Five notable books about the Olympics

One title on the Barnes & Noble Review's list of five top books on the Olympics:

The Boys of Winter
by Wayne Coffey

The "Miracle on Ice," or the surprise victory of the 1980 U.S. Olympic hockey team against the Soviet Union, has become synonymous with an underdog romanticism and the triumph of Western capitalism over communist ideals. But what of the ramshackle, blue-collar bunch who just wanted to play a good game of hockey? Wayne Coffey delves into the unlikely team’s back-story in The Boys of Winter, sketching intimate portraits of the players, coach Herb Brooks, and even the Russian opponents, paralyzed with disbelief at a match that had appeared a guaranteed win.

Read about the other entries on the list.

--Marshal Zeringue

The six most momentous weddings in fiction

At The Barnes & Noble Book Blog Becky Ferreira tagged her six most momentous weddings in fiction, including:

The Rochester/Eyre Wedding in Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë

Jane and Mr. Rochester have the perfect romance…that is, until their wedding day. As they are exchanging vows, a man in the crowd objects to the marriage, claiming that Rochester is already married to his sister. Awk-ward. As with Claudio and Hero [from Much Ado About Nothing, by William Shakespeare], the second time is the charm for these lovebirds.

Read about the other weddings on the list.

Jane Eyre also made Molly Schoemann-McCann's list of five of the best--and more familiar--tropes in fiction, Julia Sawalha's six best books list, Honeysuckle Weeks's six best books list, Kathryn Harrison's list of six favorite books with parentless protagonists, Megan Abbott's top ten list of novels of teenage friendship, a list of Bettany Hughes's six best books, the Guardian's top 10 lists of "outsider books" and "romantic fiction;" it appears on Lorraine Kelly's six best books list, Esther Freud's top ten list of love stories, and Jessica Duchen's top ten list of literary Gypsies, and on John Mullan's lists of ten of the best governesses in literature, ten of the best men dressed as women, ten of the best weddings in literature, ten of the best locked rooms in literature, ten of the best pianos in literature, ten of the best breakfasts in literature, ten of the best smokes in fiction, and ten of the best cases of blindness in literature. It is one of Kate Kellaway's ten best love stories in fiction.

The Page 99 Test: Jane Eyre.

--Marshal Zeringue

Eleven books that will make you glad you're single

At The Barnes & Noble Book Blog, Chrissie Gruebel tagged eleven books that will make you glad you're single, including:

A Confederacy of Dunces, by John Kennedy Toole

Because you don’t actually like people all that much and have often thought you’re surrounded by idiots. Read this and laugh, laugh, laugh at the peasants.

Read about the other books on the list.

Ignatius Reilly is on Melissa Albert's list of six of the worst fictional characters to sit next to on a plane and Jill Boyd's list of five of the worst fictional characters to invite to Thanksgiving. A Confederacy of Dunces is among the Telegraph's critics' fifty best cult books, Melissa Albert's eight favorite fictional misfits, Ken Jennings's eight notable books about parents and kids, Sarah Stodol's top ten lost-then-found novels, Hallie Ephron's top ten books for a good laugh, Stephen Kelman's top 10 outsiders' stories, John Mullan's ten best moustaches in literature, Michael Lewis's five favorite books, and Cracked magazine's classic funny novels.

--Marshal Zeringue

Isabel Allende's six favorite books

Isabel Allende's new novel, Ripper, is a murder mystery that's set in San Francisco and features a teenage sleuth.

One of the author's six favorite books, as shared at The Week magazine:

The Road by Cormac McCarthy

Among the thousands of apocalyptic futuristic novels in existence, this one stands out as the most depressing. Yet it is so beautifully crafted that I have read it three times. In McCarthy's tale, the love of a father for his son sheds the only light in the midst of supreme horror and darkness. What a writer!

Read about the other entries on the list. 

