There was a point in my life when I didn't care for short stories but I was young and silly then. In recent years, some of the most profound books I have read have been either collections of interlinked stories or even just individual stories. Authors who are skilled can pack a huge amount of intensity and meaning into a small number of words. The following collection is by an author who is just beginning to prove that he can deliver.
In this collection of linked stories, we follow Bogdan from his time as a teenager from Zaire to Sarajevo and on through his adult life in Chicago in this astonishing work that is by turn funny, horrifying and surreal. The first story, set in Zaire, delivers an emotional response that will keep you coming back for more. Aleksander Hemon's use of the English language is playful and dazzling and he gets better and better with each new offering.
Friday, May 15, 2009
Wednesday, May 13, 2009
Booklist for new Vegetarians
A friend was asking about really good resources to use to support her vegetarian teen daughter and since I was putting together the list for her, I decided to post it up here as well.
Here are just a few books in the field that have received excellent reviews, won awards and are loved by vegetarian friends. More titles that fits your family's unique taste shouldn't be difficult to find since it seems that everyone is coming out with vegetarian cookbooks these days. They shouldn’t be hard to find (I just saw ones from Rachel Ray and Mark Bittman.) Big names in the field include: Mollie Katzen (Moosewood Café), Jeanne Lemlin, Colin Spencer, Rose Elliot and Leah Leneman
**Vegetables Rock!: A Complete Guide for Teenage Vegetarians by Pierson, Stephanie – This one got fabulous reviews and is on the ALA Reluctant Reader Award list.
Okay, So Now You're a Vegetarian: Advice & 100 Recipes from One Teen to Another by Butts, Lauren and Shields, Donna - Another good teen book on the subject
Feeding the Healthy Vegetarian Family by Haedrich, Ken – This one got really good reviews and is a nice basic text.
Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone (Anniversary) (10TH ed.) by Madison, Deborah – Won a James Beard Award (I have this one at home for you to borrow).
The Moosewood Restaurant Cooks for Health: More Than 200 New Recipes for Delicious and Nutrient-Rich Dishes by Mollie Katzen is a big name in the vegetarian world
Madhur Jaffrey's World Vegetarian by Jaffrey, Madhur - I haven't used this one but her other cookbooks are fabulous!
Passionate Vegetarian by Crescent Dragonwagon - Children's book author and vegetarian
Vegetarian Times Fast and Easy Great Food You Can Make in Minutes by the Editors of Vegetarian Times - Any of the Vegetarian Times cookbooks (and the magazine) are great.
The Vegetarian Family Cookbook by Nava Atlas - Really nice for diverse families who aren't all vegetarians.
Here are just a few books in the field that have received excellent reviews, won awards and are loved by vegetarian friends. More titles that fits your family's unique taste shouldn't be difficult to find since it seems that everyone is coming out with vegetarian cookbooks these days. They shouldn’t be hard to find (I just saw ones from Rachel Ray and Mark Bittman.) Big names in the field include: Mollie Katzen (Moosewood Café), Jeanne Lemlin, Colin Spencer, Rose Elliot and Leah Leneman
**Vegetables Rock!: A Complete Guide for Teenage Vegetarians by Pierson, Stephanie – This one got fabulous reviews and is on the ALA Reluctant Reader Award list.
Okay, So Now You're a Vegetarian: Advice & 100 Recipes from One Teen to Another by Butts, Lauren and Shields, Donna - Another good teen book on the subject
Feeding the Healthy Vegetarian Family by Haedrich, Ken – This one got really good reviews and is a nice basic text.
Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone (Anniversary) (10TH ed.) by Madison, Deborah – Won a James Beard Award (I have this one at home for you to borrow).
The Moosewood Restaurant Cooks for Health: More Than 200 New Recipes for Delicious and Nutrient-Rich Dishes by Mollie Katzen is a big name in the vegetarian world
Madhur Jaffrey's World Vegetarian by Jaffrey, Madhur - I haven't used this one but her other cookbooks are fabulous!
