The Honor of the Nomination

It's been a rough couple of weeks in Book Land.  If you've been hiding under rocks, you might have missed the Department of Justice using anti-trust laws...to secure a monopoly in the e-book market.  No, really.  By suing five of the "big six" publishers for collusion with Apple in setting e-book prices--the Agency Model in publishing which has provided a level playing field for e-book retailers for the last two years and ending the price wars that were devaluing books and threatening the survival of bookstores and publishers alike--the DoJ has given Amazon the ability to undercut book prices once more.  (Random House, the sixth of the "big six," was not involved in the suit.  Several publishers have settled, but Apple, Macmillan, and Penguin are fighting.)

And then yesterday the Pulitzer Prizes were announced...and the board failed to select a fiction winner.  Apart from the travesty of not naming an outstanding book in a year that included some terrific books like Open City, The Art of Fielding, The Buddha in the Attic, Salvage the Bones, The Tiger's Wife, bookstores and the winning book's publisher have lost millions of dollars in book sales and readers have lost a focal point for book discussions. It's a shame.  The jury did select three finalists for the prize--Denis Johnson's Train Dreams, David Foster Wallace's The Pale King, and Karen Russell's Swamplandia!  I (Liz) loved Swamplandia!, making it my second favorite book (and tops by an American) for 2011, so I'm a bit bitter. I really wanted it to win, but as one of my booksellers pointed out, Karen Russell is super-young (29 years old), this was her first novel, and she's going to be writing brilliant fiction for a long, long time to come.

So here's what I think we should do in this year of no winner.  Let's go back and read the finalists for the Pulitzer Prizes for Fiction.  Unlike the National Book Award which names finalists in advance of the award, the Pulitzer finalists aren't announced until the award is given (or withheld).  The finalists selected each year are some of the best books written--and not just in the book's year of publication--but often are forgotten.  They don't receive seals on their covers stating "Pulitzer Prize finalist."  They become footnotes.

Here you go--the list since 2000.  Pick a book.  Read it.  Share it with a friend.  Let us know what you think.

• The Pale King by David Foster Wallace (2012)
• Train Dreams by Denis Johnson (2012)
• Swamplandia! by Karen Russell (2012) Liz and Gianna recommend
• The Privileges by Jonathan Dee (2011)
• The Surrendered by Chang-Rae Lee (2011)
• Love in Infant Monkeys by Lydia Millet (2010)
• In Other Rooms, Other Wonders by Daniyal Mueenuddin (2010)
• The Plague of Doves by Louise Erdrich (2009)
• All Souls by Christine Schutt (2009)
• Tree of Smoke by Denis Johnson (2008) Liz and Gianna recommend
• Shakespeare's Kitchen by Lore Segal (2008)
• After This by Alice McDermott (2007)
• The Echo Maker by Richard Powers (2007)
• The March by E.L. Doctorow (2006) Liz and Gianna recommend
• The Bright Forever by Lee Martin (2006)
• War Trash by Ha Jin (2005) Liz and Gianna recommend
• An Unfinished Season by Ward Just (2005)
• American Woman by Susan Choi (2004)
• Evidence of Things Unseen by Marianne Wiggins (2004) Liz and Gianna recommend
• Servants of the Map: Stories by Andrea Barrett (2003)
• You Are Not a Stranger Here by Adam Haslett (2003) Liz and Gianna recommend
• The Corrections by Jonathan Franzen (2002) Liz and Gianna recommend
• John Henry Days by Colson Whitehead (2002) Liz and Gianna recommend
• Blonde by Joyce Carol Oates (2001) Liz and Gianna recommend
• The Quick and the Dead by Joy Williams (2001)
• Close Range: Wyoming Stories by Annie Proulx  (2000) Liz and Gianna recommend
• Waiting by Ha Jin (2000) Liz and Gianna recommend

There are many other great books dating back further, and you can see the full list on the Pulitzer Prize website, here.  Happy reading, and let's celebrate these great books.  Sometimes it really is an honor just to be nominated.  And hopefully the Pulitzer board will get their act together next year.

