Madam Mayo's Top 10 Books Read in 2007

1. Patricia Klindienst, The Earth Knows My Name
Strange, moving, beautiful.

2. Sam Quinones, Antonio's Gun and Delfino's Dream
If you want to understand modern Mexico, you must read Quinones. (I reviewed his first book, True Tales from Another Mexico, here.)

3. Halldor Laxness, Atom Station
(Reykjavik, ho!)

4. Janet Lewis, The Wife of Martin Guerre
This may well be the best novela written in English, ever. Every page, every scene, every image, is stunningly vivid. And the author lived in Los Altos, California! Too incongruous.

5. Hermoine Lee, Edith Wharton
At last, Wharton has the bio she deserves. A grand, plummy pleasure to read, all 850+ pages.

6. Mary Morris, The River Queen
A heart-felt personal memoir of a journey to rival Huck Finn's own.

7. Dale C. Carson and Wes Denham, Arrest-Proof Yourself
Witty, wise, and very disturbing. The authors's dedication says it all: "To the thousands of young men in jail for petty offenses. It's not right. It's not just. America can do better." Read my post on this book here.

8. Janice Eidus, The War of the Rosens
A masterfully told story of a family in the Bronx in the 1960s.

9. Mark Kurlansky, Nonviolence
I selected this one for the Dayton Literary Peace Prize in Non-Fiction.

10. Edward Tufte, Beautiful Evidence
And read my rave about his one day course.

---> Read Madam Mayo's Top 10 Books Read in 2006 here.

Back blogging December 5th.

Nonviolence: Twenty-Five Lessons From the History of a Dangerous Idea by Mark Kurlansky

is the book I selected for the Second Annual Dayton Literary Peace Prize. From the press release: "The Dayton Literary Peace Prize was established in 2006 as a legacy of Dayton’s stature as the host of the 1995 Dayton Peace Accords that brokered a negotiated peace for the Balkans. The Dayton Literary Peace Prize, the only literary peace prize awarded in the United States, honors writers whose works focus on the broad theme of peace and whose writing style and subject matter have an enduring literary value.

Mark Kurlansky will receive the prize for nonfiction and a $10,000 honorarium for his book Nonviolence: 25 Lessons from the History of a Dangerous Idea. Kurlansky discusses nonviolence as a distinct entity, a course of action, rather than a mere state of mind. It is a sweeping yet concise history that moves from ancient Hindu times to present-day conflicts raging in the Middle East and elsewhere. Exploring the revolutionary concept of nonviolence in an historical, social and political context, he presents twenty-five provocative lessons that can be used to effect change today.

Author Statement: “I’m thrilled to receive this award because there’s no subject closer to my heart. It’s a valuable opportunity to ask people to rethink history, and I still believe the world can be changed.” Mark Kurlansky

Judge Citation: “The smoothly elegant prose of Mark Kurlansky’s Nonviolence provides a cogent analysis of the vast sweep of the history of human conflict. Its thoughtful assertions and conclusions invite both contemplation and debate.” C. M. Mayo

Mark Kurlansky has also written Cod: A Biography of the Fish That Changed the World; Salt: A World History; 1968: The Year That Rocked the World; The Basque History of the World; and The Big Oyster: History on the Half Shell.

The October 14 ceremony will be held at The Schuster Center, Second & Main Streets, Dayton, Ohio. For further information about the prize and the award ceremony, please visit www.daytonliterarypeaceprize.org.
The full press release is here.

More anon.