Passionate Vegetarian by Crescent Dragonwagon - Children's book author and vegetarian
Vegetarian Times Fast and Easy Great Food You Can Make in Minutes by the Editors of Vegetarian Times - Any of the Vegetarian Times cookbooks (and the magazine) are great.
The Vegetarian Family Cookbook by Nava Atlas - Really nice for diverse families who aren't all vegetarians.
Wednesday, April 01, 2009
Jim Butcher to visit the Library
Bestselling Author Jim Butcher to Discuss Turn Coat,
The Latest Book in His Dresden Files Series
(Kansas City, Missouri) – Author Jim Butcher discusses Turn Coat, the newest book in The Dresden Files series, on Thursday, April 16, at 6:30 p.m. in the Truman Forum at the Plaza Branch, 4801 Main St.
Turn Coat is the 11th installment in Butcher’s The Dresden Files, a series of fantasy/mystery novels featuring private investigator and wizard Harry Dresden. The stories are told from the point of view of Dresden as he recounts his investigations into supernatural happenings in present-day Chicago.
In Turn Coat, Dresden’s friend Morgan shows up at Harry’s doorstep broken, bleeding, and begging for protection from the Wardens; and Dresden finds himself once again at odds with the White Council.
Butcher’s books will be available for sale, and the author will sign copies purchased during event.
Butcher was born in Independence, Missouri, and continues to make his home there.
Admission is free. Call 816.701.3407 to indicate your interest in attending or you may RSVP online.
Tuesday, March 31, 2009
Poem-A-Day brought to you by Knopf
Today’s selection is John Updike’s “Half Moon, Small Cloud.” To sign up, go to Poem-A-Day @ Knopf Doubleday Press
Half Moon, Small Cloud
Half Moon, Small Cloud
Caught out in daylight, a rabbit’s
transparent pallor, the moon
is paired with a cloud of equal weight:
the heavenly congruence startles.
For what is the moon, that it haunts us,
this impudent companion immigrated
from the system’s less fortunate margins,
the realm of dust collected in orbs?
We grow up as children with it, a nursemaid
of a bonneted sort, round-faced and kind,
not burning too close like parents, or too far
to spare even a glance, like movie stars.
No star but in the zodiac of stars,
a stranger there, too big, it begs for love
(the man in it) and yet is diaphanous,
its thereness as mysterious as ours.
Sunday, March 15, 2009
Kaite's Book Meme
My friend, Kaite, put together this Book Meme and another friend continued it. Since I don't like to be left out of the fun, I thought I would join in:)
1. Which book has been on your shelves the longest?
A copy of the Bible my Grandparents gave me. It still smells like smoke from my house fire but it was the one book I dragged out of that mess determined to salvage.
2. What is your current read, your last read and the book you’ll read next?
Current Read: Lover Enshrined by J.R. Ward
Last Read: Little Bee by Chris Cleve
Next Book: Doghead by Morten Ramsland
3. What book did everyone like and you hated?
I love quirky characters so everyone told me I would LOVE Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil. Really, not-so-much...
4. Which book do you keep telling yourself you’ll read, but you probably won’t?
I have a huge list of books I want to read on amazon.com and goodreads.com but I don't have anything that I will "make" myself read. Life is too short and there are way too many great books out there. I'm not going to force myself to read something I don't want to.
5. Which book are you saving for “retirement?”
I don't precisely "save" books. I just get new ones I am dying to read and so the poor lonely formerly in-demand unread ones get stored in a to-be-read list or down in my basement.
6. Last page: read it first or wait till the end?
I don't usually read the ending first unless I am reading and am ambivalent about a book and trying to decide if I should finish it. Then I might jump around and read several sections to see if picks up.
7. Acknowledgements: waste of ink and paper or interesting aside?
Not something I usually read but they do serve a purpose so I don't think they are a waste.
8. Which book character would you switch places with?
Amelia Peabody in the Elizabeth Peters books. I can't think of anything more cool than being a Victorian explorer in Egypt with all of those discoveries left to find.
9. Do you have a book that reminds you of something specific in your life (a person, a place, a time)?
Black Beauty and The Witch of Blackbird Pond. I remember reading them over and over again on a road trip to Washington D.C. with my family when I was in 5th or 6th grade.
