nomadreader

Happy Sunday, everyone! I've been sick most of the week with a sinus infection, but I'm almost feeling back to normal. This afternoon Mr. Nomadreader and I are going to see the Oscar shorts (animated and live action). We went last year and had a fantastic time, and I'm looking forward to seeing how this year's crop measures up. Tonight, we'll be cooking dinner at home, something we rarely do together given our disparate schedules. Then I'll be watching the BAFTA (the British Academy of Film and Television Arts) Film Awards tonight on BBC America. Julie Orringer & Karen Russell Recap Thursday afternoon, I was able to see the New York State Writers Institute seminar featuring Julie Orringer and Karen Russell. Last week I reviewed both of their novels . The crowd was quite good. The tradition at UAlbany is to have an upper-level English course whose content comes from the Visiting Writers series, so there is usually a contingent of semi-enthusiastic under...

The backstory: Karen Russell is one of The New Yorker 's 20 Under 40 and she'll be in Albany tonight for the New York State Writers Institute with Julie Orringer . My recap of the event will post Sunday. U pdate: Swamplandia! was longlisted for the 2011 Orange Prize , a finalist for the 2012 Carnegie Medal , and a finalist for the 2012 Pulitzer Prize . My thoughts: Although I had high expectations for this novel, I had no specific expectations. I knew very little about it, and I had the pleasure of being transported into this quirkily delightful family immediately. The book is narrated by Ava, a thirteen-year-old girl who knows little of the world beyond her home. Despite Russell using a vocabulary beyond Ava's means, her voice is authentic, and I was drawn to her. The first surprise in this novel was how funny it is: "We leased an expensive billboard on the interstate, just south of Cape Coral: COME SEE "SETH," FANGSOME SEA SERPENT AND ANCIENT LIZARD...

The backstory: Invisible Bridge  was one of Entertainment Weekly 's 10 Best Novels of 2010, a New York Times  Notable Book in 2010, and Julie Orringer is coming to Albany Thursday night as part of the New York State Writer's Institute Visiting Writers Series . (Update: The Invisible Bridge has been longlisted for the 2011 Orange Prize !) The basics: The novel opens with Andreas Levi, a young Jewish student in Hungary, as he is preparing to move to Paris, where he has an architecture scholarship but knows no one and very little French. He's asked to deliver a package and a mysterious letter by a wealthy family after a chance meeting. My thoughts: I hesitate to describe  Invisible Bridge  as a love story because that oversimplifies what is an accomplished massive, sweeping novel. Yes, romance is a major element of this novel, but no more so than it is in life. I was instantly fascinated with Andras and his fascinating journey from Hungary to Paris. The reader can ...

Confession: When I was offered a job to stay in Albany this semester, I was thrilled for many reasons, both personally and professionally. As a book nerd, however, there was one reason I was most excited to stay in Albany was to have another semester of New York State Writers Institute  Visiting Writers events to attend. Then, they actually announced the slate of writers coming to Albany this spring: Julie Orringer, Karen Russell, Gary Shteyngart, Susan Choi and Maureen Dowd. Seriously. Thursday, February 10, 2011: Julie Orringer and Karen Russell I've been intending to read Julie Orringer's debut novel (she had a collection of short stories, How to Breathe Underwater , published in 2004) since it was published last May. I even pre-ordered it on my Kindle. Karen Russell's debut novel, Swamplandia!  is one of the most anticipated releases of spring (she also has a short story collection, St. Lucy's Home for Girls Raised by Wolves ). She's also one of The New Yo...