Gift Ideas from the New York Times

The New York Times has come out with their 100 Notable Books of 2009.

Other interesting lists include:

• Michiko Kakutani’s Top 10 Books of 2009
• Janet Maslin’s Top 10 Books of 2009
• Dwight Garner’s Top 10 Books of 2009
• Art and Architecture Books
• 2009 Graphic Novels
• Gift Books

Oprah’s Book Club Selection Leaked

The Washington Post
reports that Oprah
will officially reveal
Uwem Akpan’s
Say You’re One of Them
as her first book club
selection in nearly a year
on today’s show
(airing at 9 a.m. Central
Time in Chicago).

Man Booker Prize 2009 Shortlist Announced

Drumroll…

A S Byatt The Children’s Book (Random House, Chatto and Windus)

J M Coetzee Summertime (Random House, Harvill Secker)

Adam Foulds The Quickening Maze (Random House, Jonathan Cape)

Hilary Mantel Wolf Hall (HarperCollins, Fourth Estate)

Simon Mawer The Glass Room (Little, Brown)

Sarah Waters The Little Stranger (Little, Brown, Virago)

“A Happy Marriage” by Rafael Yglesias

In a recent interview on NPR’s Fresh Air, author Rafael Yglesias reveals:

One of the reasons that I wrote this novel is that before Margaret ever got ill, I had always wanted to write a novel about a long marriage, especially when I realized in middle age that I had fallen very deeply back in love with my wife in a way that was quite different than the sort of early days of infatuation. And I realized I couldn’t write a novel about that because it was a terrible invasion of her privacy and also because it’s very difficult to write about something that’s still ongoing, a relationship.

After she died, it occurred to me that I could go back to this subject because I would no longer be invading her privacy. And also, I could sit down and look at the marriage, which is really what grief was making me do anyway.

In his first novel in 13 years, Yglesias delves into a semi-autobiographical account of a long and often contentious marriage of Enrique Sabas and his wife, Margaret. Alternating between the romantic beginnings of their early courtship and the heart-wrenching final weeks of Margaret’s battle with cancer, the story explores the complexities of a relationship that spanned almost 30 years.

Yglesias recounts Sabas’ internal struggles—professional insecurities, infidelity, resentment, and intense love—in bold and often painful detail. In the end, the reader is left with a graceful yet raw tale of illness, struggle, loss, and the resilience of love.

"D!rty Italian" by Gabrielle Euvino

Everyday Slang from “What’s Up?” to “F*%# Off!”

Gabrielle Euvino delivers a humorous, and surprisingly practical, guide to the Italian language for travelers. With chapters including “Horny Italian,” “Angry Italian,” and “Sporty Italian,” she arms non-native speakers with the phrases that traditional travel guides fail to offer.

The book is arranged logically and interspersed with whimsical illustrations and text boxes of useful tidbits and facts. This slim edition is not meant to serve as a phrasebook—in fact, one of its shortcomings is the lack of an index—but rather provides the modern tourist with a bit of cultural cachet.

Euvino does warn, however that “I cannot as author be held responsible for any slaps, punches, kicks, or curses that may result from misuse of this book.” So slang with care!

First-time novelist Aravind Adiga wins Booker for “The White Tiger”

“At the heart of the book it is something existential,”…”It’s a quest to break out of the circumstances you find yourself in – it’s a quest for freedom.”

via BBC NEWS | Entertainment | First-time novelist wins Booker

“The Time It Takes to Fall” by Margaret Lazarus Dean

Margaret Lazarus Dean’s first novel, The Time It Takes to Fall, is a coming-of-age story set against the backdrop of the ’80s NASA space program.

Dolores Gray has wanted to be an astronaut ever since she can remember. She attends shuttle launches with her father, a technician for NASA, keeps a space journal, and follows every tidbit of news about the space program. Dolores navigates the perils of adolescence—facing family conflict, the pressures of fitting in at school, and the budding feelings of first love—amidst a tragedy that shakes her and the local NASA community to the core.

Dean has clearly done her research on the space program, weaving details about NASA and the space program through the book. She paints a compelling portrait of a young girl dealing with difficult emotional issues, but the level of Dolores’ analysis isn’t always believable. Her reactions make her seem wise beyond her years, and while that discerning insight makes for a better read, it tarnishes the credibility of her character. The story might have been more effective if it were written in the third person rather than the first.

Dean’s narrative is not without its flaws, but The Time It Takes to Fall makes for a pleasant and absorbing summertime read.

“American Wife” by Curtis Sittenfeld

Curtis Sittenfeld’s new novel, American Wife, is a thinly veiled portrait of first lady Laura Bush’s life. She paints the portrait of Alice Blackwell—a reserved, thoughtful woman who lives her life as a devoted spouse and mother but possesses a strong moral resolve that often runs counter to her role as the wife of a conservative leader. Sittenfeld offers a sympathetic view of Alice, tracing her life from her humble Wisconsin roots through her husband’s years in the White House.

At 576 pages, the book provides detailed insights into some formative events of Alice Blackwell’s life, but leaves the reader wanting, often skipping years at a time. The narrative feels especially incomplete in its coverage of Alice’s early years as a mother, offering surprisingly sparse emotional commentary. This erratic romp through an otherwise compelling storyline makes the novel interesting but sometimes frustrating and unbalanced in scope.

American Wife will be available for sale on September 2, 2008.

“Lives of the Saints” by Nino Ricci

Originally released in 1990, Lives of the Saints is Canadian author Nino Ricci’s first novel in the Vittorio Innocente trilogy and is published in over a dozen countries (it is published as The Book of Saints in the U.S.).

Ricci successfully evokes typical childhood growing pains, adding a layer of angst in a story rife with secrets and subtle streams of anger.

Vittorio Innocente’s father left their rural town in the Italian Apennines for Canada when Vittorio was barely three years old, leaving the child and his mother, Cristina, to care for a crippled grandfather and a meager farm. Vittorio, now almost seven, faces confusion and moral ambiguity as rumors surrounding his mother circulate among the townspeople.

We are introduced to the forces of good and evil that weave through Valle del Sole when Cristina is bitten by a snake, considered at once a symbol of good and an agent of the evil eye. The saying in the village went, ‘Do’l’orgoglio sta, la serpe se neva’—where pride is the snake goes. We are then led through Vittorio’s coming of age in an adult world filled with scandal, mystery, and hypocrisy.

Nino Ricci’s powerful prose sweeps the reader into his unsentimental tale of isolation, shame, rebellion, and innocence lost.