Books & Authors

Posted By BNA_Daily on August 29, 2010

What do they read at Guantanamo?

From Guantanamo libraries to a writing camp in South Carolina, today’s news proves that reading is far from a thing of the past.  Just ask people attending the New Yorker Festival…

• Literature probably isn’t the first thing that comes to mind when you hear “Guantanamo Bay,” but recently Time magazine took a look at the detention center’s significant library.  The Guardian reports on article’s highlights, noting that Harry Potter books are among the most popular with inmates.  Popular American authors include Agatha Christie, John Grisham, and Dan Brown.

• Omnivoracious suggests the future of science fiction and fantasy is bright in its rundown of this summer’s Shared Worlds writing camp.  Shared Worlds is designed for teens who love writing, fiction, and SF, and it introduces them to published writers while encouraging their own creative efforts.  The camp’s existence proves that the Internet generation can also appreciate books made of paper.  The blog notes, “As you might expect, this group was composed of amazing readers—the kinds of readers that make the purported death of reading seem far, far away.”

• Warning: You might be tempted to move to New York after reading this blurb.  The lineup for the annual New Yorker Festival has been announced, and Jacket Copy has the highlights.  In addition to New Yorker contributors like Malcolm Gladwell, Tobias Wolff, and Joyce Carol Oates, the festival will feature musicians, actors, and other cultural icons.  If you live anywhere in the New York metropolitan area, you should probably go.

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Category: General Fiction | No Comments »
Tags: Daily Links, sci-fi

Posted By BNA_Daily on August 29, 2010

Mockingjay

Many fans of Suzanne Collins’ “Hunger Games” series have probably already finished Mockingjay, the series’ third and final installment that released on Tuesday, but we’ve collected some reviews anyway.  In the series’ third book, readers are taken to District 13, the underground city that houses the resistance movement.  With a war against the Capitol looming, heroine Katniss Everdeen becomes the symbol of the uprising.  However, she doesn’t know whom to trust, and she feels guilty about the destruction caused in the last games.  She must protect herself, her mom, and her sister, and eventually choose between two loves.  So far critics claim it’s just as complex and thrilling as the last two books, so get ready for some late nights reading.  See below for full reviews, but be warned - some contain spoilers.

“Mockingjay won’t make much sense if you haven’t read The Hunger Games (2008) and Catching Fire (2009), but Collins’ fans, grown-ups included, will race to the end.” - Bob Minzeshelmer, USA Today

“Fans will be happy to hear that Mockingjay is every bit as complex and imaginative as Hunger Games and Catching Fire.” - Nicole Sperling, Shelf Life

“Difficult as it would seem to top the ingenuity and action-packed, edge-of-your-seat storyline of ‘The Hunger Games,’[...] ‘Mockingjay’ leaves the government’s kid-on-kid hunting grounds and heads into the destitute reality of the districts” - Susan Carpenter, Los Angeles Times

“Mockingjay is an explosive and emotionally turbulent conclusion to the Hunger Games trilogy.” - The Compulsive Reader

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Category: young adult fiction | No Comments »
Tags: Mockingjay, reviews, young adult

Posted By BNA_Daily on August 29, 2010

What books did the Obamas buy from this Martha's Vineyard bookstore?

Young adults (and let’s face it, regular adults) will be thrilled with today’s teen lit news, and voyeurs everywhere will be happy to find out what the Obamas are reading in Martha’s Vineyard.  Enjoy!

• Suzanne Collins’ Mockingjay (the third book in the “Hunger Games” trilogy) hit stores yesterday, and it’s creating quite a buzz in the lit world.  The postapocalyptic series has proven to be addictive for teens and adults alike, which Omnivoracious makes clear in its special Mockingjay edition of the daily news (complete with video).  We’ll have the review roundup for you in this week’s “Critical Consensus.”

