Feb 20 2008

Spiderwick Chronicles on a budget

Holly Black and Tony DiTerlizzi are awesome, but their Spiderwick Chronicles books are way overpriced. The novels cost a hefty $10.99 apiece--not bad for a conventional hardcover, but these books...

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Feb 19 2008

Just in case.....

I thought I would post the latest trailer for Prince Caspian: The Return to Narnia (the movie adaptation of the second book in the Chronicles of Narnia series), just in case you missed it during t...

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Feb 18 2008

Suzanne Collins's new book

I was bitterly disappointed by the final book in Suzanne Collins's Underland Chronicles (I mean, it's one thing to have an ambiguous ending, but Gregor and the Code of Claw didn't even make sense....

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Feb 15 2008

Confessions of a Serial Kisser, by Wendelin Van Draanen

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Seventeen-year-old Evangeline Logan, the heroine of Wendelin Van Draanen’s new YA novel Confessions of a Serial Kisser, has a lot in common with the eponymous star of her kid-friendly Sammy Keyes mystery series. Both girls are smart, resourceful, and fearless...

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Feb 14 2008

Well, it's cheaper than diamonds.

Happy Valentine's Day, dear readers. If you're in the market for an expensive but very, very awesome Valentine gift, the last volume of the world's most offbeat-yet-sublimely romantic manga is on...

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Feb 13 2008

I Wish

I can't be even remotely impartial about this series, as the scanlation group I work for has been working on it for years, but I'm so happy to see that TOKYOPOP has released the first volume of Hy...

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Feb 12 2008

Charles Burns

Charles Burns isn't the only author to set a horror story in quiet, drizzly Washington State (Kat Richardson and Stephenie Meyer seem to find us pretty horror-worthy, too), but he's definitely the...

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Feb 12 2008

Black Hole, by Charles Burns

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Charles Burns’s graphic novel Black Hole is lyrical, meticulously illustrated, and thought-provoking. It’s also creepy, stomach-churning, and unnecessarily grim. Delicate flowers might want to s...

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Feb 12 2008

Highly unlikely

A link on BuzzSugar took me to this article:"Harry Potter fans are set to get a double treat in the film of the final story – and movie makers are set to double their money. Crew working on the si...

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Feb 11 2008

How could anybody turn down Crockett Johnson?

I was browsing in Olympia's Fireside Bookstore over the weekend, and I came across this:Isn't it lovely? Crockett Johnson (author of Harold and the Purple Crayon, one of the awesomest kids' books...

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Feb 8 2008

A Girl of the Limberlost, by Gene Stratton Porter

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I am very disappointed. I recently went on a quest to find an attractive, non-battered copy of Gene Stratton-Porter's deliciously over-the-top novel A Girl of the Limberlost, and this was m...

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Feb 7 2008

Brave Story, by Miyuki Miyabe

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The world is full of fantasy novels featuring eleven-year-old boys with crappy home lives, but Miyuki Miyabe’s Brave Story stands out from the crowd. This award-winning novel combines conventiona...

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Feb 7 2008

Perfume: the true Hollywood story

My local NPR station had a great interview up this morning with Charles Burr, the New York Times perfume critic and author of The Perfect Scent: A Year Inside the Perfume Industry in Paris and New...

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Feb 6 2008

I didn't realize she was still writing these...

From Anime News Network:"Celebrated artist Rumiko Takahashi (Maison Ikkoku, Ranma 1/2, Inuyasha) will publish the latest chapter in her annual Rumic Theater series in this year's fifth issue (on s...

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Feb 5 2008

Ballet Shoes, the movie

I've been periodically checking up on the progress of the BBC adaptation of Noel Streatfeild's Ballet Shoes, but I still managed to totally miss the boat: this made-for-TV movie aired on December ...

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Feb 4 2008

Comic news round-up

Publishers Weekly recently published an interview with indie comic god Jeff Smith. Click here to read more about Smith's upcoming title RASL, a quarterly series PW describes as "a blend of science...

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Feb 1 2008

Why, movie gods? WHYYYY?!?

Variety is reporting that Hollywood is making ANOTHER film adaptation of Emily Bronte's Wuthering Heights. Now, as longtime Wordcandy readers know, I am not a fan of Wuthering Heights (classic lo...

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Jan 31 2008

The clock is ticking...

Today is the LAST DAY to nab a free digitally downloaded episode of Bleach, Naruto, or Death Note from VIZ Media and Amazon Unbox, Amazon’s digital video download service.Unbox normally offers epi...

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Jan 30 2008

Life is unfair.

Check out this announcement from Harvard:J.K. Rowling, author of the world-renowned "Harry Potter" novels, will be the principal speaker during the Afternoon Exercises of Harvard University's 357t...

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Jan 29 2008

Joanne Harris

Joanne Harris is the author of the entertaining YA fantasy Runemarks, one of our Featured Book titles. While Runemarks was given one of those irritating staggered release dates (the British versi...

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Jan 29 2008

Runemarks, by Joanne Harris

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Joanne Harris’s novel Runemarks—her first book for children—features an intriguing female protagonist, a collection of secondary characters from Norse mythology, and an imaginative, fully-developed setting. There have been more impressive fantasy novels released in the past few years, but Runemarks is a solid entry into the growing field of entertaining novels for young readers written by “serious” authors...

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Jan 29 2008

It's alive!!!

Well, we're finally seeing signs of life on the Yen Press/ICE Kunion front. Yen Press's webpage is UP, and it's full of Korean-manhwa goodness. Yes, dear readers: new volumes of Goong, Angel Dia...

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Jan 28 2008

Azuma!

Remember the adorable Yotsuba&! "Cardbo" doll we mentioned a few weeks ago? Well, click here to see how to turn it into this:I want one.In other Kiyohiko Azuma news, Yotsuba&! volume six is due ou...

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Jan 25 2008

Austen Week, part V

Several months ago we were offered a pile of Austen-inspired novels from the fine people at Sourcebooks, Inc.. While all of the titles were entertaining, we were particularly impressed by Sybil G....

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Jan 24 2008

Austen Week, part IV

And if you're really, truly, fantastically geeky, there's always the Pride and Prejudice board game.I kid you not:Tomorrow, we review!

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Jan 23 2008

Austen Week, part III

Today we express our love for Jane through shopping!There are bags:There are extremely classy tank tops:And there's this, which I totally, totally want:All of these and much, much more are availab...

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Jan 22 2008

Austen Week, part II

(You know, it's very soothing, not having to get creative with my post titles.)We're planning to review a number of Austen continuations this week, and Lord knows there's been a recent outpouring ...

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Jan 21 2008

Austen Week, part I

It's my birthday this week (yes, all week), and Jane Austen is my favorite author, and American PBS stations are currently showing all those (mostly bad) Austen adaptations, and I have a pile of A...

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Jan 18 2008

Dogs and Goddesses, by Jennifer Crusie, Anne Stuart, and Lani Diane Rich

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Dogs and Goddesses, the latest collaborative novel from Jennifer Crusie, Anne Stuart, and Lani Diane Rich, has a lot of plot packed into its 388 pages. In addition to the three heroines’ romantic travails (one storyline per author), there’s also magical cookies, talking dogs, and an ancient, ruthless Mesopotamian goddess with plans of world domination...

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Jan 17 2008

Curiosity vs. my delicate sensibilities

I've been tempted by a number of grim-looking books recently. They all seem to be creative and well-written, but there's no denying that they have a strong smell of "reading this book can only le...

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