CulturGo BOOK CLUB

OUR MONTHLY PICK

Whenever you read a good book, somewhere in the world a door opens to allow in more light.

The Book of Cold Cases

Thriller by Simone St. James

The Book of Cold Cases, a perfect read devoted to unsolved true crimes.

The Paris Apartment

 Mystery by Lucy Foley

Everyone’s a neighbor. Everyone’s a suspect. And everyone knows something they’re not telling.

TOP 10 MODERN FICTION AUTHORS

1.Stephanie Meyer:

Edward and Bella of The Twilight Series; who doesn’t know about them? A story about an implausible romance between a vampire and a human girl made the young American novelist famous among the young generation. Soon after the success of the brilliantly crafted love story,”Twilight”, Meyer followed it up with the three equally interesting and intriguing sequels, “New Moon”, “Eclipse” and “The Breaking Dawn”. After the vampire series and “Host”, she has a new book in her kitty,”The Short Second Life of Bree Tanner”.

2. Paulo Coelho:

Who isn’t aware of the famous Paulo Coelho’s quotes, the amazing ideas depicted in his writing and the motivational thoughts he shares with his fans. The Brazilian novelist is a well-known name across the globe for his inspirational writings. He started his career in 1982 with his first release, “Hell Archives”. The book failed to create an impact. However, the story of his second release, The Alchemist does not need any introduction. The book became the Brazilian best seller. It also made a Guiness world record for the most translated books as it was translated in 67 different languages making Paulo Coelho one of the famous modern fiction authors. He has written many good books on drama and philosophy including “Brida”, “Eleven Minutes”, “The Zahir” and “Like The Flowing River”.

3. Khaled Hosseini:

The moment I take the name of Khaled Hosseini the saga of “The Kite Runner” emerges in your thoughts. The heartbreaking tale released in 2003 was an International best seller. The brave and honorable story illustrates the Afghan born American’s remarkable writing style which made him popular worldwide. His second book, “A Thousand Splendid Suns” too was a hit among the readers. The entwined tale of Mariam and Laila spent 49 weeks on the NYT Bestseller List for hardcover fiction and 21 weeks for paperback fiction.

4. John Grisham:

John Grisham is a well-known name among the readers who are fond of “Legal Thrillers”. Born in 1955, John is an American writer who became a successful author with some of his best-selling novels. Before hitting the writing space, he was a flourishing lawyer and politician. He has written fiction as well as non-fiction but his fictionary work is more popular. Some of his books that topped the fiction category charts are “The Firm”, “The Testament”, “The Summons” and “The Rainmaker”. His latest release, “Theodore Boone” has had great positive reviews too.

5. Nora Roberts:

The Queen of Romance, Nora Roberts, has written more than 209 novels. A large amount of her books has been awarded with Golden Medallion Awards, RITA awards and Quill Awards. With over 400 millions copies of her novels are in print including 12 million sold alone in 2005. Roberts work of fiction has been on the NYT Bestselling list for a combined 660 weeks making her a strong name in the list of modern fiction authors.

6. J K Rowling:

The story teller who recreated the magic of fairy tales and supernatural powers, Joanne Kathleen Rowling is a household name for her famous fantasy series, “Harry Potter”. The tale of wizards and witches won the British author worldwide recognition and many prestigious awards. With more than 400 million copies sold worldwide, the Potter books became the bestselling book series in history. Watch out for her first adult novel, “The Casual Vacany” this September.

7. Ken Follet:

A master story teller and one of the world’s most loved modern fiction authors, Ken Follet, is renowned for his historical novels in many countries. His latest, “Fall of Giants” opened straight to the #1 position in many countries including US, Germany, Italy, France and Spain. His first book “Eye of the Needle” won him the prestigious Edgar Award. Some of his best seller thrillers include “The Man from St. Petersberg”, “Lie Down with The Lions”, “Triple” and “The Key to Rebecca”. Watch out for his next, “Winter of The World” about the Spanish Civil War in September this year.

8. David Baldacci:

Best recognized for political thrillers, Baldacci knows how to keep his readers motivated throughout the book. By profession as a lawyer, he made a big splash in the literary bandwagon with his first novel, “Absolute Power”, an International Bestseller. All his books are intriguing and interesting including the latest, “The Innocent”.

9. Dean Koontz:

America’s most popular suspense novelist puts his heart and soul into his script, creating each and every page full of suspense, thrill, and excitement. Full of mystery, horror, and science fiction his books have been published in 38 languages and he has sold around 400 million copies to date. Thirteen out of 20 books he wrote topped the New York Best Sellers List, making the Pennsylvanian writer one among the few writers ever to achieve this milestone. It wouldn’t be surprising to know that his books have also been best sellers in countries as diverse as Sweden and Japan.