Book Group Picks to Kick Off 2012

Now that we've shaken off the holiday season, it's time to grudgingly associate with acquaintances while pretending to care about their children and drinking lots and lots of wine, all under the pretense of reading the same books together.  I think if Gianna and I had a book group and I got to name it, I'd call it "Dear God I Resent You People."  In other news, yes, I'm still single.  Still, we love the idea of book groups because we love the idea of people buying and reading books.  We want to stay employed.  Here are some of our top book group picks, new or coming out soon in paperback, for the first three months of 2012.


Gianna's Picks:

The Tiger’s Wife by Tea Obreht

Random House

Paperback out now

For those keeping track, this is the 147^th time that either Liz or I have blogged about this book. That is only one fewer than Let’s Take the Long Way Home (which is also an excellent book group choice). The Tiger’s Wife is textured, compelling, mystical, and multi-dimensional. It is a heartfelt work of serious literary fiction that only comes around once every few years. I’ve said this before, but Tiger’s Wife will be read for generations. I would say that if you are in a book group that truly cherishes literature, this is a must.

Open City by Teju Cole

Random House

1/17/12

This absolutely stunning work by Teju Cole has several built-in discussions/themes for book groups: the Holocaust, slavery, 9/11, genocide, and the invasion of Iraq are a few that will keep the discussion going late into the evening…so, you know, bring extra wine.

Blood, Bones, and Butter by Gabrielle Hamilton

Random House

1/24/12

Blood, Bones, and Butter is quite simply one of the best memoirs I’ve ever read, while officially it may actually be a food memoir. Memoirs can be very hit or miss for book clubs, but I would put this in the hit column. The writing is as fine as anything you will read. I would compare it to All Over but the Shoutin’ by Rick Bragg, or Tender at the Bone by Ruth Reichl (a huge book club favorite).

 

Dreams of Joy by Lisa See

Random House

2/1/12

I wanted to include a really good yet more commercial book on my list and Lisa See immediately came to mind. She brings timeless themes to every book: belonging, love, family (particularly sisters and mothers and daughters), and what it means to belong. Dreams of Joy is an outstanding sequel to Shanghai Girl; I highly recommend both books for clubs.

Welcome to Utopia by Karen Valby

University of Texas Press

3/1/12

Oh, how I love this book. I’ve read it three times and each time I find something new, something meaningful, something to hold on to. While the story of a small town in Texas, this small marvel of a book could have been nearly anywhere in this country. Themes are numerous and include: race, war, gender, family, change, the impact of pop culture, and what it means to live in a small American town. Utopia is a mix of To Kill a Mockingbird and The Last Picture Show. That’s a big statement, I am standing by it, and you know where I live.  Okay, if you actually know where I live that’s sort of creepy, but you know what I mean. [I'll send you Gianna's address for cash.]

Liz's Picks

The Woman in Black by Susan Hill

Random House

Paperback available now

Who doesn't love a good, creepy ghost story that echoes classics like Rebecca?  Who doesn't want to see the Harry Potter kid's new movie?  The Woman in Black is a chilling read that has the added bonus of being Daniel Radcliffe's first starring film role since he went wizard.  Here's a great opportunity to read the book and then see the movie as a group.

Snowdrops by A.D. Miller

Random House

2/7/12

The surprise Booker Prize finalist offers lots of discussion material for groups.  Modern Russia, dishonest women, the mob, the black market, bodies in the snow--this isn't your mama's book group pick.  It's a contemporary con novel and rumination on truth in a country where everything is relative.

House of Prayer No. 2 by Mark Richard

Random House

2/14/12

I'm actually a fan of the idea of memoirs for book group picks.  The added reality of a true story adds another level to the conversation, and House of Prayer No. 2 offers lots.  Mark Richard grew up with physical problems that had him relegated to hospitals and special needs schools even though he was plenty smart.  He also was a wayward youth searching for purpose who spent time working as a fisherman, painting houses, and loafing.  How he became a writer's writer is a story worth reading.

Chinaberry Sidewalks by Rodney Crowell

Random House

3/13/12

I think I've mentioned this book almost as much as Gianna has written about The Tiger's Wife.  It's my favorite non-fiction book of 2011, a spellbinding, beautifully written memoir of growing up in a low income family in Houston in the 50's.  Crowell has the ability to bring humor and love to a story that's also full of hardship and violence and kooky religious fundamentalism.  He writes like a poet.  I love this book.

