2008 National Book Awards Announced

The National Book Awards were announced recently with each winner taking home the bragging rights for one of the most prestigious literary awards– and $10,000.

Peter Matthiessen, founder of the Paris Review, won in the Fiction category with Shadow Country, a revision of a trilogy of novels originally released in the 90’s. Matthiessen has won the award before – in 1979, for a non-fiction book: The Snow Leopard.

In the non-fiction category, this year’s winner was The Hemingses of Monticello by Annette Gordon-Reed.

Judith Blundell won in the Young People’s Literature category with What I saw And How I Lied.

New York Times 100 Notable Books Of 2008

The Times has released their annual list of 100 notable books for the year. How many have you read? Do you think there are other books that should be on the list instead?

French Lessons–Watercolors by Betty Lee Taylor On Exhibit

The public is invited to the opening of an exhibition by Essex artist Betty Lee Taylor, at the Essex Library on Sunday, November 23rd, between 2-4 p.m.
The show, entitled “French Lessons”, is a collection of watercolors Ms. Taylor painted during her stay in Dinan, Brittany, France, where she was awarded the honor of  being named “Artist in Residence.” Her paintings have been exhibited in the United States and in France.
The exhibit will be on display through the month of December.

Books To Movies: Slumdog Millionaire

The buzz around the soon-to-be-released film Slumdog Millionaire, winner of the People’s Choice Award at the Toronto International Film Festival, is that it has a good shot at the Best Picture Oscar. Independently produced, the little Indie that could, was directed by Danny Boyle who also directed Trainspotting.

The movie was based loosely on the book Q & A by Vikas Swarup, published in 2005, which is about a boy from the slums of Mumbai who wins a large amount of money on the gameshow Who Wants To Be A Millionaire. The city of Mumbai plays a central role in the film and director Boyle used the book Maximum City: Bombay Lost and Found as his guide in filming the Mumbai scenes according to Variety.

Literary Presidents Quiz

England’s Guardian newspaper Books section always has something interesting for their readers who love to read and this week was no different. In honor of the elections held last week they put together a quiz on literary presidents of the U.S.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/quiz/2008/nov/05/us-presidents-literature-quiz

Best-Of 2008s Already!

Although it’s only early November, the best-of lists are beginning to come out. The New York Times has made their Best Illustrated Children’s Book list available online in a slideshow where you can get an idea why they were chosen.

Amazon has their best-of books for 2008 list up on their website already as well.

Books highlighted on the Amazon list include:

Hurry Down Sunshine by Michael Greenberg- a searing portrait of his daughter’s sudden illness.

Nixonland by Rick Perlstein- a vivid history of an even more chaotic political era.

The Story Of Edgar Sawtelle by David Wroblewski and Serena by Ron Rash as two thrilling novels that find Shakespearean echoes in the most American of stories.

Amazon’s editors have selected The Northern Clemency by Philip Hensher, shortlisted for the Man Booker Prize, as their pick for the best book of the year.

Centerbrook Architecture Series Begins Friday, November 7 at 7p.m.

Ever ponder modern architecture and wonder why it looks the way it does? We’re fortunate to have here in Essex an architecture firm that is recognized throughout the world for their design work and their collaborative process. The Library has asked, and the partners at Centerbrook Architects and Planners have generously agreed, to each present, over the course of a year, a talk at the Library. James C. Childress, FAIA, will kick off the Centerbrook Architecture Series with his talk and slideshow: World Architecture Today-The Good, The Bad And The Ugly. on Friday, November 7th at 7p.m.