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Here's our monthly newsletter from Goodreads—giving you the latest and greatest in our quest to connect people through reading!
Summer Reading | Lisa See | China Miéville | Author Chats | New Features | Literature at Every Latitude | Movers & Shakers | Trivia | Elizabeth Strout | First Reads | Events Near You | Poem of the Month
Summer Reading List 2009 (No book reports required)
Whether you're 16 or 65, reading for school or pleasure, summer is the perfect time to catch up on some reading. What do you want to read? Add your picks to our 2009 Summer Reading List!
Author Interviews—Goodreads Exclusives
Author Lisa See spent her childhood immersed in a cultural mélange, exploring Los Angeles's Chinatown and listening to her grandmother's stories about her family's ancestry—tales filled with missionaries, concubines, and glamorous nightclubs. Curious about her roots, she spent years poring over documents and interviewing relatives for her first book, On Gold Mountain: The One-Hundred-Year Odyssey of My Chinese-American Family. A self-proclaimed "nut" for research, See then turned to historical fiction with the bestsellers Snow Flower and the Secret Fan and Peony in Love, which spotlight the experiences of women in China. Her new book, Shanghai Girls, begins with two heroines in 1930s China who immigrate with their husbands to America and must learn to assimilate. See tells Goodreads about her signature touches as a writer, traveling with Amy Tan, and her love of Bob Dylan.
Lisa See: History is written by the victors, so isn't it up to us to look deeper, think harder, and learn so we aren't doomed to repeat our mistakes? Obviously what happened to Chinese Americans in the past is a disgrace and an embarrassment, but there are things happening right now that recall those days. That said, I'm a writer, not a politician. I hope people will connect to my characters and by extension to the human condition. I don't think Shanghai Girls will make people change their minds about things, but it may make them think a little bit about the past, the present, and the future. Isn't that what art is supposed to do? Make us think about things in new ways?
Read the full interview »
Strange worlds and horrific monsters have always been part of fantasy scribe China Miéville's M.O., so it was a surprise when the author announced that he was abandoning his signature genre for hard-boiled crime fiction. As a gift to his mother—an avid crime reader—the London-born Miéville decided to leave his familiar fictional world of Bas Lag, the setting for his bestselling trilogy, Perdido Street Station, The Scar, and Iron Council, for a tale of two new cities, Beszel and Il Qoma. Although his mother passed away before publication of The City & the City, Miéville's unique blend of crime and speculative fiction should hold up to posterity with its fantastical elements and metaphysical questions. The author talked with Goodreads about this departure in style and whether he'll ever return to the dark, visionary world that made him famous.
China Miéville: I'd been thinking about the idea for three or four years. I knew that I wanted one of the cities to riff off Eastern European and Mitteleuropean cities, both literally but at least as importantly as they're reflected in works of writers like Alfred Kubin, Kafka, Paul Leppin, and Bruno Schulz. In terms of the way the cities relate to each other, inevitably and properly there would be metaphoric resonances and readings, but I wanted them not to stabilize into something reductive. I wanted each city to feel as much like a real place as possible, so I did what I could to avoid a kind of narrow allegorical reading. I tried to scupper any possibility that one city might read as East and one as West (ridiculous categories anyway) in any simple way, or one capitalist and one socialist, or one modern and one antique, or anything like that.
Read the full interview »
Author Chats: Connect with cutting-edge authors!
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New Features on Goodreads!
We love hearing your suggestions! Tell us what you would like to see on Goodreads by visiting the Goodreads Feedback Group. Here are some of our latest additions.
Who are the tastemakers, trendsetters, and gurus of books? We've just launched a big change: Now you can follow the reviews of anyone on Goodreads, no friendship required. Follow the staff picks of indie bookstores like Denver's Tattered Cover. Follow the blogs and updates of favorite authors like Stephenie Meyer, Paulo Coelho, and Wil Wheaton. You can also now filter your homepage updates to see exactly what you want. And maybe you'll drum up a following of your own!
Learn more »
We want you to discover great books, so we've just made it a lot easier. Click find books at the top of any Goodreads page and explore our spiffy new books section that is full of popular book lists, advance copy giveaways, book discussions, ebooks, and browsable genres. We've also launched special lists for new releases—search by year, month, and even look into the future to see which books are generating the most buzz. What's still popular from 1969? What's coming up this fall?
Find books now »
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!
