Ti | Book Chatter

It rocks mine.

Literary Fiction, as defined by Wikipedia:

Literary fiction is a term that has come into common usage since around 1960, principally to distinguish serious fiction (that is, work with claims to literary merit) from the many types of genre fiction and popular fiction (i.e., paraliterature). In broad terms, literary fiction focuses more on style, psychological depth, and character[1][2], the plot may or may not be important. Mainstream commercial fiction focuses more on narrative and plot.

I read other genres, but the one that I go back to again and again, is Literary Fiction. So, it’s no surprise that Wallace from Unputdownables contacted me about being a Literary Fiction judge for the Indie Lit Awards (her baby). I, along with Lyndsey, have been tasked with putting the Lit Fiction panel together. We are almost there too. As soon as we have the final panel, I will post an update. Oh, and if any of the panel members happen to be reading this, your panel button is coming soon!

Here’s a bit of info about the awards:

Independent Literary Awards are given to books that have been recommended and voted on by independent literary bloggers. Nominations are open to independent literary bloggers only, and are then voted upon by a panel of bloggers who are proficient in the genre they represent. Each panel is led by a judge(s) who oversee(s) the integrity of the process.

Since Lyndsey and I represent the Literary Fiction category, we’d be interested in your thoughts on what Literary Fiction book, published in 2010, tickled your fancy. If you’re a literary blogger and would like to submit a book for consideration right now, because you know with all your heart that the book you just read is THE book of the year, then we’d like to hear from you!

Things to remember when you nominate a book:

-You must be a literary blogger; and a link to your blog must be provided so we can verify this. (You may not be the author, publisher, or publicist of the book you are nominating).

-You may nominate a book that has already been listed (the books with the most nominations will be what we add to the Long List).

-You may nominate books in more than one genre, but only one per genre and please make one of those genres Literary Fiction (gotta plug the category).

-Nominations are open until mid-December.

But, if you’d rather wait a few months to see if a better title awaits you, then that’s fine too. Just bookmark the site and I’ll remind you about it as the end of the year approaches.

At the end of the year, we’ll have a nice list of titles to choose from and then early next year… a winner!

If you’d like to promote the event on your own blog, please use this button:

It will be hard to determine one winner, but I can’t wait to see what makes the short list.

Fever Dream Book Cover

Fever Dream
By Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child
Grand Central Publishing
May 2010
405pp

The Short of It:

A solid addition to the Special Agent Pendergast series. It contains all of the witty anecdotes that I’ve come to expect from Pendergast, but it’s also a bit of a page-turner.

The Rest of It:

I have a long-standing love affair with Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child. Years ago…I picked-up Relic, which was book #1 in the series and since then, I’ve been enjoying the series every couple of years. There have been a few misses, so I consider these books guilty pleasures and nothing more. However, every once in a while I am reminded how good they are. This is one such case.

Fever Dream is about Special Agent Pendergast and his discovery that his wife’s death, years ago, may not have been the accident he imagined it to be. You see, he knew she was mauled by a lion while game hunting in Africa, but what he didn’t know is that his wife’s rifle, her only means of protection, was filled with blanks. With this new piece of information, he sets out to find the true killer.

What makes these books special are the characters. Pendergast is a rather refined individual. Not your typical FBI agent. There are lots of asides and witticisms that are quite enjoyable. On the other hand, D’Agosta, his liaison in the police department is not as refined and a bit more stereotypical so the contrast between the two is quite entertaining.

Overall, Fever Dream was a quick read and provided a much-needed distraction but wasn’t all “fluff” and pat endings. If you shy away from crime fiction because of the million little details or mystery because of the formulaic quality of it, then I think you will like this one.

It should be noted as well, that it really doesn’t matter which order you read these books in. They are all pretty much stand-alone pieces.

Source: Purchased for Duckie (My Kindle)

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