Book News Round-Up

Sorry for the delay with this (i.e., last) week's round-up. Life just gets away from you sometimes, you know? So without further adieu -

• It's a phrase that's music to the ears of vampire-loving tweens everywhere: Bella's wedding dress. With the movie adaptation of Eclipse currently filming, fans are dying to get a peek at the wedding dress that makes a brief appearance at the end of the book. While the film's costume designers are still mum, In Style magazine commissioned several prominent designers to show off their take on the turn-of-the-century dress Bella wears to marry her blood-sucking love. Personally, I liked Lela Rose's design - it fit in with what I had imagined in my head.
• It only took 48 years, but Julia Child finally made it to the top of the New York Times bestsellers list. Mastering the Art of French Cooking found its way to #1 thanks, in part, to the movie adaptation of Julie and Julia. According to the Times, the cookbook sold more copies in a week than it had previously in any year. I guess Julia Child, like a good wine, really does get better with age.
• In case you're wondering how to get to the top of the Times' bestseller's list, the Inkwell Bookstore Blog has a handy, if somewhat lengthy, formula. I'd beware of step #7 - you don't want to do that too soon.
• The LA Times billed it as an "Antiques Roadshow for Books." The British Booksellers & Publishers Association wants to start a show that would allow people to determine if their old copies of books are actually worth anything. It's part of a larger marketing focus called "Bookaholism" that would give booksellers and publishers a recognizable brand. The idea intrigues me, but since I don't own any rare or old books, I probably wouldn't benefit.
  
• It's the beach book club, Obama style. Media outlets across the country have been dissecting and analyzing President Obama's reading choices for his summer vacation. Most seem to agree that the choices are "safe." In all honesty, did you think the President was going to tell the press if he was reading something "controversial"? In the end, I'm not sure it mattered. The presidential vacation was cut short both by inclement weather and the passing of Senator Kennedy.
  
• Lastly, if you're a teen, don't forget to visit YALSA's website to vote for the Teens Top Ten books of 2009. Voting is now open and the winners will be announced during Teens Read Week in October. Among the books vying for a spot: Stephenie Meyers' Breaking Dawn, Suzanne Collins' The Hunger Games and Neil Gaiman's Hugo-winning and Newbury-winning The Graveyard Book.
  

Teddy the Author

Throughout the media world, both online and off, political pundits, news analysts and regular people are writing, talking and commenting about the life and legacy of Senator Ted Kennedy.

While his life was dominated by his political achievements and personal follies, there was a quieter side that was all about books. In 2006, spurred by his experiences with a Washington, DC-based reading program, Kennedy wrote a children’s book.

My Senator and Me: A Dog’s Eye View of Washington, DC tells the story of life in our nation’s capital and the work of Congress through the eyes of the Senator’s dog, Splash. With detailed and fanciful illustrations by Caldecott Medal-winning illustrator David Small, the book won praises from the School Library Journal and Booklist for its accessible and fun approach to governance.

Kennedy had said repeatedly that, “Reading is a lifelong adventure” and he meant it. Every Tuesday, he would visit a local DC-area school and read with children as part of the Everyone Wins! Power Lunch program.

But he also made time for adult books too. He wrote a book of political history, criticism and advice entitled America Back on Track, detailing his ideas for reclaiming the American ideal of checks and balances in the government (it was published at the height of Bush II’s administration, of which Kennedy was a vocal critic). And now, in the wake of his death, his memoirs, True Compass, will be published. Though there are several biographies detailing the secrets of the Kennedy clan, this book is from Ted himself – in his own words and his own voice, the tumultuous ups and downs of his life.

According to the publishers, True Compass has been in the works for five years, with the Senator working tirelessly to ensure its completion before his death. Jonathan Karp, editor of Twelve Books Press said, “His book will be a revelation, an international event, and a lasting contribution to American history.”

[Photo Credit: Education Week website]

Some Like Poetry

By Wislawa Szymborska
Translated from Polish by Joanna Maria Trzeciak

Some--
that means not all.

Not even the majority of all but the minority.
Not counting the schools, where one must,
and the poets themselves, there will be perhaps two in a thousand.

Like--
but one also likes chicken noodle soup,
one likes compliments and the color blue, one likes an old scarf,
one likes to prove one's point,
one likes to pet a dog.

Poetry--
but what sort of thing is poetry?
More than one shaky answer
has been given to this question.

