A tribute both loving and long-winded
Last week, the Guardian posted novelist Hari Kunzru's very long, very positive tribute to Frank Herbert's Dune. The article is full of trivia and background information about the novel (which you can easily skim), but...
So, not Dead House, then?
The theme for this week is apparently "confusion". Yesterday, I didn't understand the Shel Silverstein/World Cup connection, or why anyone might want another Pinocchio film, and today I'm bewildered by the new trailer for the upcoming Goosebumps movie...
But why?
And speaking of inexplicable projects, FOX Soccer asked actress Helen Mirren to read Shel Silverstein's "Where the Sidewalk Ends" as a voice-over for their visual recap of the 2015 FIFA Women's World Cup. Don't get me wrong: I love Helen Mirren, Shel Silverstein, and the Women's World Cup, but...
Misfit toys
I'm a little dubious about this, because... why? Why would anyone want this? But if THR is to be believed, Robert Downey Jr. and director Paul Thomas Anderson are working on a live-action version of Pinocchio. Pinocchio is perhaps history's creepiest children's book...
Ink and Bone: The Great Library, by Rachel Caine
Rachel Caine's new book Ink and Bone: The Great Library is set in an alternate universe where the world is (unofficially) ruled by the Great Library of Alexandria, a ruthless organization that controls all access to knowledge. Caine's protagonist is sixteen-year-old Jess Brightwell, the son of a successful book smuggler...
Weekly Book Giveaway: Ink and Bone, by Rachel Caine
This week's Book Giveaway is Rachel Caine's Ink and Bone: The Great Library, which blends a fantastic idea—an alternate universe in which the Great Library of Alexandria has survived for centuries—with some tried-and-true dystopian teen-lit trappings. A full review will follow shortly (I'm on chapter three), but so far, so good...
Why won't you diiiiieeee?
And, speaking of stories about obsessive, stalkerish "romances", Koala's Playground informs me that there is going to be yet another adaptation of the inexplicably popular manga Itazura Na Kiss...
The Donald Trump of the literary world
Okay, I cracked up over this. Doesn't E.J. James have anyone on her team willing to say: "E.L., this is an incredibly stupid idea, and people are going to go to town on you"...
Health and wealth
According to Publishers Weekly, Barnes and Noble is once again a profitable business, thanks largely to a more stable market for printed books. The article covers a bunch of other B&N-related news items (Nook sales, the recent website redesign, the up-and-coming "Barnes and Noble Education" division, etc.), but...
Hotly anticipated
Aaaaand today marks the release of The Princess and the Pony, Kate Beaton's first book for children. I'm super excited about this one, even if A) I am several decades past the target audience age, and B) the book trailer is...
Scraping the bottom of the barrel, guys?
Ah, just what the world needs: Badass Santa: The Comic. (Not its real name, sadly.) I originally assumed this sucker was a joke, but...
Nimona, by Noelle Stevenson
I had good feelings about Noelle Stevenson's Nimona from the first page. I liked the warm colors and distinctive character design, I always enjoy stories about unconventional families, and I instantly fell in love with the title character, who reminded me strongly of an evil-doing Yotsuba. As the book progressed, however, the initial offbeat silliness began to feel like a bait-and-switch...
Weekly Book Giveaway: Nimona, by Noelle Stevenson
This week's Book Giveaway is Noelle Stevenson's graphic novel Nimona. Admittedly, I picked it because the main character's name and image reminded me of a fantasy version of Ramona Quimby, but you know what? I've chosen plenty of books for stupider reasons. A full review will follow shortly...
Nope.
Okay, um, GROSS. The latest full trailer for the upcoming live-action adaptation of Attack on Titan is out, and it's final: there are some things I don't need to see on a big screen (and some things I really don't need to see in 3D), and huge, nude, people-eating zombie-things rank high on that list...
No, thank you.
My mother still hasn't recovered from seeing Gone Girl, so I'm sure she'll be thrilled to hear that there's another Gillian Flynn adaptation coming down the pike, and this one might be even grosser. The trailer is out for Dark Places...
