The Reading Season is Heating Up

The LA Times tells us that The Reading Season is Heating Up.

Check out its picks for summer reading in 9 categories:

• Fiction and Poetry
• Page Turners
• Children
• Travel and Outdoors
• Current Events
• Quirky
• Bios
• History
• Audio Books

Read Outside Your Comfort Zone

Do you ever read outside your comfort zone?

I was reminded of that today when I read an article in The Guardian where science fiction writers choose their favorite titles.

I typically don't read science fiction, yet a few of my favorite books have been science fiction — the Dune series by Frank Herbert and Sparrow by Mary Doria Russell come to mind.

I just might challenge myself and have an experience from another world.

Pulitzer Prize Winner: A Visit from the Goon Squad

The 2011 Pulitzer Prizes were announced today. And, the fiction winner, A Visit from the Goon Squad by Jennifer Egan, is a book that I've actually read. That rarely happens!

And, unlike the last Pulitzer Prize winner, Tinkers by Paul Harding, it is a book that I can actually recommend reading.

A Visit from the Goon Squad is, without a doubt, one of the most imaginative books that I've ever read.

A collection of short, but linked, stories, it shares the stories of about 13 or so characters over a period of 40 years. It bounces around those years, entirely out of order, so that you see little pieces of the overarching narrative as it is revealed through the eyes of a different character in each chapter.

For a great review of the book, check out The New York Times.

And, let me know what you think!

Introducing the 2010 Megalist: All the Best Books of the Year in One Spreadsheet

Wow!

If you are looking for a good book to read, check out the megalists posted and created by Williamsburg Regional Library. It lists in three big spreadsheets all the best books of the year from 2010, 2009 and 2008.

It even classifies them by popular genres - general fiction, mysteries, YA Fiction, non-fiction, etc.

It's fun and very complete!

Introducing the 2010 Megalist: All the Best Books of the Year in One Spreadsheet

NYT Notable Books

In case you missed it, the New York Times listed its 100 notable books for 2010 yesterday.

I can only report that I've read three books on the list, each of which I enjoyed thoroughly:

• The Great House by Nicole Krauss


• The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest by Stieg Larsson


• One Day by David Nicholls

The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest is, of course, the conclusion to Larsson's Millennium Trilogy. It was a wonderful conclusion to the series.

I'm just now finishing The Great House, and I highly recommend it as an audio book. It is densely written, but really comes alive when read aloud by the expert narrators in the audio version. Reader beware: it's a book about loss...so perhaps it's not for people looking for a lighter read.

Finally, One Day is fun romance that follows a man and a woman on the same day each year over the course of their lives.

Happy reading!

Best Books of 2010: Library Journal's Top Ten

Best Books lists of 2010 are starting to be released. It's always fun to see what you've read, what you've missed, and what you can't believe made the list.

Library Journal has named its 10 best books:

• American Terroir by Rowan Jacobsen
  
• By Nightfall by Michael Cunningham
  
• Freedom by Jonathan Franzen
  
• How To Live, Or, a Life of Montaigne in One Question and Twenty Attempts at an Answer by Sarah Bakewell
  
• The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot
  
• The Passage by Justin Cronin
  
• Room by Emma Donoghue
  
• The Tiger by John Vaillant
  
• The Warmth of Other Suns: The Epic Story of America's Great Migration by Isabel Wilkerson
  
• Walker Evans Decade by Decade text by James Crump (Hatje Cantz)

I've only read The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks, which I enjoyed a great deal. I tried listening to The Passage, and couldn't make it past the first or second CD.

Are any of these books that you enjoyed?

Stieg Larsson to Henning Mankell

If you are a fan of Stieg Larsson's Millennium trilogy ("The Girl who..."), you might want to try Henning Mankell's Inspector Kurt Wallender mystery series.

While Mankell's books do not deal crusading journalists, computer hackers or corrupt national agencies and corporations, his books are based in contemporary Sweden, where Inspector Kurt Wallender tries to make sense out of the changes he sees in Swedish society over his long police career: What's happening in Sweden that causes senseless, violent crime to occur? How does this affect Wallender as his career advances?

To get a quick taste of whether or not you will enjoy Mankell's dark fictional world, check out the PBS Mystery series starting October 3.

Kenneth Branagh plays Kurt Wallender in the first Kurt Wallender mystery, Faceless Killers. This is followed by two more Wallender mysteries: The Man Who Smiled and The Fifth Woman.

They are dense, psychologically taut mysteries, but if you liked Larsson, you just may love Mankell too. I do!

Reading Tip: While you don't have to read the series in strict order, it does help if you start with the early books first. (Although I recommend saving the very first book, The Pyramid, a collection of short stories that Mankell published after he 'completed' the Wallender series, until much later. It's really for Wallender addicts. For more information, visit the great Inspector Wallender web site at http://www.inspector-wallander.org. There's a great timeline and series reading guide available.

