This is Sonia Sotomayor’s 8th week on the New York Times Hardcover Nonfiction Best Seller list, up to #4 from #5 last week. (Sandra Day O’Connor’s book, Out of Order, debuts at #11.) I am particularly excited to write about My Beloved World this week because I recently had a chance to booktalk it to a [...]
Today we look at two examples of the postmodern novel. Postmodernism has gotten a bad rap–almost from the beginning–for being purposefully obscure, denying the existence of meaning, and encouraging moral relativism. But, while I concede that many postmodern works of art can be infuriatingly vague, for me at least the best postmodern novels (like the [...]
The first big breakout novel of 2013 was actually published in 2012, thanks to Oprah’s Book Club. The Twelve Tribes of Hattie was originally scheduled to be published this month, but after Oprah’s big announcement, Knopf moved up the publication date. With recent reviews in the New York Times, Washington Post, L.A. Times, you name [...]
Pauline Chen’s new novel is a great recommendation for historical fiction or romance-loving teens wishing to expand their horizons. Chen retells and dramatically shortens the Chinese novel Hong Lou Meng, often translated as Dream of the Red Chamber, which includes the most famous love triangle in Chinese literature. (For more about the original, see this [...]
Carolina De Robertis has written a beautiful novel about a horrifying time in South American history. Perla is a young woman who comes of age following Argentina’s Dirty War (1976-1983). As a young adult, Perla learns that her family was involved in the fates of “the disappeared,” and must contend with that legacy. The novel [...]
In Cheryl Strayed’s memoir she tells the story of her eleven hundred-mile solo hike along the Pacific Coast Trail, trying to find herself again in the aftermath of her mother’s early death. Strayed started in the Mojave Desert, making her way through California and Oregon to Washington State, with little experience camping and no experience [...]
The publication of a new novel by Anne Rice is always an event, and especially when she begins a new series. The Wolf Gift is a werewolf novel that displays her unique combination of philosophy, sensuality and gothic horror. I was thrilled to interview Anne Rice for the AB4T blog, and Random House is also [...]
Julie Otsuka’s new novel is the story of picture brides traveling from Japan to San Francisco in the early 20th century. Perhaps most striking is the collective voice with which it is told. Otsuka spoke during the Library Journal Day of Dialog that preceded BookExpo in late May, and called being a picture bride the [...]
Happy National Poetry Month! I am excited to kick it off with a review of Kevin Young’s Ardency, a fascinating way to discover, explore, and contemplate the Amistad incident. Imagine what a high school student might take away from this literary treatment compared to reading a page or two in a history book. Here, layers [...]
So much buzz and anticipation preceded this week’s publication of Karen Russell’s first novel that I was nearly afraid to read it for fear of disappointment. Russell won the National Book Foundation’s 5 Under 35 award in 2009, was included among The New Yorker’s 20 under 40 last summer, and was named one of Granta’s [...]
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