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...
Alfred and Alma
The trailer is out for Hitchcock (the other Alfred Hitchcock-related project, which is not to be confused with the TV show about a young Norman Bates or The Girl, the HBO film about his treatment of Tippi Hedren). This is the film adaptation of Alfred Hitchcock and the Making of Psycho...
The undying Peter Rabbit
NPR recently posted an interview with actress Emma Thompson about her most recent project: writing The Further Tale of Peter Rabbit, the first Peter Rabbit story to be produced since 1930, and the only (authorized) one written by someone other than Beatrix Potter...
The Opposite of Hallelujah, by Anna Jarzab
Even if I disliked Anna Jarzab's new novel The Opposite of Hallelujah (and I didn't; I loved it), I would still give it full points for originality. This book is a rare beast—a YA story about faith, honesty, and family that manages to be thought-provoking rather than preachy...
Seriously overdue notices
The website The Smoking Gun recently posted an article about the New York publishing house Penguin Group. Apparently, Penguin has filed lawsuits this week against several prominent authors who have failed to deliver books for which they received hefty contractual advances...
Weekly Book Giveaway: The Opposite of Hallelujah, by Anna Jarzab
Our current Weekly Book Giveaway pick is Anna Jarzab's second YA novel The Opposite of Hallelujah (her first was the 2010 mystery All Unquiet Things), which we reviewed—glowingly!—here...
J.K. Rowling is returning to the world of kid books.
Speaking at the Cheltenham Literature Festival, J.K. Rowling announced that her next book will "probably" be written for children. Details are... well, nonexistent, but she apparently has more than one idea she's working on for kids, and she mentioned that she already knows what her next book for adults will be about...
We appreciate it, Ms. McGuire.
A September 28th blog post by sci-fi/fantasy author Seanan McGuire about the prevalence of rape scenes in fiction has inspired a fair amount of internet buzz, and deservedly so. Apparently, Ms. McGuire, author of the October Daye series, recently had a staggering encounter with one of her readers, who wanted to know when—not if—one of McGuire's female protagonists was going to be raped...
Say "MINE" in style
I discovered these sets of free, printable, vintage-style bookplates via the always-entertaining How About Orange blog. The first set is from Benign Objects; the second is from Besotted Brand...
One of these things is not like the others.
Uh... does the world really need a Little House on the Prairie movie adaptation, particularly one from the director of Pineapple Express and Your Highness? I don't know how I feel about this...
Lisa Kleypas gets the Hallmark treatment
Speaking of movie adaptations of underwhelming books by otherwise excellent authors, apparently there's going to be a TV movie adaptation of Lisa Kleypas's novella Christmas Eve at Friday Harbor, to air on ABC this December. I'm torn...
Jennifer Crusie on the big (or maybe small?) screen
According to Jennifer Crusie's blog, Agnes and the Hitman (which she co-wrote with Bob Mayer) has been optioned for film. Apparently, this has happened before, but this time it's for real; there's a script and an option check and everything...
The best book day of the year?
Publishers Weekly is naming tomorrow, October 2nd, as the Best Book Day of 2012. They've got a list of 32(!) new releases coming out tomorrow that they're seriously excited about. I won't be charging out to buy all (or even most) of their choices, but the list features something for a wide variety of literary tastes...
Weekly Book Giveaway: Maybe This Time, by Jennifer Crusie
Good morning! This week's giveaway pick is Jennifer Crusie's Maybe This Time, which we reviewed a couple of years ago. Maybe This Time isn't our absolute favorite Crusie, but (like all of her books) it's plenty entertaining...
I love every square, ridiculously overpriced inch of it.
Okay, this "Stacked Paperback" wallpaper costs a zillion dollars and it only covers 18 square feet and the description features the ominous phrase "Adhesive required" (which I suspect means "This is not idiot-proof, which means your life together can never be."), but I still covet it with all my heart and soul...
Clifford's big birthday
NPR recently posted an article celebrating the 50th "birthday" of Clifford the Big Red Dog. Created by author and illustrator Norman Bridwell in 1962, the Clifford series has sold more than 126 million copies and is available in 13 languages. The article includes a really sweet interview with Bridwell and his wife Norma...
I'm not sure this is going to translate to an hourly drama, guys.
Clearly hoping that if The Count of Monte Cristo could be re-worked into Revenge, NBC has decided to transform Emily Bronte's Wuthering Heights into a drama series called Napa. There's not much information out yet...
A mystery worthy of its source material
NPR posted an article yesterday about the troubles besieging a prospective Broadway musical version of Daphne du Maurier's novel Rebecca. According to the article, the production's major investor, a dude named Paul Abrams, allegedly died of malaria* shortly before the show was ready to start rehearsals...
The Little Woods, by McCormick Templeman
I was drawn to McCormick Templeman's debut novel The Little Woods as soon as I pulled it out of the publishers' box. The cover art and title managed to be simultaneously elegant, menacing, and teen-girl-friendly, and it appeared to be a murder mystery without a paranormal element—a rare beast, at least as far as YA books are concerned...
Nathaniel Hawthorne and Miracle Whip
Has anybody else seen this Miracle Whip commercial? Who on earth decided "fake mayonnaise" + The Scarlet Letter was a natural pairing?
Don't get me wrong: I actually think the idea is pretty great. But I'm choosing to believe...
Weekly Book Giveaway: The Little Woods, by McCormick Templeman
Uh... this is less a recent review than a "book we're going to review tomorrow", but whatever: this week's Wordcandy Weekly Book Giveaway selection is McCormick Templeman's The Little Woods...
Literary speculation
There's a new biography out that claims–without any actual evidence, as far as I can tell–that the poet John Keats was an opium addict, and wrote many of his most famous poems under the influence of laudanum. There's no way to prove the situation either way, of course, but I can't help but think of Cold Comfort Farm's Mr. Mybug...
It's not how I'd choose to spend my weekend, but...
If you have the time, inclination, or need, you should check out the Moby Dick Big Read, a free online version of Melville’s masterpiece. Each of the book's 135 chapters is to be read aloud (featuring a mixture of famous and unknown readers) and broadcast online in a sequence of 135 publicly accessible downloads...
Camp classic in the making, perhaps?
The trailer is out for the upcoming adaptation of Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl's Beautiful Creatures, and I don't know, you guys. This movie looks like it takes itself super seriously, and the source material might not bear such close examination...
So many puns
Another day, another Fifty Shades of Grey parody–this one's a poultry-focused cookbook from "an established food industry professional". And yet another cover artist who put in the effort to far outstrip whoever designed the original series...
Weirdly, he does resemble Anthony Perkins.
When I saw a THR article about casting news for a new Psycho, I assumed the author was talking about Hitchcock, the upcoming movie adaptation of Alfred Hitchcock and the Making of Psycho, the nonfiction book by Stephen Rebello. But no: clearly, the world needs another new Psycho-related project...