But I do not know and do not know and clutch on to it,
as to a saving banister.

[Photo Credit: Getty Images]

Book News Round-Up

Another weekend and another book news round-up. I hope you're all surviving the August heat, bookworms! Stay cool!

• Elizabeth Gilbert, author of the widely successful memoir Eat Pray Love will release her much-anticipated follow-up, Committed: A Skeptic Makes Peace with Marriage in January. Though Gilbert herself says Committed isn’t strictly a sequel, it does follow her journey to explore the idea of marriage through interviews with her friends, family and the people she meets during her travels. Viking, which is publishing the new book, is preparing for high demand with an initial printing of one million hardcover copies.
• Kate DiCamillo is on a role! The popular children’s book author, whose two Newbury-winning novels Because of Winn-Dixie and The Tale of Despereaux were made into big-screen movies, will now see her latest offering, The Magician’s Elephant become a Hollywood movie as well. Elephant hasn’t even been published yet (it’s available Sept. 8th) and already Tinsel Town has snapped up the movie rights.
• Amazon.com’s book blog, Omnivoracious, is giving away signed copies of Dan Brown’s newest Robert Langdon adventure, The Lost Symbol. This highly awaited novel will be released in September and is rumored to involve Washington, DC and the Freemasons. If you’re a Dan Brown fan, don’t miss the chance to get that signed copy.
• Twilight phenom Stephenie Meyer recently spoke with MTV about the songs and musicians making regular rounds on her iPod playlists. Meyer has often spoken about her need for constant music while writing and has credited a number of musicians (chief among them, Muse) with inspiring whole scenes or chapters in her incredibly popular books.
• Classic literature provides a treasure trove of material for Hollywood, so Amazon’s Armchair Commentary blog has posted an ode to the Top 15 Movies Made from Classic Books. Naturally, the Colin Firth version of Pride and Prejudice made the list (“It is a truth universally acknowledged that Colin Firth's famous gaze causes much swooning”) but they also included some lesser known favorites of mine: Dickens’ Little Dorrit and William Makepeace Thackeray’s Vanity Fair.

The Problem with Butterbeer

Apparently, Harry Potter has a drinking problem. In a New York Times article at the end of July, Tara Parker-Pope explored the role alcohol played in the latest Harry Potter movie, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince. Parker-Pope says she was “taken aback” by the drinking scenes and the audience’s reaction to them. Other parents interviewed for the article also expressed dismay at the inclusion of such scenes.

The problem may not lie with the Half-Blood Prince movie and book, but rather with the intended audience. An Associated Press article from July broached the subject of age appropriateness. Some parents and librarians are suggesting that the later Harry Potter books (#'s 5-7) are not appropriate for younger children.

When the first Harry Potter book was released in 1997, it was clearly a children’s book, intended for 9-11 year-old readers – in other words, Harry’s classmates. The subsequent books came out one at a time, allowing readers to mature with Harry. Now, however, readers can get all seven books at once, allowing a young child to read the entire series, complete with its darker and more grown-up later books, in one sitting.

Even if the viewers or readers are older, the drinking "problem" still exists for some. The drinking scenes in Half-Blood Prince occur in social settings – Harry, Ron and Hermione visit Hogsmeade one weekend; in another, Prof. Slughorn is hosting a Christmas party. The alcohol only comes into play in situations where it might also come into play in the "real" world. The drinking aspects never really seem integral to the plot, until Ron accidentally drinks some poisoned mead.

Since I don’t have children myself, I can’t really comment on how it might affect impressionable young minds. As a reader, however, I can say that the alcohol mentioned in the Harry Potter books never seemed to be an issue at all for me. In fact, based on the way Rowling wrote about butterbeer, I always assumed it was the magical world’s version of root beer or ginger ale. Furthermore, it feels unrealistic to expect Harry to remain “pure” and above any age-related behaviors. Certainly, he wasn’t drinking mead when he first started Hogwarts at age 11. But by age 16, especially coming from a European country, one should reasonably expect the pub and a pint to come into Harry’s story. (In fact, in Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, during which Harry was 13, there is a scene in which our mighty trio go into Madame Rosemerta’s pub and drink butterbeer, thereby solidifying my contention that butterbeer isn’t actually alcoholic at all.)

