Jason Mott, author of The Returned and newly minted New York Times best seller list has been kind enough to take some time out from his successful career and answer a few questions for this blog.

Robert Pirsig is known for his book Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance telling of a motorcycle trip he and his son Chris from Minneapolis -San Francisco.

“The merchandise was not the thing, and neither, for that matter, was the nostalgia. It was all about the neighborhood, that space where common sorrow could be drowned in common passion as the talk grew ever more scholarly and wild.” Represent for Brokeland in this limited-edition tee by Michael Chabon. Authentic vintage-label flavor meets a spiral groove sampled from the New York Times bestseller Telegraph Avenue (now out in paperback from HarperCollins). Check out my thoughts on Telegraph Avenue. Brokeland: it’s a record store, it’s a neighborhood, it’s an independent, if fictional, state of mind. All profits to be divided between 826 National and The MacDowell Colony. Get your LIMITED EDITION Tee Today!

While visiting the blog River City Reading, I noticed a post about 21st Century Novels which were destined to become classics published by The Inquisitr (original post). As with any list, it is a point of contention and debate. I don’t feel that reviewers decide what is or what is not a classic, but the people do as well as time. After all, many books which we consider classics these days were serialized adventure stories in newspapers (The Three Musketeers for example). But first – here is the list: 15. Freedom by Jonathan Franzen 14. The Fault in Our Stars by John Green 13. We Need to Talk About Kevin by Lionel Shriver 12. A Storm of Swords by George R. R. Martin 11. The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini 10. The Help by Kathryn Stockett 9. Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafron 8. The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay by Michael Chabon 7. American Gods by Neil Gaiman 6. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows by J.K. Rowling 5. The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larsson 4. Bel Canto by Ann Patchett 3. The Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold 2. The Road by Cormac…

“If you know the enemy and know yourself, you need not fear the result of a hundred battles. If you know yourself but not the enemy, for every victory gained you will also suffer a defeat. If you know neither the enemy nor yourself, you will succumb in every battle” – Sun Tsu Recently I had the pleasure of reading the novel, The Pilgrimage, by Brazilian author Paulo Coelho—also the author of international best seller The Alchemist. In the novel, Coelho’s fictional self takes on a physical and spiritual quest to find his mystical sword on a pilgrimage from the south of France to a small town on the west coast of Spain called Santiago de Compostela. I’m going to paraphrase a huge lesson that Coelho learned while on his journey. The only way to deal with our physical enemy or the enemy that lives within, is to accept him as a friend and listen to the advice and lessons that he teaches us, never allowing him to dictate the rules of the game. But if we are to keep the enemy from dictating the rules of the game, it is first necessary to know what you want and then to…

Harold and Lucille Hargrave lost their young son, Jacob, on his eighth birthday 50 years ago. One day Agent Bellamy of the International Bureau of the Returned knocks on their door with Jacob in tow.
While Lucille embraces her son, Harold is not so sure.

In the town of Arcadia, and all across the world, the Returned are appearing causing sadness, happiness, alarm and overpopulation. While some people think it’s a miracle, others think the Returned are the work of the Devil, yet many others simply don’t know what to make of this phenomena.

Mary Shelley (30 August, 1787 – 1 February, 1851) was an English author who is mostly known for her novel, Frankenstein, or the Modern Prometheus – a classic.

Sam Kornberg lives in L.A., his marriage is falling apart and it looks like he’ll never be the novelist he dreamed of being. Looking for any job he might be qualify for , Sam gets a job as an assistant (he specializes in being an “assistant”) detective to Solar Lonsky.

Sam’s first assignment is to track a mysterious woman who triggers the adventure his about to take involving shootouts, mistaken identities, insane asylums and lots of movie talk in a video store.

Dan Hilles broke up with Stacey, his long time girlfriend. Dan has been out of the dating game for so long he has no idea on how to proceed, talk to girls or even behave as a single man.

But Dan has his friends, Ollie, Jack and Rob who are there to help and also trip him for their own amusement. After all, what are friends for?

Young Edmond Dante, a sailor, has almost been named captain of a ship and is in preparations of marrying his sweetheart. But Dante becomes the victim of a sinister plot which leads to false imprisonment in an island fortress. The naïve Dante doesn’t realize how serious his situation is and that the chances of him ever seeing the light of day decline daily.

After several years, and with the help of a friend, Dante manages to escape the prison and plots his revenge.