10182 results were found.

Fun Facts about Regina Ryan

Regina Ryan is one of the many agents who’ll be taking pitches at the 2023 Washington Writers Conference. Here are some things to know about her: Before founding her boutique literary agency, Regina Ryan Books, she was the first female editor-in-chief of MacMillan Adult Books. Regina represents adult and juvenile…

An Interview with Amal Ghandour

How often does one come across a book written from an entirely different perspective on a small country with a big place in the world? Lebanese Jordanian author Amal Ghandour’s This Arab Life: A Generation’s Journey into Silence is a revelation. It’s beautifully crafted with nuance and insight by a…

I Know You, and You Know Me

I think it was one of the many Buddhist monks I listen to in the car who said that red lights were an opportunity to connect to the moment, to stillness. But nothing shifts you into the moment as much as a fender bender. In my case, it was entirely…

Children’s Book Roundup: January 2023

Vegetables in Pajamas by Jared Chapman (Abrams Appleseed). It’s getting late, and you know what that means: Bedtime! And you know what that means: Pajamas! But what pair to wear tonight? After all, there are so many to choose from: cozy, snuggly, silly, or fluffy, not to mention “pajamas for…

Dan Kois in Conversation with Alexandra Petri

Join us to hear author Dan Kois discuss Vintage Contemporaries with Alexandra Petri of the Washington Post! About the book: It’s 1991. Em moved to New York City for excitement, adventure, and possibility. The Big Apple, though, isn’t quite what she thought it would be. Working as a literary agent’s…

A Patriotic Pick: January 2023

Whether it’s via their tone, topic, or tenor, certain works just say “America.” Here is one such title, suggested by suggested by Grateful American™ Book Prize judge John Danielson, founder of Chartwell Education Group and former chief of staff at the U.S. Department of Education: How Ike Led: The Principles…

Authors on Audio: Aram Goudsouzian

The Bizot Family Professor of History at the University of Memphis, Aram Goudsouzian is also the author of multiple books, including King of the Court: Bill Russell and the Basketball Revolution and Down to the Crossroads: Civil Rights, Black Power, and the Meredith March Against Fear. His latest work is…

The Washington Writers Conference Presents Dolen Perkins-Valdez

We’re thrilled to announce that Dolen Perkins-Valdez will deliver the keynote address at the 2023 Washington Writers Conference in Rockville, MD! Perkins-Valdez is the author of three New York Times bestselling novels: Wench, Balm, and most recently, Take My Hand. A finalist for two NAACP Image Awards and the Hurston-Wright…

Meet Brad Meltzer

Join Curious Iguana and Frederick County Public Libraries for an evening with the New York Times bestselling nonfiction author Brad Meltzer to celebrate the launch of The Nazi Conspiracy: The Secret Plot to Kill Roosevelt, Stalin, and Churchill, his newest page-turner that releases just two days before our event. The…

Racing the Sun

In 1968, N. Scott Momaday, Kiowa poet and university professor, published his first novel, House Made of Dawn. The book’s title comes from the opening line of the Diné (Navajo) Night Chant, a late-autumn ceremony that is ritually intricate and rigorous. Within a year of the book’s publication, Momaday’s work…

Romance Roundup: January 2023

It’s a new year, and that means new books to read! Covid finally caught up with me in December, unfortunately, so I didn’t get in nearly as much reading time as I would’ve liked during winter break. But it’s been a welcome relief to escape my misery with these page-turning…

Jane Austen, Alice, and Me

A week before Christmas, my family held a memorial service for my beloved mother-in-law, Alice, who died at 93. I’ve been thinking a lot about Alice, as well as about her reading habits, because she always had one of Jane Austen’s novels on her bedside table. In fact, Alice and…

Jim Popkin in Conversation with Pete Williams

The incredible true story of Ana Montes. In Code Name Blue Wren, investigative journalist Jim Popkin weaves the tale of two sisters who chose two very different paths, plus the unsung heroes who had to fight to bring Ana to justice. With exclusive access to a “Secret” CIA behavioral profile…

7 Most Favorable Reviews in December 2022

Hollywood: The Oral History by Jeanine Basinger and Sam Wasson (Harper). Reviewed by Bob Duffy. “‘HOO-ray for HOLLY-wood’ rings out like cathedral bells in the familiar Johnny Mercer tune. Now make way for Hollywood: The Oral History, which lumbers in like a heavy-duty print encore to that musical chestnut, ushering…

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Fun Facts about Rachel Beck

Rachel Beck is one of the many agents who’ll be taking pitches at the 2023 Washington Writers Conference. Here are some things to know about her: Rachel, an agent at Liza Dawson Associates, represents mostly fiction, including upmarket women’s fiction, contemporary millennial fiction, romantic comedy, and thrillers. She is drawn…

5 Most Popular Posts: December 2022

Gretchen Lida’s review of Mothertrucker: Finding Joy on the Loneliest Road in America by Amy Butcher (Little A). “On the surface, Joy and Butcher don't have much in common. Butcher is an English professor and writer in Ohio; Joy is the only female truck driver on Alaska’s Dalton Highway, the…

