Lewis H. Lapham is an American writer who has been the Editor of Harper’s Magazine from 1976 until 2006, apart from a short interim between 1981 and 1983.  In 2006 he established his own journal on history, Lapham’s Quarterly.  Since the early 80′s Lewis Lapham has not only worked on monthly publications but has written several books on the topic of history as well.  

Theater of War is a non-fictional piece about 911 and how the government, as well as the nation, perceived events, our leader, and the inevitable conflict at our hands.  Although Lapham’s work goes into great length and discursiveness, he is cognizant and assured.  As Annie Dillard, a Pulitzer Prize winning author herself, has said, Lewis Lapham is “one of our most brilliant writers and thinkers.”

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How many former paratroopers do you know who write poetry?  Of those who said yes, how many were actually good at it?  Derrick C. Brown is a man of many hats and a man of many words and his poetic phrasing definitely demands an awestruck pause.  His 2003 collection of poems entitled I’m Easier Said Than Done resonates with the inner scramblings of our souls and the illogical struggle of our minds.  The elegiac assemblage won the 2004 California Independent Book Critics Award.  In that same year Derrick C. Brown founded Write Bloody Publishing, which is now located in Los Angeles, New York City, and Murfreesboro, Tennessee. Derrick C. Brown has also been the lead singer/songwriter of John Wilkes’ Kissing Booth and All Black Cinema.  

From CD release to book publication, Derrick C. Brown is a magician of words.  His poetry is silly yet pensive, frank yet elusive.  You will find him touring the NYC area in January between the 12th and the 17th.  Check out his website for specific venues.

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Tags: All Black Cinema, book, California Independent Book Critics Award, Collection of Poems, Derrick C. Brown, I'm Easier Said Than Done, John Wilkes' Kissing Booth, poetry, Write Bloody Publishing

The idea of this book came to fruition 5 years ago when the Chicago tribune asked its readers to send in pictures of their little ones petrified by Mr. Claus.  After millions of viewers have checked out the site dedicated to the project, and thousands of entries, Denise Joyce and Nancy Watkins, both editors for Chicago Tribune sifted through the entries and compiled the best of the bunch to make Scared of Santa: Scenes of Terror in Toyland.  With cleverly titled chapters like “Want A Smile?  It’ll Cost Ya,” the family photos of crying babes, and quotes from the parents who dared to send their children’s photos in, this book is gauranteed to entertain during the holidays.

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Tags: Chicago Tribune, Christmas, Denise Joyce, editors, Literature, Nancy Watkins, santa, Scared of Santa

A young boy finds he is attracted to an older woman.  An older woman finds she is attracted to a young boy.  They become enthralled with one another, they have an affair, they read, and then one day she disappears.  Bernard Schlink’s novel The Reader was published in Germany in 1995 and covers much more than literacy and fornication. Schlink also manages to tie in how the post-holocaust generation comes to terms with the crimes of the generation before them.  It is no wonder this story is soon to be a movie, starring Kate Winslet, released in theaters this month.  The story is so vivid and factually believable that you feel as though what you are reading is true.

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The Memoir is quickly becoming the trendy term for autobiography.  Imagine if you had to sum up your life, in just six words.  Sound impossible?  

The book Not Quite What I Was Planning: Six Word Memoirs from Writers Famous and Obscure does just that.  Smith Magazine has compiled hundreds of six word sentences to create a New York Times Bestseller.  It is incredible how powerful just six words can be when you have to sit down and decide which six words get to represent you.  The book offers a laugh, causes you to think, and is intriguing from first page to last.  

Comment on this post and share your six word memoirs with us!  

My six word memoir:  You said don’t, so I did.

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Recently I picked up Melvin Burgess’ 1996 Carnegie Medal and Guardian Award winning novel Smack and was, yet again, emotionally affected. Two young teenagers run away from home and find shelter in a squat in Bristol, England with a couple who also happen to be heroine addicts.  Soon they are both hooked as well.  What starts as a venture of freedom turns into a struggle to hold onto something concrete. 

Originally printed in the UK under the title Junk, Melvin Burgess depicts the progressive fall into addiction candidly using the voices of ten different characters, opening up the bigger picture without alluding to the author’s point of view.  Scrounge up those old high-school summer reading lists and make sure to check this one off.  Better late than never.

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Tags: book, Bristol, Carnegie Medal, England, Fiction, Guardian Award, Junk, Melvin Burgess, novel, Smack, Squat

I picked up the first of this four book series 3 days ago, and within those 3 days I drank up those 498 pages like you had just offered me a bottle of water after I had been trudging through the hot desert for months.  Stephenie Meyer has written an irresistible tale about two teenagers, one human, one vampire, and their love.  

The way Edward Cullen, the main vamp, protects Bella, the main human hits all those female parts hard. Meyer paints their love, trust, and acceptance of each other into a beautiful journey that floats off the page and into your mind so smoothly it cant be a book.  The story is equally exciting as it is mushy love stuff, from page one this story will have its grip on you.

Three years after Publishers Weekly claimed Stephenie Meyer the ” most promising author of 2005″ Stephenie has a best selling four book series, and a movie grossing over 70 million dollars in its first weekend in theaters.  The books are as big as the hype around them, pick up Twilight and see for yourself.

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Joan Didion is an American essayist, journalist, and novelist whose writing career spans well over 40 years. Her style is consistent with many commas and quotations, ramblings and interrupting thoughts.  The Last Thing He Wanted, Didion’s 1996 novel serves as no opposition to the rule.  The story revolves around Elena McMahon, a reporter who quits her job after the death of her mother and ventures to be with her father who is in need of much care.  Somewhere in the process of doing a favor for her father, Elena becomes entangled in the position of an arm’s dealer for the United States government and finds herself in Central America unable to get herself back home.  

Although not one of her more praise-worthy novels, The Last Thing He Wanted is a fast paced and suspenseful read where conspiracy and paranoia lurk around every page.

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Tags: 1996, Arms Dealer, books, Fiction, Joan Didion, Literature, novel, reading, Suspense, The Last Thing He Wanted, U.S. Governement

Who killed Wellington?  This is the question that spurs Mark Haddon’s debut novel on a wild murder mystery adventure.  Wellington is Mrs. Shears dog, and when her neighbor Christopher is found standing next to the dead dog he becomes a suspect in Wellington’s murder.  No charges are pressed but Christopher, knowing it was not he who committed such a crime, sets off in search for the true culprit.  

The Curious Incident of The Dog in The Night-Time is told from the perspective of Christopher, a fifteen year old boy with Autism.  The author does a particularly fascinating job portraying this voice of character.  Christopher’s story is not only entertaining but educational, it allows the reader a unique chance to experience life through the eyes of someone with autism.  It might feel slightly awkward at first but a few chapters in the plot builds and evolves leaving you restless to find out what happens next.

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Tags: autism, books, curious incident of the dog in the night time, Fiction, Literature, Mark Haddon, murder mystery, novel, read, teenager

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