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Train Dreams by Denis Johnson
Train Dreams is a quiet little book that spans legendary time spaces of the American West. The building of the railroads, the subtle disintegration of the Indians of the West, the advent of cars,...
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420 Characters by Lou Beach
420 Characters by Lou Beach started out as an experiment of sorts. Beach originally posted his micro stories as Facebook posts, which were limited to 420 characters per post. Beach then put them...
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Betrayed by MZB
This past week I unearthed three Marion Zimmer Bradley paperbacks that I vaguely recalled reading about ten years ago. Since I hadn’t picked them up in a very long time, I decided to reread them and...
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Potato Chips and Passion
Recently I read an amusing, two-book children’s series by Allen Kurzweil (Mr. Kurzweil’s website) that uses the obsessions and passions of the characters as plot devices. The first book in the series,...
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First Library Feature! I visit the Fernandina Beach Branch Library
The name I chose for this blog, Bibio-filia, means “daughter of the library” in Latin. I really wanted Bibliophile, or Bibliophilia, but in these more crowded blogger days, you take what you can get....
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World Book Night 2013
There are few things more satisfying than sharing a good book with someone. I would rank “sharing a book” above “my mother-in-law’s chocolate bread pudding,” and trust me, that is saying something. One...
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Plodding Through a Good Book: The Fortress of Solitude by Jonathan Lethem
Why do some novels take you forever to read, and others you zip through in hours? What is it that calls to the reader, “Keep reading! Don’t put me down!” or “Do you really want to keep going with this...
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Awkward Book Inscriptions #1
You’ve received one, admit it. An overly sentimental inscription written in a book of fairy tales from your Aunt Myrtle. A gruff inscription from your father. Or a giggly inscription from your sister...
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A New Literary Pilgrimage – Québec City
As a Biblio-filia, I have the geeky habit of making literary pilgrimages. Some of these trips turn out better than others, I admit. My fall trip to Tarrytown, New York with another booky friend to...
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The Wishing Spell by Chris Colfer
Celebrity memoirs can be a guilty pleasure. A bit more highbrow than a supermarket tabloid, but possibly just as titillating, celebrity memoirs consistently make the bestseller lists. But what about...
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Awkward Book Inscriptions #2 – Just in time for Father’s Day…
My copy of American Pastoral by Philip Roth I have on my to-read bookshelf another gem I picked up at a used book fair: American Pastoral by Philip Roth. This novel won the Pulitzer Prize in 1998....
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The Dinner by Herman Koch
The Dinner by Herman Koch was the June selection for the AMBC (Awesome Members Book Club) and it was an amazing choice that sparked a terrific conversation. This novel was originally published in 2009...
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11/22/63 by Stephen King
I find it interesting that many readers who don’t regularly read science fiction, do read Stephen King’s novels that are categorized as scifi. King’s novels The Running Man (originally published under...
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The Romance of King Arthur
This is the copy I read as a kid. The publication date on this is 1977 – so, buying it secondhand, I was probably 12 or 13. Ah, Arthur. Who was he? Did he really exist? Was he a resistance fighter, or...
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On Rereading…
After finishing Stephen King’s 11/22/63, I have a compelling urge to go back and reread some of his earlier works, particularly It, which King’s narrator Jake references in 11/22/63. There’s a...
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Summer, Books, and Baseball
Summer means extra time to read books, and to watch baseball. Sometimes the two come together in a magical confluence, combining the pleasures of the mind with the pleasure of sport. My baseball...
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A Dickens of a Pilgrimage
Earlier this month, my family traveled to the United Kingdom to have a mini vacation in London, and then visit family further south in Hampshire. One of my husband’s favorite touring spots is the...
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When Books Collide: People of the Book by Geraldine Brooks and Manuscript...
Have you ever read a book and have it make a kind of crazy convergence with another book you just read? This just happened to me, and I’m finding the contrasts and the comparisons between the two...
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Taking the Oath: Visiting the Bodleian Library
This summer, I had the good fortune to take a day trip into Oxford and visit a good friend. After cappuccinos, a good stroll through a street market, and lunch, we did what your average bibliophiles...
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Celebrity Literature, Part 2 – Wildwood by Colin Meloy
This time I didn’t even realize it. I read another celebrity written novel, this one chosen solely on the merits of its very interesting cover art. (My first blog post about celebrity authors was The...
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