NY Times Best Books of 2009 The New York Times named its 10 best books of 2009, noting that "after so many years, and so many lists, you might think the task of choosing the 10 Best Books would get easier. If only. The sublime story collections alone created agonies of indecision. So did the superb literary biographies we read--and deeply admired. But in the end the decisions had to be made".... Read more... | Comments (0)

Kindle for Christmas Keep it simple - Kindle is a perfect gift for the readers in your life. Add a gift card for the first few book downloads, and you win the Golden Santa award. Read more... | Comments (0)

National Book Awards Cai and I still can’t believe that our invitations to last night’s National Book Awards dinners were lost in the mail, so instead of a live video from Cipriani’s, this chat will have to suffice. Read more... | Comments (0)

Gillian's Take on Byatt's THE CHILDREN'S BOOK When Gillian Robertson was a ninth grader in Eastern Junior High, she was a star student of mine. We've stayed in touch throughout her years at Williams, and Michael and I were delighted to dance the night away at Gillian's wedding to James Molesworth. Gillian and James live in Cornwall with their two little children. Gillian writes a monthly column called "Across the Pond" for the WESTERN MORNING NEWS, a newspaper in Plymouth. Last year at this time, her column was about Halloween in America, and in January she wrote about her memories of voting. Clearly, she's a gifted journalist and observer. I've been encouraging (really pestering) her to compile her columns into a book, a la Anna Quindlan. Mary Lee borrowed my galley of AS BYATT'S THE CHILDREN'S BOOK and was quite lukewarm in her response. Here's Gillian's response to the book: Read more... | Comments (0)