Kate’s 2¢: “The night listener : a novel” by Armistead Maupin

“The night listener : a novel” by Armistead Maupin

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 like the way Ray Hagen narrated this intriguing story. It was interesting how the author incorporated the blind woman and her guide dog.

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Armistead Jones Maupin Jr.[1][2][3] (/ˈmɔːpɪn/ MAW-pin; born May 13, 1944)[4][5] is an American writer notable for Tales of the City, a series of novels set in San Francisco.[6]

Early life[edit]

Maupin was born in Washington, D.C., to Diana Jane (Barton) and Armistead Jones Maupin.[1] His great-great-grandfather, Congressman Lawrence O’Bryan Branch, was from North Carolina and was a railroad executive and a Confederate general during the American Civil War.[7] His father, Armistead Jones Maupin, founded Maupin, Taylor & Ellis, one of the largest law firms in North Carolina.[8] Maupin was raised in Raleigh.[9]

Maupin attended Ravenscroft School and graduated from Needham Broughton High School in 1962.[10] He attended the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, where he wrote for The Daily Tar Heel.[11]

Career[edit]

Maupin worked at WRAL-TV in Raleigh, a station managed by future U.S. Senator Jesse Helms. Helms nominated Maupin for a patriotic award, which Maupin won. Maupin said he was a typical conservative and segregationist at this time and admired Helms as a hero figure. Maupin later changed his opinion and condemned Helms at a gay pride parade on the steps of the North Carolina State Capitol.[9][12][11] Maupin is a veteran of the U.S. Navy and served several tours of duty including one in the Vietnam War.[13]

Maupin worked at a Charleston newspaper and the San Francisco bureau of the Associated Press in 1971.[14][15] In 1974, he began what would become the Tales of the City series as a serial in a Marin County-based newspaper, the Pacific Sun, moving to the San Francisco Chronicle after the Sun’s San Francisco edition folded.[16]

In 1978, Maupin publicly accused San Francisco Police Inspector Dave Toschi of faking one of the Zodiac Killer’s taunting letters to the media, seriously and irreparably damaging Toschi’s career and reputation. Maupin claimed to have noticed a similarity between anonymous fan mail Toschi had sent him after Maupin based one of his Tales of the City characters on him, and a Zodiac letter received by the San Francisco Chronicle on April 24, 1978. Although the USPS crime lab cleared Toschi of being the Zodiac letter’s author, Toschi admitted to writing the fan mail and was removed from the case, destroying his chances of succeeding Charles Gain as chief of the San Francisco PD.[17] The incident is portrayed in the 2007 David Fincher film Zodiac.[18]

Personal life[edit]

Maupin has stated that he recognized his sexual orientation as gay from a young age,[12][11] although he did not engage in sexual activity until he was 25, and decided to come out in 1974.[9][42][43][20] For 12 years, he was in a relationship with Terry Anderson, a gay rights activist who co-authored the screenplay for The Night Listener. The couple lived together in both San Francisco and New Zealand.[44]

After his breakup with Anderson, Maupin married Christopher Turner, a website producer and photographer, whom he met through a dating website.[29][45] The couple was married in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, on February 18, 2007.[21] In 2012, Maupin purchased a home in Tesuque, New Mexico, previously owned by shoe designers Lynne and Dennis Comeau.[46] In 2019, Maupin and Turner relocated to London,[47] settling in Clapham.[48] In November 2023, Maupin became a British citizen.[47]

Maupin’s life and work are explored in the documentary The Untold Tales of Armistead Maupin.[49] Early in his career, he was mentored by writer Christopher Isherwood, who had a significant influence on his writing.[50][51] Maupin identifies as an atheist[52] and is a cousin of the British singer Sarah Jane Morris, formerly of The Communards.[12][53]

From NLS/BARD/LOC:

The night listener : a novel DB52746

Author: Maupin, Armistead

Reading Time: 9 hours, 54 minutes

Production: National Library Service for the Blind and Print Disabled, Library of Congress

Read by: Ray Hagen

Subject: Psychological Fiction

Downloaded: 04/18/2026

Gabriel Noone suffers from writer’s block, struggling to create a script for his late-night radio program and trying to cope with the departure of his lover of ten years. The arrival of a book manuscript by a thirteen-year-old boy who has endured horrendous sexual abuse by his parents changes Gabriel’s life. Strong language. 2000.

