Science Fiction and Fantasy books

Last January I posted a list of science fiction books recommended on i09.  Recently i09 posted their list of The Best Science Fiction and Fantasy Books of 2011.


The first book on the list is also on my 'to read' list, Reamde by Neal Stephenson.   "Neal Stephenson's new novel Reamde seems like it could never work: it's an epic-length thriller packed with infodumps about obscure ideas and 200-page gun fights. But the book is fantastic. Stephenson stages a crazy narrative collision between Chinese virus-writing gamers, a millionaire videogame entrepreneur, Russian mafia, rural American anti-government "wack jobs," and a murderous Welsh terrorist. With those kinds of characters in play, and a lot of dry humor, Stephenson absolutely hits it out of the park. Not only is Reamde a terrific high tech thriller, but it's also a profoundly interesting take on what it means to be American in the twenty-first century."

Good year for Amazon

Amazon announced in a press release today that 2011 was the best holiday year for the company.

" Amazon customers purchased millions of Kindle Fires and millions of Kindle e-readers

#1 and #4 best-selling Kindle books released in 2011 published independently by authors using Kindle Direct Publishing"

"SEATTLE--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Dec. 29, 2011-- (NASDAQ: AMZN) - Amazon.com, Inc. today announced that 2011 was the best holiday ever for the Kindle family as customers purchased millions of Kindle Fires and millions of Kindle e-readers. Authors also continue to benefit from the success of Kindle — the #1 and #4 best-selling Kindle books released in 2011 were both published independently by their authors using Kindle Direct Publishing (KDP).
“We are grateful to our customers worldwide for making this the best holiday ever for Kindle,” said Jeff Bezos, Amazon.com founder and CEO. “And in a huge milestone for independent publishing, we’d also like to congratulate Darcie Chan, the author of ‘The Mill River Recluse,’ and Chris Culver, the author of ‘The Abbey,’ for writing two of the best-selling Kindle books of the year.”
More Kindle holiday facts:

• Throughout December, customers purchased well over 1 million Kindle devices per week.
• The new Kindle family held the top three spots on the Amazon.com best seller charts – #1: Kindle Fire, #2: Kindle Touch, #3: Kindle.
• Kindle Fire is the #1 best-selling, most gifted, and most wished for product across the millions of items available on Amazon.com since its introduction 13 weeks ago.
• Kindle is also the best-selling product on Amazon.co.uk, Amazon.de, Amazon.fr, Amazon.es and Amazon.it this holiday season.
• Gifting of Kindle books was up 175 percent between this Black Friday and Christmas Day compared to the same period in 2010.
• Christmas Day was the biggest day ever for Kindle book downloads.
• Kindle Fire is the best-selling product on Amazon.com’s mobile website and across all of Amazon.com’s mobile applications.

Additional Kindle Direct Publishing successes include:

• December’s #1 best-selling Kindle Direct Publishing book “Wife by Wednesday” was also the #5 overall best-selling Kindle book in December and has appeared on both the USA Today and Wall Street Journal best seller lists. Author Catherine Bybee was formerly an emergency room registered nurse, and has now left her job to focus on writing full-time.
• In 2011, KDP and CreateSpace author CJ Lyons reached #2 on the Amazon best seller list, #2 on the New York Times best seller list, and #4 on the USA Today best seller list. As a former pediatric ER doctor, CJ has lived the life she writes about in her cutting edge suspense novels, and she quit her job in medicine after 17 years to pursue her dream of becoming a full-time novelist. Her latest work includes “Face to Face” and “Hot Water.”       

Another Book Christmas Tree

This tree is all green!!

Best Crime Books

And a list from the Boston Globe:    On Crime:  Best Books of the Year.

Again, another list on which I have only read one title....

Gift Guide

I like this gift list from abduzeedo.  It is not a list of the best sellers or the most popular, but a list of really interesting books that would make great gifts:  posters, graphics, brand theory, design and more.

Example:  Art of the Modern Movie Poster:  International Postwar Style and Design

"Critically authoritative, visually stunning, and physically massive, Art of the Modern Movie Poster is the first and last word on post-WWII film poster design. Showcasing fascinating examples from 15 nations, this collection of more than 1,500 exemplary designs is a must-have for film buffs, design and poster aficionados alike. The posters are organized by country of origin, offering an intriguing glimpse into each region's unique visual sensibility and sometimes unexpected takes on familiar films. Gathered from the renowned collection of the Posteritati Gallery in New Yorkone of the largest holdings of international film posters in the worldthis volume is the definitive survey of both film and popular graphic art in the modern era."

Another list of gift suggestions

Now, this list is from The American Spectator:  "WHAT IS A Washington Christmas without receiving a few policy books as stocking stuffers?"   Every family has someone interested in politics, international affairs or history.  I can think of two people in my family -- we live in the DC area, too!

'Our annual list of holiday gift suggestions from distinguishedreaders and writers."

Book Christmas Tree

Ha! or Ho! Ho! Ho!

Cookbook gift ideas

The Washington Post has lots of good ideas for cookbook gifts in the Food section.  One suggestion is

“Baking Style: Art, Craft, Recipes ,” by Lisa Yockelson (Wiley, $45). A shockingly pink cover holds the keys to well-crafted recipes plus remembrances of what motivates this Washington author to preheat the oven.
Recipes to try: Cinnamon Breakfast Popovers, Cornmeal and Cranberry Drop Biscuits, Whole-Wheat Soda Bread.

Gift the National Book Awards 2011 this year

The National Book Awards for 2011:

Fiction --  Jesmyn Ward, Salvage the Bones
Nonfiction -- Stephen Greenblatt, The Swerve: How the World Became Modern
Poetry -- Nikky Finney, Head Off & Split
Young People's Literature --  Thanhha Lai, Inside Out & Back Again

10 Best Books of 2011

And then the New York Times reduced their list of 100 best books down to the 10 Best Books of 2011.  I don't know how they did it.  I tried to make a list of my favorite 100 songs  and ended up with more than 150 songs on the list.

450 Children's books for the Amazon Kindle Fire

A recent post on Mashable Business talked about how Amazon will be offering 450 children's books for the Kindle Fire:

"In a strike against Apple and Barnes & Noble, Amazon’s publishing unit has acquired 450 children’s titles from Marshall Cavendish Children’s Books, which the company plans to format for its full-color Kindle Fire tablet...."


Competition in the ebooks business is great.  I wonder what's coming in the future??

100 Notable Books of 2011

The New York Times Sunday Book Review announced their list of the 100 Notable Books of 2011.    I'd better get busy -- I've only read one book on this list!!

The Library Phantom

The Library Phantom has returned.  Someone -- identity has not been found or revealed -- has been placing little paper sculptures in libraries and museums around Edinburgh, Scotland.

How clever!