Reflections on a Year of Reading

Most avid readers are good about keeping a list of the books they read each year. Some go so far as to write a small description and assessment of each one. God bless them, I say. My year-end routine consists of a predictably last-minute search through my slapdash journal notes,…

Matty Selman: An Appreciation

One of the consequences of being from Staten Island — in addition to the blank looks from people if I mention that’s where I grew up — is my need to read anything written about it. We Islanders have played a modest role in shaping popular culture, for good and…

Meet Chief Steven A. Sund

One of the darkest days in American history became an extraordinary story of courage under fire. Courage under Fire is United States Capitol Police Chief Steven A. Sund’s gripping personal account that takes readers inside the events leading up to January 6th, and provides a detailed and harrowing minute-by-minute account…

Is Your New Year’s Resolution to Get Published?

Have you resolved that you’re absolutely, positively, definitely going to get serious about writing that book in the New Year? Then sign up for the 2023 Washington Writers Conference! Register by Dec. 31st, and you’ll enjoy: Four (not the usual three) one-on-one pitches with literary agents. A chance to learn…

Authors on Audio: Soyica Diggs Colbert

Soyica Diggs Colbert, the Idol Family Professor of African American Studies and Performing Arts at Georgetown, is also the author of Radical Vision: A Biography of Lorraine Hansberry. Library Journal calls the book “a fully formed portrait of this brilliant, complex woman…recommended for enthusiasts of American literature…and anyone who is…

“The Best Book I Read this Year”

Sure, new books are great, but so are not-so-new books, old books, and every kind of book in between. Here are some of our contributors’ personal favorites from this past year. Some you’ve heard of; others, you probably haven’t… The Honey Trail: In Pursuit of Liquid Gold and Vanishing Bees…

Fun Facts about Jennifer Chen Tren

Jennifer Chen Tren is one of the many agents who’ll be taking pitches at the 2023 Washington Writers Conference. Here are some things to know about her: Jennifer, as well as being an agent at Folio Literary Management, is an attorney in good standing in New York and California. She…

Queer Book Club

December’s Queer Book Club pick is Hola Papi: How to Come Out in a Walmart Parking Lot and Other Life Lessons by John Paul Brammer. About the book: The first time someone called John Paul (JP) Brammer “Papi” was on the gay hookup app Grindr. At first, it was flattering;…

8 Feel-Good Reads for Christmas Eve

We love bloated, disheartening tomes as much as the next angsty word nerd. But if you’ve decided to embrace jólabókaflóð, Iceland’s Christmas Eve “Yule Book Flood” ritual, this year, you may be looking for something a bit lighter right now. In celebration of the long night of bookish snuggling ahead,…

Good Reads, Bad Reads

I’ve written about Goodreads before, not always in a flattering way. So, it’s probably a bit odd that, a little while ago, I looked at the Goodreads Choice Awards for this year and read a couple of the winners. Checking out the awards is partly due to a bad case…

Authors on Audio: Ed Goeas

Longtime Republican pollster Ed Goeas, widely recognized as one of the best in the business, is a sought-after consultant and political strategist. He brings his keen insights to his new book, A Question of RESPECT: Bringing Us Together in a Deeply Divided Nation, co-authored by Democratic pollster Celinda Lake. Says…

Need a Last-Minute Holiday Gift?

Can’t figure out what to get the aspiring author in your life? Sign them up for the 2023 Washington Writers Conference! Register by Dec. 31st, and they’ll enjoy: Four (not the usual three) face-to-face pitches with literary agents. A chance to learn from publishing pros across the industry. Words of…

An Interview with Stephen Policoff

Stephen Policoff is the author of Beautiful Somewhere Else, which won the James Jones First Novel Prize, and Come Away, winner of the Dzanc Award. He’s also published numerous essays and fiction; his award-winning essay “Music Today?” about his older daughter’s experience in music therapy, has been widely published. Policoff…

6 Fun Kids’ Books for Chanukah

The Ninth Night of Hanukkah by Erica S. Perl; illustrated by Shahar Kober (Sterling Children’s Books). It’s the first night in their new apartment, and Max and Rachel can’t wait to celebrate the Festival of Lights with their parents. But where’s the box filled with their menorah, dreidels, and candles?…

Pajama Jammie Jam Poetry Slam

The Pajama Jammie Jam is a love/erotica-themed slam, for everyone from professionals to novices, hosted by Simply Sherri! $100.00 cash prize. There will be THREE themed rounds of poetry: Round 1: Cupid Ain’t Sh*t! Round 2: Love is Grand! (Love Poem) Round 3: Freak Me, Baby! (Erotic Round) Cuts for…

Fun Facts about Susan Hawk

Susan Hawk is one of the many agents who’ll be taking pitches at the 2023 Washington Writers Conference. Here are some things to know about her: Susan, a returnee to the conference, represents children’s, middle grade, picture books, and young adult. The name of her agency, Upstart Crow Literary, comes…

