One of the most popular interview questions for writers is “what are you reading right now,” or for the more adventurous, “what are your own favorite books of all time?” The idea is, of course, twofold — that you can get a good suggestion and peek into that writer’s mind at the same time. We recently came across a list of David Foster Wallace’s favorite books, and aside from some very sensical choices (obviously he’d love The Screwtape Letters), we were kind of surprised — there was much more suspense and horror fiction than we would have expected from the giant of post-modernism. Curious, we decided to investigate the favorite books of some of our other favorite authors, to get a little reading-list inspiration and possible insight into their own internal workings. Predictable or not-so predictable, their choices are all pretty interesting — and we have now reading material for a month. Click through to get some reading advice from the best sources around, and let us know whose list most inspires you (or most matches your own) in the comments.
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If you’ve ever wondered what your favorite literary characters might be listening to while they save the world/contemplate existence/get into trouble, or hallucinated a soundtrack to go along with your favorite novels, well, us too. But wonder no more! Here, we sneak a look at the hypothetical iPods of some of literature’s most interesting characters. What would be on the personal playlists of Holden Caulfield or Elizabeth Bennett, Huck Finn or Harry Potter, Tintin or Humbert Humbert? Something revealing, we bet. Or at least something danceable. Read on for a cozy reading soundtrack, character study, or yet another way to emulate your favorite literary hero. This week: the confused narrator of Jeffrey Eugenides’ family epic, Cal Stephanides.
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Last night, at an event held at Artists Space in downtown Manhattan, the National Book Critics Circle announced its finalists in six categories — autobiography, biography, criticism, fiction, nonfiction and poetry — for the 2011 publishing year. The NBCC Awards are singular in that they are the only awards chosen by the critics themselves, seeking every year to “honor the best literature published in English” as well as to “foster a national conversation about reading, criticism and literature.” The winners will be announced at a ceremony on March 8th, 2012, but for now, click through to see the nominees and let us know which ones you’re rooting for — or whether you think they completely missed the mark.
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It’s a really exciting day for book worms: The eight annual TMN 2012 Tournament of Books has officially gone live! Click through to see which 16 “of the most cherished, hyped, ignored, and/or enthusiastically praised books of the year” will be battling it out in a NCAA-style bracket beginning March 7th, and let us know in the comments if you agree with the their picks. But be kind. TMN realizes that not everyone will be happy with their list. “Some books were dismissed for petty reasons,” they explain. “Some books were no doubt included for arbitrarily aesthetic ones. And there’s no getting around any of that, as far as we can tell.” Amen. We’re also curious: Are there any voracious Flavorwire readers out there who have already tackled all 16 books?
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There are so many books out there these days that sometimes — even with every media outlet doing their own Best-Of list this month — it’s hard to decide what to read. To combat the deluge of recommendations, we generally lean towards taking advice from those we consider to be most in the know: our favorite authors themselves. After all, if they can write prose that delights us so much, they must surely be able to recognize it in the work of others, right? Right. And as Henry David Thoreau said, “read the best books first, or you may not have a chance to read them at all.” With that in mind, we’ve collected a few of our favorite authors’ year-end recommendations from around the web. Now, authors are flighty creatures, and many of their 2011 book lists include books published in other years. But we’re confident that you’ll still manage to glean some holiday vacation reading suggestions or last-minute gifts from their choices. Click through to check out our favorite authors’ favorite books from the past year, and if your to-read stack isn’t monumental enough by the end of this list (or even if it is), we highly recommend that you check out the sources for each list for many more recommendations from many more great writers. Read More »
It’s the end of the year, which means every media outlet and talkative friend has been regaling you with a fascinating list of their own personal favorite books of 2011. Now, we love lists as much as the next guy, but we also like to think a little bit about what these highly subjective choices might say about the listmaker. After all, you wouldn’t take reading advice from just anybody, now would you? Or even if you would, you should at least know what essential qualities their picks point to. Click through to read our (decidedly tongue-in-cheek) breakdown of what your favorite book of the year says about you, and in case you were wondering, our pick is on here too, and hey, we can cop to it. Read More »
Earlier this week, The New York Times published their annual list of 100 Notable Books, just in time for the holidays. While we can’t deny that every book on the list is a great pick, 100 is a pretty big number, so in case you don’t have the time or eye-strength to plow through their monster list, we’ve distilled it to the essentials, at least according to us. After all, while you probably don’t have 100 people on your holiday gift list, you probably do have 10, and you’ll find a little something for everybody here. Click through to see our favorites from their list, and let us know which of these you’re psyched to read — or which of the 100 you’d have chosen instead. Read More »
Today marks the release of The Angel Esmeralda, which we admit we were surprised to realize was Don DeLillo’s first ever collection of short stories. Many authors publish short stories in journals before attempting novels, and often even publish collections to whet the public’s appetite for some larger fare. Some authors, like George Saunders and Lorrie Moore, are known mostly for their short stories (in fact, Saunders has never written even a token novel, which is relatively unusual for a writer of his renown), but the release of DeLillo’s book got us thinking about the other side — authors primarily known for their long-form fiction that have also written short stories, to varying degrees of success. Click through to see our list of ten short stories you probably haven’t read by authors famous for their long form work, and let us know which other underrated shorts you hold dear in the comments. Read More »
Teenagers have it rough when it comes to love. Their hormones are going haywire, their brains are still developing, and when they fall for one another, they fall hard. As our mothers always told us, boys are bad for you — and the more we read, the more we realize how true that can be. In literature, teen romance can be beautiful and eternal, but it can also be costly and crazy — or it can be all of that at once. Consider this our warning to all you teenage lovers out there: make sure your beloved is not a kidnapper, a psychopath, your brother, or a hundred-year-old vampire before you wear his letterman jacket. Or go for it. Up to you. Click through to see our list of some of the worst outcomes of young love in literature, and let us know which of your favorite tragic teen affairs (as there are oh so very many) we’ve missed in the comments.
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Halloween: It’s always more complicated than you want it to be. Even if you’ve got your plans set, it’s a struggle to find the perfect costume — without resorting to the same crappy, overpriced, pre-packaged getups everyone else will be wearing. Thankfully, just as we did last October, Flavorpill is helping you out with a series of easy DIY costume guides tackling various pop-culture realms. Don’t worry — there’s no sewing involved.
In our newest installment (we’ve already tackled music, art, and film!), channel your inner nerd with our selection of literary costumes. You may choose from some of the year’s most iconic author looks, a few our favorite literary characters new and old, or even learn how to turn yourself into one of the most talked-about books of the season. Trust us, you won’t even think about staying home to read on Halloween night with these costumes at your fingertips — but get ready to explain yourself to a lot of girls dressed like Snooki.
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