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Welcome to DelMio.com, a vibrant online magazine designed to encourage reading by extending the experience of a book beyond the final chapter.
DelMio offers a rich multimedia experience for those who love books - including live discussions, opportunities for libraries to share programming and a place for book lovers to connect online. DelMio is committed to providing readers with credible, well-researched information they can count on for accuracy.
July 17th, 2008 | No Comments »
Of the six titles that list John McCain as an author, the book that gives us the largest window into McCain’s soul and personality is Faith Of My Fathers. Written with longtime staffer Mark Salter and published in 1999, this memoir chronicles the larger-than-life lineage of a family tree whose roots reach back to Scot Presbyterian warriors.
The presumptive Republican presidential nominee explains his military ancestors this way: “The McCains, bred to fight as Highland Scots of the Clan McDonald, arrived in the New World shortly after American gained her independence, when Hugh McCain settled his wife and six children in Caswell County, North Carolina, and built his estate, Lenox Castle.”
To see more about John McCain’s Faith of My Fathers, CLICK HERE.
July 14th, 2008 | No Comments »
The Black Swan is not a fairy tale. Far from it. The Black Swan explains how sudden, unexpected events are the most powerful agents of change in the world. Change happens usually in violent spasms that, at least briefly, touch off chaos before a new order is instilled. In addition to challenging what he calls Platonic assumptions (focusing on the easily discernible), Nassim Nicholas Taleb exercises a mischievous sense of humor. He quotes Yogi Berra often: “You can observe a lot just by watching.” (epilogism) “It’s tough to make predictions about the future.” “The future ain’t what it used to be.” He gleefully bashes everything French (his parents are French citizens and he is fluent in French, so maybe he’s entitled to). He skewers the high-on-the-hog riders: “We humans have the largest cortex, followed by bank executives, dolphins, our cousins the apes.”
Having dwelt in the worlds of both academia and business gives him a rare perspective. He notes that being called a practitioner is an insult in academia, and being called academic is an insult in business.
On theory: “A theory is like medicine (or government): often useless, sometimes necessary, always self-serving, and on occasion lethal. So it needs to be used with care, moderation, and close adult supervision.”
Take your time with this book. Don’t take it to the beach. Expect to have some assumptions challenged. And expect to discover some new concepts.
To learn more, CLICK HERE.
July 10th, 2008 | No Comments »
The brilliant Michael Cunningham’s fifth novel is actually three stories vastly separated in time but with commonalities of place and character names.
Also tying together the stories — novellas, actually — is the poetry of Walt Whitman, which is woven through the book.
The book is ambitious not only in structure but in writing style. Like a musical virtuoso so familiar with his instrument that he has to increase the degree of difficulty to remain amused, the Cincinnati native writes each section of the book in a different genre — gothic ghost story, noir thriller, and science fiction.
To learn more about Specimen Days, CLICK HERE.
July 9th, 2008 | No Comments »
At its heart, Feathers is about hope, and what it means to face tremendous opposition, and still smile.
Frannie is a middle school-age girl living in the black section of a never-named urban city center in the winter of 1970. She has an older brother, Sean, who is deaf, and a mother who has suffered several miscarriages. One day, a new boy — a white boy — comes to her school as a transfer student. He’s quiet, has long hair and is named Jesus. No one is quite sure what to make of him, or the fact that he as a black father, or that he stands up to the class bully.
The title comes from an Emily Dickinson poem that Frannie and her class read and try to explain one day:
Hope is the thing with feathers
That perches in the soul,
And sings the tune — without the words,
And never stops at all …
To learn more about Feathers and author Jacqueline Woodson, CLICK HERE.
July 3rd, 2008 | No Comments »
The Da Vinci Code took the literary world by storm, though the movie, well, not so much so. It brought gnosticism to public awareness and suggested something unspreakably evil was going on. And how about Tom Hanks’ hair? It certainly had its fans, and it had a few detractors as well. See for yourself.
He tried to hide from it. He tried to ignore it. He dodged. He spun. He parried. But ultimately, Steve Love succumbed to the irresistible force that is The Da Vinci Code.
To see more, CLICK HERE.
July 2nd, 2008 | No Comments »
T is for Trespass is the title of Sue Taylor Grafton’s latest marvel of a mystery, but there are plenty of T words to describe the wildly popular novelist herself: tenacious, thorough and timeless are among them. Her literary role models include masters of the classic detective novel Raymond Chandler and Ross Macdonald. And although her story lines prove topical and terrifying, Grafton herself is an amiable, albeit hardworking, wife, grandmother, fitness buff and cat lover. She maintains a home in her native Louisville, Ky., just about two hours from her sister, Ann, a retired librarian in Cincinnati.
Grafton and her husband of 20-plus years, Steven Humphrey, live part of the year in Southern California, where they met, but the author has made it clear she’s not a Hollywood kind of girl. She had enough of that in the 1970s and ’80s when she made her living writing screenplays for film and television. (Her television movie, Walking through Fire (1979), earned her a Christopher Award.)
To learn more about this book and author, CLICK HERE.
