Articles tagged "Jonathan Franzen"
Macmillan’s 175th Anniversary
“If a large tree grows from this small seed we shall be grateful.” — Daniel Macmillan, London, 1843
“What Alexander handed down… was a tradition or, more truly, a marked character…” — Charles Morgan, The House of Macmillan, 1943
Macmillan is celebrating its 175th anniversary in 2018, starting with a celebratory toast at this year’s BookExpo at the Javits Center in New York City.
The global publishing powerhouse, which today publishes books in more than 120 countries, was founded in London in 1843 by two brothers, Daniel and Alexander Macmillan. The company grew to become one of the largest publishing houses in the world by the turn of the 20th century, with offices in the United States, Australia, and India. By 1999, the various companies founded by the Macmillan Family – including the independent US publishing house – were brought back together under the shared ownership of the Holtzbrinck Publishing Group, another independent, family-owned publisher based in Stuttgart, Germany.
The celebration continues online throughout the year with a social media campaign (@MacmillanUSA on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter) using the hashtag #Macmillan175, featuring employees and authors telling their “Macmillan Story,” as well as notable historical facts about the organization.
Throughout its history, Macmillan companies have published some of the best-loved fiction, nonfiction and children’s authors of all time, including Lewis Carroll, Rudyard Kipling, Madeleine L’Engle and the poetry of W.B. Yeats and Dante Gabriel Rossetti, to the more recent Vice President Joe Biden, W. Bruce Cameron, Jeffrey Eugenides, Jonathan Franzen, Atul Gawande, Kristin Hannah, Hilary Mantel, Liane Moriarty, Louise Penny, Nora Roberts, Marilynne Robinson, Brandon Sanderson, Oprah Winfrey, Gene Luen Yang and more.
“We try to keep that family feel within Macmillan,” said John Sargent, Macmillan’s CEO. “We believe that staying true to our roots as a family owned company brings out a positive and comfortable environment for not only our employees but for our authors too. It’s a place where you can feel at home and we hope to continue that for the next 175 years and beyond.”
Winter 2016–2017 Indie Next Picks for Book Clubs
The Winter 2016–2017 Indie Next List for Reading Groups includes seven Macmillan titles!
Top Ten
BLACK MAN IN A WHITE COAT: A Doctor’s Reflections on Race and Medicine by Damon Tweedy, M.D.
GRIEF IS THE THING WITH FEATHERS by Max Porter
Extraordinary Lives
HOME IS BURNING: A Memoir by Dan Marshall
ROSALIE LIGHTNING: A Graphic Memoir by Tom Hart
Exciting New Voices
RAGE AGAINST THE DYING by Becky Masterman
THE SUNLIT NIGHT by Rebecca Dinerstein
New Works From Old Favorites
PURITY by Jonathan Franzen
Booklist Editors’ Choice 2015
Yesterday Booklist revealed their Editors’ Choice Books of 2015, including these 11 Macmillan titles:
Adult Books
CHILDREN OF THE STONE: The Power of Music in a Hard Land by Sandy Tolan
This is an engrossing and powerful story, moving skillfully amid the failure of the never-ending battles and “peace” talks between Israel and Palestine and the determination of one brave young man to change his world through music.
LISTENING TO STONE: The Art and Life of Isamu Noguchi by Hayden Herrera
Herrera sensitively portrays Isamu Noguchi as an artist of “unstoppable creative energy” whose mixed heritage caused him endless anguish, including time in a WWII Japanese American internment camp, reinvigorating appreciation for Noguchi’s dramatic life and evocative art.
BLACK MAN IN A WHITE COAT: A Doctor’s Reflections on Race and Medicine by Damon Tweedy
African American psychiatrist Tweedy incisively illuminates the intersection of race and medicine in a compelling blend of statistics, personal anecdotes, and patient histories.
DO NO HARM: Stories of Life, Death, and Brain Surgery by Henry Marsh
English neurosurgeon Marsh looks back on his three-decade career with bracing candor, dramatically and informatively detailing brain surgery’s high risks and difficult emotional terrain.
readmoreremove
Chicago Public Library’s 2015 Best of the Best Books
We’ve got 14 books on Chicago Public Library’s 2015 Best of the Best list! Selected by a team of CPL librarians, the list represents the year’s most outstanding titles, books of exceptional quality for a diverse, city-wide readership.