New York : HarperCollins, c2000.

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Kate’s 2¢: “Perfection salad: women and cooking at the turn of the century” by Laura Shapiro

“Perfection salad: women and cooking at the turn of the century” by Laura Shapiro

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…

   Margaret Strom did a good job of narrating this history of women and cookery. The author’s well-documented research delved into the 1800’s cooking and eating habits, then brought us up into the 1900’s and beyond.

   I like to plan my meals around some process, convenient  foods and home-made items from scratch and grown in my small garden.

 A few take aways:

–By watching what people buy, you can tell a lot about them.

–Food is a lens, through which to view the world.

–Perfection salad is the name given to an aspect salad filled with finely chopped cabbage, celery, and red pepper…in the 1905 Knox Gelatin cooking contest.

–We live upon, not what we eat, but what we digest.

–…apple, celery, mayonnaise salad packed into a tomatoe….bannana and nut salad tucked inside a banana skin

–…unless these families were willing to properly adjust their eating habits no change in their condition was possible.

–The best opportunity to install the principles of scientific cookery on a grand scale, was offered by the public school.

–Smith Lever Act: putting the education into the hands of trained teachers.

–…learning to cook by putting canned vegetables together with sauces…not understanding the science of the chemistry.

–Women’s cooking remains an anonnemous service to their families; while men’s cooking tends to become an highly personal gift to a grateful audience.

–Smooth and flawless and innocent, a light as perfect as a molded salad inspired the domestic scientist and they never dreamed of wanting food.

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

laurashapirowriter.com

Laura Shapiro (born June 20, 1946) is an American food journalist and historian. Shapiro was a dance critic for The Boston Globe in the 1970s and joined Newsweek magazine in 1984. She shifted to food writing during her 15-year tenure at Newsweek, and in 1995, she won a James Beard Foundation Award for one of her magazine features.

Shapiro has written four books on culinary history. Her 2007 biography of television chef Julia Child won the Literary Food Writing award from the International Association of Culinary Professionals.

Biography[edit]

Laura Shapiro was born in Cambridge, Massachusetts, on June 20, 1946.[1] She is one of two daughters of Frances Sidd (1917–1997), a former caterer who worked for the Boston Symphony Orchestra (BSO) and Boston Ballet, and Harry Shapiro (1914–2014), who played the French horn in the BSO from 1937 to 1976 and was later the orchestra manager at the Tanglewood Music Center in Lenox.[2][3] She was raised in Needham, and she graduated from Needham High School and then Radcliffe College.[4][5] As her father played in the Boston Symphony Orchestra, her summers growing up were spent in Berkshire County.[6] She recalls some important life experiences in the Berkshires, especially in the towns of Lenox and Stockbridge and the Lenox Library, describing the latter as one of her favorite places.[6] Her career began at the Cambridge Phoenix and the alternative weekly The Real Paper; at the latter publication, in the 1970s, she mainly wrote about the women’s movement.[7][4][8] She was a dance critic for The Boston Globe later in the 1970s, and she joined Newsweek magazine in 1984 to write on dance.[8][4] She ultimately spent 15 years writing on food for the publication, during which she won the 1995 James Beard Foundation Award in the category “Magazine Writing on Diet, Nutrition & Health” for her feature “The Skinny on Fat”.[9][10] Her writing has appeared in Gastronomica, Gourmet, The New Yorker, and The New York Times.[8]

A culinary historian, Shapiro has written four books about women and food.[11][12] From 2009 to 2010, she was a fellow at the Cullman Center for Scholars and Writers at the New York Public Library, where she worked on a collection of biographical essays.[13] Shapiro and Rebecca Federman curated the exhibition Lunch Hour NYC at the New York Public Library, June 2012 to February 2013, which discusses how New York City gave the lunch hour its modern identity, examining a 150-year history.[14][15] She appeared in the first episode of a food podcast hosted by the Oxford Symposium on Food and Cookery, Ox Tales, released in 2018.[16]

Shapiro served a three-year term on the Massachusetts Council on the Arts and Humanities ending in 1974, and was appointed for another term in 1976 by state governor Michael Dukakis.[17][18]