10. Name a book you acquired in some interesting way.
Does getting large shipments of books from the publisher every week for the last three years to support my book award reading count as interesting?
11. Have you ever given away a book for a special reason to a special person?
Every book I give to someone (not counting a few lately) has been a book that I put a lot of thought into. I try very hard to give people what they want, not what I want.
12. Which book has been with you to the most places?
No one book. I always travel with new-to-me books that I leave scattered behind me like confetti, just waiting to be found by a new reader.
13. Any “required reading” you hated in high school that wasn’t so bad ten years later?
Not really.
14. What is the strangest item you’ve ever found in a book?
One of my staff found bacon in a book but I can't say that I have ever found anything that unusual.
15. Used or brand new?
I don't care. As long as they don't smell funny or look too grimy, I don't much care what kind of shape the book is in. It's all about the words, baby!
16. Stephen King: Literary genius or opiate of the masses?
I am keeping Gretchen's answer on this one. "Can't he be both?"
17. Have you ever seen a movie you liked better than the book?
Jaws
18. Conversely, which book should NEVER have been introduced to celluloid?
There are so many, where to start? Ummm...Dune was pretty darn awful.
19. Who is the person whose book advice you’ll always take?
The two people with the closest taste in books to me are Gretchen and my sister and I almost always like what they are reading. Kaite, on the other hand, has very different taste but she has mad librarian readers advisory skillz, so when she is wearing her RA hat I always listen.
1. Which book has been on your shelves the longest?
A copy of the Bible my Grandparents gave me. It still smells like smoke from my house fire but it was the one book I dragged out of that mess determined to salvage.
2. What is your current read, your last read and the book you’ll read next?
Current Read: Lover Enshrined by J.R. Ward
Last Read: Little Bee by Chris Cleve
Next Book: Doghead by Morten Ramsland
3. What book did everyone like and you hated?
I love quirky characters so everyone told me I would LOVE Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil. Really, not-so-much...
4. Which book do you keep telling yourself you’ll read, but you probably won’t?
I have a huge list of books I want to read on amazon.com and goodreads.com but I don't have anything that I will "make" myself read. Life is too short and there are way too many great books out there. I'm not going to force myself to read something I don't want to.
5. Which book are you saving for “retirement?”
I don't precisely "save" books. I just get new ones I am dying to read and so the poor lonely formerly in-demand unread ones get stored in a to-be-read list or down in my basement.
6. Last page: read it first or wait till the end?
I don't usually read the ending first unless I am reading and am ambivalent about a book and trying to decide if I should finish it. Then I might jump around and read several sections to see if picks up.
7. Acknowledgements: waste of ink and paper or interesting aside?
Not something I usually read but they do serve a purpose so I don't think they are a waste.
8. Which book character would you switch places with?
Amelia Peabody in the Elizabeth Peters books. I can't think of anything more cool than being a Victorian explorer in Egypt with all of those discoveries left to find.
9. Do you have a book that reminds you of something specific in your life (a person, a place, a time)?
Black Beauty and The Witch of Blackbird Pond. I remember reading them over and over again on a road trip to Washington D.C. with my family when I was in 5th or 6th grade.
10. Name a book you acquired in some interesting way.
Does getting large shipments of books from the publisher every week for the last three years to support my book award reading count as interesting?
11. Have you ever given away a book for a special reason to a special person?
Every book I give to someone (not counting a few lately) has been a book that I put a lot of thought into. I try very hard to give people what they want, not what I want.
12. Which book has been with you to the most places?
No one book. I always travel with new-to-me books that I leave scattered behind me like confetti, just waiting to be found by a new reader.
13. Any “required reading” you hated in high school that wasn’t so bad ten years later?
Not really.
14. What is the strangest item you’ve ever found in a book?
One of my staff found bacon in a book but I can't say that I have ever found anything that unusual.
15. Used or brand new?
I don't care. As long as they don't smell funny or look too grimy, I don't much care what kind of shape the book is in. It's all about the words, baby!
