Jul 23 2013

Could the movie deliver on the HOLY ALIEN HOTNESS?

The covers for this series crack me up, but obviously someone takes them seriously, because THR says that Sierra Pictures has signed up to produce a film adaptation of Jennifer Armentrout's Obsidian. The book is a YA romance about a 17-year-old girl who discovers that her neighbor is actually a "hot alien" (note: that's from the official publisher's description) with...

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Jul 22 2013

Paradox, by A.J. Paquette

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Despite its staggeringly ugly cover art, A.J. Paquette's novel Paradox is not, sadly, a tribute to the 1990 killer-giant-worms movie Tremors. It is instead the story of a teenage girl named Ana who wakes up on an alien world with no memories, a backpack full of weapons and supplies, and a note in her pocket instructing her to observe and survive. While she eventually meets up with three other kids (including a boy who seems strangely familiar), Ana is forced to rely...

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Jul 22 2013

Weekly Book Giveaway: Paradox, by A.J. Paquette

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This week's book giveaway title is A. J. Paquette's Paradox, which I'd like to think is a YA retelling of the 1990 camp-horror classic Tremors. (Sadly, it probably isn't, although someone should really write that book.) We'll be posting our review later this afternoon...

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Jul 18 2013

This is seriously the best.

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Some dude named Tyler Adam Smith, a student in the "Masters of Branding" program at the School of Visual Arts in New York City, has chosen to create 100 book covers for books that do not actually exist (but totally should), and they are glorious. At the very least, this guy should release these as a line of blank books...

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Jul 18 2013

He'll have to console himself with all that cash.

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The Onion's AV Club has written an enjoyably nasty article about Alan Moore's response to the recent announcement that Fox is planning on turning his comic The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen into a TV series. Moore has been outspoken...

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Jul 17 2013

TV to movie to book

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E! Online informs me that Veronica Mars creator Rob Thomas has nabbed a two-book deal to continue the series. The novels will pick up where the upcoming movie ends, and should be available in the spring of 2014...

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Jul 16 2013

Dear Mr. Watterson on the big screen

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The movie trailer is out for Dear Mr. Watterson, director Joel Allen Schroeder's tribute to Bill Watterson, creator of Calvin and Hobbes. Calvin and Hobbes remains one of the world's most beloved comic strips, despite ending in 1995...

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Jul 15 2013

Deep Betrayal, by Anne Greenwood Brown

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To borrow an image from the cultural zeitgeist, Anne Greenwood Brown's Deep Betrayal, the second book in her YA trilogy about killer mermaids lurking in the Great Lakes, is like Syfy's Sharknado: a ridiculously fun idea, poorly executed...

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Jul 15 2013

Weekly Book Giveaway: Deep Betrayal, by Anne Greenwood Brown

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This week's book giveaway title is Anne Greenwood Brown's Deep Betrayal, the sequel to last year's Lies Beneath, which we reviewed here. I have no idea if this book will fix the problems I had with the first installment (actually, I'm not sure it's possible to fix the problems I had with the first installment), but if you're curious, wouldn't it be nice...

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Jul 11 2013

A trip down Diagon Alley

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Google Maps now allows people to explore the set of Diagon Alley at the Warner Bros. Studio Tour in London. It's well worth a look—according to Mashable.com, Warner Bros. says the Diagon set took more than three months to build, and six months to create over 20,000 products featured on the shops' shelves. The street view allows you to get up close and personal...

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Jul 10 2013

I would visit this place, but not in costume.

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We still have a lot of Jane Austen-related news to get through this week, but nothing as amazing as yesterday's item. Today we're posting a link to the newly-released trailer for the upcoming film Austenland. It looks super embarrassing (Austen fans = Beliebers?), but...

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Jul 9 2013

I might prefer reading New Moo. That cow is cute.

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I was genuinely amused by these altered book covers found on Pleated Jeans. The images feature 20 re-imagined book titles, each minus one letter. Some of the letters are more vital than others...

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Jul 9 2013

Still not April Fool's Day

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Good LORD. There's a 12-foot tall statue of Colin Firth as Mr. Darcy floating in a lake in London. I can't decide if I'm terrified (this is not a particularly realistic representation, guys) or if I think that miniature versions should be sold as home decor options for personal swimming pools...

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Jul 8 2013

The Beautiful and the Cursed, by Page Morgan

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Page Morgan is an ambitious woman. Her debut novel The Beautiful and the Cursed features two heroines, a massive cast, a historical setting, a menagerie of supernatural creatures, and an elaborate mythology centered around gargoyles, which (in Morgan's world, anyway) can be both hideous monsters and ridiculously handsome love interests...

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Jul 8 2013

Weekly Book Giveaway: The Beautiful and the Cursed, by Page Morgan

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This week's book giveaway title is The Beautiful and the Cursed, by Page Morgan. I haven't even cracked this book open yet, but it appears to be a sexy YA supernatural thriller about gargoyles. (Possibly sexy gargoyles, in which case I give the author full points for creativity.) I'll post our review later today...

