Friday News Roundup, March 12, 2010

Here are some book related stories that have been in the news this week:
USA Today has an interview with Nicholas Sparks and Miley Cyrus about their new movie, The Last Song. In the interview, Miley confesses that she’s never read the book and Sparks compares his books to Hemingway’s. Seriously. (USA Today)
In other tweener news, Hillary Duff has signed a deal to write a new YA fiction series about a young female photojournalist. (MTV)
NPR has an interview with Seth Grahame-Smith, author of Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter, and Doris Kearns Goodwin about what they call “literary monster mashups.” (On Point Radio)
Speaking of literary monster mashups, Pop Candy has a sneak peek of the Pride and Prejudice and Zombies graphic novel. (Pop Candy)
Amazon experienced a glitch last weekend that resulted in many graphic novels being sold for only a fraction of their normal price. Sales [...]

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Upcoming Book Releases March 2010

House Rules by Jodi Picoult
March 2, 2010 (Order on Amazon)

From the publisher:
They tell me I’m lucky to have a son who’s so verbal, who is blisteringly intelligent, who can take apart the broken microwave and have it working again an hour later. They think there is no greater hell than having a son who is locked in his own world, unaware that there’s a wider one to explore. But try having a son who is locked in his own world, and still wants to make a connection. A son who tries to be like everyone else, but truly doesn’t know how.
Jacob Hunt is a teenage boy with Asperger’s syndrome. He’s hopeless at reading social cues or expressing himself well to others, and like many kids with AS, Jacob has a special focus on one subject — in his case, forensic analysis. He’s always showing up at crime scenes, [...]

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Friday News Roundup, February 26, 2010

Angelina Jolie is going to play Kay Scarpetta in the movie based on Patricia Cornwell’s novels. (LA Times)
Geek Sugar asks if ebooks should cost as much as regular books. I vote no! (Geek Sugar)
In 1940, a couple met and fell in love all thanks to a stolen library book. (South Coast Today)
I just discovered CoverSpy, a blog that posts what books New Yorkers are reading on the subway. (CoverSpy)
Sonya Sones’s One of Those Hideous Books Where the Mother Dies will remain in a Wisconsin middle school despite one parent’s attempt to censor it. I haven’t read the book, but that has to be the best title ever. (American Libraries)
An author writes about his experiences self-publishing his own books. (Huffington Post)
Here’s an interview with Marilyn Johnson, author of This Book is Overdue: How Librarians and Cybrarians Can Save Us All. (On the Media)
The [...]

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Friday News Roundup, February 19, 2010

The estate of a deceased British author is suing J. K. Rowling for plagiarism, claiming Harry Potter was copied from “Willy the Wizard.” (USA Today)
Kim Harrison blogs about urban fantasy versus romance and the death of a main character. (Bitten by Books)
Several authors, including J. R. Ward, discuss paranormal romance. (io9)
James Cameron is writing a novel that’s a prequel to Avatar. (AV Club)
This really made me laugh: “I Think R. L. Stine is Phoning It In” (College Humor)
Snooki, from the reality show Jersey Shore, claims she is currently reading her first book ever, ‘Dear John’ by Nicholas Sparks. You’ve got be kidding me. (Huffington Post)
The top 250 most borrowed library books in the UK. James Patterson seems to be just as popular there as he is here. (Guardian)
A new study finds that women prefer gory true crime novels more than men. (Tres Sugar)
The [...]

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Winter Olympics Books for Fans of All Ages

The 2010 Winter Olympics are currently taking place in Vancouver and will continue until February 28. If you or your kids want to read more about the games, here are a few books you may be interested in:
The Complete Book of the Winter Olympics: 2010 Edition by David Wallechinsky
(Order on Amazon)

From the publisher:
From speed skating to snowboarding, bobsleigh to ice hockey, this encyclopedia book gives the medals tables, timings, distances, and scores of every event, and provides vital information on rules and scoring systems. But much more than a statistical compendium, the book also offers a wealth of Winter Olympic history, anecdote, and lore, bringing alive the most dramatic moments from the Games and celebrating the many extraordinary individuals who have competed. It covers each event, Games by Games, from the four skating events which first featured in the 1908 London Olympics to freestyle skiing and curling—including discontinued [...]

