Books
Classic books, the ones you read for school or because they are on some list. Are they any good? Find out for yourself. Here are some classics that have publication anniversary dates in January. Have you read these classics?
Jan. 15, 1990: The Eye of the World by Robert Jordan is the first novel in the Wheel of Time series. Jordan died while writing the 12th novel, so Brandon Sanderson was brought in to finish the book. Due to its size, Sanderson had to split the story, finishing the series with book 14. An epic fantasy of good versus evil, the series is beloved by millions and was on PBS’s The Great American Read list. In 2021, Amazon turned the books into a series and The Eye of the World hit the New York Times Bestseller list again, 32 years after it was first published.
January 1866: Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoyevsky was first published as a serial in 12 monthly installments from January through December of 1866. An impoverished student murders a despicable pawnbroker believing it to be morally acceptable because it benefits humanity. After the murder, the student is riddled with guilt, and he must decide whether to clear his conscience by confessing or attempt to get away with the perfect crime. The book has been adapted into film several times and translated into over 100 languages.
January 1982: North and South by John Jakes is the first in a trilogy about the Southern Mains and the Northern Hazards. It begins in 1842 when Orry Main and George Hazard join West Point and become fast friends. The trilogy covers the next 40 years of both families including the Civil War. The series sold millions of copies worldwide, with each book debuting on the New York Times Bestseller list. In 1985, a miniseries based on the first novel was a huge hit on ABC, and more episodes were filmed based on the rest of the trilogy.
Authors
These authors are celebrating birthdays in January. Have you ever read their books? If not, give one a try. If you have, make sure you've read their most popular book or series. Have you read all their books? Make sure you've read their latest.
Harlan Coben was born on Jan. 4, 1962, in Newark, N.J. He grew up in nearby Livingston, which would become the setting for several of his books. His father was an attorney and his mother was a travel agency executive. Coben attended Amherst College where he played basketball and earned a degree in political science. After college, he worked at his family’s travel agency and married his wife Anne, a pediatrician. Despite never taking any English or writing courses in college, Coben started writing a novel that combined his knowledge of travel and basketball. In 1990, his first novel, Play Dead, was published by a small imprint of Simon and Schuster. Coben continued to write a book each year while becoming the father of four children. He started a series, featuring Myron Bolitar, a sports agent who frequently becomes an amateur detective for his clients. Coben has won major mystery awards: the Edgar, the Shamus, and the Anthony. Coben has a spin-off book series for teens, featuring Myron Bolitar’s nephew, Mickey. Coben has 34 novels with more than 75 million in print. In recent years, Coben has been a creator, showrunner, screenplay writer, or executive producer of several television series. Some of the shows are based on his books, many are Netflix originals, and a few are French, Spanish, or Polish. His novel Tell No One was turned into a French film, winning a Lumiere, which is equivalent to a Golden Globe. Coben’s most recent book is I Will Find You. His next book, Think Twice will be published in May 2024. (Coben photo by Claudio Marinesco)
Philippa Gregory was born in Nairobi, Kenya on Jan. 9, 1954. Gregory’s father worked for East Africa Airways and was killed in a plane crash in 1955. After her father’s death, Gregory moved with her mother and older sister to England to live with her widowed grandmother. Gregory grew up poor, which would later influence her writing. Due to low grades, she couldn’t get into a university, but she took a journalism course in Wales. She went on to work at Portsmouth News and eventually earned a spot at the University of Sussex. She got her undergraduate degree in history in 1978 and then went to work for BBC Radio Solent as a journalist and producer. Gregory continued her education at Edinburgh University to obtain her master’s and doctorate degrees in literature, graduating in 1984. During this time, she married her first husband and had a daughter named Victoria. Due to a hiring freeze, Gregory couldn’t get a teaching job, so she started writing her first novel. She also got divorced and wrote a column about living in the remote countryside alone with a toddler using the pen name Kate Wedd. Her first book, Wideacre, was published in 1987 and became a bestseller. In the 90s, Gregory published several works, remarried, and had a son named Adam. As a new century started, Gregory was captivated by the Tudors and began writing about the Boleyn sisters. The Other Boylen Girl was a hit and began a long series of novels. The book was turned into a film starring Scarlett Johansson. Gregory’s second marriage ended, and in 2001, she married for a third time. As Gregory continued to write, she also taught at several universities and founded Gardens for The Gambia, which dug wells for school gardens. Gregory has written over 30 novels, several books for children and teens, and a work of nonfiction. Gregory divorced in 2021 and now lives with her daughter’s family. In February 2024, her second nonfiction book, Normal Women: Nine Hundred Years of Making History, will be published. (Gregory photo by James Stuart from Wikimedia Commons)
Walter Mosley was born in Los Angeles on Jan. 12, 1952. His father was a school custodian and his mother was a school personnel clerk. Mosley’s father was an African American from Louisiana and his mother was a white Jewish woman whose family emigrated from Russia. With the influences of his upbringing, Mosely writes with realistic detail and an understanding of social and racial injustices. Mosley graduated from Johnson State College in 1977 and was a computer programmer in New York City. Mosley married dancer and choreographer, Joy Kellman in 1987, but they divorced in 2001. After reading The Color Purple and feeling unfulfilled with his career, Mosley went back to school to study writing at City College. In 1989, he wrote a screenplay and showed it to his teacher, who gave it to an agent. Devil in a Blue Dress was published as a novel in 1990. The main character Easy Rawlins shared similarities with Mosley’s father and the issues he faced as a Black man who was a hero in WWII only to come home to America as a second-class citizen. In 1998, the book was turned into a movie starring Denzel Washington. Mosley has written 15 books featuring Easy, over a span of 31 years. Mosley has won numerous awards such as an O. Henry, Shamus, Grammy, Edgar, NAACP Image Awards, the TransAfrica International Literary Prize, and several lifetime achievement awards. In 2020, he was the first Black man to receive the National Book Foundation Medal for Distinguished Contribution to American Letters. He has been on the board of the National Book Awards, the Poetry Society of America, and the TransAfrica Forum. Mosley has delved into nonfiction, young adult, and science fiction, with over 50 books in 25 languages. His most recent book is a science fiction novel titled Touched, his first delve into this genre in eight years. (Mosley photo by Larry D. Moore from Wikimedia Commons)
Factual information from: the University of Toronto Libraries, Gale: Biography in Context, and the author websites of Brandon Sanderson, John Jakes, Harlan Coben, Philippa Gregory, and Walter Mosley.