“I recognize terror as the finest emotion and so I will try to terrorize the reader. But if I find that I cannot terrify, I will try to horrify, and if I find that I cannot horrify, I'll go for the gross-out. I'm not proud. ” —Stephen King
BOOK NEWS & NOTES
World-renowned writing: Han Kang won the Nobel Prize for Literature this week, making her the first Asian woman and the first South Korean to do so. She is also the first female Nobel laureate this year. The 53-year-old poet and novelist, who has been published in more than 30 languages, was honored for her books, including "The Vegetarian," "The White Book" and "Human Acts." (The Associated Press and BBC News)
Closer to the prize: The 25 finalists for the National Book Awards have been named and nearly all of them were first-time honorees. Winners will be announced at a ceremony on Nov. 20 in New York City. The top prize in each category: $10,000, a bronze medal and statue, and the ability to promote the win forevermore. (The Washington Post)
Pizza and books: To celebrate the 40th year of its reading incentive program Book It!, Pizza Hut is expanding its annual pizza giveaway. Traditionally, home-schooling parents and teachers would create a reading goal for kids. When the students reached that goal, they would receive a Reading Award Certificate, good for a free one-topping personal pan pizza. To date, Pizza Hut has given away an estimated 1.5 billion pizzas as part of the program. This year, however, everyone who uses the code “BOOKIT40” while making an $8 minimum purchase from Pizza Hut online or on the app will also receive a free personal pan pizza. That leaves you with extra money to buy more books! (Food & Wine)
In the mood for fall: Reader/writer/professional bookworm Natasha Poliszczuk has compiled a fabulous list of 10 books to celebrate the arrival of fall. They're not new tomes so you should have no problem finding them at your local library (plus you'll avoid the annoying waitlist). Poliszczuk also recommends five great autumnal films, all of which I adore. P.S. I may steal that "professional bookworm" title -- it's so perfect! (Book(ish))
Wilde TV: Are you a fan of Oscar Wilde's 1891 novel "The Picture of Dorian Gray"? Well, Netflix is developing a modern adaptation. While "The Grays" will feature the characters Dorian and Basil, the small-screen version will turn them into siblings rather than friends. Dorian will also be renamed Doran. Light knows why. And, the show will explore the themes of everlasting youth against the backdrop of the modern beauty industry. (Deadline)
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HOOKED FROM THE FIRST PAGE
On New Year’s Day of 1985, Turnip Coogan, facing 20 to life for capital murder, decided he’d have to be dumb as a post not to break out of jail, and his mama didn’t raise no post.
25-WORD REVIEWS
Rating System:
* * * * * One of the best books I've read in a while
* * * * A wonderful book, recommended
* * * Good book, worth the read
* * This book was fine, but not my favorite
* This book wasn't for me
All work and no play makes Jack a terrible father. In this family vacation gone wrong, the ghosts are the least of this family's problems. --Nikki Clark
Rating: * * * * * stars
If you have a passion for learning strange and unusual words, this slim tome is one you'll enjoy. The cozy artwork is also quite lovely. --Jade Walker
Rating: * * * * stars
READER POLL
LAST WEEK’S POLL
LITERARY HOLIDAYS
October is:
International School Libraries Month
National Arts & Humanities Month
National Book Month
National Cookbook Month
National Medical Librarians Month
National Reading Group Month
Black Speculative Fiction Month
Children’s Magazine Month
Oct. 12 - National Freethought Day and Harry Potter Book Day
Oct. 13 - National Train Your Brain Day and English Language Day
Oct. 16 - Global Cat Day, National Feral Cat Day and Dictionary Day
WRITER BIRTHDAYS
Oct. 11 - Thomas Boswell, R.H.W. Dillard, Richard Paul Evans, Elmore Leonard, Lucy Morgan and Daniel Quinn
Oct. 12 - Dan Abnett, NoViolet Bulawayo, Lester Dent, Paul Engle, Magnus Magnusson, Ann Petry, Angela Rippon and Chris Wallace
Oct. 13 - Serena Altschul, Arna Bontemps, Bruce Geller, Herblock, Richard Howard, Mollie Katzen, Conrad Richter, Rosemary Anne Sisson and Hugo Young
Oct. 14 - Hannah Arendt, e.e. cummings, Dorothy Kingsley, Lois Lenski, Katherine Mansfield and Katha Pollitt
Oct. 15 - Evan Hunter, Italo Calvino, Emma Chichester Clark, Stephen Clarke, Michel Foucault, Varian Fry, Roxane Gay, Emeril Lagasse, Friedrich Nietzsche, Alicia Patterson, Eugene Patterson, Mario Puzo, Robert Trout and P.G. Wodehouse
Oct. 16 - Alafair Burke, Günter Grass, Paul Monette, Eugene O'Neill, Oscar Wilde and Kathleen Winsor
Oct. 17 - Henry Campbell Black, George Mackay Brown, Priscilla Buckley, Miguel Delibes, Pablo de Rokha, Elinor Glyn, Jupiter Hammon, Ernst Hinterberger, Robert Jordan, Wally Lamb, Ariel Levy, Adam Michnik, Arthur Miller, Randall Munroe, Mikhail Naimy, Patrick Ness, Leopoldo Panero, Anatoly Pristavkin, Richard Roeper, Jerry Siegel, Simon Vestdijk, Ester Wier, John Wilkes and Yvor Winters
Oct. 18 - James Truslow Adams, James Robert Baker, Basil Hall Chamberlain, H.L. Davis, Tibor Déry, Ernst Didring, Mikhail Kuzmin, Charles le Beau, A.J. Liebling, Johannes Linnankoski, Terry McMillan, Rick Moody, Isabel Briggs Myers, Bảo Ninh, Thomas Love Peacock, Logan Pearsall Smith, Ntozake Shange, Jan Erik Vold, Heinrich von Kleist, Wendy Wasserstein, Cynthia Weil and Lady Mary Wroth
RECOMMENDED SUBSTACKS
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MOMENT OF GRATITUDE
Thanks to Goodreads, Han Kang, The Associated Press, BBC News, The Washington Post, Book It!, Food & Wine, TED-Ed, YouTube, Book(ish), Deadline, PEN America, The End Files, Holidays Calendar, National Today, National Day Calendar, A Wandering Scribbler, Good Good Good, Writers Write, Keeping Up With the Penguins, Brainy Quote, The Literary Lifestyle, Wikipedia, Dana's Book Club, the Freedom Forum and Deposit Photos for art and story suggestions.
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