Category Archives: Writing

Get Thee To A Bookshop

Posted on April 28, 2018 by Brian D. Butler

Today is Independent Bookstore Day across the United States. It’s an annual party to celebrate independent bookstores, authors, readers, and literacy. If you are in the U.S., you can find one of the 500+ participating indies right here. All of … Continue reading →

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Literary Road Trip

Posted on April 28, 2018 by Brian D. Butler

You might not agree with all of the choices that Mike Nudelman made for this literary map of the U.S. —I certainly didn’t—but it’s a good effort.

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Book Power

Posted on April 26, 2018 by Brian D. Butler

BOOK POWER by Gwendolyn Brooks BOOKS FEED AND CURE AND CHORTLE AND COLLIDE In all this willful world of thud and thump and thunder man’s relevance to books continues to declare. Books are meat and medicine and flame and flight … Continue reading →

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How the dead communicate with us

Posted on April 22, 2018 by Brian D. Butler

Last year, British cartoonist, artist, and children’s book writer Chris Riddell published this wonderful series of sketches that illustrate comments by the great Neil Gaiman on a variety of book related topics.

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Tales of Good and Evil

Posted on April 19, 2018 by Brian D. Butler

I have long been aware that Edward Gorey designed and illustrated his own books, but I was surprised to discover that he worked as a book designer for Doubleday Publishing throughout the 1950s. While employed by Doubleday, Gorey created more … Continue reading →

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Difficult Times

Posted on April 18, 2018 by Brian D. Butler
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Freedom to Read

Posted on April 16, 2018 by Brian D. Butler

During National Library Week, the American Library Association released its annual Top Ten List of Frequently Challenged Books . American libraries continue to face challenges—including the potential for censorship—to a variety of books, programs and periodicals. The ALA Office for Intellectual Freedom … Continue reading →

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My First Memory of Librarians

Posted on April 15, 2018 by Brian D. Butler

A last tribute to libraries and librarians for National Library Week from the brilliant Nikki Giovanni. MY FIRST MEMORY (OF LIBRARIANS) This is my first memory: A big room with heavy wooden tables that sat on a creaky wood floor … Continue reading →

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Back to Middle Earth

Posted on April 14, 2018 by Brian D. Butler

For readers like me, there is very exciting news about the upcoming publication of a “new” J.R.R. Tolkien book this August. Harper Collins has announced the publication of “The Fall of Gondolin”, a story of a hidden city of elves, … Continue reading →

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Pity the Nation

Posted on April 13, 2018 by Brian D. Butler

April is National Poetry Month in the United States. I can think of no one better than America’s greatest living poet Lawrence Ferlinghetti to mark the occasion. “Pity the Nation”, which was written in 2007, is especially appropriate in the … Continue reading →

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