Category Archives: reading

June 14, 2010   DG&B   bestsellers, Jim, opinion, reading, retailers  
32

Big boxes and buzz

by Jim

I was out for dinner with a friend and her sister recently, and I mentioned that I had finally read The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo.

“Oh, I’ve been meaning to read that,” said friend’s sister. “I keep seeing it at WalMart.”

“I know! It’s everywhere!” I replied, at this point still enjoying the conversation.

“Well, I just don’t buy books until they’re in the WalMart,” she commented. “Once they’re there, I just know they’re good.”

After briefly choking on my tongue, I asked her to explain. Her theory, which in fairness does make some sense, was that WalMart only carries the most popular books, so once they’re there, they’ve essentially been pre-screened by the public. And okay, that makes a good degree of sense. But in a market where so much great new fiction doesn’t really have a chance to break out, it made me worried about how people choose what to read.

Have we created a system in which only books pre-ordained to bestsellerdom even have a chance? Is there such a thing as a word of mouth bestseller anymore?

It reminds me of when Jonathan Franzen turned down the Oprah book club back in 2001 and made comments alluding to his own discomfort that we trust so few people to tell us what to read and are so willing to jump on board with whatever they point us to. For me, so much of the thrill is in finding something unexpected or something no one else has talked to me about so I can go in with no expectations.

That brings me back to The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo which I loved more than most folks I know who have read or tried to read it and which does seem like an honest to goodness word of mouth bestseller. It did get a huge push from its publisher, but as folks have dived in and the rest of the trilogy came out, it has expanded hugely. So the chance for books to break out is there, but…I’m still concerned about the nature of big box retail and its effect on book buying habits.

What about you guys? Do you prefer books you know other people love, or would you rather uncover an unexpected gem? And how do you decide what to read?

I won’t pretend I’m uninfluenced by buzz. I just bought Justin Cronin’s doorstop The Passage this weekend because I’ve heard so many great things. But then I started something else…

June 11, 2010   DG&B   favorites, fun, Rachel, reading  
3

A literary affair to remember

by Rachel

Ever wondered what would happen if your two favorite authors hooked-up and penned a book together?

Well, I have, and so has Caroline Hagood, who gives us a rundown on her top 5 literary hook-ups in her article on Huffington Post.

I don’t know about you guys, but pairing Franz Kafka with Chuck Palahniuk sounds like a mind-bending literary experience. Maybe a Stephen King and Dostoevsky combination could work wonders too. But why stop with fiction? How about Julia Child and Albert Camus hooking up – they’d create a delicious and absurd little cookbook together that I’d definitely want to read.

Fancy any literary hook-ups yourself?

June 08, 2010   DG&B   Chasya, fun, lists, reading  
4

The perfect summer list?

by Chasya

Last week on the blog, Stacey touched on children’s summer reads which got me thinking: what exactly makes something a good summer read? I mean, I’m no stranger to parking myself on the beach with a good book. Last year while reading a manuscript I managed to burn myself so badly I had trouble sitting for a week. Suffice it to say I’ll be back on the beach a lot this year (albeit with a lot more sunscreen and maybe an enormous umbrella for protection—weekend weather permitting) and enjoying holidays with some tome or another. In the past all sorts of things made it into my pile: literary fiction; thrillers; chick-lit; light mysteries; the most touted and well-publicized book of the month; a less obscure book a friend just happened to own and love. There was no rhyme or reason for why something made it into my summer reading pile.

So this year I decided to do some more research to determine what I should be reading. What qualifies as a “good summer read?” Is it the breezy, fast-paced thriller that you can consume in one sitting or the literary epic you don’t have time for all year and finally—finally—get the chance to pick it up on your staycation or on Independence Day weekend?

