Kate’s 2¢: “The pilot: a tale of the sea”

    by James Fenimore Cooper

“The pilot: a tale of the sea”

    by James Fenimore Cooper

NOTE: There is a plethora of in-depth biographies of authors and reviews of their books, that state the title, author, published date, and genre; as well as, describing what the book is about, setting, and character(s), so, Kate’s 2¢ shares her thoughts about what she’s read. In her opinion…

   Ted Stoddard did a great job of reading this classic. I didn’t associate Cooper with sea tales, but this was very well done. I’ve seen three-masted schooners in full sail and they are marvelous to behold.  

A few take-aways:

–A far larger proportion of our acts are the results of sudden impulses and accidents, rather than that of reason.

–Cooper’s aim was to illustrate vessels and the ocean.

–He wished the lash to be laid aside.

–An immense body of white smoke rushed from the muzzle of the cannon, followed by a sheet of vivid fire, until loosing it’s power, it yielded to the wind. And as it rose from the water, spread like a cloud and passing through the mast of the schooner, was driven far to leeward and soon blended into the mists which were scudding before the fresh breezes of the ocean.

From the web:

BornSeptember 15, 1789 · Burlington, New Jersey, U.S.

DiedSeptember 14, 1851 (aged 61) · Cooperstown, New York, U.S.

 1789

Born in Burlington NJ.

1790

Family moved to Cooperstown NY, founded by father.

1806

Joined merchant ship Sterling crew at 17.

1808-1810

Served as midshipman in US Navy.

The first American novelist to achieve worldwide fame was James Fenimore Cooper. His stories were translated into foreign languages as soon as they were published.

During his European travels, Fenimore Cooper wrote travel notes. There were so many of them that later, when he decided to publish them, it turned out as many as five volumes.

Cooper makes use of Native American characters in his stories and highlights the often tenuous and complex relationships between them and the frontier settlers.

From NLS/BARD/LOC:

The pilot: a tale of the sea DB50222

Cooper, James Fenimore; House, Kay Seymour. Reading time: 21 hours, 49 minutes.

Read by Ted Stoddard.

Classics

Adventure

A nineteenth-century sea story suggested by an episode in the life of John Paul Jones, which combines romance, intrigue, betrayal, near-shipwreck, and sea fights.

Downloaded: February 11, 2025

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Kate’s 2¢: “Scent of the missing: love and partnership with a search-and-rescue dog”

    by Susannah Charleson  

“Scent of the missing: love and partnership with a search-and-rescue dog”

    by Susannah Charleson  

NOTE: There is a plethora of in-depth biographies of authors and reviews of their books, that state the title, author, published date, and genre; as well as, describing what the book is about, setting, and character(s), so, Kate’s 2¢ shares her thoughts about what she’s read. In her opinion…

   I read this book after hearing the interview sponsored by a guide dog support group. Many of the chapters resonated with me as I am a guide dog handler.

On 2/19/2025 2:35 PM, Annie Chiappetta via groups.io wrote:

Thought I’d share, it’s about one of the best books I’ve read in this genre in a long time.

the next Guide Dog Book Club guest author will be New York Times best-selling author Susannah Charleson on Wednesday, February 19, 2025, at 7:00 p.m. eastern time.

You won’t want to miss it. Susannah is a compelling speaker and will share her lifelong passion and love for our canine companions.

The book selection is Scent of the Missing love and partnership with a search and rescue dog (2010).

She is also the author of  The Possibility Dogs (2013 and Where the Lost Dogs Go: A Story of Love, Search, and the Power of Reunion (2019). All of Susannah’s books explore her life shared with working canines and her beloved dogs rescued from shelters. Susannah’s writing captures the emotions and imagery parallelling the bond developed with her search and rescue dog as to the bond we share with our guides.

