tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6112243501823539192024-02-19T03:22:26.244-08:00 Diary of a Book Nerd Book Reviews, Recommendations, News and
more!booknerdgirlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10935358036092094106noreply@blogger.comBlogger143125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-611224350182353919.post-78167702698180569912015-03-23T12:26:00.000-07:002015-03-23T12:26:17.964-07:00
Tolstoy and the Purple Chair
In Tolstoy and the Purple Chair, Nina Sankovitch chronicles the year that she spends reading a book a day to help her process her oldest sister's death. Since her sister's death several years prior Nina feels as if she has been both stuck in the tragedy of her sister's death and running away from it. In this year, Nina makes some very booknerdgirlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10935358036092094106noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-611224350182353919.post-25373737075227149392015-03-17T09:00:00.000-07:002015-03-17T09:00:16.742-07:00
2015 PEN/Robert W. Bingham Prize for Debut Fiction Longlist
The UnAmericans
Molly Antopol
(W. W. Norton & Company)
Amazon | Indie Bound
Ruby
Cynthia Bond
(Hogarth)
Amazon | Indie Bound
Black Moon
Kenneth Calhoun
(Hogarth)
Amazon | Indie Bound
Redeployment
Phil Klay
(Penguin Press)
Amazon | Indie Bound
Ride booknerdgirlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10935358036092094106noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-611224350182353919.post-68246559022525204342015-03-16T08:58:00.001-07:002015-03-16T08:58:39.073-07:00
Wikimedia v. NSA
The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) on March 10 filed a complaint against the National Security Agency (NSA) to challenge its interception of millions of text-based international communications (and likely many domestic ones as well) via fiber-optic cables running throughout the United States. They claim that the government's actions both go beyond the few limits booknerdgirlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10935358036092094106noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-611224350182353919.post-35182358894172215482015-03-15T12:19:00.000-07:002015-03-15T12:19:34.554-07:00
PEN on the ALA Youth Media Awards
Miranda Paul on the PENAmerica blog has highlighted the diverse nature of the winners of the American Library Association's Youth media awards. According to Paul the winning books covered non-majority narratives (covering issues typically avoided in children's literature such as race, gender, and sexuality) and included a variety of formats such as booknerdgirlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10935358036092094106noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-611224350182353919.post-63812923815454346932015-03-13T14:19:00.000-07:002015-03-13T14:19:24.954-07:00
Did Tolstoy Lie?
Can Happy Stories Be Interesting? Rachel Kadish reveals the answer in her book, Tolstoy Lied. In the book, Tracy Farber, a
young American literature professor in New York, explores this idea and searches for her own unique
happy ending.
According to Tracy, Tolstoy lied. His theory that “Happy families are all alike; every unhappy
family is unhappy in its own booknerdgirlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10935358036092094106noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-611224350182353919.post-43351347037661721372015-03-12T16:19:00.001-07:002015-03-12T16:19:51.698-07:00
Technology and Libraries: Can Technology Enhance Libraries or Will It Make Them Obsolete?
In the world of books, libraries have always held an important place. I've clearly commented on their importance repeatedly in my previous posts, but it seems like more and more these questions about the role of libraries in the future are popping up in the media. This recent article onbooknerdgirlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10935358036092094106noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-611224350182353919.post-37569175469509739872015-03-11T17:47:00.000-07:002015-03-11T17:47:16.004-07:00
Barron's Insulting Blunder
Barron's in the seventh edition of its AP European History prep book made a shocking error. In a table meant to explain different political ideologies to students, Clarence Thomas' name was placed in the same box as that of the Klu Klux Klan as examples of more conservative view points that tended towards Reactionary or Facist. The fact that this booknerdgirlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10935358036092094106noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-611224350182353919.post-2671141888878903662015-03-10T09:36:00.000-07:002015-03-10T09:36:08.315-07:00
Bailey's Women's Prize for Fiction Longlist Announced!
