Malcolm Gladwell is a storyteller. What I find particularly admirable about his work is that he is able to convey what has been traditionally a spoken language skill into a written one–while reducing seemingly complex ideas into digestible bite-size chunks. It is not surprising, then, that The Tipping Point (2000) was a best seller and achieved “one of the best books of the decade” status on many lists. Pulling from a broad set of examples from different aspects of life and history, such as from Paul Revere’s […]
Friendship, Sacrifices, and Loneliness
“My heart hurts,” said one of my students, crouching near her desk, after we finished the book recently. She then asked if she could go in the hallway because her pain in response the story was so acute. Some others had tears in their eyes–the girls visibly so while the boys tried to hide or deny theirs. I had a lump in my throat and waited until I had control over my emotions so that I could formulate my words to speak. In all, I […]
Sex, Sexuality, and the Stunted Journalist
When I was about thirteen or fourteen, I told my much older sister that she could look forward to holding in her hands my own published book. I spoke with such confidence that she said she believed that I would achieve that goal. Nearly twenty years later, I am no closer to attaining that goal than when I first boldly made my claim. It isn’t because I lost the desire to. No, my lack of progress is more of a result of self-realization. To write–realistic fiction, in […]
A Chronicle of The Today Show’s Downfall, Not So Much Insider Info on Morning TV
Brian Stelter’s Top of the World: Inside the Cutthroat World of Morning TV (2013)is a bit of a misnomer. Less of an insider expose into the “cutthroat” world of morning TV, Stelter’s book is more of a chronicle of the rivalry between Good Morning America (GMA) and Today and the events that led to Today’s eventual downfall to number two in 2012 after sixteen years at number one. Opening up with “Operation Bambi,” the name given to the plan to oust Ann Curry from Today, […]
No Duke, No Earl, Slight Problem
Leave me in a bookstore and I will get lost in the romance novel section. Romance novels–to be more precise, historical romances a la old school Amanda Quick–are my default book reads, especially when I want to escape into an adult fairy tale. I say all this to make clear my bias in tackling Nancy Naigle’s Mint Juleps and Justice (2014), a contemporary romance and my January Kindle First selection. Mint Juleps and Justice is part of Naigle’s Adams Grove series set in Virginia. I […]
Put on a Happy Face!…You’ll Live Longer
A lot can be learned from Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice (1813), one of which is why it is important to smile: Mr. Bingley, who puts on a more agreeable face, is received well by the people of Netherfield Park whereas Mr. Darcy, who doesn’t, is spurned. The science behind why Mr. Bingley experiences more social success than Mr. Darcy is explained in Marianne LaFrance’s Why Smile? The Science Behind Facial Expressions (2011). LaFrance draws on the work of latest research in biology, psychology, sociology […]
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