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Book Nook provides readers with insights into the world of books. Vick Mickunas takes you into the center of the publishing world with the latest book buzz, book reviews, and exclusive chats with authors..Home > Blogs > Book Nook > Archives > 2010 > February
February 2010
In celebration of Black History Month
“The Collected Novels of Paul Laurence Dunbar” Edited by Herbert Woodward Martin, Ronald Primeau and Gene Andrew Jarrett (Ohio University Press, 392 pages, $55).
This is the last day of Black History Month. Today I’m looking back at some lesser known works by the greatest poet to ever come out of Dayton, Paul Laurence Dunbar.
In June 1896, Dunbar’s poetry first got noticed by a wider audience. A prominent critic gave Dunbar’s second collection of poetry a rave review in Harper’s magazine.
Dunbar was in his early 20s when he became America’s best known black poet. He only lived for another 10 years but during that time, Dunbar produced a tremendous volume of poetry and short stories. He also wrote four novels.
These novels tend to be somewhat obscured by the fact that Dunbar is mostly remembered as a fine poet. Had he lived longer perhaps he might have been better remembered as a novelist as well. He was just getting started with his novels.
Ohio University Press recently issued a collection of the Dunbar novels together for the first time in one volume. Herb Martin, the University of Dayton’s poet in residence, was one of the editors of this collection. If you have had the pleasure of hearing one of Martin’s recitations, then you might know the magic Dunbar wrought with his poetry.
This collection shows that he was on his way to becoming a great novelist when he died in 1906. The novels were written when Dunbar was in his 20s. The first three —“The Uncalled,” “The Love of Landry,” and “The Fanatics” — reveal an artist learning the novelistic ropes.
His last novel was “The Sport of the Gods.” This story marks a surging mastery of form and style when compared to the earlier works. It is a dark tale about injustice and broken lives. Dunbar tells it with conviction and realism.
As “The Sport of the Gods” begins, a southern city has been slowly recovering from the ravages of the Civil War that ended twenty years before. And for 20 years, the former slave Berry Hamilton has been the trusted butler for the family of Maurice Oakley, a former slave owner. One day, a large sum of money vanishes and the butler falls under suspicion. Twenty years of trust cannot prevent a great injustice. Berry ends up in prison.
His wife, son and daughter depart for New York and new lives. Dunbar maps out this conjoined devastation for both families. There is no redemption to be found. He depicts how one injustice has ruined them all.
Dunbar forges some clanking lines for a bombastic racist who declares that “the North thought they were doing a great thing when they come down here and freed all the slaves …but I maintain that they were all wrong, now, in turning these people loose upon the country the way they did, without knowledge of what the first principle of liberty was. The natural result is that these people are irresponsible.”
Today we remember Paul Laurence Dunbar-novelist.
Vick Mickunas
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TweetIs the Internet rotting our minds?
The mail just arrived. There were the usual things; my bank statement, a magazine, some press releases, and some books.
One book really caught my eye. It is an advance copy of The Hollows - What the Internet is Doing to Our Brains (W.W. Norton) by Nicholas Carr. The book comes out in June. I can’t wait to read it.
The press release states that “according to a new study by the Kaiser Family Foundation, children between the ages of 8 and 18 spend roughly eight hours a day - not counting classroom time - using a smart phone, computer, television, or other electronic device. If you factor in another two hours spent talking or texting on a cell phone, then the average kid in America spends most of his or her time engaged with some form of technology, often using more than one feature simultaneously, e.g. surfing the Internet while chatting on the phone, or watching TV and sending text messages.”
Can this be good? Apparently the author has his doubts. The press release goes on to say that the author “explains how the Internet is re-routing our neural pathways, replacing the subtle mind of the book reader with the distracted mind of the screen watcher. While the jury is still out on how extensively this preoccupation with new media is likely to affect the way that our brains develop and function, there is mounting evidence that substantive changes can occur over time, and Carr believes that they may not be for the better.”
Wow! That certainly helps me to understand why so many people claim they never read any books. It also explains the attraction of eBook reading devices for people who are wired to be using technology constantly. I believe that reading an actual physical book is an experience that is completely different from reading the same text on a Kindle or a cell phone. The differences are subtle but they do exist.
