tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-85197291663496817962012-01-29T12:43:18.713-06:00Vivian Darkbloomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00890686845513992399noreply@blogger.comBlogger15071100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8519729166349681796.post-87864292932789044392012-01-29T00:34:00.000-06:002012-01-29T00:34:00.180-06:00

Timothy Snyder is professor of history at Yale University. His books include Bloodlands: Europe Between Hitler and Stalin. One book tagged in his dialogue with Alec Ash at The Browser about books on the experience of dissent in Central and Eastern Europe: The Book of Laughter and Forgetting by Milan Kundera Why did you choose Milan Kundera’s The Book of Laughter and Forgetting? Milan Kundera

Marshal Zeringuenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8519729166349681796.post-46619401093357647572012-01-28T01:11:00.000-06:002012-01-28T01:11:00.191-06:00

Susan J. Matt is Presidential Distinguished Professor of History at Weber State University in Ogden, Utah. She is the author of Keeping Up with the Joneses: Envy in American Consumer Society, 1890-1930 and Homesickness: An American History.For the Wall Street Journal, she named a five best list of books by the homesick.One title on the list:Desert Exileby Yoshiko Uchida (1982)In 1942, Yoshiko

Vivian Darkbloomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00890686845513992399noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8519729166349681796.post-63843035709264723792012-01-27T00:34:00.001-06:002012-01-27T00:34:00.659-06:00

At the Guardian, John Mullan named ten of the best seductions in literature.One novel on the list:Moll Flanders, by Daniel DefoeMoll looks back on her first steps in a career of sexual opportunism. It begins with the son of the woman for whom she works as a maidservant. He starts with mere flattery, throws in a few "earnest" kisses and then thrusts five guineas into her hand. "I was more

Vivian Darkbloomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00890686845513992399noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8519729166349681796.post-18644702116991833532012-01-26T01:11:00.000-06:002012-01-26T01:11:00.485-06:00

Ian Marchant's books include two acclaimed memoir/travel books, Parallel Lines and The Longest Crawl, and the recently released night-owl's guide to Britain, Something of the Night.One of his top ten books of the night, as told to the Guardian:Worst Journey in the World by Apsley Cherry-GarrardThis is an account of Scott's expedition of 1912, brilliantly written by one who was there. The title

Vivian Darkbloomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00890686845513992399noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8519729166349681796.post-71539706038605816642012-01-25T11:11:00.000-06:002012-01-25T11:11:00.245-06:00

Henry Alford has written for the New York Times and Vanity Fair for over a decade. He has also written for the New Yorker. It is entirely possible that you have heard him on National Public Radio. He is the author of a humor collection, Municipal Bondage, and of an account of his attempts to become a working actor, Big Kiss, which won a Thurber Prize. His book How to Live: A Search for Wisdom

Marshal Zeringuenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8519729166349681796.post-44673248024776628252012-01-25T00:34:00.000-06:002012-01-25T00:34:00.053-06:00

One title on the Barnes & Noble Review's list of five top books about mountaineering:Into Thin Airby Jon KrakauerKrakauer's unforgettable and unflinching page-turner set the standard for modern accounts of hubris colliding with the elements. It tells the story of the May 1996 disaster on Mount Everest that left eight people dead. Krakauer was on the mountain that fateful morning, and he shares

Marshal Zeringuenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8519729166349681796.post-45335108790631702332012-01-24T00:34:00.000-06:002012-01-24T00:34:00.319-06:00

Adam Roberts received his MA (English and Classics Jt-Hons) from Aberdeen University and his PhD (Robert Browning and the Classics) from Cambridge University. He has worked in the English Department at Royal Holloway, University of London, since 1991, and he is currently Professor of Nineteenth Century Literature.His books include The History of Science Fiction as well as numerous science fiction

Vivian Darkbloomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00890686845513992399noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8519729166349681796.post-52214464740445323332012-01-23T00:34:00.000-06:002012-01-23T00:34:00.098-06:00

One novel on the Barnes & Noble Review's list of five books on the Olympians:The Infinitiesby John BanvilleThe Greek pantheon has been the inspiration for a wide variety of recent works of fiction. In The Messenger of Athens, Ann Zouroudi introduced readers to Hermes Diaktoros, a detective of possibly divine origin. Dan Simmons imagined a race of "Post-Humans" taking on the personae of Zeus & Co.

Vivian Darkbloomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00890686845513992399noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8519729166349681796.post-7256457139867801742012-01-22T00:34:00.001-06:002012-01-22T00:34:00.177-06:00

Jeffrey T. Richelson is the author of several books on intelligence, including Defusing Armageddon: Inside NEST, America's Secret Nuclear Bomb Squad and Spying on the Bomb. He is currently a Senior Fellow with the National Security Archive.In 2008 he named a five best list of books on secret agents featured in series for the Wall Street Journal, including:Berlin Gameby Len DeightonIntelligence

Vivian Darkbloomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00890686845513992399noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8519729166349681796.post-38110440045248380892012-01-21T14:34:00.000-06:002012-01-21T14:34:00.501-06:00

Roman Krznaric is a cultural thinker and founding faculty member of The School of Life in London, which offers instruction and inspiration on the important questions of everyday life. He advises organizations including Oxfam and the United Nations on using empathy and conversation to create social change, and has been named by the Observer as one of Britain’s leading lifestyle philosophers.One of

Vivian Darkbloomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00890686845513992399noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8519729166349681796.post-90004091219456597522012-01-21T00:34:00.001-06:002012-01-21T00:34:00.208-06:00

R.J. Ellory's novels include the bestselling A Quiet Belief in Angels, which was the Strand Magazine's Thriller of the Year, nominated for the Barry Award, and a finalist for the SIBA Award. His novel, A Simple Act of Violence, won the Theakston's Crime Novel of the Year Award.He named his five best French noir novels for the Wall Street Journal.One title on the list:The Prone Gunmanby

Vivian Darkbloomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00890686845513992399noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8519729166349681796.post-37452336234349530062012-01-20T00:34:00.001-06:002012-01-20T00:34:00.218-06:00

Ian Stewart is Emeritus Professor of Mathematics at the University of Warwick. His many books include From Here to Infinity, Nature’s Numbers, Does God Play Dice?, The Problems of Mathematics, Letters to a Young Mathematician, and Why Beauty Is Truth. His writing has appeared in New Scientist, Discover, Scientific American, and many newspapers in the U.K. and U.S.His new book is In Pursuit of the

Vivian Darkbloomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00890686845513992399noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8519729166349681796.post-29285698954046018292012-01-19T00:34:00.000-06:002012-01-19T00:34:00.131-06:00

