Just in time for National Library Week, the Emilio Estevez film The Public is out today, taking on the important question of what role libraries play in our communities and who we serve. Librarians have a long history as heroes—did you know Barbara Gordon, aka Batgirl, had a doctorate and was the head of Gotham…
Romance: The Chicago Way
Joanna recommends romances set in Chicago to keep you warm on these frosty nights.
Writer Dorothy Parker: 125 Years of Humor, Intellect
Who doesn’t dream of having the perfect comeback? The witty quip? Dorothy Parker was famous for her bon mots and her celebrity in 1920s New York. In addition to being a member of the Algonquin Round Table—a group of artists that met for lunch every day for 10 years—she was the first female (and youngest…
Hot New Paperbacks to Celebrate Paperback Book Day
Consider the humble paperback: While often derided as low budget or an airport read, these workhorses are beloved by millions of readers for their compact size and inexpensive cost. First introduced in Britain in the mid-1800s, the paperback enabled many literary debuts and extended the reach of classic and scientific authors through reprinting and wider…
Happy 80th Birthday, Joyce Carol Oates!
Joyce Carol Oates, born June 16, 1938 in Lockport, NY, is an incredibly prolific author who's also versatile in different formats—novels, short stories, essays, plays and memoirs. Having written a hundred books, Oates has covered a wide range of topics, from boxing, starlets and rebellious teenage girls to serial killers, gothic horror tales and dysfunctional…
Happy 60th Birthday, Michelle Pfeiffer!
Famous for her string of box office hits in various genres throughout the 1980s and 1990s, the talented Michelle Pfeiffer has appeared in over 40 films throughout her career. Born April 29, 1958 in Santa Ana, Calif., Pfeiffer began acting after winning the Miss Orange County pageant at 19. After a bumpy start with Grease…
#TBT: Janis Joplin, Queen of Psychedelic Blues
On the surface, the singers Mavis Staples and Janis Joplin don’t seem to have a lot in common—Janis came from a small segregated Texas town, a rebel who pushed all the boundaries and lived a hardcore rock 'n' roll lifestyle with booze, sex and drugs. Mavis grew up on the South Side of Chicago, heavily…
Holiday in Space
My usual Christmas blog means pulling out some favorite crime or supernatural novels of the year (savory reads as opposed to sweet), but this year I decided to do a fantasy/scifi rewind. After seeing an English Beat concert recently, I remembered it can actually be fun to visit the ghosts of your past—especially if ska…
Boxing Movies for Boxing Day
The day after Christmas, known as Boxing Day, does not refer to disappointed kids fueled by candy canes and sugar cookies wanting to slug it out! It was the day when many British service workers received their “Christmas Boxes” of gifts or gratuities and were allowed the day off to visit friends and family. But the…
Top Picks: Novelist Alice Hoffman
Readers love the whimsical elements that turn ordinary life into something magical in Alice Hoffman's stories. The novelist creates compelling characters that you can root for while she explores the relationships in families and between lovers in ways that ring emotionally true. Over a 40-year career, Hoffman's written her trademark luminous prose, filled with images of nature, in…
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