16. Stephen King: Literary genius or opiate of the masses?
I am keeping Gretchen's answer on this one. "Can't he be both?"
17. Have you ever seen a movie you liked better than the book?
Jaws
18. Conversely, which book should NEVER have been introduced to celluloid?
There are so many, where to start? Ummm...Dune was pretty darn awful.
19. Who is the person whose book advice you’ll always take?
The two people with the closest taste in books to me are Gretchen and my sister and I almost always like what they are reading. Kaite, on the other hand, has very different taste but she has mad librarian readers advisory skillz, so when she is wearing her RA hat I always listen.
Friday, March 13, 2009
Little Bee by Chris Cleave
Yes, I have been reading but I have to admit that I have mostly been reading urban paranormal fiction (Patricia Briggs is doing a fun werewolf series right now) but now it is time to get back to the Award reading.
On the day Sarah and Little Bee meet, events take place that profoundly affect the lives of each woman. Two years later, when their paths meet again, the course of their lives is once again profoundly changed. At once heartbreaking and tender, their journey explores the immigration system in England, the impact of a global environment and what the lucky and strong owe to those less fortunate.
I love stories that make you ponder your life and really stop and think about what you would do in a similar situation. This is that kind of novel for me.
On the day Sarah and Little Bee meet, events take place that profoundly affect the lives of each woman. Two years later, when their paths meet again, the course of their lives is once again profoundly changed. At once heartbreaking and tender, their journey explores the immigration system in England, the impact of a global environment and what the lucky and strong owe to those less fortunate.
I love stories that make you ponder your life and really stop and think about what you would do in a similar situation. This is that kind of novel for me.
Friday, March 06, 2009
Free e-book Friday
NEW YORK, NY - March 4, 2009 - Random House, Inc. today unveiled the first five titles in its new Suvudu Free First Book Library. Designed to introduce new readers to popular and acclaimed science fiction and fantasy series, the Suvudu Free First Book Library allows readers to access free digital copies of the first book in each series.
The program launches with access to the following novels:
His Majesty’s Dragon by Naomi Novik (we love this book here at Dear Author)
Assassin’s Apprentice by Robin Hobb (I’ve heard great things about this book)
Settling Accounts: Return Engagement by Harry Turtledove
Red Mars by Kim Stanley Robinson
Blood Engines by T.A. Pratt
The books will be made available through Random House’s science fiction/fantasy portal, Suvudu.com (http://www.suvudu.com), as well as on other content services, including Scribd.com and the Stanza ebook reader application for the iPhone.
Says Christine Cabello, Random House Publishing Group Deputy Director of Marketing: “The Suvudu Free First Book promotion provides us with a new digital vehicle to build an author’s fan base and is an ideal way to bring new readers to these series.”
New titles are scheduled to be added to the Suvudu Free First Book Library on a regular basis. Coming soon are Terry Brooks’s Magic Kingdom for Sale—Sold!, Elizabeth Moon’s Trading in Danger, and many more.
The program launches with access to the following novels:
His Majesty’s Dragon by Naomi Novik (we love this book here at Dear Author)
Assassin’s Apprentice by Robin Hobb (I’ve heard great things about this book)
Settling Accounts: Return Engagement by Harry Turtledove
Red Mars by Kim Stanley Robinson
Blood Engines by T.A. Pratt
The books will be made available through Random House’s science fiction/fantasy portal, Suvudu.com (http://www.suvudu.com), as well as on other content services, including Scribd.com and the Stanza ebook reader application for the iPhone.
Says Christine Cabello, Random House Publishing Group Deputy Director of Marketing: “The Suvudu Free First Book promotion provides us with a new digital vehicle to build an author’s fan base and is an ideal way to bring new readers to these series.”
New titles are scheduled to be added to the Suvudu Free First Book Library on a regular basis. Coming soon are Terry Brooks’s Magic Kingdom for Sale—Sold!, Elizabeth Moon’s Trading in Danger, and many more.
Wednesday, February 25, 2009
Friday, February 13, 2009
Wednesday, February 04, 2009
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