As of 2018, Shapiro lives in New York City.[6] She is married to John Stratton Hawley [Wikidata], a professor of religion at Columbia University’s Barnard College.[1][19][20]

Writing[edit]

Perfection Salad (1986)[edit]

Shapiro published her first book, Perfection Salad: Women and Cooking at the Turn of the Century, with Farrar, Straus & Giroux in 1986. It examines the influence of science and industry on home cooking and the roles of women in the U.S. in the late 19th century, including the home economics movement and the development of the American cuisine.[21][22][23]

In an effort to gain background information for her work at The Real Paper, Shapiro began reading about the women’s movement of the 19th-century at Schlesinger Library, in Cambridge. During this time, she started conducting archival research on women’s lives in the kitchen, an intersection of topics she felt was overlooked, and working on what would be Perfection Salad.[8] Research for the book led her to surmise that “[f]ood coverage is either written by the food industry or at the service of the food industry.”[23]

Barbara Ehrenreich of New York Times Book Review felt the book had “deft humor” that some readers “may find unbecoming to a work of such impeccable scholarship”, though she felt it was appropriate given the subject matter.[21] In a review of the 2001 reprint, Kirkus Reviews noted some “risible facts” in Shapiro’s history, but felt it was not “palatable or even digestible reading fare”.[24] Maxine Margolis, writing in The American Historical Review, wrote that the book provided “a wealth of data on a topic that has been too long ignored” despite insufficient analysis in some places.[22]

From NLS/BARD/LOC:

Perfection salad: women and cooking at the turn of the century DB62572

Series: Modern Library food

Author: Shapiro, Laura

Reading Time: 11 hours, 15 minutes

Production: National Library Service for the Blind and Print Disabled, Library of Congress

Read by: Margaret Strom

Subjects: Cooking, Home Management, Social Sciences, Women

Downloaded: 04/09/2026

A history of the American domestic science movement at the beginning of the twentieth century. Describes the efforts of women to gain control of the kitchen using scientific methods that resulted in bland, processed food. Considers the influence of industrialization and economics on the way meals are prepared. 1986.

New York : Modern Library, 2001, c1986.

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Kate’s 2¢: “New Native kitchen: celebrating modern recipes of the American Indian” by Freddie Bitsoie and James O. Fraioli

“New Native kitchen: celebrating modern recipes of the American Indian” by Freddie Bitsoie and James O. Fraioli

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…

   Mark Ashby did a great job of narrating this interesting collection of recipes and history of their various Native American origins.

   I was pleasantly surprised to find out how many of these ingredients I have been incorporating into my meals for decades.

A few take aways:

–Listening to people and places is just as much a part of story telling as speaking is.

–grocery shopping can be an adventure.

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Freddie J. Bitsoie is a Navajo chef and author. He was the Executive Chef for the Mitsitam Native Foods Café at the National Museum of the American Indian.

Bitsoie was born in Utah to Diné parents and moved frequently between Albuquerque’s Sandía Mountains and California.[1] He attended the University of New Mexico, majoring in cultural anthropology with a minor in art history before attending culinary school in Scottsdale, Arizona.[2]

James O. Fraioli is a published author of twenty-five books and an award-winning filmmaker. Fraioli has traveled the globe alongside experienced guides, naturalists, and scientists, and has spent considerable time exploring and writing about the outdoors. He has served on the Board of Directors for the Seattle Aquarium and works with many environmental organizations. Learn more about his work at VesperEntertainment.com.

From NLS/BARD/LOC:

New Native kitchen: celebrating modern recipes of the American Indian DB106243

Authors: Bitsoie, Freddie, Fraioli, James O.

Reading Time: 6 hours, 46 minutes

Production: National Library Service for the Blind and Print Disabled, Library of Congress

Read by: Mark Ashby

Subject: Cooking

Chef Bitsoie and James Beard Award-winning author Fraioli present a collection of recipes celebrating Indigenous cuisine and food traditions of North America. Categories include soups, salads and vinaigrettes, vegetables and starches, land and sea, and puddings and sweets. Includes a list of pantry items typically found in Indigenous kitchens. 2021.

