Image:New York Times Photo by Yana Paskova
The Book Booth is a weekly feature at The Political Carnival, relating news, notes, and reflections from the world of books and publishing. It is written by @SeattleDan and SeattleTammy, operators of an on-line bookstore (which you can find here) , who have been in the book business since shortly after the Creation, or close to 6000 years now.
The Book Booth: Our Day Will Come Edition
Once again we've come to that time of year when the Best Of lists are making the rounds. We'll start off here with the Grey Lady's listing of its notable 100. To be quite honest, I haven't read any of these yet (been working my way through Melville this year), but I do look forward to Richard Russo's Everybody's Fool, Zadie Smith's Swing Time, Don DeLillo's Zero K. and Bruce Springsteen's Born to Run in the coming weeks.
New York Times Notable 100 of 2016
The Guardian also has a top 100 and the interesting thing is that they have other writers to choose their picks. The lists are a bit UK centric, but there are some gems here I had not heard about.
The Guardian's Top 100 of 2016 - Part 1
And part two of the Guardian listings here.
The Guardian's Top 100 of 2016 - Part 2
A list of a different sort here from the Guardian as Marcus Sedgwick picks his top ten books about borders. Cormac McCarthy's The Crossing is a great read, and anything by Graham Greene is worth attention. The interesting choice here is Robert Graves' Goodbye to All That, an excellent memoir about the Great War and it hadn't occurred to me that The Front would mark a border of a sort, but it certainly does.
The Guardian's Top 10 List of Books About Borders
And speaking of borders, Rajini Srikanth makes the case of why literature matters in discussions of race and immigration for the Conversation. You probably already knew that, but it is good to hear the case made again emphatically.
Race and Immigration: A Conversation
On a lighter note, a couple of items from Buzzfeed to pass the time away. First they ask what kind of book nerd are you. Turns out I'm the Broke Book-Lover, which seems accurate enough.
What Kind of Book Nerd Are You?
And Cassie Smith of Buzzfeed wonders how many books you've lied about reading. I am horrible at faking having read a book, so I can honestly say I've never lied about any of the books she has listed, and I haven't read all the ones she lists.
How Many Books Have You Lied About Reading?
The Yale University Press is set to release a facsimile of the mysterious Voynich manuscript, the mysterious and as yet, undeciphered work from the early fifteenth century. Josephine Livingstone discusses the work here for the New Yorker.
The Mysteries of the Voynick Manuscript
There is a joke in the book business that goes, How do you make a million dollars in the book business? Well, first you start with two million. Which isn't too far from the truth. Opening a bookstore and running a successful one is not easy, as Jonah Engel Bromwich describes in full detail for the New York Times.
Thinking of Opening a Bookstore? You Might Want to Read This First
It's been a rough few weeks since the election, and it is easy enough to get a deep blues over the results and our impending future. We must keep our hopes alive. We will have a future and our day will come, as Ruby and the Romantics tell us.
Have as pleasant as possible a weekend, and the best way to assure that is with a good book and, perhaps, some cheese, crackers and wine. By all means let us know what books you are devouring. We'd love to know.
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