Eunice Roque, 2/8/12

Blogger, Amador Square

They took everyone by surprise, including themselves," reads the introduction to The Invisible Arab: The Promise and Peril of the Arab Revolution, a new book by Marwan Bishara, Senior Political Analyst for Al Jazeera English.

Dr. Rebecca Palacios, 2/8/12

Senior Curriculum Advisor, ABCmouse.com

When we provide children the gift of books and language, we are providing them with imaginative experiences that are important in building a nation of creative thinkers and innovators.

Dan Lybarger, 2/8/12

Kansas City-based Freelance Writer and Critic

With his well-fitting suits and unsettlingly calm delivery, it seemed as if Serling was almost marveling at his ability to shock both his characters and his viewers.

Dave Astor, 2/8/12

Blogger/Columnist

Charles Dickens' 200th birthday and Edith Wharton's 150th birthday got me thinking about how old famous novelists were when they died. How does the longevity of notable authors compare to the longevity of adults in general?

Thomas B. Edsall, 2/8/12

Joseph Pulitzer II and Edith Pulitzer Moore Professor, Columbia School of Journalism

The contest for power between Democrats and Republicans pits two antithetical value systems against each other; two conflicting concepts of freedom, liberty, fairness, right, and wrong; two mutually exclusive notions of the state, the individual, and the collective good.

Holly Robinson, 2/8/12

Author, 'Sleeping Tigers' and 'The Gerbil Farmer's Daughter: A Memoir'

For most writers, every book takes months, even years, to write. We don't know how, or even if, that book will ever be published in the end, but something compels us to keep going. That "something" is the reader.

Rex Pickett, 2/8/12

Author of 'Sideways'

The Academy Awards hold a special place in my heart. I'm somehow miraculously behind two Oscars: the Best Adapted Screenplay for Sideways (based on my novel of the same title) and the writer of the 2000 Oscar for Best Live Action Short.

David Henry Sterry, 2/8/12

Author, activist, performer, muckraker, book doctor

When Nura pitched her anthology revolving around the love lives of Muslim-American women, we were blown away.

Dan Agin, 2/8/12

Author

If you're interested in the real world and want a worthy introduction to the major achievement of humanity in the past hundred years, get hold of this book, read it slowly, digest it, make it part of your life and your life will change for the better.

Paula Beltrán, 2/7/12

Freelance writer, interpreter, and translator. A former child court advocate, she's excited about starting MFA program in the fall. WordsEcho@aol.com

Diaz is behind theLibrotraficante movement, arguably the most creative of responses to the Tucson's School District's controversial decision.

Julie A. Carlson, 2/7/12

Freelance writer

The most appealing aspect of these stories is that the creative characters and landscapes leap off the page and most importantly, how these stories make us think.

Dr. Adam Lankford, 2/7/12

Criminal Justice Professor, Author of "Human Killing Machines: Systematic Indoctrination in Iran, Nazi Germany, Al Qaeda, and Abu Ghraib"

Ultimately, in Terrorists in Love, Ballen is bringing us closer to the real motives of terrorists, and thus closer to the truth. Even if that is uncomfortable, it's a step in the right direction.

Paul Wilkes, 2/7/12

Author, "The Art of Confession"

Call up in your mind a person who has helped you or with whom you feel a deep kinship. Wish them well, send beams of light and good wishes into their lives.

Sabina Murray, 2/6/12

Author, The Caprices

Literary novels like The Marriage Plot and Freedom that reach a broad a readership are rare cultural opportunities to create dialogue about the societies represented within, the people represented within, and the women represented within.

Alan Shayne, 2/7/12

Former President, Warner Bros. Television; co-author, 'Double Life: A Love Story from Broadway to Hollywood'

We have been so pleased with the positive response to Double Life. But it only takes a jolt from one of the hate-mongers to remind us that the battle has just begun.

Ilene Angel, 2/7/12

Author, 'In Search of George Stephanopoulos'; Hit Songwriter

I think people are inherently interesting, but the ability to cull the interesting tidbits into an entertaining read is a feat that many attempt, but few accomplish successfully. Ali Wentworth does that handily in Ali in Wonderland.

Bill Lucey, 2/7/12

Writer on politics and history

Tuesday marks the 200 year anniversary of the birth of one of the most superb and gifted writers of the Victorian period, Charles John Huffam Dickens, who was born in Portsmouth, England on February 7, 1812