It’s a book news round-up on our National Day of Remembrance. I’ll be thinking good thoughts for all of you, bookworms.
- Romance novels run the gamut from chaste simple stories to steamy, erotic novels. But one sub-section of the genre that’s gaining popularity is the Amish Romance. These books, also called “bonnet books” are written by non-Amish writers for a mainstream audience, but have found a following among Amish communities as well. Unlike some romance novels, these are considered “risky” if the main characters share more than a few virtuous kisses.
- Recession? What recession? James Patterson recently signed a 17-book deal with the publisher Hachette. He’ll write 11 adult books and six books for children over the next three or so years. While some authors and titles have waned in popularity recently, Patterson apparently does not have that problem.
- The British are coming! The six-book short list for the Man Booker Prize was recently announced. Contenders include previous Booker Prize winners A.S. Byatt and J.M. Coetzee. So maybe the selection committee has a thing for double initial authors? The Man Booker Prize is awarded for best novel published in the past year by a writer from the UK, Commonwealth, and Ireland.
- The Daily Beast has compiled a list of the hottest new books to be released this fall. While some readers are awaiting new novels by Philip Roth, Vladimir Nabokov, and Dominick Dunne or the most anticipated Ted Kennedy memoir, the one book that will dominate this fall’s publishing quarter is Dan Brown’s The Lost Symbol. I mean, really, why would another author even bother to compete with it?
- One school in Massachusetts is trying a novel new approach to the library: no books. Cushing Academy has decided to do away with traditional books and has given away or donated it’s entire library collection. In its place: a multimedia center with laptop cubicles, big screen televisions, 18 e-book readers and, of course, a coffee shop with a $12,000 cappuccino machine. If this is the future of reading, I’ll gladly take the past.
- Over the summer, there was a lot of talk about President Obama’s reading list during his vacation. Huffington Post asked its readers to make book recommendations for our president, telling him what he should read. While most of the suggestions were predictably non-fiction political, economic and history titles, one reader suggested George Orwell’s 1984. Does he know something we don’t?