The Christian Science Monitor culled six novels about grand passions from Thomas Craughwell's Great Books for every Book Lover.One title on the list:Love in the Time of Cholera, by Gabriel García MárquezFirst published in Colombia, Marquez’s book takes place in an unidentified Caribbean port city. Young Florentino Ariza and Fermina Daza carry out an adolescent love affair through letters and

Vivian Darkbloomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00890686845513992399noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8519729166349681796.post-87755948778321368272012-01-18T00:34:00.000-06:002012-01-18T00:34:00.880-06:00

In 2007 Gemma Malley complied a top 10 list of dystopian novels for teenagers for the Guardian.One title on the list:Lord of the Flies by William GoldingA must read for all teenagers (and their parents) - Lord of the Flies is as relevant now as it was when it was written in the 1950s. A plane crash leaves a group of schoolboys stranded on a desert island - and what starts as a survival tale soon

Vivian Darkbloomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00890686845513992399noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8519729166349681796.post-53097154416994388782012-01-17T12:34:00.000-06:002012-01-17T12:34:00.279-06:00

Matthew O'Brien is an author and journalist who's lived in Las Vegas since 1997. His first book, Beneath the Neon: Life and Death in the Tunnels of Las Vegas, chronicles his adventures in the city's underground flood channels. His second book, My Week at the Blue Angel: And Other Stories from the Storm Drains, Strip Clubs, and Trailer Parks of Las Vegas, is a creative-nonfiction collection set in

Vivian Darkbloomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00890686845513992399noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8519729166349681796.post-86975861261597962942012-01-17T00:34:00.000-06:002012-01-17T00:34:01.198-06:00

One book on the Barnes & Noble Review's list of five books on the telephone:America Calling: A Social History of the Telephone to 1940by Claude S. FischerNow that phones go with us everywhere, it's hard to remember a time when we couldn't just call someone on a whim. Chronicling the early decades of telephone technology, Fischer, a sociology professor at UC-Berkeley, examines how its spread

Marshal Zeringuenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8519729166349681796.post-28841478982645579192012-01-16T00:34:00.000-06:002012-01-16T00:34:02.102-06:00

Hallie Ephron is an award-winning mystery reviewer for the Boston Globe. Her books include Come and Find Me, Never Tell a Lie, which was a finalist for the Mary Higgins Clark Award and was made into the film And Baby Will Fall for the Lifetime Movie Network, and Writing and Selling Your Mystery, which was nominated for both an Edgar and an Anthony Award.One of her ten best books for a good cry,

Vivian Darkbloomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00890686845513992399noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8519729166349681796.post-51257858737134247852012-01-15T00:34:00.001-06:002012-01-15T00:34:00.596-06:00

The staff of the Christian Science Monitor came up with ten of the best books about Martin Luther King, Jr., including: Bearing the Cross, by David Garrow Bearing the Cross: Martin Luther King, Jr., and the Southern Christian Leadership Conference by David Garrow (Harper Perennial Modern Classics, 800 pp.) is a raw glimpse of the man who led the Civil Rights Movement. The book does not

Marshal Zeringuenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8519729166349681796.post-16011534063724442552012-01-14T00:34:00.000-06:002012-01-14T00:34:00.429-06:00

Peter Boettke is professor of economics at George Mason University. His books include Why Perestroika Failed and, as editor, The Elgar Companion to Austrian Economics.He discussed five books on Austrian economics with Sophie Roell at The Browser.One title on the list:After Warby Christopher CoyneThe last book you’ve recommended is After War: The Political Economy of Exporting Democracy, by

Vivian Darkbloomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00890686845513992399noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8519729166349681796.post-51713493674121143652012-01-13T12:34:00.000-06:002012-01-13T12:34:00.274-06:00

Pico Iyer's new memoir is The Man Within My Head.He named his four favorite Graham Greene novels for The Daily Beast. One title on the list:Our Man in HavanaGreene could be wickedly funny, and part of the power of his work comes from a sense of P.G. Wodehouse bumping into Kafka. This story of a mild-mannered English vacuum-cleaner salesman in louche, 1950s Havana who is somehow chosen to be an

Vivian Darkbloomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00890686845513992399noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8519729166349681796.post-79397857597360955962012-01-13T00:34:00.000-06:002012-01-13T00:34:01.951-06:00

Sophie Gee is Associate Professor and Director of Undergraduate Studies in Princeton's English department.In 2007 she published her first novel, The Scandal of the Season, a comedy of manners set in eighteenth-century London, and a retelling of "The Rape of the Lock." The novel was named one of the Best Books of 2007 by the Washington Post and the Economist and is published in 13 countries.In

Vivian Darkbloomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00890686845513992399noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8519729166349681796.post-11024281061363974522012-01-12T00:34:00.000-06:002012-01-12T00:34:00.121-06:00

John Naughton is Vice-President of Wolfson College, Cambridge and Emeritus Professor of the Public Understanding of Technology at the Open University. He is also an Observer columnist and a prominent blogger at memex.naughtons.org. His new book is From Gutenberg to Zuckerberg: What You Really Need to Know About the Internet.One of Naughton's top ten books about the internet, as told to the

Vivian Darkbloomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00890686845513992399noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8519729166349681796.post-23571846020406576382012-01-11T16:04:00.000-06:002012-01-11T16:06:28.420-06:00

One title on the Barnes & Noble Review's list of five books on the civil rights movement: Parting the Waters: America in the King Years 1954-1963 by Taylor Branch The Civil Rights Movement was in many ways a grass-roots response to decades of oppression. But it was also the outcome of carefully orchestrated political actions and behind-the-scenes negotiations between leaders who collaborated --

Marshal Zeringuenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8519729166349681796.post-76791654053784473462012-01-11T00:34:00.001-06:002012-01-11T00:34:00.063-06:00

Toby Young is a British journalist and author of the memoir How to Lose Friends and Alienate People.One of his five top books on journalism, as told to Alec Ash at The Browser:Black Hawk Downby Mark BowdenAs a journalist who rarely leaves my desk, I don’t get an opportunity to do much reportage – but I get a vicarious thrill from reading it. Some of my favourite journalism books are examples of

Vivian Darkbloomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00890686845513992399noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8519729166349681796.post-17719664079428280742012-01-10T13:11:00.000-06:002012-01-10T13:11:00.717-06:00

One title on the Barnes & Noble Review's list of five books on Venice:Death at La Feniceby Donna LeonLeon's stylishly written, well-constructed, deliciously atmospheric mysteries--deftly set in modern Venice--offer sophisticated entertainment, with a detective, Commissario Guido Brunetti, who is the best of company (his wife Paola is a most engaging acquaintance as well). This is the first of the