Perhaps it is reasonable to question the portrayal of alcohol in the most recent Harry Potter movie, but I’m inclined to give Rowling – and Hollywood – a break. It’s a movie, based on a work of fiction. Just because I saw Dumbo doesn’t mean I think elephants can fly (and if you want to get picky, Dumbo partakes in some alcohol as well). As one parent mentioned in the NY Times article:

“The Harry Potter universe is not our own. Trying to put 2009 American norms into play seems kind of silly. Plus, in a world where dark wizards are kidnapping or killing people on a regular basis, a little under-age drinking is the least of their problems.”

[Photo Credit: Google Image Search]

Book News Round-Up

Hope you're all staying cool this summer. In the meantime, enjoy another round-up.

• Goodbye, beaver and dandelion. Hello, blog and Blackberry. The latest edition of the Oxford Junior Dictionary has sacrificed nature-related words in favor of tech and web-based words that today's children are more familiar with. Environmentalists and conservationists are bemoaning the change.
  
• Anne Frank is making yet another comeback. Pulitzer-Prize winning playwright David Mamet is planning on making a new film adaptation of the best-selling diary. Mamet will make the new film for Disney, which begs the question - Anne Frank, David Mamet and Disney in the same sentence? Stranger things have happened.
  
• Children's author Lesley Blume has selected her "must-read" classic children's lit list. It includes such favorites as The Phantom Tollbooth and From the Mixed Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler. The complete list can be found on NPR's website.
  
• Penguin Canada has an unusual plan for promoting the new sequel to Bram Stoker's Dracula, Dracula: The Un-Dead: they will be hosting Dracula-themed blood drives. The irony is wonderful and it's a great way to promote the book while helping a good cause. Anyone for a Twilight blood drive?
• The Hugo Awards were recently announced and Neil Gaiman's The Graveyard Book continues to take top honors. Gaiman's book won the Hugo for Best Novel. The Hugo Awards are given out annually for the best science-fiction and fantasy works.
  

Are You There, God? It's Me, Meredith

There comes a time in every young girl’s life when she realizes that while Mom may not, in fact, know everything, Judy Blume almost certainly does.

I’m a firm believer that YA fiction, especially YA fiction for girls, fills an important and vital role in the angst-y and melodramatic lives of adolescents. And I’m not the only one. Lizzie Skurnick has given bookworms everywhere a delightful and hilarious trip down memory lane with her new book, Shelf Discovery: The Teen Classics We Never Stopped Reading.

First conceived as her “Fine Lines” blog on Jezebel.com, Skurnick’s collection of essays focuses on those teen novels written from the ‘60s to the 80s that are now classic and beloved by Gen X women the world around. She’s not talking about your “good girl” novels – i.e., The Secret Garden, Anne of Green Gables or Little Women. She’s talking about the realistic books, the ones that showed adolescence for that it really was – tormented and hormonal.

After outgrowing Sara, Anne and Jo, I raided my older brother’s bookshelf and ventured into a previously unknown section of my local library – the “young adult” section. There, I fell into stories where the girls were like me and the boys were always cute. I devoured books like Judy Blume’s Forever and Just as Long as We’re Together and Paula Danziger’s The Divorce Express and Remember Me to Herald Square. I cried over Lurlene McDaniel’s depressingly sad heartbreakers and commiserated with Harriet the Spy (Louise Fitzhugh) and Vicky Austin (Madeleine L’Engle). I eventually graduated to Harlequin romance novels and Danielle Steele, but Judy, Paula, Madeleine and the others were the ones who got me through those angst-filled early teen years.

Shelf Discovery is definitely going on my bookshelf – right next to my adolescent favorites.

What about you, bookworms? What books from your teen years made a distinct impression?

[Photo Credit: Google Images]

Jon Scieszka Worldwide

These days, any author worth his or her pen has a website (and a Facebook page and a Twitter account, etc.). The sites let authors communicate directly with their fans as well as act as “official” spaces for news, tour dates, new book releases, and more. Some sites are bare bones, with just the facts, ma’am. Others, like J.K. Rowling’s, allow for interaction and even some intrigue. Rowling’s site is infamous for its secret links and hidden treasures, designed to keep fans hooked.

Recently, I came across another author website and found it so thoroughly entertaining that I wanted to share it with you, fellow bookworms.

“Facing tomorrow’s challenges today.” “There is no ‘I’ in ‘cheese.’” “That’s what it’s all about.”