July 1st, 2008 | No Comments »
The latest collaboration of Alan Katz and David Catrow is likely to have toddlers singing in delight and their parents and grandparents, well, not so much. The lyrics to classic children’s songs have been altered to fit the theme of, ahem, potty training, and the potty humor is plentiful. A School Library Journal reviewer clearly did not like this book. But that’s OK, school librarians are not the target audience. Small children are. Go ahead, check out our SideTrip to On Top of the Potty. But remember: You’ve been warned. If potty humor isn’t your thing, there are plenty of other books by this dynamic duo. To see other projects by Katz and Catrow or view some, uh, interesting videos, click here.
Writer Chuck Bowen is the producer of this mini exploration, sponsored by the Ohio Center for the Book, which has sponsored several other books and authors with Ohio connections. In the future, look for a blog from Chuck, who was well-qualified for this assignment, as he and his wife are in the process of potty training their daughter. We’ll ask about their daughter’s favorite song.
To visit the SideTrip, CLICK HERE.
June 17th, 2008 | No Comments »
“In silence, Love found them.”
Those of you, parents and grandparents, may remember being enchanted as youngsters by Disney’s animated “Cinderella” - all right, boys maybe not so much. The story is familiar. Downtrodden maiden meets charming prince, he falls for her, she flees the scene as the clock strikes 12. He sets out to find her.
Heard it all before? Probably not as told by Cynthia Rylant, and probably not with the exquisite renderings of artist Mary Blair, who created the vision for Walt Disney’s Cinderella.
Even the cover suggests something a little different is afoot. A tiny dot of an eye and puff of blush on a maiden’s face suggest a hurried, harried state as curtains billow in her wake.
Rylant is a gifted and prolific storyteller, whose words are crafted with economy and intelligence. Come see for yourself.
Click here to discover more about the author and Cinderella
June 2nd, 2008 | No Comments »
By Anne Brennan
Who’s ready for summer? Who isn’t? Everyone’s salivating for sun and fun. After you plan your vaca or “sick” day, what’s the next thing you need? A good book, of course.
I have some very strict rules for beach books.
1. Must be fun to read.
2. Must be a page-turner.
3. Must have a cover/title/art that is somewhat embarrassing to be seen with. A romance novel usually fits the bill for all of the above.
Here’s what’s on my reading list, after I slather on the sunscreen and hit the beach:
1. “When You Are Engulfed in Flames” by David Sedaris. Need I say more?
2. “The Front” Patricia Cornwell. After getting hooked on her early books, I want to check out what’s new with her.
3. “Audition” by Barbara Walters. Turns out Babs was quite the man magnet. Oh, and she was a pioneer for women in the news industry too.
4. “I Feel Bad About My Neck” by Nora Ephron. If the title is any indication, there should be some guaranteed laughs.
Other suggestions by DelMio reviewers:
Dave Wilson recommends “Playing for Pizza” by John Grisham as a light summer read. Another idea–”The Prince of Nantucket” by Jan Goldstein, reviewed by Jane Snow. Check out their reviews on delmio.com.
Ever wonder what famous authors read? So did I. I thought I’d interview some and find out. But, of course, someone has already done it at slate.com. I think I like Diane McWhorter’s thinking:
Diane McWhorter, author, Carry Me Home: Birmingham, Alabama: The Climactic Battle of the Civil Rights Revolution
Because I’m too much of a self-scolding Calvinist to go in for pure escapism, my perfect beach book would be something like John O’Hara’s Appointment in Samarra, which, while it is all about sex and money, also checks in at No. 22 on the Modern Library’s 100 Best Novels list. (OK, actually: Pamela Des Barres, I’m With the Band: Confessions of a Groupie—truly one of the best books I’ve read about growing up female in the 1960s.)
Will add the groupie book to my list!
May 29th, 2008 | No Comments »
Vanita Oelschlager’s book of poetry, Air Mask, began as a personal exercise just to serve as a sort of therapy for her long days as a caregiver for her husband, Jim. Jim has multiple sclerosis, but the issues a caregiver deals with are largely universal. A friend read the poems and told her, “You have to share these with others.” This Exploration, sponsored by Summa Health System, focuses largely on caregiving and caregivers. Vanita’s poetry speaks eloquently to the emotion and soul of the caregiver. DelMio and Summa aim to address education and support for caregivers, whether a wife, son, daughter, parent or sibling or friend.
Click Here for the Exploration
May 21st, 2008 | No Comments »
A little boy learns the story of his great, great uncle, who loved to fly. As a child, his uncle’s dream landed him in a pile of hay after leaping from a barn, but later spurred him to become an airman with the 322nd, one of just four African-American squadrons during World War II. Author Angela Johnson’s poetic language and illustrator Loren Long’s painterly images evoke the peace of flying as well as the “magic” of soaring among the clouds and “into the wind,” as “Uncle” would say.
“It’s what heaven must be,” Uncle says to me. “With clouds, like soft blankets, saying, ‘Come on in and get warm. Stay a while and be a wind flyer too.’”
To discover more about Angela Johnson and “Wind Flyers,” CLICK HERE
Of the six titles that list John McCain as an author, the book that gives us the largest window into McCain’s soul and personality is Faith Of My Fathers. Written with longtime staffer Mark Salter and published in 1999, this memoir chronicles the larger-than-life lineage of a family tree whose roots reach back to Scot Presbyterian warriors.