About the author:

NEW YORK TIMES Bestseller Susannah Charleson works as a search specialist with her K9 partner, a Golden Retriever named Gambit, for a U.S. search-and-rescue team and research group focusing on the special-needs of the missing. Charleson was the Executive Director of Possibility Dogs, Inc., a 501c3 nonprofit dedicated to rescuing and training homeless dogs for service and therapy work which ceased operation in 2021.

Charleson’s first book, SCENT OF THE MISSING: LOVE AND PARTNERSHIP WITH A SEARCH AND RESCUE DOG (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2010), was optioned for television in 2010. Her second book, THE POSSIBILITY DOGS: WHAT A HANDFUL OF “UNADOPTABLES” TAUGHT ME ABOUT SERVICE, HOPE, AND HEALING (Houghton Mifflin releases) released in June 2013.

If she’s not “beside a dog, somewhere,” Charleson — a commercial pilot and flight instructor — hopes she’s exploring, either airborne in her Piper Archer or at the keyboard on a new book.

Charleson’s books are available in print and from Audible.com

Susannah expertly narrates this book in the Audible.com version.

Amazon author profile:

Amazon.com: Susannah Charleson: books, biography, latest update

The BARD catalog number is Dbc00229 and the reading time is 11 hours.

The Guide Dog Book Club Team

guidedogbookclub@groups.io

🐾 📘 🦮

Friends in Art, Inc. is inviting you to a scheduled Zoom meeting.

Topic: GDBC guest Best Selling author Susannah Charleson

Time: Feb 19, 2025, 07:00 PM Eastern Time (US and Canada)

Join Zoom Meeting

From NLS/BARD/LOC:

Scent of the missing: love and partnership with a search-and-rescue dog DBC00229

Charleson, Susannah Reading time: 11 hours, 10 minutes.

Kathleen Skipper A production of Washington Talking Book and Braille Library.

Animals and Wildlife

Author Susannah Charleson, a dog lover and pilot with search experience, in the wake of the Oklahoma City bombing decided to volunteer with a local canine search team. Once she qualified to train a dog of her own, she adopted Puzzle, a strong, bright Golden Retriever puppy who exhibited unique aptitudes as a working dog but who was less interested in the role of compliant house pet. Their story includes Susannah and Puzzle’s adventures as they search for the missing–a lost teen, an Alzheimer’s patient wandering in the cold, signs of the crew amid the debris of the space shuttle Columbia disaster–and unravels the mystery of the bond between humans and dogs.

Download Scent of the missing: love and partnership with a search-and-rescue dog DBC00229

On 2/19/2025 2:35 PM, Annie Chiappetta via groups.io wrote:

Thought I’d share, it’s about one of the best books I’ve read in this genre in a long time.

the next Guide Dog Book Club guest author will be New York Times best-selling author Susannah Charleson on Wednesday, February 19, 2025, at 7:00 p.m. eastern time.

You won’t want to miss it. Susannah is a compelling speaker and will share her lifelong passion and love for our canine companions.

The book selection is Scent of the Missing love and partnership with a search and rescue dog (2010).

She is also the author of  The Possibility Dogs (2013 and Where the Lost Dogs Go: A Story of Love, Search, and the Power of Reunion (2019). All of Susannah’s books explore her life shared with working canines and her beloved dogs rescued from shelters. Susannah’s writing captures the emotions and imagery parallelling the bond developed with her search and rescue dog as to the bond we share with our guides.

About the author:

NEW YORK TIMES Bestseller Susannah Charleson works as a search specialist with her K9 partner, a Golden Retriever named Gambit, for a U.S. search-and-rescue team and research group focusing on the special-needs of the missing. Charleson was the Executive Director of Possibility Dogs, Inc., a 501c3 nonprofit dedicated to rescuing and training homeless dogs for service and therapy work which ceased operation in 2021.

Charleson’s first book, SCENT OF THE MISSING: LOVE AND PARTNERSHIP WITH A SEARCH AND RESCUE DOG (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2010), was optioned for television in 2010. Her second book, THE POSSIBILITY DOGS: WHAT A HANDFUL OF “UNADOPTABLES” TAUGHT ME ABOUT SERVICE, HOPE, AND HEALING (Houghton Mifflin releases) released in June 2013.