Nsukka, Nigeria:
6° 52' 0" N
7° 22' 60" E
by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
Often compared to fellow Nigerian writer Chinua Achebe, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie has more in common with the author of Things Fall Apart than the use of the word "thing" in her latest title; she even grew up in Achebe's former house in Nsukka. The 31-year-old writer has already made a name for herself with two powerful novels about the Igbo people of Nigeria: Purple Hibiscus, set during the military dictatorship of the '90s, and Half of a Yellow Sun, which takes place during the Biafran civil war of the '60s. She now turns to short stories with The Thing Around Your Neck. Goodreads member Andrea says, "Each story relates to the general theme of displacement and personal change...and creates complete, rounded characters who grow." View book »
Movers & Shakers
Summer is here—grab the lastest bestsellers and head to the beach! Vampire groupies can get their fix from The Strain, by Academy Award-winning director Guillermo del Toro and mystery writer Chuck Hogan. Thriller lovers have a new screamer, Relentless by Dean Koontz. And literary fiction aficionados can escape with John Updike's My Father's Tears and Other Stories, Aravind Adiga's Between the Assassinations, and Carlos Ruiz Zafón's The Angel's Game. Here are some other noteworthy titles that have been racing up our most popular charts this month.
Overqualified by Joey Comeau
This epistolary experiment—a novel written entirely in cover letters—from webcomic writer Comeau (A Softer World) shares not only a litany of job qualifications, but also a glimpse into the troubled mind of a man reeling from an unexpected tragedy. Courtney says the letters are "presented in a grim, tongue-in-cheek, smart, sharp and whimsical, sorta nostalgic way. Mostly it is bleak and hilarious and heartbreaking. Comeau does not waste a word."
This epistolary experiment—a novel written entirely in cover letters—from webcomic writer Comeau (A Softer World) shares not only a litany of job qualifications, but also a glimpse into the troubled mind of a man reeling from an unexpected tragedy. Courtney says the letters are "presented in a grim, tongue-in-cheek, smart, sharp and whimsical, sorta nostalgic way. Mostly it is bleak and hilarious and heartbreaking. Comeau does not waste a word." 
The Selected Works of T. S. Spivet by Reif Larsen
Genius cartographer T.S. Spivet has just won a coveted prize from the Smithsonian—problem is, no one knows he is 12 years old. Determined to make it to Washington to claim his award, T.S. stows away on a freight train. He illustrates his cross-country journey with drawings, maps, diagrams, and all manner of marginalia. Alison says Larsen's book "is filled with a spirit of discovery that makes even the strangest, the saddest, the most unsettling events seem somehow magical."
Genius cartographer T.S. Spivet has just won a coveted prize from the Smithsonian—problem is, no one knows he is 12 years old. Determined to make it to Washington to claim his award, T.S. stows away on a freight train. He illustrates his cross-country journey with drawings, maps, diagrams, and all manner of marginalia. Alison says Larsen's book "is filled with a spirit of discovery that makes even the strangest, the saddest, the most unsettling events seem somehow magical." 
Methland: The Death and Life of an American Small Town
by Nick Reding (Goodreads author)
Journalist Reding breaks down the crystal methamphetamine epidemic in middle America by chronicling four years in the life of Oelwein, Iowa, a small town with a stagnant economy. Doug says, "While it could have become an intellectual web of facts, the story is kept personal through the people you meet in Oelwein whose lives have been, and still are, affected by meth."
by Nick Reding (Goodreads author)
Journalist Reding breaks down the crystal methamphetamine epidemic in middle America by chronicling four years in the life of Oelwein, Iowa, a small town with a stagnant economy. Doug says, "While it could have become an intellectual web of facts, the story is kept personal through the people you meet in Oelwein whose lives have been, and still are, affected by meth." 
Let the Great World Spin by Colum McCann (Goodreads author)
In August 1974, New York City held its breath as Philippe Petit walked a high wire between the Twin Towers. McCann tells the story of an eclectic group of New Yorkers who witnessed the event. Sandi says, "In each section, a different character tells his or her story and each one sounds completely unique and authentic. Whether the narrator is an Irish immigrant, a coked-up artist, or an aging whore, you truly believe each one is real."
In August 1974, New York City held its breath as Philippe Petit walked a high wire between the Twin Towers. McCann tells the story of an eclectic group of New Yorkers who witnessed the event. Sandi says, "In each section, a different character tells his or her story and each one sounds completely unique and authentic. Whether the narrator is an Irish immigrant, a coked-up artist, or an aging whore, you truly believe each one is real." 