I think I’ll stick with my old fashioned books. I have a cell phone but I hate using it. This computer I’m using right now is essential but I don’t like all the time it consumes. I tune out TV 99% of the time. That works for me.
What do you think? Is the Internet rotting our minds?
Vick Mickunas
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TweetA sure sign of spring: the first baseball book
Surveying this wintry landscape and spring seems so far away. I just talked to a friend in New York. They got slammed by another big snowstorm last night.
Before all this snow covered the ground I had snowdrops getting ready to bloom in my yard. They are still down there somewhere. Waiting. Waiting.
But spring can’t be too far away. Baseball’s spring training is underway in Florida and Arizona. Every team still has a perfect record. No losses.
And the one sure sign for me; the first baseball book just arrived in the mail: The Baseball Codes-Beanballs, Sign Stealing, & Bench-Clearing Brawls:the Unwritten Rules of America’s Pastime (Pantheon) by Jason Turbow with Michael Duca.
Ah, baseball. I can’t wait until spring.
Vick Mickunas
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TweetiPad-good OR bad for newspapers…?
The iPad has been heralded as the next big innovation from Apple. It will be an eBook reader and a gaming device. It will also be another mode for reading periodicals, newspapers and magazines. And lots more…
Will the iPad be beneficial to the lagging fortunes of the newspaper industry? We won’t know until the product is actually in the marketplace and some trends have been established.
Meanwhile the prognosticators are prognosticating. Here’s more-click HERE:
Vick Mickunas
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TweetScrabble words…
Every day I set aside a little bit of time to play Scrabble on-line with other players all around the world. OK, It’s not really Scrabble, but close enough. I play a game called Lexulous.
I keep a book called Scrabble Words close at hand just in case I need a little help. I’m learning new words every day and hopefully, this distraction is serving to keep my mind sharp.
I didn’t realize just how fabulous this book is until just the other day. I play a version of Lexulous which uses the SOWPODS dictionary. These are words with a certain Anglocentric flavor. I play a lot of people in England, Scotland, Wales, Australia, New Zealand, and South Africa. I just realized that this book which was given to me as a Christmas gift is actually British. It cost ten pounds!
I love it.
Vick Mickunas
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TweetThose ticked off Kindle users…
Today is the official publication date for Black Magic Sanction, Kim Harrison’s latest installment in her “Hollows” series of paranormal thrillers set in Cincinnati.
It is the publication date unless you wanted to read it right now on your Amazon Kindle eBook reading device. Harrison’s publisher, Harper Collins has embargoed the Kindle version until April to maximize sales of the hardcover. They own the book, right?
Some Kindle users are not amused. I just checked the sales over on Amazon.com and the hardcover is selling quite well. A few disgruntled Kindle users are whining in a chat forum on Amazon. They are ticked off that this book and many others have been embargoed on the publication dates so that Kindle users are left out in the cold.
Some Kindle commenters on the page for this new book are saying how they are protesting. They plan to give the book poor reviews in revenge for their upset. How can they review it if they haven’t even read it?
Some are fuming they will go get the book at the library so that Harper Collins won’t earn anything from them. Right. A book this popular will have a waiting list at the library that will make that April Kindle wait seem like a walk in the park.
I’m glad they feel so strongly about books but methinks their anger is being misdirected. Amazon got many of them to buy Kindles by selling Kindle downloads for less than Amazon was paying publishers for the books. Amazon wanted to sell Kindles and their strategy paid off. Kindle users believed this cheap entertainment was some sort of a birthright. Not.
Unfortunately, the marketplace doesn’t function that way.
(Kim Harrison visits Books&Co. this Thursday at 7pm at The Greene).
Vick Mickunas
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TweetA national health plan? Yea? Or nay?
Go to Amazon.com and search for books on “health care reform” and you’ll find over 3000 matches.
Health care reform is a volatile topic. President Obama is launching an all-out effort to get a national health care plan approved by Congress as soon as possible.
What do you think? National health care? Yes? No? Thoughts? Ideas? Opinions?
Leave your comments.
