Category Archives: Biography

The Autobiography of Malcolm X

Posted on April 9, 2021 by Teresa

In this autobiography (as told to Alex Haley), Malcolm X says “My whole life had been a chronology of changes.” Yet, too often, he, like so many historical figures, gets frozen in amber, depicted in a single moment in time, when, … Continue reading →

Posted in Biography, Nonfiction | 10 Comments

Grandma Gatewood’s Walk

Posted on January 22, 2019 by Teresa

Every once in a while, I like to introduce a little bookish chaos into my life, and one fun way to do so is by ordering a Bas Bleu surprise package. So many of the books in their catalog look … Continue reading →

Posted in Biography, Nonfiction, Travel/ Exploration | 5 Comments

Charles Dickens

Posted on June 15, 2018 by Jenny

Having finished all Dickens’s novels (except Edwin Drood — if he didn’t finish it, I don’t have to either!), I thought this was a good time to read Michael Slater’s 2007 biography. It was, in fact, the oldest book on … Continue reading →

Posted in Biography, Nonfiction | 6 Comments

Sally Heathcote, Suffragette

Posted on April 21, 2018 by Jenny

I haven’t written a blog post for over two months, and I’m not sure… why not? I’ve just been very busy and tired, and I’ve been reading, but not at my usual volume, and when I’ve thought about writing a … Continue reading →

Posted in Biography, Graphic Novels / Comics, History, Nonfiction | 6 Comments

My Wars Are Laid Away In Books

Posted on January 23, 2018 by Jenny

This biography of Emily Dickinson, by Alfred Habegger, has been on my TBR for so many years that I’ve lost count — the oldest book on my list, in fact, having survived a number of TBR purges. I read it … Continue reading →

Posted in Biography, Nonfiction | 7 Comments

Shirley Jackson: A Rather Haunted Life

Posted on December 29, 2017 by Teresa

I didn’t think it was possible for me to shed tears over a biography, but by the time I got to the end of Ruth Franklin’s book about Shirley Jackson, I was so attached to Jackson that reading about her … Continue reading →

Posted in Biography, Nonfiction | 6 Comments

The Silent Woman

Posted on December 1, 2016 by Jenny

I started Janet Malcolm’s book The Silent Woman in the belief that it was a biography of Sylvia Plath and Ted Hughes. I’ve never read much Plath — just the most-anthologized poems — and even less Hughes, and I only … Continue reading →

Posted in Biography, Nonfiction, Uncategorized | 10 Comments

Patrick O’Brian: The Making of the Novelist

Posted on December 21, 2015 by Jenny

As some readers here may know, I am a huge fan of Patrick O’Brian’s Aubrey-Maturin series of seafaring novels. When I was in college, my father introduced me to them, and after one false start (it took me two tries … Continue reading →

Posted in Biography, Nonfiction | 9 Comments

The Darkest Jungle

Posted on May 7, 2015 by Jenny

In Todd Balf’s book The Darkest Jungle, he explains that by 1854, after the spectacular and expensive failure of the Franklin expedition, the search for the Northwest Passage was sliding off the front pages. The new great hope was Panama. … Continue reading →

Posted in Biography, History, Nonfiction, Travel/ Exploration | 4 Comments

Thomas Hardy

Posted on October 24, 2014 by Teresa

I was irrationally worried when I started reading Claire Tomalin’s biography of Thomas Hardy. You see, Hardy is my favorite writer, and I didn’t want to find out he was terrible, that he kicked puppies or something. Generally, I don’t … Continue reading →

Posted in Biography, Nonfiction | 8 Comments