Glorious 3-D
Amazon.com is currently having a sale on this mega-cool-looking Alfred Hitchcock pop-up book. According to the publishers, this book "pays tribute to the great filmmaker and features seven of his...
HBO to mix Rogue, Charlaine Harris.
Apparently, HBO is producing a TV version of Charlaine Harris's Sookie Stackhouse novels, and it will star Anna Paquin, an actress I actually like! She's perfect for the role of a young, vulnerab...
Ilium, by Dan Simmons
Plenty of science fiction writers get so dazzled by their own ideas that they sometimes forget about developing a decent plot. This is not the case with Dan Simmon’s novel Ilium. It has plot coming out of its ears—in fact, most of the story is based on tried and true literary classics. While his overarching storyline is based on Homer’s Iliad...
World Book Day
March 1st is the 10th annual World Book Day. There are loads of activities and charitable opportunities (including some Harry Potter-related stuff) associated with this event, so please swing by ...
Judging books by their covers
I can't believe how much better children's book cover art has gotten in the past ten years. When I was a kid the majority of children's book covers were terrible--lots of cheesy, semi-realistic d...
I can't believe I'm typing this...
...but I am actually about to recommend a Marvel comic book.Runaways is unexpectedly awesome. This series, about a group of teenagers who discover that their respectable California parents are le...
From Russia, with love
At long last, someone has translated Sergei Lukyanenko's novel Nightwatch. (Thank you, Andrew Bromfield and Miramax Books!) If you haven't seen the movie based on this bizarre, elaborate, spraw...
Un Lun Dun, by China Miéville
I confess: I didn’t expect to like China Miéville’s Un Lun Dun. Preconceived dislike is a terrible thing for a book reviewer to admit, but there’s no denying it. I opened Miéville's book hoping to give it a fair shake, but A) I’m still recovering from reading certain scenes in Perdito Street Station...
Northanger Abbey
Artist Anne Timmons and writer Trina Robbins are doing a graphic novel adaptation of Jane Austen's Northanger Abbey as part of a collection for the Graphic Classics line. Details are sketchy, but...
Hot contest action
Jennifer Colt is featuring a "Bookapalooza" contest on her site, giving away 100 copies of The Butcher of Beverly Hills, The Mangler of Malibu Canyon, and The Vampire of Venice Beach. For details...
Coffee table art for bibliophiles
If you're in the market for some truly beautiful comic books, I suggest you take a look at Chris Ware's stuff. Not only is it jaw-droppingly gorgeous, but it's also remarkably entertaining. Here...
Tantalize, by Cynthia Leitich Smith
I have loads of horror/fantasy novels on my shelves—everything from Carmilla to Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell—but Cynthia Leitich Smith’s Tantalize is unique: it stands alone as the only book that has ever inspired me to genuinely freak out. I’m a pretty unflappable person, but when I saw the words “chilled baby squirrels, simmered in orange brandy, bathed in honey cream sauce” on the restaurant dessert menu featured on page 174, I needed to lie down...
Worcandy loves John Donne's poetry
In honor of Valentine's Day, here's a bizarre little love poem from John Donne. (Please note: This may not be to everybody's taste. If you're looking for something a little more conventional, t...
A Nancy Drew movie, too?
The trailer is out for the new Nancy Drew movie and I have to say: I am not sure that I'm going to enjoy this film. Maybe it is all of the Veronica Mars I've been watching for the past few years, ...
Exile, by Richard North Patterson
Richard North Patterson clearly put a hell of a lot of work into Exile. He spent countless hours on research, he did his best to be fair to both sides of an extraordinarily complicated issue, and he tried to minimize his own biases. Unfortunately, all that effort seems to have drained some of the storytelling juice out of him...
Jennifer Colt appearances
Beloved Wordcandy author Jennifer Colt has two appearances scheduled for April: one on Saturday, April 7th at 6:00PM at The Mystery Bookstore in LA, and one on Saturday, April 21st at 4:00PM at My...
Movie news
We're rarely happy about Wordcandy movie adaptations, but we've found that if we play it safe and keep our expectations very, very low, we can usually get through them without too much trauma. Un...
Valentine's Day options
Valentine's Day is nearly upon us, and, as always, the Wordcandy staff is on the lookout for appropriate holiday reading. We understand that this is a holiday that evokes a wide array of emotion...
Manga review
Brigid at MangaBlog has an interesting, largely positive review up of two interconnected manga volumes from the UK's Sweatdrop Studios: Blue is for Boys and Pink is for Girls. Both books feature ...
How To Abduct a Highland Lord, by Karen Hawkins
Karen Hawkins had a good thing going when she began How To Abduct a Highland Lord. The story had solid dramatic potential, the characters were appealing, and she’s a decent writer. Unfortunately...
Further Pullman movie action
Masterpiece Theater has made a film adaptation of Phillip Pullman's The Ruby in the Smoke. It debuted last night, but chances are good you can catch it on repeats. The Ruby in the Smoke is not m...
Odds and ends.
A few reactions, some Harry Potter bits, and another anime/manga rec:1. I have now seen the first episode of the the Wallflower anime, and yes, the artwork is awful. (Plus, they chose a disturbi...
If you haven't already heard...
J.K. Rowling made the big announcement today: the seventh and final Harry Potter book, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, will be published on July 21. Make reservations at your local book stor...
The Wallflower anime
Thanks to Wordcandy reader Kayleigh, I am now aware of the existence of the anime version of Tomoko Hayakawa's Wallflower series (Japanese title: Yamato Nadeshiko Shichihenge). This is one of my ...