or less thinly disguised as fictional characters. In The Widow of … Read more