Feb
5
Happy February, bookworms! Time is flying by. The Super Bowl is this weekend, but since the Patriots (home team, represent!) are nowhere to be found in Miami, I’ll be watching the final episode of the Masterpiece Theatre adaptation of Emma. While you laugh at me for being a Jane Austen-loving dork, enjoy this week’s book news:
- This just in: technology is not a threat to reading. Or so says National Ambassador for Young People’s Literature (god, what a mouthful) Katherine Paterson. In an opinion essay for the NY Daily News, Paterson writes that she thinks that reading won’t die simply because of new technological advances. She makes her argument by citing the historical and cultural importance of storytelling, saying that people will always want stories, even as society advances. I’m inclined to agree. How we read might change, but our desire for true stories – and not just 140 character bites – will outlast the fleeting fame of the latest gizmo or gadget.
- Now that the first annual book blogger convention is a reality, it just keeps getting better. The organizers behind the event have partnered with Book Expo America (also known as my idea of nirvana) to allow for more book bloggers to participate. And since BEA is like catnip for book bloggers, there will certainly be plenty to blog about.
- Speaking of book conventions, fairs and the like, the nonprofit organization in charge of the Boston Book Festival announced the 2nd Annual BBF date just this week: Saturday, October 16, 2010. Though chances are good that I’ll end up working at the event again, I’ll still keep my fingers crossed that I get to actually attend some of the panels this year. And it would be nice if it didn’t rain again. Books and rain do not go together.
- “This is obviously a misguided Flanimal Rights Group or an organized gang of 8 year olds.” That was Ricky Gervais’ reaction when he found out that thousands of copies of his new children’s pop-up book went missing from a warehouse. Considering Gervais was involved, many thought the news was initially a clever marketing joke, but it was, in fact, true. Someone out there either really loves or really hates Flanimals.
- Coincidence, or reclusive author conspiracy? Just after well-known recluse J.D. Salinger passed away, another hermit-like author and cartoonist, Bill Watterson (of Calvin and Hobbes fame) broke his 20 year silence. Watterson responded to an email interview with the Cleveland Plain Dealer, which is reportedly his first interview since 1989. Though my overactive imagination would like to assign some greater meaning to the timing of both events, there’s a pretty good chance I have no idea what I’m talking about.
- Oscar nominations were announced this week and, once again, nominees included those stories and characters from previously written material. The newly expanded best picture race included four films based on books and novels, while the adapted screenplay category included Nick Hornby’s screenplay for An Education, Jason Reitman and Sheldon Turner’s adaptation of Walter Kirn’s Up in the Air and Geoffrey Fletcher’s take on Push by Sapphire, made for the silver screen as Precious. The Oscars will be announced in March.
- Ashamed of your Kindle or brand-new iPad? Long Live Books has a new cover that will let you hide your shame. What looks like a old-school hard cover book on the outside is actually a Kindle or iPad sleeve on the inside. Now you can maintain your secret love for technology while maintaining for old-fashioned book-loving street cred.