Marshal Zeringuenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8519729166349681796.post-2502668414877968172012-01-10T00:34:00.000-06:002012-01-10T00:34:00.544-06:00

Megan Miranda was a scientist and high school teacher before writing her first novel Fracture, which came out of her fascination with scientific mysteries—especially those associated with the brain.Miranda has a BS in biology from MIT and spent her post-college years either rocking a lab coat or reading books. She lives near Charlotte, North Carolina, where she volunteers as an MIT Educational

Vivian Darkbloomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00890686845513992399noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8519729166349681796.post-25866740388250548492012-01-09T00:34:00.001-06:002012-01-09T00:34:00.381-06:00

Hallie Ephron is an award-winning mystery reviewer for the Boston Globe. Her books include Come and Find Me, Never Tell a Lie, which was a finalist for the Mary Higgins Clark Award and was made into the film And Baby Will Fall for the Lifetime Movie Network, and Writing and Selling Your Mystery, which was nominated for both an Edgar and an Anthony Award.One of her ten best books for a good laugh

Vivian Darkbloomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00890686845513992399noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8519729166349681796.post-48935899613301203902012-01-08T00:34:00.000-06:002012-01-08T00:34:01.077-06:00

At the Guardian, John Mullan named ten of the best clocks in literature.One entry on the list:The Great Gatsby by F Scott FitzgeraldHow many A-level essays have been written about the stopped clock on Nick's mantelpiece? Gatsby and Daisy are meeting again, the former leaning on the mantelpiece. "Luckily the clock took this moment to tilt dangerously at the pressure of his head, whereupon he

Vivian Darkbloomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00890686845513992399noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8519729166349681796.post-55093577252567791082012-01-07T01:23:00.000-06:002012-01-07T01:23:00.081-06:00

Samuel Morris Brown is Assistant Professor of Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine at the University of Utah/Intermountain Medical Center and the translator of Aleksandr Men's Son of Man.His new book is In Heaven as It Is on Earth: Joseph Smith and the Early Mormon Conquest of Death.For the Wall Street Journal, Brown named a five best list of books on Mormonism—its history, its meaning and its

Vivian Darkbloomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00890686845513992399noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8519729166349681796.post-70208874903912800262012-01-06T00:34:00.000-06:002012-01-06T00:34:00.319-06:00

William Boyd is the author of several critically acclaimed novels, including A Good Man in Africa, winner of the Whitbread and Somerset Maugham awards, and Any Human Heart, winner of the Prix Jean Monnet.With Toby Ash at The Browser, Boyd discussed five books and authors that inspired him, including:The Heart of the Matterby Graham GreeneYour next choice is The Heart of the Matter. This is the

Vivian Darkbloomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00890686845513992399noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8519729166349681796.post-79461781661069017752012-01-05T00:34:00.000-06:002012-01-05T00:34:00.254-06:00

Simon Lelic is a novelist. His books are Rupture [US title, A Thousand Cuts], The Facility and, out now in the U.K. and coming soon to the U.S., The Child Who. He lives in Brighton with his wife and two young boys.Megan Abbott, author of The End of Everything, on The Child Who: By page three, Simon Lelic’s harrowing and haunting novel The Child Who has you utterly in its snares. A daring writer

Vivian Darkbloomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00890686845513992399noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8519729166349681796.post-18620153649759509022012-01-04T00:34:00.002-06:002012-01-04T07:35:35.881-06:00

David W. Blight is Class of 1954 Professor of American History at Yale University. His books include American Oracle: The Civil War in the Civil Rights Era.For the Wall Street Journal, he named a five best list of novels about the Civil War era. One title on the list:All the King's Menby Robert Penn Warren (1946)Widely considered a book about the dark arts of politics, this work is at heart a

Vivian Darkbloomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00890686845513992399noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8519729166349681796.post-46800048578124422292012-01-03T00:34:00.000-06:002012-01-03T00:34:00.140-06:00

For the Christian Science Monitor, Molly Driscoll named five books that are sure to keep kids occupied during a journey.One title on the list:The Bippolo Seed and Other Lost Stories, by Dr. SeussIf your copies of "The Cat in the Hat" and "One Fish Two Fish Red Fish Blue Fish" are getting dog-eared but your child still wants more Seuss, this new collection of stories by the master – originally

Vivian Darkbloomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00890686845513992399noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8519729166349681796.post-26305275438967482792012-01-02T00:34:00.001-06:002012-01-02T05:01:47.966-06:00

Max Hastings's latest book is Inferno: The World at War, 1939-1945.One of his ten best books on war, as told to the Observer in 2010:Suite Française by Irène Némirovsky, 2004Wars are too often perceived simply as successions of campaigns and battles. Most are better examined in the Tolstoyan fashion, as vast human upheavals which inflict suffering on millions who are obliged to serve as hapless

Vivian Darkbloomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00890686845513992399noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8519729166349681796.post-11240303780324322492012-01-01T00:34:00.001-06:002012-01-01T00:34:01.106-06:00

At the Guardian, John Mullan named ten of the most notable New Years in literature.One novel on the list:The Children of Men by PD JamesIs this the glummest new year in recent fiction? On New Year's Day, 2021, "the last human being to be born on earth was killed in a pub brawl". He was 25, a significant age because, in James's dystopian tale, it has been 25 years since a pandemic made all human

Vivian Darkbloomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00890686845513992399noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8519729166349681796.post-3442189033608079772011-12-31T00:34:00.000-06:002011-12-31T00:34:00.284-06:00

John Gapper is chief business commentator of the Financial Times, where he writes a weekly column. He co-authored All That Glitters, an account of the collapse of Barings bank in 1995.One of his five top books on financial speculation, as told to Robert Cottrell at The Browser:Extraordinary Popular Delusions and the Madness of Crowdsby Charles Mackay[Y]our first book is Extraordinary Popular

Vivian Darkbloomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00890686845513992399noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8519729166349681796.post-6309984739346749092011-12-30T13:11:00.000-06:002011-12-30T13:11:00.645-06:00

One of Kirkus Reviews ten best debut fiction titles of 2011:This Burns My Heart by Samuel ParkLearn more about the book and author at Samuel Park's website and blog.The Page 69 Test: This Burns My Heart.Writers Read: Samuel Park.My Book, The Movie: This Burns My Heart.Read about the other books on the list.--Marshal Zeringue

Vivian Darkbloomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00890686845513992399noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8519729166349681796.post-13673375605691223592011-12-30T00:34:00.000-06:002011-12-30T00:34:01.238-06:00

