Between the Covers

Get an early look at the Nook

Brighthand.com previews the new Nook, which went on display at Barnes & Noble stores on Monday.

If you haven't already ordered one, though, don't expect to get your hands on one in time for the holidays. Brighthand reports that new orders won't ship until Jan. 15, though you can get a "holiday certificate" to stuff in a stocking if you want. But you can also test drive the e-reader yourself at some B&N stores.

The Nook costs $260. Click here to read the review.

What are you reading now?

"One hundred and fifty pages into The Book of Night Women, a 432-page literary epic by Jamaican author Marlon James, I wondered how the author could possibly maintain the pace and intrigue of the marvelous yet terrifying beginning. The narrative voice is an infectious and thoroughly believable early-18th-century Jamaican slave dialect of the author's own creation. The story builds dramatically, tracing the path of a Lilith, an adolescent slave trapped in a world of horror and confusion, and unfolds into perhaps the most racially provocative set of circumstances I've ever read in fiction.''

JOHNNY TEMPLE, publisher, Akashic Books

The New Yorker picks its best books of 2009. A lot of them.

Never let it be suggested that the New Yorker would deign to choose just 10 best books of the year (and why should the editors succumb to that arbitrary number, which, as far as I can tell, is in vogue because of David Letterman?).

The list is lengthy, so I won't reproduce the whole thing here, but I was happy to see one book I liked quite a bit make the cut: Margaret Atwood's The Year of the Flood.

Also on the list: Audrey Niffenegger's Her Fearful Symmetry, which was something of a sales disappointment, considering how many copies sold of Niffenegger's book club favorite, The Time Traveler's Wife.

"Mennonite" success lands second book deal for Janzen

We hear so much about the demise of the publishing industry we could really use a success story, and Henry Holt has one in the case of Mennonite in a Little Black Dress by Rhoda Janzen. The memoir, about Janzen's return to her Mennonite family after a series of blows (dealt by that capricious devil Life), has gone back to press five times, reports Publisher's Weekly. The book now has 40,000 copies in print, thanks to good reviews and one very special blurb (from Eat Pray Love's Elizabeth Gilbert).

Holt recently acquired the rights to Janzen's followup to Mennonite, entitled Backslider, which picks up where the first book left off, according to PW. Look for Backslider in March  2012.

In her review, Herald staff writer Hannah Sampson called the book "spirited" and "fascinating." 

An open letter to Philip Roth fans

Dear friends:

I have tried. God knows, I have tried. But I can't warm up to Philip Roth. I find him repetitive, tiresome. He seems to be from a generation so far removed from mine I can never quite grasp what about his writing inspires so many people. (For the record, he's not that removed from me generationally speaking. And I like Williams Faulkner and Shakespeare just fine.)

For awhile I thought it was because I was female. But no - I've met a few female Roth fans along the way.

Maybe, I thought, I have read the wrong books. I've only read a few. So when I made a deal with a friend to read something by Roth - in exchange, she would attempt again to read White Teeth by Zadie Smith, a novel I love and she couldn't get more than 10 pages through - I thought: Well, here's my chance. She won't pick anything too guycentric. 

 She went easy on me and chose Indignation, a slim, recent novel, that she promised me was good. She said it was OK to listen to it on audio, so I dutifully checked it out from the library. The first CD started out interestingly enough; if nothing else, the reader's New York accent was amusing. And then I got to the second CD and while I can't tell you here what turned me off - the Miami Herald will not allow me to use the colorful terms in which Mr. Roth describes  sexual frustration and/or consummation - I can tell you that if it had been my CD I would've whipped it out the car window on I-95, probably causing a massive pile-up and further endangering the lives of drivers already overwhelmed by the new plastic pole installation. (Seriously, doesn't DOT realize we have some really stupid drivers in Miami?)

My friend finished White Teeth (and admitted she liked it, all you haters). So I suppose I must trudge onward. But I don't want to.

