Previews, Reviews, and Collection Development
I don’t know about you, but for me the seasonal change foretells an autumnal slouch into semi-hibernation—and I love it. Lounging around in my smoking jacket reading books all day is what the darker months are all about. This month at Books for Dudes Headquarters we sent our feistiest reviewers on a scouting mission for [...]
In his provocative new book, What Was African-American Literature?—an expansion of his 2007 W.E.B. Du Bois Lectures at Harvard University—Kenneth W. Warren defines “African American literature” as titles produced by blacks during the Jim Crow era, that terrible time of constitutionally sanctioned segregation in the United States. With discriminatory Jim Crow laws now off the [...]
The ladies in this month’s selections often find themselves in a world of trouble. How do they cope with abusive relationships, backstabbing women, or the legal action involved with trying to get deadbeat dads to pay child support? Out of their mouths come nasty insults and snappy comebacks. You’re jokin’ but you’re not funny. He [...]
While writing is a creative endeavor and therefore excitingly unpredictable, there are some time-honored paths that authors tend to follow when considering a new project: short story writers often write novels, romance writers can easily edge into urban fantasy, and reporters frequently write nonfiction. But there are many other ways writers illustrate their ambidexterity. The [...]
As it does in many things, size matters in the book world, and some books are just bigger than others. In this context, “big” can mean the book has a hefty page length, larger-than-life press, or sizable footsteps in which to follow. Enjoy some of the biggest teen books of the year. Bick, Ilsa J. [...]
From Nick Hornby’s High Fidelity to Bernie Krause’s The Great Animal Orchestra to Dion Graham’s astounding reading of Miles: The Autobiography by Miles Davis, books on or incorporating the subject of sound hold deep and resonant attractions for readers. These five new books explore the great range of aural-centered works, spanning such diverse approaches as [...]
With Leo DiCaprio set to star as Gatsby, Tom Hanks and Hugh Grant joining an ensemble cast in Cloud Atlas, and Jennifer Lawrence currently playing Katniss Everdeen, it is a commonplace that a popular book often finds its way to the screen. Yet the screen also finds its way into books. Be it a witty [...]
While abhorrent to some, the appeal of historical true crime is not so difficult to imagine: vivid eras are brought to life in these accounts, many of which are assiduously researched, footnoted, and indexed. Furthermore, the story lines offer readers many compensations—the satisfaction of the compulsion to face the worst in human nature; the assurance that justice has been done; and, certainly not least, the chance to empathize with and offer witness to the victims in their hours of need.
Well, kids, it’s been awhile, hasn’t it? The column has been on hiatus while a few tangles were combed out, but now we’re back with a vengeance. In fiction, we’ve got some hardcore American and Japanese lit, some sf, a few femalecentric mysteries, and, my favorite, what arguably can be considered early street lit by [...]
Doug Lord discusses two categories of books worth reading.
LJ Reviews Social Club