Vick Mickunas
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TweetThe Vampires of Cincinnati
“Black Magic Sanction” by Kim Harrison (EOS/Harper Collins, 487 pages, $25.99)
Anne Rice breathed some new life into fantasy fiction by writing vampire stories set in New Orleans. Rice abandoned the genre long ago yet vampire fiction has never been stronger. The burgeoning literary realm of the paranormal is flourishing.
Leading writers in this field are Laurell K. Hamilton, Charlaine Harris, and Kim Harrison. Harrison’s “Hollows” series features bounty hunter Rachel Morgan. She hunts demons, vampires, and werewolves in a haunted Cincinnati. Her paranormal thrillers are seething cauldrons of intrigue, magic and romantic spice.
Some Harrison titles evoke that intrepid bounty hunter in spaghetti westerns, Clint Eastwood. She wrote “Dead Witch Walking,” “The Good the Bad, and the Undead,” “Every Which Way but Dead,” “A Fistful of Charms, ” For a Few Demons More,” “The Outlaw Demon Wails,” and “White Witch, Black Curse.”
The eighth series entry, “Black Magic Sanction,” just came out. Here we find the tables are turned on our winsome bounty hunter. In “Black Magic Sanction” Rachel Morgan has been transformed from the pursuer to the pursued.
Fortunately she has a band of supernatural allies that gives her a hand or lends a claw. Her best friend is a vampire. Another friend is a pixy. A gargoyle drops by when required.. There are elves, and demons, and lots of witches. Rachel Morgan is a witch and a demon, too.
I know, it can get confusing. I was certainly confused. Thankfully, Harrison has got this shape shifting world down pat and when this reader felt lost she would usually toss out a line of knowledge to reel me back in to the story.
The world she fashions is strangely compelling. At one point Rachel is driving through downtown “Cincy” with her friends Ivy (the vampire) and Jenks (the pixy) when some paranormal creatures decide to use their supernatural powers to transport Rachel to the west coast.
Rachel narrates: “There was a quick hum of wings, and then a terrifying jerk. The sound of plastic splintering and the screaming of wheels was loud. My face hit something that felt like a wall and smelled like plastic. The hold of my will was cracked, and with the suddenness of a drop of water leaving a faucet, I felt my body suck inward, pulling my soul and aura with it.”
“And I wasn’t in the car anymore.” This kind of thing happens to her all the time. There are paranormal events, sci-fi martial arts, betrayals, revenges, long held grudges, and a power hungry politician. I guess you could say that it is business as usual in a supernatural Cincinnati.
Oh, I almost forgot the sizzling romance part. Here’s a taste: “Slowly, I shifted my weight to lean into him. My heart pounded at the simple motion that was anything but. I felt his warmth mingle with mine as the curious sensation of hesitant trust and tension swirled, sparking even more desire.”
Will Rachel escape her pursuers? Will she mend her broken heart? Will she add any other supernatural incarnations to her resume’ ? Read “Black Magic Sanction” to find out.
Kim Harrison visits Books&Co. at the Greene in Beavercreek on Thursday, February 25, at 7p.m.
Vick Mickunas
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TweetDo you have too much stuff?
Confession Time: I’ll admit it. I have too much stuff. Way too much.
It is hard for me to part with stuff. But I’m starting to realize that my acquisitive, pack rat nature might be some kind of grave malady.
I have stuff that I don’t use. It just sits there. I sometimes feel like those brothers in New York who were found in their mansion surrounded by tons of newspapers and junk. They had an old car in there and heaven knows what else. They died that way. Buried in their own debris.
There but for the grace of God go I. So I have finally decided to do something about it. After all, you can’t take it with you, right? I have started checking out eBay to see what kind of stuff is selling well there. I have thousands of old record albums that I never play. And piles of other stuff. Piles.
Scanning eBay is a true test for me because I’m constantly tempted to buy even more stuff. Heaven help me.
I just picked up a book to give me some moral support. The Story of Stuff - How Our Obsession with Stuff is Trashing the Planet, Our Communities, and Our Health - and a Vision for Change (Free Press) by Annie Leonard will hopefully give me the wherewithal to bite the bullet and start divesting myself of some of this Stuff.
Lord help me.
(The book comes out on March 9).