10. Jodi Picoult:

The American author writer of 24 novels. Her last 8 novels have debuted at # 1 on the New York Times bestseller list.

TEN MOST FAMOUS AUTHOR OF ALL TIME

1. WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE

William Shakespeare needs absolutely no introduction at all. He was born on the 26th April of 1564 in England. He is regarded as the best writer in the English-speaking world and is often referred to as the National Poet of England.

It is not known exactly how many plays he wrote, but if you considered the ones that survived plus a few collaborations, it comes to a total of 38 different plays and ten of the greatest ones (opinion) are listed below. He died in England on the 23rd April of 1616.

2. CHARLES DICKENS

Charles John Huffan Dickens was born on the 7th February of 1812. He was an English writer and social critic. We had to read many of his stories back in school. He is most notable for his works The Pickwick Papers, Oliver Twist, A Christmas Carol, David Copperfield, Bleak House, Hard Times, A Tale of Two Cities and Great Expectations.

He was married to Catherine Thomson Hogarth and had a whole lot of children. He started writing early and he shot to fame in 1836 when he wrote The Pickwick Papers and within a few years of that his fame crossed the international borders.

3. GEORGE ORWELL

His actual name is Eric Arthur Blair and he was born on the 25th June of 1903. He was an English journalist and novelist. He died on the 21st January 1950 and is known for Homage to Catalonia, Animal Farm and Nineteen Eighty-Four essays. He was first married to Eileen O’Shaughnessy and that marriage ended with her death. He was then married to Sonia Borwnell and that marriage ended with his death.

4. J.K. ROWLING

Most of you young ones out there probably were not familiar with the writers mentioned above but J.K. Rowling is particularly famous with a lot of age groups. She is a British novelist and became famous with her series of seven books by the name of ‘Harry Potter’.

She was born on the 31st July of 1965 in Yate, Gloucestershire, England. She is currently married to Neil Murray and has two daughters and one son. She is coming up with a new adult novel called ‘The Casual Vacancy’. It should be published on the 27th September of this year.

5. VIRGINIA WOOLF

She was an American writer but had a British nationality. Adeline Virginia Woolf was born on the 25th January in 1882. Her most famous works include To the Lighthouse, Mrs. Dalloway, Orlando: A Biography and A Room of One’s Own. She was married to Leonard Woolf which ended in the year 1941 with her death. She died on the 28th March in 1941 when she was 59 years old.

6. ERNEST HEMINGWAY

This is another writer that needs no introduction. Earnest Miller Hemmingway was born on the 21st July of 1899 and was an American author and journalist. He had a strong influence on the 20th century fiction. This guy won the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1954.

He has published around seven novels, six short stories and two non-fictions works. He has been married many times in his lifetime (four) and the longest one of his marriages stayed for fifteen years. Earnest died on the 2nd July of 1961.

7. WILLIAM FAULKNER

William Cuthbert Faulkner was born on the 25th September of 1897. He is a Nobel laureate from Oxford, Mississippi. He is an American writer and has written many novels, short stories, essays and screenplays.

He is popular for his novels and short stories though and interestingly, most of them are set in a fictional Yoknapatawpha County. He is known for The Sound and the Fury, As I Lay Dying, Light in August, Absalom, Absalom! And A Rose for Emily. He was married to Estelle Oldham and he died on the 6th July of 1962.

8. FYODOR DOSTOEVSKY

This particular writer comes from Russia. Fyodor Mikhailovich Dostoyevsky was born on the 11th November in 1821. He used to write novels, short stories and essays. His works would generally talk about human psychology and the troubled political and social society of the Russian world.

His most notable works include Notes from Underground, Crime and Punishment, The Idiot, Demons and The Brothers and Karamzov. He was married to Maria Dmitriyevna Isayeva who died in 1864. Fyodor died on the 9th February 1881.

9. JAMES JOYCE

This is another Irish novelist and poet. James Augustine Aloysius Joyce was born on the 2nd February of 1882 and is considered to be very influential at the time. He is best known for Ulysses, Dubliners, A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man and Finnegans Wake. You can find a statue of James Joyce on the North Earl Street in Dublin, Ireland.

