Latest Books

Nigerian author Chinua Achebe called as the father of modern African literature was crowned £60,000 ($NZ158, 000) Man Booker International Prize. The prestigious International Man Booker award is granted every two years to a living author for their achievements in fiction. It was first awarded to Albanian writer Ismail Kadare in 2005. The 76-year old author, Achebe is best known for his 1958 debut novel ‘Things Fall Apart,’ which sold more than 10 million copies. Chinua Achebe, who was paralyzed from the waist down after a car accident in 1990, beats the impressive list of competitors which included Ian McEwan, Margaret Atwood, John Banville, Peter Carey, Don DeLillo, Doris Lessing, and Salman Rushdie. Academic and author Elaine Showalter, who was one of the judges, said, In Things Fall Apart and his other fiction set in Nigeria, Chinua Achebe inaugurated the modern African novel. He also illuminated the path for writers around the world seeking new words and forms for new realities and societies. We honor his literary example and achievements. Achebe’s work focus on African politics, the way Africa and Africans are depicted in the West and the effects of colonization on African societies. Read

Following the examples of Bob Dylan Chronicles: Vol.1, other musicians are also turning up to write books. From Eric Clapton to Tom Petty, most of the iconic musicians are turning to the serious business of book writing. So, this year get ready to groove with books. Here are the upcoming ones: � Save Me From Myself: How I Found God, Quit Korn, Kicked Drugs, and Lived to Tell My Story by Brian Welch It tells the tale of the lead guitarist and crystal meth addict. �Ronnie Wood: The Autobiography The Rolling Stone talks about his career and friends; Mick Jagger, Keith Richards and Charlie Watts. �Clapton: The Autobiography by Eric Clapton Legendary guitarist writes about everything in his autobiography; right from his childhood to women. �SLASH by Slash with Anthony Bozza The guitarist from Guns N’ Roses tells his tale. �Lyrics by Sting A classical collection of lyrics and commentary; a must have. �Runnin’ Down a Dream, Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers by Tom Petty Both memoirs coincide. � Wonderful Tonight by Pattie Boyd, George Harrison and Eric Clapton. Source: USAtoday

Author of the million selling novel ‘A Brief History of Time’ and Physicist Stephen Hawking and his daughter Lucy Hawking are writing a science book for children, which will be ‘a bit like Harry Potter’ but without magic. The middle grade novel ‘George’s Secret Key to the Universe’ tells the story about computer-driven adventures of a young man. Simon& Schuster will publish the book this fall. Rubin Pfeffer, senior vice president and publisher of Simon & Schuster Children’s Trade Publishing, said, We are thrilled that Professor Stephen Hawking has written this one-of-a-kind book for children. The book narrates the story of a boy named George who befriends a scientist and the scientist’s daughter. George soon ‘finds himself on a wildly fun adventure, while learning about physics, time and the universe.’ Read

Amusing but the latest cover of STAR magazine, features 45 best and worst bodies, which soaked the sun, on the beaches this year. However, I don’t like making fun of the flab that others carry but getting this one would be real fun. You’ll find a list of celebs featured in the list from J.Lo to Zac Efron. You can seriously catch out the flab they carry around and truly, some of the celebs have such yuck…bodies. Well, the ‘hottie’ Zac is in the best category. The feature also includes the tragic suicide attempt of Zac. You can go through the reasons that are being speculated for his step here. For one reason I am sure that I’ll be grabbing one as I wanna check out who this lady in blue, white (featured on the cover) is. Source: Allwomenstalk

