Recently, I joined the Red Room - a social network and professional hub for writers, after I reviewed the site here on WritersCrunch. But unfortunately, I haven't been 100% active with the social network for reasons beyond my control. I've been a member since 4 weeks.
Today, I recieved an email from the Member Services Manager of Red Room. No not what you're thinking...I wasn't about to be reminded that I've not logged in for weeks. Nor was my membership about to be cancelled for not using the service.
It was an announcement that Senator Barack Obama, the Illinois Senator and U.S Presidential Candidate had joined the Red Room community. As you know, Barack Obama is an accomplished writer and was recently awarded his second Grammy Award last Sunday for 'Best Spoken Word Album' for the audio recording of his bestseller, The Audacity of Hope: Thoughts on Reclaiming the American Dream.
In his author's page, you will find his blog, media speeches, reviews, published works, etc. Check out Barack Obama's Red Room page here.
February 13, 2008
Barack Obama Joins the Red Room - Social Network for Writers
February 01, 2008
Novels Of The Month: February 2008
As the month of February begins today, I'm happy to be sharing this month's book releases. Most of the books will be released on February 7. If you have any book in mind that is not on this list, please feel free to comment about it.
Happy reading!:-)
We Are Now Beginning Our Descent is James Meek's follow-up to his acclaimed historical novel, The People's Act of Love. This is a contemporary tale of love, hubris and misunderstanding as a war reporter takes his own baggage to Afghanistan, hoping to turn the elusive, unpredictable Astrid into girlfriend material, and the turmoil of political events into material for a bestselling thriller. The world, needless to say, will not bend to his will, but the resulting novel is as gripping and acute as its predecessor.
In Out of Breath, Julie Myerson conjures a spare, absorbing tale of children on the run from threatening adult reality into the summer nights of the English countryside and their own imaginations: her trademark combination of emotional honesty and supernatural suggestion makes it near-impossible to put down.
Helen Dunmore continues the vogue for all things Latinate in Counting the Stars, which tells the story of the poet Catullus's love for his secret mistress, set against the backdrop of Julius Caesar's Rome.
John Edgar Wideman's new book"Fanon," is the Brown University professor's first novel in 10 years, about the legendary author of "The Wretched of the Earth", Frantz Fanon.
Steven Millhauser, Pulitzer Prize–winning author for Martin Dressler, packages a dazzling new collection of darkly comic stories united by their obsession with obsession. In Dangerous Laughter, Steven Millhauser transports us to unknown universes that uncannily resemble our own.Debut Authors
In Submarine, young newcomer Joe Dunthorne's cheerfully peculiar 15-year-old narrator is a worthy successor to Adrian Mole.
Sadie Jones tells how a troubled young man kicks out against the hypocrisy and repression of 1950s society in The Outcast.Novelists with a subcontinental focus
Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni comes with The Palace of Illusions, a novel relevant to today’s war-torn world, but takes us back to a time that is half history, half myth, and wholly magical. Narrated by Panchaali, the wife of the legendary Pandavas brothers in the Mahabharat, the novel gives us a new interpretation of this ancient tale.
Following his spectacular debut, The Death of Vishnu, Manil Suri returns with a mesmerizing story of modern India, richly layered with themes from Hindu mythology. The Age of Shiva is at once a powerful story of a country in turmoil and an extraordinary portrait of maternal love. The book will be released on February 4.Via: Guardian Unlimited
Grisham: Presidential primaries and elections can be bought
As fiction readers like me welcome the release of John Grisham's latest legal thriller, The Appeal
The Appeal is a powerful, timely, and shocking story of political and legal intrigue, a story that will leave readers unable to think about the U.S electoral process or judicial system in quite the same way ever again.
If you're thinking what I'm thinking, then Grisham might just be working on a future political thriller that cuts deep into a U.S presidential primary revealing the political-money-floating-around kind of plot on the road to the White House. In The Brethren
I can see the title: The Candidate. That would be a large chunk to swallow! Can't wait...
