Best Books of 2013: Just in Time for Thanksgivukah!

I am feeling conflicted.  It's only mid-November and I am posting a "Best of 2013" reading list.  I feel like this is almost wrong--like seeing Christmas decorations in the stores before Thanksgiving!  However, it's an unusual holiday season this year with Hanukkah coinciding with our annual turkey day celebration--an event, according to the Mail Online, that last occurred in 1888 and won't occur again for another 79,000 years!  Wow!  I can see why their headline read "Happy Thanksgivukah!"--this is something to celebrate!

And while we're at it, let's celebrate some wonderful books that have been written, read, and discussed in 2013.  I will be posting more titles and "Best of 2013" lists throughout the coming weeks and into the new year, but for now, here's the first.  It's from Publisher's Weekly, and you can click here to find out more about each of these intriguing titles.

Publishers Weekly Best Books of 2013

Seas of Hooks by Lindsay Hill

Going Clear: Scientology, Hollywood, and the Prison of Belief by Lawrence Wright

Dirty Wars: The World is a Battlefield by Jeremy Scahill

Men We Reaped: A Memoir by Jesmyn Ward

The People in the Trees by Hanya Yanagihara

Lost Girls: An Unsolved American Mystery by Robert Kolker

Miss Anne in Harlem: The White Women of the Black Renaissance by Carla Kaplan

A Constellation of Vital Phenomena by Anthony Marra

The Silence and the Roar by Nihad Sirees, translated by Max Weiss

The Good Lord Bird by James McBride

Wow!  What a list--we are spoiled for choice.  Something for every reader on your holiday list!

The Samuel Johnson Prize: We Have a Winner!

I think you know by now that Literary Masters book groups and literary salons focus mainly on fiction, but each season we 'dig deep' into a non-fiction treasure.  My favorite so far, and I think my LM members would agree, is Nothing to Envy by Barbara Demick, which won the Samuel Johnson Prize, the UK's premier award for non-fiction work, in 2010.

The 2013 winner of this prestigious award has just been announced, so let's congratulate Lucy Hughes-Hallett, author of The Pike.  Her account of "a celebrated poet and Italian nationalist who was simultaneously repugnant and alluring" is evidently a form-breaking type of biography that escapes the restrictions of the genre.  Sounds intriguing.  The book won over an impressive shortlist of titles:

 

For more information on the Samuel Johnson Prize, including past winners, click here.

What good non-fiction have you read recently?

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!

The Ten Best Books About Women

Everyone loves lists, right?  They make life easier.  So, even though I have no clue who the author Bidisha is, I am willing to see what she deems to be "the ten best books about women" in her recent article in the UK's Guardian.

What a list!  I've only read two of these books, but one was very influential in forming my literary "career"--Reading Lolita in Tehran.  And because that wonderful book is on Bidisha's list, I'm willing to give the others a try.  I am particularly intrigued by Joan of Arc: In Her Own Words and Intercourse.  Wow, the TBR pile next to my bed just got higher!

Click here for the full list.  What would your Ten Best Books About Women list look like?

Literary Masters: The List!

Your long wait is over!  The 2013/2014 Season of Literary Masters is officially launched!  You will find the reading list below.  As you'll recall, I allowed my LM members to vote this season; they chose our eight titles from a long list of books.  Everyone had fun with this, although making a decision wasn't easy!  First, here's the long list:
  
Fiction Category: (I asked members to vote for six out of the following titles; please note that the prizes and awards are for the author, not necessarily for the title listed below.)

1. The Son by Philipp Meyer (Guggenheim Fellowship)
2. The Lowland by Jhumpa Lahiri (Pulitzer Prize for Fiction, Hemingway Foundation/PEN Award, O. Henry Award)
3. The Woman Upstairs by Claire Messud (PEN/Faulkner Award for Fiction nomination)
4. Americanah by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie (MacArthur Foundation Fellowship, Orange Prize for Fiction)
5. The Dinner by Herman Koch; translated by Sam Garrett (Publieksprijs Prize)
6. The Burgess Boys by E;izabeth Strout (Pulitzer Prize for Fiction)
7. The Round House by Louise Erdrich (National Book Award for Fiction, Guggenheim Fellowship, National Book Critics Circle Award for Fiction)
8. How to Get Filthy Rich in Rising Asia by Mohsin Hamid (Man Booker Prize nomination)
9. The Innocents by Francesca Segal (National Jewish Book Award for Fiction, Costa First Novel Award, Women's Prize for Fiction nomination)
10. The Orphan Master's Son by Adam Johnson (Pulitzer Prize for Fiction)
11. We Are All Completely Beside Ourselves by Karen Joy Fowler (California Book Award Silver Medal, PEN/Faulkner Award nomination)
12. Telex from Cuba by Rachel Kushner (National Book Award finalist)

Oldie but Goodie Category: I asked members to vote for one of the following titles:

1. Crossing to Safety by Wallace Stegner
2. A Lesson Before Dying by Ernest J. Gaines
3. A Dry White Season by Andre Brink
4. Age of Innocence by Edith Wharton
5. All the King's Men by Robert Penn Warren

Non-fiction Category: I asked members to vote for one of the following titles:

1. Under the Banner of Heaven by Jon Krakauer
2. Lean In by Sheryl Sandberg
3. God's Hotel by Victoria Sweet
4. The Season of the Witch by David Talbot
5. The Worst Hard Time by Timothy Egan

How would YOU have voted?  Keep reading to find out how Literary Masters members voted!

 
 The 2013/2014 Season of Literary Masters Book Groups and Literary Salons Reading List is:

 

October: Americanah by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie

November: The Woman Upstairs by Claire Messud

December: We Are All Completely Beside Ourselves by Karen Joy Fowler

January: Crossing to Safety by Wallace Stegner

February: The Innocents by Francesca Segal

March: Telex From Cuba by Rachel Kushner

April: God's Hotel by Victoria Sweet

May: The Lowland by Jhumpa Lahiri

 

So grab your reading glasses and join us for another fabulous season of digging deep into literary treasures!

 

To find out more about Literary Masters book groups and salons, or if you'd like to join us, please visit my website: www.literarymasters.net

1. Publieksprijs Prize
   Publieksprijs Prize