Arts and Culture (Books)

Article - Books; by Elisavietta Ritchie - 9/22/11

Life's Stories

In two new local novels, truth wears the thin disguise of fiction

Captivity, corruption, escapes, flights in truth and fantasy, murder, messages from the dead, revenge, suicide … The stuff of thriller fiction. But in the lives of authors Donald Shomette, Helena Mann-Melnitchenko and Eugene Melnitchenko, such events were terribly real. Wars, internments and such tragedies can be buried in memory, but they’re not forgotten. Writing puts a frame around memories, rendering them more manageable. These authors...

Article - Books; by Dotty Holcomb Doherty - 6/23/11

Taking Children’s Reading Outdoors

Take children to the outdoors with these authors who evoke the magic and mystery of the natural world.

For wonder-filled, read-aloud picture books, look for author Jane Yolen. Her Caldecott-winning father-daughter tale, Owl Moon, should not be missed: “When you go owling, you don’t need words or warm or anything but hope.” Also look for Sacred Places, poems and paintings on 12 magical spots around the world; and Ring of Earth, a child’s book of seasons told through animal-voiced poems. Local D.C. author Lynne Cherry’s...

Article - Books; by Bay Weekly - 6/23/11

Summer Reading Rewards

Summer Reading Clubs at Anne Arundel and Calvert county public libraries give you ideas, company and rewards for summer reading. At every branch, clubs start this week for children, teens, families and adults. Each age group reads for prizes as well as pleasure. Anne Arundel County Public Library Kid readers find book events as well new books each week at the library. Schools with 25 percent participation compete to win the Chesapeake Cup: www.aacpl.net/src11/kids.html....

Article - Books; by Ariel Martinez Brumbaugh - 4/14/11

Everyone’s a Poet in April

Is it spring in the air — or just poetry month?

The world of famous poets is small. The past hundred years have produced a handful of poets whose names are immediately recognizable: Robert Frost, Dylan Thomas, ee cummings, Maya Angelou, with space here for your own favorite. As a student of poetry and an addict of words, I sadly recall the words of my poetry professor Ed Perlman at Johns Hopkins University: “Only about six poets in the world are able to make a living off of their poetry. The rest of us write poetry...

Article - Books; by Janice F. Booth - 4/7/11

Recommitting to Restoration

Invitation to Wonder Might Do the Trick

How do you think our Bay conservation efforts are going? You love Chesapeake Bay, and so do I. But are we stopping the blooms of pollution? Can we foresee plentiful crab feasts? Will we dive off our piers this summer to splash and gambol in the Bay’s once-inviting depths? Sadly, I suspect the answer to all these questions remains a fairly plaintive no. We love Chesapeake Bay. Yet when we read of the press conferences, court cases and experimental programs to control...

Article - Books; by Louise Vest - 10/7/10

Raymond McAlwee’s Small Success Story

He’s living his Chesapeake dream

I’d like to say that I saw Raymond McAlwee’s book as soon as I walked into the Fenwick Island bookstore. But my eyes were first riveted to the mound of beckoning crab balls laid out for the store’s patrons. Munching away, I then saw the pile of books he had for sale, and I learned that the recipe for the delicious crab dish was from the same book. I went back to the plate for more of the crab, and later back to McAlwee for tales of Chesapeake Bay. Bay Dreaming...

Article - Books; by Jane C. Elkin - 9/16/10

Two Storms by Iain S. Baird

It’s not for everybody, but for the 217,000 American men who will be diagnosed with prostate cancer this year, this book is a beacon through the storm.

Annapolis sparked a love story 40 years ago when Iain Baird took the girl he’d marry sailing for their first date. Life’s strange journey took them back where it began for retirement — with Hurricane Isabelle in their rearview mirror. But before Annapolis the second time around came Virginia, Louisiana and two more deadly storms: Hurricane Katrina and prostate cancer. Baird has written Two Storms: Prostate Cancer and Katrina in New Orleans to chronicle his tale of...

Article - Books; by Doug Kamholz - 7/29/10

Wayne Karlin’s Wandering Souls

This Vietnam veteran shows us finely detailed frames of war

The last seven words in Michael Herr’s bestseller Dispatches lament: “Vietnam, Vietnam, Vietnam, we’ve all been there.” Well, yes and no. In Wayne Karlin’s most recent book Wandering Souls, the College of Southern Maryland teacher and Marine Corps Viet Nam veteran shows us finely detailed frames of what most of us never knew about that war — while reminding us what we perhaps have always known about that war. Or any war. War’s slogging nature is one of...