Archive for September 2006

Book review: “Beyond Black,” by Hilary Mantel

Editor’s note: Today we’re featuring one of our most popular book reviews from our archive. Enjoy!
I first heard of Beyond Black while enjoying the Guardian’s list of author-picked best books of 2005. That’s where this year’s Man Booker Prize–winner John Banville gushed that Beyond Black author Hilary Mantel should have joined him on the […]

What is your favorite banned or challenged book?

This is Banned Books Week. It’s the perfect time to acknowledge the books in your life that others have banned, censored, or challenged for removal from bookshelves. For instance, can you imagine ever being prohibited from reading A Wrinkle in Time or Of Mice and Men? Would you mind if Beloved—recently judged the best book […]

Al Gore wants to save your kids (and their planet) with “An Inconvenient Truth”

Al Gore is the de facto president of the planet, at least with regard to its vanishing glaciers and drowning polar bears. Since the divisive 2000 election, Gore has hunkered down in his role as champion of the earth’s environment. Of course, with An Inconvenient Truth: The Planetary Emergency of Global Warming and What We […]

A book-loving blogger blogs about book blogs

During the last several years (and still gaining momentum), the blogosphere has exploded with incredible richness and variation. Included as a subculture of the World Wide Web are explorations into the bookish experience, from reviews on modern literature to opinions regarding book fairs; from glimpses of exquisite incunabula to discoveries of fine and unusual bindings. […]

Steinbeck, Faulkner, and Whitman: legendary authors of banned classics

A promise is a promise is a promise, and we’re a blog of our word. We pledged to feature banned and challenged books this month, in celebration of free speech and next week’s Banned Books Week, and we’re enjoying doing just that.
We also hope you’ve enjoyed Cuppa Joad so far this September. Read our […]

The Man Booker Prize shortlist opens new reading horizons

The recently announced shortlist for the United Kingdom’s preeminent literary award, the Man Booker Prize for Fiction, includes some real surprises. Of the nominees, only Sarah Waters remotely approaches literary-household-name status, and for the first time in the award’s history, the judges will be influenced by blogging members of the general public selected from ordinary […]

“Manhunt” stalks and surveys Lincoln’s assassin

The assassination of Abraham Lincoln is one of the most revered and remembered events in United States history. It is murder made hallowed and ubiquitous. From your local grade school to your favorite bookstore, the ghost of Lincoln is there. So is the apparition of John Wilkes Booth. Read about, discuss, or ponder the slain […]

Love triumphs over cruelty in “Water for Elephants”

At the height of the Great Depression, when Cornell veterinary student Jacob Jankowski finds himself destitute after the accidental death of his parents, he blindly walks away from his life and jumps a traveling circus train. As small, hardscrabble, train circuses teeter on the brink of extinction, Jankowski makes himself a living by caring for […]

British Library puts the world’s rarest books in your grasp

Don’t read this post if you’re a recovering book addict. If you have responsibilities, appointments, or even bathroom breaks on your schedule today, we suggest that you stop reading this right now. But if you’re a bibliophile with a good Internet connection and a while to while away, read on to discover one of the […]

“Slaughterhouse-Five” champions peace and endures censorship

Burned, banned, and challenged in numerous U.S. states, Slaughterhouse-Five: Or, the Children’s Crusade, a Duty-Dance with Death is both a powerful anti-war protest piece and an exceptional work of satirical science fiction. Author Kurt Vonnegut introduces us to Billy Pilgrim, the novel’s star-crossed protagonist, time traveler, and optometrist. This classic’s approachable narrative leads the reader […]