Nurturing Nature

I read Elizabeth Kolbert’s Under a White Sky: The Nature of the Future during the deluge brought on by Hurricane Ian, a Category 4 storm that devastated Florida and reminded me of two points: first, how powerful nature can be without any help from humans at all, and second, how…

We Need Your Support More than Ever

First, the Washington Post’s Outlook section folded — followed last week by the announcement that its Sunday magazine ends on Christmas Day — and now we’ve gotten the unhappy news that Bookforum is shuttering. It feels as though every day we’re losing another respected venue for great book discussions. You…

Grave Matters

During the early pandemic, grocery shopping seemed death-defying. I preferred a store beyond my neighborhood with wide aisles and well-defined social distancing. Still, shopping left me “stirred with a spoon,” as my Midwestern grandmother would say. So afterward, I drove a bit further, to walk in Georgetown’s Oak Hill Cemetery,…

On Poetry: December 2022

Grief will not loose its hold on me this month, the last dregs of the year culminating in a strange desert fog. Last December, I lost my grandmother, directly followed by another of the nine siblings in her line. And only last week, we learned the youngest of them had…

Agatha Christie & Sherry Club

Join us for our next Agatha Christie book club! Chantal Tseng and Hannah from Loyalty will lead a discussion of our latest Agatha Christie read. You can enjoy sherry and tea in person with us, snag the book, join via Zoom, or any combination! For this meeting, we will be…

8 Yuletide Reads to Make the Season Bookish & Bright

Holidays are already full of traditions, but we readers need one more: books! As an author and an avid reader, one of my Christmastime rituals is revisiting holiday-themed stories. I asked a few writer friends which books they turn to in December and offer them here along with my own…

Authors on Audio: Jon Meacham

Pulitzer Prize-winning historian Jon Meacham is the author of multiple bestselling books, including The Soul of America: The Battle for Our Better Angels, The Hope of Glory: Reflections on the Last Words of Jesus from the Cross, and Songs of America: Patriotism, Protest, and the Music That Made a Nation.…

Fun Facts about Bridget Wagner Matzie

Bridget Wagner Matzie is one of the many agents who’ll be taking pitches at the 2023 Washington Writers Conference. Here are some things to know about her: Bridget represents nonfiction and commercial fiction at Aevitas Creative Management in Washington, DC. See her list of bestselling writers here. She was named…

Children’s Book Roundup: December 2022

Our Friend Hedgehog: A Place to Call Home by Lauren Castillo (Knopf Books for Young Readers). “Families come in all shapes and sizes. Sometimes they are joined by birth, and other times they are chosen. Hedgehog, Mutty, Mole, Owl, Beaver, Hen and Chicks, and me, Annika Mae. We may look…

The Nonsense of an Ending

A few weeks ago, I received an email from a publicist, a woman I know slightly through her repeated (yet much appreciated) attempts to get me to write a takedown of the athletic director at the U.S. Naval Academy. Obviously not her client; instead, her scourge. Her subject line read…

A Patriotic Pick: December 2022

Whether it’s via their tone, topic, or tenor, certain works just say “America.” Here is one such title, suggested by Grateful American™ Book Prize judge Neme Alperstein, a longtime teacher of gifted and talented students in the New York City Public Schools system: Team of Rivals: The Political Genius of…

Tuesday Night Open-Mic with Charity Blackwell

For two hours, audiences can expect a diverse chorus of voices, and a vast array of professional spoken word performers, open mic rookies, musicians and a different host every week. Expect to be moved, expect a packed house, expect the unexpected, but above all come with an open mind and…

The Happiness Library

My preferred method to relax, calm down, and feel comforted and joyous is reading a novel. Books have gotten me through a lot of hard times. Years ago, when one of my kids was in the emergency room strapped to a bed, I sat in the hallway reading John Grisham’s…

A Harrowing Tale

There’s a reason readers flock to Dante’s Inferno rather than to Purgatorio or Paradiso. It’s the same reason Billy Joel croons, “I’d rather laugh with the sinners than cry with the saints” — hell is simply more interesting/exciting/compelling than heaven. Perhaps it’s this truth that drew Pulitzer Prize-winning author Joy…

Authors on Audio: Douglas Brinkley

Presidential historian and Rice University professor Douglas Brinkley is also the author of several bestselling books, including American Moonshot: John F. Kennedy and the Great Space Race, The Wilderness Warrior: Theodore Roosevelt and the Crusade for America, and Rightful Heritage: Franklin D. Roosevelt and the Land of America. His new…

Fun Facts about Max Sinsheimer

Max Sinsheimer is one of the many agents who’ll be taking pitches at the 2023 Washington Writers Conference. Here are some things to know about him: Max exclusively represents adult nonfiction. He launched his Washington, DC-based agency, Sinsheimer Literary, after seven years as an editor with Oxford University Press. Max…