Vick Mickunas
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TweetLooking back at Glenn Beck’s past…
Beast Books, a new imprint created by the blog The Daily Beast has just published Wingnuts: How the Lunatic Fringe is Hijacking America.
This sounds like a fascinating read.
Check it out - click HERE:
Vick Mickunas
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TweetKarl Rove makes nice with the Tea Party movement
The Tea Party movement threatens to split the Republican Party in half. Karl Rove is concerned. Rove engineered the campaigns of President George W. Bush. This key Bush strategist once foresaw decades of Republican dominance. Then Barack Obama moved in to the White House and the Democrats won congressional majorities - that all seems so long ago doesn’t it?
Rove has a book coming out on March 9. And he sounded off recently in an editorial for the Wall Street Journal. Reading between the lines, he seems worried that the rising steam in Tea Party movement teapots could cause dissension and seepage in the GOP. He addresses this tempest in a teapot:
“There has been a lot of talk about combining the tea party movement with the Republican Party. And on a small scale, that seemed to happen last week in South Carolina after state GOP representatives agreed to create a “Tea Party Republicans” group to coordinate activities with tea partiers in Greenville and Spartanburg.
This week, however, those arrangements fell apart as some tea party groups dissented from the decision. Other attempts to draw tea party groups into formal alliances are running into similar difficulties. That is a good thing….”
To read the rest of his piece click HERE:
(Note: Read it all the first time through because the WSJ has a content wall and you won’t have a second chance to open the WSJ link unless you subscribe).
Vick Mickunas
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TweetJenny Sanford, Oprah, Abe Lincoln, vampires, zombies…
Buddy in Chicago just called. He spent some time yesterday with Jenny Sanford. You might recall that Mrs. Sanford has separated from her husband, the governor of South Carolina after learning of his shenanigans in an Argentine love nest. He claimed he was hiking the Appalachian Trail.
Anyway, Jenny Sanford has a book out. She was in Chicago to do a taping for Oprah. My buddy was most impressed by her. She’s smart and attractive and witty. Her husband really blew it. He still wants to reconcile. Right.
More on the book publicity front: vampires and zombies continue to sell books. I just reviewed a book about a witch who is also a demon. This series is set in Cincinnati. The witch is a bounty hunter. The author will be coming through Dayton soon. My review will run this Sunday.
I just got a pitch for a new book “Abraham Lincoln-Vampire Hunter” (Grand Central) by Seth Grahame-Smith. You might recall that the author had a huge hit with his previous book, “Pride and Prejudice and Zombies”. They want me to interview him. Look closely at the book cover. Abe is hiding an axe behind his back. He has left a trail of bloody foot prints behind him and the wall is covered with bloody hand prints.
How could anybody make this stuff up?
Vick Mickunas
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TweetThe oldest barber in the world
There’s an article today in the New York Times about a New York barber who has been declared the oldest barber in the world by the Guinness Book of World Records. This barber is 98. He started cutting hair when he was 12.
It is one of those kind of feel good articles that is the daily reward for loyal newspaper readers. I smiled.
And that reminded me of an encounter I had many years ago with an ancient barber. About 30 years ago I was managing a record store. Do you remember those? Flat and black. Records. They spun on turntables and emitted lovely sounds. Making a comeback lately…
This barber had a shop about a block away from a major university. It was called The Varsity Barber Shop. People in the neighborhood said it had been there as long as they could remember.
Every day I would walk past the barbershop and peek in the plate glass windows. The old barber would usually be sitting in his chair, often snoozing. Over about a five year period I saw him cutting somebody’s hair once or twice. Old guys getting a trim.
This fellow kept long hours. You would see him messing around with his grooming supplies and combs at 7am. And often at 6pm he would still be in the shop.
I always wondered about him. I knew he had some stories to tell. But I had never observed him having any conversations. During the rare haircuts I observed both parties were silent. The barber deep in concentration, the customers lost in thought.
I had my own regular barber. This was back when barbers would still give you a good shave with a straight edge razor. The AIDS epidemic put an end to that. Jack my barber used to give me a shave and a trim on a regular basis. He really pampered me.
