Writers and critics on the best books of 2013

Hilary Mantel, Jonathan Franzen, Mohsin Hamid, Ruth Rendell, Tom Stoppard, Malcolm Gladwell, Eleanor Catton and many more recommend the books that impressed them this yearChimamanda Ngozi AdichieFive Star Billionaire by Tash Aw (Fourth Estate) is a brilliant, sprawling, layered and unsentimental portrayal of contemporary China. It made me think and laugh. I also love Dave Eggers' The Circle (Hamish Hamilton), which is a sharp-eyed and funny satire about the obsession with "sharing" our lives through technology. It's convincing and a little creepy.William BoydBy strange coincidence two of the most intriguing art books I read this year had the word "Breakfast" in their titles. They were Breakfast with Lucian by Geordie Greig (Jonathan Cape) and Breakfast at Sotheby's by Philip Hook (Particular). Greig's fascinating, intimate biography of Lucian Freud was a revelation. Every question I had about Freud – from the aesthetic to the intrusively gossipy – was answered with great candour and judiciousness. Hook's view of the art world is that of the professional auctioneer. In an A-Z format, it is an entire art education contained in under 350 pages. Wry, dry and completely beguiling.Bill BrysonThe Compatibility Gene by Daniel M Davis (Allen Lane) is an elegantly written, unexpectedly gripping account of how scientists painstakingly unravelled the way in which a small group of genes (known as MHC genes) crucially influence, and unexpectedly interconnect, various aspects of our... Continue reading at 'The Guardian'

[ The Guardian | 2013-11-23 00:00:00 UTC ]
News tagged with: #deep understanding

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Tor Books Criticized for Use of AI-Generated Art in 'Gothikana' Cover Design

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[ Publishers Weekly | 2024-02-21 05:00:00 UTC ]
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Pulitzer-Winning Critic to Publish Book About Reality TV

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[ Book Riot | 2024-02-07 16:10:04 UTC ]
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Finalists for the 2024 National Book Critics Circle Awards Announced

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[ Book Riot | 2024-01-25 15:20:11 UTC ]
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2024 National Book Critics Circle Awards Finalists Announced

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[ Publishers Weekly | 2024-01-25 05:00:00 UTC ]
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Four New Books on Overlooked Writers

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[ Publishers Weekly | 2024-01-04 05:00:00 UTC ]
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Novelist's book is canceled after she acknowledges 'review bombs' of other writers

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[ ABC News | 2023-12-13 02:46:01 UTC ]
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Book Review: ‘Critical Hits,’ edited by J. Robert Lennon and Carmen Maria Machado

In the anthology “Critical Hits,” gamers like Hanif Abdurraqib, Alexander Chee and Larissa Pham explain what the medium means to them. Continue reading at The New York Times

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Love, grieving, intimacy and enduring war: what is the role now for books and writers in Ukraine? | Charlotte Higgins

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[ The Guardian | 2023-10-21 05:00:38 UTC ]
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Drew Barrymore is dropped as National Book Awards host amid writers' strike controversy

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[ Los Angeles Times | 2023-09-12 23:23:20 UTC ]
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[ Publishers Weekly | 2023-08-03 04:00:00 UTC ]
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[ Literrary Hub | 2023-07-19 19:03:31 UTC ]
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The National Book Critics Circle Awards Return to Manhattan

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[ Publishers Weekly | 2023-03-24 04:00:00 UTC ]
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Ukrainian Author Andrey Kurkov Among National Book Critics Circle Award Winners

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[ The New York Times | 2023-03-24 00:51:07 UTC ]
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[ The Conversation | 2023-02-20 19:01:51 UTC ]
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2023 National Book Critics Circle Awards Finalists Announced

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Book review: “The Prisoner and the Writer,” by Heather Camlot and Sophie Casson

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