Book News Round-Up

Welcome to another weekend and another book news round-up, bookworms. There's an arctic cold front here in Boston, so I'm snuggled up warm inside.

• We all know about movie trailers, the 1 to 2 minute sneak peeks we get during television commercials or before the main attraction. But what about book trailers? With YouTube giving any fan a place to display their creativity, book trailers are becoming more and more prevalent. But Salon magazine thinks book trailers are silly - books, by nature, leave the visual part to the imagination and trailers take some of that away. Still, with more and more cross-over between media, I think book trailers are here to stay, even if they are silly.
• And while we're speaking of the digital effect on publishing, research suggests that avid readers want both e-books and print material. Many readers use their Kindles or e-readers to supplement their print book habits. While this research is still new, it may be proof that publishing is not, in fact, dead.
• Amazon.com is now accepting submissions for its Breakthrough Novel contest. Amazon is partnering with Penguin Group USA and Create Space to host the contest for the third year. This year, the award will go to one book for general fiction and one book for young adult fiction. The winners receive a publishing contract with Penguin and a cash prize. More details can be found on Amazon's website.
• Over at Omnivoracious, Heidi looks back at the 2000's as the YA decade. According to her, no other genre grew as rapidly and expanded as quickly as the YA genre during the last ten years. She offers her opinions about the YA authors who made the biggest impact and led to the rise of many others.
• The National Book Critics Circle announced their nominees for their book awards, given out to books published in 2009. The NBCC's have six categories and four National Book Award finalists showed up on their list as well. One familiar name to LND readers is the nomination of Hilary Mantel's Man Booker Prize-winning novel, Wolf Hall. The NBCC's are one-third of the American book award trifecta and winners will be named in March.
  
• Of course, the big news this week was the unveiling of Apple's iPad, a new, touch-screen computer that's something like a cross between an iPhone and a netbook. Among the iPad's applications is an e-reader, as Apple no doubt hopes to gain some ground against Amazon's Kindle. But with the iPad's prices starting around $500, it might be awhile before it makes a dent in Amazon's monopoly on the e-reader business.
• Lastly, a moment of silence for noted liberal historian Howard Zinn. A professor emeritus at my alma mater, Boston University, Zinn was best known for his book, The People's History of the United States, a history book that focused on the overlooked events and populations in this nation's past. In his lifetime, he wrote more than 20 books and was an outspoken supporter of liberal, progressive causes.
  

The Hermit

Reclusive author J.D. Salinger passed away yesterday at the age of 91. Before his self-imposed exile (partly because he did not like the fame that accompanied his literary success), Salinger was considered one of the most important post-World War II American authors. His collected works include with incredibly popular and influential novel, The Catcher in the Rye, for which he is still best known.

Salinger’s critically acclaimed collection of short stories, Nine Stories, helped shape later writers such as Philip Roth and John Updike and were noted for their sharp social observations and untraditional story structure and language.

Salinger was known as much for his mysteriousness and closely guarded privacy as he was for his books. He was notorious for avoiding interaction with the press and he didn’t publish again after the mid 1960’s. For more complete overview of Salinger’s life and work, check out the obituary from the New York Times.

And for those who care, below is a collection of some of my favorite Salinger quotes:

• “He had a theory, Walt did, that the religious life, and all the agony that goes with it, is just something God sics on people who have the gall to accuse Him of having created an ugly world.”
• “I am a kind of paranoid in reverse. I suspect people of plotting to make me happy.”
• “I don't exactly know what I mean by that, but I mean it.”
• “It's funny. All you have to do is say something nobody understands and they'll do practically anything you want them to.”
• “If I were God, I certainly wouldn't want people to love me sentimentally. It's too unreliable.”

[Photo Credit: Wikipedia]

Well-Meaning and Clueless

On Sunday, PBS and Masterpiece Theater Classic premiered the most recent Jane Austen adaptation, this time of Austen’s fourth published novel, Emma. This represents the fourth time Emma has been made into a television mini-series or movie – fifth if you count Clueless as a legitimate adaptation.

Emma is, by Austen’s own admittance, not always the favorite. Before writing the novel, Austen wrote: “I am going to take a heroine whom no-one but myself will much like.” Unlike other Austen heroines (such as Lizzie Bennett, Anne Elliot and the Dashwood sisters), Emma has no financial concerns – she doesn’t need to marry well to ensure security; rather, she is wealthy in her own right and thus her cares seems more trivial and silly than the others’.