Tintin in the Congo is the second of the Tintin series comics written by Belgian writer and illustrator Herge featuring Tintin, one of the most popular comic characters and his adventures in the Congo. This comic was first published in 1930 and very soon it became the most controversial among all other Tintin adventures. The adventures of Tintin in the Congo is said to have colonial or racist views developed in it. Because of high amount of controversy this comic was excluded from many reprints of the adventures of Tintin. Recently in another movement in England, Borders bookstores across the country have decided to remove the novel from children section and will place it in the adult graphic novel section keeping in view the racial context of the novel. The Commission for Racial Equality said that it is unethical and unacceptable for any bookstore to stock or sell this particular novel due to its content. While sighting an example a spoke person mentioned the incident when in the novel Tintin Is made chief of an African village because he is a ‘good white man’ and a black woman bowing to Tintin saying: “White man very great … white mister is big juju man!” In today’s context these terms are considered vulgar and extremely racial with colonial touch. She found saying This book contains imagery and words of hideous racial prejudice, where the ‘savage natives’ look like monkeys and talk like imbeciles… How and why do Borders think that it’s OK to peddle such racist material? This is potentially highly offensive to a great number of people Not only racism, this novel is also accused of portraying vulgarity towards animals. The allegation is accepted, if we consider it in today’s point of view. But back in 1930, the situation was somehow different. Harge has later claimed that he was just depicting the social structure of that time. When the novel was re drawn in 1946, Herge made sure to remove traces that highlighted the fact that Congo was ever a Belgian colony. However, this never satisfied the critics. Today they feel that the novel should be placed in a museum with a sign accompanying it saying ‘Old fashioned, racist claptrap’. The entire controversy started with a petition filed by David Enright, a solicitor. while shopping with his African wife and two sons he came across the novel in the children section and was stunned that this kind of novel can be accepted in that particular section. Later he told I was aghast to see page after page of representations of black African people as baboons or monkeys, bowing before a white teenager and speaking like retarded children After his petition, the Commission for Racial Equality issued an instruction to the Borders chain of shops to remove the book from their list. Borders later has removed the book from the child section and put it in the adult graphics section. A spoke person said they really do not believe in removal f the book. They want to make the customers have the final say. So they have removed it from the children section, but have not withdrawn it from the store. While racism is a burning issue today, it is not legal and human to use racist comments these days. But back in 1930 the situation was definitely different. If a novel depicts the scenario of that time, be it in a humorous mood, will it be ethical to call it racist and ask for its withdrawal? The publishers have already issued an illustration with the first publication of the colour print of the book explaining the attitude of the society back in 1930. Still if there is a controversy, it is better to leave the entire matter to the readers rather than putting pressure in certain shops to withdraw the books from the store. Let the people decide what they want. Source: The Guardian

The final book of the Harry Potter series arrived in the bookstores on Friday, and had at once a euphoric and a traumatic effect on Harry Potter fans worldwide. Readers had been waiting eagerly despite the rain outside bookstores in London, England. At a minute past midnight, they rushed to grab the new book, the final one of this immensely popular series, ‘Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows’. J.K. Rowling, the author of this series, wrote on her website on Friday that she was feeling a ‘mixture of excitement, nerves and relief’ as the ending book in the boy wizard series moved towards its launch. Within hours, you will know what happens to Harry, Ron, Hermione and the res. All the secrets I have been carrying around for so long will be yours, too ‘ wrote Rowling. The final book has created a massive turmoil worldwide. The vogue of Harry Potter is indeed ‘global’. The last book has boosted ecstatic response from the fans all over the globe. Huge number of fans assembled at London’s Natural History Museum to listen to author J.K. Rowling read from her latest book. Around 500 children from across the world have been privileged with the opportunity of being present at this unique midnight occasion. Rowling sat in a big wing-backed chair and read the opening pages of her book. The release of the ‘Deathly Hallows’ has incited tons of celebrations and all-night events at bookstores throughout the planet. Everywhere, admirers of Harry Potter have gathered to celebrate the ending of the series. Special arrangements have been made by bookstores all over the world for this occasion. ‘Steimatzky’ bookstore of Tel Aviv was to open at 2:01 a.m. on Saturday, violating denigration from the Orthodox Jewish lawmakers who disapproved opening a bookstore on the Sabbath, when the law entails most businesses in Israel to shut down. Stores in India opened at dawn for special Harry Potter festivities. Bookstores across Latin America stayed open late. Gandhi bookstore in Mexico city planned an all-weekend long party, with screenings of the Harry Potter movies and readings in Spanish of extracts from the latest book. However, the ending of the new book has disappointed most children globally. Publishers have reportedly spent $20 million in security to keep the ending of the book a secret. Apparently, their endeavours have failed. Copies of the book have slipped out, and news was out that Harry may not be alive in the end. The dismal event has been anticipated even before the book was released. I don’t want Harry to die ‘ said a young fan waiting at a bookstore for the release. A confidential help line for children called ChildLine said that the readers of Harry Potter could be traumatised if several of the main characters face death in ‘Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows’. A senior supervisor at ChildLine told The Guardian ‘ For many children, Harry Potter and his friends have become a major part of their childhood. Death and loss of any kind can make children feel upset, angry and afraid. The story could bring back unhappy memories for children who have lost friends, relatives or pets. Rowling, on the other hand, is completely satisfied with the ending, as she said herself. The final book is what it was always supposed to be, and so I feel very at peace with that fact. The fact that this widely popular series is at an end has also upset many children. A young fan said ‘ I want to keep going because I like Harry’s adventures and it’s sad that the books are ending. The author, who is known to be worth $1 billion, said she feels ‘liberated’ after writing the final book. She said she is not sure whether she will be able to write anything as popular for a second time. Rowling’s Harry Potter has stolen many hearts. The popularity of this book creates a landmark in history. The end of the series is a critical moment, mixed with excitement, anticipation, disappointment, and exhilaration. Let us just hope not too many hearts are broken. Via : CBC Image Credit : CBC, Brittanica Blog