• Curious about what Barack Obama’s reading on this year’s trip to Martha’s Vineyard?  Here’s a hint: it has a patriotic title, and the rest of the country will be reading it when it releases next week.  Obama got the book early from independent bookstore Bunch of Grapes, where he also bought his daughters To Kill a Mockingbird and The Hunger Games.  For more info on the presidential reading agenda (or if you’re still not sure which book the “hint” is referring to), check out the article in the Guardian.

• Yesterday Shelf Life gave readers an exclusive sneak peek of Gayle Forman’s next book, Where She Went.  The novel is a sequel to the bestselling If I Stay, the tearjerker about teenager Mia’s decision to live or die after a car crash kills the rest of her family.  Where She Went releases in April, which gives you plenty of time to read If I Stay first.

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Category: Uncategorized, young adult fiction | No Comments »
Tags: Daily Links, Mockingjay

Posted By BNA_Daily on August 20, 2010

After teens read The Brave Escape of Edith Wharton, the fashion in this photo might be all the rage.

Today’s news will help you transition out of summer mode and teach you words you never needed to know.  Keep reading…

• It’s a sad fact that summer’s coming to an end, but NPR’s Cord Jefferson is here to help us transition.  In “Back to Reality: Nonfiction for the Summer’s End,” Jefferson recommends five nonfiction books to ease you out of beach-read mode.  According to him, “the ideas and lessons you’ll take from them will stick with you like a good meal, perfect for when the weather cools and you fall back to Earth.”

• Along the same lines, the New York Times reviews some smart beach reading for teens. The Brave Escape of Edith Wharton by Connie Nordhielm Wooldridge is a biography meant to inspire the young adult audience.  Released last week, the book explains how Wharton rebelled against wealthy New York society to become a Pulitzer prize-winning author.  Reviewer Katie Roiphe writes, “I like to picture girls lying on the beach reading this appealing book and receiving its secret message: stop i-chatting and posting on people’s walls — it’s time to write your first novel!”

• And just for fun, check out the Guardian’s “Weird words quiz.”  Using words from the book I Never Knew There Was a Word for It, the quiz gives a definition and asks you to match it to the correct word.  One example: “Fortune-telling by watching cheese coagulate.”

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Category: Uncategorized | No Comments »
Tags: Daily Links, nonfiction

Posted By BNA_Daily on August 20, 2010

Freedom by Jonathan Franzen

Jonathan Franzen’s Freedom–that book everyone keeps talking about–doesn’t come out until August 31st, but the reviews are already piling up.  So far, the consensus seems to be that if you liked Franzen’s 2001 novel The Corrections, you’ll love Freedom.  As Sam Anderson explains in New York magazine, “Freedom is a close cousin to The Corrections: a social-realist epic about a depressive, entropic midwestern family being swallowed and digested by the insatiable anaconda of modernity.”  But even if you didn’t love The Corrections, you may find yourself connecting to the characters in Freedom.  Several critics note that Franzen seems to have more compassion toward Freedom’s characters, which allows the reader to feel closer to the novel’s central conflicts.  But the critics also note flaws, such as the section narrated by Patty Berglund (the book’s central female character) in a voice that sounds just like Franzen, or the sense of disdain that surrounds many observations.  It’s impossible to summarize everything the critics have to say in a few sentences, so go ahead and link to the full reviews below.

“Few modern novelists rival Franzen in that primal skill of creating life, of tricking us into believing that a text-generated set of neural patterns, a purely abstract mind-event, is in fact a tangible human being that we can love, pity, hate, admire, and possibly even run into someday at the grocery store.” - Sam Anderson, New York

“[D]espite the brilliance, or maybe even because of it, I found the novel quite unappealing, maybe because every line, every insight, seems covered with a light film of disdain.” - Alan Cheuse, NPR

“Mr. Franzen has written his most deeply felt novel yet — a novel that turns out to be both a compelling biography of a dysfunctional family and an indelible portrait of our times.” - Michiko Kakutani, New York Times

“It’s not that Franzen’s prose makes other writers seem untalented; it’s that he makes them seem so lazy, so irrelevant, so lacking in the kind of chutzpah we once expected from our best authors.” - Benjamin Alsup, Esquire

“the first question facing Franzen’s feverishly awaited follow-up is whether it can find its own voice in its predecessor’s shadow. In short: yes, it does, and in a big way.” - Publishers Weekly (starred review)

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Category: General Fiction | No Comments »
Tags: novels, reviews

Posted By BNA_Daily on August 20, 2010

Want new fiction from Hilary Mantel? Visit the Guardian.

