National Book Critics Circle finalists...

The National Book Critics Circle finalists were announced last week -- Andrea Levy is nominated for Small Island, Mary Gaitskill for Veronica, and William Vollmann for Europe Central are some of the authors included, so it should be an interesting awards competition...

love story?

Just finished reading The Pact: a love story, by Jodi Picoult. I usually love Picoult's books -- big, plot-driven novels usually appealing to women, with some good character development (see Plain Truth or Keeping Faith). So, understandably, I was extremely disappointed after finishing the novel. The novel is a story of two teenagers (Emily and Chris) who grow up next door to each other. Their parents are best friends and naturally, the two are encouraged in their growing romantic relationship. Until something goes horribly wrong and Emily is found dead, from a gunshot wound to the head, with Chris next to her, bleeding and unconscious, but still alive. Thus begins the novel of "what went wrong in Perfectville?". What bothers me are a couple of inconsistencies: one, the reason for the suicide is so vague and clouded in mystery and ultimately, never solved. Although I suppose you could make the argument that this is the case for so many suicides, it just didn't seem to ring true. Second, the mother of Emily reads her daughter's diary, then burns it. It never comes up again, which seems like a huge waste of an interesting plot twist. Third, the actual circumstances surrounding the actual suicide and Chris' attempts to save Emily from killing herself are seriously flawed. The scene and the characters' actions in it, felt false. All in all, it was an highly entertaining novel, but not one of her better ones, plot-wise. I did like the character of Jordan and his private investigator, Selena -- both were interesting and I wanted to find out more, but the parents of both teens seemed contrived. If you have not read Jodi Picoult before, try one of her other novels before this overly melodramatic work.

liar, liar, pants on fire...

James Frey has some explaining to do. Frey's bestseller A Million Little Pieces and an Oprah Book Club pick, is drawing attention for alleged lies he told in the book...

America's most literate cities

Imagine that -- Seattle, WA is considered America's Most Literate City. Well, it doesn't really surprise me considering that it is also the home of Starbucks, and as such, is probably coffee capital of America. 'Cause if you are reading a good book, you also need a good cup of joe...

New Year "books-to-read" resolution

So Alice and I discussed our New Year's resolutions and agreed to post them - mine are a few days late, but here goes...
The books I am determined to read and finish in 2006:

1. Empire Falls and Straight Man by Richard Russo
Richard Russo is one of my favorite authors -- his books are funny, intelligent, and poignant. The first book I read was Nobody's Fool -- the story of Sully was pure pathos, his whole life a failure and his attempts to make some peace with it darkly comical. Russo is a gifted writer.

2. I'm hoping to finish a few mystery novel series this year:
John Rebus novels by Ian Rankin
V.I. Warshawski novels by Sara Paretsky
Kinsey Millhone novels by Sue Grafton
Kathy Mallory novels by Carol O'Connell

3. Some classics on my to read list...
Anything by Thomas Hardy!
Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy

4. On Beauty by Zadie Smith

5. Godless by Pete Hautman

6. The Rabbit Factory by Larry Brown

7. The Right Nation: How Conservatism Won by John Micklethwait and Adrian Wooldridge
...because I don't want to believe its true :)

8. The New Media Monopoly by Ben Bagdikian

9. The Age of Anxiety: McCarthyism to Terrorism by Haynes Johnson

10. Wealth and Democracy: A Political History of the American Rich by Kevin Phillips
Published in 2002, but even more important today. Still at the top of my nonfiction reading list, as soon as I get through those information architecture texts for work...

movie date

Alice and I went to see The Squid and the Whale at the Little Theatre in Rochester last night. Fantastic movie! Who knew writers could be such self-absorbed jerks? Jeff Daniels was terrific in a superbly understated performance as a washed up writer struggling with his wife's own literary success. It was funny and sad at the same time...

new bio

Happy New Year! Today I read an interesting book review for a new biography of Joseph Smith -- founder of the Mormon religion. A few months ago I linked to a blog posting about Jon Krakauer, the author of Under the Banner of Heaven, (a book I listened to on tape) which is about the violence of the fundamentalist Mormon sects. Mormonism has roots in the Rochester area, with Palmyra, NY (Joseph Smith's childhood home) within driving distance of the city. What peaks my interest is the adulation and respect heaped on him -- a man who "found" golden plates and proclaimed he spoke to God and Jesus and was the new Prophet to lead the fallen to the true church. Of course, what is more amazing is the lasting power of his words and deeds -- 200 years later and the church is still thriving with 12 million members worldwide. I'm a skeptic, so I tend to fall on the disbelief side of the fence when it comes to Mormonism...