The Buddha in the Attic by Julie Otsuka

Random House

3/20/12

I've written previously about this slender novel as well.  The Buddha in the Attic was deservedly nominated for the National Book Award last year.  It's the story of the women who came to the US as mail order brides to Japanese immigrants.  It details culture shock, struggle, and perseverance in the years between the turn of the century and the start of World War II.  The writing is impeccable and because there is no one protagonist, the structure itself adds to a discussion.  And it's really, really good.  Trust me.

Best of 2011: The Complete Lists

Now that our countdown has concluded, here are the full lists.  Thanks to everyone for following us and for tolerating our bookish adventures this year.  Don't forget that we're also on Facebook (search "Liz and Gianna's Adventures in Book Land" and like us) and Twitter (@AdvinBookLand).

Gianna's Top 30 Books of 2011:

1.  The Tiger's Wife by Tea Obreht
2.  Blue Nights by Joan Didion
3.  Swamplandia! by Karen Russell
4.  Bright's Passage by Josh Ritter
5.  The Storm at the Door by Stefan Merrill Block
6.  Vaclav & Lena by Haley Tanner
7.  Blood, Bones, & Butter by Gabrielle Hamilton
8.  The Sense of an Ending by Julian Barnes
9.  The Informationist by Taylor Stevens
10. Timeless Mexico by Hugo Brehme and Susan Toomey Frost
11. Chinaberry Sidewalks by Rodney Crowell
12. The Journals of Spalding Gray by Spalding Gray
13. Catherine the Great by Robert K. Massie
14. Open City by Teju Cole
15. Hard Ground by Michael O'Brien and Tom Waits
16. The Devil All the Time by Donald Ray Pollock
17. The End of Country by Seamus McGraw
18. Lime Creek by Joe Henry
19. Trillin on Texas by Calvin Trillin
20. Red on Red by Edward Conlon
21. In the Garden of Beasts by Erik Larson
22. My Lucky Life by Dick Van Dyke
23. Austin Chronicle Music Anthology edited by Austin Powell and Doug Freeman
24. Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children by Ransom Riggs
25. Awkward Family Pet Photos by Mike Bender and Doug Chernack
26. Close Your Eyes by Amanda Eyre Ward
27. The Autobiography of Mrs. Tom Thumb by Melanie Benjamin
28. Don't Make Me Go to Town by Rhonda Lashley Lopez
29. The Language of Flowers by Vanessa Diffenbaugh
30. West of 98 edited by Lynn Stegner and Russell Rowland

And the far superior Liz's Top 30 Books of 2011:

1.  Galore by Michael Crummey
2.  Swamplandia! by Karen Russell
3.  The Sense of an Ending by Julian Barnes
4.  The Devil All the Time by Donald Ray Pollock
5.  Habibi by Craig Thompson
6.  The Upright Piano Player by David Abbott
7.  The Tiger's Wife by Tea Obreht
8.  Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern
9.  Chinaberry Sidewalks by Rodney Crowell
10. The Buddha in the Attic by Julie Otsuka
11. Blue Nights by Joan Didion
12. Van Gogh by Steven Naifeh and Gregory White Smith
13. Jamrach's Menagerie by Carol Birch
14. Zone One by Colson Whitehead
15. The Cat's Table by Michael Ondaatje
16. The Stranger's Child by Alan Hollinghurst
17. Catherine the Great by Robert K. Massie
18. Moondogs by Alexander Yates
19. Daughters of the Revolution by Carolyn Cooke
20. Snowdrops by A.D. Miller
21. Destiny of the Republic by Candice Millard
22. Into the Silence by Wade Davis
23. Girls in White Dresses by Jennifer Close
24. Please Look After Mom by Kyung-Sook Shin
25. Vaclav & Lena by Haley Tanner
26. Your Voice in My Head by Emma Forrest
27. The Gap Year by Sarah Bird
28. Hemingway's Boat by Paul Hendrickson
29. The Snowman by Jo Nesbo
30. Jerusalem by Simon Sebag Montefiore

Best of 2011 Countdown: #1

We've arrived at our #1 books of 2011!  Pop the bubbly and raise a glass (of Diet Coke, of course, as it sure as hell tastes better than champagne).