Olive Kitteridge to HBO

I always get a little excited when I see that one of my favorite books is making the move to film. Of course, it's always excitement tinged with a dose of experience, because most good books don't turn into good films.

However, I am excited without any reservations that actress and producer Frances McDormand, is developing a series adaptation of Elizabeth Strout's 2009 Pulitzer Prize-winning novel Olive Kitteridge at HBO.

You can read the exclusive article about this and her other projects (including film adaptations of mystery writer Laura Lippman's books) at Deadline New York.

McDormand will play the title character, and I can't imagine a better actress for this role.

Let's hope it actually makes it to the screen!

Stieg Larsson - About the Author

One of the hottest books this summer is The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest. It's the third novel in the late Stieg Larsson's Millennium Trilogy.

I've read the first two in the trilogy (The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo and The Girl Who Played with Fire) and am really looking forward to reading the final one. (Yes, even library directors have to wait on the request list!)

Larsson, whose books were published posthumously, is quite a man of mystery. Articles have been written widely, and even his death has been followed by controversy about his estate.

This past Monday, The Daily Mail, published an article about Stieg Larsson. It is written by Kurdo Baski, a friend of Larsson's and the author of a forthcoming biography of him. Baski provides some possible insight into the origins of his books.

You can find information can be found at http://www.stieglarsson.com/.

Tale of Two Pulitzers

Until now, whenever I have read a Pultizer Prize winning book, I have really liked the book a lot, regardless of its genre.

For example, I'm not a big lover of short stories, but I really enjoyed Jhumpa Lahiri's Interpreter of Maladies, a Pulitzer Prize winner in 2000. I can say the same for Elizabeth Stout's collection of short stories entitled Olive Kitteridge that won in 2008.

However, last week when I finished the 2008 Pulitzer Prize winner, The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao by Junot Díaz, I was surprised to say that I would have difficulty recommending it to just about anyone I know.

I certainly learned about the Dominican Republic, its culture, and people, but it was a dark, violent and misogynistic story.

I may have the opportunity to hear the author, Junot Díaz, speak in Washington DC later this month. So, perhaps my opinion will change. But right now you can count me as mystified as to why this book won the Pulitzer Prize in 2008.

Largehearted Boy - Best Books & Music

I recently discovered a new blog Largehearted Boy. Primarily a music blog that features daily free (and legal) music downloads, it also includes news about music, literature, and pop culture.

What's neat is he seems to have links to every best 2009 book or best 2009 music list out there. Plus, since this is the close of a decade in publishing (2000-2009), he also links to best books and best music of the decade.

Subscribe to his feed, or bookmark it and check it out regularly. It's AMAZING how many lists are out there, and how much of this stuff I've never read (or listened to).

Best Books of Millennium?

I discovered a new blog today, The Millions. It's been around since 2003 and covers books, arts and culture.

What brought it to my attention was a survey they are doing that asks "What are the best fiction books of the millennium, so far?".

They have a top 20 list from professional writers and a list from readers of The Millions.

Well naturally, I compared what would be my own picks and pans. And, I couldn't believe what appeared at the top of the list: Jonathan Franzen's The Corrections. What is it about this book that appeals to people? I thought it was absolutely awful. Does it only appeal to New Yorkers? (That's my suspicion, anyway.) Can someone enlighten me?

Anyway, I liked some of the other picks, most notably:

• #20:Gilead by Marilynne Robinson
• #16:Middlesex by Jeffrey Eugenides
• #14:Atonement by Ian McEwan

However I was amazed at how many I haven't read. But, more importantly, what books were missed? One that I'd suggest is:

• Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close by Jonathan Safran Foer
  

Little House on the Prairie

When I was a kid perhaps one of my favorite series of books was Laura Ingalls Wilder "Little House" books.

My fascination with Wilder's life continues as an adult. I've read a couple of books about her and they were pretty interesting.

Now, in this week's New Yorker, there is a fascinating article about Laura and her daughter Rose Wilder Lane.

Written by Judith Thurman, she recounts some of the key moments in the two women's lives and mentions a number of notable biographies of the family.

If you are a Little House fan, it's worth checking out.

Books that Make You Feel Happy

How many times have you or your book club read a wonderful book, but found yourself really depressed afterwards?

Come on, just think of all the titles and authors whose works you love, but just depress the heck out of you: Ian McEwan, Toni Morrison, The Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold, Cormac McCarthy are just a few that come to my mind.

Well here is a good idea whose time has come in our depressing economic times.

Marianne Goss has started a blog — Positively Good Reads whose sole purpose is to identify really good books that make her feel happy!

Check it out...I plan to do so this weekend!

10 Most Overrated Novels

How many times have you read a book review and can't wait to read the book. But, when you finally get it, the book just isn't as good as the reviewer said it was?

It's happened to me, and I'm sure it has happened to you.