One title on the Barnes & Noble Review's list of five books on Americans in Paris:A Moveable Feast: The Restored Editionby Ernest HemingwayErnest Hemingway decamped from Chicago to Paris in 1921 and quickly fell in with the expat literary scene ensconced there, mingling with the likes of F. Scott Fitzgerald, Ford Maddox Ford, Ezra Pound, and Gertrude Stein. Published posthumously in 1964, A

Vivian Darkbloomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00890686845513992399noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8519729166349681796.post-60967495047552195572011-12-29T13:23:00.000-06:002011-12-29T13:23:01.226-06:00

Kirkus Reviews named its ten best science fiction and fantasy titles of 2011.One book on the list:Scholar by L.E. Modesitt Jr.Read about the other books on the list.Learn more about the author and his work at L. E. Modesitt, Jr.'s website.The Page 69 Test: Scholar.Writers Read: L. E. Modesitt, Jr.--Marshal Zeringue

Vivian Darkbloomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00890686845513992399noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8519729166349681796.post-43228829534213627982011-12-29T00:34:00.000-06:002011-12-29T00:34:00.217-06:00

Daniel S. Hamermesh is Sue Killam Professor in the Foundation of Economics at the University of Texas at Austin and Professor of Labor Economics at Maastricht University. His most recent book is Beauty Pays: Why Attractive People Are More Successful.He shared five top books on "economics is fun" with Sophie Roell at The Browser, including:The Worldly Philosophersby Robert L HeilbronerLet’s go on

Vivian Darkbloomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00890686845513992399noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8519729166349681796.post-41616155484114741032011-12-28T14:34:00.000-06:002011-12-28T14:34:00.042-06:00

Kirkus Reviews named its best historical fiction titles of 2011.One book on the list:The Paris Wife by Paula McLainRead about the other titles on the list.About The Paris Wife, from the publisher:A deeply evocative story of ambition and betrayal, The Paris Wife captures a remarkable period of time and a love affair between two unforgettable people: Ernest Hemingway and his wife Hadley.Chicago,

Vivian Darkbloomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00890686845513992399noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8519729166349681796.post-56040387660733547052011-12-28T00:34:00.000-06:002011-12-28T00:34:00.340-06:00

At the Guardian, John Mullan named ten of the most memorable cardinals in literature.One entry on the list:Wolf Hall by Hilary MantelMantel's story of the reign of Henry VIII is told through the eyes of Thomas Cromwell, but the early chapters are dominated by Cardinal Wolsey, his tutor in the worldly arts of serving a prince. Even Cromwell, the man who will displace him, feels sympathy for

Vivian Darkbloomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00890686845513992399noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8519729166349681796.post-51590978789461248002011-12-27T14:22:00.000-06:002011-12-27T14:22:00.074-06:00

Kirkus Reviews named its five best fiction titles about love and family for 2011.One book on the list:The Sisters by Nancy JensenRead about the other titles on the list.Learn more about the book and author at Nancy Jensen's website.My Book, The Movie: The Sisters.Writers Read: Nancy Jensen.The Page 69 Test: The Sisters.--Marshal Zeringue

Vivian Darkbloomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00890686845513992399noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8519729166349681796.post-3405638115851039152011-12-27T00:34:00.001-06:002011-12-27T00:34:00.065-06:00

Simon Jenkins's new book is A Short History of England: The Glorious Story of a Rowdy Nation.He named a five best list of books about cities for the Wall Street Journal. One title on the list:The Death and Life of Great American Citiesby Jane Jacobs (1961)I still cannot walk down a city street without Jane Jacobs rushing up to me and shouting: "Look at that." It might be an incident on a

Vivian Darkbloomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00890686845513992399noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8519729166349681796.post-35092367964968794782011-12-26T15:03:00.000-06:002011-12-26T15:03:00.214-06:00

At The Daily Beast, Stefan Beck tagged twelve of the more unusual Christmas reads.One title on the list:Adalbert Stifter, Rock Crystal.The crown jewel of the Christmas bookshelf. Rock Crystal contains the most gorgeous descriptions of a frozen landscape you’re likely to encounter in any book, as well as the most affecting Christmas miracle in world literature. Adam Kirsch called it a “parable of

Vivian Darkbloomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00890686845513992399noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8519729166349681796.post-50567112284695195452011-12-26T00:34:00.000-06:002011-12-26T00:34:00.802-06:00

One title on the Barnes & Noble Review's list of five books on winter:Winter: Five Windows on the Seasonby Adam GopnikMight "winter" one day become a historical concept rather than an ordinary aspect of the year? Faced with the prospect of global warming, the New Yorker contributor and author of the bestselling Paris to the Moon delivers a stunning meditation on the season, a brilliant evocation

Vivian Darkbloomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00890686845513992399noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8519729166349681796.post-55092710019385417852011-12-25T00:34:00.000-06:002011-12-25T00:34:00.212-06:00

Greil Marcus's new book is The Doors: A Lifetime of Listening to Five Mean Years.One of the five books on rock music he discussed with Eve Gerber at The Browser:Bye Bye Babyby Caroline SullivanThe author of your next selection is a noted rock journalist. Tell us about Caroline Sullivan and Bye Bye Baby.Caroline Sullivan is an American woman who became a completely obsessive fan of the Bay City

Vivian Darkbloomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00890686845513992399noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8519729166349681796.post-30410875205121807262011-12-24T00:34:00.000-06:002011-12-24T00:34:00.833-06:00

Wade Davis is a scientist, anthropologist, and writer who received his Ph.D. in ethnobotany from Harvard University and has spent twenty-five years studying the plants, psychotropic drugs, and ceremonial rituals of indigenous cultures around the world. His books include The Serpent and the Rainbow, which was later released as a feature motion picture, and One River.His latest book is Into

Vivian Darkbloomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00890686845513992399noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8519729166349681796.post-41844234746265213392011-12-23T11:11:00.001-06:002011-12-23T11:11:00.999-06:00

At the Independent Sophie Batterbury picked the top photo books of the year. One title to make the grade: I was delighted to see that Kurt Tong's wonderful project In Case It Rains in Heaven became a book this year. It shows the paper offerings to the dead that are burnt in China by relatives. As western influence has spread, these have progressed from paper money to everyday objects....Read

Marshal Zeringuenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8519729166349681796.post-56744200934237873742011-12-22T23:11:00.000-06:002011-12-22T23:11:00.112-06:00

Bruce Forbes is professor of religious studies at Morningside College in Iowa, and the author of Christmas: A Candid History, co-editor of Rapture, Revelation, and the End Times, and co-editor of Religion and Popular Culture in America.One of five notable books on Christmas history he discussed with Alec Ash at The Browser:The Battle for Christmasby Stephen NissenbaumLet’s carry on telling the

