National Poetry Month

April is National Poetry Month.

Inaugurated by the Academy in April 1996, National Poetry Month (NPM) brings together publishers, booksellers, literary organizations, libraries, schools, and poets around the country to celebrate poetry and its vital place in American culture. (From poets.org).

Here are 30 ways to celebrate National Poetry Month.

For more information, visit the American Academy of Poets website.

Tournament of Books Winner!

The Tournament of Books ends today. In the Championship match, Remainder (Tom McCarthy) faces off against The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao (Junot Diaz). And the winner is...


(Image courtesy of themorningnews.org)

What's New @ the Library

Check out these new items available at your library.

Last Best Lines

From the American Book Review, 100 Best Last Lines from Novels.

On to the Semifinals

The Tournament of Books is already in the semifinals!

In Match One, Tree of Smoke (Denis Johnson) faced off against Then We Came to the End (Joshua Ferris). Results here.

And today, it's The Brief and Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao (Junot Diaz) vs. The Shadow Catcher (Marianne Wiggins). Results here.

In a twist, the next round resurrects two books eliminated in previous matches.

Round Two--Match Two

In today's match, Then We Came to the End (Joshua Ferris) faces You Don't Love Me Yet (Jonathan Lethem). Results are here.

Tournament of Books Update

In the final match of Round One, The Shadow Catcher (Marianne Wiggins) went up against An Arsonist's Guide to Writers' Homes in New England (Brock Clarke). The results are here.

Today marks the beginning of Round Two, where the winners from the Round One matches face off. Today's contestants: Tree of Smoke (Denis Johnson) and Let the Northern Lights Erase Your Name (Vendela Vida). The results are here.

A Science Fiction Legend

Arthur C. Clarke, the esteemed science fiction writer best known for 2001: A Space Odyssey, passed away March 19, 2008.

His Life
His Works
Tributes

And, finally, and look at some of Clarke's interesting predictions for the future.

Book Design

They say you can't judge a book by it's cover, but good cover art certainly makes a book more appealing. Check out these sites about book cover art:

Covers
The Book Design Review

What's New @ the Library?

Check out this listing of some of the newest additions to PCLS. You can sign up here to have the What's New @ the Library newsletter delivered to your email.

Tournament of Books Update

Round One is almost over! Here are the results from the past few matches:

Match 5: Run (Ann Patchett) vs. Shining at the Bottom of the Sea (Stephen Marche). View the results here.

Match 6: What the Dead Know (Laura Lippman) vs. The Brief and Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao (Junot Diaz). View the results here.

Match 7: On Chesil Beach (Ian McEwan) vs. Remainder (Tom McCarthy). View the results here.


Tomorrow's match marks the end of Round One.

Tournament of Books--Round One, Match Four

Today, it's You Don't Love Me Yet (Jonathan Lethem) vs. New England White (Stephen L. Carter). The results are here.

Tournament of Books--Round One, Match Three

Match Three: Then We Came to the End (Joshua Ferris) vs. Petropolis (Anya Ulinich). View the results here.

Tournament of Books--Round One, Match Two

In today's match-up, The Savage Detectives (Roberto Bolano) goes up against Let the Northern Lights Erase Your Name (Vendela Vida). Click here to view the results.

National Book Critics Circle Winners

The winners of the National Book Critics Circle winners have been announced. Here are a few of the winners:

Fiction:
The Brief and Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao by Junot Diaz

General Nonfiction:
Medical Apartheid: The Dark History of Medical Experiments on Black Americans from Colonial Times to the Present by Harriet Washington

Biography:
Stanley, The Impossilble Life of Africa's Greatest Explorer by Tim Jeal

Autobiography:
Brother, I'm Dying by Edwidge Danticat

Tournament of Books--Round One, Match One

The Morning News Tournament of Books has begun! In today's match-up, Tree of Smoke (Denis Johnson) goes up against Ovenman (Jeff Parker). Click here to view the results.

Tournament of Books Brackets

For those who want to follow along in this year's Tournament of Books, here are the brackets. The Tournament begins this Friday!

Crime Writers to Read Before You Die

From Britain's The Daily Telegraph, 50 crime writers to read before you die. This interesting list includes a wide range of authors from Charles Dickens and Edgar Allan Poe to Carl Hiaasen and Elmore Leonard.