If she’s not “beside a dog, somewhere,” Charleson — a commercial pilot and flight instructor — hopes she’s exploring, either airborne in her Piper Archer or at the keyboard on a new book.

Charleson’s books are available in print and from Audible.com

Susannah expertly narrates this book in the Audible.com version.

Amazon author profile:

Amazon.com: Susannah Charleson: books, biography, latest update

The BARD catalog number is Dbc00229 and the reading time is 11 hours.

The Guide Dog Book Club Team

guidedogbookclub@groups.io

🐾 📘 🦮

Friends in Art, Inc. is inviting you to a scheduled Zoom meeting.

From NLS/BARD/LOC:

Scent of the missing: love and partnership with a search-and-rescue dog DBC00229

Charleson, Susannah. Reading time: 11 hours, 10 minutes.

Read by Kathleen Skipper.

Animals and Wildlife

Author Susannah Charleson, a dog lover and pilot with search experience, in the wake of the Oklahoma City bombing decided to volunteer with a local canine search team. Once she qualified to train a dog of her own, she adopted Puzzle, a strong, bright Golden Retriever puppy who exhibited unique aptitudes as a working dog but who was less interested in the role of compliant house pet. Their story includes Susannah and Puzzle’s adventures as they search for the missing–a lost teen, an Alzheimer’s patient wandering in the cold, signs of the crew amid the debris of the space shuttle Columbia disaster–and unravels the mystery of the bond between humans and dogs.

Downloaded: February 19, 2025

Download Scent of the missing: love and partnership with a search-and-rescue dog

Kate’s 2¢: “Patchwork Quilt” by Leslie Meier

“Patchwork Quilt” by Leslie Meier

NOTE: There is a plethora of in-depth biographies of authors and reviews of their books, that state the title, author, published date, and genre; as well as, describing what the book is about, setting, and character(s), so, Kate’s 2¢ shares her thoughts about what she’s read. In her opinion…

   Coleen Marlo

Did a good job of narrating this interesting story. I like the way Meier echoed the patchwork theme in the way the body parts were found. Almost like fitting quilt pieces together. I too, have made quilts out of my children’s patches of life. The ending was surprising, but satisfying.

This summary was generated by AI

Meier is the author of sixteen Lucy Stone mysteries novels. She is also the one who wrote Ellery Queen’s Mystery magazine. She resided in Harwich, Massachusetts.

My books draw heavily on my experience as a mother of three and my work as a reporter for various weekly newspapers on Cape Cod. My heroine, Lucy Stone, is a reporter in the fictional town of Tinker’s Cove, Maine, …

From NLS/BARD/LOC:

Patchwork quilt murder DBC11785

Meier, Leslie. Reading time: 8 hours, 1 minute.

Read by Coleen Marlo.

Mystery and Detective Stories

When a community center opens in town, many embrace it as a space where locals of all ages can gather and create. Others view it as a waste of taxpayer dollars. The director, Darleen Busby-Platt, is no less controversial. Intense and showy, Darleen has huge plans for her new role. But Lucy Stone believes the woman isn’t exactly as warm hearted or qualified as she seems. That hunch deepens when Darleen and a young employee vanish… and dismembered remains appear! Adult. Unrated.

Downloaded: February 23, 2025

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Kate’s 2¢: “A Legacy of Secrets” by Elizabeth Adler

“A Legacy of Secrets” by Elizabeth Adler

NOTE: There is a plethora of in-depth biographies of authors and reviews of their books, that state the title, author, published date, and genre; as well as, describing what the book is about, setting, and character(s), so, Kate’s 2¢ shares her thoughts about what she’s read. In her opinion…

   This was a very long story, covering several generations. As you know, the perp will be introduced to you within the first few chapters. While the story revolves around Lilie and her escapades, the perp is obvious from the beginning, if you don’t mind names changes.

