Read Around the World: Japan
Our next stop in our world tour or reading is a country jam-packed with great literature: Japan! Keep reading to see which book we picked and which other Japanese literature we recommend.
Posts by jenp27
Aug 14
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Aug 11
My Top Ten Most Read Authors
Top Ten Tuesday is hosted by Broke and the Bookish. Every week they post a new top ten list prompt and book bloggers respond with their lists. We don’t usually participate in these sorts of things, but this week was kind of a fun one and I was curious to see whether my most read authors corresponded to my favorite authors or if there were any surprises.
I decided to count books series as one book mainly because once a start a series, I feel compelled to finish it even if it is terrible. Here are my top 10 most read authors. Read more
Aug 10
1001 Book Review: Native Son by Richard Wright
Native Son by Richard Wright
Published in: 1940
Reviewed by: Jen
Rating: 4.5 stars
Find it here: Native Son
There are some books that will leave a lasting impression on you and Native Son was one of those books for me. This novel put me through the emotional wringer. I cried multiple times, I was often disgusted at the description of violence, I was inspired, and now I feel emotionally drained. I have to confess that I’m writing this review with tears in my eyes.
Native Son is the story of Bigger Thomas, a young black man living in Chicago in the 1930s. When he commits a terrible crime, it throws him into a downward spiral resulting in more violence and a whole series of events and ramifications. The question at the center of the book isn’t whether Bigger committed the crime — he is clearly guilty — but why he did so. Read more
Aug 9
Summer Challenge Update #4
It’s time for a Summer Challenge update! Every two weeks we will be posting an update on the challenge along with some ideas for book locations. In each update, we will give an honorable mention to the reader who posts our favorite book-location pairing since time of last update. Keep reading to find out who is in the lead and to get some ideas for your book locations. Read more
Aug 7
Most anticipated books of the fall: Which books do you want to read?
At the end of July, Publisher weekly released a list of most anticipated books that will be released this fall. These were the books that made the fiction category (click on the hyperlink to pre-order them on Amazon): Read more
Aug 3
The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao by Junot Diaz
The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao by Junot Diaz
Published: 2007
Awards:Pulitzer Prize for fiction (2008)
Reviewed by Jen and Book Worm
Find it here: The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao
We recently featured this book on our Love it or Hate it post and since neither of us had read it. We both felt that we should review it and weigh in on the debate with our opinions. Check out whether we loved or hated this book. Read more
Aug 1
Love it or Hate it? American Psycho by Ellis
Have you ever noticed how some books seem to drive a wedge between people? You check the reviews and find almost no middle-of-the-road ratings. Instead people either seem to love it or hate it. Welcome to the Love it or Hate it post! Each month, we’ll pick one book to review and two contributors will battle it out to convince you to pick it up or throw it out. Last month we discussed Stranger in A Strange Land by Heinlein. The results were close with the “Love its” taking 56%. I was the “Hate it” reviewer (to be fair I didn’t hate the book but I hated elements of it) and Charisma was the “Love it” reviewer. Many thanks to Charisma for helping us out last minute.
This month’s selection is also on Boxall’s 1001 List of Books to Read before you Die. So the question is… do you Love it or Hate it? Continue reading to find see our two reviews. Make sure to vote in our poll at the bottom of the post even if you haven’t read it. Read more
Jul 29
2015 Man Booker Prize Longlist
Today at noon, they announced the books that made it onto the Man Booker Prize longlist. Yesterday we made some predictions. Check out the longlist books and see how we did with our predictions. Read more
Jul 28
Man Booker Prize Longlist: Our Predictions
Tomorrow at noon BST, the books on the longlist for the Man Booker Prize will be announced. The Man Booker Prize launched in 1969 with the goal of trying to promote and celebrate the best novel of the year written in English and published in the U.K. The winner gets £50,000 and a nice bump in sales worldwide. Last year’s winner was Richard Flanagan’s The Narrow Road to the Deep North. Tomorrow, they announce the longlist. The shortlist will be announced on Tuesday 15 September 2015 and the winner will be announced on Tuesday 13 October 2015. Trying to predict which books make it onto the list is like trying to predict the weather but we’re going to try. According to the rules, the eligibility criteria are as follows:
Any novel originally written in English and published in the UK in the year of the prize, regardless of the nationality of their author. The novel must be an original work in English (not a translation) and must not be self-published.
Here are a few my predictions (in no particular order) for books that may make it on to the list. Full disclosure: my predictions are based largely on the buzz that some of these books have gotten as many have yet to be published and I have not read most of them. Read more
Jul 28
Book – Wine Pairing: Independent People by Laxness
Welcome to our second Book-Wine Pairing: a recurring category that combines two of my favorite things! This month I’m featuring a rather tenuous pairing for the book Independent People by Halldór Laxness — a pairing that is probably based more on my interest for trying a certain wine than anything else. Keep reading to find out more about the book and the wine. Read more
jenp27
Nicole Del Sesto
The Reader's Room 