National Book Award Finalists!

I told you that I just love this time of year!  Crisp mornings, sunny and warm afternoons, the Nobel Prize, the Man Booker, and now the National Book Award has released its list of finalists!  Click here  for all the info; I mainly pay attention, as you know, to the fiction category:

 The Flamethrowers by Rachel Kushner
 The Lowland by Jhumpa Lahiri
 The Good Lord Bird by James McBride
 Bleeding Edge by Thomas Pynchon
 Tenth of December by George Saunders

As you also know, this season Literary Masters book groups and salons are reading Rachel Kushner's previous novel Telex from Cuba and The Lowland by Lahiri.

Have you read any of these books?  Your thoughts?

The Nobel and the Man Booker

I love this literary time of year!  Literary Masters book groups and salons have started up again, the Nobel committee awards its prizes, and suspense builds for who will win the Man Booker Prize.  If this blog is the first media that you turn to each day

you're just learning that Alice Munro is the 2013 recipient of the Nobel Prize in Literature.  Congratulations to a master of the short story!

Now we can all look forward to next Tuesday, when the winner of the Booker will be announced.  In case you need to be reminded of the short list, here it is.

Enjoy!

Reading Literary Fiction Proven To Be Good For Us!!!

Hallelujah!  Finally, a study that proves what I've known ALL ALONG and have tried to convince others of: reading literary fiction, the type of fiction we Literary Masters members read each and every season, is GOOD FOR US!  It makes us more empathetic and understanding of others; it strengthens our emotional intelligence.  If you ever, ever, ever have had any pang of guilt while reading our monthly selection, if you ever have thought, "Oh, I shouldn't be reading; I should be doing something more useful," well, think again!  Clearly, reading literary fiction will make you a better person, which will lead to a better society all around.

To find out more about how reading literary fiction is the solution to all the world's problems (OK, maybe I'm getting slightly carried away here, but still...) click here to read the fascinating article from The New York Times.

Then go sit down and read a great novel!