  Jill Ferris did a good job of narrating this saga with a happy ending.

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

elizabethadler.com

Elizabeth Adler (born 1950) is a British author who has written over 20 novels. She writes romance, suspense and historical fiction novels. She has also published work under the name Ariana Scott.[1] Her works have been translated into 22 languages.[1]

Personal life[edit]

Adler was born in Yorkshire, in Northern England in 1950.[2] She has lived in England, Canada, Ireland and Spain. Her husband, Richard, is American.[1] They met whilst Adler was working in London at a talent agency.[1][3] Together, they have one daughter.[1]

From NLS/BARD/LOC:

c

Adler, Elizabeth, (Elizabeth A.). Reading time: 22 hours, 42 minutes.

Read by Jill Ferris.

Family

Shannon Keeffe and Eddie Sheridan have come to Ireland to learn about their ancestors. Shannon also hopes to learn why her father was killed. The story of the Sheridan, O’Keeffe, and Molyneux families is narrated by Maudie Molyneux, daughter of Ciel, sister of the infamous Lily. As they sit by the fire each night, Maudie explains why Lily fled to America and the havoc she caused in so many lives. Some strong language and some descriptions of sex.

Downloaded: December 21, 2024

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Kate’s 2¢: “Born Twice” by Giuseppe Pontiggia (translated by   Oonagh  Stransky)

“Born Twice” by Giuseppe Pontiggia (translated by   Oonagh  Stransky)

NOTE: There is a plethora of in-depth biographies of authors and reviews of their books, that state the title, author, published date, and genre; as well as, describing what the book is about, setting, and character(s), so, Kate’s 2¢ shares her thoughts about what she’s read. In her opinion…

   Ken Kliban did a good job reading this insightful and thought-provoking story of a father struggling to understand his son’s disability and the son’s gathering understanding of his world.

As I understand ‘breech birth’, it means the baby is presenting feet or butt first, so why were forceps used on his head?

A few takeaways:

–When first presented with diversity, our first reaction is to deny its existence.

–Disabled people can arouse all kinds of reactions around normal people.

–We become sensitive to the vocabulary associated with the problem.

–Blind defines a person, while vision impaired circumscribes the absence of a function.

–If you want to do more for your children, do less.

–She no longer asked what he couldn’t do, but what did he enjoy.

–Caricatures can offer us an image in which we can discern the original.

–We can think of many lives but can never disavow our own.

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Giuseppe Pontiggia (Italian pronunciation: [dʒuˈzɛppe ponˈtiddʒa]; 25 September 1934 – 27 June 2003) was an Italian writer and literary critic.

Biography[edit]

He was born in Como, and moved to Milan with his family in 1948. In 1959 he graduated from the Università Cattolica in Milan with a thesis on Italo Svevo. After a first unnoticed short story anthology published in 1959, Pontiggia, encouraged by Elio Vittorini, decided to devote himself entirely to writing starting in 1961.

His first novel was L’arte della fuga in 1968. Pontiggia won the Premio Strega in 1989 with La grande sera and the Premio Campiello in 2001 with Nati due volte. He also wrote numerous articles and essays.

He died in Milan in 2003 of a circulatory stroke. He was an atheist.[1]

OONAGH STRANSKY – OFFICINA MENINGI

Oonagh Stransky is a translator of Italian literature. Born in Paris in 1967, she has lived in Beirut, Jeddah, London, New Jersey, Boston, San Francisco, Florence, and New York City. She currently resides in Tuscany.

Stransky has been a translator of Italian literature for over 20 years. Oonagh Stransky’s translations from the Italian include works by Montale, Dell’Oro, Pontiggia, Lucarelli, Spaziani, Saviano, and Pope Francis.

From NLS/BARD/LOC:

Born twice DB56610

Pontiggia, Giuseppe; Stransky, Oonagh. Reading time: 5 hours, 40 minutes.

Read by Ken Kliban.

