The Nobel Prize for Literature and Picking Books Based on Winnings

For someone who adores books as much as I do, I really spend VERY little time thinking about which book is going to or has one what award.

You would think that this should be something that would interest me - as someone who reads books of pretty much every genre, I have to be fairly picky about the books that I choose to read, and winning an award SHOULD be a marker of quality. And yet, every time I have read a book because it won some award or another, I have been disappointed.

Clearly my definition of quality is not the same as that of the award givers.

Man Booker, for example, has done very little other than disappoint me. While I do think that, in general, the Hugo Award and the Nebula award are a great way to find some quality science fiction, they aren't always consistent. And every time I have decided to read a book because they HAVE won this award, I have been disappointed.

As such, when I heard that Mario Varcas Llosa had won the Nobel Prize for literature this year, I'd never heard of him or any of his book, so I said "eh" and moved on with my life, not giving it a second thought. I mean, in 2008 and 2009, the books picked were "poetic," which is usually NOT my thing.

The last time I took an interest in the Nobel Prize for Literature was in 2001, when V.S. Naipul won the prize, and that's only because I already love him. In 1998, Jose Saramago won the prize, and while I adored Blindness, I didn't actually know that the author was a Nobel Literature Laureate until AFTER reading the book.

Choosing to read books because they've won a prize - so not my thing.

And yet, since hearing the announcement this year, I find myself consistently checking out the goodreads and amazon pages for "Aunt Julia and the Screenwriter," and the more I look at the cover and read the summary, the more I want to read this book. And staring at it long enough has of course also led me to the pages for "Death in the Andes" and "Bad Girl" and I'm seriously thinking about giving in reading at least one of his books based on a Nobel recommendation.

So what do you guys think? Do you often pick books based on the prizes they have won? Are there any prizes that you particularly trust?

Review: Dead Boy Talking by Linda Strachan

Title: Dead Boy Talking

Author: Linda Strachan

Rating:

Who Should Read It? If you're interested in slow-moving but intense YA that delves seriously into one topic, this is for you. It's reminiscent of S.E. Hinton, but a little less simple and a little less beautiful.

What I Have to Say:
I was actually a little taken by surprise by this book. My first reaction was that Linda Strachan is trying hard to be S.E. Hinton and failing. And in a way, even after having finished the book, I still feel that way. I mean, she's taken a teenage boy who's a little rough around the edges, but who still remains a good person, and thrown him in to the gritty real-world of knives and loss and "hard times." And yet she just doesn't write with the poise and grace of S.E. Hinton. For the entire first third of the book (and in a book as short as Dead Boy Talking, that's a lot), I found Josh's character distinctly unbelievable.

A third of the way through, though, this book picked up for me. Strachan finally got around to telling the parts of the story that, to me, needed to be told. She finally developed Josh enough for me to be capable of believing him and believing in him as a character. It made sense why he was the way he was and why he thought the things he thought and did the things he did. And as this happened, Strachan was finally able to break away from my constant comparisons to Hinton and create a novel that is, without a doubt, worth a read.

Dead Boy Talking goes back and forth between fist person and third person narrative - we hear the story leading up to how Josh found himself lying in a pool of his own blood and the story as Josh thinks back over the events as he is slowly dying. It is gritty, it is real, and it is heart-breaking.

While the book is, on the surface, about knife crime, Strachan brilliantly weaves in the story of what it is like to be a teenager. When we're teenagers (or, let's face it, even adults), it's so easy to get caught up in trying to be our reputations that we often forget who we are and what is important to us. It's easy to forget that everyone has problems; what is important is how we deal with them. The alternation between first person and third person narrative allows the reader to understand just how important our decisions and reactions are. It also broaches the subject of knife-crime and teenage runaways in a completely real, no-nonsense way.

So, while it took me a while to be convinced by this book, in the end it hit me hard, and I think it will hit you hard, too. I found myself sobbing towards the very end. It also sends an important message to teens about the impact of running away and on the dangers of knife crimes. Read this book, and I don't think you will be disappointed.

Summary: Josh has 25 minutes left to live. Lying alone in a pool of blood, Josh has not much time to think. Yesterday he stabbed his best mate, and now it has happened to him. But there are questions he cannot get out of his head. Like, how did he get into this mess? Will anyone find him in time? Will his girlfriend forgive him, and what really happened to his older brother? As his life slips away, the events of the last 24 hours start to look very different.

Cover Story: It is sharp and concise, just like knives and just like the book.

Disclosure: I won a copy of this book from the Bookette.

Nihon No Kinyoubi (13)

Nihon no Kinyoubi (Japanese Friday) is a weekly feature here at Brizmus Blogs Books inspired by French Friday, which is a weekly feature hosted by Charlotte at the Book on the Hill. Charlotte features French bookish things, and I plan on featuring Japanese bookish things, though I won't limit myself if I find something non-bookish that I think will interest you guys.

