And the Winner of the Booker Prize is...

The Sense of an Ending by Julian Barnes.  I'll be reviewing this selection shortly. 

National Book Award Shortlists

The National Book Award shortlist has been released.  Here is the fiction list.

Andrew Krivak, The Sojourn
(Bellevue Literary Press)

Téa Obreht, The Tiger's Wife
(Random House)

Julie Otsuka, The Buddha in the Attic
(Alfred A. Knopf, an imprint of Random House)

Edith Pearlman, Binocular Vision
(Lookout Books, an imprint of the Department of Creative Writing at the University of North Carolina Wilmington)

Jesmyn Ward, Salvage the Bones
(Bloomsbury USA)

To see the other lists for nonfiction, poetry and young people's fiction go to the webpage.

Congratulations, Lev

Fox Entertainment has picked up The Magicians as a TV series beginning as early as next fall. If you haven't read it or Lev's newest book The Magician King, start now. They are both a lot of fun.

A Few Items of Interest

The Man Booker Shortlist - I've been negligent for not mentioning the titles on the fiction shortlist.  The six books, selected from the longlist of 13, are:

The Sense of an Ending by Julian Barnes

Jamrach’s Menagerie by Carol Birch

The Sisters Brothers by Patrick deWitt

 Half Blood Blues by Esi Edugyan

*Pigeon English by Stephen Kelman

*Snowdrops by A. D. Miller

*first novels

I have not read any of these titles yet.  If you have, please let me know what you think.  A few won't be available in the US until January 2012.  Something to look forward to in the new year.

Here's a link to “A Guide to Navigating NPR’s Top 100 Science Fiction and Fantasy Books.”  My sources tell me this chart could be greatly enhanced with a little work.  Any takers?

And finally, on one of my favorite websites The Millions, Very Bad Things: A Pessimistic Reading List by Emily St. John Mandel.  We could make a lot of additions to this list, too.

The Anguish of Growing Up

We The Animals by Justin Torres is a novel that reads like a family photo album.  Three brothers and their parents struggle with each other and outside influences that cause strife and lead to surprising discoveries.  This is Mr. Torres first novel.  It's a scant 144 pages but those pages are packed with intense emotions, disturbing situations and small acts of love.  The length is perfect for capturing the chaos that is this family.

What happens when you cross The Princess Bride with Where The Wild Things Are?

In a word, Wildwood by Colin Meloy with illustrations by Carson Ellis.  If you are a book person (by that I mean wanting the physical object) not a Kindle user, you will love this book.  It's beautiful.  Everything about it from the heft of the book itself to the way the pages feel under your fingers are delightful tactile experiences.  And then there are the illustrations and color plates.  I mean, when have we had a book published recently that feels so good?  It's a joy to sit down to read this book.


And then there's the story.  A murder of crows kidnaps Prue McKeel's baby brother from the park while he is under Prue's care.  Wild adventures ensue as Prue and her friend Curtis go into the Impassible Wilderness outside of their Porland, OR neighborhood to rescue the child. Meloy creates a wonderful alternate world where animals and humans talk to and negotiate with one another.  While reading this treasure I couldn't help but think what a great read aloud bedtime story this would be for the brave at heart.  


The subtitle of the book is The Wildwood Chronicles, Book I.  I will be anxiously awaiting Book II.  

Lev Grossman reading

Just off winning the Campbell Award for Science Fiction's best new writer during the Hugo Awards ceremony recently, Lev Grossman took time to sign books and chat with fans last night at Flyleaf Books. Thanks to those who came to hear Lev read from The Magician King and answer readers' questions. It was a wonderful event and a great turn out.