Gina Schaefer in Conversation with Laurie Gillman

East City Bookshop welcomes local business owner and author, Gina Schaefer to discuss her book, Recovery Hardware, in conversation with ECB's owner, Laurie Gillman. Click here to register for this event via Eventbrite Note on format: This hybrid event will have both an in-person component with limited seating as well…

Romance Roundup: December 2022

I love reading books that correspond with the current season, but I have a particular passion for snowy winter romances. I think it’s because I grew up in South Florida, and even all these years later, the first snowfall of the year still makes me giddy. Here are a couple…

7 Most Favorable Reviews in November 2022

Platypus Matters: The Extraordinary Story of Australian Mammals by Jack Ashby (University of Chicago Press). Reviewed by Jennifer Bort Yacovissi. “Given our seemingly unwavering commitment to destruction via global warming and environmental predation, Jack Ashby has his work cut out for him in making us care about the natural world’s…

5 Most Popular Posts: November 2022

Daniel de Visé’s review of Led Zeppelin: The Biography by Bob Spitz (Penguin Press). “Within this exhaustively researched account, Spitz unearths a trove of caustic reviews and bitter reflections to remind us how very often the world’s greatest live-rock band played dreadful gigs, and how thoroughly Led Zeppelin was reviled…

Whodunit?

In addition to the pumpkin variety that I’ve just gorged on, I recently ate a sobering dish of humble pie. I attended a Murder Mystery Game last week amid high hopes that it would be a snap. In fact, I was fully prepared to dial back my intellectual credentials so…

Authors on Audio: Jake S. Friedman

Longtime animation artist Jake S. Friedman is also a writer and teacher whose new book is The Disney Revolt: The Great Labor War of Animation’s Golden Age. Library Journal calls it “a fascinating look at how the Disney magic happened, and how close it came to tumbling down.” Friedman discussed…

Meet JoAnn Hill

DC Scavenger goes beyond the typical guidebook; it's an interactive treasure map spanning seventeen distinct neighborhoods throughout our nation's capital. If you think you know everything there is to know about Washington, DC ― even the most weird, wonderful, and obscure parts of it ― get ready to embark on…

Feeling Charitable this Giving Tuesday?

What’s the only thing we love more than bringing you the book reviews, features, columns, lists, and other goodies you’ve come to expect? Having the funds to keep it up! This Giving Tuesday, we’re asking for any amount you can spare. But if you donate $100 or more, we’ll send…

Women, Life, Freedom

“Just let the wind untie my perfumed hair, My net would capture every wild gazelle.” – Tahereh (1814-1852) Tahereh, the “Pure One,” was a Persian poet who unveiled herself in an assembly of men — an act resulting in her execution. She is said to have uttered these last words,…

What Is “I Have No Idea,” Ken?

(Warning: The article below contains spoilers about last Friday’s episode of “Jeopardy!” Of course, so does the title above.) Was I the brightest contestant ever to grace the “Jeopardy!” set? No. Few of my college grade cards were fridge-worthy, I know nothing about geography (wait, there’s a South America?), and…

Our 51 Favorite Books of 2022

Manifesto: On Never Giving Up by Bernardine Evaristo (Grove Press). Reviewed by Kitty Kelley. “The last section of her book, entitled ‘The self, ambition, transformation, activism,’ echoes the principles of Psycho-Cybernetics by Maxwell Maltz, M.D., which was published in 1960 and sold over 30 million copies. The biracial British writer…

Meet Shahan Mufti

Shahan Mufti’s American Caliph gives a full account of the largest ever hostage-taking on American soil and of the man who masterminded it. Informed by extensive archival research and access to hundreds of declassified FBI files, American Caliph is a riveting true-crime story that sheds new light on the disarray…

“An Author I’m Truly Thankful For”

Kurt Vonnegut. “As I sit here at my desk, drinking coffee from a mug decorated with assorted quotes from Vonnegut, I will always be thankful for the words and thoughts he put into this world. Of course, some of those books will once again serve as banned-book fodder because they…

Bedtime Stories: November 2022

Suzanne Feldman: For me, writing a novel has to be a pretty immersive experience without too many distractions, and so I tend not to read fiction while I’m writing. When I finish writing, though, and come up for air, I try to find a novel that’s both challenging and hopefully…

Bye-Bye, Birdie?

