Book Buzz

• Monday was the first day of Latino Heritage Month. To commemorate the month, you may want to check out Pat Mora who just won the 2008 Luis Leal Award for Distinction in Chicano/Latino Literature.

• What book is popping up all over the place? Stieg Larsson’s The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo. Larsson was a Swedish journalist who died several years ago, so at least he won’t know that The New York Times hates his book, which it describes as “a thoroughly ugly view of human nature, especially when it comes to the way Swedish men treat Swedish women. In Larsson’s world, sadism, murder and suicide are commonplace — as is lots of casual sex.” Clearly, I missed a lot during the few days I spent in Sweden.

• Perhaps the Swedes could use Dr. Phil’s new book, Real Life: Preparing for the 7 Most Challenging Days of Your Life. He’s been making the talk show rounds to promote the book. And on Rachael Ray he even talked about his diet challenge. Hmm, I think I’ll pass.

• What else came out this week? Robin McKinley’s Chalice, Garrison Keillor’s Liberty: A Lake Wobegon Novel, Philip Roth’s Indignation, and Philippa Gregory’s The Other Queen. USA Today reviews Indignation, but I can’t figure out if it is positive or negative. The paper more clearly enjoys The Other Queen, which it describes as a “fictional ménage à trois.” 

• The second book in Charlaine Harris’s Southern Vampire Mysteries, Living Dead in Dallas, has been on Amazon’s bestsellers list for the last two weeks. The HBO program True Blood is based on the series, so I’m not surprised to see the book there. But I have to wonder what is wrong with the first book?