As I get older, I think it happens a little less, but occasionally, I'm caught up in the media's manufactured book frenzy. The most recent one that comes to mind was The Corrections by Jonathan Franzen. It was reviewed as the great American novel and even won a prize, The National Book Award. But for the life of me, I couldn't figure out why everyone enjoyed it...I finally concluded it must be a New York City thing.

Well, on Thursday, I came across a list of The 10 Most Overrated Novels:

1. Lord of the Rings trilogy (Read it in high school and loved it.)
   
2. Passage to India (I love E.M. Forster)
   
3. White Noise and Underworld (Tried both of these, and couldn't read them)
   
4. Atlas Shrugged (Tried this and found it dull.)
   
5. One Hundred Years of Solitude (Tried this, and couldn't make my way through it.)
6. The DaVinci Code (Read it, thought it was a real page turner, but I don't think anyone thinks it's great fiction...so why is it on this list?)
   
7. The Confederacy of Dunces (Tried this too, and couldn't make my way through it.)
8. The Great Gatsby (Read it in high school and loved it.)
9. Wuthering Heights (Read it in high school and loved it.)
10. Emma (Like it, but doesn't match Pride and Prejudice by a long shot)
    

What do YOU think? The list certainly is a conversation starter....And, let me know if you liked The Corrections by Jonathan Franzen!

Multiplying Like Rabbits: Best Book Lists for 2008

Best book lists for 2008 are multiplying like rabbits now.

I now have 20 best book links posted on the right hand side of my blog -- everything from fiction, non-fiction, children's books, and a few genre-specific, like Business Week's Best Business Books.

The latest that I added today was from Salon. I like how they characterize their picks: "the 10 most pleasurable fiction and nonfiction reading experiences of the year."

So many of these lists seem to try and impress you with books that aren't fun to read...books that are actually more like work to slog through. The books on Salon's list nearly all seem to be things that I'd like to make time to read.

And, once again, I'm a little sad about just how few of these titles I've read.

Need Holiday Shopping Help? 10 Lists for 2008

Need a little holiday shopping help? Or, just want to find a good book to read?

Well, the Best Books lists are popping up everywhere. I've listed 10 on my blog (right hand side navigation bar).

My favorites that have the most intriguing titles thus far are from Janet Maslin and Michiko Kakutani of The New York Times.

I'll be adding more as I learn of them.

What are your favorite books of 2008?

Bad Money -- What's Happening to Our Economy

If you are like me and need some insight into what is happening to the nation's economy, a good book to read is Bad Money: Reckless Finance, Failed Politics, and the Global Crisis of American Capitalism by Kevin Phillips.

The book has gotten great reviews by people who know more about the economy than I do. And, while I must confess that I don't understand all of it, what I do understand is providing me with some much needed background and insight into what we are facing as a nation — and, it's not pretty.

Good Storytelling: The Thirteenth Tale by Diane Setterfield

Late last night, I finished reading Diane Setterfield's The Thirteenth Tale.

The book probably falls under the heading 'gothic mystery'. But don't be turned off by that.

I'm usually not a fan of this genre; but good writing is good writing whatever the category, and there is plenty to be found here.

As for a plot summary, it's hard to summarize in just a few sentences. The library system's online catalog says it is "a compelling emotional mystery about family secrets and the magic of books and storytelling. A dying writer bids a young bookshop assistant to write her biography."

That's a start, but it doesn't really indicate the book's rich narrative, its story-within-a-story qualities, and its careful plotting.

If you are a fan of classics like Jane Eyre, Rebecca and Wuthering Heights, you will really enjoy this book. It's full of secrets, family madness, ghosts, a number of surprising twists and just plain hard-to-put-down storytelling.

It's definitely a recommended read and very worthy of book club consideration.

Worth Not Sleeping: The Grace That Keeps This World

This morning I woke up a little before 2 am, unable to sleep.

Finally, by 3, I decided to give up trying and went downstairs to finish the One Book, One Community selection for this year: The Grace That Keeps This World by Tom Bailey.

What a wonderful way to spend my time! In addition to being well-written, the book is very moving and thought provoking.

I really enjoyed getting to know the Hazen family and their Adirondack neighbors. The story slowly unfolds over the span of about a week, following Gary Hazen, his wife Susan and his two adult sons as they prepare for the opening of deer hunting season.

It's a story about love, loss and redemption. You can't get much better than that!

The author, Tom Bailey, will be speaking at a number of Cumberland County libraries this October:

• Saturday, October 11, 2 pm - Bosler Library, Carlisle
• Sunday, October 12, 2 pm - Shippensburg Public Library
• Tuesday, October 14, 10:30 am - New Cumberland Public Library
• Wednesday, October 29, 7 pm - Simpson Public Library, Mechanicsburg

I've heard him talk about his writing and this is a FREE program that you won't want to miss!