One day I got this wild idea. I decided to go into the Varsity Barber Shop (just around the corner from The Varsity Theater) and request a shave. When I walked in the old barber was awake and alone as usual. He seemed slightly astonished. It was hard to tell but knowing the usual tempo of his days the idea of an actual customer walking in to his place, a stranger at that, had to be slightly mind boggling.
He probably assumed that I was some kind of salesman or solicitor. I’ll never forget the look on his face when I told him I was there for a shave.
Reluctantly, he asked me to sit in his chair. He peered at my couple of days worth of stubble. I looked at his razor strop and his jar of combs.
The ancient barber scoped out my beard for a minute or two. Then he said: “Nope. Can’t do it.” and that was it. End of conversation. See ya, kid. Don’t come back.
After that I always looked for him in his chair. He was usually asleep. One day I noticed that the shop was closed. I asked the haberdasher next door where the old barber had gone? It wasn’t like him to take a vacation.
The guy at the clothing store had known the old barber for 30 years. He told me a little bit about him that day. The barber was 90. He had had the shop since World War One. I imagined that my grandfather must have gone there for haircuts when he was a frat boy back in the early 1920’s.
The neighbor explained that the old barber had been married for 70 years and that he and his wife didn’t get along too well. She nagged. Complained. Ridiculed the old barber. That’s why he kept such long hours. It sure beat spending time with her.
A couple days before that someone had noticed the old barber was still asleep in his chair at 10pm. The next morning he was still there. The door was unlocked. It had been open all night long. I wonder if she missed him when he never came home?
The old barber had died in his chair.
To read a cheerful story about the oldest barber in the world click HERE:
Vick Mickunas
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TweetGoogle short circuits the Buzz…
Google Buzz, Google’s foray into social networking has totally annoyed a lot of people. You might recall that when they rolled out the product a week ago that I was excited about it. Oh well.
Google’s attempt to profit from publishing millions of “orphan” books smacked into a legal roadblock a couple of weeks ago. Now this. Google is scrambling to try to control the damage from launching a product that was not thoroughly researched and tested.
Check out the Google Buzz brouhaha by clicking HERE:
Vick Mickunas
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TweetHearts filled with beauty…
Have you ever wondered about our usage of stylized heart shapes? I have always been fascinated by them.
A new book just crossed my desk. “Monday Hearts for Madalene” (Stewart, Tabori, and Chang) by Page Hodel is a stunning collection of photos of stylized hearts. These magnificent designs are heart warming and truly mind blowing.
Fortunately, I have a link to a video that will allow you to see some of these fabulous photos. click HERE:
Are they not incredible?
Happy Valentine’s Day.
Vick Mickunas
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TweetThe 39 Clues
“The 39 Clues: The Viper’s Nest,” by Peter Lerangis (Scholastic, 190 pages, $12.99)
When the author J.K. Rowling announced that she was bringing her best selling Harry Potter series of books to an end, millions of young readers were saddened by the news. One can only imagine the pain that must have been felt in the offices of her publishers.
How can you ever replace a series that has sold millions of copies with each installment? You can’t. Even so, Scholastic, Rowling’s U.S. publisher, had a plan in place. On Sept. 9, 2008, they published “The 39 Clues: The Maze of Bones” by Rick Riordan.
That book marked the launch of Scholastic’s ambitious “39 Clues” transmedia project. They planned to release 10 books over the course of two years. These novels are directed toward readers in the 8-12 age group. Each book has been written by a different author. “The 39 Clues: The Viper’s Nest,” by Peter Lerangis, the seventh book in the series, was just published.
“The 39 Clues” is the story of a brother and a sister, Amy and Dan Cahill. They are orphans who have been thrown into a quest for clues that have been concealed all over the world. These clues will eventually reveal how the Cahills became the most powerful family in the world.
By page 5 in this latest book, we receive a quick synopsis of where things stand from young Dan: “Dan couldn’t imagine not finding the greatest power ever known. Then there was the part about tracking hints left by famous ancestors, like Mozart and Ben Franklin. So here they were, four continents and six Clues later: a 14-year-old girl, her 11-year-old brother, and an au pair whose main espionage training had involved downloading punk tunes and mastering tattoo pain — that is, unless she was really a master spy.”
