23 runners take part in inaugural Mockingbird 8K race

Twenty-three runners took part in the inaugural Mockingbird 8K and Fun Run/Walk this morning in Monroeville.

Doug Darby, 46, of Brewton finished first overall, crossing the finish line in 35:45.

Shanan Wiggins, 32, of Monroeville was the top female finisher, running the course in 45:14.

Top finishers in each age group were as follows:

- Female, 20-29: April Dern, 27, of Monroeville; 46:28
- Male, 20-29: Donnie Addison, 29, of Opelika, 36:32
- Female, 30-39: Susan Hughes, 38, of Monroeville; 50:47
- Male, 30-39: Jonathan Lee Dick, 35, of Mobile, 35:58
- Female, 40-49: Tonya Hadley, 40, of Peterman, 53:48
- Male, 40-49: Billy Bowen, 48, of Monroeville, 41:43
- Female, 50-59: Kay Dobson, 53, of Monroeville, 46:40
- Male, 50-59: Alan Ash, 53, of Atmore, 40:03

Other finishers included:
- Patrick Harrigan, 33, of Monroeville, 4th overall, 37:27
- Lee Peacock (Me!), 35, of Excel, 7th overall, 42:32
- Pete Black, 58, of Monroeville, 8th overall, 44:30
- Maggie Compton, 22, of Monroeville, 12th overall, 47:22
- Jade Deese, 24, of Monroeville, 13th overall, 48:28
- Nathan Mixon, 28, of Excel, 16th overall, 54:48
- Amberly Mixon, 25, of Excel, 17th overall, 55:54
- Dale Ash, 51, of Atmore, 18th overall, 57:48
- Camilla Webb, 46, of Monroeville, 19th overall, 1:02:30
- Mollie Bowers, 27, of Monroeville, 20th overall, 1:05:06
- Zach Maher, 26, of Monroeville, 21st overall, 1:05:06
- Beverly Ross, 38, of Monroeville, 22nd overall, 1:08:31
- Fred Kelley, 54, of Monroeville, 23rd overall, 1:08:37

Today’s race, which also included a one-mile fun run, was sponsored by the Monroeville Area YMCA and was produced by Little Red Hen Productions. Stephen Mattox, the Y’s Program/Wellness Director, organized today’s race, which was held in conjunction with the Y’s Healthy Kids-Family Day as well as the opening day of the Monroe County Heritage Museums’ annual “To Kill a Mockingbird” play in downtown Monroeville.

The Y’s jovial executive director, Ricky Powell, MC’d the race and explained that this year’s race was the Y’s first ever 8-K race. Past Mockingbird Runs have all been 5K events. Organizers hope that the unique 8K distance, just under five miles, will attract more runners to future Mockingbird Runs.

Today’s course was nice, but challenging due to a number of long hills. The starting line was in front of the YMCA at 2197 South Mount Pleasant Ave. in Monroeville. From there, runners ran all the way up to the courthouse square, hooked a right, then another right at Lee Motor Co. and then proceeded up South Alabama Avenue all the way to Pike Street. Runners took a right on Pike and then a left back onto South Mount Pleasant for a finish in front of the Y. Most runners agreed that the long hill near the entrance to Eagle Pointe Apartments was the toughest part of the race.

Members of the Monroeville Junior Women’s League and the Excel High School Beta Club manned water stations along the route, and Monroeville police also assisted. Police Chief Rudolph Munnerlyn fired the ceremonial opening gun to start the race and other officers conducted traffic and manned intersections along the way, including my next door neighbor, Keith White, and my father-in-law, William Adams.

The race started at 8 a.m. and the temperature was around 60 degrees.

Overall, this was a fun race with a nice, family atmosphere. Everyone seemed to have enjoyed themselves, and it was good to see a few folks that I haven’t had the chance to talk to in a while. I hope that I get a chance to run in this race next year, and I’d encourage you to do the same if you can.

'Zoo City' wins 2011 Arthur C. Clarke Award

The Serendip Foundation announced Wednesday night at the SCI-FI-LONDON film festival that “Zoo City” by Lauren Beukes was the winner of the 2011 Arthur C. Clarke Award.

The other finalists for this year’s award included:

- “The Dervish House” by Ian McDonald
- “Monsters of Men” by Patrick Ness
- “Generosity” by Richard Powers
- “Declare” by Tim Powers
- “Lightborn” by Tricia Sullivan

For those of you unfamiliar with the Arthur C. Clarke Award, it is arguably the most prestigous science fiction award in Britian. It is awarded annually to the best science fiction novel first published in Britian during the previous calendar year.

The winner is selected by a jury composed of representatives from the British Science Fiction Association, the Science Fiction Foundation and SF Crowsnest.

Famed sci-fi writer, the late Arthur C. Clarke, established the award in 1986 to encourage and promote science fiction writing in Britain. The first winner was named in 1987. What follows is a complete list of the all-time winners.

1987 – “The Handmaid’s Tale” by Margaret Atwood
1988 – “The Sea and Summer” by George Turner
1989 – “Unquenchable Fire” by Rachel Pollack
1990 – “The Child Garden” by Geoff Ryman
1991 – “Take Back Plenty” by Colin Greenland
1992 – “Synners” by Pat Cadigan
1993 – “”Body of Glass” by Marge Piercy
1994 – “Vurt” by Jeff Noon
1995 – “Fools” by Pat Cadigan
1996 – “Fairyland” by Paul J. McAuley
1997 – “The Calcutta Chromosome” by Amitav Ghosh
1998 – “The Sparrow” by Mary Doria Russell
1999 – “Dreaming in Smoke” by Tricia Sullivan
2000 – “Distraction” by Bruce Sterling
2001 – “Perdido Street Station” by China Mieville
2002 – “Bold As Love” by Gwyneth Jones
2003 – “The Separation” by Christopher Priest
2004 – “Quicksilver” by Neal Stephenson
2005 – “Iron Council” by China Mieville
2006 – “Air” by Geoff Ryman
2007 – “Nova Swing” by M. John Harrison
2008 – “Black Man” by Richard Morgan
2009 – “Song of Time” by Ian R. MacLeod
2010 – “The City and the City” by China Mieville
2011 – “Zoo City” by Lauren Beukes

Beukes, 34, has written several other books. In addition to “Zoo City,” her other books include “Moxyland” (2008) and “Maverick: Extraordinary Women From South Africa’s Past” (2005)

How many of these books have you had a chance to read? What did you think about them? Which did you like, dislike? Which would you recommend and why? Let us know in the comments section below.

For more information about the Arthur C. Clarke Award, visit www.clarkeaward.com.

Sports Flashback from the April 28, 2011 edition of The Evergreen Courant

14 YEARS AGO
APRIL 24, 1997

“Track meet held recently at Monroe: Results of the Monroe County track meet held Tues., April 18, 1997 were as follows:
“Team results: Girls: Coffeeville, 54 points, first place; Hillcrest, 45 points, second place…
“Boys: T.R. Miller, 106 points, first place; Hillcrest, 20 points, second place…
“Individual results:
“3200 m: Jason Johnson, fifth place.
“400 m relay: Kristie Merrills, Elena King, Willene Cook and Stephanie Rogers, first place; Tim George, Ryan Meeks, Tyrone Presley and Roderick Rogers, second place.
“3200 m relay: ShuRhonda Bradley, Teresa McMillian, Willene Cook and Denise Mitchell, first place; Robert Johnson, Derrick Lyons, James Hall and Kelvin Fluker, third place.
“400 m relay: Willene Cook, third place; Marie Batchen, fifth place; April Canty, sixth place.
“100 m: Elena King, first place; Tyrone Presley, fifth place.
“800 m: Willene Cook, third place; Teresa McMillian, fourth place.
“200 m: Elena King, third place; Tyrone Presley, fifth place.
“1600 m: Willene Cook, April Canty, Kristie Merrills and Denise Mitchell, second place; Derrick Lyons, Allen Marshall, James Hall and Tim George, second place.”

29 YEARS AGO
APRIL 22, 1982

“Warriors win one, lose one: The Sparta Academy Warriors ‘batted .500’ last week, winning one and losing one, according to Sports Information Director Byron Warren Jr.
“Sparta beat South Butler, 12-2, on April 13 behind the four-hit pitching of Joe McInvale and a 10-hit assault led by Mike Mixon with three hits and Ed Carrier with two.
“Thursday of last week the Warriors proved generous hosts as the pitchers gave up 13 hits and the fielders committed four errors in a 11-3 loss to Escambia Academy of Atmore. Mike Mixon got credit for the loss, but joined Joe McInvale in collecting two hits to account for over half of Sparta’s seven-hit attack.
“Russ Raines is hitting .429 and Mike Mixon .425 to lead the Warriors in batting averages. Ed Carrier is hitting .367, Chris Blatz .310 and Joe McInvale .308.”

“Bill Seales (retired from everything but fun) of Castleberry says real wild turkey hunters don’t get older, they just get better. He killed this fine 17-pounder, 9-1/2 inch beard and 1/2-inch spurs on Friday.”

59 YEARS AGO
APRIL 24, 1952

“Bermuda Bears Edge Castleberry 7 to 6: The Bermuda Bears edged the Castleberry nine 7 to 6 Sunday afternoon at Bermuda in a Conecuh Amateur League opener. Carl Watson with two hits, one a triple, paced Bermuda’s 17-hit barrage. Pitcher Allen Thompson also had three safe knocks.
“Frank Shields, Lee Owen Dees and Gandy with two hits each topped the Castleberry batters. One of Gandy’s knocks was a homer.
“The Castleberry battery was J.W. Windham, pitcher, and Ralph Graddy, catcher. The winning Bermuda battery was Thompson and G.W. Watson.”

“The Centerville Rookies blasted Loree’s Dollies 20 to 1 Sunday afternoon in Brooks Stadium in Evergreen as they open the 1952 season behind some of the most amazing pitching ever served up in South Alabama. George ‘One-Man Team’ Gaston struck out 22 batters and was credited with four assists to have a personal hand in all but one out in the regulation, nine-inning game.
“Gaston scattered seven hits and walked only one Dollie. Statisticians are searching the records and old timers are scratching their heads trying to remember, has this pitching performance ever been topped in Conecuh County?”

74 YEARS AGO
APRIL 22, 1937

From news from Evergreen High School – “Tuesday morning we were very glad to have ‘Shorty’ Propst, a former Alabama football star, visit us. Coach Propst was in search of future football material for Memphis college.”

“Bulldogs Lose to Georgiana, 14 to 4: Georgiana High defeated the Evergreen Hi Bulldogs last Friday afternoon by a score of 14 to 4 on the Georgiana diamond.
“Jim Lane, starting Bulldog hurler, was wild and inefficient, and his mates’ bobbles added to the rout of the locals.”

“Robert Kendall Jr. of Evergreen resigned as president of the new Interstate Baseball League at a meeting held in Brewton last night, being succeeded by James McCurdy Jr. of Flomaton.
“C.R. James of Evergreen was elected league statistician, and William N. McGehee treasurer at Wednesday night’s meeting.
“Practice sessions by the local club are to be held beginning late this week at Gantt Field and all residents of Conecuh County who desire to participate in baseball this summer are urged to contact Mack Binion Jr. or Cumbie Snowden, so that the roster may be prepared in time for submission to the league office.”

Compiled by Sports Reporter Lee Peacock from past issues of The Evergreen Courant. To read The Courant’s weekly Sports Flashback feature online, visit leepeacock2010.blogspot.com.

Alabama, Auburn fans will have good reasons to watch NFL draft

Alabama and Auburn football fans will have good reason to tune into the NFL draft this week as a number of former players from both schools will be up for selection by NFL teams.

Possible first-round picks could include Marcell Dareus, Nick Fairley, Mark Ingram, Julio Jones and Cam Newton.

The first-round of the draft will be held today (Thursday) with the second and third rounds to be selected on Friday at Radio City Music Hall in New York City.

If you want to watch the draft live on TV, tune in to either ESPN or the NFL Network tonight at 7 p.m. Friday’s broadcast will begin at 5 p.m. on both stations.

