Houston Great Books

Sneezy

You know how computer…

You know, I thought I got it out of my system by writing about the new Disney movie Enchanted on my MySpace blog, but I was wrong. It has b…

A big Beyond Her Book thank you to Margie Lawson for stopping by yesterday with her thought provoking Right brain/Left brain challenge and sticki…

Homer Simpson’s Brain

While browsing blogs, I came across Ma…

While most of my WW ladies are out of town for the holidays, Joyce has been kind enough to step in and do double duty. Joyce is a librarian…

I just finished reading Confessions at Midnight by Jacquie D’Alessandro and first let me say that I just loved it. It was my kind of book…

Normally on Mondays I like to give kudos to deserving souls and report on the latest happenings in the publishing world, but since I haven’t re…

Well, tomorrow is Thanksgiving and for most it’s turkey, family, sweet potatoes, traveling, pies and looking at the sale papers for Black…

A friend and I were talking last night, as we usually do, about books. We were going on and on about our favorite authors and I noticed t…

Monday morning and time for another week of what’s going on in the book world and who deserves the kudos this week. Of course, this only wo…

First off, thanks for all the great suggestions yesterday. Keep them coming. I’m online checking them all out and then I’ll make a sp…

Or should I say, “Where in the world should Barbara Vey go next year?”

I’m in the process of gathering information …

A few young literary talents are getting their due from the National Book Foundation this fall. On November 10, the NBF will honor five authors under the age of 35 in a celebration dubbed “5 Under 35.”

After faux TV news anchorman and current presidential nominee Stephen Colbert kicked off the night by mocking, tongue-in-cheek, the book prizes—chiding the National Book Awards for its “unoriginal” name, he likened the Quills to “the Latin Grammies of literary prizes”—a parade of authors and celebrities hit the stage of Jazz at Lincoln Center to dole out, and accept, awards.

Denis Johnson’s bulging and brilliant Vietnam War novel Tree of Smoke, published by FSG, was awarded the National Book Award for fiction at this year’s gala awards ceremony at the Marriott Marquis in Times Square. The nonfiction award went to Tim Weiner’s damning examination of American intelligence policy, Legacy of Ashes: The History of the CIA from Doubleday.

Bleach Vol. 20 moves into the #1 slot, while Laurell K. Hamilton’s Anita Baker hardcover (at #5) returns to the list for the second month and DC’s 52 is at #11.

Turning to the Young People’s Literature category of the National Book Awards, the finalists include three hard-hitting coming-of-age novels, two of them set within minority communities; one fantasy; and an illustrated book with a strong fantasy component.

His publisher is calling the honor not only a well-deserved recognition for the man, but affirmation of the power of books.

Taking a look at Nonfiction for the next installment of our pre-National Book Awards coverage, of the five NBA finalists this year, PW gave stars to three and named two to our 2007 Best Books list.

The National Book Foundation will commemorate the literary achievements of Joan Didion and Terry Gross at its November 14 awards ceremony in New York City.

Continuing our pre-National Book Awards coverage—and if you still haven’t voted in our poll, there’s no time like the present—we’re looking at the poetry finalists today. For the most part, the contenders are big names in the poetry world.

The ghost of Norman Mailer, who died November 10, seemed to preside over the 58th annual National Book Awards, held November 14 at the Marriott Marquis Hotel in New York City’s Times Square. Indeed, this year’s gala awards ceremony was marked by the oddly appropriate combination of an unruly picketline of strikers outside the hotel and the many heartfelt tributes by NBA award-winners to Mailer’…

As part of our coverage leading up to the National Book Awards on November 14th–and don’t forget to cast your vote in our poll–PW’s reviews editors are taking a close look at the finalists in their respective catagories. Today it’s fiction. The five finalists in fiction this year range from big names who’ve written career masterpieces to budding debut authors.

Three special awards to be given out during the Quills were announced today by Reed Business Information, PW’s parent company and Quills founder.

Denis Johnson is the favorite to win in fiction, while Christopher Hitchens and Edwidge Danticat are the top contenders for the nonfiction honor. At least that’s what readers responding to PW’s online poll say. There’s still plenty of time to weigh in with your predictions about who will go home with a National Book Award next week.