In today’s news, discover original (and free!) short stories from prominent authors, catch up on your Stieg Larsson gossip, and join a Jonathan Franzen book club.  Enjoy!

• It’s time for the Guardian’s “Summer short story special,” an online fiction treat that features short stories from Hilary Mantel, David Mitchell, Barbara Trapido, Roddy Doyle, Tea Obreht, and Guardian short story contest winners.  The stories are free and waiting for you, so go ahead and read one!

• Move over Eat Pray Love–Stieg Larsson’s The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo is also becoming a big budget American movie.  Earlier this week, Daniel Craig (James Bond!) and relative newcomer Rooney Mara signed on to play the leads. Jacket Copy has more on what to expect from the film version of Larsson’s trilogy.

• Jonathan Franzen’s new novel, Freedom, releases August 31st, and there’s a serious risk of being deafened by the buzz before then.  But if you really can’t get enough of Franzen, check out the Jonathan Franzen book club on the Rumpus. Hosted by critically acclaimed author Stephen Elliott, the club gives readers a chance to discuss one of the year’s most anticipated books (and interact with Franzen in an online chat). Visit the Rumpus for details on how to join.

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Category: Uncategorized | No Comments »
Tags: Daily Links, shory story

Posted By BNA_Daily on August 20, 2010

Suzanne Collins' Mockingjay releases August 24th

It’s Friday the 13th, but today’s news is all good. Check out a hilarious essay about first-time publication anxiety, an interview with Suzanne Collins, and a Time cover that supports literature in America.

• On The Millions blog, first-time novelist Rosecrans Baldwin shares his pre-publication fears via a hilarious diary dating back to March. His novel You Lost Me There released Thursday, an event Baldwin compares to “a meteor landing in the backyard”–unbelievable, exciting, and terrifying.  The essay gives the everyday reader a glimpse of the neuroses and anxieties that go into every great novel.

• With Mockingjay, the third book in the “Hunger Games” series, releasing August 24th, Suzanne Collins is the author of the moment. Shelf Life interviews Collins (whose novels are addictive to teens and adults alike) and asks her questions like, “What book would you use to swat a fly?”  Her answers give a glimpse into the author’s personality and the influences behind her bestselling series.

• Brace yourself–a novelist (and not a celebrity-turned-writer novelist) is about to appear on the cover of Time magazine.  With his next book Freedom hitting stores later this month, Jonathan Franzen will grace the cover of an upcoming issue, accompanied by the headline “Great American Novelist.” The last time a novelist appeared on the Time cover was Stephen King in 2000–maybe the American novel isn’t dead, after all.  Jacket Copy has more.

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Category: General Fiction, Uncategorized | No Comments »
Tags: Daily Links

Posted By BNA_Daily on August 12, 2010

My Hollywood

Mona Simpson, author of Anywhere but Here (1986) and PEN/Faulkner Award-nominated Off Keck Road (2000), illuminates the tensions of modern motherhood in her latest novel My Hollywood. The novel revolves around Claire, a well-to-do if slightly dull wife and mother, and Lola, Claire’s Filipina nanny. Lola cares for Claire’s baby, William, while Claire struggles to grow her career as a composer and cope with a husband who rarely makes it home for dinner.  The plot may not be unique–if anything, our literary world may be experiencing a glut of novels dissecting suburban malaise–but the voice of Lola is.  Unlike other nanny/mommy novels, both the nanny and the mother in My Hollywood are sympathetic characters whose points of view alternate to tell the story.  Still, for some critics, Simpson’s new techniques didn’t make up for tired themes and characters we’ve seen before.  While not as enticing as Simpson’s previous novels, My Hollywood presents subtle tensions that many readers will relate to.