Gianna:

The Tiger's Wife
Tea Obreht
Random House

Okay, so you’re not surprised. You had to be a little surprised that a first novel is at the top of my list (or at least surprised that so many first novels were in the list to begin with). 

Tea Obreht

I’ve talked about this book so much that I almost thought it was a 2010 book. I know I’ve said this before but I rarely read a book more than once, and certainly don’t read a book more than once in the span of just a few months. But that is exactly what I did with The Tiger’s Wife. I don’t know if I did it because I wanted to check myself; I had been going on and on about this book to anyone who would listen and maybe wanted to verify it before I looked like a complete idiot. Yeah, turns out I missed so much of this magical, layered, rich, beautiful book the first time around that a second reading just made me talk about it even more. Annoying right? [Incredibly.] In short, this novel is about a young doctor trying to navigate her way after the death of her beloved grandfather who was once a well respected doctor himself. It is filled with amazing stories, fables, and history. This is a novel that you will never forget; it will live on your shelf forever (and I am sorry but this is a book you must have in physical form, some books are just too good for e-readers only…and I will die on that hill).

Tea Obreht is an extraordinary writer, a genius.

This was one of the last books I sold when I was with Random House, and I just can’t help but think how incredibly lucky I was to have that opportunity.


Liz:


Galore
Michael Crummey
Other Press


For those people not in the book industry or unfamiliar with the various alignments of publishing houses, allow me a moment of explanation.  In my capacity as a district sales manager for Random House Inc, I sell both publishing groups owned by Random House--Knopf, Doubleday, Vintage/Anchor, etc--and I also sell books from independent presses that contract with Random House for distribution services.  Other Press is one of those smaller presses, one that specializes in literary fiction and nonfiction.  The press publishes books that challenge readers as well as entertain and educate, and the team working for Other Press regularly manages to find surprising, wonderful books from around the world.  My top pick for 2011 is one of those books.

Michael Crummey

Sometimes as a reader you just have to let go of the reins and go where the story takes you.  In the case of Galore, that place is Paradise Deep, a remote fishing village in Newfoundland so removed from the rest of the country that the only Bible in town is half a book that was found inside a fish that was obviously hungry for the Word.  Galore starts with a beached whale, and as the citizens of Paradise Deep begin to break down the beast, they find a man, naked and bleached, inside of the belly.  While they stand around making fun of the size of the man's genitalia (and you know that's what Gianna and I would be doing), the man moves.  He is alive, he smells like rotten fish, and he has no back story.  The people name him Judah--after a debate about whether Jonah or Judas was the biblical whale bait and a compromise--and he becomes a constant in this story of multiple generations and diverse characters.  I compare Galore to other favorite books--the storytelling magic of The Hakawati, the folklorish charm of Maritime Canada in The Shipping News.  The wonderful cast of characters reminds me of the town people in the Dutch movie Antonia's Line, one of my favorite movies ever.  


While Galore was published in the United States in 2011, it was an earlier release in Canada. There it won the Commonwealth Writer's Prize for Best Book, the Canadian Authors Association Literary Award, and was a finalist for the Governor General's Literary Award for Fiction.  It's full of mythology and sea yarns and terrific characters.  It's a book that I would love to see illustrated because Michael Crummey creates so many amazing images that have lingered in my mind all year. Oh, and you know I love my Canadian fiction.  Galore is my favorite book of the year.

Best of 2011 Countdown: #7

Gianna:

Blood Bones & Butter: The Inadvertent Education of a Reluctant Chef
Gabrielle Hamilton
Random House

I am not a “foodie." I have no obsession or even great love of food. I don’t ever have conversations about it or dream about what I am going to make for dinner. I don’t wax poetic about recipes…and no, I don’t take pictures of my meals (unless I suspect that the $4.99 Chinese buffet I came across on the road may come back to haunt me. In that case I take a photo of the buffet, the health inspection, and the manager on duty).   Now before you think I am complete animal…I do believe I enjoy a large bowl of pasta (every night if I could) more than the average person. I’ve never read a food memoir…no not even Ruth Reichl or M.F.K. Fisher. I did however read Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and my literary senses tell me Roald Dahl was the Anthony Bordain of his time. [Having traveled and eaten with Gianna for years now, let me state this: she's Italian and she LIKES the Olive Garden.  Let that sit on your tongue and dissolve for a bit.] 

