Ghost Stories

From the Guardian, Top 10 Ghost Stories.

Best of October

Amazon's editors offer their selections for the best books of October.  This month's spotlight selection is At Home: A Short History of Private Life by Bill Bryson is one of the season's most anticipated releases.  Click here to read an excerpt of At Home.  

Book Art

For the true book lover, Book Posters for Reading Enthusiasts.

New York Times Best Sellers

Click here for the latest New York Times best sellers lists.

Local Reading Festivals

St. Petersburg is definitely the place for readers this weekend!  Two of the area's largest literary festivals are taking place downtown.

Necronomicon 2010, the 29th annual convention for science fiction, fantasy, and  horror fans, will be held October 22-24 at the Hilton Bayfront.  Necronomicon is Florida's premier science fiction convention.  The organization behind the convention, the Stone Hill Science Fiction Association, has a long history of supporting local charities.  Proceeds from this year's convention will benefit Kids & Canines.   

Date: October 22-24, 2010
Location: Hilton Bayfront, St. Petersburg


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On Saturday, October 23, the eighteenth annual St. Petersburg Times Festival of Reading will be held at Bayboro Harbor in downtown St. Pete.  Featured authors at this year's festival include Michael Connelly, Susan Hubbard, R.L. Stine, and Sena Jeter Naslund. For a complete list of scheduled authors click here.  Admission for the festival is FREE.    

Date: Saturday, October 23, 2010
Time:  10:00 a.m. - 4:00 p.m.
Location:  140 Seventh Avenue South (Bayboro Harbor, St. Petersburg)


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Belva Plain

Belva Plain (author website), best known for her multi-generational family sagas, has died at the age of 95. 

New York Times Best Sellers

Click here for the latest New York Times best sellers lists.

National Book Award Finalists

The finalists for the 2010 National Book Award have been announced.

Fiction Finalists:

Parrot and Olivier in America by Peter Carey
Lord of Misrule by Jaimy Gordon
Great House by Nicole Krauss
So Much for That by Lionel Shriver
I Hotel by Karen Tei Yamashita

Nonfiction Finalists:
Nothing to Envy: Ordinary Lives in North Korea by Barbara Demick
Cultures of War: Pearl Harbor, Hiroshima, 9-11, Iraq by John W. Dower
Just Kids by Patti Smith
Secret Historian: The Life and Times of Samuel Steward by Justin Spring
Every Man in this Village is a Liar: An Education in War by Megan K. Stack

Indie Next

Check out the recommendations from independent booksellers in the October Indie Next List.  The list features new titles from Michael Cunningham (The Hours), Myla Goldberg (Bee Season), and Bill Bryson (A Walk in the Woods).

Booker Prize

Howard Jacobson has won the Booker Prize for The Finkler Question.  For a list of previous Booker winners click here.

New York Times Best Sellers

Click here for the latest New York Times best sellers lists.  This week sees two new entries in the #1 spot:  Fall of Giants by Ken Follett and Don't Blink by James Patterson.

Nobel Prize in Literature

Peruvian writer Mario Vargas Llosa has won the 2010 Nobel Prize in Literature.  For a list of previous Nobel winners click here.

Apocalyptic Reading

From NPR, Three Books to Help You Enjoy the Apocalypse.

Best of Young Spanish-Language Novelists

Literary magazine Granta continues its trend of discovering and promoting new talent with its list of the Best of Young Spanish-Language Novelists.  This list marks the magazine's first foray into non-English literary territory.  Previous lists (Best of Young British Novelists; Best of Young American Novelists) identified emerging talents Ian McEwan, Kazuo Ishiguro, Jonathan Franzen, Lorrie Moore, and Sherman Alexie, all of whom have seen both critical and popular success.

Steamy Reads

Entertainment Weekly provides another fun list with 24 Classic "Steamy" Books.

New York Times Best Sellers

Click here for the latest New York Times best sellers lists.

Good Beginnings

From Entertainment Weekly, 20 Classic Opening Lines in Books.