So many people have told me: "But American Pastoral is one of the best books ever written!" Maybe I can substitute that instead. Or The Plot Against America - I like alternate history (though I expect it's less thrilling than Inglourious Basterds). I simply can't take any more 1950s sexual hysteria. I CAN'T DO IT.

Signed,

Connie

"Up in the Air" flies high

No, this is not just a cheap excuse to run a photo of George Clooney in the blog. It's a real post! *

Clooney stars in Jason Reitman's new film Up in the Air, adapted from Walter Kirn's novel. I have heard it's "loosely based" on Kirn's book, but I haven't read it so I can't confirm. What I can tell you is that Up in the Air - which was just named Best Picture by the National Board of Review - is a terrific film in every conceivable way. And I strongly urge you to see it.

Even legendarily grumpy Herald critic Rene Rodriguez gives it four stars, and we all know how stingy he is.

* It's totally a cheap excuse to run a photo of George Clooney in the blog. That was a lie.

New York Times Book Review picks its top 10 books

I frequently make snarky remarks about the NYT, the odd Jayson Blair/Judith Miller/sure-everything-you-write-is-factual joke. But I applaud the Book Review's top 10 best books list this year, particularly for its inclusion of the latest Lorrie Moore novel, which I loved. And none of this weak Publisher's Weekly men-only nonsense, either.

FICTION

A Gate at the Stairs, Lorrie Moore

Both Ways is the Only Way I Want It, Maile Meloy

Chronic City, Jonathan Lethem

A Short History of Women, Kate Walbert

Half-Broke Horses, Jeannette Walls

NONFICTION

The Age of Wonder: How the Romantic Generation Discovered the Beauty and Terror of Science, Richard Holmes

The Good Soldiers, David Finkel

Lit: A Memoir, Mary Karr

Lords of Finance: The Bankers Who Broke the World, Liaquat Ahamed

Raymond Carver: A Writer's Life, Carol Sklenicka

Click here to read what the Times had to say about these books.

And here to read reviewer Michiko Kakutani's top 10.

And here to read reviewer Janet Maslin's top 10 (Stephen King makes the cut!).

"Three Cups of Tea" author in Miami

I haven't had a chance to read Greg Mortenson's latest book Stones Into Schools yet, but a trustworthy source (thanks, Sue!) reports that it's even better than his bestselling Three Cups of Tea, about his work setting up schools is Pakistan.

Stones continues where Tea - which surprised me; I didn't expect to like it as much as I did - ended, with Mortenson's work to build schools and educate girls in Afghanistan.

You can see the author at 6 p.m. Sunday at Temple Judea, where he'll appear for Books & Books. Free tickets available at all Books & Books locations while supplies last. I can't imagine this won't be an evening to remember.

Florida-based publisher ships copies of left-wing "Going Rouge"

From Publisher's Weekly:

"Going Rouge, the left-wing critical take on Sarah Palin published by OR Books, is going to bookstores after all. The essay collection from OR - a new indie founded by Colin Robinson and John Oakes - was initially published as a direct-to-consumer title. Now, Florida-based publisher HCI has acquired rights to the book and began shipping copies to stores yesterday. HCI is doing a first printing of 50,000 copies."

Interestingly, HCI is best known for publishing self-help and inspirational books (we are sure Going Rouge, subtitled An American Nightmare, will be inspirational to plenty of readers). The book includes essays on the former VP candidate and Alaska governor by such "media elites" as Frank Rich, Max Blumenthal and Eve Ensler.

Wall Street Journal on e-readers

And now, the Wall Street Journal's take on e-readers and their viability.

Don't want to read the whole article? Here's the essence:

"E-reader buyers may be sinking cash into a technology that could become obsolete. While the shiny glass-and-metal reading gadgets offer some whiz-bang features like wirelessly downloading thousands of books, many also restrict the book-reading experience in ways that trusty paperbacks haven't, such as limiting lending to a friend. E-reader technology is changing fast, and manufacturers are aiming to address the devices' drawbacks."