After eight years on Twitter, I was thisclose to gaining 1,000 followers when Elon Musk got caught in his own hubris and was forced to acquire the social media platform. As an adoptee, I am used to compartmentalizing myself. On social media, Twitter is my id, Facebook my ego, and…

Giving Thanks for Our Readers

Recently, we at the Independent celebrated a milestone in our 11-year history: We published our 3,500th original review. Along with those reviews, our columns, podcasts, interviews, and features — everything that makes up our site — have been archived by the Library of Congress since 2016. You’ll be forgiven for…

Jefferson Cowie in Conversation with Nicole Hemmer

A prize-winning historian chronicles a sinister idea of freedom: white Americans’ freedom to oppress others and their fight against the government that got in their way. Jefferson Cowie holds the James G. Stahlman chair in history at Vanderbilt University. He is the author of three books, including Stayin’ Alive: The…

Meet the (Small) Press: The Mad Duck Coalition

In the literary world, monetary success is typically prioritized over creative freedom. Yet the Mad Duck Coalition does the opposite, encouraging authors to think beyond marketability and narrowly defined genres in pursuit of high-quality writing in all its forms. “What we’re interested in is filling in the space left behind…

On Poetry: November 2022

November, we greet your madness of electoral strangeness; flip-flop temperatures; a Democratic-majority Senate voting to end the covid-19 Emergency Declaration while the virus still rages; historic protests by the people of Iran; Twitter imploding in the narcissistic grip of Elon Musk; and half-bare trees. It is also Indigenous Peoples Month,…

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An Autofiction Auteur

Until she won the 2022 Nobel Prize for Literature, I had never heard of Annie Ernaux. But I’ve been catching up and comparing notes with others ever since. So far, I’ve read just three of her autobiographical novels translated from the French by Alison L. Strayer. They are taut, deeply…

An Interview with Susan Coll

In Susan Coll’s latest novel, Bookish People, indie-bookstore owner Sophie Bernstein’s problems keep piling up. Between her husband dying, her beloved manager leaving, and her ne’er-do-well son continuously disappointing her, she can’t seem to catch a break. When riots break out in Charlottesville, Virginia, Sophie begins to feel like her…

Children’s Book Roundup: November 2022

Nothing Special by Desiree Cooper (author) and Bec Sloane (illustrator) (Wayne State University Press). “Jax jumped out of the car and ran into his grandparents’ arms. It had taken a whole day to drive from Detroit to Virginia. He thought they would never get there, but they made it.” What…

Patti Smith: Songs & Stories

In 2018, visionary writer and performer Patti Smith posted her first Instagram photo: her hand with the simple message: “Hello Everybody!” Known for shooting with a film camera, Smith started posting images from her phone, including portraits of her kids, her radiator, her boots, and her cat. Followers felt an…

A Patriotic Pick: November 2022

Whether it’s via their tone, topic, or tenor, certain works just say “America.” Here is one such title, suggested by Louise Mirrer, Ph.D., president and CEO of the New-York Historical Society: American Republics: A Continental History of the United States, 1783-1850 by Alan Taylor. “This persuasively argued history tells a…

Verse Is in the Name, After All

It’s been a whirlwind month of events, conventions, readings, and book launches. My family attended Baltimore ComicCon in full cosplay. The former Utah poet laureate, Paisley Rekdal, came to the University of Baltimore and gave a showstopper of a reading from her project WEST: A TRANSLATION. And Anthony Moll’s apocalyptic…

Authors on Audio: Grant McCracken

Anthropologist Grant McCracken is the author of several books, including Culture and Consumption: New Approaches to the Symbolic Character of Consumer Goods and Activities and Chief Culture Officer: How to Create a Living, Breathing Corporation. His latest work is Return of the Artisan: How America Went from Industrial to Handmade,…

Book Launch and Film Screening

On November 12th, we are teaming up with Mobtown Ballroom to bring you an event unlike any event you’ve ever been to. Get your tickets for the book launch of You Are Tearing Me Apart, Lisa!: The Year's Work on The Room the Worst Movie Ever Made, an entertaining collection…

An Interview with Anne-Marie Oomen

Anne-Marie Oomen’s As Long As I Know You: The Mom Book was the winner of the 2021 Association of Writers and Writing Programs Sue William Silverman Prize for Creative Nonfiction. In this candid, stunning, and moving memoir, Oomen wades into the morass that is the relationship between an adult daughter…

Monday Night Open Mic Hosted by KaNikki J

KaNikki Jakarta is the First African American poet laureate of Alexandria, Virginia. She is an award-winning performance poet who has toured the U.S. and the U.K. KaNikki is the author of three novels, two poetry collections, a memoir, a short story, and a poetry collection entitled Alabama Girl, Virginia Woman,…

7 Most Favorable Reviews in October 2022

Lessons: A Novel by Ian McEwan (Knopf). Reviewed by Holly Smith. “Were this a typical contemporary novel, the Very Bad Thing would define its protagonist, muting all that came before and dictating all that follows. The plot would hinge on our hero recognizing the Very Bad Thing as the organizing…

Romance Roundup: November 2022

November has arrived, and Mother Nature is showing off her colors here in Virginia! As the last of the leaves slip from the trees later this month, I’ll be thinking about what I’m most thankful for in 2022 — including the books that entertain me, sustain me, and transport me.…

Not a Melting Pot

There is a lot of controversy as midterm elections approach about the U.S. border, and specifically the southern border with Mexico, which has become the primary channel for immigration. There are books that can help — not necessarily by solving the problem, but by illuminating the history that has brought…