The reader’s (or, in this case, viewer’s) sympathy doesn’t extend as far because we have less reasons to root for her. That Emma is also spoiled and somewhat vain doesn’t help her cause. And while she is certainly well-meaning, she lacks the foresight and awareness of how her actions affect those around her. Still, while Pride & Prejudice and Sense & Sensibility may have more outspoken fans, Emma is considered by some to be Austen’s masterpiece, due to the depth and detail in her characterizations and commentaries on the social world of Highbury.

This new television mini-series adaptation is the latest in a series of “reboots” by the BBC and PBS. In 2007 (2008 in the United States), the BBC and Masterpiece Theater/PBS debuted new versions of Sense & Sensibility, Persuasion, Mansfield Park and Northanger Abbey (leaving out Emma, and, of course, Pride & Prejudice, the producers no doubt thinking that 13 various television series and films was enough). As to why Emma was re-adapted now and not then, I can only guess.

As, perhaps, a sign of the times, Masterpiece PBS and several prominent Austen bloggers (including Austenprose and Jane Austen's World) hosted a Twitter party during the East Coast viewing of the mini-series. Fans could tweet their reactions while Masterpiece and the Janeite bloggers provided behind-the-scenes info and Austen and Emma trivia. Austenprose also offered an Austen-inspired quiz, with winners receiving the Jane Austen action figure (which, alas, I did not win and I still do not have, despite my not-so-subtle hints at Christmas time).

The mini-series will continue this Sunday (January 31st) and will conclude on Sunday, February 7th.

[Photo Credit: PBS.org]

Book News Round-Up

Welcome to another weekend and another edition of the Librarian Next Door’s book news round-up.

• Let’s get the boring stuff out of the way: Amazon is opening the door to let developers make applications (commonly known as “apps”) for the Kindle. In the world of digital e-book readers, this could mean something big. While surely there will be some dumb or just-for-fun apps that don’t really do anything, others will help ensure that the Kindle is more than a uni-tasker. Apple’s rumored Tablet better beware.
• Are there too many book prizes? The Millions blog raises that very question, pointing out the sheer number of various book awards that are given out in a year, on the international, national and regional level. Post author Garth Hallberg concedes that some prizes are worthwhile, in that they provide recognition, encouragement and often financial benefits to the author. But other awards place too much emphasis on the award itself (and not the original literary work) or simply overwhelm the prize marketplace so that all prizes lose their significance. Hallberg has a lot of great points, but it sounds to me like someone never got a blue ribbon in school.
• The New York Times announced this week that it will start charging for access to its website in 2011. Visitors to NYTimes.com will get a certain number of articles free every month before being asked to pay a flat fee for unlimited access. While more specific details about the move are still scarce, some people fear this will mean the end of free access to quality writing on the Internet. As for me, if this means the NY Times gets to stay afloat in this horrible economy, I’m willing to entertain the idea of paying for access.
• Turns out, I lied. Kirkus Reviews, once on the brink of a sad and permanent death, now seems poised for resurrection. Kirkus will continue to publish as behind-the-scenes maneuvering occurs to secure Kirkus a buyer. I guess print isn’t dead – at least not yet.
• Bloomsbury Books is once again at the center of a bad PR storm. This past summer, the publishing house was accused of racism after using a white model for the cover of a book in which the heroine was described as African-American. After outcry in the kidlit blogosphere, Bloomsbury re-shot the cover. Now, they’re at it again, putting another white model on the cover of a book about a girl with brown skin and “exotic” looks. While Bloomsbury quickly moved to correct the situation, many bloggers still feel the publishing industry is engaging in “whitewashing.” The incident highlights the need for real, positive discussions about the role race plays in both literature and marketing.
• Oh look! More Twilight news! Entertainment Weekly announced this week that the graphic novel version of Twilight will be released on March 16th (just in time for my birthday, bookworms! Hint, hint.) The graphic novel will be published in two volumes and will feature an introduction from the Vampire Mama herself, Stephenie Meyer.
• Lastly, the literary world is mourning the loss of one of the greatest noir fiction / mystery and crime writers of his generation, Robert Parker. Best known for his Spenser novels (the inspiration for the Spenser: For Hire television show), Parker had an incredible command of metropolitan Boston and indeed the city often seemed like a character itself. During his prolific writing career, he won two Edgar Awards (the best of the best mystery writing in a given year) as well as the “Grand Master” designation for his entire body of work.
  

Newbery, Caldecott and Printz, Oh My!

Over the Martin Luther King Day weekend, a number of books and authors received some special awards.

At the American Library Association’s Midwinter meeting, the ALA Youth Media Awards – also known as the “Academy Awards” of children’s literature – were announced.