Well, I did do some research, and suffice it to say that it seems like everyone and their grandmother has submitted their lists for the summer. Salon’s got it’s “nail biting summer reads” made up of riveting thrillers.  Here NPR lists 15 summer picks of a decidedly more highbrow variety. The Los Angeles Times has got its exhausting and varied 60 Titles for 92 Days list, comprised of new releases. Nina Sankovitch has got her list of six which include both thrillers and epics on HuffPo. According to her, good summer books “tell great stories about unique characters; evoke vernal landscapes of abundant, lush growth or of hot and dusty cobblestones, or of languid humidity; and end with a bang.”

I could go on and on but I’ll stop here. In short, I discovered rather quickly that I’m on a fool’s errand (it’s not the first time, and I doubt it will be the last). When it all comes down to it, it’s what you want to read the most and what will keep your eyes glued to the page for hours that will really lead you to your ultimate summer list. As for me, I love my breezy effortless reads as much as I love hunkering down to those endless and enthralling books that can keep you from getting out of bed for days. I’ve started Kathryn Stockett’s much touted and much lauded novel The Help, which I can already tell fits these criteria and is going to keep me busy for a little while.

So now that I’ve scoured reading lists galore, tell me what’s on yours! I’m also open to suggestions, because there’s no better way to build your reading list than by word-of-mouth!

June 04, 2010   DG&B   fun, Lauren, lists, reading  
27

Kicking ass and taking names

by Lauren

This weekend I went away for Memorial Day to a beautiful riverside cabin in the woods upstate. At one point, sitting by the riverbank in the sunshine, I looked up from my book to take note that all five of us were reading when we could’ve been doing anything we wanted. (We’d all packed more than one book even though we were limited to one duffel bag each—just in case.) It warmed my heart, I tell you. There was also much discussion of what we were reading—particularly of the third book in Stieg Larsson’s trilogy, which one person had brought along and another had already read.

People who’ve read these particular books tend to invoke the heroine’s enviable toughness. I’m often struck by conversations about a heroine so badass that it makes the book worth reading, because it’s not something I can really recall experiencing. I like to think I’m pro-woman (at the very least because I am one, and I’m pretty pro-me) and have a good handle on which ladies supposedly kick ass, but I don’t have that gut reaction of identification or aspiration or whatever it is that so many women (and men) I know do to a tough heroine and the book in which she lives. Of those incredible female characters I can identify off the top of my head, they’re really supplied by my childhood reading: Laura Ingalls; Pippi Longstocking; Jo March, up until the regrettable point that she ditches Laurie for the old German at which point I pretend the book is over so that I can still love it; etc. When I think of my favorite characters from non-children’s books, they’re really all men. As are a large percentage of my favorite authors.

I’m not 100% sure it matters—a great book is a great book, and a great character is a great character—but I still feel like I must be missing something. So this summer, I’m challenging myself to focus my personal reading on amazing women.

Here’s where you come in: since my natural reading proclivities have been steering me the wrong way, I’m going to need a list. I’ll stick Larsson on there, but I’m feeling the overwhelming buzz kick up my contrarian nature, and I’m just not ready to tackle the girl or her dragon tattoo quite yet. So below, let me know your favorite female characters, your favorite female authors, and why (without spoilers), and I’ll give as many as I can a shot. Then I’ll let you know how I fare when the summer is through!

June 04, 2010   DG&B   fun, lists, Rachel, reading  
8

A personal history of reading

by Rachel

A couple of posts ago I mentioned not being able to finish reading Joseph O’Neill’s Netherland, despite desperately wanting to. It always seems like such a shame to begin reading a book and then put it aside mid-way. So, I was quite happy to read Sonya Chung’s article on The Millions which details her personal history of reading: books she has read, books she should have read, books she read but felt she shouldn’t have, books she tried to love but just couldn’t read anymore, and so on.

I thought it was a good idea to analyze my own reading and would like to share with you my number one choices for each of Sonya’s categories (please don’t judge!):

The Number One Book I Did Not Finish But Very Much Want To Try Again
Jude the Obscure by Thomas Hardy

The Number One Book That I’ve Already Tried More Than Once But Couldn’t Engage With, I Don’t Know Why
The Road by Cormac McCarthy

The Number One Book That I Found Mostly Painful and Likely Will Not Revisit
Rabbit at Rest by John Updike

The Number One Book I Shlogged Through and Almost Abandoned, But Kept On; No Pay-off, I Felt, In the End
Museum of Innocence by Orham Pamuk

The Number One Book I Struggled Through, Maybe Put Down For a While, But Finished and Am Very Glad I Did
Mrs. Dalloway by Virginia Woolf

Now that my taste in reading has been analyzed, care to share your list?