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The Cover of the Third Hunger Games Book Revealed

Big news for fans of Suzanne Collins’ Hunger Games trilogy: the third book will be called Mockingjay and is scheduled for release on August 24, 2010. I just recently read the first two books, The Hunger Games and Catching Fire, and I can’t wait to get my hands on Mockingjay. I’m talking Harry Potter levels of anticipation here! If you haven’t read the books, they take place in a dystopian future where the government makes children fight each other to the death in an event called the Hunger Games as punishment for a previous rebellion. The games are televised as a twisted reality show where viewers root for their favorites and sponsors vie for popular contestants (Read Jose’s reviews of The Hunger Games and Catching Fire).
This article in USA Today about Mockingjay also mentions that Collins is finishing the screenplay for the Hunger Games [...]

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Friday News Roundup, February 12, 2010

Here are some book related stories that have been in the news this week:
USA Today picks some quirky books that will put you in the Valentine’s Day spirit.
First it was The Babysitters Club, now Sweet Valley High books are returning with a new book called Sweet Valley Confidential. (Entertainment Weekly)
Author Meg Cabot (@megcabot) is the next author to participate in writing a novel on Twitter. She will tweet the first line at noon EST on February 16. (BBC Audio America)
Here’s another article about the drama surrounding deceased Swedish author Steig Larsson. Apparently a former colleague is claiming he couldn’t have written The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo. (BBC)
There’s a new book out called You Couldn’t Ignore Me If You Tried: The Brat Pack, John Hughes, and Their Impact on a Generation by Susannah Gora. (USA Today)
The top 5 books on the New York Times Hardcover Fiction [...]

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Book Buzz: Books Currently on TV and at the Movies

Thanks to recent movies and TV appearances, a few books have been getting a lot of attention recently. Check out this list of books that have people buzzing:
Food Rules: An Eater’s Manual by Michael Pollan

The documentary film Food, Inc. has been getting a lot a buzz recently thanks to its nomination for an Academy Award and thanks to a recent feature on Oprah. Author Michael Pollan appears in the film and talked to Oprah about his new book, Food Rules. In it, Pollan gives advice about eating through common sense principles like “Don’t eat anything your great-grandmother wouldn’t recognize as food” and “Don’t eat anything that won’t eventually rot.” I’m currently reading one of his previous books, In Defense of Food, and it’s been an eye opening experience (my review is coming soon). Food Rules is currently the #1 bestselling book on Amazon.

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Friday News Roundup, February 5, 2010

Bill Watterson, creator of Calvin & Hobbes, granted his first interview in 15 years. (Cleveland Plain Dealer)
The days of the $9.99 Kindle book might be over as Amazon raises prices of Macmillan books to $15.99. Boo! (Daily Tech)
Speaking of Amazon, are they building a Super-Kindle? (New York Times)
Texas prisons ban classics as well as bestsellers by Grisham and Patterson. (The Statesman)
Read an excerpt from Patti Smith’s memoir, Just Kids. (Rolling Stone)
Get your favorite out of print book cover on a t-shirt. (Out of Print.)
The top 5 books on the New York Times Hardcover Bestseller List:
THE HELP, by Kathryn Stockett
KISSER, by Stuart Wood
THE LOST SYMBOL, by Dan Brown
THE BURNING LAND, by Bernard Cornwell
THE FIRST RULE, by Robert Crais

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Friday News Roundup, January 29, 2010

Here’s some book related stories that have been in the news this week:
Sad news: J. D. Salinger, author of The Catcher in the Rye, has passed away at the age of 91. Here’s one of my favorite quotes from Catcher that I think is especially appropriate today:
What really knocks me out is a book that, when you’re all done reading it, you wish the author that wrote it was a terrific friend of yours and you could call him up on the phone whenever you felt like it. That doesn’t happen much, though.
Howard Zinn, author and civil rights activist, also passed away this week. (New York Times)
Is the iPad too expensive to compete with other ebook readers? (Chicago Sun-Times)
In addition to the iPad, Apple has also unveiled iBooks, a new store for ebooks. (Huffington Post)
Kitty Kelley is writing an unauthorized biography of Oprah. (USA Today)
Waldenbooks [...]

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