The John Newbery Medal for most outstanding contribution to children’s literature went to Rebecca Stead's When You Reach Me, an imaginative novel that draws inspiration from previous Newbery Medal winner A Wrinkle in Time (Madeleine L'Engle). The Michael L. Printz Award for excellence in literature written for young adults was awarded to Libba Bray's newest novel, Going Bovine, a wild tale about a 16-year-old slacker who ends up taking a dysfunctional, Don Quixote-like journey across the country with a Mexican-American video-game loving dwarf.

In addition, ten books published as “adult books” were designated as Alex Award winners, for having special appeal for teen readers. Among those winners were Lev Grossman’s The Magicians and David Small’s National Book Award finalist, Stitches: A Memoir.

On a slightly related note, the ALA also released its 2010 Notable Books for Adult Readers list and the 2010 Outstanding Genre Reading List (also for adults). I was excited by the genre list, because I don’t often recognize the authors on such lists. This time, however, Julia Quinn snagged the award for the Romance genre.

Meanwhile, in Hollywood, the Critics Choice Awards and the Golden Globe Awards honored some literary-inspired films. The best screenplay award at both ceremonies went to Up in the Air, an adaptation of a 2001 novel with the same name by Walter Kirn. A handful of actors were also honored for their work in movies based on books and literary characters: Meryl Streep (for the Julie and Julia adaptation), Sandra Bullock (for The Blind Side, originally a book by Michael Lewis) and Robert Downey, Jr. (for Sherlock Holmes, a movie based on Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s most famous literary detective).

[Photo Credit: Google Image Search]

Book News Round-Up

It's the start of another week and the beginning of another book news round-up. I personally had a long week and so am enjoying a relaxing and lazy Sunday, before what I'm sure will be yet another long week. Enjoy the news.

• With all the various book awards being handed out during this time of year, it's no surprise that someone thought of this: the Tournament of Books. Now in its sixth year, the ToB is the brain-child of the folks over at The Morning News, an online news publication. Each March, they pit the 16 best books of the previous against each other in a March Madness-like bracket situation. Only the best of the best advance to the next round. School Library Journal has it's own, similar, contest, the Battle of the Books, specifically aimed at children's and YA literature. Mostly, I'm just happy I have something to keep me occupied in March - this bookworm is definitely not a basketball fan.
  
• And in keeping up with the various book awards, the Story Prize finalists were announced this week. Also in its sixth year, the Story Prize is given annually to the best book of short fiction. This year's finalists are all collections of short stories and, coincidentally, are all debut works from their respective authors. Winners will be announced in March.
• A recent article in Edutopia magazine urges teachers to preserve the language of Shakespeare when teaching the Bard's stories. Owen Edwards acknowledges that teaching Shakespeare can be difficult, due to the not-quite-a-foreign-language style and words used. He applauds teachers who use modern-day adaptations to engage students with the plays, but encourages them to keep the language intact, for this one simple reason: "Shakespeare's greatness lives in his language." And you'll get no argument from me.
• Between the publishing conventions, the ALA conventions and the author conventions, the literary world couldn't possibly need yet another gathering of people coming together in its name, right? Wrong! In May, a group of bloggers will launch the first annual Book Bloggers Convention. There's little news about what exactly will happen at this convention, but all I really want to know is this: do I count as a book blogger? No? Maybe?
• The tragic earthquake in Haiti is, no doubt, on many people's minds and especially on those members of International PEN. Galley Cat reports that the President of PEN Haiti, Georges Anglade, and his wife were among those who died during the earthquake. International PEN, and it's 145 affiliates across the globe, is a worldwide association for writers that promotes literature as a way to connecting people and places.
• As the Haiti story has unfolded, Boston-based children's literature author Mitali Perkins has compiled a list of children's books set in Haiti and another kidlit blogger has child-appropriate books about earthquakes. Meanwhile, National Ambassador Katherine Paterson is doing her part to help Haitian children through the IBBY (International Board on Books for Young People) Children in Crisis Fund, which uses literature to help alleviate the psychological affects of disaster.
  

For and By the Fans

Do you ever wonder what happened to your favorite characters after the last chapter, the last episode or after the credits roll? Do you ever wish the story had gone on longer?

Of course you do – if you’re really a fan. Sometimes we have this insatiable need to know what happened after the characters’ last bows. But most of the time, we’ll never know. The book ended, the television show ended, the movie ended. The authors, writers and creators don’t go back.

So instead, the fans do. And thus we have the wonderful world of fan fiction.

Google “fan fiction” for just about anything – Harry Potter, Twilight, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Star Wars – and you’ll find an endless number of websites, forums and communities where like-minded people ban together to write new pasts, presents and futures for some of their favorite characters.