Today the longlist for the 20th annual Bailey's Women's Prize for Fiction was announced. This award which was organized in reaction to the lack of women authors considered for the Booker Prize despite women authoring significantly more new titles than men awards 30,000 pounds to one woman annually who the committee has determined tobooknerdgirlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10935358036092094106noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-611224350182353919.post-27797863512464946642015-03-08T20:55:00.000-07:002015-03-08T22:40:54.194-07:00
In Celebration of International Women's Day
Here are Encyclopedia Britannica's 10 Women Who Changed Literature:
Anna Akhmatova
Jane Austen
Colette
Zora Neale Hurston
Emily Dickinson
Alice Munro
Toni Morrison
Sappho
Murasaki Shikibu
Virginia Woolf
booknerdgirlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10935358036092094106noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-611224350182353919.post-19551039630113239272015-03-08T10:42:00.000-07:002015-03-08T10:42:28.463-07:00
The Power of Naming
Literature and the arts and humanities in general have always faced the question of significance. Today many people ask what is their value in an increasingly technology-based, math and science focused global world. Sam Sacks' article in the New Yorker provides one answer. While the value of the arts is too big of a topic to ever really be captured in one booknerdgirlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10935358036092094106noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-611224350182353919.post-76315787412430416832015-03-06T12:18:00.001-08:002015-03-10T13:49:22.180-07:00<!--[if gte mso 9]>
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booknerdgirlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10935358036092094106noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-611224350182353919.post-25356925385196328322015-03-04T13:49:00.000-08:002015-03-08T22:40:35.129-07:00
Book Row: A Book Nerd's Dream
In Book Row Marvin Mondlin and Roy Meador succeed in conjuring up the idealistic and sheltered haven that once was the cluster of used and rare book stores that for much of the early to mid-twentith century found their home on Manhattan's Fourth Avenue by Union Square. For most of us modern book lovers, we will have never seen such a literary community of booknerdgirlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10935358036092094106noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-611224350182353919.post-11448523489816017312015-02-07T08:57:00.001-08:002015-03-08T22:41:54.826-07:00NYT Remembers Those Who Created Literary History
This is a great article! While I never have read Andre Brinker myself, I have read several works by Nadine Gordimer and J.M. Coetzee and I can think of no better way to honor such a writer than to spread the word about his life and writings which were often censored when they were most needed.
Andre Brink, South African Literary Figure, Dies at 79
booknerdgirlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10935358036092094106noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-611224350182353919.post-40271266889953137192014-05-15T23:24:00.000-07:002015-03-08T22:42:13.077-07:00The Digital Upheaval Surrounding Jill Abramson's Exit From the Times
The single day that has passed since the New York Times announced that Jill Abramson would be replaced as executive editor of the paper by managing editor, Dean Baquet has been filled with speculation and controversy. Almost immediately the internet was filled with rumors that she had been fired due to gender discrimination. It has been claimed by multiple sources that she was being booknerdgirlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10935358036092094106noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-611224350182353919.post-41165661831781117782014-05-15T11:16:00.000-07:002015-03-08T22:44:01.900-07:00
Indie Bound Next List May 2014
The Steady Running of the Hour
A Novel, by Justin Go (Simon & Schuster, 9781476704586, $26)
Recommended by Nicola Rooney, Nicola’s Books, Ann Arbor, MI
The Orenda
A Novel, by Joseph Boyden (Knopf, 9780385350730, $26.95)
Recommended by Sam Kaas, Village Books, Bellingham, WA
The Serpent of Venice
A Novel, by Christopher Moore (booknerdgirlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10935358036092094106noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-611224350182353919.post-51565560259087208382014-05-14T13:39:00.000-07:002015-03-10T08:42:47.316-07:00
New York Times Announces Sudden Change in Executive Editor
It was announced just this afternoon that Jill Abramson, the executive editor for the New York Times, will be leaving her position. Taking over in her stead will be Dean Baquet, the managing editor of the paper. This is quite the historic change as Ms. Abramson was the first woman to fill this top job and now Mr. Baquet booknerdgirlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10935358036092094106noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-611224350182353919.post-6137235959312083092014-05-14T08:31:00.000-07:002015-03-10T08:43:38.943-07:00
What Does it Mean to be a Critical Thinker?