Vivian Darkbloomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00890686845513992399noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8519729166349681796.post-8663304221074874552011-12-22T00:34:00.000-06:002011-12-22T00:34:00.354-06:00

Selma Dabbagh is a British Palestinian writer of fiction based in London.Her writing is mainly set in the contemporary Middle East. Recurring themes in her work are idealism (however futile), placelessness, political engagement (or lack thereof) and the impact of social conformity on individuals.Dabbagh’s first novel, Out of It, is being published by Bloomsbury (UK) this month; the US edition is

Vivian Darkbloomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00890686845513992399noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8519729166349681796.post-89720522742233005782011-12-21T00:21:00.001-06:002011-12-25T08:11:43.900-06:00

At the Guardian, John Mullan named ten of the most memorable coach rides in literature.One entry on the list:Madame Bovary by Gustave FlaubertThe erotic connotations of a coach are taken to a new extreme when our adulterous Normandy housewife has her assignation with Léon in Rouen. They meet at the cathedral and set off round the city in a coach with curtained windows. They drive round and round,

Vivian Darkbloomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00890686845513992399noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8519729166349681796.post-58628744323309791022011-12-20T13:23:00.000-06:002011-12-20T13:23:02.044-06:00

J. Kingston Pierce is both the editor of The Rap Sheet and the senior editor of January Magazine.One of his ten favorite crime novels of 2011:City of Secrets, by Kelli StanleyBeautiful but blasphemous San Francisco sleuth Miranda Corbie starts out trying to identify the murderer of a peep-show employee at her city’s 1940 world’s fair, a woman found desecrated with an anti-Jewish slur. Following a

Vivian Darkbloomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00890686845513992399noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8519729166349681796.post-67378629650947681222011-12-20T00:34:00.000-06:002011-12-20T00:34:00.472-06:00

Rana Mitter, Professor of the History and Politics of Modern China and Fellow of St Cross College, University of Oxford, is the author of Modern China: A Very Short Introduction.One of five top books on modern China he discussed with Alec Ash at The Browser:Call to Armsby Lu XunLet’s go back to the time when the Republic of China was still young, and around the time when China’s Communist Party

Vivian Darkbloomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00890686845513992399noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8519729166349681796.post-34917728913653141442011-12-19T14:34:00.000-06:002011-12-19T14:34:00.718-06:00

At Barnes & Noble, Paul Goat Allen named his favorite science fiction releases of 2011.One title on the list:Soft Apocalypse by Will McIntoshRead the rest of the list.Visit Will McIntosh's website.My Book, The Movie: Soft Apocalypse.Writers Read: Will McIntosh.--Marshal Zeringue

Vivian Darkbloomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00890686845513992399noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8519729166349681796.post-79495230113925950612011-12-19T00:34:00.000-06:002011-12-19T00:34:00.208-06:00

H.M. Castor is the author of more than forty books--fiction and non-fiction; VIII, her first novel for teenagers, was published this year.One of her top ten dark and haunted heroes and heroines, as told to the Guardian:The Vicomte de Valmont in Dangerous Liaisons by Pierre Choderlos de LaclosA thrilling page-turner written in 1782 entirely in letter form! By a soldier who only wrote one novel and

Vivian Darkbloomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00890686845513992399noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8519729166349681796.post-43635389517566672632011-12-18T03:45:00.000-06:002011-12-18T03:45:00.679-06:00

Judith Flanders's first book, A Circle of Sisters, the biography of four Victorian sisters, was published to great acclaim, and nominated for the Guardian First Book Award. In 2003, The Victorian House (2004 in the USA, as Inside the Victorian Home) received widespread praise, and was shortlisted for the British Book Awards History Book of the Year. In 2006 Consuming Passions, was published. Her

Vivian Darkbloomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00890686845513992399noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8519729166349681796.post-78298672717719882242011-12-17T12:34:00.001-06:002011-12-17T12:34:00.497-06:00

Lev Grossman is the author of The Magicians and The Magician King, which were both New York Times bestsellers. He also writes about books and technology for Time magazine. One of his five favorite fantasy novels, as told to Sophie Roell at The Browser: A Wizard of Earthsea by Ursula K Le Guin It was published in 1968 and it was a revelation for fantasy readers, and possibly a revolution. In Le

Marshal Zeringuenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8519729166349681796.post-42252768235487953002011-12-17T00:34:00.001-06:002011-12-17T00:34:00.188-06:00

The staff of the Christian Science Monitor came up with five of the best books on John Lennon.One title on the list:Lennon: The Man, The Myth, The Music, by Tim RileyThis recent biography by Tim Riley explores Lennon from his childhood beginnings to his tragic end and draws on previously unseen or under-utilized materials, including the memoir of Lennon's father Alf, new records from the city of

Marshal Zeringuenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8519729166349681796.post-67264053220659847222011-12-16T00:34:00.001-06:002011-12-16T00:34:00.775-06:00

At io9, Charlie Jane Anders tagged ten satirical novels that could teach you to survive the future.One novel on the list:The Hitchhiker's Guide to the GalaxyDouglas Adams' masterwork starts as a satire on bureaucracy — Arthur Dent's house is going to be demolished by a hidebound council, and then the same fate befalls the whole planet, thanks to the hideous Vogons. But H2G2 becomes a much broader

Vivian Darkbloomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00890686845513992399noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8519729166349681796.post-36842874884857066432011-12-15T00:34:00.000-06:002011-12-15T00:34:00.449-06:00

One title on the Barnes & Noble Review's list of five books on hell:The Living Endby Stanley ElkinWhen Elkin's protagonist, Ellerbee, gets killed in his Minneapolis liquor store at the start of this 1979 comic novel her finds himself in heaven. But it's not long before he's sent down to the other place, where a whole new lifetime awaits. While Ellerbee's quest says something about human

Vivian Darkbloomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00890686845513992399noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8519729166349681796.post-8249250596975773432011-12-14T00:34:00.001-06:002011-12-14T00:34:01.181-06:00

Mary Hoffman has written more than 70 books for children, and her powers of observation bring vitality and humor to all her stories and retellings.Her books include Henry's Baby and A First Bible Story Book. Hoffman's best-known picture books are Amazing Grace, Three Wise Women, and An Angel Just Like Me.Her new book is Grace at Christmas.One of Hoffman's top ten Christmas books for children, as

Vivian Darkbloomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00890686845513992399noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8519729166349681796.post-83180746453300914372011-12-13T00:34:00.000-06:002011-12-13T00:34:00.367-06:00