The Road appears on the Telegraph's list of the 15 most depressing books, Joseph D’Lacey's top ten list of horror books, the Barnes & Noble Review's list of five unforgettable fathers from fiction, Ken Jennings's list of eight top books about parents and kids, Anthony Horowitz's top ten list of apocalypse books, Karen Thompson Walker's list of five notable "What If?" books, John Mullan's list of ten of the top long walks in literature, Tony Bradman's top ten list of father and son stories, Ramin Karimloo's six favorite books list, Jon Krakauer's five best list of books about mortality and existential angst, William Skidelsky's list of the top ten most vivid accounts of being marooned in literature, Liz Jensen's top 10 list of environmental disaster stories, the Guardian's list of books to change the climate, David Nicholls' top ten list of literary tear jerkers, and the Times (of London) list of the 100 best books of the decade. In 2009 Sam Anderson of New York magazine claimed "that we'll still be talking about [The Road] in ten years."

--Marshal Zeringue

Five great novels set in hot places

At The Barnes & Noble Book Blog Allegra Frazier tagged five top books to remind you of warmer climes, including:

The Poisonwood Bible, by Barbara Kingsolver

This novel follows the growth of the four daughters of the Price family. Having left the sweltering heat of Georgia for the even more sweltering heat of the Belgian Congo with all of their belongings packed in carry-on bags, the girls adapt to Congolese culture in a way that their strict Southern Baptist father cannot. Narrated alternately by each child, Poisonwood will leave you with visions of crocodile-filled rivers, sunshiny days, and purposeful young women.

Read about the other novels on the list.

The Poisonwood Bible appears on Segun Afolabi's top ten list of "on the move" books and John Mullan's list of ten of the best snakes in literature.

--Marshal Zeringue

Four books that will make you glad you are alive now

At The Barnes & Noble Book Blog Melissa Albert highlighted four books that will make you glad you are alive now (and not in the past or the future). One entry on the list:

A Highly Unlikely Scenario, by Rachel Cantor

Leonard is what you’d call a highly devoted employee, having created a special whitewashed room for contemplation and customer complaints, the two tasks he’s charged with as an employee of delivery chain Neetsa Pizza. In Cantor’s future America, religion, food supply, and the ruling class have amalgamated into one odd entity, an array of fast food chains that are at war with each other and ripe for subordination. Though he wants nothing more than to keep his job and be a good uncle to his nephew, Felix, Leonard becomes an unlikely hero, trading his whitewashed room for the unfriendly outside world, and traveling through time to an even more dangerous past.

Read about the other books on the list.

Check out Cantor's list of the ten worst jobs in books.

The Page 69 Test: A Highly Unlikely Scenario.

--Marshal Zeringue

Top ten cats in children's books

Pip Jones is a London-based feature writer, columnist, editor and children's author. Her latest book is Squishy McFluff: The Invisible Cat!.

For the Guardian, Jones named her top ten cats in children's books, including:

Mog by Judith Kerr

The Mog books have been enjoyed by countless children since the 1970s but, just over a decade ago, Judith Kerr did something rather brave with her adored feline – she sent Mog to heaven. Mog helps a new kitten settle in to the family home before ascending completely, and it's hard to imagine anyone else tackling the sensitive subject of loss quite so straightforwardly and yet quite so gently.

Read about the other cats on the list.

--Marshal Zeringue

Ten top books set in London

At The Barnes & Noble Book Blog, Chrissie Gruebel tagged ten top books set in London, including:

Great Expectations, by Charles Dickens

Low-hanging fog + cobblestone streets + orphans + hilarious.

Read about the other books on the list.