This morning I stumbled upon a New York Times Opinion article which lamented the trend among American students to only focus on the "critical" part of critical thinking skills. While I completely agree that the whole focus of a students education should not be a negative one, I also think it is a huge mistake to equate negative criticism with booknerdgirlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10935358036092094106noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-611224350182353919.post-47576791339890054762014-05-13T12:07:00.003-07:002014-05-13T12:07:55.160-07:00New York Times Bestsellers
THIS WEEK LAST WEEKHARDCOVER FICTIONWEEKSON LIST
11THE TARGET, by David Baldacci. (Grand Central.) As the government hit man Will Robie and his partner, Jessica Reel, prepare for a mission, they face a new adversary. 2
Buy
2NATCHEZ BURNING, by Greg Iles. (Morrow/HarperCollins.) Penn Cage, a former prosecutor in Natchez, Miss., delves into the secrets of his booknerdgirlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10935358036092094106noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-611224350182353919.post-78452612667057134332013-05-11T11:51:00.000-07:002013-05-11T11:51:05.126-07:00New York Times Bestsellers
THIS WEEK LAST WEEKHARDCOVER FICTIONWEEKSON LIST
112TH OF NEVER, by James Patterson and Maxine Paetro. (Little, Brown.) One week after the birth of her baby, Detective Lindsay Boxer must return to work to investigate a string of grisly murders; a Women’s Murder Club novel. 1
Buy
21THE HIT, by David Baldacci. (Grand Central.) The government hitman Will Robie booknerdgirlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10935358036092094106noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-611224350182353919.post-53619873900103765422013-05-10T13:35:00.000-07:002015-03-10T08:44:30.901-07:00
THE GREAT GATSBY MOVIE
Overall I would have to say not bad to the makers of the Great Gatsby, not bad at all. I'm sure some purists are not going to like the film, but that's really inevitable with any film rendition of a classic novel. I think considering the fact that you really can't directly translate the essence of a written story onto a screen, the makers of this film did a booknerdgirlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10935358036092094106noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-611224350182353919.post-47594536819681893622013-05-09T20:28:00.000-07:002013-05-09T20:28:02.579-07:00Reading Challenge Day 7 1st week Complete!
So after a couple of bumps in the road,
I would say I've made it pretty well through this first week of my
reading challenge. Yesterday I would say I actually made it through
almost two hours of reading in fact. It helped that I had some more
free time than usual, but I firmly believe that now that I'm back on
track with a commitment to carving out some time each day for reading
and booknerdgirlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10935358036092094106noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-611224350182353919.post-42906433227005279692013-05-09T13:03:00.000-07:002013-05-09T13:03:23.246-07:00Orange County Author events this weekend 5/11 and 5/12This weekend there will be two author appearance in the Orange County area. The first will be held Saturday at the Tustin Library at 11am. This event will feature author and photographer Jesse Cozean and his premiere book, My Grandfather's War. The book centers on his grandfather's experiences as a captive of the Germans in World War II, experiences which he only shared late in booknerdgirlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10935358036092094106noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-611224350182353919.post-37000694511946325452013-05-08T17:44:00.000-07:002013-05-08T17:44:43.783-07:00Reading Challenge Day 6
Day 6 kind of got away from me. By the
time I got home from work and ate something it was so late that I
only got in about a half hour of reading before falling asleep
basically on top of my book. I did manage to get through about into
A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini. I loved The
Kite Runner and I saw that his new book, And The Mountains
Echoed, is coming out towards thebooknerdgirlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10935358036092094106noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-611224350182353919.post-69737922045311852972013-05-08T11:32:00.000-07:002013-05-08T11:32:05.943-07:00Countdown to the Great Gatsby MovieSo we are less than 48 hours away from the release of the new Great Gatsby movie! For those interested there will be Thursday night showings starting at around 10pm in local theaters. For those in the Newport/Irvine/Costa Mesa area Triangle Square Cinemas will be also hosting a Thursday night showing at 10pm for its usual Thursday price of only $ 4 dollars! So everyone book yourbooknerdgirlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10935358036092094106noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-611224350182353919.post-62250861316283421712013-05-08T10:45:00.002-07:002013-05-08T10:45:46.511-07:00National Book Foundation Presents the 2013 Innovation in Reading Prizes!The National Book Foundation (the group that gives out the National Book Awards) announced the 2013 winners of its Innovations in Reading Prizes. These awards give out up to $2,500 dollars to groups or individuals who have created an innovative means of generating and sustaining a love of reading. What I thought stood out among the winners this year was the extent to which each of booknerdgirlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10935358036092094106noreply@blogger.com0