Disability

Family

Psychological Fiction

A doctor’s mistake at birth leaves Paolo mentally disabled. He survives infancy to face an intolerant world. His father fights for Paolo’s acceptance but struggles with his own internal battles understanding and handling Paolo’s condition. Winner of Italy’s Strega Prize for literature. 2002.

Downloaded: January 25, 2025

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Kate’s 2¢: “Felicia’s Journey” by William Trevor

“Felicia’s Journey” by William Trevor

NOTE: There is a plethora of in-depth biographies of authors and reviews of their books, that state the title, author, published date, and genre; as well as, describing what the book is about, setting, and character(s), so, Kate’s 2¢ shares her thoughts about what she’s read. In her opinion…

   I kept trying to tell Felicia that she was being mis-led by Mr. Hilditch about her boyfriend and the abortion; happy she eventually figured out what he wanted to do to her; and saddened by her choices and how she remained on the streets. Although the author tries to blame Mr. Hilditch’s sick obsession and mental illness on his mother, he got his come-uppence by his own hands.

   Graeme Malcolm did a good job of narrating this Irish story that highlights the plight of homeless people in England.

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

William Trevor Cox KBE (24 May 1928 – 20 November 2016), known by his pen name William Trevor, was an Irish novelist, playwright, and short story writer. One of the elder statesmen of the Irish literary world,[5] he is widely regarded as one of the greatest contemporary writers of short stories in the English language.[6]

Trevor won the Whitbread Prize three times and was nominated five times for the Booker Prize, the last for his novel Love and Summer (2009), which was also shortlisted for the International Dublin Literary Award in 2011. His name was also mentioned in relation to the Nobel Prize in Literature.[7] He won the 2008 International Nonino Prize in Italy. In 2014, Trevor was bestowed with the title of Saoi within Aosdána.[8]

Trevor resided in England from 1954 until his death in 2016, at the age of 88.[9]

From NLS/BARD/LOC:

Felicia’s journey DB40430

Trevor, William. Reading time: 6 hours, 57 minutes.

Read by Graeme Malcolm.

Psychological Fiction

When Felicia, a motherless Irish teenager, discovers that she is pregnant, her father scorns her. So she decides to look for her boyfriend, Johnny, who told her he works for a Birmingham factory but is actually in the British army. Felicia is helped by the understanding Mr. Hilditch, who has a habit of befriending girls whom no one will miss.

Downloaded: January 10, 2025

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Kate’s 2¢: “Deception” by Denise Mina

“Deception” by Denise Mina

NOTE: There is a plethora of in-depth biographies of authors and reviews of their books, that state the title, author, published date, and genre; as well as, describing what the book is about, setting, and character(s), so, Kate’s 2¢ shares her thoughts about what she’s read. In her opinion…

   David Hartley-Margolin, another one of my favorite narrators, did an excellent job reading this very intriguing story  The ending surprised even me..

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

www.denisemina.co.uk

Denise Mina (born 21 August 1966) is a Scottish crime writer and playwright. She has written the Garnethill trilogy and another three novels featuring the character Patricia “Paddy” Meehan, a Glasgow journalist. Described as an author of Tartan Noir, she has also written for comic books, including 13 issues of Hellblazer.[1]

Mina’s first Paddy Meehan novel, The Field of Blood (2005), was filmed for broadcast in 2011 by the BBC, starring Jayd Johnson, Peter Capaldi and David Morrissey.[2] The second, The Dead Hour, was filmed and broadcast in 2013.[3]

Biography[edit]

Denise Mina was born in East Kilbride in 1966. Her father worked as an engineer. Because of his work, the family moved 21 times in 18 years: from Paris to The Hague, London, Scotland and Bergen; she has also professed an affection for Rutherglen, her mother’s home town.[4] Mina left school at 16 and worked in a variety of jobs, including as a kitchen porter, a cook and behind a bar. She also worked for a time in a meat-processing factory. In her twenties she worked in auxiliary nursing for geriatric and terminal care patients, before returning to education and earning a law degree from Glasgow University.[5]

It was while researching a PhD thesis on the ascription of mental illness to female offenders, and teaching criminology and criminal law at Strathclyde University in the 1990s, that she decided to write her first novel Garnethill, published in 1998 by Transworld.

