Care For Another Best Books List?
Ever heard of Leonard Marcus?
Of course you have. You have all, after all, enjoyed his collection of legendary Harper Collins editor Ursula Nordstrom's letters as found in his book Dear Genius. I'm sure you thrilled to his recent wonderful series of interviews with fantasy authors in The Wand and the Word. Or maybe you liked the picture book he created with his wife about that sock monkey.
I bring this up because it looks as if Parenting Magazine gave Mr. Marcus the chance to list his picks for the Best Books of 2006. A co-worker of mine assures me that the online edition of this list is more extensive than its print equivalent.
It's a very unique collection, to say the least. Amelia Bedelia Under Construction? Really? Really really? The fact that Fly By Night was not included can only mean that Mr. Marcus has not yet read the book. The next time I see him in The Central Children's Room I'll be sure to thrust a copy into his hands. Poor man. To have lived so long and yet to have never really lived at all. *sniff* Kinda makes you cry, don't it?
posted by fusenumber8 @ 12:02 AM
2 Comments
2 Comments:
When I visited DCH last summer, I actually thought, "If I bump into any authors at all while I'm here, one of them is sure to be Leonard Marcus." Sure enough, I wasn't disappointed. Yay, Mr. Marcus!
There's a web site called Parenthood.com that has something they call the NAPPA award. They recently sent out an e-mail calling for submissions, but it turns out they have a $65 submission fee and you must send them four copies of the book. Like Parenting Magazine's "Best of" lists, they also give the NAPPA for toys and music, etc, and there are what appear to be qualified judges reading the submissions. Still, the fee and the 4 books would make most authors, agents, and editors turn and run. (http://nappa.parenthood.com/)
Why do I bring this up? Because it makes me wonder how much of the Best Books list was under Mr. Marcus' control. It seems like the "mom testers" had the last say, but was he solely in charge of the nominating? (There's no online description of the process.)
Left to his own devices, I believe he'd come up with a better list.
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