Category Archives: reading

December 07, 2015   Jane   holidays, Jane, reading  
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Holiday gifting

Because of what I do, I generally don’t buy books as holiday gifts.  Frankly, I find it too difficult—there are so many to choose from.  This year, though, I thought I would try to select some that family and friends would enjoy.

But what should I be considering?  Their interests? Their reading taste?  Perhaps I should pick books that I would want to read.  In the end, I chose the latter, simply because that is always the way I buy gifts—I buy others what I would want for myself.  I so enjoy doing that.

So, here is a list of ten books—all published in 2015—that I think might make great gifts.  My one disclaimer is that I haven’t chosen books that I represent for the obvious reason: I think they are all pretty fantastic, and I couldn’t possibly single out ten.  So, here goes:

FICTION:

City of Fire by Garth Risk Hallberg (Knopf)

God Help the Child  by Toni Morrison (Knopf)

Leaving Berlin by Joseph Kanon (Atria)

A Manual for Cleaning Women: Selected Stories by Lucia Berlin (Farrar, Strauss)

The Girl on the Train by Paula Hawkins (Riverhead)

NON-FICTION:

Guantánamo DiaryDaughters of the Samurai: A Journey from East to West and Back by Janice P. Nimura (Norton)

Guantanamo Diary by Mohamedo Ould Slahi (Little Brown)

Jonas Salk: A Life by Charlotte de Croes (Oxford University Press)

Killing a King: The Assassination of Yitzhak Rabin and the Remaking of Israel by Dan Ephron (Pantheon)

The 613 by Archie Rand (Blue Ridge Press)

All of these are books I would love to read (in fact I have only read one). How do you choose the books you will give as holiday gifts and what are you planning to give?

December 03, 2015   Erin   book club, books, Erin, reading, West Coast, winter  
1

Winter Books

As Los Angeles starts to get colder, and by that I mean a brisk seventy degrees at midday, it gets me in the mood for winter books, which in my mind means anything involving snow. I still regard snow with child-like wonder, having grown up in Southern California where my family likes to go to the beach on sunny Christmas Days. Last year it snowed on New Years and the next morning ice sprinkled across bright green lawns and palm trees—it was magical. Unfortunately, this was an anomaly, and I only really get to experience snow on vacation or fantastically.

That’s why I chose The Wolf Wilder by Katherine Rundell to read this winter. I found this novel off the shelf of my local bookstore, immediately attracted to the cover, which features lots of snow and wolves (creatures I inaccurately associate with winter). It takes place in the deep, icy woods of Russia, and follows a girl as she stands up for the wolves her and her mother reintroduce into the wild after their neglectful lives in captivity.

Last year, I read George R.R. Martin’s A Game of Thrones because Jon Snow says, “winter is coming.” In the past, I read Phillip Pullman’s His Dark Materials for the polar bears and northern lights, and Doctor Zhivago by Boris Pasternak for the sleigh rides (there are a lot of them).

It may be a weird tradition, but it has inspired me to read a lot of wonderful books I might not have read otherwise. What winter books will you read this year and what makes you read them?

November 24, 2015   mhoogland   Mike H, organizing, reading, too many books  
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Winter cleaning

If you’re anything like me, you have too many books—a disappointing number of which remain unread. Books fill my apartment. They are on my coffee table. Spilling out of a floor-to-ceiling bookcase (because the last one couldn’t cut it and literally collapsed from the weight). Littered across my bedroom and on my desk. So when I came across Jessica Pryde’s Book Riot blog post about cleaning up her bookshelves it really struck a chord.

Usually around this time of year I like to set aside time to do a little housecleaning. And I don’t think I can overemphasize “little” enough. I simply take a few boxes and fill them with all the books I’ve never read and have admitted to myself that I will never read, plus those books which I’ve read and don’t feel the intense need to keep. Then off they go to friends and/or charity. There’s no labeling or organizing involved. My method is a lot less ritualistic than Jessica’s, but her process sounds a lot more effective and fun than my own. I might very well keep it mind this year. Plus, drunk weeding sounds awfully tempting.

How do our readers manage their book collections? Any tips?

November 10, 2015   Kemi Faderin   book reviews, interaction, reading  
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Subway Reading

When I get on the subway, most times I read an e-book on my phone or a print copy. Other times, I people watch and get excited when I see people with books in their hands. I eagerly look around wondering if I’ll spot one of ours, a title I’ve read before, or one that looks interesting. I’ve never ventured to ask anyone about the book they are reading and what they think of it; instead, I try to look for signs on their faces (I can’t read without making a face: aghast, anxious, stupid grin….the whole roller-coaster thing), which does not help me at all. Sometimes, I get off at my stop and wrack my brain to try and remember the title of a book I thought looked good. It’s gotten to the point where I have the notepad on my phone ready to jot these things down!

Luckily, not too long ago I found a brilliant Instagram account to follow called Subway Book Review. It was started by Uli Beutter Cohen, who unlike me, talks to her fellow subway riders about the books they are reading and then posts the review on Instagram/ Facebook with a lovely picture of the book and the reviewer. The genres and titles differ greatly, just like the people that come in and out of the subways everyday.

Thanks to this amazing account, I am now inspired to start talking to people with books who might be standing or sitting close to me. What can it hurt? It’s the go-to conversation starter in our business. It’s also a great way to meet people and more importantly, practice pitching your book to agents/editors. I encourage you all to give it a try if you are like me and haven’t done so already. I would be glad to post a follow-up on the person I talked to and a review of the book they were reading!

 

November 05, 2015   John   age, censorship, children's books, John, opinion, reading  
5

You’re reading WHAT?!?!

We’ve been going through a bit of a weird reading time lately in the Rudolph household. For the past few weeks, my four-year-old son George has insisted onHarry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone for his bedtime reading, no doubt inspired by his older brother Henry, to whom I’ve been reading all seven books in sequence for about a year now. While I’d like to believe that George is brilliant, precocious, and absorbing every word, the truth is that he consistently falls asleep after 5 pages or so–and since he falls asleep so easily, we aren’t going to discourage the routine!

Meanwhile, seven-year-old Henry wants to know about war–specifically, World War II. And since Dad can’t seem to explain WWII coherently without getting into a lot of evil stuff, he asked if we have any books on it instead, or if he could get some from the library. So it seems we’ve reached that fateful Parenting Moment where we need to think about what kinds of books are appropriate for our kids.

Now, like most of my publishing colleagues, I abhor censorship. One of my proudest projects from my early days at S&S was working with Judy Blume on Places I Never Meant to Be, an anthology that supported the National Coalition Against Censorship. But when it comes to Henry and George, is it right to feel concerned about what they read? Or am I being a total hypocrite if I tell Henry to wait on the war books until he’s older?

Fortunately, Roger Sutton of The Horn Book (and an outspoken anti-censorship advocate) pointed me to this little piece on Book Riot, where the author advocates letting kids discover books without restriction. And after reading it, I realized that I benefited from a laissez-faire book policy when I was a kid, too–discovering Lou Reed’s music in ninth grade led me to William Burroughs, and while I distinctly remember my Mom wasn’t thrilled when I took my copy of Junky on the plane to visit my grandparents in Florida, to her credit she didn’t stop me.

So while I might try to get age-appropriate book from the library on WWII, when Henry starts digging through our own shelves and comes across Ellie Wiesel and Primo Levi, I’m not planning on stopping him. And if George keeps up with Harry Potter through the somewhat disturbing ending, I won’t be the one to stop him either (even if manages to stay awake).

But maybe I’m being unrealistic and/or dogmatic here–how do you handle reading material for your kids? Do you keep an eye on them or give them free reign on your shelves? Where do you draw the line?   

October 27, 2015   Kemi Faderin   reading, teachers, YA  
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First Post!!

Hello DGLM blog readers!! I’m so excited to be the new financials and sub rights assistant here at DGLM, and I look forward to lending my voice to discussions about books, reading, and writing! Because this is my very first post, I thought I would share a little more about myself and tell you all about how I got to be here at DGLM–the road to the industry, you could say.

All of us have that one book that hooked us and refused to let us go. For some of us, it happened early (for a good friend of mine it was Junie B. Jones when she was 8), others find their book much later in life. It doesn’t really matter when, but that one book makes you who you are today. Mine came to me when I was thirteen and was just about to leave the heartache that was middle school. My father had just passed away that previous summer, and I was trying to make sense out of nothing.

In the middle of May, my 8th grade reading teacher assigned the last book of the year: The Outsiders by S.E. Hinton. Instead of shoving the book into my backpack, like I had done all the others, I stared at the cover with surprising interest. The faces of four young boys stared back at me, and each one of them looked so lost- very much like how I felt. I decided to start reading it on the bus ride home, and before I knew it, it was bedtime and I had read past the assigned homework page.

By the end of the week I was finished.

My teacher was very impressed, mostly because I had never shown any interest in reading before. She gave me another book of Hinton’s, That Was Then… This Is Now. I ate that up, too. She continued to give me Hinton’s books to read until the last day of school, when she gave me her copy of Tex to keep. That summer, I found myself wanting to imitate Hinton. I think I wrote about six short stories, none of them any good, but I’ve kept them all as a reminder of the moment I made sense out of nothing. I started going to the public library, and when high school came around, I sometimes skipped lunch to hang out at the school library to read and write.

I’m not sure what it was about The Outsiders that got me. Maybe it was the instant connection I had with Ponyboy, because he, too, had lost a parent (both actually). All I know for a fact is that there was a magical instant that day in May when I had unconsciously chosen my path; somewhere between “Paul Newman… and a ride home.”

So, what about you? What book made a serious reader out of you, and when did you find it?

 

 

October 16, 2015   Lauren   contest, fun, Lauren, reading  
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Read, and then read again, and then read more

So what are you doing tomorrow?  If you’re reading this agency website, chances are the answer is reading.  But today’s particular tomorrow is special: it’s Dewey’s 24 Hour Read-a-Thon.  What is a read-a-thon, you ask?  Well it’s an event and a  challenge, so to speak, to read as much as you can alongside other reading enthusiasts and talk about it as you go.  There are all kinds of ways you can participate, via blogs and social media and Goodreads, and you can sign up as a reader to show your participation, as well as cheerleaders who encourage the readers along, and various people running the show from bloggers hosting mini-challenges to prize donors and more.  The very thorough website linked above has all the fun details!

Reading is so often seen as a solitary activity, but those of us in publishing know that reading is also one of the best sources of bonding out there. Why not dedicate yourself to reading tomorrow?  You might make new friends or win a fun prize.  And even if you don’t—even if you don’t sign up for the actual read-a-thon—there aren’t many better ways to spend your Saturday!

October 06, 2015   sharon   favorites, reading, recommendations, Sharon, word of mouth  
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“You Gotta Read this Book.”

Publishers (and thus agents) often talk about word-of-mouth. The elusive factor that can make or break a book, especially in fiction. You readers know exactly what I’m talking about! “Oh, oh, you gotta read this book” or “OK…That book is SO good,” often accompanied by wide eyes, clutching your heart, and/or waving hands (personally I usually do a weird STOP motion with my hands, like some kind of frantic reading crossing guard).

 

The contagious excitement often leads to borrows, sales, and more – you read it, you love it, and you enact the same dance with someone else. On and on! This is why publicists often spend a lot of time, energy, and postage on getting upcoming titles in the hands of “influencers” – in addition to important reviewers and bloggers, people who are loudmouths about books in their communities, whether it’s on Twitter, in book clubs, or at the dog park.

But the real question is…just what what makes a book you gotta read? Is it something identifiable in plot, characters, setting? Is it just a lucky perfect storm of everyday readers, and bestseller headlines?