New York : Abrams, [2021]

Take Action On New Native kitchen: celebrating modern recipes of the American Indian

Kate’s 2¢: “The Best Friend” by Shalini Boland

“The Best Friend” by Shalini Boland

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…

   Mare Trevathan did a good job narrating this psychological friendship story. Surely you’ve heard: If it’s too good to be true; it probably isn’t true.  And of course: With a friend like you, who needs an enemy.

   Boland plied the craft to heighten the suspense and plot twist to perfection.  

A few take-aways:

–You may think we live in a civilized society…We’re all just animals fighting for survival.

From: https://shaliniboland.com/

British author

Shalini Rachelle Boland  aka

Shalini Rachelle Nagarkar

Shalini Nagarkar

Born November 1969

From NLS/BARD/LOC:

The best friend DB104650

Author: Boland, Shalini

Reading Time: 7 hours, 28 minutes

Production: National Library Service for the Blind and Print Disabled, Library of Congress

Read by: Mare Trevathan

Subjects: Psychological Fiction, Suspense Fiction

Louisa Sullivan’s little boy has made a new friend and he is asked over for a play date. When Louisa takes him over, she meets Darcy Lane, the new friend’s mother. Darcy seemingly has everything and becomes Louisa’s new friend. But Darcy hides secrets. Violence and strong language. 2018.

London : Bookouture, 2018.

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Kate’s 2¢: “Her dark lies” by JT Ellison

“Her dark lies” by JT Ellison

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…

   Brittany Pressley did a good job of narrating this tantalizing story. It has all the right elements of a haunted castle, underground tunnels, spectacular panaramas, glorious people when they’r at their most casual moments, not to mention, whoever is killing the family and servants.

A few take-aways:

–Memory: echoes of realitytwisted and molded into what we want to believe.

–We all want to be remembered for something.

–Some of want to make those marks as vivid as possible.

–Self-defense: don’t hesitate, Don’t draw back before they realize what’s going to happen, Plow ahead.

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

www.jtellison.com

J. T. Ellison is a New York Times bestselling American author. She writes domestic noir and psychological thrillers, the latter starring Nashville Homicide Lt. Taylor Jackson and medical examiner Dr. Samantha Owens. She also pens the “A Brit in the FBI” series with #1 New York Times bestselling author Catherine Coulter. With over a million books in print, Ellison’s work has been published in twenty-eight countries and sixteen languages. She is also the co-host of the Emmy Award-winning television series, A Word on Words,[1] which airs on Nashville Public Television. Ellison is also the founder of Two Tales Press,[2] an independent publishing house, and The Wine Vixen,[3] a wine review website. She lives with her husband in Nashville, Tennessee.

Background[edit]

Ellison was born outside of Orlando, Florida and moved to rural Colorado when she was two, then to Washington, D.C. at the age of fourteen. She graduated from Randolph-Macon Woman’s College with a double major in Politics and English Creative Writing and a minor in Economics, then received her master’s degree from George Washington University’s Graduate School of Political Management. Ellison was a presidential appointee and worked in The White House and the U.S. Department of Commerce before moving into the private sector to work as a financial analyst and marketing director for several defense and aerospace contractors.[4]

Writing career[edit]

When Ellison’s college advisor told her that her writing wasn’t good enough to be published, Ellison changed her plan to get a Master’s of Fine Arts and, instead, went into politics. Eight years later, while living in Nashville, Ellison was recuperating from a back injury when she first read the PREY series by John Sandford and rediscovered her love of storytelling.[5]

Ellison began to research her hidden passions: forensics and crime, and was compelled to begin writing down her stories. To research her books, she has worked with the Metro Nashville Police Department and the FBI, as well as performing autopsies and studying survivalists.[6]

Ellison is perhaps best known for her Lt. Taylor Jackson series, which features Nashville homicide detective Taylor Jackson. Ellison successfully spun-off the series with Jackson’s best friend, Medical Examiner Dr. Samantha Owens, as she begins her life in Washington, D.C.[7] In 2012, Ellison teamed up with #1 New York Times bestselling author Catherine Coulter to co-write a new FBI series. The first book, The Final Cut, released in September 2013 and hit every major bestseller list. The series continues with The Lost Key, The End Game, The Devil’s Triangle and The Sixth Day; the newest installment is The Last Second.[8] Ellison published her first standalone novel, No One Knows, a Nashville-based domestic thriller, in 2016 with Gallery Books.[9] and followed with a second standalone, Lie to Me, in 2017 with MIRA Books. Her third standalone, Tear Me Apart, released in 2018. Good Girls Lie in 2019, and Her Dark Lies in 2021. Her latest standalone, It’s One Of Us, is set to release February 28, 2023.[10]

