Princeton University associate professor of neuroscience, Dr. Sam Wang, and Dr. Sandra Aamodt, former editor of the prestigious scientific journal Nature Neuroscience, have teamed up to write a second book Welcome to Your Child’s Brain: How the Mind Grows from Conception to College (Bloomsbury USA, 336pgs). Their new work studies the development of the young brain and offers suggestions to parents on fostering intellectual growth and self-control. Even from birth, children’s brains are functioning at a high level. “They really come equipped to learn about the world in a way that wasn’t appreciated until recently,” explains Dr. Aamodt in an interview with NPR. “It took scientists a long time to realize that their brains are doing some very complicated things.” Read more…

One World Trade Center, under construction. June 2011.

In the years since the horrible events of September 11, several non-fiction books recounting the tragedy, like The 9/11 Commission Report, have been bestsellers. However, as the 10th anniversary looms near, a singular work of fiction that defines the era has failed to emerge. Novelist and playwright Norman Mailer advised a fellow writer to wait a decade before addressing the attacks in print because “it will take that long for you to make sense of it.” Was he right?

“The world has changed since 9/11 and our culture has changed but I haven’t yet seen the book or the movie or the poem or the song that captures the people we are now and helps us redefine who we are in this new post 9/11 world,” says journalist Lawrence Wright in an interview with Reuters. Read more…

Ansel Adams’ little known book Born Free and Equal: The Story of Loyal Japanese-Americans at Manzanar Relocation Center, Inyo County, California, is now the focus of an exhibit at the Bainbridge Island Historical Museum in Washington. A copy of the original book has been printed out for display at the Ansel Adams: A Portrait of Manzanar exhibit. A selection of the Manzanar photographs, some never shown publicly, are also on display through Dec. 7. Adams, who captured iconic black and white images of Yosemite National Park and the American West, took a more photojournalistic approach for the book, interviewing internees as well as documenting moments of their daily lives with pictures. Originally published in 1944, the American public received Born Free and Equal with mixed reactions. According to the Library of Congress website, the book garnered positive reviews and a spot on the Francisco Chronicle‘s bestseller list. In contrast a recent Seattle Times article reports that the book also incited protests, was publicly burned and condemned as “disloyal”. Read more…

Authors Catherine Salmon and Katrin Schuman take a new stance on middle children, those who often get lost in the family mix, in their new book The Secret Power of Middle Children: How Middleborns Can Harness Their Unexpected and Remarkable Abilities. Though older and younger siblings are sometimes perceived as outshining middle-borns, there are quite a few advantages to being stuck in the middle. The lack of the intense parental scrutiny that other children in the family may receive frees middle children to explore their own path. Read more…

This week Amazon released Kindle Cloud Reader, an HTML5-based app that works with Safari and Chrome web browsers. This new reader, optimized for the iPad, allows Amazon to circumvent Apple’s recent restrictions on their native iOS apps, preventing companies from linking directly to their online stores. Users can now login to read.amazon.com to access their Kindle library and purchase new books. They have the option of reading eBooks in the cloud or downloading volumes to read offline. Along with iPads, the web-based app will also work with Safari and Chrome on Macs and PCs, however the Firefox web browser is not yet supported. According to an article on TechCrunch, the iPhone platform is not supported either. But, an iPhone friendly version is presumed to be in the works. Read more…

Acclaimed author Ron Hansen uses the salacious details of the 1927 Snyder-Gray homicide case for the basis of his new novel A Wild Surge of Guilty Passion (Scribner, 256pgs). Mixing historical fact with fictionalized dialogue, he spins a titillating tale of lust, murder and human tragedy. A chance meeting of stylish lingerie salesman Judd Gray and oversexed housewife Ruth Snyder in a Manhattan diner, sparks a torrid, secret affair. The wild and vengeful Ruth wants not only to be free of her husband Albert, but wants him dead, and uses her sensual wiles to manipulate Judd into executing her plan. The police investigation and the murder trial that follows reveal the ruinous hold Ruth has on Judd and his inability to escape the “death spiral” the two have created. In the end both must face the harsh consequences of their cruel actions. Read more…

View of Oslo city after July 22, 2011 bombing.

Bestselling thriller writer Jo Nesbø, best known for his gritty Harry Hole series, is quite familiar with the themes of murder and evil, having explored these dark impulses in his books. Yet he, and his fellow country men, were forced to deal with the ugly truth of murderous rage on July 22 when a terrorist launched twin attacks on Utøya island and an Oslo government building in Norway, killing 76 people. In an article for The guardian, Nesbø writes of the loss of innocence that his homeland experienced after the attacks and how the tragedy has changed the national psyche. Read more…

Catch-22, Joseph Heller’s classic satire on the absurdity of war will turn 50 this October, and publisher Simon & Schuster has released a special anniversary edition of the book to commemorate the occasion. This latest edition features a bounty of additional material including a new introduction written by Christopher Buckley, several essays by Heller discussing the conception of the story, and critical reviews by literary luminaries such as Anthony Burgess and Norman Mailer. The writer served in World War II, and his personal experience helped shaped the story of Yossarian, the hapless bombardier forced to risk his life by flying an increasing number of missions for the good of his country. Catch-22, the convoluted bureaucratic rule that prevents Yossarian from escaping combat is now embedded in our culture as part of the English vernacular. Read more…

Happy Birthday Harry Potter and JK Rowling! Yesterday, July 31, was the shared birthday of the boy wizard and his creator and the beginning of The Magical Quill hunt on Pottermore. According to the Pottermore home page now posting the headline “7 books, 7 days, 7 chances”, early access to site will be granted to those lucky few who find The Magical Quill and complete the registration process. “Each day, from 31 July to 6 August, a clue will be revealed here. Solve the clue and you will be taken to The Magical Quill. Be quick, The Magical Quill won’t be there for long and registration will only be open while spaces are still available each day.” Read more…

Jane McCloskey writes a loving tribute to her father in Robert McCloskey: A Private Life in Words and Pictures (Smith/Kerr Assoc, 256pgs). The children’s book author is best known for his classic picture books Make Way For Ducklings, One Morning in Maine and Blueberries for Sal. Though these award-winning books were written decades ago, the stories are timeless and remain popular with children today. In her own book, Jane, the writer’s youngest daughter and sister of Sal, presents a lively depiction of their family life in Maine, a place that inspired many of McCloskey’s stories. Jane also touches on the family’s time in New York and Mexico. Though they all shared a very loving bond, she admits that, like any family, there were a few bumps in the road. “Sal’s childhood was less happy than mine, while her adulthood has been happier and more successful,” she writes. Read more…