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 August. Have you read these classics?
Aug. 9, 1854: The transcendentalist author Henry David Thoreau published Walden; or, Life in the Woods. Thoreau stayed in a cabin near Concord, Mass., for two years as a type of social experiment to see if he could live a simple life. The book contains information and thoughts about living in natural surroundings, self-reliance, independence, and spiritual discovery.
August 1903: The story Call of the Wild by Jack London, was first serialized in The Saturday Evening Post and then published as a book. It is the story of a dog named Buck who is stolen from his home in California and taken to Alaska. He is bought and sold several times, learns how to be a sled dog, and is severely mistreated until John Thornton rescues him.
August 1965: The epic science-fiction novel, Dune by Frank Herbert has inspired films, music, games, and even space exploration – places on Saturn’s moon Titan bear names from the series. The novel won the Hugo and Nebula Awards. Herbert wrote five more Dune novels and after his death, his son used his father’s notes to write prequels and more sequels.
Authors
These authors are celebrating birthdays in August. 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.
Isabel Allende was born in Lima, Peru on Aug. 2, 1942. Her father left the family and her mother moved them to Chile in 1945 and then remarried. Her family was in politics, and she frequently moved around South America, the Middle East, and Europe. Allende finished secondary school in Chile and married her first husband when she was 20. She had two children and began writing. She worked as a journalist for magazines and television. After her uncle, the president of Chile, was assassinated in a military coup her family was exiled to Venezuela. She wrote her first novel in 1982, The House of the Spirits. She moved to San Francisco in 1987 after divorcing her first husband. She married her second husband in 1988 and became an American citizen in 1993. Allende continued to write novels mixing history, magical realism, and spirituality with strong female characters. In 1991, Allende’s daughter Paula died after a lengthy illness, so she started a foundation to help empower women and young girls. Allende has taught at several universities, received many honorary doctorates, lectured on numerous topics, and received countless awards, including the Presidential Medal of Freedom. She has written 25 books, selling more than 75 million copies in 42 languages. Allende lives in California with her third husband, near her son and grandchildren. Her latest novel is The Wind Knows My Name about the ripple effects of war and immigration on a young child in Europe in 1938 and another in the United States in 2019. In 2024, Allende made her children's literary debut. Her newest book is Perla: The Mighty Dog. (author photo by Quim Rosés from Wikimedia Commons)
Danielle Steel was born in New York City on Aug. 14, 1947. She finished high school at 15 and studied at the Parsons School of Design but dropped out her first year due to health reasons. She then studied at NYU but quit after marrying at age 18. She had her first child at 20 and then divorced, eventually moving to San Francisco. She wrote her first novel in the summer of 1971, Going Home. Steel then had several manuscripts rejected and didn’t have her second novel published until 1977. During that gap, Steel was a copywriter for an advertising agency, taught high school, and wrote poems and articles for women’s magazines. She also met and married two convicts, a bank robber and then a heroin addict. One of the marriages resulted in her second child. Steel then married a shipping executive in 1981, who brought two boys into the marriage. Steel went on to have five children with him over the next 14 years. Steel’s career was on fire, and she pumped out two to three best-selling novels every year. She then married her fifth husband. Her second child Nicky suffered from mental health issues and started using drugs as a teenager, dying from an overdose at 19. She started a foundation in his name that is involved in mental illness and suicide prevention. Steel has written more than 200 books, selling 900 million copies in 43 languages and she’s still at it. Her novels are usually contemporary fiction and romance with happy endings. Many have female protagonists who have powerful jobs or money but are dealing with a tragedy or a life versus love dilemma. Her latest novel is Resurrection and her newest, Joy will be published in August. (author photo by Brigitte Lacombe)
Alexander McCall Smith was born on Aug. 24, 1948, in Bulawayo, Southern Rhodesia, which is now Zimbabwe. His father was a public prosecutor for the self-governing British colony, and his mother was an unpublished writer. Nicknamed Sandy, he is the youngest of four children and uses his experiences growing up in southern Africa in much of his writings. He left for college at 17 to attend the University of Edinburgh. He studied law, earning his LL.B. (equivalent to a J.D.) and Ph.D. McCall Smith taught law at the University of Belfast and then moved back to Africa. He taught law in Swaziland (now Eswatini) and Botswana, where he helped found the law school and write criminal code. McCall Smith began writing nonfiction law books but then tried children’s fiction with the 1980 publication of White Hippo. In 1982, McCall Smith married Elizabeth Parry, a physician. The couple has two daughters, Lucy and Emily. In 1984, he moved to Scotland, where he taught medical law and ethical law at the University of Edinburgh for many years. McCall Smith’s big break came when he wrote the adult novel, The No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency in 2005. The series, with #25, The Great Hippopotamus Hotel, to be published in late 2024, is set in Botswana and features private detective Mma. Precious Ramotswe. McCall Smith has also written several other popular adult series: 44 Scotland Street (17), Isabel Dalhousie (15), Professor Dr. von Igelfeld (5), and Detective Varg (4). He has written and contributed to over 100 books in 46 languages, selling millions of copies. He has been on many boards and commissions involving ethics, law, and biogenetics. He has also won awards in multiple countries for his various writings. In July 2024, Sir Sandy was knighted by King Charles III in a week-long celebration of Edinburgh’s 900th anniversary. McCall Smith’s newest book is the 15th novel featuring Isabel Dalhousie, The Conditions of Unconditional Love. (author photo by Shawn Miller from Wikimedia Commons)
Factual information from Gale In Context: Biography and the authors' websites Isabel Allende, Danielle Steel, and Alexander McCall Smith.