She also has co-written with Erica Spindler and Alex Kava on two anthology collaborations: Slices of Night and Storm Season.[11]

Ellison is a co-founder of Killer Year, an interactive society composed of 13 debut crime/mystery/suspense authors whose books were first published in 2007, creating an active online community and teaming authors with mentors from among the most established authors within the genre. The group was dedicated to furthering the writing, publishing and marketing goals of its members and the highly popular community involved readers, reviewers, and publishing professionals. A collection of short stories by the graduating class, including comments and contributions from seasoned vets such as Lee Child and Allison Brennan, was published to acclaim as Killer Year: Stories to Die For…From the Hottest New Crime Writers. Killer Year became the model for the International Thriller Writers debut author program, which Ellison helped develop.

Ellison also was one of the original members of, and a contributor to, the Anthony Award-nominated crime fiction blog, Murderati, which ran from 2006 to 2012 and is now an archive. She also contributed essays in volumes published by Mystery Writers of America and International Thriller Writers and regularly blogs about the writing business on The Tao of JT.

She also writes under the name Andrea Ellison overseas (France and Holland/Belgium)[12]

Ellison is an active member of several professional writing organizations, including International Thriller Writers, Mystery Writers of America and Romance Writers of America.

Ellison’s books have been published in: Argentina, Australia, Austria, Belgium, Chile, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Holland, India, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Norway, Philippines, Poland, Spain, Sweden, Turkey, United Kingdom.

Personal life[edit]

Ellison lives with her husband and twin cats in Nashville.[19]

From NLS/BARD/LOC:

Her dark lies DB108289

Author: Ellison, J. T.

Reading Time: 11 hours, 57 minutes

Production: National Library Service for the Blind and Print Disabled, Library of Congress

Read by: Brittany Pressley

Subjects: Psychological Fiction, Suspense Fiction

Downloaded: 04/26/2026

“Fast-paced and brilliantly unpredictable, J. T. Ellison’s breathtaking new novel invites you to a wedding none will forget–and some won’t survive. Jutting from sparkling turquoise waters off the Italian coast, Isle Isola is an idyllic setting for a wedding. In the majestic cliff-top villa owned by the wealthy Compton family, up-and-coming artist Claire Hunter will marry handsome, charming Jack Compton, surrounded by close family, intimate friends… and a host of dark secrets. From the moment Claire sets foot on the island, something seems amiss. Skeletal remains have just been found. There are other, newer disturbances, too. Menacing texts. A ruined wedding dress. And one troubling shadow hanging over Claire’s otherwise blissful relationship–the strange mystery surrounding Jack’s first wife. Then a raging storm descends, the power goes out–and the real terror begins… You won’t be able to guess what happens in the end!” — Provided by publisher. Unrated. Commercial audiobook. 2021.

Toronto, Ontario, Canada : Harlequin Audio, OverDrive, [2021]

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Kate’s 2¢: “Project mind control: Sidney Gottlieb, the CIA, and the tragedy of MKULTRA” by John Lisle

“Project mind control: Sidney Gottlieb, the CIA, and the tragedy of MKULTRA” by John Lisle

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 is one of the books the NLS sent to me on a cartridge.

   Pete Cross did a good job of narrating this apparently true, but chilling story of behind the scenes of how government attempts to keep its citizens safe…or are they well-intended, but misleading  the people.

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

I wasn’t able to get a bio on this author.