June 03, 2010   DG&B   book club, fun, Michael, reading  
19

For the forgetful

by Michael

I don’t know about you, but I have a hard time keeping track of all the books I’ve read. I’m pretty sure I’ll never again be able to recall everything I read in high school and college, and as I read more and more submissions, books just slip from my brain. We do a book club here at work, and I’m often surprised when I read the coverage I did—I’d say I forget about a good third of the books.

But now there’s an app to help me remember! The BookLover app lets you keep track of the books you’ve read, what you’re currently reading, and what you want to read. It’s really simple, but seems pretty helpful. If anything is keeping me from buying the app, it’s that “currently reading” section. I’m afraid every book I start but don’t finish will live there forever, quickly eclipsing the books I’ve finished!

Do you need help remembering the books you need to read? Or are you all elephants?

June 02, 2010   DG&B   fun, lists, reading, Stacey  
5

Summer reading for kids

by Stacey

Now that unofficial summer has begun, I find myself thinking about all the things I want to do that I don’t have time for this summer, including lots of summer reading for the whole family. Because my oldest daughter is starting kindergarten in September, I thought it would be fun to check out this summary from about.com for a varied assortment of summer reading lists for kids.  It’s a very eclectic collection of lists, and titles, and I’m hoping to be able to track down at least a few new books for us all to enjoy this summer, before it’s too late and we’re talking about back to school!

June 01, 2010   DG&B   Chasya, fun, opinion, reading, trends  
13

Retelling stories

by Chasya

One of the many galleys being distributed at BEA this year was the much-hyped Juliet by Anne Fortier, a retelling of Romeo and Juliet. I was skeptical. Really, I thought, how many times have we seen this done? I mean, I can’t go anywhere without staring at Amanda Seyfried’s face on either a poster or trailer for the film Letters to Juliet. Jim alluded to this in his post about knock-off queries, and I also can’t but help but wonder, can’t writers and artists think of something original for a change? (Harsh, I know.)

And then I stumbled on Cory Doctorow’s list of Pulitzer-winning works that came into existence by doing something similar—riffing off of something that already existed.  I always knew that Rent, which is on the list, was a retelling of La Boheme (and for someone who’s not crazy about musicals, I’m crazy about Rent) but I didn’t really know there were so many others in this category that received the illustrious Pulitzer Prize.

Doctorow categorizes these award-winners as fanfic, and, as he says, provides the list “as a service to writers who believe that fanfic is ‘immoral, illegal, plagiarism, cheating, for people who are too stupid/lazy/unimaginative to write stories of their own.’”

Though I’ve never felt terribly offended by fan fiction, I’m no longer feeling the cynicism that tickled the back of my brain when I first read about Fortier’s new book.

What about you, readers? For you skeptics, has this article affected you? Are you willing to give these reboots another chance?

May 28, 2010   DG&B   contest, fun, Lauren, photos, reading  
7

Building enough bookshelves

by Lauren

“I would be most content if my children grew up to be the kind of people who think decorating consists mostly of building enough bookshelves.” Anna Quindlen

While I can’t speak for Anna Quindlen’s children, I think that those of us here seem to have gotten it right! Thanks to everyone who sent in their bookshelf photos. I’ll start here with mine, and then follow me after the jump for some from DGLM agents and blog readers!!