This week's post will be short, as the day has been EXHAUSTING, and I am in need of SLEEP! Thought you guys might be interested to see what the number one seller in literature on Amazon is this week.

It's a book that, oddly enough, I've been seeing around a lot lately., THe title, in Japanese, is pronounced "moshi koukouyakyuu no joshi maneejaa ga dorakkaa no 'manejimento' wo yondara 'tankoubon'," which translates loosely and with my limited Japanese to something like "If you read Drucker's high school baseball girl manager's special management book."
I'm obviously missing something, and yet, I feel inspired to read this.

Until next week. . .

Review: Acacia: The War With the Mein by David Anthony Durham

Title: Acacia: the War With the Mein

Author: David Anthony Durham

Rating:1/2

Who Should Read It? If you love epic style fantasy, then this absolutely the book for you. It is super good, for real!

What I Have to Say:
So, I'm a HUGE fan of fantasy, but it's been an extraordinarily long time since I last read an epic fantasy like Acacia. To be honest, I think I've always been a little bit afraid of them - I mean, they tend to be SO long, and there are SO MANY other books that I want to read that I'm sort-of afraid to "waste" my time with such a lengthy book. But then, when I read one, I NEVER feel like it was time wasted.

Acacia, the beginning of the Acacia Trilogy was no exception to this. It was long, but it was in no way time wasted. And it's funny - because of how extraordinarily engaging and awesome it was, I found that I read it more quickly than the typical shorter book that I read. Acacia was a true case of "I can't put this book down!"

Acacia is separated into three different books, and it almost seems as if each one of them should be reviewed separately despite the way they so easily flow one into the other.

In the first book, we learn about the Empire, how it was formed, and the horrrible evils of slavery and the Mist that are associated with the empire. Most importantly, we get to know the four Akaron children as children of the kind king, members of the Empire, and we begin to get to know the Mein. What was so interesting about this was that, while the Mein were so clearly supposed to be the bad guys and the Empire the good guys, it was really hard for me to pick anyone out as a real good guy or a real bad guy. Durham did a masterful job at allowing us to see how evil really is in the eye of the beholder. More than that, we saw how people can remain truly good while promoting and being a part of something extraordinarily evil.

In the second book, the Akaron children are all carted off to four different corners of the Empire, and while things don't go exactly as planned, they all find themselves in completely unique situations that allow them to mature into strong but very different people. The fact that they each grew up in a different race, surrounded by different beliefs and different cultures allowed the reader to really get a grasp for this world and the ways in which it parallels the world in which we live today. It also allowed him to continue with his theme of good versus evil. This second book was, by far, my favorite of the three. It was easily the most solid and most well written of the three, and I found it so exciting to get to learn about all these different cultures while still knowing that it was leading up to something big and exciting. It was interesting and fun to compare these fictional, fantasy worlds with those that we know today or have known in the past.

In the third book, well, I don't want to give too much away, but Durham ends us off with an absolute BANG! Things come to a climax with a boom, mixing the unexpected with the expected, the good with the evil, and ideals with treachery. It has you feeling utterly satisfied while still craving more, more, MORE!

The characters are extraordinarily well-developed, living, breathing beings, and this in no way takes away from the aliveness and realness of the worlds he created. No word was wasted, everything was beautifully described and played out. Durham has a way with words that, in the epic fantasy, had room to flourish. I've never read anything else by him, but I would say this is his genre. This book was great! And I am SO psyched to have the second one waiting. I would be much disturbed if I had to wait.

Summary: Leodan Akaran, ruler of the Known World, has inherited generations of apparent peace and prosperity, won ages ago by his ancestors. A widower of high intelligence, he presides over an empire called Acacia, after the idyllic island from which he rules. He dotes on his four children and hides from them the dark realities of traffic in drugs and human lives on which their prosperity depends. He hopes that he might change this, but powerful forces stand in his way. And then a deadly assassin sent from a race called the Mein, exiled long ago to an ice-locked stronghold in the frozen north, strikes at Leodan in the heart of Acacia while they unleash surprise attacks across the empire. On his deathbed, Leodan puts into play a plan to allow his children to escape, each to their separate destiny. And so his children begin a quest to avenge their father's death and restore the Acacian empire–this time on the basis of universal freedom.

ACACIA is a thrilling work of literary imagination that creates an all-enveloping and mythic world that will carry readers away. It is a timeless tale of heroism and betrayal, of treachery and revenge, of primal wrongs and ultimate redemption. David Durham has reimagined the epic narrative for our time in a book that will surely mark his breakthrough to a wide audience.

Cover Story: It's weird - I read this book on my kindle, and I had never actually SEEN the cover until right now when I was looking for a picture of it to put in the post. I can't even remember the last time when a cover in NO WAY affected my desire to read a book. My afterimpression of the cover is no more than a noncommittal "eh."

Waiting on Wednesday (21)

Waiting on Wednesday is hosted by Jill at Breaking the Spine.



