Just don't put lipstick on the pig
Today we have book recommendations for fans of short stories, the shortlist for the Wodehouse prize, and reviews of several May releases. There’s also an interesting op-ed piece concerning the choice between Jesus and Dan Brown – you might find yourself asking, “WWDBD?”
- Fans of short stories don’t have as many choices when it comes to book as, say, the vampire lovers we mentioned yesterday, but Omnivoracious has highlighted four recent story collections worth looking at. If the pages are wearing thin on your Alice Munro, Amy Hempel, or Chekhov collections, it might be time to discover these celebrated authors.
- Do you find the Booker, Costa, and National Book Awards a little stuffy? Then perhaps the Wodehouse prize for comic fiction is for you. The short list for the prize was announced this week, with nominees including former winner Christopher Brookmyre and Booker-shortlisted, debut author Steve Toltz. The winner will receive champagne, the complete PG Wodehouse collection, and a spotted pig named after his novel. The prize itself might be comic, but the novels and novellas being considered are serious pieces of (hilarious) literature. For the complete list of shortlisted titles and descriptions of each, see the Guardian online.
- Jesus or Dan Brown? According to NY Times columnist Ross Douthat, readers must make a choice. Douthat compares Brown to Ekhart Tolle and Deepak Chopra, claiming that he is pitching his unique brand of spirituality that isn’t reconcilable with the fundamentals of Christianity. He also claims that the spirituality angle is what makes Dan Brown’s books so wildly popular (combined with the page-turning suspense, of course).
- For those of us who don’t have time to read the lengthy Sunday book review, the NY Times offers up some bite-sized reviews of newly released books. The books reviewed were released in May, but they are more “April showers” than “May flowers” with titles like Dark Places and The Little Stranger. Maybe the sun will come out in June?
