Which book would you most like to pass on to your children? This was the question posed by Britian’s University of Worcester, querying 2,000 adults about the singular book they would choose to share with their kids. Being a British poll, native authors were heavily favored in the top ten list, with Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol taking the number one spot. The only Americans to make the list were George Orwell, who came in at number seven with Animal Farm and Harper Lee, who earned the tenth spot with her only novel To Kill a Mockingbird.
The premise of the poll, choosing only one book, is a bit unfair, as most book lovers would be hard pressed to chose just a single book to pass on to their children. No doubt a list as subjective as this will have many bibliophiles shaking their heads at the titles that were not included. For my part, I would have included at least one Roald Dahl title, James and the Giant Peach and Charlie and the Chocolate Factory come quickly to mind. I also feel that J.D. Salinger’s Catcher in the Rye deserves a spot, as Holden Caulfield, that paragon of adolescent discontent, has left an indelible imprint on contemporary literature. Read more…
Shortly after the attacks on September 11, 2001, author Barbara Kingsolver published a series of op-ed pieces in several major U.S. newspapers calling for a meaningful national dialog and asking leaders to consider dissenting opinions, and was shocked at the harsh criticism and hate mail she received. “A lot of people were frightened, and when people are frightened, they want to burn witches. They want to run somebody up the flagpole…,” she explains in an interview with The Guardian. “It was really one of the worst times of my life.” A few months later, Kingsolver decided to channel all that fear and anger into something positive and started research on a new project, which would grow to be The Lacuna. “I have to make something of this,” she thought at the time. “I have to take all this bile and hatred and make something beautiful.” Read more…
Stephen King fans can’t wait to see what’s Under the Dome. Over the past couple weeks, the cover artwork for his new book Under the Dome has been revealed in stages at: stephenkingunderthedome.com. The final reveal will be on Monday, October 5. King conceived the idea for the cover, and Scribner art director Rex Bonomelli worked with artists in the U.S. and abroad to realize the vision. The artists used a combination of illustrations, 3D renderings and photographs to bring the cover to life.
Amid the nation’s economic woes, the publishing industry has enjoyed a boom this September. With the debut of Dan Brown’s new blockbuster The Lost Symbol, Ted Kennedy’s autobiography True Compass, and a little help from Oprah, book sales have soared past comparative totals from last September. Let’s hope this surge in sales instills the public with a lasting interest in reading good, old-fashioned books.
Did you know that To Kill a Mockingbird, Harry Potter, Catcher in the Rye and The Bible have all been banned books? The American Library Association is celebrating the freedom to read during Banned Books Week (Sept. 26−Oct. 3, 2009). Check out one of the titles on ALA’s banned book list, and exercise your First Amendment right to intellectual freedom.
Miami’s friendly neighborhood serial killer is back in Lindsay’s latest installment of the Dexter series. Fresh from his Parisian honeymoon, Dexter Morgan is enjoying a life of peaceful domesticity when a new killer shows up on his turf. Will the new husband and father be able to fend off the homicidal urges of his Dark Passenger and maintain a tranquil home life? Dexter fans around the world certainly hope not.
Blindspot opens in Boston on the eve of the American Revolution, during the spring of 1764. When portrait painter Stewart Jameson sets foot on the docs of Boston Harbor, he arrives not hoping for a new life, but running from an old one. Wanted in his homeland of Scotland for outstanding debts, he has come to the Colonies to escape jail time and find his only true friend. Accompanied by his mastiff, Gulliver, he quickly sets up a small artist studio on Queen Street and advertises for a young man to apprentice him in his art.
Central to The Plunder Room are four generations of men in the Duncan family. The patriarch, Colonel Edward Duncan has just passed on, and his grandson Randol is now tasked with upholding the family honor. “Like virginity…Once you lose…your honor, it’s gone…forever.” With this responsibility, comes a skeleton key to an upstairs bedroom. Among the rumored ghosts, The Plunder Room holds the Colonel’s entire history, stuffed into U.S. Army footlockers. But succeeding generations have done much to tarnish the family honor, and Randol is unsure if he is up to the task.
John Rebus takes his final bow as a Detective Inspector for the Edinburgh Police in Exit Music, Rankin’s 17th novel in the series. Ten days before he’s forced into mandatory retirement at age 60, Rebus and his partner Detective Sergeant Siobhan Clarke are called to the scene of a murder, apparently a mugging gone wrong. When the victim’s identity is revealed as Alexander Todorov, a dissident Russian poet exiled from his homeland, Rebus becomes a lot more interested.
Which book would you most like to pass on to your children? This was the question posed by Britian’s University of Worcester, querying 2,000 adults about the singular book they would choose to share with their kids. Being a British poll, native authors were heavily favored in the top ten list, with Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol taking the number one spot. The only Americans to make the list were George Orwell, who came in at number seven with Animal Farm and Harper Lee, who earned the tenth spot with her only novel To Kill a Mockingbird.
Amid the nation’s economic woes, the publishing industry has enjoyed a boom this September. With the debut of Dan Brown’s new blockbuster The Lost Symbol, Ted Kennedy’s autobiography True Compass, and a little help from Oprah, book sales have soared past comparative totals from last September. Let’s hope this surge in sales instills the public with a lasting interest in reading good, old-fashioned books.
Did you know that To Kill a Mockingbird, Harry Potter, Catcher in the Rye and The Bible have all been banned books? The American Library Association is celebrating the freedom to read during Banned Books Week (Sept. 26−Oct. 3, 2009). Check out one of the titles on ALA’s 