The fourth, fifth, sixth and seventh rounds will be selected on Saturday and the broadcast of those rounds will begin at 11 a.m.

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The New Orleans Hornets are hanging in there with the two-time defending World Champion, L.A. Lakers. As of Tuesday morning, the best-of-seven, first-round playoff series between the Hornets and the Lakers was tied, 2-2.

The two teams were set to square off Tuesday night at 9:30 p.m. in L.A. and again tonight (Thursday) at 9:30 p.m. in New Orleans. If necessary, a seventh and final game will be played to decide the series on Saturday in L.A.

A New Orleans win in the series would be an upset by any stretch of the term and would send shockwaves through the NBA playoff scene. The challenge for New Orleans at that point would be having to maintain their intensity throughout the rest of the playoffs.

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As of Tuesday morning, the Atlanta Braves were 11-13 overall and five games back in the National League East standings. The Braves were also fresh off a road sweep of the defending World Champion, San Francisco Giants.

The Braves wrapped up their trip to the West Coast - which included stops in San Francisco, Los Angeles and San Diego – yesterday (Wednesday), and they’ll return to the friendly confines of their home stadium in Atlanta tomorrow (Friday) night when they begin a three-game series against the St. Louis Cardinals. As of Tuesday, St. Louis was 12-10 overall and were sitting in first place in the National League Central standings.

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NFL legend Brett Favre made Ripley’s Believe It or Not! on Sunday when the comic strip mentioned that from 1992 to 2010 the quarterback started in 297 consecutive games. His streak amounts to 321 games if you count playoff starts.

Favre is the current record holder when it comes to consecutive starts. He broke the record over 10 years ago – on Nov. 9, 1999 – when he started his 117th game.

Now that he’s retired, he may not hold the record for long. Former University of Tennessee quarterback Peyton Manning, who now quarterbacks the Indianapolis Colts, is closing fast on Favre’s record.

Going back to Sept. 6, 1998, Manning has started 227 games, counting playoff appearances.

Other active players who are somewhat close to Favre’s record include Peyton’s little brother, Eli Manning (110 games), and Decatur native, Phillip Rivers (87).

Past week has been big in the world of books, literary awards

This past week has been a big week in the world of books, especially when it comes to literary awards for the year’s best novels.

“A Visit from the Goon Squad” by Jennifer Egan received the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction during a ceremony Monday of last week in New York City.
The other finalists in the Fiction category were “The Privileges” by Jonathan Dee and “The Surrendered” by Chang-rae Lee.

I recently read “A Visit from the Goon Squad” because it won the National Book Critics Circle Award for Best Novel, and I highly recommend it to anyone in the reading audience. Egan has written a number of other novels, and I’m looking forward to reading those when I get the chance.

“The Strange Affair of Spring Heeled Jack” by Mark Hoder received the 2010 Philip K. Dick Award.

Other finalists for the award were “Yarn” by Jon Armstrong, “Chill” by Elizabeth Bear, “The Reapers are the Angels” by Alden Bell, “Song of Scarabaeus” by Sara Creasy, “State of Decay” by James Knapp and “Harmony” by Project Itoh, translated by Alexander O. Smith.

The Philip K. Dick Award, which is named after one of the most influential sci-fi writers of all time, is presented annually with the support of the Philip K. Dick Trust “for distinguished science fiction published in paperback original form in the United States.” Most of Dick’s books, which included “Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?, aka, “Blade Runner,” were published as paperback originals.

The winners of this year’s British Science Fiction Association Awards were announced on Tuesday, and “The Dervish House” by Ian McDonald won this year’s BSFA Award for Best Novel.

Other finalists for the BSFA Best Novel Award this year included “The Windup Girl” by Paolo Bacigalupi, “Zoo City” by Lauren Beukes, “The Restoration Game” by Ken Macleod and “Lightborn” by Tricia Sullivan.

Past winners of this prestigious award include “Rendezvous with Rama” by Arthur C. Clarke and “A Scanner Darkly” by Philip K. Dick.

Today (Thursday), the Mystery Writers of America will announce this year’s slate of Edgar Allan Poe Award winners.

This year’s nominees for Best Novel include "Caught" by Harlan Coben, "Crooked Letter, Crooked Letter" by Tom Franklin, "Faithful Place" by Tana French, "The Queen of Patpong" by Timothy Hallinan, "The Lock Artist" by Steve Hamilton and "I'd Know You Anywhere" by Laura Lippman.

As you might have guessed, the Edgar Allan Poe Awards, commonly referred to as “The Edgars,” are named after the famous horror writer, Edgar Allan Poe. Poe, who is best known for his horror stories, is also considered the father of the modern mystery-detective novel because of his popular tales involving the detective C. Auguste Dupin. The Edgars aim to honor the best in mystery fiction, non-fiction, television, film and theatre from the previous year.

In the end, if you’re looking for a good, entertaining book to read, you probably won’t go wrong in selecting any of those mentioned above.

My movie picks this week are 'Fast Five' and '3 Idiots'

It’s Wednesday, so today I give you my weekly list of movies that will open in theatres this week as well as a list of movies that will be released this week on DVD.

I hope this will serve as a useful guide as to what’s going on this week if you happen to be near a movie theatre or if you’re looking for something to drop into your NetFlix queue.

Movies that are scheduled to hit theatres this Friday include:

- 13 Assassins (R, Action): Directed by Takashi Miike and starring Koji Yakusho, Takayuki Yamada, Yusuke Iseya, Goro Inagaki and Masachika Ichimura.

- The Arbor (Documentary): Directed by Clio Barnard and starring Matthew McNulty, Jimi Mistry, Christine Bottomley, George Costigan and Monica Dolan.

- Dylan Dog: Dead of Night (PG-13, Horror, Thriller, Comedy): Directed by Kevin Munroe and starring Brandon Routh, Sam Huntington, Taye Diggs, Brian Steele and Peter Stormare.

- Exporting Raymond (PG, Documentary, Special Interest, Comedy): Directed by Phil Rosenthal.

- Fast Five (PG-13, Action, Thriller): Directed by Justin Lin and starring Dwayne Johnson, Vin Diesel, Paul Walker, Jordana Brewster and Tyrese Gibson.

- Hoodwinked Too! Hood vs. Evil (PG, Animation, Family, Comedy): Directed by Mike Disa and starring the voices of Hayden Panettiere, Glenn Close, Joan Cusack, David Ogden Stiers and Benjy Gaither.

- Making the Boys (Not Rated, Documentary, Epic and Historical, Special Interest): Directed by Crayton Robey and starring Edward Albee, Mart Crowley, Michael Cunningham, Dominick Dunne and William Friedkin. Actually opens on Thurs., April 28.

- Prom (PG, Comedy, Drama): Directed by Joe Nussbaum and starring Aimee Teegarden, Nicholas Braun, Danielle Campbell, Riley Voelkel and Raini Rodriguez.

- The Robber (Not Rated, Drama): Directed by Benjamin Heisenberg and starring Andreas Lust, Franziska Weisz, Markus Schleinzer, Roman Kettner and Hannelore Klauber-Laursen.

- Sympathy for Delicious (Not Rated, Drama): Directed by Mark Ruffalo and starring Mark Ruffalo, Christopher Thornton, Orlando Bloom, Juliette Lewis and Laura Linney.

New DVD releases for the week of April 26 include:

- 3 Idiots (PG-13, Comedy, Drama): Directed by Rajkumar Hirani and starring Aamir Khan, Kareen Kapoor, Omi Vaidya and Rajeev Ravindranathan.

- Blood Out (R, Action, Crime, Mystery, Thriller): Directed by Jason Hewitt and starring Val Kilmer, Curtis Jackson, Luke Gross, AnnaLynne McCord and Vinnie Jones.

- Jolene (R, Drama): Directed by Dan Ireland and starring Jessica Chastain, Dermot Mulroney, Chazz Palminteri, Michael Vartan and Theresa Russell.

- Knockout (PG, Action, Family): Directed by Anne Wheeler and starring Steve Austin, Benjamin Ratner, Daniel Magder, Jaren Brandt Bartlett and Emma Grabinsky.

- One Way to Valhalla (Not Yet Rated, Drama): Directed by Karen Goodman and starring Gabriel Macht, Kim Dickens, Kate Walsh, Brad William Henke and Allison Pill.

- Revenge of the Bridesmaids (Not Rated, Comedy): Directed by James Hayman and starring Raven Symone, Joanna Garcia, Beth Broderick, David Clayton Rogers and Chryssie Whitehead.

- Sacrifice (R, Action): Directed by Damian Lee and starring Cuba Gooding Jr., Kim Coates, Devon Bostick, Lara Daans and Christian Slater.

- Sniper: Reloaded (R, Action): Directed by Claudio Fah and starring Billy Zane, Chad Michael Collins, Richard Sammel, Patrick Lyster and Annabel Wright.

If I could only watch one movie at the theatre this week, it would be “Fast Five,” and if I had to pick just one DVD to rent this week, it would be “3 Idiots.”

In the end, let me know if you get a chance to watch any of the new movies in theatres this week or if you’ve already seen any of the movies that have just been released on DVD. What did you think about them? Which would you recommend? Let us know in the comments section below.

'The Dervish House' wins 2010 BSFA Best Novel Award

The winners of this year’s slate of British Science Fiction Association Awards were announced Monday during the 62nd Annual Eastercon in Birmingham, England.

For those of you unfamiliar with the BSFA Awards, they are given each year by the British Science Fiction Association to “honor works in the genre of science fiction.” Nominees and winners are selected by a vote of BSFA members and Eastercon members. (Eastercon is the common name of a long-running British sci-fi convention that dates back to 1948.)

This year’s winners, in four categories, included the following works:

Novel – “The Dervish House” by Ian McDonald

Short Fiction – “The Shipmaker” by Aliette de Bodard

Art – The cover of “Zoo City” by Joey Hi-Fi

Non-Fiction – “Blogging the Hugos: Decline” by Paul Kincaid

The Best Novel Award is arguably the most prestigious of the annual BSFA Awards, and McDonald, age 51, has won the BSFA Best Novel Award on two other occasions – in 2004 for “River of Gods” and in 2007 for “Brasyl.”

What follows is a complete list of all of McDonald’s books:

- “Desolation Road” (1988)
- “Empire Dreams” (1988)
- “Out on Blue Six” (1989)
- “King of Morning, Queen of Day” (1991)
- “The Broken Land” (1992)
- “Speaking in Tongues” (1992)
- “Kling Klang Klatch” (1992)
- “Scissors Cut Paper Wrap Stone” (1994)
- “Terminal Café” (1994)
- “Evolution’s Shore” (1995)
- “Sacrifice of Fools” (1996)
- “Kirinya” (1997)
- “Tendeléo's Story” (2000)
- “Ares Express” (2001)
- “River of Gods” (2004)
- “Brasyl” (2007)
- “Cyberabad Days” (2009)
- “The Dervish House” (2010)

Another of his novels, “Planesrunner,” is scheduled for release in 2012.

McDonald’s “The Dervish House” was one of five finalists for this year’s BSFA Best Novel Award. The other finalists were:

- “The Windup Girl” by Paolo Bacigalupi

- “Zoo City” by Lauren Beukes

- “The Restoration Game” by Ken Macleod

- “Lightborn” by Tricia Sullivan

To see a complete list of the all-time BSFA Best Novel winners, check out my Jan. 21, 2011 post at http://leepeacock2010.blogspot.com/2011/01/bsfa-awards-short-list-announced.html.

The BSFA began giving an award in non-fiction in 2001. What follows is a list of the all-time winners in the non-fiction category.

2001 – “Omegatropic” by Stephen Baxter
2002 – No award
2003 – “Reading Science Fiction” by Farah Mendlesohn
2004 – No award
2005 – “Soundings: Reviews, 1992-1996” by Gary K. Wolfe
2006 – No award
2007 – No award
2008 – “Rhetorics of Fantasy” by Farah Mendlesohn
2009 – “Mutant Popcorn” by Nick Lowe

In the end, how many of these books have you had a chance to read? Which did you like or dislike? Which would you recommend and why? Let us know in the comments section below.

