More than 5,000 of you nominated. More than 60,000 of you voted. And now the results are in. The winners of NPR’s Top 100 Science-Fiction and Fantasy survey are an intriguing mix of classic and contemporary titles.
READ MORE NPR’s Top 100 Science-Fiction & Fantasy Books – How many have you read? | NPR
Graphic novel and comic book fans are book lovers, so it is no surprise that libraries and librarians are portrayed fairly frequently in all sorts of graphic works. Here are some comics that feature libraries and librarians and are perfect for some light reading or for a fun library display. READ MORE: Librarians Portrayed in Comics | CCGC in Libraries
What’s hitting the big screen this year? Basically, everything. Luke Skywalker, James Bond, the Terminator, Velociraptors, all the superheroes. But there are also some great surprises, like a movie based on a beloved Nebula-winning novel. Here are the 67 Science Fiction And Fantasy Movies To Watch Out For In 2015! | io9.
Of all the books published over the last 12 months, which were the very best? We wanted to get a sense of the consensus, so we aggregated 23 different Best of 2014 lists — from The Washington Post to Library Journal to Buzzfeed and more. Then we compiled rankings based on the number of times each books was listed.
Below you’ll find an infographic that highlights the top-ranked books. (We created separate infographics for books in the romance, mystery & thriller, business, young adult, and nonfiction categories.) We hope you find some great new books on these lists — we certainly did! via The Best Books of 2014 | The Ultimate List | BookBub Blog
Snips
When I received the Brooklyn Public Library’s recent email newsletter promoting a new service called BookMatch, I was both delighted and dismayed.
On the one hand, it was a great idea. All I had to do was fill out a short web form letting the librarians know a bit about what I wanted to read and what I liked to read, and one promised to write back with five personalized recommendations tailored to my interests and tastes. On the other, the fact I was so delighted was exactly what was dismaying.
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Clearly, the librarians believe that human tastes and discretion are still relevant, even as automated algorithms are influencing an increasing portion of the media we consume, whether in the form of news, books, music, or movies. But are a book expert’s personalized suggestions really better than what I might get from Amazon, a site that hasn’t employed a human editor for its home page in 14 years? It’s very possible my positive feelings about the BookMatch program are sprung from mere sentimentality.
The only books I have read on this list are Macbeth and American Psycho (I recommend both). I would have included Perfume: The Story of a Murder by Patrick Suskind.
We’ve reached the time of year when the days seem impossibly short and the nights never ending. Good if you’re a vampire or like to go to sleep early, less exciting for the rest of us. So what is one to do with all this extra darkness? Well, read some dark books, of course. After all, there’s nothing better to cut through the literal gloom than to curl up with some intellectual doom. All you need is a tiny light to see your book by. After the jump, 50 gloriously dark novels to read during these dark days. After a while, you may even stop wishing for the light to come.
via 50 Great Dark Books for the Dark Days of Winter | Flavorwire.
This week, The Criterion Collection is giving a welcome Blu-ray upgrade to F for Fake, Orson Welles’ 1973 documentary exploration of hoaxes, fakery, and magic. It was one of his last completed films, and one of his few documentaries — and, in true Welles form, he went and made one of the greatest nonfiction films of all time. How great? Well, its re-release is as good a time as any to spotlight the finest documentaries ever made. And just to avoid repetition, we’ll skip the music docs and concert films.
SEE THE LIST: Best Documentaries Ever Made | Flavorwire
Long dismissed as a less serious art form, graphic novels have finally started to gain more mainstream credibility over the last 20 years. There are many, many excellent examples out there, but if you’re looking for a place to start, start here! The world of the graphic novel is one that spans a wide range of authors, artists, styles, and subject matter, and this primer covers all the bases. While the distinction between graphic novels and comic books gets dicey the term “graphic novel” was only introduced in the late 1970s, for the purposes of this list, they are lengthier, meatier book-like works — and they’re all brilliant for both their literary and visual merit.
If you’re like me and are trying to diversify your reading, then you know that discoverability is an issue. I want to start reading more books by non-U.S. and UK authors, but where do I start? Well, if you’re interested in African authors, here’s what I’ve got.
Through extensive Googling and suggestions from fellow Rioters, I’ve compiled the following list. These are fiction books by African authors, sorted by country. Not every African country is represented here, though I did my best. All of these books are available for purchase in the U.S. If an author has written multiple books such as Achebe or Adichie, I listed just one so you’d have the author’s name. I also did not have any sort of genre/format restriction, so though most of these are adult literary fiction, not all of them are.
I can’t necessarily recommend these books one way or another because many of them I haven’t read though I have read a good number, but hopefully this list will get you started. I absolutely know I missed books on this list, so please feel free to leave your suggestions in the comments, as well as provide recommendations if you have read some of these books.
SEE THE LIST: An African Reading List | BOOK RIOT
Here’s the thing: sometimes, you just want to read a good love story. Or at least, something with a little sex, a little passion, a few dramatic swoons. But a romance novel, per se? Nothing so gaudy or slapdash for you! You need real literature. Well, person who I’ve just made up though I know you’re out there, here’s the answer: a selection of romantic books that will rev your motor emotional or otherwise but don’t fall into that taboo category of cheap paper and cheaper storylines. After the jump, 50 romantic novels for people who hate romance novels.
READ MORE: Romantic Books for People Who Hate Romance Novels | Flavorwire
This is a pretty good list. It could be better…Pride & Prejudice is missing. Also suggest Simon the Coldheart or An Infamous Army by Georgette Heyer; North and South by Elizabeth Gaskell; Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafon; The Scarlet Pimpernel by Baroness Orczy; Red Sparrow by Jason Matthews; The Winer Sea by Susanna Kearsley. I guess the author does not consider YA literature, as I don’t think the genre is represented. I don’t read much YA myself, so I don’t have any suggestions.
infophile 