Although ghoulishly entertaining, Spook is ironically not about the supernatural happenings of the spirit world as its title eerily suggests. Instead, famed science writer Mary Roach takes a fresh approach … Read More
When I was asked to join the “Books We Read” team, I thought nothing of writing about the book I was reading at the time (sounds like the objective, right?). … Read More
-Continued from Hungarian Refugee Scientists at Rutgers (Part 1) Language instruction Students had a full schedule. In addition to classes 9 to 4 on weekdays, they had evening programs and … Read More
Note: Around October 23, the anniversary of the 1956 Hungarian Revolution, I can’t help feeling proud to remember how Rutgers stepped up and helped a small group of Hungarian scholars … Read More
You might have noticed books on a shelf in your public library labelled “bibliotherapy.” You might have read about a bibliotherapy display in a bookstore. What the heck is this … Read More
Does a book’s main character always have to be likable? If you think back on your favorite main characters, many were almost surely ones you liked, or at least admired … Read More
This post starts with a confession: Middlemarch, by George Eliot (pen name of Mary Anne Evans), is widely considered one of the greatest novels ever written––certainly the odds-on favorite for … Read More
Books have been banned, challenged, censored, or even burned by organizations, schools, and parent organizations for a lot of reasons. What defines a banned or a challenged book? A banned book … Read More
Last week we celebrated Banned Books week in an event called BANNED: A Virtual Banned Books Read-Out & Discussions on the Freedom to Read at Rutgers. In my flash talk at the … Read More
A children’s book shredded in public by a member of the parliament. A poster outside a bookstore warning customers of books with “homosexual propaganda dangerous to children.” A mayor demanding that … Read More