Every so often, I am a bit startled by the ubiquity of the English in contemporary American culture. For instance, it seems that everywhere you look onscreen, there is a British actor providing the definitive interpretation of an American archetype: Henry Cavill - Superman. Carey Mulligan - Daisy Buchanan. Damien Lewis - Nicholas Brody of Homeland and Richard Winters of Band of Brothers. Dominic West - Jimmy McNulty in The Wire. (Thank goodness for Meryl Streep.)
And the British influence continues apace, as American literary organizations begin to model their award structure on the Brits. The typical UK literary jury has long been a mixed bag: an actor here, a bookseller there, an author or two or three, perhaps a literary critic to add spice. And they typically choose a longlist of 15+ books, a shortlist of 5+ books, and a winner. This makes for a lot of attention to lots of books. Readers love it.
The U.S. literary community, eager to promote books as well as bolster literary quality, is coming around to the British approach. The venerable National Book Award Foundation is expanding its jury membership and instituting a longlist and shortlist. We'll have to wait until September for their choices. The newly-instituted ALA Andrew Carnegie Medals for Fiction and Nonfiction takes its longlist quite seriously (50 titles!), but is ruthless about winnowing it down to a very modest shortlist (3 titles in each category). The ALA award announcement is on June 30.
As we wait, we can review the work of the jury for the Women's Prize for Fiction, which has announced its longlist and its shortlist , and will let us know on June 5 which book published in 2012 was the best example of "excellence, originality, and accessibility in women's writing from throughout the world".
Enjoy!
mhd
Tuesday, May 14, 2013
Wednesday, April 17, 2013
And we have a winner!
In the literary community, anticipation mixed with apprehension as the date for the 2013 Pulitzer Prize announcements approached, after last year's decision not to award the Fiction prize (for the first time in 35 years).
But there was no controversy attached to this year's Fiction winner, The Orphan Master's Son by Adam Johnson. It is a romance imbedded in a thriller wrapped in a grim depiction of one of the world's strangest countries, North Korea, all elements adding up to an engrossing read. Try it.
Mary Hoskinson-Dean
But there was no controversy attached to this year's Fiction winner, The Orphan Master's Son by Adam Johnson. It is a romance imbedded in a thriller wrapped in a grim depiction of one of the world's strangest countries, North Korea, all elements adding up to an engrossing read. Try it.
Mary Hoskinson-Dean
Wednesday, March 27, 2013
Straight through the heart
An essay in a recent NYT Book Review about the best way to teach literature may provide insight into the most satisfying way to read literature.
The author, an English professor who teaches a popular fiction workshop at a midwestern liberal arts college, admits to some bewilderment as his students acquire the ability to "write better sentences and cleaner paragraphs". What is the secret of their success? He realizes, finally, that he is "really instructing them in reading as a process of seduction...by fixating on certain attributes of the beloved as one falls in love".
His explanation seems a bit overheated - but maybe not. He starts the class by assigning a few books, encouraging his students to focus on their visceral reactions to the reading assignments: What did they like? Love? And why? He observes that once his students isolate the energy and power in the phrases or sentences that they love, they apply that vitality to their own writing.
Love? Is this what we are seeking when we read a classic or contemporary work of fiction? The professor says, of course! (Or, in his words, "... how can you teach someone to master language or read literature unless he's fallen in love with it?")
The professor's teaching technique results in his students becoming better writers. Would trusting our primal response to a work of literature result in our becoming more committed readers? What do you think? Have you read a book lately that has gone "straight through the heart"? I hope so!
Mary Hoskinson-Dean
click here for the complete essay by Dean Bakopoulos in 3/24/13 NYT Book Review
The author, an English professor who teaches a popular fiction workshop at a midwestern liberal arts college, admits to some bewilderment as his students acquire the ability to "write better sentences and cleaner paragraphs". What is the secret of their success? He realizes, finally, that he is "really instructing them in reading as a process of seduction...by fixating on certain attributes of the beloved as one falls in love".
His explanation seems a bit overheated - but maybe not. He starts the class by assigning a few books, encouraging his students to focus on their visceral reactions to the reading assignments: What did they like? Love? And why? He observes that once his students isolate the energy and power in the phrases or sentences that they love, they apply that vitality to their own writing.
Love? Is this what we are seeking when we read a classic or contemporary work of fiction? The professor says, of course! (Or, in his words, "... how can you teach someone to master language or read literature unless he's fallen in love with it?")
The professor's teaching technique results in his students becoming better writers. Would trusting our primal response to a work of literature result in our becoming more committed readers? What do you think? Have you read a book lately that has gone "straight through the heart"? I hope so!
Mary Hoskinson-Dean
click here for the complete essay by Dean Bakopoulos in 3/24/13 NYT Book Review
Thursday, February 28, 2013
Valentine's reading, late edition
Do you like reading about romance? Here's a fun way to choose your next book. Amazon has prepared an interactive map of love stories set throughout the United States. Click here to access the map, and take your pick from a panorama of love. Enjoy!
mhd
mhd
Monday, February 11, 2013
The sages of Seattle have spoken...
