By Melanie P. Kumar | On October 6, 2021 | Updated August 25, 2022 | Comments (2)
There are some books from one’s schoolgirl years that stay with you, and the What Katy Did series by Susan Coolidge (1835–1905) certainly falls into that category for me.
I read and re-read those books through many vacations. Before realizing it, the actions of favorite characters begin to have an effect on me, as the reader.
The American author of the What Katy Did series (five books in all) was born Sarah Chauncey Woolsey but gained fame with her pen name, Susan Coolidge. The first book of her Katy Did series was published in 1872. Read More→
By Anna Fiore | On September 26, 2021 | Updated September 30, 2022 | Comments (0)
Virginia Woolf (1882 – 1941) is recognized as one of the most groundbreaking modernist authors of the twentieth century. She is perhaps most widely known for iconic novels like Mrs. Dalloway (1925) and her semi-autobiographical novel, To the Lighthouse (1927).
To the Lighthouse was Woolf’s fifth novel, and has remained one of her most highly regarded works.
Inspired by recollections of her childhood summers spent on the Cornwall coast, To the Lighthouse depicts the fictional Ramsey family and their assorted house guests spending a vacation in the Hebrides, on the island of Skye. Read More→
By Anna Fiore | On September 14, 2021 | Updated October 9, 2024 | Comments (2)
Frances Hodgson Burnett (1849–1924) was a poet, playwright, and children’s book author. She penned more than forty novels, plays, and dozens of poems and short stories throughout her lifetime. A Little Princess has endured as a timeless tale.
Beloved and quite successful in her time, she’s now primarily remembered as the author of A Little Princess as well as The Secret Garden and Little Lord Fauntleroy. Her prolific output went far beyond these now-classic stories for children of all ages, including books for adults as well.
The story of A Little Princess follows a young girl with a vivid imagination as she faces abandonment at a posh boarding school in London with a cruel headmistress. Read More→
By Anna Fiore | On September 2, 2021 | Updated August 26, 2022 | Comments (1)
Agatha Christie (1890–1976) is the most widely published and bestselling author of all time. She authored sixty-six crime novels and short story collections, fourteen plays, and more. Murder on the Orient Express, an intricate tale of crime and intrigue, is one of Christie’s most iconic novels featuring the illustrious Belgian detective Hercule Poirot.
Murder on the Orient Express was first published in the United Kingdom in 1934, and soon after in the United States, retitled Murder on the Calais Coach. Christie drew inspiration for the plot from recent headlines.
Around the time when Murder on the Orient Express was published, the murder of Charles Lindbergh’s son had yet to be solved. This real-life mystery, coupled with Christie’s first journey on the Orient Express in 1928, inspired the iconic detective story. Read More→
By Taylor Jasmine | On May 25, 2021 | Updated February 7, 2026 | Comments (0)
Wilma Rudolph (1940 – 1994) was a groundbreaking American Olympic champion in the field of running. As the most visible and famed Black female athlete of time, she inspired generations who came after her. Running was her passion, and she became an icon in the civil rights and women’s rights movements as well.
Books about Wilma Rudolph continue to tell her story, most aimed at younger readers who draw inspiration from her remarkable life. Here, we’ll take a look at some of them, starting with her own 1977 autobiography, Wilma.
In this slim but action-packed volume she told the story of how she, a Black woman athlete facing many obstacles, won both in life and in the toughest sports competitions in the world. She has the distinction of being the first American ever to take home three gold medals from a single Olympics. Read More→
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