Five Sci-Fi novels up for 2011 Hugo Award for Best Novel

The nominees for this year’s slate of Hugo Awards were announced over the weekend, and five books are up for the 2011 Hugo for Best Novel.

For those of you unfamiliar with the Hugo Awards, they have been given each year since 1953 by the World Science Fiction Society to recognize the best sci-fi and fantasy works from the previous year.

Novels nominated for the Best Novel Award include the following books:

- “Blackout/All Clear” by Connie Willis

- “Cryoburn” by Lois McMaster Bujold

- “The Dervish House” by Ian McDonald

- “Feed” by Mira Grant

- “The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms” by N.K. Jemisin

The Best Novel Award is arguably the most prestigious of all the Hugo Awards. For a complete list of the all time winners, see my post from April 1: http://leepeacock2010.blogspot.com/2011/04/how-many-of-these-hugo-award-winning.html.

In addition to the Best Novel Award, Hugos will be presented this year in 14 other categories, including Best Novella, Best Novelette, Best Short Story, Best Related Work, Best Graphic Story, Best Dramatic Presentation (Long Form), Best Dramatic Presentation (Short Form), Best Editor (Long Form), Best Editor (Short Form), Best Professional Artist, Best SemiProzine, Best Fanzine, Best Fan Writer and Best Fan Artist. For the full list of nominees in these categories, visit http://www.renovationsf.org/hugo-intro.php.

The winners will be announced on Aug. 20 at the 69th Annual World Science Fiction Convention in Reno, Nevada.

For more information, visit the official Web site of the Hugo Awards, www.thehugoawards.org.

'Chasing Fire' tops hardcover fiction best-sellers list this week

It’s Sunday, so that means that it’s time for my weekly review of this week’s Publishers Weekly Best-Seller List. According to the list, we’ve got two new books at the top of the four major best-seller lists this week.

"Chasing Fire" by Nora Roberts replaced “The Fifth Witness” by Michael Connelly as the top book on the hardcover fiction best-sellers list.

"The Search" by Nora Roberts replaced "Water for Elephants: A Novel" by Sara Gruen as the top book on the mass market paperback best-sellers list.

"Bossypants" by Tina Fey retained the top spot on the hardcover nonfiction best-sellers list.

"Heaven is for Real: A Little Boy's Astounding Story of His Trip to Heaven and Back" by Todd Burpo, Sonja Burpo, Colton Burpo and Lynn Vincent retained the No. 1 spoton the trade paperbacks best-sellers list.

There are six books on this week’s hardcover fiction best-sellers list that weren’t on the list last week. Those books (and their place on the list) are "Chasing Fire" by Nora Roberts (1), "The Pale King" by David Foster Wallace (7), "Save Me" by Lisa Scottoline (8), "Please Look After Mom" by Kyung-Sook Shin (13), "The Paris Wife: A Novel" by Paula McLain (14) and "Midnight and the Meaning of Love" by Sister Souljah (15).

There are five books on this week’s hardcover nonfiction best-sellers list that weren’t on the list last week. They include "I'm All Over That: And Other Confessions" by Shirley MacLaine (4), "Change Anything: The New Science of Personal Success" by Kerry Patterson, Joseph Grenny, David Maxfield Ron McMillan and Al Switzler (7), "This is Gonna Hurt: Music, Photography and Life Through the Distorted Lens of Nikki Sixx" by Nikki Sixx (10), "The Best Advice I Ever Got: Lessons from Extraordinary Lives" by Katie Couric (11) and "My Father's Daughter: Delicious, Easy Recipes Celebrating Family & Togetherness" by Gwineth Paltrow and Mario Batali (15).

There are four books on this week’s mass market paperbacks best-sellers list that weren’t on that list last week. They include "The Search" by Nora Roberts (1), "Something Borrowed" by Emily Griffin (6), "Big Girl" by Danielle Steel (12) and "The Girl Who Played With Fire" by Stieg Larsson (15).

There are five books on this week’s trade paperbacks list that weren’t on the list last week. They include "The 9th Judgment" by James Patterson (4), "Born to Run: A Hidden Tribe, Superathletes, and the Greatest Race the World Has Never Seen" by Christopher McDougall (7), "The Other Wes Moore: One Name, Two Faces" by Wes Moore (9), "Something Borrowed" by Emily Griffin (12) and "Hungry Girl 300 Under 300: 300 Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner Dishes Under 300 Calories" by Lisa Lillien (15).

As a reminder, I’m posting these lists each Sunday because they, as a whole, represent a great, contemporary recommended reading list. These lists are initially released each week on Thursday, and if you’re interested in reading them then, visit Publishers Weekly’s Web site at www.publishersweekly.com. Below you’ll find all four of this week’s best-seller lists.

HARDCOVER FICTION
1. "Chasing Fire" by Nora Roberts
2. "The Land of Painted Caves: A Novel" by Jean M. Auel
3. "The Fifth Witness" by Michael Connelly
4. "I'll Walk Alone" by Mary Higgins Clark
5. "The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest" by Stieg Larsson
6. "44 Charles Street" by Danielle Steel
7. "The Pale King" by David Foster Wallace
8. "Save Me" by Lisa Scottoline
9. "Live Wire" by Harlan Coben
10. "Sing You Home: A Novel" by Jodi Picoult
11. "The Secret Life of Damian Spinelli" by Carolyn Hennesy
12. "Toys" by James Patterson and Neil McMahon
13. "Please Look After Mom" by Kyung-Sook Shin
14. "The Paris Wife: A Novel" by Paula McLain
15. "Midnight and the Meaning of Love" by Sister Souljah

HARDCOVER NONFICTION
1. "Bossypants" by Tina Fey
2. "The 17 Day Diet: A Doctor's Plan Design for Rapid Results" by Dr. Mike Moreno
3. "Unbroken: A World War II Story of Survival, Resilience, and Redemption" by Laura Hillenbrand
4. "I'm All Over That: And Other Confessions" by Shirley MacLaine
5. "The Healthy Home" by Myron Wentz, Dave Wentz
6. "63 Documents the Government Doesn't Want You to Read" by Jesse Ventura with Dick Russell
7. "Change Anything: The New Science of Personal Success" by Kerry Patterson, Joseph Grenny, David Maxfield Ron McMillan and Al Switzler
8. "All That Is Bitter and Sweet: A Memoir" by Ashley Judd, with Maryanne Vollers
9. "Malcolm X" by Manning Marable
10. "This is Gonna Hurt: Music, Photography and Life Through the Distorted Lens of Nikki Sixx" by Nikki Sixx
11. "The Best Advice I Ever Got: Lessons from Extraordinary Lives" by Katie Couric
12. "Love Wins: A Book About Heaven, Hell, and the Fate of Every Person Who Ever Lived" by Rob Bell
13. "The Social Animal: The Hidden Sources of Love, Character, and Achievement" by David Brooks
14. "Red: My Uncensored Life in Rock" by Sammy Hagar
15. "My Father's Daughter: Delicious, Easy Recipes Celebrating Family & Togetherness" by Gwineth Paltrow and Mario Batali

MASS MARKET PAPERBACKS
1. "The Search" by Nora Roberts
2. "Water for Elephants: A Novel" by Sara Gruen
3. "Game of Thrones" by George R.R. Martin
4. "Caught" by Harlan Coben
5. "The Shadow of Your Smile" by Mary Higgins Clark
6. "Something Borrowed" by Emily Griffin
7. "Dead in the Family" by Charlaine Harris
8. "The Lincoln Lawyer" by Michael Connelly
9. "Santa Fe Edge" by Stuart Woods
10. "Indulgence in Death" by J.D. Robb
11. "Fever Dream" by Lincoln Child & Douglas Preston
12. "Big Girl" by Danielle Steel
13. "Navarro's Promise" by Lora Leigh
14. "The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo" by Stieg Larsson
15. "The Girl Who Played With Fire" by Stieg Larsson

TRADE PAPERBACKS
1. "Heaven is for Real: A Little Boy's Astounding Story of His Trip to Heaven and Back" by Todd Burpo, Sonja Burpo, Colton Burpo and Lynn Vincent
2. "Water for Elephants: A Novel" by Sara Gruen
3. "The Help" by Kathryn Stockett
4. "The 9th Judgment" by James Patterson
5. "The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks" by Rebecca Skloot
6. "Cutting for Stone" by Abraham Verghese
7. "Born to Run: A Hidden Tribe, Superathletes, and the Greatest Race the World Has Never Seen" by Christopher McDougall
8. "The Art of Racing in the Rain: A Novel" by Garth Stein
9. "The Other Wes Moore: One Name, Two Faces" by Wes Moore
10. "Inside of a Dog" by Alexandra Horowitz
11. "The Postmistress" by Sarah Blake
12. "Something Borrowed" by Emily Griffin
13. "Have a Little Faith: A True Story" by Mitch Albom
14. "Just Kids" by Patti Smith
15. "Hungry Girl 300 Under 300: 300 Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner Dishes Under 300 Calories" by Lisa Lillien

In the end, let me know if you’ve had a chance to read any of these books. What did you think about them? Which would you recommend? Let us know in the comments section below.

'The Strange Affair of Spring Heeled Jack' wins 2010 Philip K. Dick Award

This year’s winner of the annual Philip K. Dick Award was named yesterday at the 34th Annual Norweson in Seatac, Wash., and this year’s winner was “The Strange Affair of Spring Heeled Jack” by Mark Hodder.

Other finalists for this year’s award were “Yarn” by Jon Armstrong, “Chill” by Elizabeth Bear, “The Reapers are the Angels” by Alden Bell, “Song of Scarabaeus” by Sara Creasy, “State of Decay” by James Knapp and “Harmony” by Project Itoh, translated by Alexander O. Smith.

“Harmony” was this year’s Special Citation Award Winner, which is basically the award for coming in second.

The Philip K. Dick Award, which is named after one of the most influential sci-fi writers of all time, is presented annually with the support of the Philip K. Dick Trust “for distinguished science fiction published in paperback original form in the United States.” Most of Dick’s books, which included “Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?, aka, “Blade Runner,” were published as paperback originals.

The award is sponsored by the Philadelphia Science Fiction Society and the Philip K. Dick Trust and the award ceremony is sponsored by the NorthWest Science Fiction Society.

The award was first given right after Dick’s untimely death in 1982, and since then, a number of authors have received the award. Here’s the complete list of the winners:

1982 – Software by Rudy Rucker
1983 – The Anubis Gates by Tim Powers
1984 – Neuromancer by William Gibson
1985 – Dinner at Deviant’s Palace by Tim Powers
1986 – Homunculus by James P. Blaylock
1987 – Strange Toys by Patricia Geary
1988 – 400 Billion Stars by Paul J. McAuley and Wetware by Rudy V.B. Rucker
1989 – Subterranean Gallery by Richard Paul Russo

1990 – Points of Departure by Pat Murphy
1991 – King of Morning, Queen of Day by Ian McDonald
1992 – Through the Heart by Richard Grant
1994 - Mysterium by Robert C. Wilson
1995 – Headcrash by Bruce Bethke
1996 – The Time Ships by Stephen Baxter
1997 – The Troika by Stepan Chapman
1998 – 253: A Novel by Geoff Ryman
1999 – Vacuum Diagrams by Stephen Baxter

2000 – Only Forward by Michael Marshall Smith
2001 – Ship of Fools by Richard Paul Russo
2002 – The Mount: A Novel by Carol Emshwiller
2003 – Altered Carbon by Richard Morgan
2004 – Life by Gwyneth A. Jones
2005 – War Surf by M.M. Buckner
2006 – Spin Control by Chris Moriarty
2007 – Nova Swing by M. John Harrison
2008 – Emissaries from the Dead by Adam-Troy Castro and Terminal Mind by David Walton
2009 – Bitter Angels by C.L. Anderson
2010 – The Strange Affair of Spring Heeled Jack by Mark Hodder

In the end, how many of these books have you had a chance to read? Which did you like or dislike? Which would you recommend and why? Let us know in the comments section below.

