What to call this genre.....

Not sure if there's ever been a genre called, "The author sent me an email and I thought some of his stuff looked interesting" but I guess there is now. One of the nice things that has happened because of that article in the New York Times is that I've gotten emails from lots of old friends I hadn't heared from in years. Another nice thing is all those invitations to join book groups that shun some of the slush that gets published; I have to confess that my favorite name for a book group is "Belligerati," and I have to admit I would fit in pretty well with them

And one other positive effect of the whole NYT thing is that several authors have sent me emails and told me about their books. The first on in this genre that I bought, which showed up either late last night or very early this morning, is "The German Money," by someone named Lev Raphael. I read the reviews and the first few pages, and am really looking forward to reading the whole thing.

But really getting into this genre will have to wait a few days, because I am currently wrapped up in the genre called, "The author is an IU professor and I wanted to read his stuff." I have a LOT of favorites in this category including the book I'm currently reading, "The Royal Ghosts," by Samrat Upadhyay. Samrat is the director of the graduate program in creative writing at IU, and he also has the distinction of being the first Nepali-born writer to be published in English. And he's one heck of a good writer, in any language.

Memoir

One of my favorite literary forms, memoirs, properly written, can be hugely enjoyable. A recent favorite: "Don't Let's Go To the Dogs Tonight." With perfect pitch, Alexandra Fuller tells of growing up white during a period of violent upheaval in Southern Africa.

Equally well-written and gripping: "The Glass Castle" by Jeanette Walls. Read 'em both.

So, OK, maybe I did get a little mixed up

I'm told I left some really great children's literature out of the quiz. The Phantom Tollbooth, for example. And one of my favorites, the wonderful, marvelous book by E.L. Koenigsberger: From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler. Geez. SORRY about that.

History

I sort of vowed to myself that I would discuss one book per day on this blog. It's hard to limit myself to that, but since I make up the rules, I get to break them.

So... the topic for today is historical writing, and instead of one book I'll talk about one author: Nathaniel Philbrick. I've read two of his book in the past year, Mayflower and In the Heart of the Sea. Mayflower is about, well, the people who came over on the Mayflower and what happened after they got here. In the Heart of the Sea is the true story that inspired the Moby Dick tale.

Philbrick is a great writer as well as a great historian, and both books are gripping.

Funniest book I ever read

Lucky Jim, by Kingsley Amis. Although for consistent hilarity and elegant turns of phrase, no one beats PG Wodehouse.

Everyone's a critic

Including me, in case you live in Siberia and missed this. Which was a lot of fun, as it turns out, and seems to have touched a fairly raw nerve.

So let's talk about books and writers we actually DO like, one book at a time. Today's entry:

Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle, by Betty MacDonald.

I choose this book in honor of my long-suffering mother, who frequently despaired of my ever moving beyond this and the other three books in the Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle series. I read them over and over and over again as a child, which tormented by mother. Ironic, of course, that I should be the one in the family to become the public arbiter of good taste in books, but there you have it.

Anybody else love these books? The ones with the Hilary Knight illustrations? Very inventive and comforting and fun, without being in the least bit preachy. Discuss.