How on earth did we come to the last weekend in October? This weekend, I’m cheering my brother on as he runs the Marine Corps marathon. I’m very proud of him, even if I do think he’s crazy for running 26 miles. That’s why we have cars, trains and public transportation! On the other hand, since I can’t follow him for those 26 miles, that leaves plenty of down time during which I can read before standing up to cheer for the 30 seconds I’ll see him. Here’s the book news:
- She’s done a double, as the Brits would say. Hilary Mantel has won her second Man Booker Prize, this time for Bring Up the Bodies, her sequel to her previous Man Booker Prize-winning novel, Wolf Hall. In addition to the 50,000 pounds Sterling she’s won, she also gets a bit of prestige. Mantel is the first British author and the first woman to win the Man Booker for Fiction twice. (The previous double winners were South African and Australian). Mantel has a chance to break even more records. The third book in her Tudor series is due in late 2013 or early 2014.
- Calling all Boston bookworms! Today, in Copley Square in downtown Boston, the fourth annual Boston Book Festival is taking place. While I am sad to be missing it, if you are in the area, you should really go. It’s FREE and filled with tons of bookish stuff to make your bookish heart happy. Plus, someone has to stalk my favorite authors for me. (Rumor has it Lemony Snicket is due to make an appearance. I just like saying Lemony Snicket.)
- Gollum’s gone to the animals. Actor Andy Serkis, best known for his finely detailed performance of Gollum in The Lord of the Rings movies, will direct and star in an adaptation of George Orwell’s Animal Farm. The film will be made by Imaginarium, a performance-capture studio that uses high-tech gadgets and gizmos to digitally record an actor’s performance and capture his or her facial expressions, movement and posture. I’m really quite intrigued to see how Serkis and the studio use human actors’ performances of animals to create a motion-capture animated film.
- Who knew Rowling was so witty? While appearing on The Daily Show to promote her new novel, J.K. Rowling quipped with Jon Stewart and offered her own recommendation for the U.S.’s woes: a monarch. (She even knows of one who would be happy to have us back!). Rowling visited The Daily Show to promote The Casual Vacancy which has received mixed reviews and fair sales (though if anyone honestly thought it was reach Harry Potter-levels of sales, you’re crazy).
- In the so-crazy-it’s-true category: a young girl was banned from her school’s homecoming dance because she hadn’t returned an overdue library book. A high school freshman in Florida missed out on her school’s dance because of the unreturned book and a school policy which requires a zero balance for all fees and fines. Though the student was understandably upset, the school cryptically released a statement alluding to details that were inaccurately reported and saying there was more to this story. And the plot thickens….
As always, happy reading.
