Reader Mailbag: What Do You Love About Reading?
In the August 2021 newsletter we asked readers what they love about reading the most.
Here are the responses:
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Order of Mary Lawrence Books
Mary Lawrence is an American author of historical thriller/mystery novels. She writes the Bianca Goddard Mysteries series. Mary grew up in Southern Indiana. She graduated from Indiana University with a specialty degree in Cytotechnology. Since then, she has spent the vast majority of her life in Maine. She has long since been interested in the Tudor Era of England. After reading about alchemy, she came up with the idea for her Bianca Goddard character – originally conceiving it as a coming-of-age story. She re-wrote the novel several times, but only received rejections. Meanwhile, she worked in labs and wrote indexes for small presses, all the while fine-tuning her writing skills. Finally, she decided to write her story as a mystery. (more…)
Order of Lewis B. Patten Books
Lewis B. Patten (1915-1981) was an American author of western novels. He also wrote as Lewis Ford, Joseph Wayne, and Lee Leighton – the latter two pen names being collaborations with Wayne D. Overholser, a frequent collaborator of his. He was from Denver, Colorado, and was educated at the University of Denver. He served in the U.S. Navy. (more…)
Order of Mary Jean Chan Books
Mary Jean Chan is a Chinese-British poet, editor and critic. She is originally from Hong Kong, but now resides in London. She graduated Phi Beta Kappa from Swarthmore College in 2012 with a BA in Political Science, with a minor in English Literature. She also earned an MPhil in International Development from Oxford University, and an MA and PhD in Creative Writing from Royal Holloway, University of London. (more…)
Order of Michael Pronko Books
Michael Pronko is an author based out of Tokyo. He is best known for writing the Detective Hiroshi series of books. The first book in the series, The Last Train, was the winner of the 2018 Shelf Unbound Best Independently Published Book and the 2017 Book Excellence Awards Best Mystery. (more…)
Order of Alex Finlay Books
Alex Finlay is an American author who burst onto the scene in 2021 with the release of Every Last Fear. (more…)
Order of Marisa Kanter Books
Marisa Kanter is an American author of YA novels. She was born and raised in the Boston suburbs, and earned her degree in Media Studies and Creative Writing from New York University. In addition to being a novelist, Marisa works in the publishing industry. She is also an amateur baker and enjoys reality TV. (more…)
Order of Martha Waters Books
Martha Waters is an American author of historical romantic comedy novels. She grew up in South Florida, reading British children’s books and scribbling in her notebooks. She studied history and international studies at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and earned her Master’s degree in library science. During the day, Martha works as a children’s librarian in Maine. She loves sundresses, gin cocktails, and traveling. (more…)
Top “Clean” Series
Each month we ask our Facebook followers for a book or series recommendation based on a particular genre or similar parameters – and then print the answers in our mid-month newsletter.
I thought it would be a good idea to have a separate page listing these, as I use it as a reference guide often.
This list is of the Top “Clean” Series which was first posted in the October 2020 Newsletter. (more…)
Order of Margaret Sidney Books
Margaret Sidney was the pen name of American author Harriet Lothrop (1844-1924), who wrote children’s books. She wrote the Five Little Peppers series. She was brought up exposed to culture and free access to her father’s extensive library. During childhood, she was always creating imaginary people. As she grew older, she would continue to write, but would end up destroying the manuscripts. It wouldn’t be until the age of 34 when she would finally get a short story published in a Boston children’s magazine, and the editor requested that she keep writing. (more…)