Mina lives in Glasgow.

From NLS/BARD/LOC:

Deception: a novel DB59624

Mina, Denise. Reading time: 10 hours, 33 minutes.

Read by David Hartley-Margolin.

Suspense Fiction

Psychological Fiction

Scotland, 1998. Thirty-year-old psychiatrist Susie Harriot is convicted of murdering Andrew Gow, paroled serial killer. Her husband sifts through her papers, seeking to overturn her conviction and restore their idyllic family life–but discovers her secrets and moves inexorably to a shocking conclusion. Strong language and some descriptions of sex. 2003.

Downloaded: January 25, 2025

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Kate’s 2¢: “Missing Pieces” by Joy Fielding

“Missing Pieces” by Joy Fielding

NOTE: There is a plethora of in-depth biographies of authors and reviews of their books, that state the title, author, published date, and genre; as well as, describing what the book is about, setting, and character(s), so, Kate’s 2¢ shares her thoughts about what she’s read. In her opinion…

   Carole Jordan Stewart did a good job of reading this complex story of human relationships. All I can say is “Yea, Grandma.”

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Joy Fielding (née Tepperman; born March 18, 1945) is a Canadian novelist and actress. She lives in Toronto, Ontario.

Biography[edit]

Born in Toronto, Ontario, she graduated from the University of Toronto in 1966, with a Bachelor of Arts in English Literature. As Joy Tepperman, she had a brief acting career, appearing in the film Winter Kept Us Warm (1965) and in an episode of Gunsmoke. She later changed her last name to Fielding (after Henry Fielding) and began writing novels.

Fielding is also the screenwriter of the television film Golden Will: The Silken Laumann Story.

In the 1980s, she was also a regular contributor of book reviews to Jack Farr’s CBC Radio program The Radio Show.

Personal[edit]

At the age of 8, Tepperman wrote her first story and sent it into a local magazine, and at age 12 sent in her first TV script, however both were rejected. She had a brief acting career, eventually giving it up to write full-time in 1972.[1] She has published 30 novels and 1 Novella (as of September 2022), two of which were converted into film. Fielding’s process of having an idea to the point the novel is finished generally takes a year, the writing itself taking four to eight months.[2]

Fielding sets most of her novels in American cities such as Boston and Chicago. She has said that she prefers to set her novels in “big American cities, [as the] landscape seems best for [her] themes of urban alienation and loss of identity.”[2]

Fielding is a Canadian citizen. Her husband is noted Toronto attorney, Warren Seyffert.[3][4] They have two daughters, Annie and Shannon,[5] and own property in Toronto, Ontario, as well as Palm Beach, Florida.[2]

Fielding had an interview with the Vancouver Sun in 2007, just after her publication of Heartstopper. She enjoys catching readers off guard with the endings of her stories, but insists that it “isn’t what her fiction is about”,[6] but rather more about the development of her characters.

Discussing her novels with the Toronto Star in 2008, she said “I might not write fiction in the literary sense. But I write very well. My characters are good. My dialog is good. And my stories are really involving. I’m writing exactly the kind of books I like to write. And they’re the kind of books I like to read. They’re popular commercial fiction. That’s what they are.”[1]

Audience[edit]

Fielding has been noted as a novelist who is more popular in the United States and foreign countries, rather than in her native Canada. For example, the novel Kiss Mommy Goodbye was more popular in the States, and See Jane Run in Germany.[5] In addition, she had an American agent and publisher, although she has now switched to a Canadian publisher.[5]

From NLS/BARD/LOC:

Missing pieces DB44834

Fielding, Joy. Reading time: 11 hours, 19 minutes.