Buzzfeed asked their audience recently what books they can’t stop talking about, and the wide variety of answers seem to suggest a third option: it’s simply different for every reader. On this list you’ll find classics, contemporary award winners, scifi, YA (all genres), mysteries and histories. There’s books I loved on this list, and books I’ve hated! So I spent some time thinking about the qualities common to books I tend to force people to read: things like a big twist that I didn’t see coming will get me yelling about a book; a memoir that makes me laugh and cry; or a true story that leads me into a subject I never realized existed. Whatever the factor, it’s definitely something I’m thinking about when reading submissions – am I excited enough about this book that I am dying to recommend it to people…starting with editors?

What makes for a book you can’t stop talking about? Any of your favorite recommends make this list?

September 15, 2015   Amy Bishop   motivation, reading, work, writing  
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Finding Time To Write In the Busy Season

There is much rejoicing on Twitter and the general social media parade: fall is (almost) here. It is almost time for scarves and boots, the pumpkin spice takeover, a breath of relief at cooler temperatures, and the crispness in the air that seems to perk up everyone’s steps. The ushering in of fall also means a renewed flurry of activity in publishing as everyone shakes off the residual sand and rays of sun from their vacations and gets back to work. Fall (and spring) seem to be the busy seasons: something in the air is conducive to productivity and bursts of energy.

As lovely as these busy seasons are, as a writer myself, it’s been hard to find time to sit down and write (much less read) with all the new activity at hand. By the time I get home, it’s time to make dinner, say hello to the other humans in my house, prep for the next day, and go to bed. Making a literary life for oneself proves much more difficult outside of the academic setting. Many writers also hold full time jobs, have active families or a significant other, and are engaged in the process of going about the business of the everyday world.  So I suppose I ask: how do you find the time in your day to find the mental space to write or engage in creative work? How do you set aside time to unwind and pull a book off your ever-growing “to-read” stack?

And, on a more fun note, with all these new books to curl up with as the days get shorter: What books does everyone have in their fall queue? What are the best things about fall in your opinion? 

fallbooksmagnum

September 01, 2015   Amy Bishop   children's books, debate, e-books, millennials, problem solving, reading  
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Reaching A Younger Generation of Readers

This past spring, a few English majors from my college (including me) got the opportunity to have lunch with M. NourbeSe Philip, a Canadian poet and writer of all genres, and she asked the small group around her, “Do children still read books?” By books, she meant hard copy books, not digital versions. As some diehard English majors are wont to do, the table exploded in reassurances that yes, hard copy books were still very much present and who reads off Kindles/Nooks/iPads anyway? From there, we embarked on a cultural and social discussion about the importance of children holding a book in their hands, why hard copy books will probably always exist., etc.

Four months later, I started babysitting for a charming family who moved to NYC from Hong Kong with two gems of boys. (I’ve honestly never seen better behaved children in my life and they do homework when asked to without much griping. A dream!) My main reason for being there—other than giving their mom a break—is to get them to try and read more. Their mom mentioned with a wry grin that they prefer using the iPad or computer to picking up a book, and do you think you could install a love of reading in them, please?

ipad-ereaders

As a kid who didn’t have access to digital reading, I’m a hard copy book reader myself. But I’ve found myself reading manuscripts on my iPad because those are digital and it’s a matter of convenience. The majority of people I know who are big readers have some kind of digital reading device. And last summer, I had a conversation with an agent at another literary agency about audiobooks and how to reach a wider, more digitally driven audience. “Certain demographics,” he said, “aren’t going to pick up a book. They’re going to be plugged in. How do we reach them?”

I think I’m going to bring my small charges to the Strand and turn them loose. I’m hoping that being surrounded by books will get them excited to choose a book to bring home. (So yeah, it’s a little bit of bribery, but you know. Babysitting is half bribery, to be honest.) Fingers crossed that somehow in my time with them, they start being enchanted by books they can hold and smell and turn pages in.

So that being said: any suggestions for books for active boys around ages 5 and 7 who love soccer, Legos, and have lived in two countries already?

Any predictions on how kids will be reading in ten, fifteen, twenty years?

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