#PGHReads: Moonglow by Michael Chabon
Pulitzer Prize-winning author and Pittsburgh-native Michael Chabon’s latest novel is an absorbing fictional memoir that is based in large part based on a dying man’s recollections to his writer-grandson as he looks back on his life. Inspired by Chabon’s own deathbed visit to his grandfather in Oakland, California in the 1980s, the author blurs the line between autobiography and outlandish fiction so successfully that the reader has no idea what is true and what’s pure fantasy (although we can hazard a guess at times).
The Magic of Love and Cooking in Like Water for Chocolate
What’s better than a good love story? How about a book about recipes? Or a book that takes you to a specific time or place in history? What about a book with magic and humor?
Every Child Ready to Read: Reading Tips
Last week, a teenager walked into the Library and asked me for books that would teach their three year-old sibling to read. Apparently, the summer project they had been charged … Continued
People’s History
The saying goes that “history is written by the winners.” Indeed, most history books are still written by the winners. Howard Zinn, the son of immigrant workers in New York, … Continued
Discover Historic Bookbinding: Marbled Endsheets
Back in the good ‘ol days of the 19th and 20th century, we decorated the inside covers of our beloved books with wildly colorful papers. Swirls, speckles, wavy lines and crinkled patterns were all used by book binders to ease the transition of a reader’s eyes from the cover of the book to the meat of the book, the textblock. This transition sometimes was decorated, relative to the context of the book. A book about trains might have had some engines merrily chugging across the flyleaf. Other books might have had plain white endsheets, and others wild, splashy, psychedelic colorful swirls.
Summer Reading is Serious Business
First of all, I’d like to go on the record as saying that there’s absolutely nothing wrong with a good beach book. If you want curl up with the latest by John Grisham or Danielle Steel or Paula Hawkins, by all means go for it! Everyone should feel free to read what makes them happy. But tastes vary, and the things that make you happy may not be the things that make me happy. And the things that make me happy are kinda different. So if you’d like to try reading something different this summer, here are a few nonfiction books that are Serious Business.
On Having Animal Friends
I have almost always lived with animals: furred, feathered, and otherwise. When I was a child, my family always had at least one pet, whether it be a cat or … Continued
All Hands on Tech: Super Science Kits
When you hear or see the word STEM, what are you thinking? We’re betting that you’re thinking of the acronym that stands for Science, Technology, Engineering and Math. We suppose … Continued
Mai Der Vang’s Ancestral Ode
I just finished Mai Der Vang’s recently released collection, Afterland, and my ears are still ringing. The residual hum left after reading her haunting poems makes it difficult to let go, even after you put it down.
Best of BARD: June 2017
In the midst of all the action of an audiobook, sometimes we can forget what makes it all possible. Fitting then, that right smack dab in the middle of this … Continued