Basically, I pick a book I'm excited about that's coming out sometime soon.

Seer of Sevenwaters by Juliette Marillier

Publisher: Roc Hardcover
Release Date: December 7, 2010

Summary:The young seer Sibeal is visiting an island of elite warriors, prior to making her final pledge as a druid. It’s there she finds Felix, a survivor of a Viking shipwreck, who’s lost his memory. The scholarly Felix and Sibeal form a natural bond. He could even be her soul mate, but Sibeal’s vocation is her true calling, and her heart must answer.

As Felix fully regains his memory, Sibeal has a runic divination showing her that Felix must go on a perilous mission—and that she will join him. The rough waters and the sea creatures they will face are no match for Sibeal’s own inner turmoil. She must choose between the two things that tug at her soul—her spirituality and a chance at love…

So, this is the fifth book in a series that I haven't started yet. Mostly because I had never heard of it before. But I've been reading a lot of epic fantasy lately, and while I don't think it exactly fits the bill, it looks AMAZING! Five books in already, but I'm thinking I might start this series!

Things I Love As Much as Books (10)

So, I think it's a given that I love to read. Don't we all?
The thing is, though, there are a TON of other things in my life that I love just as much as reading. Sure, most of these things aren't as constant as reading, but they count just as much in my life when I'm loving them.
SO, I decided to start this weekly feature in which I write a short post about something in my life that I am loving just as much as reading!

I LOVE UNICORNS!

I know I mentioned it before in my I am so all about the unicorns! post, but the fact is that I really do just love them. I mean, I am so totally all about the unicorns.

The greatest Christmas present I ever received was a stuffed unicorn that was the size of a small horse. I call him Uni, I cried when I saw him, and I still have him to this day.

And then this is one of my favorite puzzles that I have ever done.

When I was 12 years old, I used to dream that a unicorn would pick me up and fly me away to my new home, which would of course be a big, beautiful house with a mural of the New Kids on the Block on the side.




So yeah, unicorns. I love 'em!

Review: Hex Hall by Rachel Hawkins

Title: Hex Hall

Author: Rachel Hawkins

Rating:

Who Should Read It? lovers of witches and fun, fluffy, magical paranormal who are looking for a short escape from the world!

What I Have to Say:
Wow! That's what I have to say about this. I have been super mega crazy busy lately balancing full time school work with what feels like a full time job, and this book was really just what the doctor ordered. It was fun, it was fluff, and it was full of mean witches and nice witches and, most importantly, MAGIC!

Hex Hall has a very typical plot: a witch who doesn't know about her background finds herself in a boarding school where there are mean people and nice people, an especially hot but taken guy, and some extra suspicious and creepy things happening. It is written with such humour and pizazz (I really can't think of a better word), though, that that's where the comparisons to other books end, and Hex Hall ends up coming across as fun and fresh and unique.

First of all, Sophie Mercer the witch is a teen that everyone can like. She's so sure of herself and of being good that it was sometimes hard to believe that she was actually a teenager. She came across as a very Meg Cabot-esque character, which, to me, can be nothing but good. She was adorably witty and quirky, and an absolute pleasure to read.

And plus, she did magic. She wasn't one of those witches that I read about far too often in books that aren't allowed to do their magic or aren't allowed to use their magic or for some other ridiculous reason just don't use their magic. No, she used it - she cast love spells and hair dye spells and all sorts of other fun things, and of course she usually messed them up, which made it that much better.

I loved this book. It was totally Sabrina the Teenage Witch meets Meg Cabot - throw in any number of other mythical creatures and a bit of scary intrigue, and you've got Hex Hall. It's nothing serious, but it really is a marvelous escape from the world for a few hours! If that's what you're looking for, definitely pick this book up!

Summary: Three years ago, Sophie Mercer discovered that she was a witch. It's gotten her into a few scrapes. Her non-gifted mother has been as supportive as possible, consulting Sophie's estranged father--an elusive European warlock--only when necessary. But when Sophie attracts too much human attention for a prom-night spell gone horribly wrong, it's her dad who decides her punishment: exile to Hex Hall, an isolated reform school for wayward Prodigium, a.k.a. witches, faeries, and shapeshifters.

By the end of her first day among fellow freak-teens, Sophie has quite a scorecard: three powerful enemies who look like supermodels, a futile crush on a gorgeous warlock, a creepy tagalong ghost, and a new roommate who happens to be the most hated person and only vampire on campus. Worse, Sophie soon learns that a mysterious predator has been attacking students, and her only friend is the number-one suspect.

As a series of blood-curdling mysteries starts to converge, Sophie prepares for the biggest threat of all: an ancient secret society determined to destroy all Prodigium, especially her.

Cover Story: I think both the British and American covers are awesome, and they both totally make me want to read the book - the British one because it reminds me of that totally rad movie the Craft and the American one because it looks magic and innocent at the same time. And yet, I don't really think that either really fits all that well with the book.