'A Visit from the Goon Squad' destined to be an American classic

I finished reading “A Visit from the Goon Squad” by Jennifer Egan on Wednesday, and I predict that this book will one day be viewed as a classic of American literature.

This may happen sooner than later if fans of the book have anything to say about it.

Published in 2010 by Random House, “A Visit from the Goon Squad” reads like a collection of connected short stories in that each chapter is told from the point of view of a different character in settings from that range from New York to California to Africa and Europe. The story also jumps around in time from the present day, to the sixties and to the near future.

Most of the point-of-view characters are connected in some way, whether they know it or not. Many of them are involved in the music industry, while others are related or were friends or associates at some point in the book’s timeline.

“A Visit from the Goon Squad” reminded me of William Faulkner’s famous novel, “The Sound and The Fury.” Both novels jump around in time and are told from a variety of unusual, contrasting points of view. I would say that this is more artfully done in Egan’s novel, but that’s like saying that a Whopper is better than a Big Mac. Both are pretty darn good.

If you’re into books, I’ll be surprised if you haven’t heard of “A Visit from the Goon Squad.” It’s been on the best-seller lists for months and has raked in a number of big awards, including the 2011 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction and the 2010 National Book Critics Circle Award for Fiction. It was a finalist for the 2011 PEN/Faulkner Award and for the 2010 Los Angeles Times Book Prize for Fiction. It also won the 2010 Salon Book Award for Fiction.

As you might imagine, “A Visit from the Goon Squad” is considered one of the best books published in 2010. Publisher’s Weekly, The New York Times, Time Magazine and the American Library Association named it on their lists of the best books of the year. The novel also won The Morning News’ annual Tournament of Books and The New York Times named it the New York Times Notable Book of the Year (Fiction & Poetry).

Fans of “A Visit from the Goon Squad” will also be pleased to hear that the book is being adapted into a series for HBO. I don’t have HBO, unfortunately, so I’ll have to wait for it to hit NetFlix.

I thoroughly enjoyed “A Visit from the Goon Squad” and appreciate why it won this year’s Pulitzer Prize for Fiction. It’s also safe to say that I’ll be fan of Egan’s from now on. Her other novels include “The Invisible Circus” (1995), “Look at Me” (2001) and “The Keep” (2006). She also published a short story collection in 1993 called “Emerald City.”

In the end, how many of you have had a chance to read “A Visit from the Goon Squad” or any of Egan’s other books? What did you think about them? Which did you like or dislike and why? Let us know in the comments section below.

What's the best way to objectively evaluate Monday’s landfill vote?

Monday morning’s vote on the Conecuh Woods landfill application by the Conecuh County Commission will likely be looked back on as one of the most important votes in the county’s history.

Future generations might even look back on April 18, 2011 as a turning point in the county’s history.

Those of us living in the here and now are left trying to make sense of the 3-2 vote in favor of the application.

The handful of people in favor of the landfill are claiming Monday’s vote as a victory and see it as just another hurdle they’ve had to jump on the track to making the landfill a reality.

The thousands of citizens in Conecuh County and surrounding counties are outraged by the outcome of Monday’s vote. But, while disappointed, the grassroots organization opposed to the landfill, the Citizens for a Clean Southwest Alabama, say that Monday’s vote is just a minor setback. They’re suing on the grounds that the application process was flawed and illegal.

In my mind, from a historical standpoint, I see Monday’s vote as being very similar to the decision of the Conecuh County Board of Education in the late 80’s to consolidate the public high schools in the county. From what I’ve read about it and been told about it, that decision then was based on the county’s declining student population and was ultimately a question of money.

Those in favor of the landfill have also chalked it up to a question of money. Proponents of the landfill say that it will boost the local economy and will pump millions in payroll into the county over the lifetime of the landfill. And it goes without saying that more than a few of the people in favor of the landfill stand to gain financially, in some way, from the landfill. The county government stands to gain from tipping fees, which will pump money directly into county coffers.

With all this in mind, how do you properly and objectively evaluate Monday’s commission vote?

The commission is composed of five men from five different parts of the county. You can argue that, as elected officials, each commissioner has a duty to vote in accordance with the wishes of the citizens who live, vote and own property in their commission district. You can also argue that each commissioner is charged with looking out for the county’s best interest as a whole, both in the present and in years to come.

On Monday, commissioners Wendell Byrd, Jerold Dean and Leonard Millender voted in favor of the application while commissioners D.K. Bodiford and Hugh Barrow voted against it.

Did these commissioners, taken individually, cast votes in accordance with the wishes of their constituents? Did their votes represent what’s in the best interest of the county?

One question up for debate is what duty the commission has to people living outside of the county, many of which are just as opposed to the landfill as folks living within the county’s borders. On paper, the commission probably has no legally binding, black and white duty to anyone outside the county. But, on the other side of the coin, you can argue that, as living, breathing, thinking men, they have at least a moral duty to “do unto others, as you’d have them do unto you.”

In the end, I’m sure each commissioner put a lot of thought into the vote they cast on Monday. I’m sure they weighed how their decision would impact their constituents, the generations to come, the future of this county from a financial standpoint and from a quality of life standpoint, the impact it would have on the county’s image and the impact it would have on the local economy.

And, I’m sure they had their reasons for voting the way they voted. Maybe they had more than one reason, maybe they had a hundred thousand reasons. Who knows?

Former area high school players suit up for semi-pro football team

In last week’s Brewton Standard, sportswriter Adam Robinson wrote an interesting story about a new semi-pro football team, the Escambia Spartans, that will play its home games in Brewton.

As you might imagine, there are more than a few folks with Evergreen connections on the team. Former Hillcrest High School standout Willie “Jodey” Campbell is the team’s head coach and the team’s roster also includes three other former Hillcrest players – Patrick Cunningham, Jermaine Rodger and Jarvis Straughn.

The team will play in the Premier South Football League and will kick off their 10-game schedule on April 30 when they play the Gulf Coast Pirates in Brewton.

Other players from our part of the state that are on the team include (along with their former high school), Sedrick Samuel of W.S. Neal, Willie Samuel of W.S. Neal, Cortez Banks of T.R. Miller, Johntae Brown of T.R. Miller, Seth Holland of T.R. Miller, Justin Smith of W.S. Neal, Marcus Jones of T.R. Miller, Victor McKenzie of Atmore, Charlie “C.J.” Baker of Andalusia, Brandon Page of Monroe County High School, Gentry Dailey of Frisco City, Terrance Carter of Flomaton, Michael Berry of Andalusia, Therman Bencon of Flomaton, Quamie Richardson of Frisco City, Allen Spears of Flomaton, Jermaine Lett of Monroe County, Christian Goldsmith of Andalusia, Javan Lacey of Andalusia, Rickey Terrell of Monroe County, Jametielle Lacey of Andalusia and Brian Raymond of Monroe County.

The team still has a few spots to fill on its 55-man roster. If you’re at least 18 years old, you can find more information about how to join the team on the league’s Web site at www.thepsfl.com.

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Ripley’s Believe It or Not! featured an interesting sports-related item on Sunday about Todd Ragsdale of Talent, Oregon. Ragsdale reportedly runs up to 102 miles at a stretch – completely barefooted.

On June 5 of last year, Ragsdale set the world record (pending confirmation by Guinness World Records) for the longest distance run ever run barefooted. He did so as part of a Relay for Life fundraiser for the American Cancer Society. During that event, he ran 102 miles (413 laps) barefooted around the track at South Medford High School.

He described his feet as “swollen up like elephant feet” after his finish.

Prior to Ragsdale’s record-breaking performance, the previous world record was 90 miles.

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The NBA playoffs got under way last weekend as teams from the Eastern and Western conferences began battling it out for this year’s championship.

Eastern Conference teams that made the playoffs this year include the Chicago Bulls, Indiana Pacers, Miami Heat, Philadelphia 76ers, Boston Celtics, New York Knicks, Atlanta Hawks and Orlando Magic.

Western Conference teams in the playoffs are the Memphis Grizzlies, San Antonio Spurs, New Orleans Hornets, L.A. Lakers, Dallas Mavericks, Portland Trailblazers, Denver Nuggets and the Oklahoma City Thunder.

I follow the Hornets pretty close, and I have to admit that I was surprised that they even made the playoffs to begin with. Imagine my surprise on Sunday night when they beat the two-time defending NBA champion, Los Angeles Lakers, 109-100. I think it’s a long shot for the Hornets to keep this up, especially in a best-of-seven series against the Lakers.

For the record, I like San Antonio in the Western Conference, especially if they can get Manu Ginobili back on the court and keep him there. I like the Celtics in the Eastern Conference, but I wouldn’t count out the Bulls or Miami either.

The Evergreen Courant's Sports Flashback for April 21, 2011

FIVE YEARS AGO
APRIL 20, 2006

“Sparta Academy’s baseball team collected a big win over Fort Dale Academy in Greenville last week. Members of the team are Tony Raines, J.R. Williams, Bracken Davis, Justin Webb, Eric Talbot, Cory Waters, Justin Sexton, Brian Bolton, J.T. Murphy, Myles Wiggins, Joey Hawsey, Hunter Hutcheson, Damon Godwin, Gaston Bozeman, Will Ivey, Justin Booker and head coach Daniel Wilson.”

“Sparta Academy senior Nicole Gilbert pitched her first no-hit, shutout last Thursday as the Lady Warriors swept a doubleheader from Fort Dale Academy in Greenville.
“Members of Sparta’s softball team are Victoria Walden, Rebecca Ostrom, Emsley Lambert, Nicole Gilbert, Whitley Roberts, Sarah Smith, Olivia Morrison, Jordan Anthony, Madie Black, Ashton Garner, Kara Layton, Deanna Covin and Mary Frances Floyd.”

“Hillcrest High School will wrap up its 2006 baseball season today when the team visits J.U. Blacksher High School at Uriah at 6 p.m. Hillcrest has had to play all its games on the road this season. Members of the team are Willie Rudolph manager, Eddie Bryder, Austin Jones, Keon McCaskey, Zan Nevlous, Jeremy Ealum, Ryan Moorer, coach Wendell Jackson, Neil Presley, Marc Barlow, John Dees, Jeffrey Howard, Jarrod Thomas, Drew Barlow and Heavy Richardson.”

20 YEARS AGO
APRIL 18, 1991

“Little League opens Saturday: The Evergreen Little League will open the 1991 season this Saturday at 4 p.m. After the introduction of coaches and players, each team will play a full game. This includes T-Ball, minor league and Little League. Please support these youth by your attendance. Games are scheduled for Monday and Friday nights beginning April 22 at 6 p.m.”

35 YEARS AGO
APRIL 15, 1976

“Jim Ryan Jr. successfully defended his championship in the Evergreen Golf Club’s annual Spring Invitation Tournament Saturday. Ryan of Greenville’s golfing Ryans is congratulated by Tournament Chairman David T. Hyde Jr.”

“David Gorum and Paul Deason laid joint claim on this fine gobbler which they bagged Wednesday morning of last week in ‘Murder Creek Swamp.’ The Tom weighed 19 pounds, three ounces and had a nine-inch beard.”

“The recently organized Tri-County Aviation Club, Inc. met at its headquarters at Evergreen’s Middleton Field Airport on Sunday afternoon. Barbara Watson, secretary-treasurer, is sitting on the airplane and the men are George Simpson, instructor, Dan Champion, Jim Fields, advisor-member, David Ivey, first vice-president, Mark Bolton, Pete Wolff III, president and Gene Knapp. Other members not in the picture are James Gilmore, second vice-president, Bobby Johnson, Lee Smith, advisor-member, and associate members Ed Smith Sr. and David L. Burt Jr.”

Compiled by Sports Reporter Lee Peacock from past issues of The Evergreen Courant. To read The Courant’s weekly Sports Flashback feature online, visit leepeacock2010.blogspot.com.

