Your time is valuable. So if you only have time for one link this weekend, please make it the article about Barack Obama’s reading lists. It’s heart-warming in many ways.
Epistolary Novels To Start Reading
Epistolary novels can tell a story on an intimate level. Through one or more characters’ written letters, emails, diary entries, or other documents, we can look deeper into their lives, emotions, and relationships. Follow characters going through huge life changes, reflecting on their past choices, or forging friendships from across the globe.
I offer this article with the caveat that it is from publisher PenguinRandomHouse and therefore interested in promoting their own publications. One of my favorite epistolary novels is Alice’s Tulips (2000) by Sandra Dallas.
Freud the Irrepressible
“A new volume asks, ‘Is the old man back again?’”
How can anyone read literature without at least a passing knowledge of Freud’s basic notions? Chase Padusniak discusses Freud’s lasting influence in light of the recent book On the Couch: Writers Analyze Sigmund Freud, edited by Andrew Blouner.
Like a great novelist, Freud exposes our complexities with honesty and understanding and without malice. You can lie to social psychology students who ask you to participate in a survey for their theses. They don’t care; theirs is the domain of quanta, of the measurable and definite. Freud knows better. He knows you’re lying—to yourself most of all.
These 3 audiobooks highlight the importance of getting accents right
“Voice actors try to transport listeners to the British Isles in books by Elizabeth O’Connor, Lisa Jewell and Carys Davies.”
“With an audiobook, the narrator can make all the difference — particularly when a book features characters with accents,” writes Katherine A. Powers. Here she discusses “three new audiobooks in which voice actors try to capture the authentic sounds of the stories they read.”
Behind the Scenes of Barack Obama’s Reading Lists
“Does the president really read all those books? The answer might surprise you.”
Sophie Vershbow, who has an extensive history both working in and reporting on the publishing industry in the U.S., fills us in on what she discovered when she “was assigned to investigate the methodology behind Barack Obama’s annual lists of book recommendations.”
Near the end of the article, she tells us:
when Obama announced Lauren Groff’s achingly beautiful novel Fates and Furies—my favorite book of 2015—as his favorite book of 2015, I felt I learned more about him as a person than I had from any profile, speech, or campaign ad.
Thriller novels aren’t what they used to be. Is television to blame?
“Exploring the evolution of thriller novels in the age of television binge-watching.”
Novelist Alma Katsu considers what qualities in a novel make it a thriller: “you’d think a fast pace would be the one mandatory element of any thriller. Another way to think of pace is immediacy; there’s something pressing the characters to move speedily.” She suggests that thrillers have become increasingly filled with fast action and unexpected twists since the advent of binge-watching of all episodes of a series introduced by Netflix with House of Cards in 2013.
What she ends up with is a discussion of the age-old question of which is more important in fiction, character or plot: “When you have characters that you are invested in and an intriguing plot, then a reader will be happily drawn in.” That’s both a question and an answer that I think has nothing to do with the advent of Netflix.
7 of the Funniest Crime Novels Ever Written
“These books prove that wanting to kill someone can be funny”
I’ve always had an uneasy relationship with humor. As a child I hated the movies of Laurel and Hardy and the Keystone Kops that were all over the new marvel of television. Much more recently I started reading Cold Comfort Farm, Stella Gibbons 1932 novel that parodies the romantic accounts of rural life then popular, on the advice of a couple of my cousins; I hated it after the first few chapters. However, I do admit a fondness for the crime caper novels of Donald E. Westlake featuring John Dortmunder.
Nevertheless, in the spirit of fairness, I offer this article for anyone interested in humor in the world of crime fiction.
Why readers love — and love to hate — Colleen Hoover
“It Ends With Us is at the center of Hoover’s very polarizing body of work.”
Constance Grady, a culture writer for Vox, analyzes the books by and fandom surrounding Colleen Hoover’s works: “There’s something about these books that seems to inspire intense reactions in their readers, ranging from sublime catharsis to visceral disgust.”
Grady looks at both ends of the Hoover-fandom spectrum.
10 of the Best Books on Writing and Publishing
Coming across this list on BookRiot reminded me that I have taken a look at books about writing lately. Laura Sackton has put together this list of “books that approach writing and publishing from unique perspectives, books that blend craft lessons with memoir, and books that have changed the way I think about writing, revising, publishing, and the creative process more broadly.”
Think book clubs are boring? These modern versions are flipping the script
“Modern book clubs pair reading selections with cocktails, food and ‘introvert hours’”
“With the rise of celebrity book clubs and the popularity of #BookTok, a hashtag used on TikTok to discuss books, the idea of communal reading is experiencing a renaissance and attracting a younger crowd that’s interested in trying out new formats,” writes Prisca Tang. From talking about books over cocktails to reading alone together, these new approaches to book groups foster communal discussion and a love of reading.
Writers to Watch: 10 Noteworthy Nonfiction Debuts, Fall 2024
“In this season’s crop of notable first outings, authors cover the nature of life, the role of religion in American culture, Indigenous histories, and book bans”
Publishers Weekly reveals some intriguing first books by authors you may not otherwise hear much about.
© 2024 by Mary Daniels Brown
Interesting article about Colleen Hoover. I haven’t read any of her books. Now, I’ll sure to give them a wide berth. Trivializing traumatic experiences, such as domestic violence, is not cool.
Before I knew who Colleen Hoover is, I read her novel Verity. I can’t tell you why without giving it away. But I really liked that novel for what it was–a topic of particular interest for me. Aside from that, I also intend to skip the rest of her work.