TresSugar

Play Battle of the Books - For a Chance to Win $1,000!

TresSugar — Sun, 22 Nov 2009 00:00:22 -0800

In TrèsSugar's Battle of the Books faceoff, we've pitted some of the most influential books against each other. Pick which one you'd rather read, and we'll find out what's top shelf.

Finding titles to add to your holiday reading list not incentive enough? We'll be giving away a $1,000 grand prize each month - you must be logged in, and you'll be entered once every time you play. (Check out the official rules here.) What are you waiting for? Get choosy.

10 Smart and Sexy Books

TresSugar — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 15:00:59 -0800

Forget the Literary Review's Bad Sex Scene award - we want the good ones, but not the smut . . . necessarily. Luckily, Nerve tracks the books with the best sex scenes all year with its Henry Miller awards. Named after the novelist, it rewards the best literary sex scenes in the English language. We've selected our 10 favorites.

Source: Flickr User jamelah

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Palin: AP Did "Opposition Research" on Going Rogue

TresSugar — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 15:00:25 -0800

Sarah Palin blasted the Associated Press yesterday for doing "opposition research," more commonly known as fact-checking, on her new book Going Rogue.

"Amazingly, but not surprisingly, the AP somehow nabbed a copy of the book before it was released," she said. "They're now erroneously reporting on the book's contents and are repeating many of the same things they spewed during the campaign and afterwards."

She wrote this on her Facebook page, which doesn't help her cause, but she is onto something. Going Rogue is embargoed, meaning her publisher will not release advance copies to the press before its on-sale date (tomorrow), and the press, even if it were to happen upon a copy early, is not to review it.

So what did the "opposition researchers" find? Find out after the jump.

Who's Your Favorite Female Author?

TresSugar — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 09:00:00 -0800

It's no secret that we love female writers around here at Sugar HQ, but according to Publishers Weekly, no book written by a woman was good enough to make the list of the top 10 titles of 2009. Maybe it's time for women to start taking masculine pen names again.

In response to the disappointing list, the group Women in Letters and Literary Arts (WILLA) has put together a list of books that were overlooked, written by authors like Lorrie Moore, Rita Dove, Margaret Atwood, Alice Munro, Mavis Gallant, and Alicia Ostriker.

I thought it could be fun to make our own list of amazing female authors. So tell me: who is your favorite author, who also happens to be a woman? (And if you're looking for books written by either sex, check out our list of November must reads.)

Source: Flickr User netsella

Chick Lit Comes in All Different Sizes

TresSugar — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 06:00:12 -0800

As far as I knew, literary characters already came in all different shapes and sizes, but apparently there's a "publishing phenomenon" sweeping America like a fad diet: curvy chick lit characters who fully accept their weight.

The UK Guardian explains that average-sized women want to relate to the heroines they read about - and they don't want the stories to be all about dieting. Titles that fit under the "big chit lit" umbrella include The Wife's Tale, a book about a woman who turns her life around (not by losing weight!) after her universe shrunk "to a well-worn path from the bedroom to the refrigerator," and Last-Minute Proposal, the story of cake-baker Tilly and the man who loves her cozy curves.

Do you think books like these will help women love their bodies more? (And if you're looking for books of any genre to add to your reading list, check out our list of November must reads.)

TrèsSugar's November Must Reads

TresSugar — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 15:00:00 -0800

Hundreds of new books clamor for attention on the already-packed shelves at bookstores each month, so we've slushed through all the new titles to bring you the most promising pages of November. Once you've checked out the latest must reads, explore some of the most influential books of all time in our Battle of the Books faceoff.

Source: Flickr User Issac Leedom

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The Books of Mad Men

TresSugar — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 11:00:00 -0700

Mad Men creator Matt Weiner has said Helen Gurley Brown's Sex and the Single Girl and Betty Friedan's The Feminine Mystique are major influences on the show, but we have yet to get a gander at any characters reading those books. Yet the characters do read plenty, and thankfully, the books of Mad Men are as carefully chosen, as we'd hope. Each tells us something about the character and the time. Let's find out what.

Source: Flickr User Nick Treby

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Woman Reads a Book a Day For an Entire Year

TresSugar — Mon, 12 Oct 2009 10:10:00 -0700

When I was in college, in addition to all the books I had to read for school, I was an avid fiction reader. Even then, if I read a book a week, I felt I was doing pretty well.

Forty-six-year-old Nina Sankovitch of Westport, CT, made it her goal to read book a day while blogging (naturally!) about her activities, in part to share her love of books with others and as a way to get through the pain of her sister's death in 2005. Her rules: the books have to be ones she's never read before, she reads only one book per author, and she posts her reviews the next day. She's a couple weeks away from the end of her self-imposed reading marathon.

How does someone, even a fast reader, have time to read a book a day? It doesn't hurt that the former environmental lawyer appears to be at home most of the day, and she has someone coming to her house to help her with household chores every other day. With all the things you have to do (job, school, cleaning, socializing), how long does it take you to get through a book these days?

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TrèsSugar's October Must Reads

TresSugar — Thu, 01 Oct 2009 15:00:00 -0700

Hundreds of new books clamor for attention on the already-packed shelves at bookstores each month, so we've slushed through all the new titles to bring you the most promising pages of October. Once you've checked out the latest must reads, explore some of the most influential books of all time in our Battle of the Books faceoff.

Source: Photo by Flickr User Issac Leedom

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Censored: Books Banned For Sexual Content

colleenb — Thu, 01 Oct 2009 04:00:00 -0700

It's Banned Books Week and time to honor some of the most reviled books in America. While book-banning may sound like a throwback to Victorian times, censoring books continues to flourish in 21st-century schools. What's most surprising is a book can be removed from a curriculum, reading list, or school library with the complaint of just one parent. Violence, racial themes, and the occult are commonly cited reasons, but an even more popular one is sexual content. Check out these nine books that have been removed from schools in the last two years, and tell us if you think there's ever a good reason to ban a book.

Source: Flickr User wheelo50411

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