…..and the best children's books of 2012 have been crowned!
We are in our usual state of bemusement after the ALA announcement of its annual children's book awards. Our favorites have been bypassed but we are delighted with the committee choices. (Great minds don't always think alike!)
Jon Klassen won the Caldecott Medal for This is Not My Hat, his subversive take on "sharing" clothing. Parents will laugh when they read this picture book; hopefully, the children who are looking and listening will, too…..
Katherine Applegate received the John Newbery Medal for her affecting novel, The One and Only Ivan. The unusual hero, a gorilla unhappily on display in a shopping mall, manages to win his freedom and that of his elephant companion through his ability to communicate with Julie, a young girl. A fantasy? Inspired by a true story, maybe not!
The recipient of the Michael Printz Award, for the best book for teenagers, was quite a surprise to us, and, for that matter, to the rest of the literary community. Nick Lake's hard-hitting novel about Haiti, In Darkness, combines the modern-day travails of a teenage boy trapped in the rubble of the recent earthquake with the historical struggles of Toussaint l'Ouverture, the 18th-century Haitian freedom fighter. An intense reading experience, it will reward your time and concentration.
If you'd like to see what we liked best in 2012, please take a look at our own list of favorites. Let us know if we've left out any of yours!
Mary Hoskinson-Dean and Allison Murphy
Monday, January 14, 2013
And the crystal ball reveals......
....oh, dear, still rather cloudy. We're seeking some clues as to who will win the American Library Association children's literature prizes, to be awarded on Monday, January 28, but it looks like we'll just have to go ahead and make our own best guesses!
Allison and I would not be surprised if Extra Yarn, written by Mac Barnett and illustrated by Jon Klassen, wins the Caldecott Medal (given to the artist of the year's most distinguished picture book). Perhaps The Beetle Book by Steve Jenkins, or More by I. C. Springman (pictures by Brian Lies), or Baby Bear Sees Blue by Ashley Wolff, will receive the top award. There is no clear frontrunner for the prize, so our predictions may be wrong (as usual).
The John Newbery Award, given annually to the best children's chapter book or novel, does have some obvious contenders, we think. Among them are R. J. Palacio's debut novel Wonder, Rebecca Stead's book Liar and Spy, and Laura Schlitz's Splendor and Glooms. The nonfiction book Bomb - The Race to Build - and Steal - the World's Most Dangerous Weapon, by Steve Sheinkin, might earn some recognition as well.
We are most confident about the Michael J. Printz Award, given to the best book written for young adults (known outside libraryland as "teenagers"). Allison and I expect that it will be won by the heartbreaking romance The Fault in our Stars by John Green, or the World War II thriller Code Name Verity by Elizabeth Wein. (Though I did love the fantasy Seraphina by Rachel Hartman.)
Check back here in two weeks to see if we have a future in fortunetelling!
Mary Hoskinson-Dean
Allison and I would not be surprised if Extra Yarn, written by Mac Barnett and illustrated by Jon Klassen, wins the Caldecott Medal (given to the artist of the year's most distinguished picture book). Perhaps The Beetle Book by Steve Jenkins, or More by I. C. Springman (pictures by Brian Lies), or Baby Bear Sees Blue by Ashley Wolff, will receive the top award. There is no clear frontrunner for the prize, so our predictions may be wrong (as usual).
The John Newbery Award, given annually to the best children's chapter book or novel, does have some obvious contenders, we think. Among them are R. J. Palacio's debut novel Wonder, Rebecca Stead's book Liar and Spy, and Laura Schlitz's Splendor and Glooms. The nonfiction book Bomb - The Race to Build - and Steal - the World's Most Dangerous Weapon, by Steve Sheinkin, might earn some recognition as well.
We are most confident about the Michael J. Printz Award, given to the best book written for young adults (known outside libraryland as "teenagers"). Allison and I expect that it will be won by the heartbreaking romance The Fault in our Stars by John Green, or the World War II thriller Code Name Verity by Elizabeth Wein. (Though I did love the fantasy Seraphina by Rachel Hartman.)
Check back here in two weeks to see if we have a future in fortunetelling!
Mary Hoskinson-Dean
Tuesday, December 11, 2012
'Tis the season....
....for critics (and kibitzers) to announce their choices for the top, best, and notable books of the year.
The Washington Post has its top and notable lists; The New York Times features its 10 best books and its 100 notable books; Publishers Weekly recommends its Best Books of the Year. The Wall Street Journal prepared a bundle of lists for you to browse (including the "50 Friends"). Of the online sites, Slate.com has its staff favorites; the editors of Huffington Post knew what
they liked. and Salon offers its "ultimate book guide".
The library review journals are just gearing up: first
off is our "own" Kirkus Reviews (founded by the late Virginia Kirkus
Glick, a long-time Redding resident) with its best fiction and best nonfiction lists, followed by Library Journal, with its series of "Best of" lists.
May your busy holidays leave you time to enjoy at least one of the touted books!
mhd
mhd
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