From NLS/BARD/LOC”

Project mind control: Sidney Gottlieb, the CIA, and the tragedy of MKULTRA DB131003

Author: Lisle, John (Historian)

Reading Time: 8 hours, 29 minutes

Production: National Library Service for the Blind and Print Disabled, Library of Congress

Read by: Pete Cross

Subjects: Government and Politics, Biography

“Sidney Gottlieb was the CIA’s most cunning chemist. As head of the infamous MKULTRA project, he oversaw an assortment of dangerous — even deadly — experiments. Among them: dosing unwitting strangers with mind-bending drugs, torturing mental patients through sensory deprivation, and steering the movements of animals via electrodes implanted into their brains. His goal was to develop methods of mind control that could turn someone into a real-life “Manchurian candidate.” In conjunction with MKULTRA, Gottlieb also plotted the assassination of foreign leaders and created spy gear for undercover agents. The details of his career, however, have long been shrouded in mystery. Upon retiring from the CIA in 1973, he tossed his files into an incinerator. As a result, much of what happened under MKULTRA was thought to be lost — until now. Historian John Lisle has uncovered dozens of depositions containing new information about MKULTRA, straight from the mouths of its perpetrators. For the first time, Gottlieb and his underlings divulge what they did, why they did it, how they got away with it, and much more. Additionally, Lisle highlights the dramatic story of MKULTRA’s victims, from their terrible treatment to their dogged pursuit of justice. The consequences of MKULTRA still reverberate throughout American society. Project Mind Control is the definitive account of this most disturbing of chapters in CIA history.” — From publisher. Unrated. Commercial audiobook.

New York : Macmillan, 2025.

Take Action On Project mind control: Sidney Gottlieb, the CIA, and the tragedy of MKULTRA

Kate’s 2¢: “Her fearful symmetry: a novel” by Audrey Niffenegger

“Her fearful symmetry: a novel” by Audrey Niffenegger

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…

   Laura Giannarelli did a good job of narrating this intriguing story of two sets of twins with quite a unique twist at the end.

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

audreyniffenegger.com

Audrey Niffenegger (born June 13, 1963) is an American writer, artist, and academic. Her debut novel, The Time Traveler’s Wife, published in 2003, was a bestseller.

Biography[edit]

Audrey Niffenegger was born in 1963 in South Haven, Michigan. At the age of two,[2] she and her family moved to Evanston, Illinois, and she has since spent the majority of her life living in or close to Chicago.[3] Niffenegger started writing books when she was six years old. Niffenegger completed her undergraduate degree at the Art Institute of Chicago where she worked on becoming a visual artist.[3] After completing her undergraduate degree, she got her M.F.A at Northwestern University.[4] From 1994 to 2015, Niffenegger served on the faculty of the Creative Writing Department at Columbia College Chicago, where she co-founded the Columbia College Chicago Center for the Book and Paper Arts.[5]

Niffenegger is also the founding member of T3 or Text 3, an artist and writer’s group which performs and exhibits in Chicago. She is an alumna and board member of the Ragdale Foundation. She started making books herself by using processes such as intaglio and letterpress. She also wrote many novels which were produced on an offset press.[6]

She founded Artists Book House.[7] In 2024, Niffenegger announced that the center’s home would be built in the Old Irving Park neighborhood.[8]

From June 21 to November 10, 2013, the National Museum of Women in the Arts exhibited Awake in the Dream World: The Art of Audrey Niffenegger, a retrospective of her paintings, drawings, prints, and book art that “reflect her captivating narrative talent and her explorations of life, mortality, and magic.”[9] The catalog was written by Niffenegger with Susan Fisher Sterling, Krystyna Wasserman, and Mark Pascale.

Personal life[edit]

Niffenegger is married to cartoonist Eddie Campbell. Niffenegger and Campbell collaborated on the visual novel Bizarre Romance to celebrate the Comics Unmasked exhibit at the British Library.[25]

Niffenegger describes herself as “somewhere in the spectrum of agnosticism and atheism” and ascribes her disbelief to her Catholic background.[26]

From NLS/BARD/LOC:

Her fearful symmetry: a novel DB70505

Author: Niffenegger, Audrey

Reading Time: 15 hours, 21 minutes

Production: National Library Service for the Blind and Print Disabled, Library of Congress

Read by: Laura Giannarelli

Subject: Psychological Fiction

Downloaded: 04/26/2026

Mirror-image twins Julia and Valentina inherit the London flat of Aunt Elspeth Noblin, their mother’s estranged twin sister. After moving from Chicago to London, the young women meet obsessive-compulsive neighbor Martin, Elspeth’s shy younger lover Robert, and Elspeth’s ghost, who has plans for Robert and Valentina. 2009.

