Children's books, condensed
I love, love, love these minimalist children's book-art posters from graphic designer Christian Jackson. I originally ran into them at The Land of Nod, where they will run you about a hundred bucks (framed)...
The FitzOsbornes in Exile and The FitzOsbornes at War, by Michelle Cooper
I opened the second and third books in Michelle Cooper's Montmaray Journals trilogy in exactly the right mood to appreciate them. I had just finished the final book in Nora Roberts' most recent series, and I seriously cannot recall a lazier piece of writing: Roberts's Inn BoonsBoro trilogy combines recycled characters with done-to-death plots, turns the whole series into a 1000-page-long brochure for her new hotel, and has the gall to charge sixteen dollars per book...
Fairy tales revisited
Slate recently posted an in-depth review of Philip Pullman's new retelling of fifty classic fairy tales, Fairy Tales from the Brothers Grimm, which was written in honor of the tales' 200th anniversary. I'm totally going to buy this book (I love fairy tales), but...
I am straight-up depressed by this.
The idea of a Goodnight Moon app seems fundamentally wrong to me (it's meant to be a passive literary experience, that's what makes it so soothing), but, as usual, that doesn't mean someone didn't make one...
A misguided publicity stunt?
Don't get me wrong, I think the Fifty Shades novels are terrible, terrible books, but the news that a charity for female abuse victims is planning to use the series as toilet paper and mulch for their compost heap is straight-up disturbing. (Not least because that would be really uncomfortable toilet paper.) I'm even more freaked out by the idea of burning the books, which was the charity's first suggestion...
The evolution of a magazine
The Atlantic recently posted a slideshow of their coverage of "the changing dynamics between women and men in America", starting with the 1859 article "Ought Women to Learn the Alphabet?" and ending with last month's "The Weaker Sex", by Sandra Tsing Loh...
Here's hoping...
I'm unsure as to whether I should think of this news as a sign of the upcoming apocalypse, or proof that God loves me, but MTV announced yesterday that Britney Spears is in "discussions" with HarperCollins to publish her first novel...
Weekly Book Giveaway: A Brief History of Montmaray, by Michelle Cooper
This week's book giveaway title is Michelle Cooper's excellent 2010 novel A Brief History of Montmaray, which we reviewed here. (We'll be reviewing the second and third books in the trilogy later this week, by the way.) We're pretty sick of real politics at the moment, so why not immerse ourselves in the political maneuvering of a (fictional) royal family from an inconsequential island in 1937...
The book jacket looks amateurish, but check out the interior...
NPR recently posted an interview with Deb Perelman, author of the new Smitten Kitchen Cookbook and creator of the website of the same name. The interview includes photos of Perelman's kitchen (which is tiny)...
Maybe it's better than she thinks?
Jennifer Crusie has always described her first romance novel, 1994's Sizzle, as embarrassingly bad, and insisted that she never wanted it to see the light of day again. She seems to have changed her mind, as Amazon has posted a collection of stories including Sizzle called Be Mine with a release date of January 22, 2013...
A meeting of the deep, deep pockets
The biggest literary news of the week was definitely the prospective Penguin/Random House merger. An announcement was made on Monday that by the latter half of 2013 the two publishing companies will be merged into a joint venture named the Penguin Random House Company. (Catchy!) If everything continues as planned...
I'm pretty sure I'd rather hang out with Stephen King's Carrie.
Well, the trailer is out for the CW's The Carrie Diaries, the television adaptation of Candace Bushnell's novel of the same name. The show focuses on Carrie Bradshaw (the heroine of Bushnell's Sex and the City) as a high school student...
Taking a detour
We had planned to conclude our Halloween coverage with a link to a collection of horror-themed webcomics found on the website io9.com. Unfortunately, io9's website is currently all wonky (curse you, Sandy!), so we'll update this post when the actual link re-appears, and maybe you can read them to liven up Thanksgiving dinner...
A Bad Day for Voodoo, by Jeff Strand
Jeff Strand's YA novel A Bad Day for Voodoo is logic-free, character growth-free, and a solid 94% ridiculous, but it still makes for a cheerfully weird good time—particularly for its self-described target audience: “[Readers] old enough to think that people losing body parts is funny, because that's basically the whole book...
Last-minute Halloween costumes for the cheap and lazy
As longtime readers of the site know, when I am torn between my love of celebrating Halloween and my innate cheapness, usually cheapness (not to mention laziness and disorganization) wins. But that just makes me all the more appreciative of inexpensive costume ideas like the options featured below...