Gabrielle Hamilton...
who's lost her shoes?

So why, Gianna, why do you love Gabrielle Hamilton’s Blood, Bones, and Butter so much? I mean, it’s your #7 for the love of pasta! Well, first of all Hamilton is an amazing writer.  She earned her MFA from the University of Michigan and she has written for The New York Times, GQ, Food & Wine, and The New Yorker. Her work has been included in six volumes of Best of Food Writing. In other words, she has writing chops (get it “chops”? Like pork chops or some other food chop…or just chopping…? Hilarious). [Kill me, you hateful punner.]

Hamilton writes beautifully about her parents, particularly about her mother (who she credits with giving her the love of food), and the parties they would throw. It seems their house was never empty, and the year’s highlight was their annual spring lamb roast where they would have over 200 guests.  Hamilton’s parents divorce, and her life changes quickly and dramatically. She and her siblings are left alone an entire summer foraging for their own food and, left to their own devices, Hamilton discovers drugs at the age of 13.  The book picks up again as we follow Hamilton through the kitchens of her life, ending with her own restaurant, Prune, in New York City.

This memoir is lyrical, honest, funny, thoughtful and a bit dark (Hamilton has not spoken to her mother in about 20 years). For me the read was The Liar’s Club meets The Glass Castle meets the best food writing you’ve ever experienced.  [...Like the instructions on a Hot Pocket?] Don’t take my word for it (always a mistake); here is what Anthony Bourdain says: “ Magnificent. Simply the best memoir by a chef ever. Ever.” 

Liz:

The Tiger's Wife
Tea Obreht
Random House

I can't remember a year more heavily dominated by terrific first novels.  Just looking at my list, have five in my top ten, and I'm not alone.  Of The New York Times Book Review's five best fiction works of 2011, four were first novels with Stephen King as the noted veteran.  One of those NYT best books is Tea Obreht's The Tiger's Wife.


Since the beginning of the year, I've engaged in an ongoing debate with a bookseller friend about which book--The  Tiger's Wife or Swamplandia! by Karen Russell--would win the National Book Award and the Pulitzer Prize.  He was right--The Tiger's Wife was a finalist for the National Book Award (and I still think that Swamplandia! will win the Pulitzer).

Tea Obreht

The 25 year-old Tea Obreht writes much more maturely than her age suggests, and The Tiger's Wife is the novel most writers never manage to achieve.  It is splendid--a literary work with passion and memorable characters and beautiful storytelling.  Blending history, family, and folklore, The Tiger's Wife tells the story of a young doctor, Natalia, grieving for her grandfather's death through the memory of his stories.  Interwoven is the history of the Balkans from World War II to the present, her grandfather's love of Kipling's The Jungle Book, and of the tiger wandering through the darkness.  This is a book of secrets and family and love.  It's a masterpiece.

10 Cool Things: Lemuria Books

Lemuria Books is the outstanding bookstore in Jackson, Mississippi, owned by lifelong bookseller John Evans.  It's located on Interstate 55, so if you're driving through Mississippi you pretty much HAVE to pass it, and therefore you should stop.  We've featured Lemuria on our blog before, both in our profile of bookseller Nan Graves Goodman and our feature for Chuck Palahniuk's event in October.  We've never just talked about the store itself, though.  I'd never heard a bookseller talk about "working" on a book until I (Liz) started selling to Lemuria. I don't know if that's a common expression at other stores, but it's true for Lemuria--they WORK on making books big sellers.  Recent National Book Award winner Jesmyn Ward even gave the store a shout-out in her acceptance speech.  That's pretty cool.

Now THAT's a
Halloween costume!