Fiction
A DARKER SHADE OF MAGIC by V.E. Schwab
JADE DRAGON MOUNTAIN by Elsa Hart
A MANUAL FOR CLEANING WOMEN by Lucia Berlin
THE NIGHTINGALE by Kristin Hannah (a top 10 fiction pick)
PURITY by Jonathan Franzen
THE SELLOUT by Paul Beatty
Nonfiction
DO NO HARM: Stories of Life, Death, and Brain Surgery by Henry Marsh
DREAMLAND: The True Tale of America’s Opiate Epidemic by Sam Quinones
FURIOUSLY HAPPY by Jenny Lawson
ONE OF US: The Story of Anders Breivik and the Massacre in Norway by Asne Seierstad
THE SHEPHERD’S LIFE by James Rebanks readmoreremove
New York Times Notable Books of 2015
The gray lady picked 20 Macmillan titles:
Fiction & Poetry
THE BEAUTIFUL BUREAUCRAT by Helen Phillips
An administrative worker’s experiences pose existential questions in Phillips’s riveting, drolly surreal debut novel.
CITIZEN: An American Lyric by Claudia Rankine
A meditation, in prose poems, images and essays, on what it means to be black in our racially divided society.
A MANUAL FOR CLEANING WOMEN: Selected Stories by Lucia Berlin
In these unadorned linked stories, Berlin examines women under duress and figures on America’s fringes.
OUTLINE by Rachel Cusk
Cusk’s heartbreaking portrait of poise, sympathy, regret and rage suggests a powerful alternate route for the biographical novel. readmoreremove
SLJ Best Books of 2015
School Library Journal recently announced their best books of 2015 in several categories and four Macmillan titles made the cut!
Young Adult
CARRY ON by Rainbow Rowell
Adult Books 4 Teens
MAKE YOUR HOME AMONG STRANGERS by Jennine Capó Crucet
PURITY by Jonathan Franzen
THE NIGHTINGALE by Kristin Hannah
Click here to see the full lists.
Kirkus Best Books of 2015 – Fiction
First, Publishers Weekly, then Library Journal, and now Kirkus Reviews announced their Best of 2015 Fiction lists which include 20 Macmillan titles:
Best Fiction
THE SELLOUT by Paul Beatty
A MANUAL FOR CLEANING WOMEN by Lucia Berlin
PURITY by Jonathan Franzen
LAST RAGGED BREATH by Julia Keller
THE DARK FOREST by Cixin Liu
CRUCIFIXION CREEK by Barry Maitland
THE NATURE OF THE BEAST by Louise Penny
I REFUSE by Per Petterson
THE BEAUTIFUL BUREAUCRAT by Helen Phillips
THE LOST CHILD by Caryl Phillips
THE WATCHMAKER OF FILIGREE STREET by Natasha Pulley
THE BLONDES by Emily Schultz
CHASING THE PHOENIX by Michael Swanwick
THE WAY THINGS WERE by Aatish Taseer
THE BIG GREEN TENT by Ludmila Ulitskaya
THE AFFINITIES by Robert Charles Wilson
Best Mysteries and Thrillers
LAST RAGGED BREATH by Julia Keller
CRUCIFIXION CREEK by Barry Maitland
THE NATURE OF THE BEAST by Louise Penny
THE BLONDES by Emily Schultz readmoreremove
2015 Goodreads Choice Awards
Goodreads launched their annual Choice Awards this week and we’re proud to say that Macmillan has 28 nominees in the Opening Round! Click here to vote for your favorites and we’ll keep you updated as the tournament progresses.
Our 2015 Winners: THE NIGHTINGALE by Kristin Hannah (Best Historical Fiction) and BENEATH THE SURFACE by John Hargrove (Best Science & Technology)!
Update 11/17: We have 11 finalists in the Final Round! Vote now through Monday, 11/23 for your favorites!
Update 11/10: Incredibly, ALL of our nominees are still in the Semifinal Round! Vote now through Saturday, 11/15 for your favorites!
Voting Schedule
Final Round Nov. 17 – 23
Best Mystery & Thriller
THE NATURE OF THE BEAST by Louise Penny
Best Historical Fiction
THE NIGHTINGALE by Kristin Hannah
Best Fantasy
SHADOWS OF SELF by Brandon Sanderson
A DARKER SHADE OF MAGIC by V.E. Schwab
Best Science Fiction
THE END OF ALL THINGS by John Scalzi
Best Humor
FURIOUSLY HAPPY by Jenny Lawson
Best Nonfiction
HUMANS OF NEW YORK: STORIES by Brandon Stanton
Best Science & Technology
BENEATH THE SURFACE by John Hargrove
Best Graphic Novels & Comics
STEP ASIDE, POPS! by Kate Beaton
Debut Goodreads Author
THE STRONGEST STEEL by Scarlett Cole
Best Young Adult Fantasy & Science Fiction
CARRY ON by Rainbow Rowell
readmoreremove
Maximum Shelf Awareness: Picador Turns 20!