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Jul 3 2013

Better this than more Miami Vice

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There is more screen-to-comic news today, this bit making far more sense than yesterday's announcement: according to THR, Dark Horse Entertainment publisher Mike Richardson has hinted that Ridley Scott's Alien prequel Prometheus may continue in comic book form...

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Jul 2 2013

I cannot believe there's a demand for this.

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Sometimes, life is an incomprehensible mystery. According to THR, someone decided it would be a good idea to revive five shows from the NBC line-up of the early 1980s as digital comics: Knight Rider, Airwolf, Miami Vice, Punky Brewster, and Saved by the Bell...

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Jul 2 2013

The Car Thief, by Theodore Weesner

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The back cover of Theodore Weesner's The Car Thief describes the book as a "modern American classic" featuring “heartbreak, cruel realities, and stunning personal triumphs”. That may be true, but allow me to issue a word of warning: you have to wade through a lot of heartbreak and cruel reality before you get to any personal triumphs...

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Jul 1 2013

Weekly Book Giveaway: The Car Thief, by Theodore Weesner

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After reviewing five supernatural romances, we're offering a literary palate cleanser as our current Book Giveaway pick: Theodore Weesner's The Car Thief. This autobiographical novel was first published in 1972, but has recently been re-released. I'm pretty sure it's 100% supernatural-creature-free, but we'll post our review tomorrow...

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Jul 1 2013

Throwing good money after bad?

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There are some uggggly numbers coming out from Barnes and Noble: total sales fell 10% in the fourth quarter for their brick-and-mortar stores, and Nook sales tumbled 34%. But B&N isn't giving up the ghost just yet. According to Publishers Weekly, the company is going to invest $33 million in their Nook units this year...

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Jun 28 2013

Underworld and Awaken, by Meg Cabot

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I've been waiting a whole year to review Meg Cabot's novel Underworld, the middle book in her Abandon trilogy. I read it as the minute we received it (because Cabot's books are always fun), but if I had any self-control I would have followed my own advice and waited until the final book in the trilogy was released.

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Jun 28 2013

The Demon's Lexicon, The Demon's Covenant, and The Demon's Surrender, by Sarah Rees Brennan

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While poking around Powell's Books a few weeks ago, I found an autographed copy of Sarah Rees Brennan's The Demon's Lexicon. The cover art was straight-up atrocious (the goofy-looking male model swinging a sword while sucking in his cheekbones does nothing for me), but I really liked Brennan's latest book—Unspoken, which we reviewed here—so...

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Jun 27 2013

I'm depressed about this.

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THR informs me that Julianne Moore is being courted to play the role of District 13 leader Alma Coin in the two-part adaptation of Suzanne Collins's Mockingjay. That's fine (I don't care about the casting; I've had a DVD of The Hunger Games sitting, unwatched, next to my TV for more than three months now), but...

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Jun 25 2013

Golden Girl, by Sarah Zettel

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Sarah Zettel's novel Dust Girl was one of my favorite books of 2012, which meant I was equally excited and nervous to read Golden Girl, the next book in the series. Middle books in trilogies are tough to get right, so I was thrilled to find that Golden Girl is just as entertaining as its predecessor—and possibly even weirder...

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Jun 25 2013

Diversity in children's literature

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NPR's Elizabeth Blair recently posted an article about the lack of diversity in children's books. According to a report by the Cooperative Children's Book Center at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, only 3% of children's books are “by or about Latinos—even though nearly a quarter of all public school children today are Latino.” Blair...

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Jun 24 2013

Belle Epoque, by Elizabeth Ross

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It feels weird to commend someone for an idea that they took from someone else, but that's what I'm doing here: Elizabeth Ross has openly acknowledged that the inspiration for her novel Belle Epoque was taken from an Emile Zola short story, but I give her full props for borrowing with style...

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Jun 24 2013

Weekly Book Giveaway: Belle Epoque, by Elizabeth Ross

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This week's book giveaway title is Elizabeth Ross's Belle Epoque, which has an unusual YA pedigree: the central concept was taken from a story written by Émile Zola (Les Repoussoirs). Zola isn't our favorite 19th century writer, but we've read worse adaptations of better literature, so we're not complaining. Our full review will go up later this afternoon.

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Jun 20 2013

Ironic casting?

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I can't stand Kenneth Branagh, but THR informs me that Helena Bonham Carter is going to play the fairy godmother in his upcoming adaptation of Cinderella, which I am now obliged to see. The movie will also feature Lily James in the title role (no one cares) and Cate Blanchett as the wicked stepmother. I like Blanchett, but I find the idea of Bonham Carter...

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Jun 20 2013

Mystery book artist strikes again (with awesomeness)

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According to the website Books on Books, Edinburgh's "mystery book artist" has delivered another work. This time the lucky recipient was the Leith Library. The sculpture is in the shape of a nest full of baby birds, and...

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Jun 19 2013

Summer reading programs for grown-ups

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Okay, this isn't actually a summer-specific program, but it does sound like a grown-up take on the incentive programs most public libraries offer when school gets out: according to Publishers Weekly, Penguin has launched a new program...

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