10 Cool Things about Lemuria Books


1. Truly outstanding booksellers who aren't opposed to bribery.  Keep them happy and they'll sell your books all damn day. (You feed the beast with a constant supply of good books.)


2. Lemuria has one of the most active, best bookstore blogs out there.  Updated daily, there's always something interesting to read there.

Chuck Palahniuk signing books

3. Book collector?  Lemuria has a terrific First Editions Club, as well as a great collection. If you belonged to their club this year, you'd have signed first editions of NYT Best Book Swamplandia, NYT bestseller The Night Circus, and National Book Award finalist The Tiger's Wife, among many other great picks.

John Evans,
Lemuria's owner

4. John plays some..."interesting" music in the store.  I think some of it is Mississippi Delta Blues.  I think some of it is fever dream-induced and may cause seizures.  (Admittedly, I--Liz--am not a music person.)


5. There's an amazing rare book room in the store....that Liz isn't allowed to peruse without constant supervision.


6. Gianna is June to Liz's Johnny, and this is our song: 

 (Gianna wrote this one.  Liz doesn't understand.)

Eudora's picture 

7. Four words: Eudora Welty was here.  It's hallowed ground.


8. Creative author events.  These people know how to host a shindig and aren't afraid of the booze.

Night Circus event, complete with circus tent.

9. Liz's boss used to work at Lemuria.  And in today's job market, sucking up is never a bad idea.


10. Cool things all over the store--from signed author pictures to original Barry Moser engravings to cool Rockwell Kent art.  The place is a treasure hunt adventure and book lover's paradise.

Julie Otsuka--Little Books, Big Books

Julie Otsuka

The 2011 National Book Award is announced this week and two Random House titles--The Tiger's Wife by Tea Obreht and The Buddha in the Attic by Julie Otsuka--are nominated for the prestigious fiction prize.  I (Liz) had read The Tiger's Wife back in March, and it is generally considered the odds favorite.  I'd overlooked reading Julie Otsuka's work, though, and this weekend decided that I should catch up with one of the books last year's winner, Jaimy Gordon, predicted might be an upset winner.  Being the crazy book fiend I am though (see: Operation Chuck), I read both The Buddha in the Attic and Otsuka's earlier book, When the Emperor Was Divine.

How to read two books in just over 24 hours?  It helps when both books are under 150 pages in length.  I'm not a speed reader--really, I'm not.  I just don't sleep.  I started with When the Emperor Was Divine, Otsuka's earlier book.  Emperor has become a classroom favorite along the lines of Lord of the Flies and To Kill a Mockingbird, and it's not difficult to see why.  This is the story of a family of Japanese Americans who are evacuated to internment camps in World War II.  These characters--a mother, son, daughter, and absent husband who was taken to an enemy combatant camp--are relatively anonymous, archetypal.  The experiences they face are characteristic of those endured during one of the greatest civil rights atrocities in US history, and the absence of character names makes these stories feel universal and profound in their ordinariness.  I was also struck by Julie Otsuka's ability to write beautiful sentences with relatively simple vocabulary.  I'm not a language lover like the wannabe poets out there; my book love usually is character-related.  Still, I noted the vocabulary of this book and the beauty of her sentences.  This is a book that a high school student can read and appreciate, a book that challenges and educates and moves.

After finishing When the Emperor Was Divine, I picked up Otsuka's NBA-nominated, new novel, The Buddha in the Attic.  In one sense, Buddha is a prequel to Emperor, in that the time frame involved begins in 1919 and moves up to the Japanese internment in World War II.  However, while Emperor used a family to relate a more universal experience for Japanese Americans, Buddha uses a different tact.  This is a novel without specifics--it's the story of a whole group of Japanese women who come to the United States as mail order brides.  They are city girls, country girls, educated girls, innocent children, old maids, younger sisters too plain to become geishas.  They come to the US to meet husbands who were allegedly bankers, lawyers, business owners...but who are farm hands, day laborers.  These are women learning to survive in a foreign land.  In 120+ pages, Julie Otsuka manages to capture 25 years of struggle and strength for an entire subset of the population, and again she's captured beauty.  This little book is great.  If it manages to win the National Book Award, I won't be protesting, but even if it doesn't, The Buddha in the Attic is worth reading.