All posts tagged Books

  • 4:00 PM ET
    Dec 16, 2014

    The Best Books of 2014, According to WSJ Readers

    The critics have weighed in with their picks for the best books of the year. We also had 50 notables, including Bill Gates, Lena Dunham and Anthony Bourdain, share their choices. But what about everyone else?

    We asked Wall Street Journal readers to share the best book they read in 2014, whether it was published this year or not. We received more than 350 responses on Facebook, Twitter, Speakeasy and the WSJ Book Club. These were the most recommended books. Read More »

  • 11:35 AM ET
    Dec 12, 2014

    What Was the Best Book You Read in 2014?

    ‘Tis the season for year-end lists. Every December, book critics wrap up the year by compiling reviews of books that stood out among the dozens they read. The Wall Street Journal analyzed many of these “best book” lists to create a graphic of the most cited works. You can also see the 2014 books recommended by the WSJ.

    Now it’s your turn. Which book resonated most with you? It doesn’t matter if it came out in 2014 or was published decades ago – as long as you read it this year. Share your recommendation by filling out the form below or tweeting with the hashtag #bestbook. Be sure to include your reason for picking it. We’ll feature some readers’ recommendations on WSJ.com. Read More »

  • 12:00 PM ET
    Dec 4, 2014

    The Best Books of 2014: A Compilation

    The end of the year brings with it the impulse to pause, reflect, and…make lists. A slew of “best-of” lists have been released in recent weeks, with no shortage of entries for the “Best Books of 2014.”

    The Journal analyzed 10 recent “best books” lists to create an overarching master list for 2014. We looked for books that received the most mentions from sources including Amazon, Goodreads, and Kirkus, along with Publishers Weekly, The Washington Post, The New York Times, Barnes & Noble, and more. The WSJ’s own list will be published next week.

    The Journal’s “Best Books of 2014: A Compilation” selected the top-mentioned books in four categories: Fiction, Non-Fiction, Mystery/Thriller, and Young Adult.

    Click through to see the full lists, and build and share your own personal reading list. Read More »

  • 1:00 PM ET
    Oct 8, 2014

    Read an Excerpt of Marilynne Robinson’s Novel ‘Lila’

    Marilynne Robinson’s new novel “Lila” has been released this week, with a story that centers on young Lila, a girl neglected by her parents and raised by a drifter named Doll.

    Lila lands in Gilead, Iowa, and marries a minister with the hope that her new faith will help harmonize her life following a hardscrabble childhood.

    Read an excerpt from “Lila” after the jump. Read More »

  • 8:00 AM ET
    Sep 11, 2014

    Sarah Waters’s ‘The Paying Guests’: Read an Exclusive Excerpt

    Sarah Waters’s new novel, “The Paying Guests,” is set in postwar London, and explores what happens when a genteel widow, Mrs. Wray, and her daughter take in lodgers at their villa. The paying guests are a young couple called the Barbers, and their arrival upends the Wrays’ lives. The book will be released by Riverhead on Sept. 16. Waters is the author of “Fingersmith,” “Tipping the Velvet” and “The Night Watch,” among others. Here, Speakeasy features an exclusive excerpt of “The Paying Guests.” Read More »

  • 3:58 PM ET
    Sep 2, 2014

    The Horror Novel That Stephen King Couldn’t Stop Reading

    When Stephen King calls a book “scary as hell and hypnotic,” don’t read it late at night in a tent in the woods.

    That was the moment on my vacation when I picked up “Broken Monsters,” a new thriller by Lauren Beukes. Somewhere between the dead boy getting discovered fused to the bottom half of a deer and the part where the schoolyard bully vomits teeth, I regretted not having a door with a deadbolt. It turns out, there are scarier things than the shower curtains in campground bathrooms. Read More »

  • 1:08 PM ET
    Aug 28, 2014

    Read Chapter 1 of ‘Sophie’s Choice’ (WSJ Book Club)

    Lee Child is one of the most successful thriller writers of his generation. His 18 Jack Reacher novels have sold nearly 100 million copies in 42 languages and have all been optioned by Hollywood. Mr. Child writes polished, efficient prose that keeps his hero, a highly moral—and lethal—ex-MP, roaming the country, dispensing brutal justice.

    Join the WSJ Book Club here.

    So it was a surprise that the British author didn’t choose a classic thriller for his stint hosting the WSJ Book Club. Instead, he picked William Styron’s “Sophie’s Choice,” which runs almost 600 pages and couldn’t be more different from a Reacher novel in style and structure. (In the Journal’s book club, authors serve as guest hosts, selecting their favorite books and describing how those works have influenced them. Coming hosts include Margaret Atwood.)

    Read the first chapter of ‘Sophie’s Choice’ here. Read More »

  • 12:08 PM ET
    Aug 4, 2014

    A Cover Is Worth a Thousand Blurbs

    A cover for a blurb: the new literary transaction.

    Authors whose book covers were designed by Peter Mendelsund are returning the favor by heaping accolades on his own foray into writing: He has two books coming out this week.

    James Gleick, Tom McCarthy and Ben Marcus are among the writers who gave advance praise for Mendelsund’s “What We See When We Read”and “Cover.” Read More »

  • 12:00 PM ET
    Jul 28, 2014

    Five Reasons I Save Handwritten Letters

    1) Because letters are a bridge to the past – not the faraway past, but my past. I can still recognize the handwriting of my best friend in high school. I pick her purple-inked letters out easily from the cache of saved letters I keep in an old green trunk and set myself down to read. I find myself transported back to her basement rec room, where we spent long afternoons listening to comedy albums. We giggled our way into forgetting about a failed test or rotten boyfriend (or lack thereof). She gets me giggling all over again – channeling Steve Martin and “Weird Al” Yankovic – but now it’s not forgetting that I want but remembering. I get it in spades. Cheered up, with 30 years traveled across and back again, I fold Ellice’s letter up and place it carefully into the green trunk. I keep it ready for the next time I need a good laugh with an old friend.

    Read the rest of the essay after the jump. Read More »

  • 2:35 PM ET
    Jul 8, 2014

    Summer Not-Reads: WSJ Readers Share Books Left Unfinished

    Which books are people not reading this summer? Writer Jordan Ellenberg used Amazon’s “Popular Highlights” feature as one quick and dirty measure. Every book’s Kindle page lists the five passages most highlighted by readers. If every reader is getting to the end, those highlights could be scattered throughout the length of the book. If nobody has made it past the introduction, the popular highlights will be clustered at the beginning. His sample found that many readers seemed to be making it to the end of Donna Tartt’s “The Goldfinch”–unlike Thomas Piketty’s “Capital in the Twenty-First Century.” Here, readers weigh in on the books they’re leaving unfinished. Read More »

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