“It takes a very subtle, sophisticated and confident writer to make our most common problems come off as unique on the page as they feel at 3 in the morning.” - Susan Salter Reynolds, Los Angeles Times

“Subtly, almost dispassionately, Simpson works her habitual magic, showing how love travels, ownerless and unbidden, among children who need adults, and adults who need children.” - Liesl Schillinger, New York Times

“Unfortunately, Claire’s new mother dilemmas are as narrow and familiar as the ones chronicled daily on the message boards of urbanbaby.com and weekly in the New York Times Sunday styles section.” - Hanna Rosin, Slate

“Simpson’s penchant for undisciplined narrative, which made her other books so enjoyable, is over the top.” - Abby Frucht, Powell’s Books

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Category: General Fiction | No Comments »
Tags: reviews

Posted By BNA_Daily on August 12, 2010

Tony Judt, 1948 - 2010

Today’s news honors historian and author Tony Judt, taps into a debate about today’s most overrated writers, and glimpses the budget crises affecting libraries around the country.

• Tony Judt, scholar, history professor, and author of Postwar, died Friday at the age of 62 from Lou Gehrig’s disease. Judt was regarded as one of today’s great political writers, and his critically-acclaimed Postwar, published in 2005, wove together the major events in postwar Europe into an engaging narrative.  Judt is remembered in the Guardian, Los Angeles Times, New York Times, and Omnivoracious.

• In a recent Huffington Post article, author and poet Anis Shivani lists the writers he believes are “The 15 Most Overrated Contemporary American Writers.”  Literary golden boys like Michael Chabon and Jonathan Safran Foer make the list, as do 13 other big names.  Shivani’s list is amusing, if a bit vitriolic, and it’s causing quite a buzz in the blog world.  The Guardian gives its take on the list, and PWxyz responds by calling attention to today’s most underrated writers.

• Among severe budget cuts, the library system in Camden, New Jersey, announced last week that it planned to close all three of its branches.  The closures would have severely affected the population, especially those that rely on the library internet to apply for jobs, but now the branches may be saved by joining with the county system.  Jacket Copy has more on the Camden situation and library budget cuts nationwide.

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Category: Uncategorized | No Comments »
Tags: Daily Links, in memoriam, library

Posted By BNA_Daily on August 9, 2010

Gay rights, chick lit, and space travel–in today’s news, any topic goes.  Enjoy!

Jennifer Weiner

• In honor of last week’s breakthrough gay rights ruling in California, Jacket Copy celebrates twenty works of literature “that have provided a richer understanding of the joys and challenges particular to gay life.”  From Annie Proulx to William S. Burroughs, the list includes breakthrough fiction and nonfiction that will open readers’ eyes.

• Chick lit gets a lot of criticism, but in today’s news, two authors take a stand to defend the genre.  In the LA Times, Jennifer Weiner discusses why she’s proud to be the “queen of chick lit,” noting, “Women are far and away the bigger consumers of fiction than men, but men are still far and away the more reviewed, the more critically esteemed, the more respected.  That can get frustrating.”  In the Guardian, author Michele Gorman points out the strong writing present in this oft-overlooked genre.  Both articles remind us that sexism is still alive and well in literary criticism.

• And speaking of women authors, Mary Roach (the hilarious and perhaps too curious author of Stiff and Boink) has another nonfiction book coming out.  Packing for Mars is about space travel and all the questions you never thought to ask.  Omnivoracious calls it, “a book for grownups who still secretly dream of being astronauts.”

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Category: Uncategorized | No Comments »
Tags: chick lit, Daily Links