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The NBCC announced their 2009 winners last night: Fiction Wolf Hall, by Hilary Mantel General Nonfiction The Age of Wonder: How the Romantic Generation Discovered the Beauty and Terror of Science, by Richard Holmes Biography Cheever: A Life, by Blake Bailey Autobiography Somewhere Towards the End, by Diana Athill Poetry Versed, by Rae Armantrout Criticism [...]

You’ve heard me repeatedly express frustration with the omnipresent photos/voiceover/music template. But what do I know? The trailer for Dan Wells’ I Am Not a Serial Killer (Tor) not only proves that it can be done, but makes a case that, if you have a high-concept subject, it may be the best way to bring [...]

Ever since we launched Booklist Online, way back in March 2006, we’ve offered a Review of the Day both on the home page and via RSS feed. Now, however, we’re pleased to announce that the Review of the Day app is available for your iPhone or iPod Touch. The cost? A whopping “free.” If you don’t [...]

In Other Rooms, Other Wonders earned Daniyal Mueenuddin  the $20,000 Story Prize last week. He beat out two other finalists, who will also take home a cash prize of $5,000 each.

Is there anyting more frustrating and heartbreaking that what seems to be happening to public schools? Education — standardized testing, school reform, teacher training — these are all things I’ve followed with a passion beyond that of a book reviewer and concerned citizen, but the zeal of a parent with children in the “system.” The [...]

It’s one thing when a first-time author self-publishes a book — it can be a great way to get noticed, as we learned from David Carnoy. It’s another thing entirely when a well known and widely respected author turns from traditional publishing to self-publishing. But that’s exactly what John Edgar Wideman (Fanon, 2008) is doing. [...]

Frank Portman’s Andromeda Klein was just about the best book I read in 2009, despite the fact that others (I’m looking at you, entire world) found its obsession with occultism so manic it bordered on impenetrable. Okay, so this may not be a book for everyone. But it is the book for that smart weird [...]

Way back in December 2008, I wrote about an article by David Carnoy, called “Self-Publishing a Book: 25 Things You Need to Know.” An editor at CNET, he was sharing useful lessons he’d learned while self-publishing his novel, Knife Music. I checked in with him the following month, asking about his experience purchasing a book review from Kirkus Discoveries, [...]

In celebration of Black History Month, last week the University of Illinois at Chicago sponsored a seminar on the topic: “Post Racial Society.” The question: in the wake of the election of President Barack Obama, have we in the United States entered a post-racial society? Absolutely not, came the resounding answer from the panel, nearly [...]

The Society of Children’s Books Writers and Illustrators has named winners in four categories: Fiction Sea of the Dead, by Julia Durango Nonfiction Ashley Bryan: Words to My Life’s Song, by Ashley Bryan Picture Book Text The Longest Night, by Marion Dane Bauer, illustrated by Ted Lewin Picture Book Illustration Gracias Thanks, illustrated by John [...]