Book Buzz

• What is the one book everyone is talking (and writing) about? David Wroblewski’s The Story of Edgar Sawtelle. The New York Times gave is a glowing review, as did USA Today. I’ve never been a fan of books that feature animals, but I may give this one a try.

• The Times carried a nearly impossible book quiz this week. I’d only read one book on the list and didn’t even recognize the quote. You can find the answers here.

• I’m not a huge Paulo Coelho fan, but his latest book, Brida, came out on Tuesday. Danielle Steele also released a new book: Rogue. Now that’s a title. The most frightening titled released this week, and already #2 on Amazon's bestsellers, is Fleeced: How Barack Obama, Media Mockery of Terrorist Threats, Liberals Who Want to Kill Talk Radio, the Do-Nothing Congress, Companies ... Are Scamming Us ... and What to Do About It.

• Nobel Prize winner Doris Lessing will release a new book in August about her parents. Booklist describes Alfred & Emily as an “unusual marriage of fiction and memoir . . . a book at once spellbinding, rueful, and tragic.”

• Speaking of biographies, Booklist also features “Top 10 Biographies for Youth: 2008.” Maybe I should shift to YA biographies. I started Young Stalin weeks ago and have gotten nowhere. If only it were about 200 pages shorter and written for a child, I might finish.