Country noir writer Daniel Woodrell has died. Here’s the only line I remember from the time I met him…

Every year, we try to get our Christmas tree and decorations up as soon as possible after the American Thanksgiving holiday. It just makes sense to do so, since in the USA this holiday is our only four-day weekend. And because Thanksgiving falls so late in November this year, if we dawdle on decorations, Christmas will be here before we are ready for it.

In our house, decorating for Christmas means at least two, possibly three, train sets…

A few years ago, when the pandemic raged and there seemed little to be thankful for, my wife Denise Kiernan released a trio of books about the American holiday of Thanksgiving and the life-saving practice of gratitude. Recently, Our State magazine published an article on Denise for their November issue, and then followed that up with two podcasts and two YouTube videos. It’s a huge amount of content focused one North Carolina writer, a global concept, and a whole lot of turkey…

The Thanksgiving story that pops into the heads of most Americans involves a myth regarding early Massachusetts settlers called Pilgrims and Native Americans called Wampanoags. It’s a problematic story that has caused the American Thanksgiving holiday to come under fire for decades. Which is a shame, because Thanksgiving is not a bad idea for a holiday. Other nations have done well with it. Here in the USA, we foolishly linked it to a poorly understood 404-year-old historical event. My wife, New York Times bestselling author Denise Kiernan, published a book about this issue some years ago. Some of the stuff I learned during the writing of that book forms the basis for my SleuthSayers post today. The post is entitled…

Leonardo Pisano, aka Fibonacci, was one of the greatest mathematicians Europe ever produced. He lived in the Middle Ages. But modern mathematicians never read his work because he wrote in Latin. Latin scholars know nothing about math. And mathematicians don’t read Latin. So while you can go to a bookstore and find tons of classical literature translated from the original Greek and Latin, you are unlikely to find the translated works of Fibonacci, who wrote at least five texts in his lifetime that have survived to our time.

If his work was going to be made accessible to 20th and 21st century researchers, someone would have to translate his work into a modern language. Portions of his output had been translated over the centuries, but a fresh translation would bring his work to greater audiences. That person turned out to be…

I’ve spent an inordinate amount of time in my professional life writing articles about the mathematician Leonardo Fibonacci. Most of those pieces were for math magazines aimed at kids. (I was working at Scholastic when I sold my children’s book about Fibonacci.) Then, many years ago, when I was living in Italy, I wrote about Fibonacci for a short-lived daily newsletter on Italian life and culture.

Both the editor and I were astonished by the response that that tiny story. Either people had never heard of Fibonacci, the Sequence, or the Numbers. Or they knew the name from the world of investing, but did not know about Leonardo himself. That taught me a lesson: Fibonacci’s story is amazing enough to interest adults as well.

A few years ago I wrote a long post about Fibonacci books…for kids, grownups, and serious math geeks. That post ended up being very long, and I now think it makes more sense to split it up.

To that end, here’s my current recommendations for books for kids about Leonardo Fibonacci and the famous Fibonacci Sequence that bears his name. The list begins with books teachers and homeschoolers can use to the teach the Sequence. Then it moves on to books that will appeal to kids…

This year, the first Christmas commercial I saw on TV appeared the evening of August 31. If I had been drinking beer, I would have sprayed it at the screen. But I wasn’t. I hate starting the season early as much as the next guy, but I know from experience that when it comes to shipping items, it’s smart to plan ahead. So…if you’re thinking of getting any of my books for the holidays, it could not be easier. I’ve got you covered, even for autographed books!

It’s Halloween, which reminds us all that death is a thing! Sometimes those who die are writers, which raises an interesting dilemma. In the US and other countries, the copyright on the work of a creative person survives 70 years past their death. That’s both good and bad. Good because…

This is the time of year when everyone compiles their Best of Lists. Best Movies. Best Games. Best Shows. And of course, Best Books. I recently contributed a book list to Shepherd.com, which enlists the help of authors and readers, not algorithms, to share recommendations with readers. Shepherd is running a Best Books of 2025 project, which hundreds of authors have already contributed to. Mine is up now, and it’s called…