Great Expectations appears on Melissa Albert's list of five interesting fictional characters who would make undesirable roommates, Janice Clark's list of seven top novels about the horrors of adolescence, Amy Wilkinson's list of five books Kate Middleton should have read while waiting to give birth, Kate Clanchy's top ten list of novels that reflect the real qualities of adolescence, Joseph Olshan's list of six favorite books, John Mullan's lists of ten of the best clocks in literature, ten of the best appropriate deaths in literature, ten of the best castles in literature, ten of the best Hamlets, ten of the best card games in literature, and ten best list of fights in fiction. It also made Tony Parsons' list of the top ten troubled males in fiction, David Nicholls' top ten list of literary tear jerkers, and numbers among Kurt Anderson's five most essential books. The novel is #1 on Melissa Katsoulis' list of "twenty-five films that made it from the book shelf to the box office with credibility intact."

Read an 1861 review of "Great Expectations".

Also see: Ten of the best books set in London.

--Marshal Zeringue

Seven great autobiographies by entertainers

At The Barnes & Noble Book Blog Matt Kraus tagged seven great autobiographies by entertainers, including:

Born Standing Up, by Steve Martin

At the height of his fame, Martin performed in front of crowds large enough to make rock stars jealous, and his book Born Standing Up provides a fascinating look at what led up to that fame, then what caused him to eventually step down from the stage. Martin talks not just about his career in show business, but also his early experiences at theme parks like Disneyland and Knott’s Berry Farm. Many fans were disappointed when he retired from standup in the early 80s, but Born Standing Up is a superb record of how he came to that decision.

Read about the other entries on the list.

Born Standing Up made Whitney Collins's list of five books to read when you need a good laugh and Will Dean's reading list on stand-up comedy.

--Marshal Zeringue

Charles Kenny's six favorite books

Charles Kenny, previously a senior economist at the World Bank, is now a senior fellow at the Center for Global Development and a columnist for Bloomberg Businessweek and Foreign Policy magazines.

Kenny's new book is The Upside of Down: Why the Rise of the Rest is Good for the West.

One of his six favorite books, as shared at The Week magazine:

Happiness: A History by Darrin M. McMahon

Before asking whether humanity is "doing better" today, it's best to ask, "better at what?" McMahon tackles that question through a beautiful, accessible history of thought about the life well-lived — what it is that people through the ages have said they're striving for.

Read about the other books on the list.

The Page 69 Test: Happiness: A History.

--Marshal Zeringue

Nine top books about horses

At The Barnes & Noble Book Blog Molly Schoemann-McCann tagged nine of her favorite books about horses, including:

Misty of Chincoteague, by Margeurite Henry

Paul and Maureen are a brother and sister who love horses, and long for one of their own. Will they be able to save up enough money to buy wild mare Phantom and her foal, Misty, who have captured their hearts? Based on the story of a real life wild pony who was raised in captivity by the Beebe family of Chincoteague Island, Virginia, every child who reads this story will dream of visiting Chincoteague—which I can say from experience will NOT disappoint. Plus, it’s cheaper than Disneyland. Family road trip!

Read about the other books on the list.

Also see Belinda Rapley's top ten horse books and Megan Wasson's eight great books about horses.

--Marshal Zeringue

Ten of the worst jobs in literature

Rachel Cantor is the author of the novel A Highly Unlikely Scenario, or a Neetsa Pizza Employee's Guide to Saving the World.

One entry on her list of the ten worst jobs in books, as shared in Publishers Weekly:

Concubine, The Handmaid’s Tale, Margaret Atwood

Offred is the titular handmaid of Margaret Atwood’s chilling The Handmaid’s Tale. Known to be fertile, she is given to a high-ranking couple after a theocratic revolution so she can have highly ritualized sex with the husband (the wife is always present) and, they hope, conceive for them a child.

Read about the other entries on the list.

The Handmaid's Tale made Charlie Jane Anders and Kelly Faircloth's list of the best and worst childbirth scenes in science fiction and fantasy, Lisa Tuttle's critic's chart of the top Arthur C. Clarke Award winners, and PopCrunch's list of the sixteen best dystopian books of all time.

The Page 69 Test: Rachel Cantor's A Highly Unlikely Scenario.

--Marshal Zeringue