a blog about a lot of things

Disclaimer: I'm sure there will be many authors I've missed out simply because I haven't heard of them. It is impossible for me to read anything not published or translated into English or French. Or works that I cannot get a hold of even if translations exist ( the book market in Trinidad is a bit limited. It's not a perfect world). I'm making guesses with the material I have and hopefully the guesses are good. In no particular order: 12.  Thomas Pynchon - United States of America Language : English Genres: Short stories; Novels; Essays Reference Works: V. (1963); The Crying of Lot 49 (1966); Gravity's Rainbow (1974); Mason & Dixon (1997) 11. Martin Amis - England Language:  English Genres: Novels; Short Stories, Essays Reference Works: Other People (1981); Money (1984); Heavy Water and Other Stories (1998) 10. Ngugi wa Thiong'o - Kenya Language: English, Gikuyu Genres: Novels, Plays, Short Stories, Essays, Children...

So there's this thing called the 30 day song challenge. (https://www.facebook.com/pages/30-Day-Song-Challenge/120874111270003?ref=ts#!/pages/30-Day-Song-Challenge/120874111270003?sk=app_4949752878) . And it's pretty awesome. So, me being me, I decided to edit it up and see if it works for books/poetry. Most work with only minor tweaking. Results as follows. My list, my picks. As always. I'll try to use books in front of poetry, mostly cause I expect to give poems their own list. Original :day 01 - your favorite song Edited as : day 01 - your favorite book (This isn't set, it varies a lot) - Midnight's Children - Salman Rushdie day 02 - your least favorite song Edited as : day 02 - Your least favorite book - Finnegan's Wake - James Joyce day 03 - a song that makes you happy Edited as : day 03 - a book that makes you happy - Goodbye, Mr. Chips - James Hilton day 04 - a song that makes you sad Edited as : day 04 - a book that makes you sad - The Road - Corma...

10. Molloy, Malone Dies, The Unnameable (The Trilogy) - Samuel Beckett - 1951-1953 - France 9. Labyrinths - Jorge Luis Borges -1962 - Argentina 8. American Psycho - Bret Easton Ellis - 1991 - USA 7. Catch -22 - Joseph Heller- 1961 -USA 6. Naked Lunch - William S. Burroughs -1959 -USA 5. The Blind Assassin - Margret Atwood -2000 - Canada 4. Slaughterhouse Five - Kurt Vonnegut - 1969 - USA 3. Gravity's Rainbow - Thomas Pynchon - 1973 -USA 2. If on a winter's a traveler - Italo Calvino - 1979 -Italy 1. Everything is Illuminated - Jonathan Safran Foer -2002- USA

The National Book Awards are a set of American literary awards. Started in 1950, the awards are presented annually to American authors for literature published in the prior year, as well as lifetime achievement awards including the "Medal of Distinguished Contribution to American Letters" and the "Literarian Award" The purpose of the awards is "to celebrate the best of American literature, to expand its audience, and to enhance the cultural value of good writing in America. It's more or lesson the American version of the Booker Prize. This list takes into account the fiction category only.Quick two line summaries as usual.Haven't read any of the winners after 1985, so knowledge of this subject is not as good. 9.The World According to Garp - John Irving- Won in 1980 why read it: A comedy , which is all the more surprising considering the dark elements of the story. Major plot elements and themes center on feminism and sexuality, with large parts of the...