The nanny is Nellie — conveniently available to drive the kids around for their sleuthing and clue collecting. Oh, and lest we forget, there’s the cat, Saladin, who somehow manages to tag along. The story opens with a wild escape from Indonesia. Their next stop is supposed to be in Peoria but the kids end up in South Africa instead.
I can see the attraction this series holds for young readers. While these children are making their narrow escapes from evil pursuers, they are also doing the stuff kids like to do with cell phones, iPods and laptop computers.
These kids talk and act like normal kids — OK, kids who travel the globe narrowly escaping death at every turn. It is also easy to understand why “The 39 Clues” is a hit with teachers and librarians. The “Viper’s Nest” has solid strands of South African history cleverly interwoven between those thrilling action sequences.
Scholastic’s transmedia approach utilizes various platforms: books, collectible game cards and an online game that already has more than 850,000 users. And in truly Potteresque fashion, “The 39 Clues” has now been optioned for potential movie productions.
No, it’s not, “Harry Potter,” but it’s pretty darned good.
Vick Mickunas
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TweetI’m Sorry You Feel That Way…
Humor has been in short supply lately so I’m reading “I’m Sorry You Feel That Way - The Astonishing True Story of a Daughter, Sister, Sl*t, Wife, Mother, and Friend to Man&Dog” (Berkley) by Diana Joseph.
How can you go wrong with a title like that one? Ok, I guess you can. The book actually has a warning on the back. I’ll give you a clue; do you recall the recent flap about Rahm Emanuel’s use of a politically incorrect term? Sarah Palin jumped all over him for using it. Somehow I have a hard time picturing Sarah being politically correct unless it was really convenient to do so.
Anyway, the warning is about usage of that word. You know the one.
How timely!
Vick Mickunas
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TweetE-Book prices will be going up and up and up…
So you bought an Amazon Kindle and you’ve been downloading books from Amazon like crazy. You’re used to paying $9.99 or less for new E-books downloaded to your Kindle.
You better hurry. Prices are going up. We could see this coming. Prices are going up almost 50%. That’s a lot if you are used to paying $9.99. Some Kindle users are not amused.
For more on the story click HERE:
Vick Mickunas
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TweetDon’t read this unless you have lots of money…
Every day I get press releases for new books. Most of them come via email so I ride that delete key pretty hard. I do respond to some press releases. Others I scan and discard. Every once in a while though I’ll get info about a book that stops me cold.
Here’s one that arrived today. Check this out-click HERE:
Ka-ching!
Vick Mickunas
Permalink | Comments (2) | Post your comment | Categories: The melting slushpile
TweetWill Sarah Palin be the GOP nominee in 2012?
Anything is possible. Barack Obama published two best-selling memoirs which helped propel him to the Democratic nomination and ultimately, the White House.
Sarah Palin recently published her best selling memoir “Going Rogue”. Has she ripped a page from the Obama playbook here? Was it publish or perish? Can she be the GOP nominee in 2012?
Is she electable? Do you care? Would you like a cuppa tea?
The Daily Beast lays out how Sarah could be the Republican presidential nominee come 2012. To scope it out click HERE:
Vick Mickunas
Permalink | Comments (16) | Post your comment | Categories: politicked
TweetCatching the Google Buzz….
Google’s dream of Internet domination never dies.
They want all the search advertising.
They want all the search traffic.
They want us to use their email service.
They want to publish millions of books on our computers, cell phones, and eBook devices.
They want to power our cellphones.
And now they want to be our social network-another Facebook (sort of). Google has just launched Google Buzz, a social networking application on their Gmail email service.
Do you have a Gmail account? Log in to it right now and catch the Google Buzz.
I did.
Vick Mickunas
Permalink | Comments (1) | Post your comment | Categories: booms and busts
TweetWe’re in good hands with Sarah Palin….
Who needs a teleprompter? Sarah Palin just writes her notes all over the palm of her hand.
The former governor, former VP candidate, current FOX News commentator, and the author of a new memoir, Palin knows how to stay in the headlines.
The latest kerfuffle involves her staying on “message” by repeatedly looking down at her hands for written guidance. Hey, whatever works, right?
I don’t suppose she’ll be mocking Obama’s teleprompter skills again any time soon….
