While WG Sebald’s Austerlitz won’t be among the top five favorite reads of 2010, it will be among the top books that I’m glad I read. Using stream-of-consciousness narrative, Austerlitz is the title character’s story as he tells it to an unnamed, first-person recorder. And while this style isn’t my favorite, it is profoundly appropriate in this instance.

Geraldine Brooks’ People of the Book is like a beautifully wrapped gift.

Approximately 500 girls age 14 or younger are raped for profit every month in Atlanta.
This is one of the facts that, according to Brandon McCormick, “Once you know, you can’t un-know.” And so, McCormick and his independent boutique film company, Whitestone Motion Pictures, have made a short film, The Candy Shop. I was honored to be among the 4,000 to attend the premier of the film Monday night at the historic Fox Theatre.
The Candy Shop was created to bring awareness about the sex trafficking industry. It is a metaphor …

If you’re a fan of Gothic literature, be sure to pick up Kate Morton’s The Distant Hours. It could have been used to teach my college class on the genre.