Read by Carole Jordan Stewart.

Mystery and Detective Stories

Family

Psychological Fiction

Kate Sinclair, a family therapist, is having trouble with her own family. Her teenage daughter is running wild, her mother has Alzheimer’s disease, and her half-sister JoLynn marries Colin Friendly, a serial killer convicted of murdering thirteen women. Strong language, violence, and explicit descriptions of sex.

Downloaded: January 25, 2025

Download Missing pieces

Kate’s 2¢: “The conspiracy club” by Jonathan Kellerman

“The conspiracy club” by Jonathan Kellerman

NOTE: There is a plethora of in-depth biographies of authors and reviews of their books, that state the title, author, published date, and genre; as well as, describing what the book is about, setting, and character(s), so, Kate’s 2¢ shares her thoughts about what she’s read. In her opinion…

   Christopher Walker did a good job reading this novel which is, by the way, not about Alex Delaware. The pieces of the puzzle are presented one by one, causing our main character, Psychotherapist Jeremy Carrier, and the reader much confusion as to what is happening. Why it is happening isn’t known for a while.

A few take-aways:

–adrenolin addiction

–expediency trumps virtue

–auto-imune disorder of the soul

–You can get all A’s and still flunk life.

–Personal and national growth is combining moral training with intellectual rigor.

–bureaucracy trumps creativity

–You guided me with riddles and games for my own good.Some things need to be striven for.

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Jonathan Seth Kellerman (born August 9, 1949) is an American novelist and psychologist known for his mystery novels featuring the character Alex Delaware, a child psychologist who consults for the Los Angeles Police Department.[1]

Born on the Lower East Side of New York City, his family relocated to Los Angeles when Jonathan was nine years old.[2]

Kellerman graduated from the University of Southern California (USC) with a doctor of philosophy degree in psychology in 1974, and began working as a staff psychologist at the USC School of Medicine, where he eventually became a full clinical professor of pediatrics.[2] He opened a private practice in the early 1980s while writing novels in his garage at night.[3]

His first published novel, When the Bough Breaks, appeared in 1985, many years after writing and having works rejected. He then wrote five best-selling novels while still a practicing psychologist. In 1990, he quit his private practice to write full-time. He has written more than 40 crime novels, as well as nonfiction works and children’s books.[3]

Life and career[edit]

Kellerman was born in New York City, son of David, an aerospace engineer and inventor, and Sylvia, a dancer and office manager. He attended Yeshiva of Central Queens (YCQ) before his family relocated to California. He grew up in Los Angeles and received a Bachelor of Arts in psychology at UCLA in 1971. He worked his way through college as a cartoonist, illustrator, journalist, and editor, as well as by teaching guitar. As a college senior, he co-wrote an unpublished novel that garnered a Samuel Goldwyn writing award. That prize has served as a stepping stone to film writing for other writers, but Kellerman deliberately avoided the world of screenwriting and enrolled in a PhD program in clinical psychology at USC. He received his doctoral degree in psychology from USC in 1974. His doctoral research was on attribution of blame for childhood psychopathology, and he published a scientific paper on that topic, his first, at the age of 22. He is currently a clinical professor of pediatrics at the Keck School of Medicine.[4]

From NLS/BARD/LOC:

The conspiracy club DB57112

Kellerman, Jonathan. Reading time: 9 hours, 12 minutes.

Read by Christopher Walker.

Suspense Fiction

Mystery and Detective Stories

Psychological Fiction

Psychotherapist Jeremy Carrier’s romance with nurse Jocelyn Banks is cut short by her kidnapping and brutal murder. Considered a suspect, Jeremy is compelled by another killing, an enigmatic colleague, and a series of anonymous clues to find the culprit. Some explicit descriptions of sex, some violence, and some strong language. 2003.