At the Guardian, John Mullan named ten of the most memorable governesses in literature.One entry on the list:Vanity Fair by William Makepeace ThackerayIt seems to be Becky Sharp's fate to be a governess: she is clever, educated and impecunious, so she takes a job in the household of Sir Pitt Crawley. But she has ideas well above this modest station and has soon used her intimacy with the family

Vivian Darkbloomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00890686845513992399noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8519729166349681796.post-27466647179790327512011-12-12T00:34:00.000-06:002011-12-12T00:34:00.551-06:00

Philip Gross is a writer of many parts, author of poetry, fiction and drama for children and adults and Professor of Creative Writing at Glamorgan University.One entry on his list of favorite writings from the edge of language, as told to the Guardian:Jabberwocky by Lewis CarrollCompulsively memorable, in spite of the fact that half the words are invented, this poem speaks to children and adults

Vivian Darkbloomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00890686845513992399noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8519729166349681796.post-31645457257518152002011-12-11T00:34:00.000-06:002011-12-11T00:34:00.570-06:00

An eminent historian of film, Steven J. Ross is recipient of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences' Films Scholars Award and author of the prize-winning book, Working-Class Hollywood: Silent Film and the Shaping of Class in America.His new book is Hollywood Left and Right: How Movie Stars Shaped American Politics.At the Wall Street Journal, Ross named a list of the five best books about

Vivian Darkbloomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00890686845513992399noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8519729166349681796.post-65563226743972209402011-12-10T00:34:00.001-06:002011-12-10T00:34:00.248-06:00

Dagoberto Gilb's books include The Flowers, Gritos, Woodcuts of Women, The Last Known Residence of Mickey Acuña, The Magic of Blood, which won the PEN/Hemingway Award, and the newly released story collection Before the End, After the Beginning. Gilb is the recipient of a Guggenheim Fellowship, and has been a finalist for both the PEN/Faulkner and National Book Critics Circle Award.One of his six

Vivian Darkbloomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00890686845513992399noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8519729166349681796.post-82125874256643274992011-12-09T15:45:00.000-06:002011-12-09T15:45:00.459-06:00

One title on the Barnes & Noble Review's list of five books on ruling women:The Tigress of Forli: Renaissance Italy's Most Courageous and Notorious Countess, Caterina Riario Sforza de' Mediciby Elizabeth LevIn this thrill-a-minute, jaw-dropping life of Caterina Sforza (1463 - 1509), female ruler of the province of Forlì, Elizabeth Lev puts us in the shoes of a Renaissance woman wielding

Vivian Darkbloomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00890686845513992399noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8519729166349681796.post-18581455939261719782011-12-09T00:34:00.000-06:002011-12-09T00:34:00.082-06:00

At The Daily Beast Caryn James named five top recent novels that channel classics.One book on the list:What Happened to Anna K.by Irina ReynReyn’s stunning first novel, published in 2008, deserves to be better known. The title signals her affection for Tolstoy as she shrewdly turns Anna Karenina and her family into Russian emigres living in Queens.Like Anna Karenina, Reyn’s story sympathetically

Vivian Darkbloomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00890686845513992399noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8519729166349681796.post-55591777613467254812011-12-08T00:34:00.000-06:002011-12-08T00:34:00.608-06:00

At io9 Annalee Newitz tagged ten great American dystopias, including:NeuromancerWilliam Gibson's 1984 novel revolutionized science fiction and popularized the subgenre of cyberpunk. What truly blew readers away was Gibson's vision of a future where governments have crumbled and multinational corporations rule the Earth from orbital mansions. This same worldview was realized in visual form in

Vivian Darkbloomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00890686845513992399noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8519729166349681796.post-1629810678920140032011-12-07T00:34:00.001-06:002011-12-07T00:34:01.252-06:00

At the Guardian, John Mullan named ten of the most memorable hunting scenes in literature.One entry on the list:Daniel Deronda by George EliotEarly in the novel, sexy Gwendolen goes hunting for the first time with her cousin Rex, who fancies her. "Gwendolen felt no check on the animal stimulus that came from the stir and tongue of the hounds, the pawing of the horses, the varying voices of men."

Vivian Darkbloomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00890686845513992399noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8519729166349681796.post-9198903311472979182011-12-06T11:11:00.000-06:002011-12-06T11:11:01.271-06:00

Tomatoland, Barry Estabrook’s book about how industrial agriculture has ruined the tomato in all ways–gastronomic, environmental, and in terms of labor abuse–was published in the summer of 2011.Estabrook blogs at politics of the plate.One of his top five books on food production, as told to Daisy Banks at The Browser:Four Fishby Paul GreenbergFour Fish by Paul Greenberg takes us to the ocean to

Vivian Darkbloomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00890686845513992399noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8519729166349681796.post-22258330168292213592011-12-06T00:34:00.000-06:002011-12-06T00:34:00.571-06:00

Jack Jacobs is one of 144 Medal of Honor recipients featured in Medal of Honor, a new book of photographs and profiles assembled to commemorate the medal's 150th anniversary.One of Jacobs's six favorite books about war, as told to The Week magazine:The Killer Angels by Michael ShaaraGettysburg was not just another battle in history: It forever changed the life of this country. Some 50,000

Vivian Darkbloomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00890686845513992399noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8519729166349681796.post-81777654096912153902011-12-05T00:34:00.001-06:002011-12-05T00:34:01.126-06:00

For The Observer, Euan Ferguson came up with a list of the ten best fictional sleuths.One entry on the list:The Continental OpDashiell HammettI’ve gone for this Man With No Name rather than Philip Marlowe and his unbeatable one-liners because, evocative though Raymond Chandler’s antihero is, Marlowe too often shot first and asked questions afterwards. Hammett (pictured) gave us a wise and

Vivian Darkbloomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00890686845513992399noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8519729166349681796.post-57442935736368907002011-12-04T00:34:00.000-06:002011-12-04T00:34:00.604-06:00

One title on the Barnes & Noble Review's list of five books on dangerous minds:Éminenceby Jean-Vincent BlanchardThough the name Cardinal Richelieu was made most famous -- or infamous -- through Alexandre Dumas' fictional rendering of him as the power behind the Bourbon throne, the real Armand-Jean du Plessis proves a fascinatingly many-sided figure in Jean-Vincent Blanchard's new study. A

Vivian Darkbloomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00890686845513992399noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8519729166349681796.post-17500004050746504752011-12-03T01:11:00.000-06:002011-12-03T01:11:00.083-06:00

Caroline Moorehead's latest book is A Train in Winter: An Extraordinary Story of Women, Friendship, and Resistance in Occupied France.One of her five best books on the French Resistance, as told to the Wall Street Journal:Journalby Hélène Berr (2008)When Hélène Berr began her diary in April 1942, she was 21, a clever young Jewish woman who had recently graduated from the Sorbonne and played the

