Friday Reads & Links - 10/17/2014

I am powering through "The Secret Wisdom of the Earth" by Christopher Scotton in preparation for Hachette's Book Club Brunch this Saturday. They sent attendees an ARC of the novel, scheduled to be published next January, so that we can discuss with the author during one of the sessions. Also, very, very excited to see Edan Lepucki & Maureen Corrigan. On audio, I wrapped up "Magic Bleeds," the fourth Kate Daniels novel, and unfortunately the last one my library has on audio or ebook, despite there being seven books out right now! On ebook, I'm still working on "Reading Lolita in Tehran" for NYC Book Club.

Some bookish links to kick off your weekend:

• Booker news is everywhere! First, the winner was announced - congratulations to Richard Flanagan for "The Narrow Road to the Deep North." If you're interested in reading the shortlist, the Guardian has a nice round-up of the authors' inspirations for their novels.
• The Guardian also announced the winner of the Not the Booker Prize, which went to Simon Sylvester's "The Visitor."
• The shortlist for the National Book Award was also announced this week. Lots of good picks there.
• Brooklyn Magazine published a thoughtful list of best books by state (though I'm skeptical of a list that doesn't put "The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao" for New Jersey).
• Book Riot introduced me to Literary Starbucks.
• The Huffington Post produced a list of writers with dachshunds.
• Finally, though this is an older piece, the Telegraph wrote a lovely profile of the late author Eva Abbotson. I read and re-read "The Secret of Platform 13" over and over as a child.