5 Most Popular Posts: October 2022

Patricia Schultheis’ review of Horse: A Novel by Geraldine Brooks (Viking). “Told from the perspective of six characters, Horse interweaves the story of the Black equestrians who made their white masters fabulously wealthy with those of contemporary young professionals struggling to form relationships despite racial microaggressions and misunderstandings. By far,…

Authors on Audio: Henry Kissinger

Known around the world as a legendary statesman and diplomat, former secretary of state and national security advisor Henry Kissinger is also the author of multiple bestselling books, including Ending the Vietnam War: A History of America's Involvement in and Extrication from the Vietnam War and A World Restored: Metternich,…

Cormac McCarthy’s Dual, Dark New Offerings

At some point while reading Cormac McCarthy’s new novel, The Passenger, I began, without really intending it, to imagine the author and his characters performing certain tasks from daily life that the characters would never have to do but presumably the author might. Going to the supermarket. Cleaning the bathroom.…

Announcing the 2023 Washington Writers Conference

Have you finally finished that manuscript — or book proposal — but aren’t sure what to do with it? Attend the 2023 Washington Writers Conference (May 12-13) in Rockville, MD, and pitch your project face-to-face to literary agents! Want to sweeten the deal? Register at the Super Early Bird rate…

What Scares YOU?

Fear is intensely personal. What scares someone can illuminate a lot about their experiences, philosophies, and personality. Fear doesn’t define us, but it can be incredibly interesting to talk about. That’s why I started my twice-monthly Q&A series, “What Scares You,” on my website three years ago. I wanted to…

A Timely Tome

“Have you heard of Chagas disease?” I asked this question of several people after finishing Daisy Hernández’s devastatingly incisive The Kissing Bug: A True Story of a Family, an Insect, and a Nation’s Neglect of a Deadly Disease. The responses ranged from quizzical looks to headshakes — no one had…

The Inner Loop Presents: In the Author’s Corner

Join the Inner Loop for a free discussion with Andrew Bertaina, Jenn Koiter, and Dan Brady about publishing, community, and the writing practice. Afterward, join the authors at Last Call for drinks! Hosted by the Inner Loop at Politics and Prose at Union Market, 1270 5th St., NE, Washington, DC.…

Washington Irving’s Halloween Feast

This All Hallows’ Eve season, I read The Legend of Sleepy Hollow for the first time. If you decide to do so as well, whether a maiden voyage or the 10th pass at this most roasted of Halloween chestnuts, your night table may turn into a groaning board of autumn…

Meet Claribel A. Ortega and Rose Bousamra

East City Bookshop welcomes bestselling author Claribel A. Ortega for a chat about her new middle-grade graphic novel, Frizzy, in conversation with her illustrator, debut talent Rose Bousamra. Their conversation will be moderated by Megan Wagner Lloyd, author of the middle-grade graphic novel Allergic. Click here to sign up for…

On Poetry: October 2022

Transformation in all its permutations seems to be this October’s lesson, from the powerful solar-eclipse new moon we all experienced on the 25th to the two collections in this roundup. I’m also working my way through my first bout of covid, which is transformational in that I must morph my…

Have Books, Will Travel

Since my daughter moved to Malmö on Election Day 2020, in the height of the pandemic, I’ve been reading Swedish literature in translation. My husband and I couldn’t visit for a year, but reading books set in a destination is my favorite way to prepare for travel — and to…

An Interview with Rilla Askew

Rilla Askew is the author of five novels, a book of short stories, and a collection of linked essays. Her first novel, The Mercy Seat, was a finalist for the PEN/Faulkner Award. Born in southeastern Oklahoma, she wrote the seminal novel about the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre, Fire in Beulah,…

Jon Meacham In Conversation with Clint Smith

In And There Was Light, Jon Meacham, the Pulitzer Prize-winning biographer and bestselling author chronicles the life of Abraham Lincoln, charting how — and why — he confronted secession, threats to democracy, and the tragedy of slavery to expand the possibilities of America. In a nation shaped by the courage…

Award-Winning Voices

In a unique installment of “Author’s Corner,” Caroline Bock, co-president of the cooperative, nonprofit Washington Writers’ Publishing House (WWPH), leads a discussion with Suzanne Feldman and Anthony Moll, two writers who’ve recently published prize-winning collections with the small press, a DC literary institution since 1975. Each of your collections opens…

Spinning Yarn(s)

The last time I had a pair of knitting needles in my hand, they were being taken away from me. I’d asked my friend Grey if he’d teach me how to knit. Everyone was knitting their own version of the pink pussy hat, and I wanted to join in. When…

Nicholas Dawidoff in Conversation with Kevin Young

This is a free in-person event, and seating is first come, first served. The Other Side of Prospect: A Story of Violence, Injustice, and the American City is the immersive story of a 2006 murder in New Haven, just blocks away from Yale University, and the innocent 16-year-old boy named…

Newton’s Appletini

Maud Newton, a fiery iconoclast among the first generation of lit bloggers in the early 2000s, expands her 2014 Harper’s cover story, “America’s Ancestry Craze,” into Ancestor Trouble: A Reckoning and a Reconciliation, an eclectic nonfiction debut that’s one part Wild West, one part dirty South, and one part Eastern…

Can We Ever Go Home Again?

