Rebecca M. Douglass, Author

  Title: Wild Things: The Joy of Reading Children's Literature as an Adult Author: Bruce Handy Publisher: Simon and Schuster, 2017. 307 pages. Source: Library Publisher's Summary: An irresistible, nostalgic, and insightful -- and totally original -- ramble through classic children's literature from Vanity Fair contributing editor (and father) Bruce Handy. In 1690, the dour New England Primer , thought to be the first American children's book, was published in Boston. Offering children gems of advice such as "Strive to learn" and "Be not a dunce," it was no fun at all. So how did we get from there to "Let the wild rumpus start"? And now that we're living in a golden age of children's literature, what can adults get out of reading Where the Wild Things Are and Goodnight Moon , or Charlotte's Web and Little House on the Prairie ? In Wild Things , Bruce Handy revisits the classics of every American childhood, from fairy tale...

  Title: Time to Be in Earnest: A Fragment of Autobiography Author: P. D. James Publisher: Faber & Faber, 1999. Paperback by Ballantine, 2001. 269 pages. Source: Library book sale Publisher's Summary: On the day she turned seventy-seven, internationally acclaimed mystery writer P. D. James embarked on an endeavor unlike any other in her distinguished career: she decided to write a personal memoir in the form of a diary. Over the course of a year she set down not only the events and impressions of her extraordinarily active life, but also the memories, joys, discoveries, and crises of a lifetime. This enchantingly original volume is the result. Time to Be in Earnest offers an intimate portrait of one of most accomplished women of our time. Here are vivid, revealing accounts of her school days in Cambridge in the 1920s and '30s, her happy marriage and the tragedy of her husband's mental illness, and the thrill of publishing her first novel, Cover Her Face , i...