Tips for Writes by Laura Miller + Rushdie's work on display at Emory

- Salon.com

A word to the novelist on how to write better books

BY LAURA MILLER

Writers have been advising other writers since at least as far back as Aristotle, but the Guardian recently published an exceptional specimen of the form: 28 celebrated authors each offering his or her 10 rules for writing fiction. The inspiration for this roundup was Elmore Leonard's justly renowned list of pointers, also included in the Guardian piece.

Readers are what every novelist really wants, so isn't it about time that a reader offered them some advice? I've never written a novel, and don't expect to ever do so, but I've read thousands. More to the point, I've started 10 times the number of books that I've finished. Here are my five recommendations for the flailing novice:

1. Make your main character want something.

2. Make your main character do something.

3. The components of a novel that readers care about most are, in order: story, characters, theme, atmosphere/setting.

4. Remember that nobody agrees on what a beautiful prose style is and most readers either can't recognize "good writing" or don't value it that much.

5. A sense of humor couldn't hurt.

The following excerpt has been taken from http://www.salon.com/books/laura_miller/For the complete article click here

Salman Rushdie's life and work on display at Emory �| ajc.com:

Novelist Salman Rushdie spent years in hiding after his book 'The Satanic Verses' garnered him 
international attention and death threats from the Muslim world, but now the author is the subject of a very public and personal exhibit at Emory University.

The Salman Rushdie Archive opens Friday at Emory's Manuscript, Archives, and Rare Book Library and gives the public an upclose view of his life and career.

The following excerpt has been taken from http://www.ajc.com/lifestyle. For the complete article click here

LA Times announces 2009 Book Prize finalists

LA Times announces 2009 Book Prize finalists | Jacket Copy | Los Angeles Times

This news post has been taken from LATimes blog: Jacket Copy

2009 LA Times Book Prize Finalists

Biography
"The Woman Behind the New Deal: The Life of Frances Perkins, FDR's Secretary of Labor and His Moral Conscience" by Kirstin Downey
 "Dorothea Lange: A Life Beyond Limits" by Linda Gordon
"Koestler: The Literary and Political Odyssey of a Twentieth-Century Skeptic" by Michael Scammell
"Louis D. Brandeis: A Life" by Melvin Urofsky
"The Uncrowned King: The Sensational Rise of William Randolph Hearst" by Kenneth Whyte

Current Interest 
"Columbine" by Dave Cullen
"Zeitoun" by Dave Eggers
"Strength in What Remains" by Tracy Kidder
"Half the Sky: Turning Oppression into Opportunity for Women Worldwide" by Nicholas D. Kristof and Sharon WuDunn
"The Healing of America: The Global Quest for Better, Cheaper, and Fairer Healthcare" by T.R. Reid

Fiction 
"Heroic Measures" by Jill Ciment
"The Man in the Wooden Hat" by Jane Gardam
"Blame" by Michelle Huneven
"A Short History of Women" by Kate Walbert
"A Happy Marriage" by Rafael Yglesias

Art Seidenbaum Award for First Fiction
"An Elegy for Easterly" by Petina Gappah
"Tinkers" by Paul Harding
"American Rust" by Philipp Meyer
"In Other Rooms, Other Wonders" by Daniyal Mueenuddin
"Everything Ravaged, Everything Burned" by Wells Tower

Graphic Novel 
"Luba" by Gilbert Hernandez
"GoGo Monster" by Taiyo Matsumoto
"Asterios Polyp" by David Mazzuchelli
"Scott Pilgrim Vol. 5: Scott Pilgrim vs. the Universe" by Bryan Lee O'Malley
"Footnotes in Gaza" by Joe Sacco

History 
"Age of Wonder: How the Romantic Generation Discovered the Beauty and Terror of Science" by Richard Holmes
"Passing Strange: A Gilded Age Tale of Love and Deception Across the Color Line" by Martha A. Sandweiss
"Golden Dreams: California in an Age of Abundance 1950-1963" by Kevin Starr
"Lynching and Spectacle: Witnessing Racial Violence in America, 1890-1940" by Amy Louise Wood
"Empire of Liberty: A History of the Early Republic 1789-1815" by Gordon S. Wood

Mystery/Thriller 
"Bury Me Deep" by Megan Abbott
"The Hidden Man" by David Ellis
"Black Water Rising" by Attica Locke
"A Darker Domain" by Val McDermid
"The Ghosts of Belfast" by Stuart Neville

