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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Twilight Graphic Novel Cover Revealed

Stephenie Meyer’s website was updated on Wednesday with a press release from Hachette Book Group:
YEN PRESS ANNOUNCES TWILIGHT: THE GRAPHIC NOVEL, VOL. 1 WILL GO ON-SALE ON MARCH 16, 2010
NEW YORK, NY (January 20, 2010) — Yen Press, the graphic novel imprint of Hachette Book Group, announced that it will publish the highly-anticipated first volume in the graphic novel adaptation of Stephenie Meyer’s Twilight on March 16, 2010. Twilight: The Graphic Novel, Volume 1 will be released in hardcover for $19.99 ($22.99 CAN) with a first printing of 350,000 copies. As is typical in graphic novel publishing, due to the length of the prose novel, the book will be divided into two volumes and the release date for the second volume is forthcoming.
Twilight: The Graphic Novel contains selected text from Meyer’s original novel with illustrations by Korean artist Young Kim. A rare fusion of Asian and Western comic techniques is [...]

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Is Stephenie Meyer the Author of the Decade?

Read Street, the book blog of the Baltimore Sun, has declared 2000-2009 the decade of Stephenie Meyer. Their reasoning for this bold declaration is that:
Meyer’s novel “Twilight,” released in October of 2005, hit the top of the bestseller lists and has hardly budged since — while being joined by others in the series.
In the comment section the author clarifies:
I’m not saying she’s the best author if the decade, but her emergence is one of the biggest trends since 2000. There’s no doubt about that.
It’s true, vampire books have been a huge trend in the past few years and Stephenie Meyer’s success has spread to other authors like L. J. Smith and Charlaine Harris. On the other hand, while recent years have been all about vampires, I would argue that J. K. Rowling dominated most of the decade. The first Harry Potter book was published in [...]

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What To Read Next – Twilight Edition

Have you read all the books in Stephenie Meyer’s Twilight saga and are thirsty for more vampires? Here’s a list of Young Adult read alikes that feature vampires or have similar themes as Twilight.

Tantalize by Cynthia Leitich Smith
Like Twilight, Tantalize is about humans, vampires, and werewolves. The story is narrated by seventeen-year-old Quincie who, along with her uncle, is reopening the family restaurant in Austin, Texas with a vampire theme. When the chef at the restaurant is murdered, werewolf and Quincie’s best friend, Kieren, is the prime suspect.

Blood and Chocolate by Annette Curtis Klause
This might appeal to you if you’re looking for a story about forbidden love. Werewolf Vivian falls in love with Aiden, a sensitive human boy she meets at her new school. She finds herself caught between the worlds of humans and her fellow pack members.
 

The Silver Kiss by Annette [...]

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Stephenie Meyer Will Be On Oprah This Friday

Stephenie Meyer updated her website over the weekend to announce that she will be on Oprah this Friday, November 13, 2009. She says:
You know I’ve been doing the hermit thing this last year, in so far as media is concerned, and I’m not changing that now, but I am making an exception. I’m doing this for a good reason: I am so pleased and amazed and thrilled with what Chris Weitz has done with New Moon that I want to talk about it, and to show my support for him. And since I’m only doing one interview, better make it big. Really big. So….I will be on The Oprah Winfrey Show on Friday, November 13th. Check the local listings on Oprah’s website to find out what time it will be on where you live.
Of course, most of the questions for Oprah will be designed for a broader audience than [...]

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Stephenie Meyer Recommends: DREAMHUNTER and DREAMQUAKE by Elizabeth Knox

Our favorite vampire loving author, Stephenie Meyer, updated her website today with some of her favorite books and music of the summer. She highly recommends a two-part fantasy book series Dreamhunter and Dreamquake by Elizabeth Knox so I’m planning on checking them out myself. Here’s the basic plot of the first book, Dreamhunter:
Two cousins, Laura and Rose live in a world where dreams only come to Dreamhunters. The Dreamhunters have the ability to enter a magical world known as “The Place” and experience dreams. They then perform the dreams for everyone else, and when the spectators go to bed that night they experience the dreams for themselves. When Laura’s father goes missing, the girls go on a mission to find him. They also must test themselves on becoming Dreamhunters and entering “The Place”.
These books sound like great reads and I’m looking forward to checking them [...]

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Don’t Believe the Hype

Have you ever heard everyone rave about a particular book but when you read it, you don’t understand what all the fuss is about? Here are a few popular books that I expected to love but ended up hating. Warning: MAJOR SPOILERS ahead!
Love in the Time of Cholera by Gabriel García Márquez
I don’t think words can adequately convey how much I loathe this book. I had high expectations for Love in the Time of Cholera because over the years I had heard that this was one of the greatest love stories of all time. It even factored heavily into Serendipity, a great movie by the way, which borrowed themes from the book. However, when I finally read the book, I didn’t think it was romantic at all. Florentino Ariza falls in love at first sight with 14-year-old Fermina and basically begins stalking her Fatal Attraction style. When [...]

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What to Read Next – Harry Potter Edition

The film Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince hit theaters last week and it made me nostalgic for the days of reading the books for the first time. If you are like me and want to read another great series, here is a list of books that might help fill the void left by Harry Potter. Both children and adults can enjoy most of these books. Many have themes similar to Harry Potter, such as a child who doesn’t fit in finding out that he or she is somehow special or different from most kids.

Artemis Fowl by Eoin Colfer
Artemis Fowl, a twelve-year-old boy genius and criminal mastermind, has uncovered the secret world of fairies and plots to steal their gold. These are not traditional fairies, however, as they are heavily armed and equipped with advanced technology. The Artemis Fowl series is often compared to Harry Potter [...]

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THE HOST Review

THE HOST by Stephenie Meyer

Like most people, I became a fan of author Stephenie Meyer from her famous vampire trilogy. I think a lot of people were curios and maybe a little skeptical when she announced she had another book out so soon after the success of Twilight. My friend Sandie and I attended a book signing for The Host, curious to see if Meyer was merely just a one series wonder. I have to say that I was happily surprised to find she has more than one trick up her sleeve. The Host is a romantic science fiction story that takes place on Earth after it has been almost entirely taken over by aliens. The aliens are basically parasites that use human “host” bodies to function. Although the aliens are responsible citizens and lead pretty normal, eco-friendly, non violent lives; they are ultimately [...]

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