December 2011

Favorite Books of 2011

What are your favorite books that you read this past year?

The Passage I recently went through my list of all the books I read during the course of 2011 (believe me, it's a long list!) and picked out my favorites.

The Passage by Justin Cronin

Although The Passage actually came out in 2010, I believe, I only read it early in 2011. Hubby and I both read it about the same time, and both of us really loved it. It's a beautifully crafted novel that spans a lengthy period of time, establishing the science behind how vampires were created, and the post-apocalyptic world they create in the United States. Through it all, the unchanging, almost other-worldly character of Amy is a constant.

Delirium by Lauren Oliver

This may actually be one of my favorite books of all time. Delirium is about a futuristic world sort of like Lois Lowry's The Giver, where society is tightly controlled and emotions are repressed as a danger to that control. In Delirium's world, though, surgery is done on people at age 18 to prevent them from loving, and since love is the basis of most other emotions, people simply no longer feel. Outwardly a perfect society, throughout the course of the novel the negative effects on the society start to become evident. Ultimately, it is about love's triumph over human efforts to control it, but the story isn't over yet -- it's the first book of a trilogy, with the second book due out early in 2012! I can't wait for the next book, Pandemonium!

Sarah's Key by Tatiana Read more about Favorite Books of 2011

Colson Whitehead, "Zone One: A Novel"

The zombie apocalypse gets its literary due

Most reviews of Zone One: A Novel start out talking about Colson Whitehead, the insanely talented author and cult hero of the literary scene. Much has been made of "this LITERARY author wrote a ZOMBIE novel." Oh my, the very thought! It's titillating, is it not? The idea of a Harvard grad and MacArthur Fellow, slumming it with a zombie novel?

Sure, Zone One: A Novel has zombies. And Never Let Me Go has clones, and Children of Men has a zero-birth fascist apocalypse. But it matters more what the book does with the clones, zero-birth fascist apocalypse, or zombies, don't you think?

And what Zone One: A Novel does with zombies is amazing.

A Science Fiction Trilogy for the Ages

I’ve been reading fiction for most of my life. The first books that I read and fell in love with were fiction novels, but only one was science fiction. Well, OK, it was a trilogy… in 5 parts, with comedy on top of it.

Fans of the series probably already know what it is just by that description: The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy.

Digital Self-Publishing: A Tool for New Authors?

Are digital self-publishing programs a new way for authors to get started?

Tiger's Curse What do Amanda Hocking, Colleen Houck, and Michael J. Sullivan all have in common?

They all started out self-publishing their books digitally, until their popularity drew the attention of traditional publishers. Read more about Digital Self-Publishing: A Tool for New Authors?

Aimee Bender's "An Invisible Sign of My Own"

A characteristically quirky and heartfelt novel.

I just finished Aimee Bender's debut novel An Invisible Sign of My Own, published back in 2001. Bender is a master of the absurd, a consistent trait in her writing that actually segue into the impossible in her later novels. This one teeters on the very brink between reality and surrealism, illustrating the effects of depression on a family. I'd never seen the beauty--and the potential randomness--in numbers as fully as I did in this book. Read more about Aimee Bender's "An Invisible Sign of My Own"

Funny, But Sprawling: The Lonely Polygamist

The neighbor's ostrich also proves to be unusually central to the plot, on several occasions.

I came into The Lonely Polygamist knowing absolutely nothing about it, except that a friend who knows my taste well said "You would REALLY like this book." I skimmed the book description, then bought it on a whim. Unusual for me, because typically I research books all to heck and gone before I actually drop my money on them. But in this case, Amazon acted as the enabler by making the book one of their "Daily Deal" specials, so I picked up a Kindle copy for a mere $1.99.

This is the epic tale of a polygamist family colliding with a handful of challenges. The family consists of the father (Golden), four sister wives, and about thirty children. It gives a frank accounting of what the day-to-day chaos and logistical challenges are like in a family such as this, and neatly avoids the trap of either moralizing or being needlessly lurid.

Do Ebooks Spell Doom For Libraries?

Can ebooks and libraries co-exist? The answer depends on what side you’re on.

Many librarians look down on ebooks with bitterness and resentment, believing they could make the need for libraries obsolete. The internet has already contributed to that feeling-with Google at your fingertips, the days of having to go to the library and thumb through card catalogues and periodical indexes are long gone. With ebooks, some may say the need for traditional paperbooks may also be eradicated, especially now that services like Overdrive make it possible for people to check out ebooks from their local libraries.

However, most of the big publishers, who are notoriously hostile toward ebooks, have stepped in to make things as difficult as possible for libraries. Some of them simply refuse to let their books be made available to libraries in electronic format at all, while the remainder have ridiculous conditions such as only allowing the ebook version of their titles to be checked out a total of 26 times. After that, the library must pay a new licensing fee. Of course the paper copies can be checked out an unlimited amount of times. Read more about Do Ebooks Spell Doom For Libraries?

My New Nook Tablet!

"And of course, I can't provide a review of the Nook Tablet without mentioning that lovely screen."

Nook Tablet I got my Christmas present this year a little early: the new Nook Tablet! My husband was afraid that if we waited too long, the store might sell out, and of course we only have 14 days to return it if I don't like it or if there's something wrong. So of course getting my present early was the logical choice!

My general excitement and impatience had nothing to do with that decision, I'm sure.

I have been using a first edition Nook (the wifi only model) to read ebooks almost exclusively since April. Before that, I'd been using my iPhone and the Bluefire Reader app. (I'd initially started reading in the B&N eReader app, but eventually it stopped syncing to my library, and I didn't particularly care for the new Nook app.) So I am no stranger to ebook readers (or to tablets, for that matter -- my husband has an iPad). Read more about My New Nook Tablet!

E.L. Doctorow's "Homer & Langley"

A human take on a decades-old tale of New York City recluses.

New York City-based writer E.L Doctorow has an eye for historical detail—truthful historical detail to be more specific—but doesn’t so rely on historical elements that the purpose of the book—is it history of historicity?—is called into question. He is first and foremost a fiction writer, but the historical purpose of his work seems to be to remind us that history is not—and was not when that history was the present—without breath, agency and thought. Read more about E.L. Doctorow's "Homer & Langley"

Fahrenheit 451 Now Available in Ebook Form

The classic science fiction novel Fahrenheit 451, a tale about a society in the future where independent thought and creativity are forbidden and firefighters are sent to burn books, has been released as an e-book despite author Ray Bradbury’s fervent dislike for the format.

How eBooks Changed My Reading Habits

"Have you bought into the ebook trend, and if so, how much of your reading do you do on an ebook reader?"

my Nook I've always been an avid reader, sometimes finishing books in as little as a day. Ever since I was a kid, every spare moment has found me with my nose in a book. I used to carry a book with me in school, and read for the few minutes between when I got to class and when class officially started.

Reading ebooks has only made me more like this. For one thing, my Nook is always with me -- it's much easier to carry in my purse than a book (and the only books that was ever possible with were mass market paperbacks). If I have even a few minutes to kill, it's easy as pie to whip out my e-reader. Read more about How eBooks Changed My Reading Habits

Guterson Wins Prize for Bad Sex in Literature

Guterson doesn't seem all that disturbed to win this award.

Author David Guterson said that he wasn’t surprised when he heard that “Ed King”, his novel about the Oedipus Rex complex, had won the Bad Sex award from the Literary Review. The purpose of the award is to shame authors who highlight sex in a “crude, tasteless, and often perfunctory way” so that there won’t be as many bad sex scenes in contemporary literature.

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