Most know "In the Heat of the Night" for the 1967 Academy Award-winning movie starring Sydney Poitier and Rod Steiger. The film is based on the mystery novel with the same title by John Ball, which celebrated its 50th anniversary in 2015. I thought it was time I read it.
Category: Classics
The books I gave this holiday season
Here are six books I selected and wrapped with a bow to surprise and delight my friends.
He knew how to keep Christmas well
A new edition of Charles Dickens' "A Christmas Carol" stands out for its photos of the original manuscript in Dickens' handwriting. Here's a look at it, plus why I read it.
Which one Faulkner novel should you read?
William Faulkner wrote 19 novels. Among them -- and the one everyone typically selects when they decide, for the first time, to read a Faulkner book -- is "The Sound and the Fury." But that may not be the best choice.
Eudora Welty & Larry McMurtry
There are so many wonderful books published in the past, waiting to be read. Here are two I indulged in these recent weeks, plus a link to a list of "21 Books You've Been Meaning to Read."
For the woman in the back row
She asked me for a book recommendation, and I didn't give the best answer. Here's why that happened, and the book recommendations I wish I'd given.
My uneasy relationship with science fiction
Why did I pick up Charlie Jane Anders' new sci-fi fantasy "All the Birds in the Sky"? I'm as much into science fiction, let alone fantasy, as I am into jumping off a cliff into a shark pool. Here's what I think is going on.
My love for old, tattered books
Here's a recommendation to read (if you haven't already) John le Carré's classic espionage novel "The Spy Who Came In From the Cold" -- and why I read an old, beat-up 1964 copy.
Yes, Thomas Hardy was my friend
Christopher Nicholson's new novel explores a winter season in the life of British author Thomas Hardy, who penned the classics "Tess of the d'Urbervilles" and "Jude the Obscure." The story focuses on desires of the heart that come too late in life. A quietly powerful, beautifully written book.
“The Mysteries of Paris”
Ernest Hemingway's "A Moveable Feast" is flying out of Paris bookstores. A bit here about that, and also about a new-old book set in the City of Light that first appeared in serial installments in a 19th century Paris newspaper. It captivated readers and saved the failing newspaper from bankruptcy. Here's the scoop.
Bookfair loot
One day every year in November, I fill a shopping cart with used books at a book fair in Dayton, Ohio. Here are a few of this year's treasures.
A return of iconic crime novels
Pushkin Press is bringing back 20th century, tour-de-force mysteries and thrillers, including "Vertigo", the book Alfred Hitchcock turned into a classic film. Here's a look at what Pushkin's new imprint is up to, and the first books now available.
The lesson of the book critic
What happens when you're supposed to be in-the-know about new books being published, but you bury yourself in the old books?
The last night of summer
In this 1963 novel, written by one of the most widely read storytellers of the 20th century, people do crazy things when the last night of summer arrives.
“It’s a terribly powerful story”
People often ask how and where I find the books and stories I read. Here's an instance where I found "one of those stories that stays with you forever."
The Longest Chapter 