Orange Prize For Fiction 2009 Longlist released

Mar 21, 2009 by donny

The Hugos were not the only Awards citing excellence in Fiction.  The Orange Prize for Fiction also recently released their longlist, and they are:

• Debra Adelaide The Household Guide to Dying
• Gaynor Arnold Girl in a Blue Dress
• Lissa Evans Their Finest Hour and a Half
• Bernardine Evaristo Blonde Roots
• Ellen Feldman Scottsboro
• Laura Fish Strange Music
• V.V. Ganeshananthan Love Marriage
• Allegra Goodman Intuition
• Samantha Harvey The Wilderness
• Samantha Hunt The Invention of Everything Else
• Michelle de Kretser The Lost Dog
• Deirdre Madden Molly Fox’s Birthday
• Toni Morrison A Mercy
• Gina Ochsner The Russian Dreambook of Colour and Flight
• Marilynne Robinson Home
• Preeta Samarasan Evening is the Whole Day
• Kamila Shamsie Burnt Shadows
• Curtis Sittenfeld American Wife
• Miriam Toews The Flying Troutmans
• Ann Weisgarber The Personal History of Rachel DuPree

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Hugo Nominations 2009

Mar 21, 2009 by donny

The Hugo Nominations are now out!  Here’s are the nominees for Best Novel:

• Anathem by Neal Stephenson (Morrow; Atlantic UK)
• The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman (HarperCollins; Bloomsbury UK)
• Little Brother by Cory Doctorow (Tor Teen; HarperVoyager UK) – you can also download this book for free here (it’s made available for free by Doctorow himself; all his books are freely available for download)
• Saturn’s Children by Charles Stross (Ace; Orbit UK)
• Zoe’s Tale by John Scalzi (Tor)

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Kindle 2.0 Released

Feb 9, 2009 by donny

Sold for $359, the new Kindle is available now here.  Here is a quick list of new features:

• New slimmer design
• Better display with 16 shades of gray (previously 4)
• 25% better battery life
• 2GB storage space
• Text-to-speech functionality
• Whispersync – allows you to ‘switch devices seamlessly while reading a book – change devices, and the other Kindle knows what page you were on.’

Check out the news in Mashable, and there’s a live blog over at Crave.

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Kindle 2 sneak peeks

Feb 7, 2009 by donny

The apocalypse that is digital books shows no signs of relenting.  Hot on the heels of the announcement that Amazon will start to offer Kindle ebooks on your mobile phones, leaked images of the new Kindle has surfaced.  And oh, it looks so good.

The new Kindle is expected to be unveiled on Monday (i.e. tomorrow!)

(Actually, the news about being able to read Kindle ebooks on your cell is pretty *the* news this past week.)

Thanks to Crave for the news and pics.

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John Updike passes on at 76

Jan 29, 2009 by donny

One of the more visible American literary novelist, John Updike, died at the age of 76 on Wednesday.  Writer of works such as The Witches of Eastwick, Marry Me and of course, the Rabbit sequence of novels, Updike is no stranger to acclaim, having been lavished with numerous literary prizes, including the Pulitzer.

An interesting tidbit about him is he didn’t seem all that fond of the digital revolution for books – and has reportedly described the oncoming digital future as ‘grisly’.  Gem has found yet another kindred spirit.

Check out the news here.

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J.D. Salinger is more elusive than Thomas Pynchon?

Jan 2, 2009 by donny

As J. D. Salinger celebrates his birthday today, NYTimes has an article up on his apparent reclusiveness.

Of course, I know of only one other author who is so obsessive about not being in the public eye, and that’s the famously elusive Thomas Pynchon.

Salinger is of course most noted for A Catcher in the Rye.

So, Mr Salinger, Happy Birthday, and, uhm, let’s take a picture sometime!

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