These are just some of the headlines you’ll see when you visit Jon Sciezska Worldwide, the official website of children’s literature author Jon Scieszka. Best known for his collaborations with illustrator Lane Smith and his twisted and upside-down “fairy tales” (i.e., The Stinky Cheese Man and Other Fairly Stupid Tales), Scieszka is also the National Ambassador for Young People’s Literature.

His website is full of the off-beat, wacky and generally messed up humor that you’ll find in many of his books. In fact, Scieszka’s website is just as fun as his True Story of the Three Little Pigs. For starters, there’s a handy “Official Jon Scieszka Pronunciation Guide” (hint: it rhymes with Fresca) as well as a detailed biography and list of his books. You’ll also find the FATFAQ page – Favorite Answers to Frequently Asked Questions. What you won’t find are the questions, so you’ll have some fun imagining what questions led to the answers Scieszka provides (some examples: Jim, Tom, Gregg, Brian, Jeff; dark green; kerfuffle).

Then there’s the ever-changing upper right-hand corner of the site. Each page has a different feature, with the Vegas-style spinner (if you get four of a kind, you just might win); the Jon Scieszka “sloganeer” with suggestions like “tangy smells just so” and “A-Ok art just for you;” the Official Scieszka reflex test; a countdown clock to April 1, 2010; and the cheese fez (beware of pop-up windows).

Then there’s my favorite part – the Noodles page, which I wouldn’t dare ruin for you. Bonus points if you can find it.

Scieszka’s site reflects his philosophy that reading should be fun and enjoyable for everyone. As the National Ambassador for Young People’s Literature, Scieszka travels the country talking about the importance of literacy and reading, especially for children. Unlike some, though, he doesn’t condemn television or video games. In fact, he encourages reading in any form – even if it takes place online. With a website chock full of facts, figures and words, he practices what he preaches.

Check out JSW; I think you’ll like it. And feel free to recommend other author websites to me as well. I’m always interested.

[Photo Credit: Puffin UK]

Book News Round-Up

Welcome back for another book news round-up.

• Should authors censor their own works at bookstore readings? A Framingham, MA bookstore asked Jennifer Weiner to avoid curses and sex-related words when she gave a reading of her new book, Best Friends Forever. Weiner did comply with the bookstore's request, but the question remains: if the author's audience is aware of the book's content (and fine with it), should the author be asked to hold back?
• Reclusive author Thomas Pynchon has released a new book. Inherent Vice is Pynchon's latest offering and it's been getting rave reviews from journalists and bloggers across the country.
• It's the best of both worlds: books and ice cream. There's a Facebook group trying to get Ben & Jerry's to make a librarian-inspired ice cream flavor. Suggestions include "Gooey Decimal System" and "Rocky Read."
• It seems even Dumbledore's expertise extends beyond the grave. The non-profit Harry Potter Alliance uses examples from the popular book series to inspire their social activism. Members are encouraged to ask themselves: "What would Dumbledore do?"
  
• Don't blame the dog! This time, the Kindle ate his homework. A 17-year-old high school student is suing Amazon.com for the lose of the notes he made in his Kindle. The student was one of the many customers who had their copies of 1984 deleted from their Kindles, which also affected the electronic notes he had made for a summer reading assignment.
• SAT prep just got a whole lot cooler. Instead of slogging through boring vocabulary drills, students can now just read Twilight. A new book, Defining Twilight takes readers through Bella and Edward's story while highlight 600 words that might been found on SAT tests. Romance and vocab - it's a match made in vampire-human heaven.
  
• Apple.com is showing the new trailer for the film adaptation of Alice Sebold's best-seller, The Lovely Bones. If the movie can live up to the book and the trailer, it should be a great adaptation.
• Lastly, director Peter Berg is pondering a new film adaption of Frank Herbert's beloved sci-fi classic Dune. The 1984 film version, with "actor" Sting, didn't go well at the box office, but has a cult-like status among avid fans. And in 2000, the Sci-Fi television channel made a fairly well-received mini-series. Personally, given the scope and breadth of Herbert's world, I think yet another adaptation isn't the wisest idea.
  

An Improbable "Impossible"

I recently finished reading Nancy Werlin's YA novel, Impossible. It's a contemporary fantasy story that finds 17-year-old Lucy contemplating a family curse, an evil Elfin Knight, three seemingly impossible tasks and the ultimate power of true love.