Relationships between mothers and daughters are complicated, my interactions with my own mother a testament to that. And what about the happy memories wrapped around one’s childhood home, the feeling of belonging to a place we assume will always be there? Yes, young adults must move on to live independent…

Breaking the Silence

Michèle Sarde was preparing for her First Communion with the other girls in her class when suddenly, her mother, Jenny, informed her that she couldn’t participate in the ceremony because she was Jewish. It was 1951, and the refugees streaming into France since World War II told tales of unfathomable…

Erin Keane in Conversation with D. Watkins

The Ivy is excited to present an event with the editor-in-chief of Salon, Erin Keane, and award-winning Baltimore author D. Watkins, in celebration of Erin’s memoir, Runaway: Notes on the Myths That Made Me. With a deft balance of journalistic digging, cultural criticism, and poetic reimagining, Keane pieces together the…

An Interview with Max Hastings

The estimable Sir Max Hastings, a journalist and military historian, is back with a fresh look at an old calamity. His new book, The Abyss: Nuclear Crisis Cuba 1962, leverages his unique perspective and narrative skills to help us see in a new way a time when the world came…

Children’s Book Roundup: October 2022

If Your Babysitter Is a Bruja by Ana Siqueira (author) and Irena Freitas (illustrator) (Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers). Did Mom and Dad just hire a new sitter around Halloween? Watch out! She could be a bruja, a witch! But how to tell? Well…“If she zooms in on…

Meet Vanessa Riley and Denny S. Bryce

Loyalty is delighted to host Vanessa Riley and Denny S. Bryce for a virtual celebration of their latest releases, Murder in Westminster and In the Face of the Sun! This event will be held digitally via Crowdcast. Click here to register for the event with a donation of any amount…

A Patriotic Pick: October 2022

Whether it’s via their tone, topic, or tenor, certain works just say “America.” Here is one such title, suggested by William J. O’Connor, Ph.D., executive vice president of the U.S. Naval Academy Foundation: The Zealot and the Emancipator: John Brown, Abraham Lincoln and the Struggle for American Freedom by H.W.…

Don’t Quote Me on This

Writing always came easy to me. The first story I ever wrote for publication was put on page one of the Staten Island Advance, and since then, I’ve had many front-page stories and articles in newspapers, including the New York Times. The transition to fiction was also easy. Of course,…

Cody Keenan in Conversation with Jen Psaki

A white-supremacist shooting and an astonishing act of forgiveness. A national reckoning with race. The fate of marriage equality and the Affordable Care Act. Grace is the propulsive story of June 2015, when President Obama and his chief speechwriter, Cody Keenan, composed a series of high-stakes speeches to meet a…

Podcast: A Conversation with David Maraniss

David Maraniss, a Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist, is also the author of 13 works of nonfiction, including When Pride Still Mattered: A Life of Vince Lombardi, Rome 1960: The Summer Olympics that Stirred the World, and Once in a Great City: A Detroit Story. His new book is Path Lit by…

An Interview with Eugene L. Meyer

As a former longtime reporter at the Washington Post, Eugene L. Meyer is no stranger to tracking down a great story. He’s also an outstanding writer. So, it was my good fortune to work with him for many years at the late Maryland Life magazine, where Gene penned a popular…

Panics

Panics

Meet Temple Grandin

At this in-person event (with a virtual attendance option), masks and proof of vaccination are required. Please review our health and safety protocols here. Do you have a keen sense of direction, a love of puzzles, and the ability to assemble furniture without crying? You are likely a visual thinker.…

Romance Roundup: October 2022

Spooky season is upon us — but when it comes to romance fiction, not everything that goes “bump” in the night is a ghost. (Wink, wink.) Here are a few novels keeping me up late this month. Happy reading! ***** Alicia Thompson blends true crime with true love in her…

Location, Location, Location

I re-discovered Jill Krementz’s The Writer’s Desk by accident. It was buried in a box, the lengthy shape of its covers unhelpfully sized for any bookcase, which is peculiar for a book of particular interest to writers and readers. I loved this collection of photos and short essays — showcasing…

5 Reasons You Should Attend Fall for the Book

From Oct. 6th-15th, the annual Fall for the Book festival will host nearly 100 authors on George Mason’s Fairfax campus, at nearby Northern Virginia locations, and virtually. All events are free and open to the public. Here are five reasons you should attend: It’s fun for the whole family. Bring…

Christopher Rivas in Conversation with Mayra Macías

Note on format: This hybrid event will have both an in-person component, with limited seating, as well as a virtual broadcast via Zoom. Both in-person and virtual attendees will be able to pose questions to the authors during the audience Q&A. Covid-19 information: Please note that East City Bookshop continuously…