Today’s issue of Maximum Shelf Awareness is all about Picador! Learn about the imprint’s rich 20-year history and its stellar list of authors, including Paul Auster, Jeff Chang, Michael Cunningham, Jeffrey Eugenides, Jonathan Franzen, Atul Gawande, Elizabeth Kolbert, Ann Leary, Hilary Mantel, Marilynne Robinson, Robin Sloan, Olen Steinhauer, Hector Tobar and Adelle Waldman, among others.
Recent breakout Picador original titles include:
THE BIRTH OF KOREAN COOL: How One Nation Is Conquering the World Through Pop Culture by Euny Hong
THE ALMOST NEARLY PERFECT PEOPLE: Behind the Myth of the Scandinavian Utopia by Michael Booth
PRO: Reclaiming Abortion Rights by Katha Pollitt
SELFISH, SHALLOW, AND SELF-ABSORBED: Sixteen Writers on the Decision Not to Have Kids by Meghan Daum
BLACK MAN IN A WHITE COAT: A Doctor’s Reflections on Race and Medicine by Damon Tweedy
Major reprint titles and movie tie-ins:
VOICES FROM CHERNOBYL: The Oral History of a Nuclear Disaster by Svetlana Alexievich
LILA by Marilynne Robinson
THE SIXTH EXTINCTION by Elizabeth Kolbert
BLACK CHALK by Christopher J. Yates
ON THE RUN: Fugitive Life in an American City by Alice Goffman
THE 33: DEEP DOWN DARK: The Untold Story of 33 Men Buried in a Chilean Mine, and the Miracle That Set Them Free by Héctor Tobar
THE REVENANT by Michael Punke
THE LADY IN THE VAN by Alan Bennett
SILENCE by Shusaku Endo
Six Highlights of the Winter 2016 List:
THE YID by Paul Goldberg
James Meader, executive director of publicity at Picador and also the book’s editor, calls it “Inglorious Basterds crossed with Ocean’s Eleven by way of the Coen Brothers.” It’s already received two starred reviews from Library Journal and Booklist!
100 MILLION YEARS OF FOOD by Stephen Le
Biological anthropologist Le explores the history of human diets, our evolution, modern eating habits and how all this information can be used to make the best food choices for our health. Anna deVries, the book’s editor, said that the book should reach different readers, interested in “health, history, sociological studies, like the sweet spot [achieved by] Jared Diamond.”
THE LONELY CITY by Olivia Laing
An expertly crafted work of reportage, memoir and biography told through the lives of iconic artists, Laing (author of the LibraryReads pick THE TRIP TO ECHO SPRING) seeks answers to the questions of: What does it mean to be lonely? How do we live, if we’re not intimately engaged with another human being? How do we connect with other people?
CITY OF THORNS by Ben Rawlence
What Katherinee Boo’s BEHIND THE BEAUTIFUL FOREVERS did for the slums of Mumbai, India, CITY OF THORNS does for a massive refugee camp in Kenya, near the border with Somalia. “By combining his own experiences with interviews with residents of Dabaab, he makes the human rights crisis—rarely covered in the media—vivid and immediate for readers.” — Publishers Weekly, starred review
THE GOLDEN CONDOM: And Other Essays on Love Lost and Found
by Jeanne Safer, Ph.D.
Psychotherapist Safer interweaves her own experiences with those of her patients to explore the frustration, humiliation, sadness and happiness that accompanies love in this provocative and compelling collection of essays.
SHELTER by Jung Yun
SHELTER weaves a bloody mystery with domestic drama into a layered portrait of race, class, money, marriage and more. Editor Elizabeth Bruce notes, “Everyone has a different takeaway, some call it THE HOUSE OF SAND AND FOG with Gillian Flynn (GONE GIRL) pacing. It leaves you hanging until the last chapter.”
2016 Carnegie Medals Longlist
The 2016 Andrew Carnegie Medals for Excellence in Fiction and Nonfiction Longlist was announced today and we’re proud to have 6 nominees:
Fiction
OUTLINE by Rachel Cusk
PURITY by Jonathan Franzen
Nonfiction
GIVE US THE BALLOT: The Modern Struggle for Voting Rights in America by Ari Berman
LISTENING TO STONE: The Art and Life of Isamu Noguchi by Hayden Herrera
DO NO HARM: Stories of Life, Death, and Brain Surgery by Henry Marsh
BEYOND WORDS: What Animals Think and Feel by Carl Safina
The shortlist will be announced on October 19 and the 2016 Carnegie Medal winners will be announced on Sunday, January 10 at the RUSA Book and Media Awards at ALA Midwinter in Boston.