My movie picks this week are 'The King's Speech' and 'Water for Elephants'

It’s Wednesday, so today I give you my weekly list of movies that will open in theatres this week as well as a list of movies that will be released this week on DVD.

I hope this will serve as a useful guide as to what’s going on this week if you happen to be near a movie theatre or if you’re looking for something to drop into your NetFlix queue.

Movies that are scheduled to hit theatres this Friday include:

- African Cats (Documentary, Special Interest, G): Directed by Alastair Fothergill and Keith Scholey.

- Apollo 18 (Science Fiction, Suspense): Directed by Gonzalo Lopez-Gallego.

- Dum Maaro Dum (Foreign, Suspense, Thriller, R): Starring Abhishek Bachchan, Bipasha Basu, Prateik Babbar, Aditya Pancholi and Harry Key.

- The Greatest Movie Ever Sold (Comedy, Documentary, Special Interest, PG-13): Directed by Morgan Spurlock and starring Morgan Spurlock and Ralph Nader.

- Incendies (Drama, R): Directed by Denis Villeneuve and starring Lubna Azabal, Melissa Desormeaux-Poulin, Remy Girard, Maxim Gaudette and Allen Altman.

- Madea’s Big Happy Family (Comedy, Drama, PG-13): Directed by Tyler Perry.

- Water For Elephants (Drama, PG-13): Directed by Francis Lawrence and starring Robert Pattinson, Reese Witherspoon, Christoph Waltz, Hal Holbrook and Ken Foree.

- When Harry Tries to Marry (Comedy, Romance, PG-13): Directed by Navan Padrai and starring Rahul Raj, Freishia Bomanbehram, Stefanie Estes, Caitlin Gold and Tony Mirrcandani.

New DVD releases for the week of April 19 include:

- Gulliver’s Travels (Adventure, Comedy, PG): Directed by Rob Letterman and starring Jack Black, Emily Blunt, Jason Segel, Amanda Peet and Billy Connolly.

- Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part I (Action, Drama, Family, Fantasy, PG-13): Directed by David Yates and starring Daniel Radcliffe, Rupert Grint, Emma Watson, Bill Nighy and Richard Griffiths. (Actually released on Fri., April 15)

- Ip Man 2: Legend of the Grandmaster (Action, R): Directed by Wilson Yip and starring Donnie Yen, Lynn Hung, Simon Yam, Sammo Hung and Darren Shahlavi.

- The King’s Speech (Drama, R): Directed by Tom Hooper and starring Colin Firth, Geoffrey Rush, Helena Bonham Carter, Timothy Spall and Guy Pearce.

- Rabbit Hole (Drama, PG-13): Directed by John Cameron Mitchell and starring Nicole Kidman, Aaron Eckhart, Dianne Wiest, Tammy Blanchard and Sandra Oh.

- Somewhere (Comedy, Drama, R): Directed by Sofia Coppola and starring Stephen Dorff, Elle Fanning, Chris Pontius, Michelle Monaghan and Benicio Del Toro.

- Street Kings 2: Motor City (Action, Crime and Mystery, Thriller, R): Directed by Chris Fisher and starring Ray Liotta, Shawn Hatosy, Clifton Powell, Charlotte Ross and Kevin Chapman.

- The Way Back (Drama, PG-13): Directed by Peter Weir and starring Colin Farrell, Ed Harris, Jim Sturgess, Saoirse Ronan and Dragos Bucur.

If I could only watch one movie at the theatre this week, it would be “Water for Elephants,” and if I had to pick just one DVD to rent this week, it would be “The King’s Speech.”

In the end, let me know if you get a chance to watch any of the new movies in theatres this week or if you’ve already seen any of the movies that have just been released on DVD. What did you think about them? Which would you recommend? Let us know in the comments section below.

'A Visit from the Goon Squad' wins Pulitzer for Fiction

Columbia University announced this year’s round of Pulitzer Prize winners yesterday, and a number of outstanding books brought home top honors this year.

Jennifer Egan’s “A Visit from the Goon Squad,” which won the National Book Critics Circle Award for Fiction last month, took home the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction.

The other finalists in the Fiction category were “The Privileges” by Jonathan Dee and “The Surrendered” by Chang-rae Lee.

“The Fiery Trial: Abraham Lincoln and American Slavery” by Eric Foner won the Pulitzer for History.

Other finalists in History were “Confederate Reckoning: Power and Politics in the Civil War South” by Stephanie McCurry, and “Eden on the Charles: The Making of Boston” by Michael Rawson.

“Washington: A Life” by Ron Chernow won the Pulitzer for Biography.

Other finalists included “The Publisher: Henry Luce and His American Century” by Alan Brinkley and “Mrs. Adams in Winter: A Journey in the Last Days of Napoleon” by Michael O’Brien.

“The Emperor of All Maladies: A Biography of Cancer” by Siddhartha Mukherjee won for General Nonfiction.

Other finalists in the General Nonfiction category included “The Shallows: What the Internet Is Doing to Our Brain” by Nicholas Carr and “Empire of the Summer Moon: Quanah Parker and the Rise and Fall of the Comanches, the Most Powerful Indian Tribe in American History” by S.C. Gwynne.

Last April, I posted a complete list of the all-time winners in the Fiction category. Today, I give you a list of the all-time winners in the History category. Here they are:

1917: With Americans of Past and Present Days by Jean Jules Jusserand
1918: A History of the Civil War, 1861–1865 by James Ford Rhodes
1919: No award given

1920: The War with Mexico by Justin H. Smith
1921: The Victory at Sea by William Sowden Sims and Burton J. Hendrick
1922: The Founding of New England by James Truslow Adams
1923: The Supreme Court in United States History by Charles Warren
1924: The American Revolution: A Constitutional Interpretation by Charles Howard McIlwain
1925: History of the American Frontier by Frederic L. Paxson
1926: A History of the United States by Edward Channing
1927: Pinckney's Treaty by Samuel Flagg Bemis
1928: Main Currents in American Thought by Vernon Louis Parrington
1929: The Organization and Administration of the Union Army, 1861–1865 by Fred Albert Shannon

1930: The War of Independence by Claude H. Van Tyne
1931: The Coming of the War, 1914 by Bernadotte E. Schmitt
1932: My Experiences in the World War by John J. Pershing
1933: The Significance of Sections in American History by Frederick J. Turner
1934: The People's Choice by Herbert Agar
1935: The Colonial Period of American History by Charles McLean Andrews
1936: A Constitutional History of the United States by Andrew C. McLaughlin
1937: The Flowering of New England, 1815–1865 by Van Wyck Brooks
1938: The Road to Reunion, 1865–1900 by Paul Herman Buck
1939: A History of American Magazines by Frank Luther Mott

1940: Abraham Lincoln: The War Years by Carl Sandburg
1941: The Atlantic Migration, 1607–1860 by Marcus Lee Hansen
1942: Reveille in Washington, 1860–1865 by Margaret Leech
1943: Paul Revere and the World He Lived In by Esther Forbes
1944: The Growth of American Thought by Merle Curti
1945: Unfinished Business by Stephen Bonsal
1946: The Age of Jackson by Arthur M. Schlesinger, Jr.
1947: Scientists Against Time by James Phinney Baxter III
1948: Across the Wide Missouri by Bernard DeVoto
1949: The Disruption of American Democracy by Roy Franklin Nichols

1950: Art and Life in America by Oliver W. Larkin
1951: The Old Northwest, Pioneer Period 1815–1840 by R. Carlyle Buley
1952: The Uprooted by Oscar Handlin
1953: The Era of Good Feelings by George Dangerfield
1954: A Stillness at Appomattox by Bruce Catton
1955: Great River: The Rio Grande in North American History by Paul Horgan
1956: The Age of Reform by Richard Hofstadter
1957: Russia Leaves the War: Soviet-American Relations, 1917–1920 by George F. Kennan
1958: Banks and Politics in America by Bray Hammond
1959: The Republican Era: 1869–1901 by Leonard D. White and Jean Schneider

1960: In the Days of McKinley by Margaret Leech
1961: Between War and Peace: The Potsdam Conference by Herbert Feis
1962: The Triumphant Empire: Thunder-Clouds Gather in the West, 1763–1766 by Lawrence H. Gipson
1963: Washington, Village and Capital, 1800–1878 by Constance McLaughlin Green
1964: Puritan Village: The Formation of a New England Town by Sumner Chilton Powell
1965: The Greenback Era by Irwin Unger
1966: The Life of the Mind in America by Perry Miller
1967: Exploration and Empire: The Explorer and the Scientist in the Winning of the American West by William H. Goetzmann
1968: The Ideological Origins of the American Revolution by Bernard Bailyn
1969: Origins of the Fifth Amendment by Leonard W. Levy

1970: Present At The Creation: My Years in the State Department by Dean Acheson
1971: Roosevelt: The Soldier Of Freedom by James MacGregor Burns
1972: Neither Black Nor White by Carl N. Degler
1973: People of Paradox: An Inquiry Concerning the Origins of American Civilization by Michael Kammen
1974: The Americans: The Democratic Experience by Daniel J. Boorstin
1975: Jefferson and His Time by Dumas Malone
1976: Lamy of Santa Fe by Paul Horgan
1977: The Impending Crisis, 1848–1861 by David M. Potter (Completed and edited by Don E. Fehrenbacher)
1978: The Visible Hand: The Managerial Revolution in American Business by Alfred D. Chandler, Jr.
1979: The Dred Scott Case: Its Significance in American Law and Politics by Don E. Fehrenbacher

1980: Been in the Storm So Long by Leon F. Litwack
1981: American Education: The National Experience, 1783–1876 by Lawrence A. Cremin
1982: Mary Chesnut's Civil War by C. Vann Woodward
1983: The Transformation of Virginia, 1740–1790 by Rhys L. Isaac
1984: No award given
1985: Prophets of Regulation by Thomas K. McCraw
1986: ...the Heavens and the Earth: A Political History of the Space Age by Walter A. McDougall
1987: Voyagers to the West: A Passage in the Peopling of America on the Eve of the Revolution by Bernard Bailyn
1988: The Launching of Modern American Science, 1846–1876 by Robert V. Bruce
1989: Battle Cry of Freedom: The Civil War Era by James M. McPherson
1989: Parting the Waters: America in the King Years 1954–1963 by Taylor Branch

1990: In Our Image: America's Empire in the Philippines by Stanley Karnow
1991: A Midwife's Tale by Laurel Thatcher Ulrich
1992: The Fate of Liberty: Abraham Lincoln and Civil Liberties by Mark E. Neely, Jr.
1993: The Radicalism of the American Revolution by Gordon S. Wood
1994: No award given
1995: No Ordinary Time: Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt: The Home Front in World War II by Doris Kearns Goodwin
1996: William Cooper's Town: Power and Persuasion on the Frontier of the Early American Republic by Alan Taylor
1997: Original Meanings: Politics and Ideas in the Making of the Constitution by Jack N. Rakove
1998: Summer for the Gods: The Scopes Trial and America's Continuing Debate Over Science and Religion by Edward J. Larson
1999: Gotham: A History of New York City to 1898 by Edwin G. Burrows and Mike Wallace

2000: Freedom From Fear: The American People in Depression and War, 1929–1945 by David M. Kennedy
2001: Founding Brothers: The Revolutionary Generation by Joseph J. Ellis
2002: The Metaphysical Club: A Story of Ideas in America by Louis Menand
2003: An Army at Dawn: The War in North Africa 1942–1943 by Rick Atkinson
2004: A Nation Under Our Feet by Steven Hahn
2005: Washington's Crossing by David Hackett Fischer
2006: Polio: An American Story by David Oshinsky
2007: The Race Beat by Gene Roberts and Hank Klibanoff
2008: What Hath God Wrought: the Transformation of America, 1815–1848 by Daniel Walker Howe
2009: The Hemingses of Monticello: An American Family by Annette Gordon-Reed
2010: Lords of Finance: The Bankers Who Broke the World by Liaquat Ahamed
2011: The Fiery Trial: Abraham Lincoln and American Slavery by Eric Foner

In the end, how many of the books mentioned above have you had a chance to read? What did you think about them? Which did you like or dislike? Which would you recommend? Let us know in the comments section below.

