'Time 100' Book Group: George Saunders, Hilary Mantel

Time magazine released its annual list of the "100 Most Influential People in the World," and while the book world was considerably less than dominant, a pair of fiction authors did make the final Time 100 cut:

George Saunders: "For more than a decade, George Saunders has been the best short-story writer in English--not 'one of,' not 'arguably,' but the Best.... George's work is a stiff tonic for the vapid agony of contemporary living--great art from the greatest guy," Mary Karr wrote.

Hilary Mantel: "[She] is a novelist of great power, wit and intelligence, one of the finest now writing in England.... Her two hefty volumes on Thomas Cromwell... have captured the British reading public and carried off all the prizes with the vigor of the narrative and minutely evoked detail of Cromwell's day-to-day life," wrote Claire Tomalin.

via Shelf Awareness