Poetry 
"Apocalyptic Swing" by Gabrielle Calvocoressi
"Dearest Creature" by Amy Gerstler
"What the Right Hand Knows" by Tom Healy
"Practical Water" by Brenda Hillman
"]Open Interval[" by Lyrae Van Clief-Stefanon

Science and Technology 
"The Day We Found the Universe" by Marcia Bartusiak
"The Strangest Man: The Hidden Life of Paul Dirac, Mystic of the Atom" by Graham Farmelo
"Cold: Adventures in the World's Frozen Places" by Bill Streever
"Catching Fire: How Cooking Made Us Human" by Richard Wrangham
"Naming Nature: The Clash Between Instinct and Science" by Carol Kaesuk Yoon

Young Adult Literature 
"The Rise and Fall of Senator Joe McCarthy" by James Cross Giblin
"The Lost Conspiracy" by Frances Hardinge
"Charles and Emma: The Darwin's Leap of Faith" by Deborah Heiligman
"Marching for Freedom: Walk Together Children and Don't You Grow Weary" by Elizabeth Partridge
"Tales from Outer Suburbia" by Shaun Tan

Top 25 Fantasy Series/Books

This List has been taken from: BestFantasyBooks.com


If you are anything like me, even a teeny-tiny bit, you dig fantasy fiction.
I for one, can't do without them.
They are my stress busters, my sinful pleasures and a bloody essential.


If you want a glorious trip down the fantasy road, take this lift:

1.   A Game of Thrones (A Song of Ice and Fire) (George R.R. Martin)
2. Gardens of the Moon (The Malazan Book of the Fallen) (Steven Erikson)
3. The Name of the Wind (Patrick Rothfuss)
4. Tigana
5. The Lord of the Rings (J.R.R. Tolkien)
6. The Blade Itself (Joe Abercrombie)
7. The Wheel of Time (Robert Jordan)
8. The Farseer (Robin Hobb)
9. The Darkness That Comes Before (R. Scott Bakker)
10.  Mythago Wood (Robert Holdstock)
11.  Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell (Susanna Clarke)
12. His Dark Materials (Phillip Pullman)
13.  The Lies of Locke Lamora (Scott Lynch)
14. The Chronicles of Thomas Covenant the Unbeliever  (Stephen Donaldson)
15.  American Gods (Neil Gaiman)
16. The Earthsea Cycle (Ursula Le Guin)
17. The Abhorsen Trilogy (Garth Nix) 
18. Sword of Shadows (J. V. Jones) 
19. Memory, Sorrow, and Thorn (Tad Williams)
20. Acacia (David Anthony Durham)
21.  Magician (Raymond Feist)
22.  Heroes Die (Mathew Stover)
23. The Dark Tower Boxed (Stephen King)
24. The Dresden Files (Jim Butcher)
25.  Chronicles of Amber (Roger Zelazny)

This is a good list to work with.

Of course, my personal recommendation: Harry Potter series :|

[For detailed reviews, please click here.]

Lists have an irresistible magic - Umberto Eco

Ok, the heading was lifted right off this article that we want you to have a look at.
It's a TOI compilation of must-reads.
And we all worship TOI.
Anybody who doesn't can show themselves out right now.

- Thanks to Vatti for this tip.

A lot of the people who read a bestselling novel, for example, do not read much other fiction. By contrast, the audience for an obscure novel is largely composed of people who read a lot. That means the least popular books are judged by people who have the highest standards, while the most popular are judged by people who literally do not know any better. An American who read just one book this year was disproportionately likely to have read ‘The Lost Symbol’, by Dan Brown. He almost certainly liked it.

— The Economist 

The 10 Best Books of 2009 - The New York Times

The 10 Best Books of 2009 - The New York Times

Top Books of 2009 - Best Books of 2009 - Top 10 - 2009 Bestsellers - About.com

Top Books of 2009 - Best Books of 2009 - Top 10 - 2009 Bestsellers - About.com

"To be born again," sang Gibreel Farishta tumbling from the heavens, "first you have to die."
                                    - Salman Rushdie, Satanic Verses


He happens to be one of our favorite authors.
It was fitting that we begin this blog under the grand shade of his words.


The above said death, is also, what I deem necessary to actually feel a book. Or any form of art, for that matter.


Expert review is not what you should expect from this blog.
What you should expect is:

• Individuality
• Personal opinions (no external influence whatsoever)
• The most irrelevant reviews ever
• Our take on various things literary

That's about all for now.

Come back for more!

Please.