Louise Erdrich

10 Great American Novel Contenders From the Past Decade

By Emily Temple on Mar 7, 2013 1:17pm

Publisher’s Weekly has asked readers to identify the Great American Novel. Fun! While we have no beef with the books on their list, we did notice that only two of the options — Edward P. Jones’s The Known World and Junot Díaz’s The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao — were published in the last decade. Are there no more than two worthy contenders for Great American Novel status from recent years? We think there are. Here are ten books published since 2003 that should at least be in the running for that shifty, subjective Great American Novel… Read More

Books

The Books That Made the Most ‘Best Of 2012′ Book Lists

By Emily Temple on Dec 14, 2012 10:32am

December means a lot of things. Our normally latent shopping gene starts itching like crazy, mint-flavored coffee starts sounding like a good idea, and every single media outlet (ourselves included) puts up their “best of” everything lists. Well, ’tis the season. In an effort to distill all those year’s end book round-ups — and let’s face it, be a little meta — we looked at 16 lists from 14 media organizations and counted up the books that tickled the most critics this year. Turns out, they had quite a few differing opinions — on those 16 lists alone, we noted more than 150 unique titles — but also agreed across the board on a few knock-outs. After the jump, feast your eyes on the most popular books of the 2012 best book list season — and let us know if you agree with consensus or think the world’s gone mad in the comments. … Read More

Books

2012 National Book Award Winners Announced

By Emily Temple on Nov 15, 2012 9:35am

Last night, the 2012 National Book Award winners were announced, laying to rest all the heated speculation that has cropped up since the announcement of the finalists last month. Though the nominees frequently include a mix of well-established authors and newer names, this year’s competition was abnormally tough, including big-name authors like Junot Díaz and Dave Eggers on the fiction list and four (out of five!) Pulitzer prize-winners on the nonfiction list. Whew. All in all though, we’re pretty happy with the results. Click through to find out the winners, and let us know which of these you’re most excited for (or whether you disagree with the judges’ decisions) in the comments. … Read More

Books

2012 National Book Awards Finalists Announced

By Emily Temple on Oct 10, 2012 10:29am

The twenty finalists for the 2012 National Book Awards were announced this morning by David Steinberger, Chairman of the National Book Foundation’s Board of Directors, on (somewhat randomly) MSNBC’s Morning Joe. The finalists are a satisfying mix of established writers (five Pulitzer Prize winners, two recipients of MacArthur “Genius” grants) and fresh talent (five of the books are debut works) across four genres: fiction, nonfiction, poetry and YA. While we expected National Book Award darling Junot Díaz to get a nod, we were pleasantly surprised to see Dave Eggers’ newest book, which has been sort of a sleeper, on the list, and definitely psyched to see Louise Erdrich’s The Round House among the finalists. The winners will be announced on November 14. Click through to read the full list of finalists, and let us know your predictions in the comments. … Read More

Books

10 New Must-Reads for October

By Emily Temple on Oct 1, 2012 2:00pm

As we’ve already pointed out, fall is always a big season for books, and this particular fall is just about as big as they get. As the weather starts to get chilly in earnest, warm up with short stories, nonfiction, and novels from shining new literary stars, established literary giants, and everything in between. In fact, we’re so excited about the pickings this month that we could almost double our regular list — we won’t, but keep an eye out for the honorable mentions at the end. Click through to read over the brand spanking new books we’re most excited about this month, and let us know which one you’re eyeing to go with that mug of tea in the comments. … Read More

Books

10 of the Best Books Set in the Midwest

By Emily Temple on Jun 28, 2012 4:00pm

There’s something a little bit strange about Midwestern literature — no one seems to have much of a handle on it. Any avid reader can easily rattle off a host of Great Southern Writers, books about New York, and their favorite Westerns, but no one really talks about America’s heartland as having its own literary tradition. However, with Patrick Somerville’s newest novel This Bright River, a gorgeous, stirring novel set in St. Helens, Wisconsin, hitting the shelves this week, we thought we’d take a look into some of the best literature of the flyover states, at least in our own humble opinion. Click through to check out our list, and let us know which Midwestern books you’d add in the comments. … Read More