Looking for some good books to read this weekend, or over the holidays? Check out the National Book Award winners (and the other finalists) for 2009 and earlier years.
The mission of the National Book Foundation is to “celebrate the best of American literature, to expand its audience, and to enhance the cultural value of good writing in America.”
Alternatively, browse Andersen Library’s 2nd-floor Browsing Books collection for fiction or non-fiction. You can find your favorite authors there, like Robin Cook or Laurell K. Hamilton, or meet some new ones!
Yet another listing of recommended books, as if I need a longer list! The July 13 issue of Newsweek has a list of 50 books (alternatively link to the Newsweek site) that supposedly “open a window on the times we live in, whether they deal directly with the issues of today or simply help us see ourselves in new and surprising ways.” Since it’s Friday I thought you’d want to plan your weekend reading. And if these 50 books don’t keep you busy, the magazine’s web site lists Newsweek’s Top 100 Books: The Meta List.
Most of the books should be available from Andersen Library, and also from other UW campus libraries (through the free Universal Borrowing service, which is down for an upgrade July 27-August 17, so plan ahead) and some public libraries.
Pictured at left are covers of American prometheus, Underworld, Random family, The botany of desire, and The line of beauty (titles on the list of 50 books to read now).
It’s summertime – for some, that’s the time when they actually read books for enjoyment. Although I don’t normally read a whole bunch (I know, I’m a failure of a librarian), I did just finish my second book of the year. Be nice now, because that’s twice as many as I read last year.
Anyway, I’ve kind of gotten the hang of this whole ‘reading’ thing and decided that I wouldn’t mind reading ANOTHER book. Whoa.
But here’s my dilemma – what do I read next? I could either A) ask anyone else that works here for recommendations or…
B) use the Book Seer to offer suggestions on my next literary adventure. To put it to the test, I just finished reading Running with Scissors by Augusten Burroughs (good stuff). The Book Seer thought that I would also enjoy A Million Little Pieces by James Frey or Stuart: A Life Backwards by Alexander Masters, as well as other titles by Burroughs and Frey.
Just make sure that you actually liked the book that you just finished reading when using the Book Seer. Otherwise, you’re stuck with another bomb.
Thanks to Patty (and Lifehacker) for the link!
The Chronicle of Higher Education recently provided a university dean’s perspective on comparing different formats (paperback, Kindle, iPhone, and audiobook) for reading a novel. Those of us who haven’t experimented with these alternatives might find the article illuminating:
Kirschner, A. (2009). Reading Dickens four ways: How ‘Little Dorrit’ fares in multiple text formats. Chronicle of Higher Education, Section: The Chronicle Review, 55(39), B16.
This week I read Leonard Pitts‘ column in the Janesville Gazette “You can’t understand world unless you know how it was,” in which he laments that many people do not know basic history, and thus cannot put our world today into proper context and fully understand where we are as a society.
The impetus for his column was the passing of historian Dr. John Hope Franklin, who wrote many books on the history of African Americans, including From slavery to freedom, which is “regarded as the seminal text in African-American studies.” The Library has copies of From slavery to freedom, including the original 1947 edition and the 6th (1988) edition (3rd-floor Main Collection, E185 .F825 1988).
Pitts goes on to suggest additional reading, all of which are titles available in the Library’s 3rd-floor Main Collection:
New for Spring semester: The Library’s “Browsing” collections on the 2nd (main) floor. When you enter the Library, walk straight ahead into the Browsing collections, which include:
Browsing DVDs: Popular feature films have been separated and are arranged by their titles for easy browsing (some of these are still in process, getting their labels). The rest are still arranged by call numbers.
Browsing VHS tapes: These are arranged by call numbers. We are still in the process of moving them from the 1st-floor Media Center to the 2nd floor, so bear with us. Everything is listed in the library catalog, of course.
Browsing Books: This set includes recent print fiction and non-fiction, audio books, and graphic novels, as well as the New Book Island, which contains books received in the last 2 months.
In the future the Browsing are will include the CDs (also in order by call numbers). Right now they are still in the 1st-floor Media Center.
There is also comfortable seating, and the newest issues of newspapers and several magazines are at hand too. The Food for Thought cafe is available nearby for a snack and beverage.
Coming soon: a large-screen TV that can play DVDs or cable channels like CNN.
You are invited to join us…relax, get the latest news, find something enjoyable to read, listen to, or watch. Let us know how you like it! And if you have any questions about finding anything, please Ask a Librarian for help.
Whatcha reading?, our new category, is all about you. We want to know what you’re reading. Think of this as a chance to let other people know about a good book (or a bad one) that you’re reading. It’s kind of like an informal virtual book club, except we’re not all reading the same book. Use the comments section to voice your opinions on your latest read.
OK, I’ll go first. I’m currently in the process of reading a book in Spanish entitled “La Sombra del Viento” (The Shadow of the Wind), written by Carlos Ruiz Zafon. The book takes place in Barcelona in the 1940s, a very difficult era in Spain’s history due to the recent end of the Spanish Civil War and the start of Franco’s dictatorship. The protagonist, Daniel, finds this secret ‘Library of Forgotten Books’ and becomes enthralled with a particular book. Zafon’s novel follows Daniel’s ten-year obsession with the fictitious book and its author. As I said, I haven’t finished the book, but I’ll let you know my thoughts when I’m all done – and don’t worry, there’s an English translation.