The Library of congress has named, Pulitzer Prize-winning poet Charles Simic as the new U.S. poet laureate. Simic was given the place of Donald Hall, another poet. The laureate program aims to promote poetry all across the nation. Simic who immigrated to America from Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, in his youth started writing in the early 1970s as a literary minimalist. He wrote terse, imagistic poems etc. Today, he is an essayist, translator, editor and also a professor emeritus of creative writing and literature. He is married to fashion designer; Helen Dubin and has two children. Critics have often described his poems as ‘tightly constructed Chinese puzzle boxes.’ Marilyn Hoskin, dean of the college of liberal arts at UNH, regarding Simic’s work said, When you read it, you feel like he’s talking to you. Whatever the subject matter – a cat walking at midnight or a view from Serbo-Croatia – someone is there telling you something beautifully phrased. Simic is also co-Poetry Editor of the Paris Review. He received the Pulitzer Prize in poetry in 1990 for his book of prose poems, The World Doesn’t End and is the 2007 recipient of the Wallace Stevens Award from the Academy of American Poets. He had also won-the Edgar Allen Poe Award, the PEN Translation Prize and awards from the American Academy of Arts and Letters and the National Institute of Arts and Letters. About this honor he said, ‘I am especially touched and honored to be selected because I am an immigrant boy who didn’t speak English until I was 15.’ His books-  What the Grass Says – 1967  Somewhere Among Us A Stone Is Taking Notes – 1969  Dismantling The Silence – 1971  White – 1972  Return To A Place Lit By A Glass Of Milk – 1974  Charon’s Cosmology – 1977  School For Dark Thoughts – 1978  Classic Ballroom Dances – 1980  Austerities – 1982  Unending Blues – 1986  The World Doesn’t End: Prose Poems – 1990  Hotel Insomnia – 1992  Dime-Store Alchemy: The Art of Joseph Cornell – 1993  A Wedding in Hell – 1994 Walking the Black Cat – 1996  Jackstraws – 1999  The Book of Gods and Devils – 2000  Night Picnic: Poems – 2001 The Voice at 3:00 A.M.: Selected Late and New Poems – 2003  Selected Poems: 1963-2003 – 2004  My Noiseless Entourage : Poems – 2005  Monkey Around – 2006 Source: USAtoday/ Wikipedia Technology Trick

Five Factor Fitness, a book by Harley Pasternak has been earning a reputation lately. Not only the commoners but even celebrities like Jessica Simpson and John Mayer are actually following the described plans. This book was first published in 2004. I guess the author considers five as a lucky number for himself, so, everything starts with five and even ends with five; 5 meals a day, 5 workouts and everything is five. But if we leave the five things aside, it actually is a good book. The book terms five criterion while choosing food; low-fat quality protein, low- to moderate- glycemic index carbohydrate, fiber, healthy fat and a sugar-free beverage. The book also contains recipes for foods that can please you and also maintain the above given five standards. It also gives you a list of five exercises that should be done in a week, at least once. These are strength training/cardiovascular/core movements, Repetitions, Sets, Resistance level, and Rest Periods. Each type of exercise as per the book should be done for at least a span of 25 minutes. Well, I can’t agree with the five factor but the book seriously sounds great. So, I guess I’ll surely pick a copy of it. Source: Diet

We know John Grisham for his thrillers. But, he is altering his way with his new novel, Playing for Pizza, where his last novel The Broker exemplified his love for Italian culture, this one revives both football and Italy in an amalgamation. The story of the new novel tells a tale of Rick Dockery, who is struck out of his team for a bad performance. The man is portrayed as one who loves football and can be associated with Shakespearian ‘hemartia’. He, like the author himself loves Italian food and wine too. The guy later on takes up a job as a quarterback for the Parma Panthers and the story unfolds with the discovery of new pleasures of the game. Grisham doesn’t allow the readers to escape even one page of the novel even when they know that it is just the description of the game being played. The novel can be looked forward to for the beautiful and ardent language it employs. The novel is not one of the regular football novels but has much to be hunted beneath and above the game itself. Make sure you buy one copy! Source: USAtoday

After giving seven wonderful books of Harry Potter, now J.K. Rowling is going to add one more addition to Harry Potter. This time the 41-year-old English writer is not set to tell you another story of wizard Harry, but as a matter of fact she is to pen down an encyclopedia about the seven Potter books and movie franchise. After her recent seventh book, Harry Potter and The Deathly Hallows that also happens to be the last series of the Harry Potter she has decided to give A-Z clear details of all the characters in the Harry Potter encyclopedia to her fans. Rowling who happens to be the first person in America to become US-dollar billionaire by writing books says: There’s always been bits that I knew about characters that didn’t make the final cuts because they weren’t that relevant. Hats Off to Rowling as she has that magic in her words that pull away all kids from computer screens and make them read her wizard tales. Image Source: Femalefirst