20amfiction,
Here's our monthly newsletter from Goodreads—giving you the latest and greatest in our quest to connect people through reading!
Sponsored by: 
Discover thousands of bestselling books, plus purchase and read online or on your iPhone or Blackberry at
Shortcovers.com Author Interviews—Goodreads Exclusives
Jodi Picoult Jodi Picoult admits that her notoriously controversial books shouldn't sell. After all, she hand-picks incendiary topics such as the death penalty, organ harvest, and date rape, and she routinely drops her characters into gut-wrenching moral dilemmas. Despite the heavy material, Picoult's books, including
My Sister's Keeper, which is also an upcoming film starring Cameron Diaz, are perennial favorites on bestseller lists. Her newest book,
Handle With Care, wades into the legal quagmire of wrongful birth lawsuits, in which parents declare under oath that they wish their disabled children had never been born. Picoult talked with Goodreads about the challenges of juggling motherhood and a full-time writing career.
Goodreads: What inspired you to write about a wrongful birth lawsuit?
Jodi Picoult: One morning in a New York hotel, I read this article in
The New York Times Magazine about a woman who had sued for wrongful birth, and I had this immediate, knee-jerk reaction: "Oh my God, who would ever sue for wrongful birth? That's disgusting." I really didn't know a lot about the topic, but as I started to read this article I realized that this is such an amazing issue. It takes one of the big, knockdown, drag 'em out controversies in this country, which is abortion rights, and it takes it one step further. It is not even talking about abortion rights; it's asking, beyond that, who gets to decide what makes a valuable life? To me, that is a really interesting question, and it just seemed like the biggest, hottest mess.
Read the full interview » Dan Simmons After 25 books, novelist
Dan Simmons refuses to be categorized. His works defy genre, often mixing elements of fantasy, science fiction, horror, suspense, and history. Although best known for his two science fiction series, the
Hyperion Cantos and
Ilium/
Olympos, which both pay homage to literary classics (
The Canterbury Tales and
The Iliad, respectively), he has also dabbled in crime fiction (
Hardcase) and historical fiction (
The Terror). His newest book,
Drood, explores the final dark years of
Charles Dickens and the untold story of Dickens' unfinished work,
The Mystery of Edwin Drood. Simmons describes Dickens' bizarre obsessions (violence and hypnotism) and warns that his narrator should not be trusted.
Goodreads: Let's talk about
Drood. Why did you choose to focus on the final five years of
Charles Dickens' life, after he had finished his major work as a writer?
Dan Simmons: I've had an aversion to Dickens for a number of years. Under heavy psychotherapy, I've traced it back to a ninth grade English teacher who crammed
Great Expectations down my throat. For years, I chose to not pay too much attention to Dickens, but in 1999, I read
Peter Ackroyd's biography and was fascinated by how the Staplehurst accident of 1865, exactly five years before Dickens' death, changed his personality and his character. I just didn't think there was enough written about that in any of the Dickens biographies. And it is quite an opening for a novelist to look at how one event changes the life and outlook of the most famous man on earth.
Read the full interview » New Features
Become a Fan!
Search for your favorite authors and click the "become a fan" button on their profile pages. You can create and order a list of all your favorites!
Follow Your Favorite Author's Blog!
OK, we admit that
Plato is not blogging from beyond the grave, but
Neil Gaiman,
Sarah Dessen, and many more are posting their daily thoughts on Goodreads. Now you can follow your favorite authors, even if they blog elsewhere. (Just follow the directions on his or her Goodreads profile page to import their external blog). Then, to read all the sharpest literary blogs in one place, simply click the "authors" tab on your homepage.
Choose a Winner for the First-Ever Goodreads Status Update Writing Contest!
Many brave Goodreaders ventured into unchartered territory by submitting their stories for our first-ever
Status Update Writing Contest. Thanks to everyone who participated! We read all the entries and struggled to select five nominees who displayed not only excellence in storytelling, but also creativity in their approach to using the status update as a new medium. We're now opening the voting to all Goodreads members. Who should win?
