In the Mags

This month’s issue of Oxford American examines life in New Orleans three years after Hurricane Katrina.  The issue features authors from the Gulf Coast telling their stories of post-Katrina life.  Many thanks to reader Beth for checking to make sure that I had seen it.  (I hadn’t!)  It is now firmly in my mitts, and it is excellent.  Pick it up already.

Changes are afoot at The Believer.  I meant to comment last month that Nick Hornby announced that his “Stuff I’ve Been Reading” column in that issue would be his last. I’m genuinely sad to see him go.  Hornby’s columns were always the first thing I read when each new issue arrived in my mailbox.  The columns were so good that they have been collected in stand alone volumes (the third is coming out in December).  Yet, they were no more than the equivalent of a once a month blog post (just really good monthly blog posts).  In Hornby’s final colum he says:

…you, dear reader, have helped me to choose more wisely than I might otherwise have done, and to read a little bit more vigorously.

That sentiment has the ring of truth.  I’ve certainly found that committing to write about the books that I read has caused me to at least think for a moment about what I pick up – and to do more of it.

Hornby’s column is being replaced by the esteemed music critic Greil Marcus.  Marcus is contibuting a monthly column called Real Life Rock Top 10.  The thing about Marcus, and this may border on sacrileg for some, is that I often have no earthly idea what he’s talking about.  My podnah Frank has tried to sell me on Marcus in the past, and he’s usually right about these things.  I’ll stick with it and hope that the scales will fall away from my eyes.

And finally, BGB was listed among an all star line-up of lit blogs “whose opinion [the author] trusts.”  We feel especially honored, because the gist of the article is that she doesn’t care for book recommendations.  The article was written by Kerry from Pickle Me This (a blog whose opinion we trust) at the blog of Descant: A Journal of Arts and Letters.  Thanks, Kerry!

The Believer Book Award

The Believer magazine has announced the winner of their annual book award: Tom McCarthy’s Remainder.  McCarthy’s book has been on my list of books to pick up for a while, since Remainder was often mentioned together with personal fave, The Raw Shark Texts.  I do have McCarthy’s TinTin and the Secret of Literature in my to be read stack.  Maybe it’s time to move that one on up.

The article also lists the results of The Believer’s reader survey.  I recommend carrying the reader survey in your wallet for your next trip to the bookstore.  There are some great titles on the list.  Here’s my ballet for the reader survey: