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

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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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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Does anyone read poetry these days? If you are not a poet or a student, why read poetry? If you cannot create rhymed, symmetrical, or rhythmic arrangements of words, should you attempt to understand a poet’s work?

Patricia Smith’s Blood Dazzler(published by Coffee House Press of Minneapolis in 2008) answers these questions.  Smith’s poems capture the energy, longing, anguish, and angry power of the experience known as Hurricane Katrina.  After reading these poems, you will wonder how the world has managed to forget what this event meant to people everywhere. Listen to a brief commentary and exceprts from the book.

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There is a certain delight in reading about something you imagine to be interesting, but know you would never do. Ammon Shea’s reading of the entire Oxford English Dictionary and his book about the experience fall into this category. Listen to a  personal response to the book Reading the OED: one man, one year, 21,730 pages.

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Yes, she really does have something new to say!

In her introduction to Letter To My Daughter, Angelou writes of her lack of biological daughters. When you read her book, you will join her family, sample her wisdom, and become energized by her love of life.

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Sherman Alexie, a Spokane/Coeur d’Alene Indian, creates powerful, funny, and life-wisening characters in his short stories and novels. Here is an overview of some of his recent work.

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Booktalk on William P. Young’s bestselling book, The Shack. Why is evil so persistent in human history? If you could meet God “face to face”, what would “she” look like and why would it matter? Young addresses these questions with intelligence, sensitivity, and unflinching honesty.

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Class assignment podcast is here (Baby Be-Bop by Francesca Lia Block).  Comments are welcome!

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