Family & Relationship

Bad to the Bone: The Worst Children in Literature

Children are a blessing, and most of them are the greatest part of family life, in reality and in fiction. But some authors have a habit of creating horrific fictional children that not even a mother could love. From We Need to Talk About Kevin to Lord of the Flies, there are numerous utterly evil children in literature. Be warned, some of these books have the potential to be distressing, particularly for parents.

Brides' Books Revisited: Weddings in Literature

With all due respect to the grooms, weddings are really about the brides. Authors agree. There are few novels about bridegrooms but there are thousands about brides. In fact, AbeBooks has almost 150,000 listings where the word ‘bride’ is mentioned in the title.

Guest Editor

Lori S.

I am a mom of a teenage son, who I have been mostly raising on my own for the past 16 years. When my boy was a toddler I wanted to get out and meet other moms and tots. I joined some local community groups and starting doing volunteer work. I became involved with a new young parents organization. I assisted in writing the newsletter, organizing events, parenting workshops and groups. Then with the support and connections I made in the community, I joined forces with 3 other women and started a children’s thrift store. It was child friendly, with a play area for the kids, a coffee bar and resource library for the parents. I am grateful for all the opportunities I was given, I was able to gain skills and better myself, while having my son close by.

Lori's Pick

Raising Your Spirited Child Rev Ed: A Guide for Parents Whose Child is More Intense, Sensitive, Perceptive, Persistent and Energetic.

Mary Sheedy Kurcinka

Lori's Review: In Raising Your Spirited Child, Mary Sheedy examines the characteristics of the nine temperament traits, and gives parents suggestions on how to deal with these traits and look at them in a more positive light...

Read the rest of the review

Ten Books About Large Families

Check out our list of 10 books about large families where you will find rural poverty, death, a singing nun, some sleuths, a generation of political heavyweights and a nursery rhyme everyone knows.

Ten Books About Large Families

 

Father and Son Writing Teams

Sons who have followed in their literary fathers' footsteps and become authors are surprisingly common. Perhaps it’s the genes? Perhaps it was inspiring to see father disappear off and hammer away at the typewriter for hour after hour. AbeBooks has selected the top 10 father and son author double-teams and there are plenty of big-hitters.

Father and Son Writing Teams