One time I interviewed an author on the radio. He was sitting across from me in the studio and he kept looking down at a sheet of paper in front of him. I could read what it said from across the room. In big block letters it read: SLOW.
He was reminding himself to speak more slowly during our interview I suppose.
Whatever works, right?
Vick Mickunas
Permalink | Comments (21) | Post your comment | Categories: looks good on paper
TweetMy desert island reading list…
Libraries are magical places. I spend such pleasant hours surrounded by stacks of books — a library is like home away from home.
So when the Washington-Centerville Library asked if I would make some reading suggestions for their patrons I jumped at the opportunity. They are celebrating their 200th anniversary this year.
I came up with a list of 25 of my favorite novels. The list is divided into two sections. I begin with suggestions of books that are true classics.
“Great Expectations” by Charles Dickens
“Pride and Prejudice” by Jane Austen
“Jane Eyre” by Charlotte Bronte
“Wuthering Heights” by Emily Bronte
“Don Quixote” by Miguel de Cervantes
“The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn” by Mark Twain
“Moby Dick” by Herman Melville
“1984” by George Orwell
“One Hundred Years of Solitude” by Gabriel Garcia Marquez
“Gargantua and Pantagruel” by Francois Rabelais
“The Magic Mountain” by Thomas Mann
“Fahrenheit 451” by Ray Bradbury
“The Catcher in the Rye” by J.D. Salinger
The second half of my list is made up of a dozen books that are not considered classics yet but who knows? Maybe someday.
“Life and Fate” by Vasily Grossman
“Call it Sleep” by Henry Roth
“Shantaram” by Gregory David Roberts
“Gilead” by Marilynne Robinson
“The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao” by Junot Diaz
“The Lazarus Project” by Aleksandar Hemon
“Europe Central” by William T. Vollmann
“River of Darkness” by Rennie Airth
“White Doves at Morning” by James Lee Burke
“The Yiddish Policeman’s Union” by Michael Chabon
“The Shadow of the Wind” by Carlos Ruiz Zafon
“The Russian Debutante’s Handbook” by Gary Shteyngart
I made additional comments about these books. You can peruse them by clicking HERE:
Bicentennial events in Centerville
The Washingon-Centerville Library is marking two centuries of service to the community this year with special events in their “Great Books, Great Libraries” celebration. On Wednesday, Feb. 10, best-selling author Martha Moody will be honored at a special reception. Moody, a Washington Twp. resident, has published three novels. Her book “Best Friends” has sold more than 700,000 copies.
How to go: Martha Moody will be giving a talk at 7 p.m. Wednesday at the Centerville Library, 111 West Spring Valley Road. For more information, call (937) 433-8091.
Vick Mickunas
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TweetDesire-Seduction-Ecstasy
Valentine’s Day is one week away. I have been trying to find some appropriate books to feature. I just checked out the three volumes of The Notebooks of Madame B (Tarcher Penguin).
There’s “Desire,” Seduction,” and “Ecstasy.” Gasp!
This is very naughty stuff. I can’t really find much here that I can quote in a family newspaper.
(Blush). I think I’ll just make a Flirtini instead….
Vick Mickunas
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TweetSuper Bowl predictions…?
Robert Crais, the crown prince of LA crime fiction writers just sent me an e-mail with his Super Bowl prediction. Crais gives away his La. roots and allegiance in his subject line: Cajun Ex Pat.
Crais was born and raised in bayou country where he comes from a long line of crime fighters and law enforcement members in his family. He relocated to Los Angeles decades ago but the prospect of a first Super Bowl title for his Saints has the usually soft spoken Crais bubbling with excitement.
His most recent Joe Pike novel, The First Rule (Putnam), just debuted at #2 this week on the New York Times fiction list. Crais is on a roll. I would not doubt that his prediction could pay off. Here is what Bob Crais predicts for the Super Bowl:
“Saints 38, Colts 31.
You heard it here first.
Geaux Saints.”
What do you think? Who is going to win? And what will be the final score? Please post your predictions in our comments section. Thanks!