The Other Side of Paradise by Staceyann Chin
A candid memoir of growing up in Jamaica from an acclaimed spoken-word poet. After enduring a childhood marred by abandonment and abuse, Chin reveals her discovery of self and transformation into an artist. Lakeesha calls it "a glimpse into the lives of Jamaican women and their struggle for equality. Childhood can make or break a human. For Stacyann it definitely makes her."
A candid memoir of growing up in Jamaica from an acclaimed spoken-word poet. After enduring a childhood marred by abandonment and abuse, Chin reveals her discovery of self and transformation into an artist. Lakeesha calls it "a glimpse into the lives of Jamaican women and their struggle for equality. Childhood can make or break a human. For Stacyann it definitely makes her." 
The Chosen One by Carol Lynch Williams
In this young-adult novel, thirteen-year-old Kyra has never known life off her isolated polygamous compound, except from the forbidden books she smuggles in from the county bookmobile. When the Prophet announces that she must become her uncle's seventh wife, she begins to wonder what life she can choose for herself. Colleen calls it "a must-read for anyone interested in the concept of free will."
In this young-adult novel, thirteen-year-old Kyra has never known life off her isolated polygamous compound, except from the forbidden books she smuggles in from the county bookmobile. When the Prophet announces that she must become her uncle's seventh wife, she begins to wonder what life she can choose for herself. Colleen calls it "a must-read for anyone interested in the concept of free will." The Never-Ending Book Quiz
Think you have a mind like a steel trap? Play the The Never-Ending Book Quiz and see how you stack up against your friends!Featured Trivia Question
Who said, "I think we ought to read only books that bite and sting us"?- a. Franz Kafka
- b. Sylvia Plath
- c. Arthur Koestler
- d. Sigmund Freud
Play the never-ending book quiz »
"In Bed" with Pulitzer Prize-winner Elizabeth Strout
Author Elizabeth Strout has conjured up an unlikely heroine and penned a literary classic. Olive Kitteridge (enter now to win a copy!) may be a grumpy, retired 7th-grade math teacher best known for her caustic tone and overbearing tendencies, but in May she captured the attention of the Pulitzer Prize committee, putting Strout alongside timeless writers such as William Faulkner, Harper Lee, and Norman Mailer. Strout's unique novel, composed of 13 short stories strung together like beads on a necklace, takes place in small-town New England (also the home of her two previous novels, Amy and Isabelle and Abide with Me), and introduces a large constellation of characters, all orbiting the brusque but ultimately empathetic Olive. Strout shares with Goodreads the stack of books currently by her bed. 
The Essential Tales of Chekhov by Anton Chekhov, edited by Richard Ford "These stories are jewels. I allow myself only one a night because they are so perfect and full, and I don't want to lessen the effect. Full of direct and human truths, they are like a friend." 
To the Mountaintop: Martin Luther King Jr.'s Mission to Save America: 1955-1968by Stewart Burns
"Because I was recently in Memphis, and saw for the first time the hotel where King was assassinated, I became interested in a new way about his life and struggles and bought this book, which has been a wonderfully compulsive, informative read."
Peace by Richard Bausch "An exquisite book about three soldiers in World War II. It is a short read with a long aftermath of many thoughts—beautifully told and deeply memorable." 
Hateship, Friendship, Courtship, Loveship, Marriage by Alice Munro "These stories are Munro at her best, although when is she not at her best? They are stories to get lost in, to think about their everyday and extraordinary characters making their way through life." 
Chronicle of a Death Foretold by Gabriel García Márquez "The tale of a murder of "honor" that spins around dizzily and gloriously—a masterpiece." 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 2 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 June winner!To the Observant Motorist Who Called Me Faggot
by James Davis
We have names for things we don't even understand.
The Doppler Effect, for instance. You have no idea
how it works, and neither do I, but I'm sure we both
can appreciate the way it splits
words into two clean syllables—
the fag from got, the it from fag.
I like to think of myself as a hyphen.
And as for what you think, well...
There's only so much I can learn
from these kinds of conversations.
Maybe to you I'm a pinata—gaily colored, filled with sugar,
battered open by blindfolded children.
Maybe in your life's game of Tag,
I am, perpetually, It.
Or maybe after all, I am nothing, something
approached, named, and sublimated.
I've thought of names for you—
several, in fact—but without a name,
you become a pair of taillights fizzling just beyond 8th Avenue,
and I remain forever in your past,
which, of the three available options,
is my first and only choice.
Read more poetry »
With love,
Jessica, Elizabeth, and the Goodreads Team
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