Pulizters were awarded in a number of other categories yesterday, including drama, poetry and music as well as a slate of journalism awards. For more information about the winners and finalists in these categories, visit www.pulitzer.org.

You too can be a Lovecraftian scholar...

I recently finished reading a very fine edition of H.P. Lovecraft’s work, 2005’s Modern Library Classic’s edition of “At the Mountains of Madness: The Definitive Edition,” which includes an insightful introduction by acclaimed fantasy fiction writer, China Mieville.

As you might have guessed from its title, this book contains one of Lovecraft’s best known and most popular works, his 1931 novella, “At the Mountains of Madness.” First published in 1936 in Astounding Stories magazine, the novella details an early university expedition to the cold wastes of Antarctica. Not long after expedition members begin drilling holes into the frozen continent’s ancient layers of rock and ice, do they discover a number of puzzling artifacts that lead to the discovery that could likely shake the very foundations of human civilization.

I’ve read “At the Mountains of Madness” a number of times, and it never gets old. It’s old-timey sci-fi and Lovecraftian horror at its best.

Fans of this story had reason to get excited in July 2010 when Warner Bros. announced that a motion picture version of the story was in the works and would be based on a screenplay by Guillermo del Toro and Matthew Robbins. James Cameron was set to direct, and Tom Cruise was supposed to act in the movie. However, all of that fell apart in March when the studio killed the film because they wanted to release it as a PG-13 movie, instead of the R-rated film that del Toro had envisioned. But I digress…

Also included between the covers of “At the Mountains of Madness: The Definitive Edition” was Lovecraft’s lengthy 1927 essay called “Supernatural Horror in Literature.” In this essay, Lovecraft discusses the origins of weird fiction and discusses a number of well-known horror writers, including Ambrose Bierce, Algernon Blackwood, Lord Dunsany, Nathaniel Hawthorne, M.R. James, Arthur Machen and Edgar Allan Poe. I enjoyed this survey of “supernatural literature” and couldn’t help but be reminded of Stephen King’s 1981 non-fiction book, “Danse Macabre,” which surveyed horror fiction and discussed its impact on popular culture.

Lovecraft’s “Supernatural Horror in Literature” referred to scores of horror novels, plays, operas, short stories, short story collections and poems, and below you’ll find a complete list of all those mentioned in the essay. Where possible, I’ve also listed the year of publication. Without further ado, here’s the list:

Novels and Other Books:

“The Adventures of Ferdinand, Count Fathom” by Tobias Smollet (1753)
“The Adventures of the German Student” by Washington Irving (1824)
“Alraune” by Hanns Heinz Ewers (1911)
“The Amber Witch” by Johannes W. Meinhold (1839)
“Apparition of Mrs. Veal” by Daniel Defoe (1706)
“Arabian Nights” (1706)
“Arthur Mervyn; or, Memoirs of the Year 1793” by Charles Brockden Brown (1799)
“The Beetle: A Mystery” by Richard Marsh (1897)
“The Boats of the ‘Glen Carriq’” by William Hope Hodgson (1907)
“Book of Enoch” (Ancient Jewish religious book)
“The Book of Wonder” by Lord Dunsany (1912)
“Brood of the Witch Queen” by Arthur Sarsfield Ward (1918)
“Can Such Things Be?” by Ambrose Bierce (1893)
“The Captain of the Polestar and Other Tales” by Arthur Conan Doyle (1890)
“Carnacki, the Ghost-Finder” by William Hope Hodgson (1913)
“The Castle of Otranto” by Horace Walpole (1764)
“The Castle Spectre” by Matthew Lewis (1796)
“The Castles of Athlin and Dunbayne” by Ann Radcliffe (1789)
“The Celestial Omnibus and Other Stories” by E.M. Forster (1911)
“The Centaur” by Algernon Blackwood (1911)
“The Children of the Abbey” by Regina Maria Roche ((1796)
“Chronicle of Clemendy” by Arthur Machen
“Claviculae of Solomon” (Anonymous author, 17th Century)
“Cold Harbour” by Francis Brett Young (1924)
“The Dark Chamber” by Leonard Cline (1927)
“Doctor Faustus” by Christopher Marlowe (1604)
“Doctor Grimshawe’s Secret: A Romance” by Nathaniel Hawthorne (1882)
“The Dolliver Romance and Other Pieces” by Nathaniel Hawthorne (1876)
“The Door of the Unreal” by Gerald Bliss (1919)
“The Double Shadow and Other Fantasies” by Clark Ashton Smith (1933)
“A Dreamer’s Tales” by Lord Dunsany (1910)
“The Dybbuk” by Shloyme Zanvl Rappoport (1914)
“Edgar Huntley, Or, Memoirs of a Sleepwalker” by Charles Brockden Brown (1799)
“The Elixir of Life” by Arthur Ransome
“Elsie Venner” by Dr. Oliver Wendell Holmes Sr. (1861)
“The Epicurean” by Thomas Moore (1827)
“The Episodes of Vathek” by William Beckford (1782)
“Fantastics” by Laficadio Hearn
“The Fatal Revenge; or, the Family of Montorio” by Charles Maturin (1807)
“Faust and the Demon” by George W.M. Reynolds (1896)
“Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus” by Mary Shelley (1818)
“The Five Jars” by M.R. James (1920)
“Gaston de Blondeville” by Ann Radcliffe (1826)
“The Ghost Pirates” by William Hope Hodgson (1909)
“Ghost Stories of an Antiquary” by M.R. James (1904)
“The Gods of the Mountain” by Lord Dunsany
“The Golem” by Gustav Meyrink (1914)
“The Great Return” by Arthur Machen (1915)
“Hamlet” by William Shakespeare (1599)
“Hans of Iceland” by Victor Hugo (1823)
“The Hill of Dreams” by Arthur Machen (1907)
“History of the Caliph Vathek” by William Beckford (1786)
“The Horrid Mysteries” by Marquis de Grosse (1796)
“The House of the Seven Gables” by Nathaniel Hawthorne (1851)
“The House on the Borderland” by William Hope Hodgson (1909)
“Incredible Adventures” by Algernon Blackwood (1914)
“In Search of the Unknown” by Robert W. Chambers (1904)
“In the Midst of Life” by Ambrose Bierce
“The Iron Chest” (play) by Stephen Sorace (1796)
“The Italian” by Ann Radcliffe (1797)
“The Jewel of Seven Stars” by Bram Stoker (1903)
“Jimbo: A Fantasy” by Algernon Blackwood (1909)
“John Silence – Physician Extraordinary” by Algernon Blackwood (1908)
“The King in Yellow” by Robert W. Chambers (1895)
“Kwaidan: Stories and Studies of Strange Things” by Lafcadio Hearn (1903)
“The Lair of the White Worm” by Bram Stoker (1911)
“Last Man” by Mary Shelley (1826)
“The Laughter of the Gods” by Lord Dunsany
“Le Morte d’Arthur” by Sir Thomas Malory (1485)
“Legends of the Province House and Other Twice Told Tales” by Nathaniel Hawthorne
“Letters on Demonology and Witchcraft” by Walter Scott (1830)
“Life and Letters of William Beckford” by Lewis Melville (1909)
“Lilith” by George Macdonald
“Louis Lambert” by Honore de Balzac
“Lukundoo and Other Stories” by Edward Lucas White (1927)
“Macbeth” by William Shakespeare (1603)
“The Magus” by Francis Barrett (1801)
“The Maker of Moons” by Robert W. Chambers (1896)
“The Man-Wolf” by Erckmann-Chatrian (1876)
“The Marble Faun” by Nathaniel Hawthorne (1860)
“Melmoth the Wanderer” by Charles Maturin (1820)
“The Money Diggers” by Washington Irving (1824)
“The Monk: A Romance” by Matthew Gregory Lewis (1796)
“More Ghost Stories of an Antiquary” by M.R. James (1911)
“The Mysteries of Udolpho” by Ann Radcliffe (1794)
“The Narrative of Arthur Gordon Pym of Nantucket” by Edgar Allan Poe (1838)
“A Night at an Inn” by Lord Dunsany
“The Night Land” by William Hope Hodgson (1912)
“Northanger Abbey” by Jane Austen (1817)
“The Old English Baron” by Clara Reeve (1778)
“One of Cleopatra’s Nights” by Theophile Gautier
“On Wonderful Events” by Phlegon (2nd Century AD)
“Ormond; or, the Secret Witness” by Charles Brockden Brown (1799)
“Others Who Return” by H.R. Wakefield
“The Phantom ‘Rickshaw” by Rudyard Kipling (1888)
“The Phantom Ship” by Frederick Marryat (1839)
“The Picture of Dorian Gray” by Oscar Wilde (1890)
“The Place Called Dagon” by Herbert S. Gorman (1927)
“The Purple Cloud” by Matthew Phipps Shiel (1901)
“The Queen’s Enemies” by Lord Dunsany
“The Recess” by Sophia Lee (1783)
“Redgauntlet” by Walter Scott (1824)
“The Return” by Walter de la Mare (1910)
“The Romance of the Forest” by Ann Radcliffe (1791)
“Seraphita” by Honore de Balzac
“She” by H. Rider Haggard (1886)
“A Sicilian Romance” by Ann Radcliffe (1790)
“Septimus Felton” by Nathaniel Hawthorne (1872)
“The Shadowy Thing” by H.B. Drake
“Sinister House” by Leland Hall
“Sir Bertrand, a Fragment” by John Aikin (1773)
“The Smoking Leg and Other Stories” by John Metcalfe (1925)
“The Song of the Sirens” by Edward Lucas White (1919)
“The Sorcerer’s Apprentice” by Hanns Heinz Ewers (1910)
“St. Irvyne; or, The Rosicrucian, A Romance” by Percy Bysshe Shelley (1811)
“St. Leon” by William Godwin (1799)
“Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde” by Robert Louis Stevenson (1886)
“A Strange Story” by Edward Bulwer-Lytton (1862)
“Tales of a Traveller” by Washington Irving (1824)
“Tanglewood Tales for Boys and Girls” by Nathaniel Hawthorne (1853)
“The Temptation of St. Anthony” by Gustave Flaubert (1849)
“The Terror” by Arthur Machen (1917)
“They Return at Evening” by H.R. Wakefield (1928)
“A Thin Ghost and Others” by M.R. James (1919)
“Things as They Are; or The Adventures of Caleb Williams” by William Godwin (1794)
“Thirty Strange Stories” by H.G. Wells (1897)
“The Three Imposters” by Arthur Machen (1895)
“Treatise on Elemental Sprites” by Paracelsus
“Trilby” by George du Maurier (1894)
“The Turn of the Screw” by Henry James (1898)
“Undine” by Friedrich de la Motte, Fouque (1811)
“The Upper Berth” by Francis Marion Crawford (1894)
“Uncanny Stories” by May Sinclair (1923)
“Varney, the Vampire” by James Malcolm Rymer (1847)
“Visible and Invisible” by E.F. Benson (1923)
“Wagner, the Wehr-wolf” by George W.M. Reynolds (1846-47)
“Wandering Ghosts” by Francis Marion Crawford (1911)
“A Warning to the Curious and Other Ghost Stories” by M.R. James (1925)
“The Were-Wolf” by Clemence Housman (1896)
“Wieland; or, The Transformation” by Charles Brockden Brown (1798)
“The Wild Ass’s Skin” by Honore de Balzac (1831)
“The Wind in the Rose Bush and Other Stories of the Supernatural” by Mary E. Wilkins Freeman (1903)
“Witch Wood” by John Buchan (1927)
“A Wonder-Book for Girls and Boys” by Nathaniel Hawthorne (1852)
“Wuthering Heights” by Emily Bronte (1847)
“Zanoni” by Edward Bulwer-Lytton (1842)
“Zastrozzi: A Romance” by Percy Bysshe Shelley (1810)
“Zofloya; or, The Moor” by Charlotte Dacre (1806)

Short Stories:

“The Adventure of the German Student” by Washington Irving (1824)
“All-Hallows” by Walter de la Mare
“The Ambitious Guest” by Nathaniel Hawthorne (1835)
“Ancient Sorceries” by Algernon Blackwood (1908)
“And He Shall Sing…” by H.R. Wakefield
“Avatar” by Theophile Gautier
“The Bad Lands” by John Metcalfe
“Blind Man’s Buff” by H.R. Wakefield
“The Body Snatcher” by Robert Louis Stevenson (1884)
“The Bowmen” by Arthur Machen (1914)
“The Cairn” by H.R. Wakefield
“The Camp of the Dog” by Algernon Blackwood (1908)
“Clarimonde” by Theophile Gautier
“Count Magnus” by M.R. James
“The Damned Thing” by Ambrose Bierce (1893)
“The Dead Smile” by Francis Marion Crawford (1899)
“The Dead Valley” by Ralph Adams Cram (1895)
“The Death of Halpin Frayser” by Ambrose Bierce (1893)
“The Diamond Lens” by Fitz James O’Brien (1858)
“The Diary of a Madman” by Guy de Maupassant
“Edward Randolph’s Portrait” by Nathaniel Hawthorne
“An Episode of Cathedral History” by M.R. James
“Ethan Brand” by Nathaniel Hawthorne (1850)
“The Face” by E.F. Benson
“The Facts in the Case of M. Valdemar” by Edgar Allan Poe (1845)
“The Fall of the House of Usher” by Edgar Allan Poe (1839)
“The Finest Story in the World” by Rudyard Kipling
“Fishhead” by Irvin S. Cobb (1911)
“The Foot of the Monkey” by Theophile Gautier
“For the Blood is Life” by Francis Marion Crawford (1905)
“The Ghost of Fear” by H.G. Wells (1897)
“The Great God Pan” by Arthur Machen (1890)
“The Green Wildebeest” by John Buchan
“He?” by Guy de Maupassant
“He Cometh and He Passeth By!” by H.R. Wakefield
“The Horla” by Guy de Maupassant (1887)
“The Horror-Horn” by E.F. Benson (1923)
“The House and the Brain” by Edward Bulwer-Lytton (1859)
“The House of Sounds” by Matthew Phipps Shiel
“The Invisible Eye” by Erckmann-Chatrian
“Ligeia” by Edgar Allan Poe (1838)
“The Listener” by Algernon Blackwood (1907)
“Look Up There!” by H.R. Wakefield
“Lot No. 249” by Arthur Conan Doyle (1892)
“The Man of the Crowd” by Edgar Allan Poe (1840)
“The Man Who Went Too Far” by E.F. Benson
“Markheim” by Robert Louis Stevenson (1884)
“The Mark of the Beast” by Rudyard Kipling
“The Masque of the Red Death” by Edgar Allan Poe (1842)
“Metzengerstein” by Edgar Allan Poe (1832)
“The Middle Toe of the Right Foot” by Ambrose Bierce (1891)
“The Minister’s Black Veil” by Nathaniel Hawthorne (1837)
“Mr. Kempe” by Walter de la Mare
“Mrs. Lunt” by Hugh Walpole
“MS. Found in a Bottle” by Edgar Allan Poe (1833)
“The Monkey’s Paw” by W.W. Jacobs (1902)
“Negotium Perambulans” by E.F. Benson
“The Nemesis of Fire” by Algernon Blackwood (1908)
“The Novel of the Black Seal” by Arthur Machen (1895)
“The Novel of the White Powder” by Arthur Machen (1895)
“Oh, Whistle, and I’ll Come to You, My Lad” by M.R. James
“On the River” by Guy de Maupassant
“Out of the Deep” by Walter de la Mare
“The Owl’s Ear” by Erckmann-Chatrian
“Philinnion and Machates” by Phlegon
“A Physical Invasion” by Algernon Blackwood (1908)
“A Recluse” by Walter de la Mare
“The Recrudescence of Imray” by Rudyard Kipling
“The Red Hand” by Arthur Machen (1895)
“The Red Lodge” by H.R. Wakefield
“Seaton’s Aunt” by Walter de la Mare
“Secret Worship” by Algernon Blackwood (1908)
“The Signalman” by Charles Dickens (1866)
“Silence – A Fable” by Edgar Allan Poe
“Shadow – A Parable” by Edgar Allan Poe
“The Shadows on the Wall” by Mary E. Wilkins Freeman
“The Shining Pyramid” by Arthur Machen (1895)
“Skule Sherry” by John Buchan
“Smith: An Episode in a Lodging House” by Algernon Blackwood (1906)
“The Snout” by Edward Lucas White
“The Spectre” by Guy de Maupassant
“The Spider” by Hanns Heinz Ewers
“The Spook House” by Ambrose Bierce
“The Stalls of Barchester Cathedral” by M.R. James
“The Suitable Surroundings” by Ambrose Bierce (1891)
“The Tapestried Chamber” by Walter Scott (1828)
“The Thirteenth Hole at Duncaster” by H.R. Wakefield
“Torture by Hope” by Villiers de l’Isle-Adam
“The Treasure of Abbot Thomas” by M.R. James
“The Tree” by Walter de la Mare
“The Upper Berth” by Francis Marion Crawford (1894)
“Wandering Willie’s Tale” by Walter Scott (1824)
“The Waters of Death” by Erckmann-Chatrian
“The Wendigo” by Algernon Blackwood (1910)
“The Werewolf” by Capt. Frederick Marryat
“What Was It? A Mystery” by Fitz James O’Brien (1859)
“The White People” by Arthur Machen (1904)
“The White Wolfe” by Guy de Maupassant
“Who Knows?” by Guy de Maupassant
“The Willows” by Algernon Blackwood (1907)
“The Wind in the Portico” by John Buchan
“The Vampyre” by John William Polidori (1819)
“The Venus of Ille” by Prosper Merimee (1837)
“A Visitor from Down Under” by L.P. Hartley
“Xelucha” by M.P. Shiel
“The Yellow Sign” by Robert Chambers (1895)
“The Yellow Wallpaper” by Charlotte Perkins Gillman (1892)

Poems:

“Alciphron” by Thomas Moore (1839)
“Beo-wulf” (Anonymous, 8th Century)
“The Bride of Corinth” by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1797)
“Childe Roland to the Dark Tower Came” by Robert Browning (1855)
“Christabel” by Samuel Taylor Coleridge (1797, 1800)
“The Hashish Eater, or The Apocalypse of Evil” by Clark Ashton Smith (1920)
“Horror” by Guy de Maupassant
“Kilmeny” by James Hogg
“Lamia” by John Keats (1819)
“The Listeners” by Walter de la Mare (1912)
“On Reading Arthur Machen” by Frank Belcknap Long Jr.
“The Rime of the Ancient Mariner” by Samuel Taylor Coleridge (1798)
“The Ring” by Thomas Moore
“Tales of Terror” by Matthew Lewis (1799)
“Tales of Wonder” by Matthew Lewis (1801)
“Tam o’Shanter” by Robert Burns (1790)
“The Wild Huntsman” by Gottfried August Burger (1796)

In the end, how many of these works have you had a chance to read? Which did you like or dislike? Which would you recommend? Let us know in the comments section below.

Jesse Ventura conspiracy book appears on best-seller list

It’s Sunday, so that means that it’s time for my weekly review of this week’s Publishers Weekly Best-Seller List. According to the list, we’ve got three new books at the top of the four major best-seller lists this week.

“The Fifth Witness” by Michael Connelly replaced “The Land of Painted Caves: A Novel” by Jean M. Auel as the top book on the hardcover fiction best-sellers list.

"Bossypants" by Tina Fey replaced "Onward: How Starbucks Fought for Its Life Without Losing Its Soul" by Howard Schultz and Joanne Gordon as the No. 1 book on the hardcover nonfiction best-sellers list.

"Water for Elephants: A Novel" by Sara Gruen replaced "Caught" by Harlan Coben as the top book on the mass market paperback best-sellers list.

"Heaven is for Real: A Little Boy's Astounding Story of His Trip to Heaven and Back" by Todd Burpo, Sonja Burpo, Colton Burpo and Lynn Vincent retained the No. 1 spoton the trade paperbacks best-sellers list.

There are seven books on this week’s hardcover fiction best-sellers list that weren’t on the list last week. Those books (and their place on the list) are "The Fifth Witness" by Michael Connelly (1), "I'll Walk Alone" by Mary Higgins Clark (3), "44 Charles Street" by Danielle Steel (4), "Miles to Go" by Richard Paul Evans (6), "Crunch Time" by Diane Mott Davidson (9), "The Secret Life of Damian Spinelli" by Carolyn Hennesy (12) and "She Walks in Beauty" by Caroline Kennedy (14).

There are eight books on this week’s hardcover nonfiction best-sellers list that weren’t on the list last week. They include "Bossypants" by Tina Fey (1), "63 Documents the Government Doesn't Want You to Read" by Jesse Ventura with Dick Russell (4), "Malcolm X" by Manning Marable (5), "All That Is Bitter and Sweet: A Memoir" by Ashley Judd, with Maryanne Vollers (7), "The Healthy Home" by Myron Wentz, Dave Wentz (8), "Unlimited" by Jillian Michaels (10), "Eva's Kitchen" by Eva Longoria (13) and "The Bond" by Wayne Pacelle (15).

There are four books on this week’s mass market paperbacks best-sellers list that weren’t on that list last week. They include "Navarro's Promise" by Lora Leigh (2), "Fever Dream" by Lincoln Child & Douglas Preston (11), "Santa Fe Edge" by Stuart Woods (13) and "Taken by the Prince" by Christina Dodd (15).

There are four books on this week’s trade paperbacks list that weren’t on the list last week. They include "The Help" by Kathryn Stockett (2), "The Judgment" by Beverly Lewis (7), "Just Kids" by Patti Smith (10), "Spoken from the Heart" by Barbara Bush (12), "Drive" by Daniel H. Pink (13) and "Every Last One" by Anna Quindlen (15).

As a reminder, I’m posting these lists each Sunday because they, as a whole, represent a great, contemporary recommended reading list. These lists are initially released each week on Thursday, and if you’re interested in reading them then, visit Publishers Weekly’s Web site at www.publishersweekly.com. Below you’ll find all four of this week’s best-seller lists.