New York : Scribner, 2009.

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Kate’s 2¢: “Her one mistake” by Heidi Perks

“Her one mistake” by Heidi Perks

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…

   In light British accents, Julie Maisey, Kristy Dillon, and Sally Scott dd a good job of narrating this emotional story. It is time to let abused women know that they can reach out and safely get out of the abusive situation.

From the web:

I have always loved reading and writing.

For as long as I can remember I’ve been making up stories, poems and even magazines that I’d sell to family members for 20p back in the eighties. I fell in love with Enid Blyton and books like The Last of the Really Great Whangdoodles, and somehow managed to get through GCSEs and A-levels while spending most of the lessons staring out of the window and creating other worlds in my head.  

But this was as far as it went, and instead I went onto university to study Retail Management and then started a fifteen year career in marketing, where I met my husband, and had my first child.

In 2012, just after my second child was born, I took redundancy from my job, and decided it was a good time to make some changes to my life. And one of these was to see if I could write a book.

It took a year to write a full novel, which I managed to complete by setting myself word count deadlines. I was then accepted onto the inaugural Curtis Brown Creative online Novel Writing Course, which fuelled my desire to become an author even more. But it took five years, two different agents and many rejections before I finally became a published writer. Writing is a passion, and I feel incredibly lucky to be doing a job that I love.

I write whenever and wherever I can. Often this has been up to the kitchen table but I am excited to soon be moving into my new ‘office’ in the garden!

Much of my inspiration comes from where I live and the areas surrounding it. My home is in Bournemouth and there are some stunning places along the south coast that I have used as locations for my books. See if you can spot them! They range from Portland, Lymington, Brownsea Island, West Dorset and soon to be the Isle of Wight. Sometimes the darkest things can happen in the most beautiful places! 

From NLS/BARD/LOC:

 Her one mistake DB115162

Author: Perks, Heidi

Reading Time: 10 hours, 1 minute

Production: National Library Service for the Blind and Print Disabled, Library of Congress

Read by: Julie Maisey, Kristy Dillon, Sally Scott

Subjects: Psychological Fiction, Suspense Fiction

Downloaded: 04/26/2026

“Charlotte was supposed to be looking after the children, and she swears she was. But while her three kids are all safe and sound at the school fair, Alice, her best friend Harriet’s daughter, is nowhere to be found. Frantically searching everywhere, Charlotte knows she must find the courage to tell Harriet that her beloved only child is missing—and admit that she’s solely to blame. Harriet, devastated by this unbearable loss, can no longer bring herself to speak to Charlotte again, much less trust her. Struggling to keep her marriage afloat, Harriet is more isolated than ever. But as the police bear down on both women, trying to piece together the puzzle of what happened to this little girl, dark secrets begin to surface—and Harriet discovers that trusting Charlotte again may be the only thing that will reunite her with her daughter…” — Provided by publisher. Unrated. Commercial audiobook.

New York : Simon & Schuster Audio, 2019.

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“Between Earth and Sky” by Amanda Skenandore

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…

   Emily Sutton-Smith did a good job narrating this Psychological, historical novel. It presents a dark period in the history of the United States, when well meaning people did a horrible injustice to the Native Americans.

A few take-aways:

–She watched the sun glide toward thehorizon, until it hung red and brilliant above the trees. Its rays, for a fleeting moment, bridge between earth and sky.

…for all their good intensions, they hadn’t really saved them at all.

–Harry (or Asku) believed that the sinuous colors were the spirits of the dead dancing through the sky.

Featured snippet from the web

Amanda Skenandore is an award-winning author of historical fiction and a registered nurse. Her books have been translated into multiple languages and garnered accolades from the American Library Association, Reader’s Digest, Silicon Valley Reads, and Apple Books. She is a 2024 Nevada Arts Council’s literary fellow.