Read the five nominees' stories and then vote for a winner!
Movers & Shakers
Goodreads can tell you what's hot! These books have been racing up our most popular charts in the last month.
The Lost City of Z: A Tale of Deadly Obsession in the Amazon by
David Grann In 1925, Percy Fawcett, the intrepid British explorer who inspired
Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's The Lost World, vanished in the Amazon jungle. He was searching for a lost city not unlike El Dorado—a legendary city of gold that captured the imagination of thousands of treasure hunters. Grann sets off on his own expedition to solve the mystery.
Sara says, "It boasts unbelievably
true stories of savages, cannibalism, kidnappings, murder, mutiny, starvation, massive hoaxes, madness and exotic deaths."
The Help by
Kathryn Stockett (Goodreads author!)
In 1960s Mississippi, a young, anti-establishment white woman and two African American women working as "the help" band together to tell the story of race behind closed doors.
Eb says, "An engrossing, vivid, funny, and important book...
The Help is 'about' race and feminism, but not in a heavy-handed way." And
Eileen says, "It is compulsively readable while teaching strong truths about the way the United States evolved from a shameful undercurrent of persistent racism to the hope of Martin Luther King and Rosa Parks."
The Kindly Ones by
Jonathan Littell The fictional memoir of a Nazi officer who describes his role in the horrors of World War II. Originally written in French, Littell's novel is already a bestseller in Europe.
Nicholas says, "No one does literary controversy like the French," and calls the book "creator of the biggest literary storm since the Surrealists trashed Latin Quarter cafés." And
K says, "Horrific, obsessive, psychologically disturbing yet thoroughly researched and impartial, this is a book guaranteed to leave a mark on the reader. For life."
Wintergirls by
Laurie Halse Anderson (Goodreads author!)
A young adult novel that explores the private world of body image disorders. Lia, an anorexic teen, becomes haunted by her dead friend's ghost, who nags Lia to get skinnier and join her on the "other side."
Navah says, "This book is for everyone who has ever been a teenager, who has ever felt inadequate or useless or fat or stupid." And
Laura says, "The amount of meaning [Anderson] can convey with a few words is nothing short of astonishing. This is not an easy book to read—nor should it be."
How We Decide by
Jonah Lehrer (Goodreads author!)
Already being compared to Malcolm Gladwell, Lehrer uses a mix of neuroscience and real world examples to explain how our brains make decisions—and how we can make better ones.
Jeffrey says, "In well-crafted and engaging prose, [Lehrer] draws on examples from professional football players to airline pilots, gambling casinos to modern politics." And
Andrea says, "I enjoyed it immensely and recommend it to anyone who is interested in thinking about thinking."
"In Bed" with Chris Ayres
It's no surprise that
Chris Ayres has a penchant for Evelyn Waugh. The British author and
Times (London) journalist has a history of predicaments that would make any satirist proud. In his memoir,
War Reporting for Cowards, the reluctant (and terrified) war correspondent bought his fluorescent gear at a camping store, and in
Death By Leisure: A Cautionary Tale, Ayres covered the Michael Jackson case in all its hooplah, went out on a limb with a negative amortization mortgage, and met women (including his wife!) by selling furniture on Craigslist. We asked him to recommend his top five ironic books.
Day of the Locust by
Nathanael West "I was going to suggest The Great Gatsby here, for the colossal irony of its title, but West's noir classic—I think of it as a Wes Craven-directed sequel to Gatsby—is more apt for our times. Besides, the contrast between Todd Hackett's day job in Tinseltown and the desperate nihilism of 1930s Los Angeles supplies its own beautifully wretched irony. West feared that a combination of economic hardship and celebrity-mania would give rise to an American fascist."
