Bibliodrool -- yes, there is such a thing! -- is already escaping down my chin as I look at the lists of book due to be published during the coming year. Already the buzz surrounding Tenth of December: Stories, by George Saunders sounds like literary critics are in need of smelling salts. The New York Times doesn’t hesitate to rave, calling it the best book you’ll read all year.
Some authors are making a reappearance after a long silence. Jamaica Kincaid’s decade long hiatus is broken with See Now Then. And several authors are proving that the silence of the grave isn’t that quiet. New works by Vladimir Nabokov (The Tragedy of Mister Morn, a play), Maurice Sendak (My Brother’s Book), and Maeve Binchy (A Week in Winter) are already out, seeing the light of day, or Kindle illumination.
And there's more -- much more. . .
Please turn the page.
As for me, I’m all a-tingle, anxious to get my hands on Kent Haruf’s newest offering, Benediction, another examination of life in a small town in the West like his Holt, Colorado novels. Similar anticipatory thrills for The Childhood of Jesus, by J. M. Coetzee, famous for his short but haunting novels set in South Africa. And in pursuit of my continual love affair with modern Chinese writers, I hope to delve into Ma Jian’s novel, The Dark Road, billed as an exploration into the absurdity of China’s one child law.
In the vein of loving me some international writers, as if Coetzee and Ma weren’t enough, Khaled Hosseini of Kite Runner fame has written a multi-generational family saga titled, And the Mountains Echoed. Another giant on the world stage is Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie whose book due to be released in May is Americanah, about a young Nigerian couple who leave their homeland – one to travel to America, the other to England -- and eventually reunite in Nigeria. Australia’s only Nobel Laureate in Literature, Patrick White’s last work, The Hanging Garden, is said to be “worthy of its author.”
Have you heard of Hungarian writer, László Krasznahorkai? I’m so ignorant – nor have I. We can meet him when Seiobo There Below, about a Japanese goddess who roams time and place in search of beauty, is issued in June. Summer is a great time for experimental reading by experimental writers. If Hungarians are too intimidating, turn to a novel about the Iraq war, Cannonball, by Joseph McElroy. Summer is also travel time, so travel to Shanghai and read about Malaysian immigrants in Five Star Billionaire by Tash Aw, Whitbread and Commonwealth prizes winner. Wrap up your summer voyaging with Haiti’s own Edwidge Danticat who has written Clare of the Sea-Light. Danticat is a storyteller who dwells in my back yard, teaching at the University of Miami and appearing regularly at the Miami Book Fair International each November.
Had enough? I can’t resist whetting your appetite with just a few more mentions. Fans of R&BLers' bygone series, e-Readers & Book Club, will remember our reading of Tinkers that was discussed and reviewed here and here. Now, Paul Harding offers Enon, that continues the story, following the lives of George Crosby’s grandson and his daughter. And as the weather turns cooler, you can anticipate new books by Thomas Pynchon and Jonathan Safran Foer to keep your literary lamps lit and keep you warm.
I don’t want to list every new title, only whet your appetites for the coming book season. If you wish to read about additional books scheduled to appear in 2013, check out these links:
Flavorpill’s 30 Most Anticipated
The Great 2013 Book Preview
The Winter 2013 Book Preview
Announcement: More anticipation in the works. bookgirl indicates that she is planning to return with her much loved series, Contemporary Fiction Views around April 8th. If you’re a fan and can’t wait, why not contribute a review of some of your favorite contemporary books/writers in the TUE 10PM (ET) slot to tide everyone over until then? Drop me a PM or comment below to indicate your interest, and I’ll pencil you in.
Other than that, nothing’s happening.