As I mentioned, I added a new bookcase to the family recently, so the first is haphazardly organized and covered in knickknacks, photos, and mementos. The second actually has some organization to it: Baby-sitters Club and Little House books on the bottom; galleys in the middle; and the top shelf is a combination of books I represent (which I really have to get better about bringing home, because there’s a lot missing), books I sell rights for, and books I’m eager to read that are ready to move up to the majors: the bedside table pile. I actually moved the bedside table pile on top of the bookcase for photo purposes—that’s the pile on the left that’s topped with my brand new Room by Emma Donoghue galley. Those are the books I’m in the middle of or desperate to read next. The pile beside it are the books that I don’t own (though some of those are intermingled elsewhere as well) and have to remember to read and give back. At a glance, it seems about half of those are Jim’s!

Miriam and Stacey kindly took photos for me of some of their books—and they’re delightful for totally different reasons.

Miriam’s I love for the display table, which is an idea I’ve already stolen for my dream library with the rolling ladders.

Stacey’s I love because they’re not bookshelves at all. Having moved in the not too distant past and with 4 young kids at home, Stacey’s books actually currently live in a closet. Something about the haphazard stacks makes me think of used bookstores, and I kind of want to stop by her house and flip through to see what’s there.

We also got some great photos from you guys, so I’m putting my favorites up here:

Mary Witzl sent her photo in part as a call to action. Bonus points for the adorable cat sneaking into the photo!

We’ve got plenty of bookshelves in our flat back in the U.K., but where we’re living, we’ve got only teetering piles stacked up on shelves. I’ll send a photo, though. Maybe that will shame my family into tidiness.

Alice Pope sent us one of eight (jealous!!).

Here is one of eight bookcases on my house, this one mostly dedicated to picture books. I have a 2 YA/MG bookcases, a nonfiction bookcase, a cookbook bookcase, an adult fiction bookcase, a classics bookcase, and the boy’s bookcase full of PBs, board books and Captain Underpants.

(He only reads things from my PB shelves under close supervision.) :)

And yet…there are still piles of books on the floor of every room and a 2 rather precarious piles on my nightstand. Think I should get a Kindle?

Lynn sent a jealousy inducing photo of one small part of her personal library—not only does the shelving shown far exceed my paltry bookcases, but the full library can’t be viewed because the books have to be shipped back from her “private beach” to Paris!

Aww!! I should have taken a wide view of my library before we dismantled it! No, we didn’t have rolling ladders that I, like everyone else here, dream of having, but I did have my stepping stool placed discreetly behind a door in case I needed to get something from the top two shelves.

Vicki sent us her two bookcases and dresser-top collection, firmly refusing to get on board with my bookshelf envy. I should learn to be so zen. My favorite part of these photos is how cozy the stuffed animals look nestled in among the books. It’s like a book forest.

Just two bookcases in my room, but I think I have enough room for what I need. As you can see, the shelving on the left is much more spread out, so it still has a lot of room to expand. Plus I still have the tops of both bookcases.

I also have a shelf of writing-related books and my HP collection on my dresser. I’ll be very worried if I run out of room completely.

Though Bill Peschel isn’t helping, because he sent this link to a blog feature about his personal library, which inspires “envy and despair,” as critic Heidi MacDonald so rightly put it.

Thanks to you all for sharing, and I’m mentally filing away some ideas for when I have endless space and money (that day will come, right?). As for the winner, it’s a very tough call, but I have to say that Lynn’s mere fragment of her library so dwarfs my collection and comes closest to my dream library—and she even has a step stool from which she might someday be able to upgrade to rolling ladders—so congratulations! Drop me a line at labramo@dystel.com to tell me what sort of books you enjoy, and I’ll send you something to add to your already impressive collection!

May 27, 2010   DG&B   fun, guilty pleasures, lists, Michael, reading  
10

LOST in a good book

by Michael

It’s BEA week, and I’m in New York, in a hotel, exhausted by my day of standing around. But my mind keeps drifting back to Sunday and the finale of LOST. As I said to friends, I laughed, I cried, and I was completely caught up in the moment. I will miss the show, flaws and all.

What’s this got to do with books, you ask? LOST had many literary allusions throughout the show, and this LA Times blog post  goes through a bunch of them. Interestingly, the producers and I like many of the same books. Are any of the LOST books on your favorites list?

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