Vick Mickunas
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TweetGoogle world domination postponed for now…
Google’s plans to publish millions of “orphan” books has been stalled. Here’s more from the New York Times:
“In another blow to Google’s plan to create a giant digital library and bookstore, the Justice Department on Thursday said that a class-action settlement between the company and groups representing authors and publishers had significant legal problems, even after recent revisions.
In a 31-page filing that could influence a federal judge’s ruling on the settlement, the department said the new agreement was much improved from an earlier version. But it said the changes were not enough to placate concerns that the deal would grant Google a monopoly over millions of orphan works, meaning books whose right holders are unknown or cannot be found.”
To read the rest of the article click HERE:
Vick Mickunas
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TweetAnother anonymous clue has arrived…
The mail just arrived and it contained another clue; a postcard that reads IT’S SAD.
On the reverse side it says what the other card said - COMING JULY 2010. Read my previous post to see about my first clue.
I know this is a buzz builder for a book. But what book? I’m guessing it will be a book published by an imprint of the biggest publisher in the USA, Random House.
I can’t wait for more clues….
Vick Mickunas
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TweetBook teasers are the worst…
Book teasers can drive a reviewer wild. I got this postcard in the mail. It says “It’s Super”.
Now, if it was really super it should have an exclamation point, right? “It’s Super!”. But it doesn’t.
Who sent it? There is no identifying characteristic except for the message: COMING IN JULY 2010. OK. And there is a postmark: 10019. New York. That would be New York City. Home of book publishing. Former home of book publishing hype.
Still trying. I guess. (yawn). They did pay letter rate though! 44 cents! I’m impressed!
Vick Mickunas
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TweetNo wonder Palin’s book was a best seller…
Well, Sarah Palin certainly found an effective way to boost the sales numbers for her memoir Going Rogue. Apparently she has forked out 63 thousand dollars (so far) to buy copies of her own book. Cool.
Read more by clicking HERE:
Vick Mickunas
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TweetJohn Edwards sex tape…
Andrew Young, the former John Edwards aide is making the rounds of talk shows promoting his sensational book about that disgraced former somebody who once counted on Young’s loyalty.
His book is “The Politician: An Insider’s Account of John Edwards’s Pursuit of the Presidency and the Scandal That Brought Him Down.”
The Edwards/Rielle Hunter sex tape is just one of the unsavory stops along this trail of tears. Who would want to watch that? Barf-O.
John Edwards was always so smooth. Too slick. Way slippery.
For more outlandish details click HERE:
Vick Mickunas
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TweetAmazon backs down…
The eBook wars get more interesting with each passing day. Amazon’s Kindle eBook reader is leading the market right now but publishers are upset at the way Amazon has been pricing Kindle downloads. Amazon has essentially been selling them for less that their cost so they can increase sales for their Kindles.
Over the weekend, Macmillan, one of the top 6 US publishers seems to have called Amazon’s bluff. Here’s more from The Telegraph:
“the pricing row over e-books between Amazon and the publishing industry suddenly turned vicious at the weekend, when Amazon pulled all Macmillan books - including, in the US, Booker prize-winner Wolf Hall - from its website temporarily.
“We have expressed our strong disagreement and the seriousness of our disagreement by temporarily ceasing the sale of all Macmillan titles,” Amazon said. “We want you to know that ultimately, however, we will have to capitulate and accept Macmillan’s terms, because Macmillan has a monopoly over their own titles and we will want to offer them to you even at prices we believe are needlessly high for ebooks.”
“Ultimately”, it turned out, meant as soon as we realise how cross we have made everyone. Amazon’s effort to depict itself as a victim of nasty book publishers is hard to take seriously, given the gulf between Amazon’s profitability and theirs. This is Macmillan’s account of events last week.
Amazon’s real fight is with Apple and its new iPad, which is a rival to Amazon’s Kindle. Apple seems to be allowing publishers greater freedom in the pricing of digital books, and this has not gone down well with Amazon, which wants to keep its hold on a developing market. The irony, though, is that the Apple model would probably be more profitable for Amazon, which has been losing money on e-book best-sellers in order to push sales, according to the Wall Street Journal.
It’s too early to say whether Amazon’s rapid capitulation in this instance suggests that book publishers will do a better job of keeping control of their content than the music industry.”
To read the entire article click HERE:
Vick Mickunas
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