Archive for October 2006

The accidental book collection: from the airwaves to the page

The most enjoyable book collections can begin inadvertently. Mine started that way. I became mesmerized by radio dramatist Joe Frank’s odd and inventive tales of everyday people. When I discovered Frank had penned a collection of short stories, I immediately set out to find the out-of-print The Queen of Puerto Rico. Little did I know […]

Kiran Desai wins Man Booker Prize for Fiction

Author Kiran Desai has won the Man Booker Prize for Fiction. Announced on live television only moments ago in London, this prestigious award has been presented to the youngest-ever female recipient. Desai, who is 35 years old, received the £50,000 award for The Inheritance of Loss. Hermione Lee, chair of the judging panel, praised the […]

Book review: “His Dark Materials,” by Philip Pullman

Editor’s note: It might seem drastically early to some, but our research shows that winter holiday shopping has already started. If you’d like to give a surefire reader pleaser, you can’t miss with the His Dark Materials series (which we originally reviewed in May).
Let’s see, I’ve recently reviewed something suspenseful, something mysterious, and something literary. […]

Book review: “No Country for Old Men,” by Cormac McCarthy

Editor’s note: Cormac McCarthy’s new book, The Road, was released last week. If you haven’t yet discovered his last book, No Country for Old Men, we highly recommend reading it too. This review (originally published in May) explains why we love it.
I’m sometimes a sucker for a stark, suspenseful western. Well, I mean “contemporary westerns,” […]