(For part I of Sabrina Flynn’s award-winning “Clash of the Books,” scroll down to yesterday’s post, or wait until Tuesday for the entire story.) II “Run, you fools!” A lash of flame descended with a sizzling snap. The detectives and librarian ran, taking cover in the Natural Sciences aisle. Black smoke gathered, writhing…
Read MoreEvery year we run a contest celebrating National Library Week, asking readers to talk about their love for libraries. This year I posed the challenge of explaining what “library” means, to someone like a Martian—and said that there would be extra points if the essay/poem/etc mentioned Kate Martinelli, whose 20th anniversary 2013 is. I loved…
Read MoreWhat is the purpose of a library? What is a library? A safe place, a place where the imagination can run riot, a place where I can find a job or learn a skill or use the computer or discover something new, every single day. I love libraries. One of my earliest memories is of…
Read MoreLast spring this time, I was waiting for my offer on a house to be accepted. And waiting. In the meantime, the garden went through the springtime without me. That means that this year, every week brings a new surprise. Like the view off my deck, green all winter and now scattered with various colors…
Read MoreOne of the Lost Treasures of the LRKing universe is a radio adaptation the BBC did years and years ago of (under a previous cover, of course) which they broadcast, sold for a time in the shops, and then it sort of faded into the storied mists. Even I never got a copy of the…
Read MoreIn case you didn’t open your newsletter (you are signed up for the News, aren’t you?) you may not have seen two Events With Deadlines, both celebrating next week’s National Library Week. Event the First: A contest. There’s a complete set of five Martinelli hardbacks with your name on it–or rather, with my name on…
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On May 14, I will sit down with Zoe Ferraris, Sharan Newman, and Julia Spencer-Fleming to talk about Higher Mysteries. You do not want to miss this. It’s the 2013 King Lecture in Santa Cruz, at 7:00 in the main library at 224 Church Street.
Read MoreJust to give you a head’s up: the spring newsletter is going out tomorrow, with some exciting snippets in it. If you’re not signed up yet, you can do so here. More to come…
Read MoreSome weeks ago, Team LRK put up an e-book collection of my writings on that fellow with the pipe and the violin. At last, it’s available in an actual paper version! There are eight essays that range from my explanation of how old I think Sherlock Holmes is to the very academic introduction I wrote…
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