Profile – Amanda Skenandor

Amanda lives in Las Vegas with her husband and their pet turtle, Lenore.…

From NLS/BARD/LOC:

Between earth and sky DB92181

Author: Skenandore, Amanda

Reading Time: 11 hours, 37 minutes

Production: National Library Service for the Blind and Print Disabled, Library of Congress

Read by: Emily Sutton-Smith

Subjects: Historical Fiction, Psychological Fiction

1906. When Alma Mitchell opens the morning’s paper, she discovers that a childhood friend, Harry Muskrat, or Asku as she knew him, stands accused of murdering a federal land agent. Alma must reckon with her past as she asks her husband to help defend Asku. Unrated. Commercial audiobook. 2018.

[Ashland, Oregon] : Blackstone Audio, [2018]

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Kate’s 2¢: “Dinner with the president: food, politics, and a history of breaking bread at the White House” by Alex Prud’homme

“Dinner with the president: food, politics, and a history of breaking bread at the White House” by Alex Prud’homme

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…

   Pat Grimes did a good job of narrating this lengthy book. I found I was snacking a bit more often as I listened to the fascinating State Dinners, Presidential family dining habits, and the variety of international dishes served throughout the ages.

   Although I don’t agree with the author’s political bias (Perhaps his bias was fueled by not being able to get invited to a real White House dinner.), I enjoyed learning about the various chefs who served in the White House.

A few take-aways:

–It is hard to remain enemies when you’ve broken bread together.

–Reasonable men consulting together, coolly, could not fail …to form a compromise.

–The Corona Virus showed there is strength in working together and weakness in dis union.

–The State Dinner honors the visiting head of state, is an assertion of power, and an extension of influence for both host and guest, and a celebration of successful negotiations.

–Rules of social engagement are practical tools that help people of diverse backgrounds get along.

–Dinner is a cheerful celebration of food, family, community, and thankfulness that helps bind us together.

–Dining is a powerful primal tool for consensus building, persuasion and message signaling  

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Alex Prud’homme (born 1961) is an American journalist and the author of several non-fiction books.

Early life and education[edit]

Prud’homme is a native of New York City, a 1984 graduate of Middlebury College, and attended the Bread Loaf Writers’ Conference.[1]

Writings[edit]

Prud’homme’s journalism has appeared in many publications, including The New York Times, The New Yorker, Vanity Fair, Talk, Time, and People.[2]

Prud’homme collaborated with his great-aunt Julia Child on the book My Life in France (Alfred A. Knopf, 2006), her memoir of discovering food and life in postwar Paris and Marseille.[3] The book became a number one New York Times best-seller, and inspired half of the 2009 movie Julie & Julia, starring Meryl Streep as Julia Child. In 2007, the book won the Literary Food Writing award from the International Association of Culinary Professionals (IACP).[4]

From NLS/BARD/LOC:

Dinner with the president: food, politics, and a history of breaking bread at the White House DB117592

Author: Prud’homme, Alex

Reading Time: 16 hours, 17 minutes

Production: National Library Service for the Blind and Print Disabled, Library of Congress

Read by: Pat Grimes

Subjects: Biography of Heads of State and Political Figures, Cooking, U.S. History

Downloaded: 04/09/2026

“Some of the most significant moments in American history have occurred over meals, as U.S. presidents broke bread with friends or foe: Thomas Jefferson’s nationbuilding receptions in the new capital, Washington, D.C.; Ulysses S. Grant’s state dinner for the king of Hawaii; Teddy Roosevelt’s groundbreaking supper with Booker T. Washington; Jimmy Carter’s cakes and pies that fueled a détente between Israel and Egypt at Camp David. Here Alex Prud’homme invites listeners into the White House kitchen to reveal the sometimes curious tastes of 26 of America’s most influential presidents, how their meals were prepared and by whom, and the ways their choices affected food policy around the world. What our leaders say about food touches on everything from our nation’s shifting diet and local politics to global trade, science, religion, war, class, gender, race, and so much more. Prud’homme also details overlooked figures, like George Washington’s enslaved chef, Hercules Posey, whose meals burnished the president’s reputation before the cook narrowly escaped to freedom, and pioneering First Ladies, such as Dolley Madison and Jackie Kennedy, who used food and entertaining to build political and social relationships. As he weaves these stories together, Prud’homme shows that food is not just fuel when it is served to the most powerful people in the world. It is a tool of communication, a lever of power and persuasion, a form of entertainment, and a symbol of the nation.” — Provided by publisher. Unrated. Commercial audiobook.

New York : Dreamscape Media, 2023.

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