Inspiration for future books?

http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2009/jul/28/heavyweights-clash-booker-longlist/print

Literary heavyweights in the form of AS Byatt, JM Coetzee and Colm Tóibín were today named on the 13-strong longlist for the Booker prize.

The broadcaster James Naughtie, who is chairing this year's judges, called it one of the "strongest lists in recent memory" with a good span of styles and themes.

Two former winners are nominated. Byatt, who won in 1990 for Possession, is longlisted for The Children's Book, an almost staggeringly detailed book set between 1895 and 1919 which explores the Edwardian cult of childhood. And Coetzee, who won in 1999 for Disgrace, is named for his yet-to-be-published novel Summertime.

One of the most popular books to make the list is Hilary Mantel's Wolf Hall, which recreates the Tudor court of Henry VIII seen through the eyes of the king's most trusted adviser, Thomas Cromwell. The novel – expect it to be popular beach reading this summer – has been one of the best-reviewed books of the year so far. The Guardian's Christopher Tayler called it "a display of Mantel's extraordinary talent" adding: "Lyrically yet cleanly and tightly written, solidly imagined yet filled with spooky resonances, and very funny at times, it's not like much else in contemporary British fiction."

Many would be pleased if this was the year for one of Ireland's most acclaimed writers, Colm Tóibín. He has been a Booker bridesmaid twice – shortlisted in 1999 for The Blackwater Lightship and in 2004 for The Master, which by all accounts came extremely close – and is this year longlisted for his funny and moving study of belonging, Brooklyn.

Other established names on the list include Sarah Waters for The Little Stranger, William Trevor for Love and Summer and Sarah Hall for How to Paint a Dead Man.

Judges will now meet in a month's time and whittle the list down to six. The other longlisted novels are Adam Foulds for The Quickening Maze, Samantha Harvey for The Wilderness, James Lever for Me Cheeta, Simon Mawer for The Glass Room, Ed O'Loughlin for Not Untrue & Not Unkind and James Scudamore for Heliopolis.

Book Club - Queens BBQ Edition

Details for this Sunday, August 2nd book club where we will discuss Girl with the Dragon Tattoo.

Time: 4pm

Address:
4110 47th Street
Sunnyside, Queens

Catch the 7 train to 46th Street/Bliss Street Station. I am a block and 3/4 north of the subway station on 47th St.

Hint when you get out of the subway: You know you're going in the right direction (north) when you cross Queens Blvd and see the Starbucks and T-Mobile stores. If you see a funky, weird art deco "Sunnyside" arch you are in the wrong direction.

Menu items will include:
- Cedar plank salmon
- Grilled chicken with mango salad
- White bean on bruschetta
- Pie for dessert

Call me at 917-698-8183 if you get lost or have any questions.

Update on the next book club

It's confirmed! The next book club will be at my house on Sunday, August 2nd. I'll post details and directions as the date nears.

Winner: Swedish thriller

Pam writes:

Hi Everyone,

We have a winner: The Girl with the Dragon Tatto by Stieg Larsson. Just a pointer that the paperback version is coming out on June 23rd, so you may want to either borrow the hard cover version from the library or wait until the cheaper paperback version comes out.

The date is Sunday, 7/19. Time and location will be posted to the blog as the event nears.

Thanks for voting everyone!

Cheers,
Pam

Pam's 3 choices

Pam writes:

Hi Folks,

Happy to host the Between the Covers meeting for July! Bbq will be the cuisine du jour, despite there being no mention of bbq or southern locales in my selections, because well I'm having this in my backyard and I have an awesome gas grill.

Here are some possible dates: Saturday July 18 or Sunday July 19.

Girl with the Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larsson
Not exactly summer fare, but Swedish murder mystery tells the story about Mikael Blomkvist, a once-respected financial journalist, watches his professional life rapidly crumble around him until an unexpected (and unsettling) offer to resurrect his name is extended. The catch--and there's always a catch--is that Blomkvist must first spend a year researching a mysterious disappearance that has remained unsolved for nearly four decades. (see description on Amazon here)

“Combine the chilly Swedish backdrop and moody psychodrama of a Bergman movie with the grisly pyrotechnics of a serial-killer thriller, then add an angry punk heroine and a down-on-his-luck investigative journalist, and you have the ingredients of Stieg Larsson’s first novel.”
—Michiko Kakutani, The New York Times

The White Tiger by Aravind Adiga
This is a tale of Balram Halwai, a chauffer to a weathly man in Dehli, who hails from a small village in a backwater region of India. who murders his employer as justifying step out of his low caste system.

"In this darkly comic début novel set in India, Balram, a chauffeur, murders his employer, justifying his crime as the act of a "social entrepreneur." ... He places the blame for his rage squarely on the avarice of the Indian élite, among whom bribes are commonplace, and who perpetuate a system in which many are sacrificed to the whims of a few. Adiga’s message isn’t subtle or novel, but Balram’s appealingly sardonic voice and acute observations of the social order are both winning and unsettling."
- The New Yorker

Cloud Atlas (warning: it's 500 pages long)
This novel presents 6 different narratives and among the volume's most engaging story lines is a witty 1930s-era chronicle, via letters, of a young musician's effort to become an amanuensis for a renowned, blind composer and a hilarious account of a modern-day vanity publisher who is institutionalized by a stroke and plans a madcap escape in order to return to his literary empire (such as it is). Mitchell's ability to throw his voice may remind some readers of David Foster Wallace, though the intermittent hollowness of his ventriloquism frustrates.
- Publisher's Weekly

New date?

hey,
wasn't sure if I missed a make up date but thought I would check as well as attempting this post, trying to embrace blogging...
C

"Road" not taken

If you haven't read our runner-up, "Revolutionary Road," I encourage you to do so. Though the novel was completed about a half century ago, it reads as if it were written today. The language is crisp, spare, but poignant. Even the story itself about how a young couple's volatile ambitions and passions upset their lives could seems contemporary, especially in the aftermath of our consumption orgy. "Revolutionary Road" reminded me of Cheever's "The Swimmer": not so much a snapshot of suburban Americana in the '50, but more of a fable about human nature.

Of course, I didn't see the movie starring Kate and Leo, so my images of the characters weren't already formed. Cathy found it impossible to read the book without envisioning the "Titantic" stars. But as Dulcy wrote earlier: Forget the movie. And read the book.