Seven books—six novels and a memoir—were named finalists for the 2017 BookLife Prize. Each book was selected by an award-winning or bestselling author who served as a guest judge in one of seven genres. Source: Seven Finalists for 2017 BookLife Prize Announced
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Source: Nobel Prize in Literature awarded to British author Kazuo Ishiguro – UPI.com
Nobel Prize in Literature awarded to British author Kazuo Ishiguro – UPI.com Read More »
Every December 31st I sit down with the list of books I read that year and choose the best ones. I usually end up with 10 bests plus 5 honorable mentions. I include this many because I’m fortunate enough to be in the time of life when I can choose to read whatever I want,
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Grafton, Sue. Y is for Yesterday Random House Audio, © 2017 (print edition also © 2017) Recommended I’m always eager to read the newest installment of Grafton’s Kinsey Millhone series. However, this time my pleasure in digging into it was bittersweet. Y is, after all, the penultimate letter of the alphabet. This time Kinsey is
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Since reading and writing about books is my primary activity, I’ve recently been reading some articles on reading and writing about books (1) 38 Years on Books: The Essential Michiko Kakutani Reader One of the biggest recent events among book people was the retirement of Michiko Kakutani, who had been the chief book critic of
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Source: The 2017 National Book Award Longlists This list from Publishers Weekly includes links to its reviews of many of the nominated works.
The 2017 National Book Award Longlists Read More »
Background: Genre Fiction Genre is a term applied to different kinds of literature that can be defined by their subject matter, form, or technique. According to A Handbook to Literature, 7th ed., by William Harmon & C. Hugh Holman (Prentice Hall, 1996): Genre classification implies that there are groups of formal or technical characteristics among
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Kubica, Mary. Every Last Lie Harlequin Audio, © 2017 (print edition also © 2017) I enjoyed Mary Kubica’s first three novels: The Good Girl (2014), Pretty Baby (2015), and Don’t You Cry (2016). Each features a twist at the end. But these twists aren’t simple plot tricks designed to shock or titillate readers. Rather, they
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Connelly, Michael. The Late Show Hachette Audio, © 2017 ISBN 978–1–619–69430–9 (print book © 2017) Recommended Michael Connelly is one of my favorite authors. His two series characters are LAPD homicide detective Harry Bosch and criminal defense lawyer Mickey Haller, known as the Lincoln lawyer because he works primarily from the back seat of a
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In its most basic meaning, setting in fiction refers to the time and place in which the action of a novel or short story occurs. In some works the setting isn’t much more than a few simple references to time and place in order to ground the work in reality. In other instances setting takes
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