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Laura Bird

About Laura Bird

Laura, who’s an ardent reader and debut middle-grade author, loves literary fiction, memoirs, essay collections—and helping people find their perfect book.

Deceit and Denial in the Windy City

An interview with Truth and Other Lies novelist Maggie Smith By Laura Anne Bird In Truth and Other Lies, debut novelist Maggie Smith weaves a riveting and swiftly moving tale of mothers, daughters, journalism, and politics. Twenty-five-year-old Megan Barnes has just lost her reporting job and her boyfriend. She leaves her apartment in Brooklyn and moves back to Chicago, feeling (and acting) like a hot mess. Helen, her mom, welcomes her in, but within minutes they’re bickering as usual, clashing over everything from reproductive rights to #MeToo. To make matters worse, Helen has announced her run for US Congress, which [...]

2022-03-13T12:53:03-07:00March 13th, 2022|

A Pandemic Playbook for the Times

A blog, a memoir, and five recommendations for further reading By Laura Anne Bird I have to admit that I wasn’t exactly eager to read a book about the COVID-19 pandemic because...well, because we’re still in it. The omicron variant rages on, my city continues to have a mask mandate, and nothing feels normal. Most of the time, I simmer in helplessness and anger, so when The Accidental Plague Diaries was pressed into my hands, my first thought was: I really don’t want think about the pandemic any more than is absolutely necessary. But author Andrew Duxbury MD intrigued me. [...]

2022-01-07T11:54:20-07:00January 7th, 2022|Tags: |

An Interview with Author Mike Brown

Picture books with a mission: Little Netta takes on the world By Laura Anne Bird What child doesn’t love a picture book? They’ve got everything: delightful illustrations, catchy rhymes, and imperative messages about what it means to be both a kid and a human being. Sometimes, picture books go a step further and serve as a tool for social justice—which is why Little Netta’s Gift, written by Mike Brown and illustrated by Selim Nurudeen, caught my eye. Little Netta’s Gift is a charming story about a six-year-old who, following Christmas and her birthday, sends party guests home with all the gifts she’s just [...]

2021-11-19T16:38:19-07:00November 19th, 2021|
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