Esther's Classic Literature Blog

Louisa May Alcott published the first volume of Little Women on September 30, 1868. The second volume followed in 1869, and Alcott continued the bestselling story of Jo March and ... Read More

Miguel de Cervantes was born in Madrid, Spain on September 29, 1547. He was a contemporary of William Shakespeare, but Cervantes is perhaps best known as the author of Don ... Read More

A banned book is one that has been removed from the shelves of a library or classroom because of its controversial content. A book may be challenged or banned on ... Read More

Ulysses, by James Joyce is one of the greatest literary works of the 20th century. Written in stream-of-consciousness style, Joyce's infamous novel was first published in 1918. Set on June ... Read More

It's time to celebrate your freedom to read. Since 1985, Banned Books Week has been observed during the last week of September each year. The freedom to decide what you ... Read More

Books are banned or challenged every day. But, what does that mean? A challenge is an attempt to remove or restrict material. A book ban goes even further--the work is ... Read More

Is William Shakespeare just too popular for his own good? Should we be putting his plays on hold, and taking a look at some of the other great plays in ... Read More

The National Book Festival is an annual event that is organized and sponsored by the Library of Congress and hosted by first lady Laura Bush. This free event is in ... Read More

Baroness Emmuska Orczy (1865-1947) was a novelist and artist, who was born on September 23, 1865. She wrote crime stories and then created The Scarlet Pimpernel, which is perhaps her ... Read More

How legal is it for Google to digitize millions of titles, making them part of "a searchable library of all the world's printed books"? The controversy is over Google Print, ... Read More

An interesting story comes out of the Canterbury Cathedral, as Rev. Dr. Michael Hinton releases his "100-Minute Bible." In Ed Vulliamy's article for The Guardian, Hinton says: "This is a ... Read More

As Emily Wilson says in her recent article for The Guardian, "[A Vindication of the Rights of Women] is the first great feminist treatise. It was written in the age ... Read More

On September 20, 1905, Upton Sinclair was born. "The Jungle" (1906) was one of Upton Sinclair's most famous novels. The novel was revolutionary, leading to the creation of the Food ... Read More

September is National Literacy Month. It's the perfect time to get involved in making sure that children and adults in your community can read! Read about How to Improve Reading ... Read More

Samuel Johnson (1709-1784) is one of the most quoted English writers. The end of the 18th century is sometimes called the "Age of Johnson," because he was such a prominent ... Read More

It's Curious George Day! Boston Public Library and Houghton Mifflin are throwing a birthday bash at the Central Library today! And, Curious George and the Man with the Yellow Hat ... Read More

In a recent article from The Guardian, Jay McInerney says, "We've been hearing about the death of the novel ever since the day after 'Don Quixote' was published. Twenty years ... Read More

Michael Cunningham is famous for his novel, The Hours, which drew from Virginia Woolf's Mrs. Dalloway. Cunningham's famous novel was turned into a Oscar-winning success by the same producer who ... Read More

It's Agatha Christie Week, as we celebrate the week in which the great mystery writer was born. Agatha Christie was born on September 15, 1890, and she was named Mary ... Read More

John Steinbeck is one of the most famous American writers, known for "East of Eden," "The Grapes of Wrath," and "Of Mice and Men." On September 14, 1964, John Steinbeck ... Read More

Olaudah Equiano is a famous writer from the 18th century, known principally for his autobiography, "The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano, or Gustavus Vassa, the African." But, ... Read More

Curious George is a monkey, who seems to be forever getting himself into mischief. He was created by Margret and H.A. Rey, who in 1940 fled Nazi-occupied Paris with the ... Read More

On September 12, 1846, Elizabeth Browning eloped with Robert Browning. They were both poets, and they lived happily in Italy for the next 15 years... Upon hearing of their marriage, ... Read More

September is "Read-A-New-Book Month." What is it about reading a new book? The pages are crisp and un-crumpled. The spine is stiff and unyielding. The book cover isn't scarred by ... Read More

Literature is sometimes the most constant reminder that there is some humanity in life... that there are words that can be said about tragedy, death, loss, and despair. Read on: In ... Read More

What's so intriguing about the "academic" novel? In a recent article for The Guardian, Elaine Showalter says: "One theory about the rise of the novel argues that it developed because ... Read More

In Life on the Mississippi, Mark Twain writes: "The loneliness of this solemn, stupendous flood is impressive--and depressing. League after league, and still league after league, it pours its chocolate ... Read More

When hurricanes, fires, and natural disasters strike, there is something you can do to help--while you also share your love of reading with others. Why not share a books with ... Read More

The tales of English history have captured our imaginations and inspired some of our greatest classics. Characters from history like Geoffrey Chaucer, William Caxton, Thomas More, William Tyndale, Sir Francis ... Read More

When storms and disasters hit us with all that fury, it's hard to know how to react. Acts of heroism are happening every day in the most devastated areas, ... Read More

According to an article from The Guardian, Theatre Director Stephen Unwin has vowed to direct all of Henrik Ibsen's plays. In the article, Unwin says of Ibsen's plays: "There is ... Read More

In a recent article, Richard Ford writes about New Orleans--for The Guardian. His words are probably not the first, nor will they be the last. As Ford says: "For those ... Read More

Which classics are notable to be on a list of the top 100? And, then, which books should be considered of merit, of such quality or substance that they should ... Read More

Jane Austen has become quite an industry, as Steven Morris discusses in his article for The Guardian. As Morris explains: "The UK's multi-million pound Austen industry is gearing itself up ... Read More

Somehow the tales of the lost civilization of Atlantis seems appropriate right now. Although there's a great deal of debate--with poets, writers, and philosophers all offering their views--the lost Atlantis ... Read More

By a majority vote, we're reading (and discussing) Jane Eyre this month in the Classics Book Club. So--without spoiling the plot for anyone who hasn't read the book before--what is it ... Read More