Downloaded: January 25, 2025

Download The conspiracy club

Kate’s 2¢: “Sister Carrie” by Theodore Dreiser, James L. West

“Sister Carrie” by Theodore Dreiser, James L. West

NOTE: There is a plethora of in-depth biographies of authors and reviews of their books, that state the title, author, published date, and genre; as well as, describing what the book is about, setting, and character(s), so, Kate’s 2¢ shares her thoughts about what she’s read. In her opinion…

   Barbara Caruso did an excellent job of reading this character driven story. The theme of a sweet, young girl leaving her small, rural town to live in the big city, is a common theme.  Her naiveté enables her to social climb from one man to another, until she attains her fame and fortune.

   A few take-aways:

–Classical tragedy was based on human insufficiency. Modern tragedy is unreflectiveness, apart from the lives we actually live.

–Society has been struggled against, until death alone can stop the individual from contention.

–Such outworking of desires to reproduce life, lies the basis of all dramatic art.

–Nameless paraphanalia of disguise, have a remarkable atmosphere of their own.

–Men are still led by instincts before they are regulated by knowledge.

–Everything about poverty was terrible.

–We know that certain forms of life, used to certain conditions, die quickly when it’s exposed.

–Happiness is wholly within yourself.

 From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Theodore Herman Albert Dreiser (/ˈdraɪsər, -zər/;[1] August 27, 1871 – December 28, 1945) was an American novelist and journalist of the naturalist school. His novels often featured main characters who succeeded at their objectives despite a lack of a firm moral code, and literary situations that more closely resemble studies of nature than tales of choice and agency.[2] Dreiser’s best-known novels include Sister Carrie (1900) and An American Tragedy (1925).

Early life[edit]

Dreiser was born in Terre Haute, Indiana, to John Paul Dreiser and Sarah Maria (née Schanab).[3] John Dreiser was a German immigrant from Mayen in the Rhine Province of Prussia, and Sarah was from the Mennonite farming community near Dayton, Ohio. Her family disowned her for converting to Roman Catholicism in order to marry John Dreiser. Theodore was the twelfth of thirteen children (the ninth of the ten surviving). Paul Dresser (1857–1906) was one of his older brothers; Paul changed the spelling of his name as he became a popular songwriter. They were raised as Catholics.

According to Daniels, Dreiser’s childhood was characterized by severe poverty, and his father could be harsh. His later fiction reflects these experiences.[4]

After graduating from high school in Warsaw, Indiana, Dreiser attended Indiana University in 1889–1890 without taking a degree.[5]

James L. West:

Professional Bio

James L. W. West III is Edwin Erle Sparks Professor of English, Emeritus, at Pennsylvania State University.  He is a biographer, book historian, and scholarly editor.  West is the author of American Authors and the Literary Marketplace (1988), William Styron: A Life (1998) and The Perfect Hour: The Romance of F. Scott Fitzgerald and Ginevra King (2005).  He has published two collections of essays: Making the Archives Talk (2011) and Business is Good: F. Scott Fitzgerald, Professional Author (2023).  West has held fellowships from the J. S. Guggenheim Foundation, the National Humanities Center, and the National Endowment for the Humanities.  He has had Fulbright appointments in England (at Cambridge University) and in Belgium (at the Université de Liège) and has been a visiting fellow at the American Academy in Rome. From 1994 to 2019, West was the General Editor of the Cambridge Edition of the Works of F. Scott Fitzgerald, recently completed in eighteen volumes, sixteen under his editorship.  West’s variorum edition of The Great Gatsby was the final volume in the series.

Areas of Specialization

American Literature After 1900

Book History and Textual Studies

Modernist Studies

From NLS BARD/LOC:

Sister Carrie DB25296

Dreiser, Theodore; West, James L. W; Westlake, Neda M. Reading time: 19 hours, 19 minutes.

Read by Barbara Caruso.

Psychological Fiction

Now regarded as an American classic, the story of a naive young girl who seeks her fortune in Chicago. She stays with her sister and brother-in-law, but seeks an escape from the drabness of their existence. The author portrays her helplessness against the forces that shape her future.

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