I really wanted to love this book. It had every I like: a love story, faeries and fantasy, a challenge to tackle, and a happy ending. It received great reviews ( 4.5 stars from Amazon.com customers and an endorsement from Gregory Maguire) and several awards: School Library Journal Best Book of 2008, a Booklist Editor's Choice for 2008, and a Kirkus Reviews Best YA book of 2008. Werlin herself is a National Book Award finalist. So, my expectations were high.

Alas, I felt the book fell a bit short. I certainly enjoyed it - I finished reading it in one night. And I probably would recommend it to others. But something about the book just didn't fit. The plot overview implied that Lucy's story was mostly about finding a way to complete the three tasks. Yet the tasks - and the curse that surrounds them - aren't mentioned until nearly half-way through the book. So much time is spent setting up the plot that, by the time I got there, I was wondering what took so long.

When Lucy finally does start to complete the tasks, it's almost an afterthought. While of course I wanted the protagonist to triumph, I felt it was almost too easy, a forgone conclusion. It seemed improbable that the solutions to the tasks would come so easily, as if generations of Lucy's family had simply been looking in the wrong places. It also didn't help that I never felt as if Lucy were in danger from the evil Elfin Knight. A couple of times, I laughed out loud because I, as a reader, wasn't remotely intimidated by him. The sense of danger and foreboding just wasn't there.

I still think, however, that Werlin wrote a good book. Good, but not great. Perhaps the YA demographic - the novel's intended audience - would like this book more. She did do an impressive amount of research into folk songs and ballads to add depth to the story. And most of the characters were realistic and believable. Werlin's handling of the rape storyline was well-done and graceful; it wasn't overly dramatic or too simplistic. I also appreciate the balance between the real and the fantasy. Lucy and her family tackles the tasks, but with a healthy dose of skepticism.

I'd definitely recommend Impossible to its YA audience, but adults might want to wait to get the paperback from the library.

[Photo Credit: Kent District Library]

Book News Round-Up

Hey there, bookworms and wormettes, it's time for another installment of the Librarian Next Door's Book News Round-Up.

• It's about time! Barnes and Noble recently announced it would finally offer free wifi in stores. This comes on the heels of the launch of the new B&N e-bookstore, a venture aimed at taking on main competitor Amazon.com, no doubt. I'm still wary about e-books, but you can bet my Macbook that I'll be using the free wifi.
  
• Someone does not like Peter Jackson. The would-be wizard who brought the world the Lord of the Rings movie (and did a great job at adapting them, in my opinion) is now getting ready to film an adaptation of Tolkien's The Hobbit. But Tolkien's heirs want to stop production on the film and claim they are owed millions of dollars in profits from the previous films. Personally, it sounds like sour grapes to me, but maybe that's just because I really want to see what Jackson and Co. can do with this book, after their succcess with the others.
  
• The Globe is coming, the Globe is coming! The acting company for Shakespeare's Globe Theatre in London will tour in the U.S. this fall. The theater, a near-perfect replica of the theater Shakespeare himself worked in, is located on the Thames and the company performs Shakespeare's play in the authentic Elizabethan open-air theater. The tour will perform Love's Labours Lost throughout the U.S. from October to December. The closest it gets to me is Holyoke in December and you better believe I'm going to try to get there.
  
• A long list of finalists for the 2009 Man Booker Prize was released earlier this week. The Man Booker Prize is awarded each year to the best full-length novel published in English by an author from Ireland or a British Commonwealth nation. The long list includes A.S. Byatt, who won previously for Possession. Other previous winners include Salman Rushdie and Iris Murdoch.
  
• It ain't over till it's over. The legal battle over the "sequel" to J.D. Salinger's Catcher in the Rye is far from resolved. Earlier this month, a judge blocked publication of the sequel, saying it was too similar to Salinger's own work. Now, the Swedish author of the sequel has appealed that ruling, claiming the judge went too far in saying that the copyright extended to characters and character names. You'd think that if you pissed off the author you're trying to emulate, that would be a clue to back off, right?
  
• Last, you have to check out the trailer for Tim Burton's live-action Alice in Wonderland movie. While I enjoy the Disney cartoon version just fine, this movie looks so visually stunning and fantastic, I can only hope Lewis Carroll, wherever he might be, approves.