Category Archives: Books and reading

Christmas shopping in “The Village”

Posted on December 29, 2014 by Katherine Wikoff

I don’t like shopping malls at Christmas.  Too crowded.  Too many harried people with too many gifts to buy and too little time. My husband and my younger daughter don’t mind all that.  In fact, for years now they’ve had an annual … Continue reading →

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The original HONY – O.O. McIntyre

Posted on December 8, 2014 by Katherine Wikoff

Everyone seems to know and like the extremely popular “Humans of New York” (HONY) blog by Brandon Stanton.  Intriguingly, another man was putting an equally human face on the people of New York City, both celebrities and ordinary folks, nearly 100 years … Continue reading →

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Bruno Mars—as you’ve (probably) never seen him!

Posted on November 9, 2014 by Katherine Wikoff

I’m teaching contemporary literature this quarter at Milwaukee School of Engineering, and the text we’re discussing this coming week is literally hot off the presses—”The Flick,” which is the play that won the Pulitzer Prize for Drama last spring and … Continue reading →

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F. Scott Fitzgerald: Football Genius?

Posted on October 26, 2014 by Katherine Wikoff

I was about to toss yesterday’s Wall Street Journal into the recycling bin this morning but realized I hadn’t read the “Review” section.  Am I glad I took a minute to page through!  On page C3 was this excellent essay/article, … Continue reading →

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Standing Up to Violence

Posted on March 27, 2014 by Katherine Wikoff

Emily January Peterson has an excellent post today, “Girls’ Studies: Violence,” over on her blog The Bookshelf of Emily J.  I was going to leave a comment there, but I realized there was so much I wanted to say that it might be … Continue reading →

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The marketing campaign that helped The Return of the King sweep the Oscars

Posted on February 27, 2014 by Katherine Wikoff

Today’s Variety has an interesting article about how ten years ago The Return of the King was nominated for—and won—an astounding 11 Academy Awards.  Only two other films have won that many Oscars: Ben-Hur (1959) and Titanic (1997).  Even more significantly, … Continue reading →

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Tosa All-City Read: Rocket Boys and October Sky

Posted on February 4, 2014 by Katherine Wikoff

Wauwatosa, Wisconsin (an old-city inner-ring suburb of Milwaukee), is having its inaugural “all-city read” this month.  Children ages 8-12 are reading a fantasy adventure, and people ages 13+ are reading Rocket Boys, the 1998 memoir by retired NASA engineer Homer Hickam, … Continue reading →

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To survive, bookstores should be more like funeral homes (were)

Posted on February 1, 2014 by Katherine Wikoff

Interesting post over at The Shatzkin Files, “The future of bookstores is the key to understanding the future of publishing.”  What will it take for bookstores to survive in an era of e-readers and online book purchasing?  One possibility mentioned … Continue reading →

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Keeping up with Tess Gerritsen’s “Great Indiana Public Libraries Tour”

Posted on October 4, 2013 by Katherine Wikoff

One of my favorite authors is medical-thriller novelist Tess Gerritsen, whose continuing series’ characters Jane Rizzoli and Maura Isles have inspired the hit TNT network television show “Rizzoli & Isles.” Since 2005 Gerritsen has also written a blog that focuses … Continue reading →

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Watch the Book Trailer for ALL GOD’S CHILDREN

Posted on July 2, 2013 by Katherine Wikoff

I have to share this book trailer for my friend Anna Schmidt’s next novel, due out in September, I believe. Her publisher has created an promotional video that I think really lives up to the content of Anna’s novel. If … Continue reading →

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