10. OSCAR WILDE

Oscar Wilde was an Irish writer and poet. His actual name is Oscar Fingal O’Flahertie Wills Wilde and he was born on the 16th October in 1854 in Dublin, Ireland. In the early 1890s, he became the most famous playwrights in all of London and he is remembered by his plays now. He is imprisoned which later led to his early demise; something we will not be discussing here. He was married to Constance.

BOOK RECOMMANDATIONS

The Lonely Hunter by Aimée Lutkin

How Our Search for Love Is Broken. After finding herself at a dinner party surrounded by couples asking about her dating life, writer Aimée Lutkin decided to start a social experiment. She set out to see if there’s a trick to escaping loneliness by going on hundreds of dates, reading books by all the experts.

Released

Left on Tenth A Second Chance at Life, by Delia Ephron

Best-selling novelist (and co-screenwriter of You’ve Got Mail) Delia Ephron has struggled with heartbreak and loss over several years. She lost both her sister and husband to cancer and dealt with her grief by writing a New York Times op-ed. And her piece caught the attention of recently widowed Bay Area psychiatrist Peter. Delia thought it was a very rom-com turn in her life as they fell in love, but then four months later, she was diagnosed with adult acute myeloid leukemia and life got a little more complicated. Release date: April 12, 2022

The Nineties
by Chuck Klosterman

New York Times best-selling author Chuck Klosterman analyzes the iconic decade that was the 1990s. He talks about it all: the fall of the Berlin Wall, Titanic, the rise of the internet, 9/11, Seinfeld, “Cop Killer,” and much more.

Released

Indelible City

Dispossession and Defiance in Hong Kong, by Louisa Lim

Award-winning journalist and long-time Hong Konger Louisa Lim tell the story of Hong Kong—its culture, its people, and its untold history. Through deep research and personal accounts, she looks at the British takeover in 1842, the negotiations over the 1997 return to China, and the future Beijing is seeking to impose.

Release date: April 19, 2022

Finding Me
A Memoir, by Viola Davis

The legendary Viola Davis shares the story of her inspiring life, putting it in her own words.
It starts from her coming-of-age as a young Black girl in Rhode Island to her present-day, award-winning acting career.

Release date: April 5, 2022

Rogues
True Stories of Grifters, Killers, Rebels, and Crooks, by Patrick Radden Keefe

For people on a true-crime bend, this book from award-winning journalist Patrick Radden Keefe is a solid collection of 12 true stories about—as the title says— “grifters, killers, rebels, and crooks.” Keefe explores the intricacies of a $150,000 wine forgery and the takedown of a black-market arms merchant, among other trickeries.

Release date: June 28, 2022

DID YOU KNOW?

August 9^th is National Book Lovers Day

September 8th is International Literacy Day

International Kolkata Book Fair
Kolkata, India
(Feb 28, 2022 )

Leipzig Book Fair 2022
Germany
(Mar 17, 2022 )

China Shanghai International Children’s Book Fair

Shanghai China
(Mar 20, 2022 )

BOLOGNABOOKPLUS

Bologna Italy
(Mar 21, 2022 )

Bologna Children’s Book Fair
Bologna, Italy
(Mar 21, 2022 )

The London Book Fair
London, U.K
(Apr 05, 2022 )

Feria International del Libro de Bogota
Bogota Colombia
(Apr 19, 2022 )

Festival du Livre
Paris, France
(Apr 22, 2022 )

 

Buenos Aires International Book Fair
Argentina
(Apr 26, 2022 )

30th Abu Dhabi International Book Fair
Abu Dhabi, UAE
(May 22, 2022 )

Taipei International Book Exhibition
“TIBE”
Chinese Taipei
(Jun 02, 2022 )

Edinburgh International Book Festival
Scotland
(Aug 13, 2022 )

Salon du Livre de Genève
Geneva Switzerland
(May 18, 2022 )

Salon International du Livre d’Abidjan
Ivory Coast
(May 18, 2022 )

U.S. Book Show
(May 24, 2022 )

Gothenburg Book Fair

Gothenburg, Sweden

(Sep 22, 2022 )

 

LIBER, Feria Internacional del Libro
Spain
(Oct 05, 2022 )

Baku International Book Fair
Azerbaijan
(Oct 05, 2022 )

Frankfurt Book Fair
Frankfurt Germany
(Oct 19, 2022 )

Helsinki Book Fair, Helsinki
Finland
(Oct 27, 2022 )

Sharjah International Book Fair
Sharjah, UAE
(Nov 02, 2022 )

Guadalajara International Book Fair
Guadalajara, Mexico
(Nov 26, 2022 )

Istanbul Book Fair
Istanbul, Turkey
(Dec 10, 2022 )

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