Money by
Martin Amis "I've heard Amis claim that Money is a feminist novel. How's that for a bit of irony? This is after all a tale about a chain-smoking, booze-addled, junk-food-addicted, curb-crawling porn freak that features a comic—yes, a comic—rape scene. ("Having learnt the night's lessons, I did the rape-smart thing," confides the book's antihero, John Self, describing his technique.) But Amis gets away with it for two reasons: Money is a work of never-to-be-repeated literary virtuosity; and it's very, very funny."
Give War a Chance by
P.J. Rourke "The funniest nonfiction book title of all time? At the very least, a reminder that 'Republican wit' doesn't have to be an oxymoron. While P.J. states that "the Marine Corps does more to promote world peace than all the Ben & Jerry's ice-cream ever made," his bloodlust is (mostly) ironic, and if taken with the correct amount of salt can be consumed with great enjoyment by both right and left alike."
Slaughterhouse Five by
Kurt Vonnegut "Before Hiroshima and Nagasaki there was the Allied firebombing of Dresden, which Vonnegut witnessed firsthand. Slaughterhouse Five is essentially his memoir, albeit one that uses an unhinged, UFO-abducted alter ego to supply the narrative. Amid the overwhelming sadness there is also the blackest of hilarity. After Dresden is burned to the ground (children, trying to escape the flames, are boiled alive in water towers), an American soldier is arrested by the Germans. His crime? Stealing a teapot from the ash. He is put on trial and shot by a firing squad."
Scoop by
Evelyn Waugh "This novel is the 1930s pop-culture equivalent of Tina Fey's 30 Rock
, only with the antics taking place behind the scenes at a Fleet Street newspaper. The plot sees a nature correspondent named William Boot being sent to Africa through a case of mistaken identity to cover a war. His many blunders include packing a canoe. Having been sent into combat under similar circumstances, I can vouch that none of this is as far-fetched as it reads." Literature at Every Latitude
Looking for something outside the Western canon? Great stories know no borders. Each month Goodreads brings you a new recommendation from a different country!
Yopougon,
Côte d'Ivoire:
5° 20' 11" N
4° 1' 36" W
The Aya series: Aya and Aya of Yop City
by Marguerite Abouet and Clément Oubrerie Born in Côte d'Ivoire and now writing from France,
Marguerite Abouet was inspired by the Iranian graphic novel
Persepolis to chronicle her own hometown. She and her husband, illustrator
Clément Oubrerie, created a unique series of graphic novels (the third book comes out summer 2009) that follow the everyday lives and relationships of three young women living in "Yop City," aka the Yopougon commune of Abidjan, Côte d'Ivoire. Goodreads member
George says, "Abouet wanted to show a side of Africa that is rarely seen in the West: real people doing real things and not just hunger, war, and poverty." And
Corinne says, "You get a great sense of the lilt of the language and the range of relationships between extended families. Traditional ways are meshing with modern desires."
First Reads—win prerelease books from Goodreads!
Be the first to read new books! Goodreads has tons of prerelease books and reading-themed goodies available for our members. All you have to do is sign up and cross your fingers!
View all prerelease books on First Reads » Goodreads Poetry Contest
Want your words to reach nearly two million people? Goodreads and the
¡ POETRY ! group have partnered to host an ongoing poetry contest. Each month the winning poem will appear in our newsletter. Join the
¡ POETRY ! group to vote each month to pick a winner from among the finalists. You can also
submit a poem for consideration. Here is our March winner!
Handhold (for a Zygote)
by Andrew Demcak Welcome. You'll be good. A jaw infused
with appointed energy, and a brain
the diameter of a crown. You will
not have paradise—not yet, right angles
and endless repairs of etceteras.
The world will be a lover's apple to
fuss about, your heart an adding machine
with zero to solve. What it is to be
made of feelings. Somewhere ceiling tiles
fall out and break. See how it will happen—
you'll lose your lovely coloring, and your
tiny spine will have to bend, bend, and bend.
Read more poetry » With love,
Jessica, Elizabeth, and the Goodreads Team
Read the five nominated stories and then vote for your favorite: 
The characters featured in Chaucer's The Canterbury Tales are on a pilgrimage. Whose shrine are they going to visit?