Vivian Darkbloomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00890686845513992399noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8519729166349681796.post-45382957919199340802011-12-02T00:34:00.000-06:002011-12-02T00:34:00.054-06:00

Harry Mount is a journalist, author and editor of the Notting Hill Editions Journal, which commissions a new essay every week.One of his top ten essays, as told to the Guardian:Truman Capote, "The Duke in his Domain" (1957)Capote is best remembered for his novels, but his non-fiction was exceptional: acidly witty, to the point of nastiness; hyper-observational, to the point of even deeper

Vivian Darkbloomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00890686845513992399noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8519729166349681796.post-16630822021104881072011-12-01T00:34:00.000-06:002011-12-01T00:34:00.185-06:00

Nick Crane is a cartographer, explorer, writer and television presenter in the UK. In 1992–3, he walked across Europe, from the Atlantic Ocean to the Black Sea.His latest book is Barefoot Books World Atlas.One of Crane's top ten books about the planet, as told to the Guardian:A Short History of Nearly Everything by Bill BrysonBill's a national treasure, though we've borrowed him really, because

Vivian Darkbloomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00890686845513992399noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8519729166349681796.post-56376598503819543092011-11-30T00:34:00.000-06:002011-11-30T00:34:00.435-06:00

At io9, Charlie Jane Anders tagged ten vampire stories that are more romantic than Breaking Dawn.One book on her list:Interview with the VampireWhat it's about: Louis is fascinated by the beautiful, angelic Lestat — until Lestat turns Louis into a vampire, and Louis has to come to terms with an eternity of feeding off blood. Louis and Lestat are inseparable companions, until Louis eventually

Vivian Darkbloomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00890686845513992399noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8519729166349681796.post-16601199397172396862011-11-29T00:34:00.000-06:002011-11-29T00:34:00.477-06:00

Conn Iggulden is a bestselling author of historical fiction for adults and co-author with his brother Hal of The Dangerous Book for Boys. His Tollins books, about the adventures of tiny creatures with wings who aren't fairies and are about as fragile as a house brick, are his first foray into children's fiction.One of his top ten books about tiny people, as told to the Guardian:Gulliver's Travels

Vivian Darkbloomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00890686845513992399noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8519729166349681796.post-45951693274168508232011-11-28T00:34:00.000-06:002011-11-28T00:34:00.176-06:00

At the Guardian, John Mullan named ten of the best libraries in literature.One entry on the list:Possession by AS ByattThis story of the secrets of long-dead writers opens in the London Library, where Roland Michell discovers (in an edition of Vico) the manuscript drafts of a letter from the famous poet Randolph Ash to an unknown woman. He decides to smuggle the papers out past the library's

Vivian Darkbloomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00890686845513992399noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8519729166349681796.post-23657570923670870052011-11-27T00:34:00.001-06:002011-11-27T00:34:00.649-06:00

Allen M. Hornblum has been executive director of Americans for Democratic Action, chief of staff of the Philadelphia Sheriff’s Office, and a college lecturer. His books include Sentenced to Science, Acres of Skin, Confessions of a Second Story Man, and The Invisible Harry Gold: The Man Who Gave the Soviets the Atom Bomb.One of his five best books on Soviet espionage, as told to the Wall Street

Vivian Darkbloomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00890686845513992399noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8519729166349681796.post-59231690885407753492011-11-26T14:34:00.000-06:002011-11-26T14:34:00.510-06:00

Brooke Hauser has written for the New York Times, Los Angeles Times, Allure, and Premiere, among other publications.For several years, she covered the film industry as Writer-at-Large at Premiere, where she was also an editor. In 2005, her interest in profiling characters not usually featured in the mainstream media led her to the City section of the New York Times. For her first story, which was

Vivian Darkbloomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00890686845513992399noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8519729166349681796.post-63908132662663268392011-11-26T00:34:00.000-06:002011-11-26T00:34:00.652-06:00

One title on the Barnes & Noble Review's list of five books on dogs:Rin Tin Tin: The Life and the Legendby Susan OrleanCorporal Lee Duncan, once an orphan, discovered fellow castoff Rin Tin Tin on a World War I battlefield in 1918 and brought him back to America, where he made the dog a Hollywood icon that still resonates deeply. Blending comprehensive research with penetrating thought into the

Vivian Darkbloomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00890686845513992399noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8519729166349681796.post-1784187720239567322011-11-25T00:34:00.000-06:002011-11-25T00:34:00.213-06:00

In the 1970s and 1980s, Nile Rodgers wrote and produced the songs that defined that era and everything that came after: “Le Freak,” “Good Times,” “We Are Family,” “Like a Virgin,” “Modern Love,” “I’m Coming Out,” “The Reflex,” “Rapper’s Delight.” Aside from his own band, Chic, he worked with everyone from Diana Ross and Madonna to David Bowie and Duran Duran (not to mention Mick Jagger, Debbie

Vivian Darkbloomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00890686845513992399noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8519729166349681796.post-38522147563647551752011-11-24T13:23:00.002-06:002011-11-24T13:23:00.159-06:00

Colin Calloway is Professor of Native American Studies at Dartmouth.With Eve Gerber at The Browser, he discussed five books on Native Americans and colonizers, including:Custer Died for Your Sinsby Vine Deloria JrLet’s take a detour from straight history to discuss Custer Died for Your Sins: An Indian Manifesto from 1969 by Vine Deloria Jr. What is this book about and why is it so important to

Vivian Darkbloomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00890686845513992399noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8519729166349681796.post-64200874707479461192011-11-24T00:34:00.002-06:002011-11-24T00:34:00.485-06:00

Carne Ross, a former British diplomat, is currently on Occupy Wall Street’s general assembly. His latest book, The Leaderless Revolution, explores alternative systems of organizing world affairs, in particular anarchism.He discussed five books on leaderless revolution with Eve Gerber at The Browser, including:Homage to Cataloniaby George OrwellLet’s turn to George Orwell’s account of what he saw

Vivian Darkbloomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00890686845513992399noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8519729166349681796.post-7770832188107426052011-11-23T00:34:00.000-06:002011-11-23T00:34:00.535-06:00

Stella Tillyard, author of the novel Tides of War, named her four favorite historical novels at The Daily Beast, including:War and Peaceby Leo TolstoyWell, I can’t not have it. Still the greatest novel ever written; still, for me, full of undiscovered treasures after five readings. Another characteristic of great historical novels is that they transcend not only their ostensible subject matter—in

Vivian Darkbloomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00890686845513992399noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8519729166349681796.post-89258701535405750772011-11-22T00:34:00.000-06:002011-11-22T00:34:00.792-06:00