HARDCOVER FICTION
1. "The Fifth Witness" by Michael Connelly
2. "The Land of Painted Caves: A Novel" by Jean M. Auel
3. "I'll Walk Alone" by Mary Higgins Clark
4. "44 Charles Street" by Danielle Steel
5. "Lover Unleashed" by J.R. Ward
6. "Miles to Go" by Richard Paul Evans
7. "Toys" by James Patterson and Neil McMahon
8. "Live Wire" by Harlan Coben
9. "Crunch Time" by Diane Mott Davidson
10. "Sing You Home: A Novel" by Jodi Picoult
11. "Mystery: An Alex Deleware Novel" by Jonathan Kellerman
12. "The Secret Life of Damian Spinelli" by Carolyn Hennesy
13. "The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest" by Stieg Larsson
14. "She Walks in Beauty" by Caroline Kennedy
15. "The Saturday Big Tent Wedding Party" by Alexander McCall Smith

HARDCOVER NONFICTION
1. "Bossypants" by Tina Fey
2. "The 17 Day Diet: A Doctor's Plan Design for Rapid Results" by Dr. Mike Moreno
3. "Unbroken: A World War II Story of Survival, Resilience, and Redemption" by Laura Hillenbrand
4. "63 Documents the Government Doesn't Want You to Read" by Jesse Ventura with Dick Russell
5. "Malcolm X" by Manning Marable
6. "Love Wins: A Book About Heaven, Hell, and the Fate of Every Person Who Ever Lived" by Rob Bell
7. "All That Is Bitter and Sweet: A Memoir" by Ashley Judd, with Maryanne Vollers
8. "The Healthy Home" by Myron Wentz, Dave Wentz
9. "The Social Animal: The Hidden Sources of Love, Character, and Achievement" by David Brooks
10. "Unlimited" by Jillian Michaels
11. "Onward: How Starbucks Fought for Its Life Without Losing Its Soul" by Howard Schultz and Joanne Gordon
12. "Red: My Uncensored Life in Rock" by Sammy Hagar
13. "Eva's Kitchen" by Eva Longoria
14. "Moonwalking with Eintstein: The Art and Science of Remembering Everything" by Joshua Foer
15. "The Bond" by Wayne Pacelle

MASS MARKET PAPERBACKS
1. "Water for Elephants: A Novel" by Sara Gruen
2. "Navarro's Promise" by Lora Leigh
3. "The Shadow of Your Smile" by Mary Higgins Clark
4. "Indulgence in Death" by J.D. Robb
5. "Caught" by Harlan Coben
6. "Dead in the Family" by Charlaine Harris
7. "Home Free" by Fern Michaels
8. "The Lincoln Lawyer" by Michael Connelly
9. "Game of Thrones" by George R.R. Martin
10. "The Darkest Secret" by Gena Showalter
11. "Fever Dream" by Lincoln Child & Douglas Preston
12. "Driftwood Cottage" by Sherryl Woods
13. "Santa Fe Edge" by Stuart Woods
14. "The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo" by Stieg Larsson
15. "Taken by the Prince" by Christina Dodd

TRADE PAPERBACKS
1. "Heaven is for Real: A Little Boy's Astounding Story of His Trip to Heaven and Back" by Todd Burpo, Sonja Burpo, Colton Burpo and Lynn Vincent
2. "The Help" by Kathryn Stockett
3. "Water for Elephants: A Novel" by Sara Gruen
4. "The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks" by Rebecca Skloot
5. "Cutting for Stone" by Abraham Verghese
6. "Inside of a Dog" by Alexandra Horowitz
7. "The Judgment" by Beverly Lewis
8. "The Art of Racing in the Rain: A Novel" by Garth Stein
9. "The Postmistress" by Sarah Blake
10. "Just Kids" by Patti Smith
11. "Have a Little Faith: A True Story" by Mitch Albom
12. "Spoken from the Heart" by Barbara Bush
13. "Drive" by Daniel H. Pink
14. "Heart of the Matter" by Emily Giffin
15. "Every Last One" by Anna Quindlen

In the end, let me know if you’ve had a chance to read any of these books. What did you think about them? Which would you recommend? Let us know in the comments section below.

How many of these outstanding baseball books have you read?

The major league baseball season is just a couple of weeks old, and I saw in the Los Angeles Times recently that book critic David L. Ulin had revisited his list of favorite baseball books.

Back in 2006, right before the start of the pro baseball season, Ulin compiled a list of his nine favorite baseball books, that is, one book for each inning in the game or for each player on the team.

The list is maybe most notable for the famous baseball books that didn’t make the list – “The Boys of Summer” by Roger Kahn, “Ball Four” by Jim Bouton, “A Day in the Bleachers” by Arnold Hano, “Veeck – As In Wreck” by Bill Veeck, “The Unforgettable Season” by G.H. Fleming, “Game of Shadows” by Mark Fainaru-Wada and Lance Williams.

Books that were on his list, included the following titles:
1. “You Know Me, Al” by Ring Lardner
2. “The Natural” by Bernard Malamud
3. “The Long Season” by Jim Brosnan
4. “Can’t Anybody Here Play This Game?” by Jimmy Breslin
5. “The Glory of Their Times” by Lawrence S. Ritters
6. “The Universal Baseball Association, Inc., J. Henry Waugh, Prop.” by Robert Coover
7. “Five Seasons” by Roger Angell
8. “The Celebrant” by Eric Rolfe Greenberg
9. “Baseball’s Great Experiment: Jackie Robinson and His Legacy” by Jules Tygiel

While we’re on the subject of baseball books, I also saw where “The Last Hero: A Life of Henry Aaron” by Howard Bryant had been named the winner of this year’s Casey Award for Best Baseball Book of the Year.

For those of you unfamiliar with the Casey Award, it has been given annually since 1983 to the best baseball book of the year by the editors of “Spitball: The Literary Baseball Magazine.”

Other finalists for this year’s award included the following books:

- "The Amazing Tale of Mr. Herbert and His Fabulous Alpine Cowboys Baseball Club: An Illustrated History of the Best Little Semipro Baseball Team in Texas" by DJ Stout
- "Cardboard Gods: An All-American Tale Told Through Baseball Cards" by Josh Wilker
- "The Empire Strikes Out: How Baseball Sold U.S. Foreign Policy and Promoted the American Way Abroad" by Robert Elias
- "Fifty-nine in '84: Old Hoss Radbourn, Barehanded Baseball & the Greatest Season a Pitcher Ever Had" by Edward Achorn
- "The Immortals: An Art Collection of Baseball's Best" by Dick Perez, text by William C. Kashatus
- "The Last Boy: Mickey Mantle and the End of America's Childhood" by Jane Leavy
- "Pie Traynor: A Baseball Biography" by James Forr and David Proctor
- "Target Field: The New Home of the Minnesota Twins" by Steve Berg
- "Willie Mays: The Life, The Legend" by James S. Hirsch

What follows is a complete list of the all-time winners of the Casey Award for Best Baseball Book of the Year:

1983 – “The Celebrant” by Eric Rolfe Greenberg
1984 – “Bums: An Oral History of the Brooklyn Dodgers” by Peter Golenbock
1985 – “Good Enough to Dream” by Roger Kahn
1986 – “The Bill James Historical Abstract” by Bill James
1987 – “Diamonds Are Forever” by Peter H. Gordon
1988 – “Blackball Stars” by John Holway
1989 – “The Pitch That Killed” by Mike Sowell
1990 – “Baseball: The People’s Game” by Harold Seymour
1991 – “To Everything a Season: Shibe Park and Urban Philadelphia, 1909-1976" by Bruce Kuklick
1992 – “The Negro Baseball Leagues” by Phil Dixon
1993 – “Diamonds” by Michael Gershman
1994 – “Lords of the Realm” by John Helyar
1995 – “Walter Johnson” by Henry W. Thomas
1996 – “Slide, Kelly, Slide” by Marty Appel
1997 – “Play for a Kingdom” by Thomas Dyja
1998 – “Judge and Jury” by David Pietrusza
1999 – “Slouching Toward Fargo” by Neal Karlen
2000 – “Cy Young” by Reed Browning
2001 – “The Final Season” by Tom Stanton
2002 – “Shut Out” by Howard Bryant
2003 – “Moneyball” by Michael Lewis
2004 – “Ted Williams” by Leigh Montville
2005 – “Luckiest Man” by Jonathan Eig
2006 – “Game of Inches” by Peter Morris
2007 – “The Soul of Baseball” by Joe Posnanski
2008 – "We are the Ship" by Kadir Nelson
2009 – "Satchel: The Life and Times of an American Legend" by Larry Tyre
2010 – "The Last Hero: A Life of Henry Aaron" by Howard Bryant

In the end, how many of the books mentioned above have you had a chance to read? What did you think about them? Which did you like or dislike? Which would you recommend? Let us know in the comments section below.

'Ghost Hunter's Bible' will interest ghosthunting enthusiasts

Earlier today, I finished reading Trent Brandon’s 2004 book, “The Ghost Hunter’s Bible: The Definitive Edition,” and I enjoyed this non-fiction look into the world of ghosthunting.

Originally published in 2002 by Zerotime Publishing, this 175-page book covers a wide variety of paranormal topics, including how to conduct a ghosthunt, simple ghosthunting techniques, ghosthunting tools, how to interview witnesses, capturing ghosts on film and video, electronic voice phenomena, how to use an electro-magnetic field detector, parapsychology, common mistakes that many ghosthunters make and over 40 pages of famous ghost stories.

The book also contains an interesting list of paranormal organizations from around the world as well as a quick reference guide. I was especially interested in Brandon’s list of books that he referenced while writing the book.

Books that were referenced in “The Ghost Hunter’s Bible” included:

- “Afterlife” by Colin Wilson (1985)

- “The Amityville Horror” by Jay Anson (1977)

- “The Amityville Horror Conspiracy” by Stephen Kaplan and Salch Roxanne Kaplan (1995)

- “The Bell Witch” by Charles Bailey Bells (1934)

- “The Complete Book of Devils and Demons” by R.N. Leonard Ashley (2001)

- “The Complete Haunted House Book” by Tim Harkleroad (1998)

- “Crime Scene Search and Physical Evidence Handbook” by Richard H. Fox and Cunningham L. Carl (1992)

- “The Demonologist” by Ed Warren

- “A Dictionary of Ghosts” by Peter Haining (1982)

- “The Encyclopedia of Ghosts” by Daniel Cohen (1984)

- “The Encyclopedia of Ghosts and Spirits” by Rosemary Ellen Guiley (1992)

- “The Encyclopedia of Witches and Witchcraft” by Rosemary Ellen Guiley (1989)

- “Enigma of Borley Rectory: Britain’s Most Haunted House” by Ivan Banks (1996)

- “The Enigma of the Poltergeist” by Raymond Bayless (1967)

- “ESP, Hauntings and Poltergeists: A Parapsychologist’s Handbook” by Loyd Auerbach (1986)

- “The Evidence of Phantom Hitchhikers” by Michael Gross (1984)

- “Gazetteer of British, Scottish and Irish Ghosts” by Peter Underwood (1985)

- “The Ghost Hunter’s Guide” by Peter Underwood (1987)

- “The Ghost Hunter’s Handbook” by Troy Taylor (1998)

- “Ghosts and How to See Them” by Peter Underwood (1993)

- “Ghosts of Gettysburg I, II, III, IV, V” by Mark Nesbitt (1991-2000)

- “The Grief Recovery Handbook: The Action Program for Moving Beyond Death, Divorce and Other Losses” by Russell Friedman and John W. James (1988)

- “Harper’s Encyclopedia of Mystical and Paranormal Experience” by Rosemary Ellen Guiley (1991)

- “Haunted Places: The National Directory” by Dennis William Hauch (1996)

- “Haunting of Borley Rectory” by E.J. Dingwall, Kathleen M. Goldney and Trevor H. Hall (1956)

- “Hauntings and Apparitions” by Andrew MacKenzie (1982)

- “Hidden Files: Law Enforcement’s True Case Stories of the Unexplained and Paranormal” by Sue Kovach (1998)

- “The Holy Bible”

- “Life After Loss: Conquering Grief and Finding Hope” by Dianne Arcangel and Raymond A. Moody Jr. (2001)

- “The Limits of Influence: Psychokinesis and the Philosophy of Science” by E. Stephen Braude (1997)

- “The Most Haunted House in England” by Price Harry (1990)

- “Mysteries of the Unknown: Phantom Encounters” (Time Life Books) (1988)

- “Ouija: The Most Dangerous Game” by Stoker Hunt (1992)

- “The Paranormal Sourcebook: A Complete Guide to All Things Otherworldly” by E. Charles Sellier and Joe Meier (1999)

- “Parapsychology: Science or Magic? A Psychological Perspective” by E. James Alcock (1981)

- “Parapsychology: The Controversial Science” by R. Brough (1991)

- “Plutarch: Lives of Noble Grecians and Romans, Vol. 1” (Modern Library Series) by A.H. Clough (editor) and John Dryden (translator) (1992)

- “Poltergeist: A Study in Destructive Haunting” by Colin Wilson (1993)

- “Quantum Questions: Mystical Writings of the World’s Great Physicists” by Ken Wilber (1984)

- “The Seen and Unseen” by Andrew MacKenzie (1987)

- “Unexplained!” by Jerome Clark (1999)

- “Witches – An Encyclopedia of Paganism and Magic” by Michael Jordan (1998)

In the end, I enjoyed reading “The Ghost Hunter’s Bible: The Definitive Edition” and would recommend it to anyone in the audience with an interest in ghosthunting or the paranormal. How many of you have had the chance to read this book or any of the others listed above? What did you think about them? Which did you like or dislike? Which would you recommend? Let us know in the comments section below.