WHIRL (What Have I Read Lately) Books is a site for readers to find books for themselves and their book clubs. Liz at Literary Masters runs book groups and literary salons where we "dig deep" into literary treasures.

Friday, September 21, 2012

Long List Out for Non-Fiction Award!

The long list has been announced for the Samuel Johnson Prize, which is the UK's most prestigious award for non-fiction.  Click here for the website and more info.  As you know, Literary Masters always has one non-fiction selection and this season we'll be reading In the Heart of the Sea by Nathaniel Philbrick, which won the National Book Award in 2000.  Two years ago the Literary Masters non-fiction selection was Nothing to Envy by Barbara Demick, which won the Samuel Johnson Prize that same year.  Take a look at this long list and let me know what you think...

The 14 titles on this year’s longlist are:
  • Behind the Beautiful Forevers, by Katherine Boo (Portobello Books)
  • One on One, by Craig Brown (Fourth Estate)
  • Into the Silence: The Great War, Mallory and the Conquest of Everest, by Wade Davis (The Bodley Head)
  • The Man Without a Face: The Unlikely Rise of Vladimir Putin, by Masha Gessen (Granta Books)
  • Feathers, by Thor Hansen (Basic Books)
  • Thinking, Fast and Slow, by Daniel Kahneman (Allen Lane)
  • The Old Ways, by Robert MacFarlane (Hamish Hamilton) Inside the Centre: The Life of J. Robert Oppenheimer, by Ray Monk (Jonathan Cape)
  • Grand Pursuit: The Story of Economic Genuis, by Sylvia Nasar (Fourth Estate)
  • Winter King, by Thomas Penn (Allen Lane)
  • The Better Angels of our Nature, by Steven Pinker (Allen Lane)
  • The Spanish Holocaust, by Paul Preston (HarperPress)
  • Strindberg A Life, by Sue Prideaux (Yale University Press)
  • Joseph Anton, by Salman Rushdie (Jonathan Cape)

Tuesday, September 11, 2012

Man Booker Short List Announced!

Grab your reading glasses!  The short list is out!  How many of these have you read?
Click here for list and let me know what you think!

Wednesday, September 5, 2012

Autumn Abundance

If you look to the right of this post, on the sidebar, you'll find the list of books that Literary Masters members are reading this season.  You'll notice that the last two months are TBA, to be announced.  I purposely left those months blank because there are a lot of literary awards given in the fall, and I may want to select one of the winners.

Not only that.  This fall there is a plethora of books by my favorite authors being published.  Ian McEwanSalman RushdieBarbara KingsolverJunot DiazAlice Munro!!!  Wait--there's more!  Tom Wolfe and Zadie Smith will release new works, and J.K. Rowling's first book for grown-ups will hit the shelves.

I don't know about you, but I am so excited!

Here's an article about the fall "literary traffic jam" from the NY Times.

Monday, September 3, 2012

Why I Read, and Why I Talk About What I Read

Jane Brody has an piece in the NY Times about why she exercises.  Perhaps because I am "benched" for the time being--no running for me due to a uncooperative knee--I clicked on the article.  At the end, she sums up her reasons thus:

"It’s how these activities make me feel: more energized, less stressed, more productive, more engaged and, yes, happier — better able to smell the roses and cope with the inevitable frustrations of daily life."

I can relate to this.  But not with regard to exercise.  (I exercise mainly because I love sweets!)  All these exercise benefits that Brody states are what I get from reading, and from discussing with others what I've read.  If you've ever been in a book group, well, if you've ever been in a Literary Masters book group or salon, you know exactly what I mean.  The connection we make--to the book, to each other, to our own, unknown selves--is a forever rejuvenating and rewarding experience.

If you'd like to read Brody's article, click here.