No, this isn't made by Apple
Chick lit, pink e-readers, and Islam – is there anything we don’t cover? See below for the latest on Jennifer Weiner, the Kindle’s pretty rival, Scott Westerfeld, and powerful nonfiction.
- In a review of Jennifer Weiner’s latest novel Best Friends Forever, NPR’s Maureen Corrigan defends the chick lit genre, saying, “If there are any doubts that a work of mere chick lit can be deeply revelatory, Best Friends Forever should banish them.” Corrigan concedes that the book’s title is a little on the lame side, but she praises the book’s “tough emotional wisdom” and wants it to get the respect it deserves. After all, “chick lit” is a genre, not an insult.
- Kindle should brace itself for a better-dressed rival arriving later this month, the new Sony Reader Pocket Edition. This e-reader is smaller and sleeker than the Kindle, though it must be hooked up to a computer to download books and has a lower storage capacity (“only” 350 books at a time). But for those of you who don’t need to read 351 books at once, the e-reader might make sense, especially since it costs $199 to the Kindle’s $299. Oh, and it also comes in pink. Check out Paper Cuts for more information and commentary.
- On the nonfiction front, Christopher Caldwell’s Reflections on the Revolution in Europe: Immigration, Islam, and the West is out this week, exploring how immigration and Islam have changed Europe over the last century. According to professor Fouad Ajami in his New York Times review, the book “gives this subject its most sustained and thoughtful treatment to date.” Ajami says, “It is neither wholly pretty, nor banal, this new tale of Islam in the West,” and he praises Caldwell for telling the tale with fairness and insight.
- Omnivoracious has this week’s YA update, including a video of Scott Westerfeld discussing his upcoming novel Leviathan and free downloads of his bestselling Uglies. There is also a discussion of Hannah Friedman’s optimistically titled memoir, Everything Sucks: Losing My Mind and Finding Myself in a High School Quest for Cool. Maybe you should play up the “finding myself” angle to teens heading back to school…
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{ 1 comment… read it below or add one }
Everything Sucks rocked my socks off. I was really expecting to hate a book about a whiny white girl, but this book was everything I want in a great YA read- playful yet witty, fun yet substantive. I already bought another two copies for my friends leaving for college this fall- it’s a beautifully written book with a lot of heart and a lot of humor. In short, Everything Sucks Rules!!