For the Christian Science Monitor, Molly Driscoll named "six novels that explore a slightly alternate version of very familiar events," including:11/22/63, by Stephen KingThe horror author's new novel tells the story of Jake Epping, who is let in on the secret of a time-travel portal inside a local diner by its dying owner. The owner, Al, asks Epping to go back in time and complete one very

Marshal Zeringuenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8519729166349681796.post-22073344451333467522011-11-21T00:34:00.001-06:002011-11-21T00:34:00.079-06:00

Larry McMurtry is the author of twenty-nine novels, including the Pulitzer Prize-winning Lonesome Dove. His other works include two collections of essays, three memoirs, and more than thirty screenplays, including the coauthorship of Brokeback Mountain, for which he received an Academy Award.His new novel is The Berrybender Narratives.One of McMurtry's five best travel books, as told to the Wall

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At the Guardian, John Mullan named ten of the best titles in the form of questions.One entry on the list:Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? by Philip K DickIn a world after nuclear war, humans and animals are poisoned by fallout. Humans have made android animals to remind them of life on Earth before the cataclysm. Synthetic humans, lacking only the capacity for empathy, labour on Mars, but

Vivian Darkbloomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00890686845513992399noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8519729166349681796.post-12839269563315024552011-11-19T00:34:00.001-06:002011-11-19T00:34:00.220-06:00

Ann Beattie's new book is Mrs. Nixon: A Novelist Imagines a Life.One of Beattie's six favorite books, as told to The Week magazine:Not-Knowing by Donald BarthelmeA somewhat abashed sensualist who could be very, very skeptical, Barthelme was a brilliant thinker — probing, with the tool of words, for the meaning of visual things. He approached the world through all his senses.Read about the other

Vivian Darkbloomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00890686845513992399noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8519729166349681796.post-49973336729948408482011-11-18T00:34:00.000-06:002011-11-18T00:34:00.066-06:00

Alan Charles Kors is a professor of history at the University of Pennsylvania and editor in chief of the Encyclopedia of the Enlightenment (Oxford). In 2008 he named five essential works about fanaticism for the Wall Street Journal.One title on the list:The Education of a True Believerby Lev KopelevBy the 20th century, in Europe at least, it was political, not religious, superstition that

Vivian Darkbloomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00890686845513992399noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8519729166349681796.post-75144390967678043432011-11-17T00:34:00.001-06:002011-11-17T00:34:00.195-06:00

Michel Schneider has written on psychoanalysis, Baudelaire, Proust, Schumann and Glenn Gould. His latest novel is Marilyn's Last Sessions.For the Guardian he selected a top ten list of books on Marilyn Monroe, including:Blonde by Joyce Carol OatesGuess who Blonde is? She has no name in this compelling 700-plus-page novel based on Monroe's life. Only great writers have the talent to let us imagine

Vivian Darkbloomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00890686845513992399noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8519729166349681796.post-75016313132575055122011-11-16T00:34:00.002-06:002011-11-16T00:34:00.478-06:00

Norman M. Naimark presently holds the Robert and Florence McDonnell Chair in East European History at Stanford University.His books include a major study of the Soviet occupation of Germany, The Russians in Germany (Harvard 1995), a comparative study of ethnic cleansing and genocide in 20th Century Europe, Fires of Hatred (Harvard 2001), and Stalin's Genocides (Princeton, 2010).One of five books

Vivian Darkbloomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00890686845513992399noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8519729166349681796.post-4728726718121097802011-11-15T00:34:00.000-06:002011-11-15T00:34:00.865-06:00

Mark Whitaker is Executive Vice President and Managing Editor of CNN Worldwide, in charge of directing reporting and editorial content for America's largest global television network. He was previously the Washington Bureau Chief for NBC News and a reporter and editor at Newsweek, where he rose to become the first African-American leader of a national newsweekly.His new book is My Long Trip

Vivian Darkbloomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00890686845513992399noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8519729166349681796.post-50035157875537888782011-11-14T00:34:00.002-06:002011-11-14T00:34:00.571-06:00

Anne Enright is a Booker Prize-winning Irish author. She has published essays, short stories, a non-fiction book and four novels. Before her novel The Gathering won the 2007 Man Booker Prize, Enright had a low profile in Ireland and the United Kingdom, although her books were favorably reviewed and widely praised.Her latest novel is The Forgotten Waltz.One of her five best books with a love

Vivian Darkbloomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00890686845513992399noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8519729166349681796.post-49116290145091200192011-11-13T00:34:00.001-06:002011-11-13T00:34:00.673-06:00

At the Guardian, John Mullan named ten of the best sentences as book titles.One novel on the list:Never Let Me Go, by Kazuo IshiguroYou cannot guess the meaning of Ishiguro's title until you read the book. Kathy H recalls her days at a very special school, whose pupils have been selected by criteria that slowly become clear. The title is the refrain of an old pop song with which the narrator

Vivian Darkbloomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00890686845513992399noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8519729166349681796.post-13524833855733044822011-11-12T00:34:00.000-06:002011-11-12T00:34:00.536-06:00

Liz Pichon is an award-winning children's book author and illustrator. Her illustrations for Twilight Verses and Moonlight Rhymes won a National Parenting Association Award. Her first illustrated story for older readers, The Brilliant World of Tom Gates, won the 2011 Roald Dahl funny prize. Pichon has also written and illustrated Square Eyed Pat and My Big Brother Boris, a Smarties Book Prize

Vivian Darkbloomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00890686845513992399noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8519729166349681796.post-79717083720711258552011-11-11T00:34:00.000-06:002011-11-11T00:34:01.206-06:00

Dan Rhodes is the author of Little Hands Clapping, Anthropology, Timoleon Vieta Come Home, and Gold, a tale of a Japanese woman finding her place in a small, Welsh seaside community. It is a short book and, according to the book's publisher, read it and "you'll laugh, probably cry and you'll be finished in time to go to the pub."In 2007, Rhodes named his top 10 short books for the Guardian.

Vivian Darkbloomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00890686845513992399noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8519729166349681796.post-78390558366313117722011-11-10T00:34:00.000-06:002011-11-10T00:34:00.158-06:00

Heather Brooke is a journalist and freedom of information campaigner. Her books include The Revolution Will Be Digitalised.One of her top five books on holding power to account, as told to Daisy Banks at The Browser:Animal Farmby George OrwellYour first choice is George Orwell’s allegorical Animal Farm.It was a toss-up between Animal Farm and 1984. I picked Animal Farm because it is an allegory

Vivian Darkbloomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00890686845513992399noreply@blogger.com