Lyrics

Lyrics

Authors on Audio: Peter Baker and Susan Glasser

Co-authors of the critically acclaimed The Man Who Ran Washington: The Life and Times of James A. Baker III, husband-and-wife journalists Peter Baker and Susan Glasser are back with The Divider: Trump in the White House, 2017-2021. Axios calls the new book, already a New York Times bestseller, “a sweeping,…

An Interview with Donna Andrews

Magic Is Murder, a new story collection sourced from the talented members of the Chesapeake Chapter of Sisters in Crime (SinC), offers a thrilling, modern blend of mystery and the supernatural. Here, Donna Andrews, one of the anthology’s editors, shares a peek at the collection and the people behind it.…

7 Most Favorable Reviews in September 2022

Saving Freud: The Rescuers Who Brought Him to Freedom by Andrew Nagorski (Simon & Schuster). Reviewed by Kitty Kelley. “Lights! Camera! Action! Andrew Nagorski’s Saving Freud ought to be coming to a theater near you. This nonfiction work crackles like a novel and sparks with the razzle-dazzle of a big-screen…

5 Most Popular Posts: September 2022

Michael Landweber’s review of The Cabin at the End of the World: A Novel by Paul Tremblay (William Morrow). “It’s hard to divulge much more about the story without giving away spoilers. The twists toggle between intriguing and infuriating. This is not necessarily a problem given the relentless action and…

Sobering Soirees

Aside from deciphering the rules of engagement, guests at a party have one job: to enjoy themselves. Of course, this comes with a caveat: They must enjoy themselves within the limits of what has been provided by the host. Sometimes it is a tall order, other times a delight. What…

Fuzz

Fuzz

Hannah Sward in Conversation with Christina McDowell

Respected author Hannah Sward is joined by bestselling author Christina McDowell – The Cave Dwellers – in discussion for Sward's newest memoir, STRIP. Hannah Sward catalogues a reckless, fast-paced life filled with terrible lows and memorable highs. It's a vivid journey through troubled times, yet also a tale of resurrection…

“Noir at the Bookstore” Panel

Anthony Award-nominated E.A. Aymar’s most recent thriller, They’re Gone, was published to rave reviews in Publishers Weekly and Kirkus (starred), and was named one of the best books of the year by the South Florida Sun Sentinel. His next novel, No Home for Killers, is coming out in 2023 from…

Resonant Reads

This month, I’ve found a couple of needles in the haystack for you — needles in the sense that if you decide to purchase copies of these books from your local bookstore, you’ll have to special order them. But don’t let that deter you, because both Jessica Au’s Cold Enough…

Kibogo

Kibogo

Authors on Audio: Steve Berry

Prolific author Steve Berry has written multiple bestselling novels, including The Amber Room, The Romanov Prophecy, The Third Secret, and more than a dozen installments of his popular Cotton Malone series. His latest offering is the standalone The Omega Factor, in which “Berry once again smoothly blends action and history,”…

Black Books Matter Mixer

It's that time of year again, good people, where the movers and shakers in politics, business, health, personal development, and activism convene on the nation's capital for the Congressional Black Caucus Conference! And this year, MahoganyBooks is adding a fierce co-host in Black-owned publisher 13th & Joan. Talk about cooperative…

On Hilary Mantel

This is a love story. And it’s not about unrequited love. Or, at least, I don’t think so. Sometime after starting my first job, which is to say, when I finally had a little bit of disposable income and lots more free time, I was browsing a bookstore. I wanted…

An Interview with Tyler C. Gore

I met Tyler C. Gore the first week of our freshman year of college, and we bonded over books, Trivial Pursuit, scorn for the status quo, and what I will euphemistically call “having fun.” As he hilariously illustrates in My Life of Crime: Essays and Other Entertainments, having fun can…

Sci-Fi Fantasy Book Club

Tune in for Sci-Fi Book Club discussing Legendborn by Tracy Deonn! This is a virtual event! Please join our Google group to receive Zoom link notifications. (See our Book Clubs tab.) About Legendborn: After her mother dies in an accident, 16-year-old Bree Matthews wants nothing to do with her family…

Fragments from an Apocryphal Craft Book

1. Poets are bad at advice about writing capital-P poetry but decent when it comes to advice about writing individual poems. 2. So many poems, friends, are boring. We must not say so. 3. If we finally all agreed about what a poem is, would it actually help us write…

Angie Cruz in Conversation with Lupita Aquino

Write this down: Cara Romero wants to work. Cara thought she would work at the factory of little lamps for the rest of her life. But when, in her mid-50s, she loses her job in the Great Recession, she is forced back into the job market for the first time…

Authors on Audio: Mary Laura Philpott

Along with two previous works, Penguins with People Problems and I Miss You When I Blink, Mary Laura Philpott is also author of the essay collection Bomb Shelter: Love, Time, and Other Explosives. Says BookPage of the new work, “Philpott’s openhearted joy and fear is relatable regardless of your parenting…

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