Fingers crossed
According to LaineyGossip, Selma director Ava DuVernay has been tapped to direct Marvel's upcoming film adaptation of the comic Black Panther, due out in 2018. This will be the first Marvel superhero movie to feature an African-American main character...
I'd still prefer a movie.
I'm still waiting (...and waiting) for a film adaptation of one of Georgette Heyer's novels, but at least there are signs that her literary legacy is still being celebrated: according to the Guardian, Heyer was recently honored...
So many extra "e"s...
Much to my delight, NPR recently posted another glorious advice column featuring the wisdom of Twitter personality Chaucer Doth Tweet. In this installment, Chaucer answers many questions related to summer travel...
And Then Everything Unraveled, by Jennifer Sturman
I feel like I've been complaining about this a lot recently, but seriously, authors: if your book is a series installment, you need to make that clear from the start. I really liked Jennifer Sturman's debut YA novel And Then Everything Unraveled, but I was not best pleased to discover that it was only half of a story...
Weekly Book Giveaway: And Then Everything Unraveled, by Jennifer Sturman
This week's Book Giveaway is Jennifer Sturman's 2009 novel And Then Everything Unraveled, which comes highly recommended by Meg Cabot, who claims "Jennifer Sturman's YA debut is a delight. You'll love [the heroine], and watching her come unraveled is pure fun." I'm putting my trust in you, Meg. Our review will follow shortly...
She causes me second-hand anxiety
So, Jennifer Crusie continues to be frustratingly non-productive on the new-book front, but she is apparently working on a re-write/expansion of her holiday-themed novella Hot Toy...
Signs of life
And in other adaptation news, the long-rumored TV version of Neil Gaiman's American Gods has finally been greenlit. I still have queasy flashbacks to certain details featured in this novel, despite reading it nearly 15 years ago, but...
Anyone else
UGH. The dread Kenneth Branagh is apparently in talks to direct a film adaptation of Agatha Christie's Murder on the Orient Express. I can't stand Branagh, a pedestrian director whose work has always been inexplicably over-praised...
Flirting in Italian, by Lauren Henderson
Lauren Henderson's 2012 novel Flirting in Italian is jam-packed with things I enjoy: girl bonding, travel, mystery, romance, and telenovela-worthy birth secrets. It's close to the perfect summer beach read—apart from one jarring flaw...
Weekly Book Giveaway: Flirting in Italian, by Lauren Henderson
After staring long and hard at the book I meant to review today (Laurell K. Hamilton's Dead Ice), I decided to skip it favor of something else. Anything else. I just can't face Laurell this early in the week, particularly not when the book in question seems to kick off on an exceptionally disgusting note, even for her...
Busy guy
The Library of Congress announced yesterday that the next U.S. poet laureate will be Juan Felipe Herrera. Herrera, a California-based activist, teacher, and author of poetry, "novels in verse", and children's books, is the first Latino poet to be appointed to the position...
No, thanks.
In a leave-no-stone-unturned effort to extract every possible penny from the George R. R. Martin media empire, Bantam Books recently announced that they're planning a Game of Thrones-themed coloring book. While I've written before about my love for coloring books for adults, I'll be skipping this sucker...
News re: Newt
According to NPR, J.K. Rowling recently indicated on Twitter that there is an American equivalent of Hogwarts. She's keeping the name and location of the school under wraps for the time being (apparently, it might play a role in the upcoming film adaptation of Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them), but...
Eh.
The first trailer is out for Hunger Games: Mockingjay, Part 2 (and don't think I don't have a little rage flare-up every time I have to write out that stupidly long title). The film looks fine, I guess. I'm sure it...
Snow White Must Die, by Nele Neuhaus
I'm not a big mystery reader, but I like to periodically give the genre a shot, just to make sure I'm not missing out on something awesome. My latest attempt was Nele Neuhaus's internationally best-selling novel Snow White Must Die. While I found it readable enough, it's definitely not the book that's going to convert me into a hardcore mystery fan...