book and web talks by deborah evans

No, I haven’t gone away forever. I’m taking a break from podcasting to write during November.

I am participating in National Novel Writing Month, with a goal of writing a 50,000 word novel before December 1, 2009. I will post a podcast about the experience when I return at the beginning of December.

It’s not too late for you to join!

National Novel Writing Month

This is Deborah’s response to her completed reading of Toni Morrison’s A Mercy. This novel, Morrison’s latest, was the partial subject of the previous episode in which Deborah offered tips and suggestions for reading and enjoying “difficult”, or challenging, authors.

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This is the final episode in Deborah’s series of summer reading reviews.

Here, she discusses how to read and enjoy (and finish!) authors who may be considered “difficult” or “less approachable.”

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This is the third in Deborah’s series of end-of-summer reading reviews.

Today, she discusses Laurie R. King’s Mary Russell-Sherlock Holmes mystery series. Is it better than Conan Doyle? Listen, read the books, and make your own decision. You can learn more about the series at laurierking.com

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This is the second in Deborah’s series of end-of-summer reading reports. This episode contains a discussion of Belonging: A Culture of Place, by bell hooks.

bell hooks is a writer and cultural critic. Currently, she is Distinguished Professor in Residence in Appalachian Studies at Berea College in Kentucky.

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Join Deborah for her end-of-summer reading reports on books she  enjoyed during June, July, and early August.

The first in this series is Patricia Spadaro’s Honor Yourself: The Inner Art of Giving and Receiving. Why is balance such an important part of mental, physical, and emotional health? What do Eastern and Western spiritual traditions have to teach us about true wellness? Spadaro’s book answers these questions and more, while giving guidelines for restoring and sustaining the healthy balances that make life peaceful and powerful.

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Is English a needlessly and unavoidably frustrating language? Native and non-native speakers make the case for an affirmative answer to this question. Listen to Deborah’s discussion of two books, The Artful Nuance by Rod L. Evans, Ph.D. (no relation to Deborah) and Everything You Know About English Is Wrong, by Bill Brohaugh. These two resources will guide you in resolving the sticky issues around English grammar and usage.

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Are you an experienced, expert level web searcher? Are you a novice? Are you somewhere in between? Are you curious about what’s “out there”? Need help using online people finders? Want to know how to use search engine optimization? You need to make your way to the about.com web search site . Listen to Deborah’s discussion of the site, hosted by Wendy Boswell since 2004. Regardless of your level of expertise, you will find something useful at websearch.about.com .

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Buzzards. Are they a topic of interest? It is possible to write an interesting essay about buzzards? Yes! Listen to Deborah’s discussion of Lee Zacharias’ essay  “Buzzards”, originally published in the Southern Humanities Review and republished in The Best American Essays, 2008. Also referenced is an article on essays from the July/August 2008 Utne Reader.

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Are you a lover of lists and bibliographies? Would you like to make your book reviews and lists available to other researchers, or perhaps to just your family, friends, students, or colleagues? Listen to Deborah’s discussion of worldcat.org, a place you may come to love.

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