That cover alone inspired a lifelong fear of clowns.
In an act of Halloween-related public service, the website GeekTyrant has dug up the three audiobook editions of Alvin Schwartz's series Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark on YouTube. These books were biiiig when I was as kid (and, now that I think back on it, probably wildly inappropriate for an elementary school setting)...
Weekly Book Giveaway: A Bad Day for Voodoo, by Jeff Strand
In honor of Halloween, we're planning a series of horror-related posts for the next few days, including an upcoming review of Jeff Strand's enjoyably ridiculous novel A Bad Day for Voodoo, which we are featuring as our current Weekly Book Giveaway pick...
I will always treasure the phrase "deep-pocketed phantoms".
There have been further developments regarding the troubles besetting a potential musical version of Daphne du Maurier's novel Rebecca (which we wrote about late last month). According to Playbill, the FBI and the U.S. Attorney's Office have arrested Long Island businessman Mark Hotton...
The series that wouldn't die
One more bit of TV-adaptation-related news this week, and I'm done, I promise: Moviehole.net is reporting that they have confirmed the Twilight series won't end with the upcoming Breaking Dawn 2. Apparently, the next evolution of the series is already in the works...
Third time's the charm?
Chris Fedak and Josh Schwartz (the creators of the TV show Chuck) are making the third attempt to turn Scott Westerfeld's Midnighters trilogy into a TV series. This time, Fedak will be the sole writer, with Schwartz producing. According to io9, the project is in the "script commitment" phase...
An American adaptation cannot be far behind
There have been a ton of fan-created trailers, but I'm pretty sure this is the first legit look at the upcoming German movie adaptation of Kerstin Gier's YA time-traveling novel Ruby Red (or Rubinrot, in German), and I can't tell you how excited I am to see it. The second book (Sapphire Blue) is finally coming out in English next week...
MTV hits the books
The Hollywood Reporter informs me that MTV is attempting to turn Elizabeth Norris's young adult novel Unraveling into a TV drama. According to the article, the book is about a teenage girl "who, after being hit by a car, is convinced she died and that her sexy and mysterious classmate Ben is responsible for her miraculous resuscitation"...
Weekly Book Giveaway: Blood Crime, by Kim Harrison
This week's Book Giveaway is Blood Crime, the second graphic novel in Kim Harrison's "Hollows" series, which we reviewed here. Please note that this book has a release date of October 30th, so we won't be mailing out the winning book until next Tuesday...
Blood Crime, by Kim Harrison
I have never read one of Kim Harrison's books, so when I received a copy of her upcoming graphic novel Blood Crime I had some background research to do. Thanks to Wikipedia, I now fully intend to hunt down the earlier installments in Harrison's "Hollows" urban fantasy series...
The bell tolls for thee, Newsweek.
After nearly 80 years in print, Newsweek magazine has just announced that it will become an all-digital imprint starting next year. The final print edition of the weekly magazine will hit newsstands on December 31st...
Carrie 2.0
The trailer is out for the new version of Carrie, and thus far I'm not feelin' it. I think Chloe Moretz is a fine actress, but she's never struck me as being particularly vulnerable, and Sissy Spacek's seeming fragility went a long way toward making the character memorable...
Ada Lovelace Day
Yesterday was Ada Lovelace Day, celebrating the achievements of Ms. Lovelace in particular and women in science, technology, engineering and maths in general. The official website suggests that you read and discuss something produced by a female scientist or mathematician, but if you're pressed for time you could probably just settle for reading this...
Eoin Colfer returns to the world of crime.
The cover and plot description are out for the new series from Eoin Colfer. Apparently, it's going to be called W.A.R.P.: The Reluctant Assassin, Colfer is describing it as "Oliver Twist meets The Matrix", and the official plot description runs as follows...
Weekly Book Giveaway: Fast Women, by Jennifer Crusie
We're offering up another Jennifer Cruise title for our Weekly Book Giveaway: the most recent reprint of her 2001 novel Fast Women. We reviewed it here, mentioning that its strong mystery storyline should broaden its appeal to more than just romance readers...
Maybe for my birthday?
Today's Google Doodle is the prettiest one I've ever seen. It was inspired by the 107th anniversary of Winsor McCay's surreal comic strip Little Nemo, and it's both interactive and absolutely gorgeous...