Fan fiction writers are ordinary folks, just like you and me, who like to spend their free time writing stories about characters they already know and love. Some of it is good, some of it is bad, and most of it lines somewhere in between. Fan fiction writers take their stories seriously – sometimes as seriously as an author takes his or her unfinished manuscript. They pour time, energy and emotion into their work just like any other author. In spite of this, though, the question still remains:

Is fan fiction literature?

The American Heritage Dictionary defines “literature” as “imaginative or creative writing, especially of recognized artistic value.” Fan fiction is certainly imaginative and creative writing, though I suppose its artistic value is open to debate. But if we think of literature as that which lines the shelves of bookstores and libraries, then fan fiction comes up short.

Fan fiction authors don’t own the copyright to any of the characters they write about. The vast majority of them can’t take legal or financial credit for their work and therefore, the vast majority of fan fiction will never be published anywhere but the Internet. (The rare exception to the publication rule is if the original source material is in the public domain; authors who write “sequels” to books such as Pride and Prejudice can be published and receive monetary compensation.)

Still, I think there is some literary value to fan fiction. If nothing else, it gets people reading and writing – and in a world where every digital gadget is fighting for my attention, I’ll take the reading and writing where I can get it. It also, as I said before, involves a great deal of creativity. It opens imaginations up to endless possibilities and gives us a chance to think about the path not taken.

Fan fiction isn’t going to replace real fiction, obviously, but I’m not sure I can dismiss it as complete fluff anymore. It may not qualify as “literature” but there is something about it which is literary – “Of or relating to writers or the profession of writing.”

[Photo Credit: Google Image Search]

A Look at the Future

It’s a filler post, bookworms, and for that, I truly apologize. What I wouldn’t give for a few more hours in every day. But between a busy work schedule, an almost-cold I can’t seem to shake and a hundred other little things, I’m feeling pressed for time when it comes to writing blog posts.

Still, I hope you’ll find this information useful. And I promise to try my best to do better in the future.

A random, but helpful, list of upcoming book awards:

• The ALA Youth Media Awards - the holy grail of children’s and young adult book awards, the Newbery and Caldecott medals as well as the Michael Printz Award, the Margaret Edwards Award and the Alex Awards will be handed out at the ALA Midwinter meeting on the 18th.
• National Book Critics Circle – one-third of the U.S./American book award trinity, the NBCC awards come from the critics themselves – and you know how hard it is to get on a critics good side. The NBCC’s are open to any book published in English in the U.S., which means non-American authors (as long as their book was in English and published in the U.S.) are eligible. The NBCC nominees will be announced on January 23rd.
• Pulitzer Prizes for Literature – With awards given for fiction, drama, history, biography and general non-fiction, the Pulitzer is another third of the American book award trifecta. Awarded annually since 1948 for distinguished fiction by an American author, preferably dealing with American life, winning the Pulitzer is a monumental achievement. Winners will be named in April.
• PEN/Faulkner Award for Fiction – named for distinguished American author William Faulkner (and established with his donated Nobel Prize winnings), this award honors the best work of fiction by an American author in a specific calendar year. The judges are writers themselves and are appointed by the PEN/Faulkner Foundation. Five books – one winner and four finalists – are announced each spring. This is the largest peer-bestowed award in the country.
• Indies Choice - the American Booksellers Association keeps reinventing its awards and the Indies are its latest incarnation. Selected by a group of independent booksellers, the awards are usually handed out at the Book Expo America in the spring.
• Screenplay Adaptations – While not technically book awards, with the Golden Globes and the Oscars on the horizon, we are looking at a group of screenplays adapted from books. And I figure if Al Gore can win an Oscar for a Power-Point presentation movie, then I can talk about film awards on a book blog. The Globes are this Sunday and the Oscars are on March 7th.
  

Book News Round-Up

It’s a short week, bookworms. Either I’ve been bored by the latest book news or nothing exciting is happening in the literary world. You decide which is more likely. In the meantime, book news!

