Book Recommendations

Just as holiday decorations appear earlier and earlier every year, The New York Times is getting an early start on making its gift-giving suggestions. So, with all proper fanfare, here are some of its lists: 100 Notable Books of 2008 This is the first page of a multi-page listing of books in the categories of

Book Recommendations: The Books That Changed Your Lives Here’s an interesting post for readers. Late last week the folks at Lifehacker asked readers to post about the books that have changed their lives. In this post they compile the top vote-getters. (Warning: One commenter said that the summaries give away too many plot points about

50 States of Literature: Heading On Down to Colorado | Columbia Spectator The Columbia Spectator cruises into Colorado with Kent Haruf’s novel Plainsong: Here, patches of snow sit among blue mounds of sandhill and dead sunflowers drop their loaded heads onto the black-top roads. In this atmosphere we find a land at once modernized and

50 States of Literature: Georgia On Our Minds | Columbia Spectator Tayari Jones’ debut, Leaving Atlanta, is set during the 1979 Atlanta Child Murders, at which time a total of 29 black children were killed. Three kids tell their stories: Tasha, struggling daily to stay in favor with her friends, Rodney, branded as too soft

50 States of Literature: Exploring in Maryland | Columbia Spectator Columbia Spectator‘s 50 States of Literature series continues with Anne Tyler’s novel A Patchwork Planet, where the main character, Barnaby Gaitlin, lives just outside of Baltimore: The quiet neighborhood outside of Baltimore serves to nestle Barnaby with its “big, tall spruce trees” and “damp, chilly

50 States of Literature: Meandering Through West Virginia | Columbia Spectator From the hills of West Virginia comes Ann Pancake’s debut Strange as This Weather Has Been, based on real events and interviews from an Appalachian mining town. Lace See and Jimmy Make fall in love in the era of the Buffalo Creek Disaster. Twenty