Amazon has churned out a number of top books lists this year. We’ve already mentioned the Editors’ Top 100 Books, but there’s also the Customers’ Top 100 Books, the Top 10 Literature and Fiction, the Top 10 Cookbooks, and the Top 10 Science Books.
Amazon’s Top Book Lists
Mary H.K. Choi’s Hidden Joy in Not Being Translated
Mary H.K. Choi discusses her new novel, Yolk, and why she is partially relieved it has not been translated into Korean, the language spoken by her parents.
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Jane Eyre Goes Global
Matthew Reynolds examines how Jane Eyre became a global phenomenon, as well as how translators approach the thoroughly English text.
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Why Art Matters
At the Guardian, Alain de Botton, author of the forthcoming Religion for Atheists, considers whether “museums of art are our new churches” and says “modern museums of art fail to tell people directly why art matters.”
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All the things that are in me are in you
Lev Grossman discusses inheritable libraries, the similarities between print books and wifi, and the pleasures of the codex in this video.
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The So-Called Elite
n+1 provides a fascinating study of today’s divisive concept of cultural elitism: “Today, though, it’s the bearers of culture rather than the wielders of power who are taxed with elitism. If the term is applied to powerful people, this is strictly for cultural reasons, as the different reputations of the identically powerful Obama and Bush attest. No one would think to call a foul-mouthed four-star general an elitist, even though he commands an army, any more than the term would cover a private equity titan who hires Rod Stewart to serenade his 60th birthday party.”
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“As if they didn’t exist.”
Recommended Reading: This excerpt from Brian Warfield’s forthcoming novella Bridges No Longer Span These Waters.
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