• It’s that time again, folks. Book awards season is alive and kicking. The Scott O’Dell Award for Historical Fiction was recently awarded to Matt Phelan’s graphic novel, The Storm in the Barn. Phelan’s book, which explores life during the Dust Bowl, is one of the first books to receive accolades in 2010. In the coming weeks, the ALA will award the Newbery, Caldecott and Printz awards, the National Book Critics Circle and the Pulitzer awards will be handed out. Oh, and there’s also those little things called the Oscars.
• I love ‘80’s nostalgia. When I was growing up, I also loved The Babysitters Club. So I pretty much jumped for joy when I heard Scholastic was issuing reprints of the first few books and getting Ann M. Martin to write a prequel. I grew up on these books – I remember trying as hard as I could to keep up with the sheer volume of books in the series and, later, thinking it was strange that they never aged or moved up a grade, despite celebrating several holidays multiple times. I guess they’re like the Simpsons, frozen in time.
• If you bemoan the fact that conglomerates are taking over the world, this news probably won’t make you happy. Harper Studios publisher Bob Miller predicts that, in five years, all publishing will be handled by just three major companies. That’s a full 50% reduction from the whooping six major companies there are today (the big six obviously doesn’t include small and independent publishers). As unfortunate as it sounds (because I think more competition is good for the market), Miller may be onto something. That vast majority of books are published by a relatively small portion of the publishing industry – they just confuse you by using different imprint names.

Happy Weekend!

Madame Ambassador

Today, the Library of Congress's Center for the Book and the Children's Book Council announced that Katherine Paterson will be the new (and second) National Ambassador for Young People’s Literature. Paterson isn’t a stranger to the children’s literature world. She’s written close to 40 books and novels for children ages 8-14 and is both a two-time winner of the Newbery Medal and the National Book Award.

Paterson is taking over the National Ambassador reigns from Jon Scieszka, of the Stinky Cheese Man fame. While Scieszka focused primarily on ways to encourage reluctant readers (especially boys) to read, Paterson has said that her term’s theme will be “Read for Your Life” and that she will emphasize children and adults reading aloud together.

I adored Katherine Paterson’s books growing up. To this day, I firmly believe that everyone – adult or child – should read Bridge to Terabithia at least once. I re-read it once every year or so and it still makes me cry.

I also happen to think that she writes well for a diverse group of people. Her own background (born in China to British missionary parents, lived in Japan as an adult) gives her a unique perspective on the world and as a result, her books cover an impressive range of time periods, countries, races and religions. I personally love her philosophy on how reading can encourage all readers to learn about things they don’t know. She told the New York Times that she wanted “people to be reading about children of other places and other races and religions. I think novels are a wonderful way to do that because you get in somebody else's psyche and you see things quite differently than the way you see things simply through your own eyes.”

The position of National Ambassador for Young People's Literature was created by the Center for the Book and the Children's Book Council in January 2008 to address the sharp decline in children's reading habits. Ambassadors are chosen by the Librarian of Congress, based on recommendations from a selection committee. Ms. Paterson will hold the position for 2010 and 2011.

[Photo Credit: School Library Journal]

Book News Round-Up

Happy New Year, bookworms. I'm finally back with a book news round-up, the first of 2010 and, depending on who you talk to, the first of the new decade. Enjoy!

• While wizards, vampires and Robert Langdon dominated the decade, there were a few other books published in the last ten years. Daily Beast has a list of the best 14 you might have missed while you were making your way down the best-sellers list. The list has a variety of nonfiction, fiction and graphic novels.
  
• Um..., okay. My current hometown of Quincy, MA is considering enacting a law that would ban Level 3 sex offenders from the library. The idea is that this law would create safe areas around the locations (such as libraries, parks and playgrounds) so that children and their families don't feel threatened. I think it's a great idea, but as a frequent patron on the Quincy library myself, I don't think they have to worry about sex offenders finding kids there since I almost never see any.
• Local, independent bookstores are struggling to stay open in the current economy and have taken some painful, but necessary steps to keep their doors open. In particular, specialty bookstores are cutting down on certain titles in order to stock the shelves with the books most likely to sell.
• Since Hollywood likes to steal ideas from literature, Galley Cat has a post pondering the best literary adaptations of the year. Though movies like Up in the Air, Precious and others are getting good reviews, the consensus seems to land on Dave Eggers' adaptation of Maurice Sendak's Where the Wild Things Are as best of the year. And you'll get no argument from me. Anyone that can take a book with such a small amount of words and make a 90 minute movie out of it deserves recognition.
• I guess authors just don't make the right kind of money these days. Before Christmas, the New York Times reported that an author tried to shoplift his own book from a bookstore. Few clues have surfaced, leading many to wonder who "he" is, but if he's so desperate to steal his own book, he's probably not a very good author. I'm guessing.
• And lastly, Galley Cat conducted a highly scientific survey to determine just how many writes, novelists, authors, etc. were on Twitter, in this year of Twitter's rise. According to a simple search of people's own self-written biographies, there are 9,139 poets, 1,790 novelists, and a staggering 99,082 writers on Twitter right now. Unfortunately, of the most popular Twitter profiles to have "writer" in the biography, the number one spot goes to Perez Hilton, who despite his popular blog, I would argue is not actually a writer. Well, it's the thought that counts.