Jul 24 2012

Lies Beneath, by Anne Greenwood Brown

Before I read Anne Greenwood Brown's novel Lies Beneath, I would have assumed that any book about killer mermaids from Wisconsin had to be campy. Ms. Brown's book has proved me wrong; Lies Beneath has its faults (and plenty of 'em), but it takes itself quite seriously...

More »

Jul 24 2012

Black Gold: The Story of Oil in Our Lives, by Albert Marrin

2012-07-24-black-gold-the-story-of-oil-in-our-lives-by-albert-marrin

The vast majority of the books we receive here at Wordcandy are fiction, but every few weeks the odd nonfiction title turns up. I usually choose to review the ones on subjects I enjoy reading about (read: food preparation and money management, both of which I love... in theory, anyway, if not in practice), but Albert Marrin's informative-yet-totally-readable Black Gold: The Story of Oil In Our Lives is the kind of thing everyone should read...

More »

Jul 23 2012

Fever Moon, by Karen Marie Moning

2012-07-23-fever-moon-by-karen-marie-moning

First, a word of warning: Fever Moon is the only Karen Marie Moning book that I have ever read, so while I'm finally capable of evaluating a graphic novel without a boatload of preconceived notions about how everyone should look and behave, I'm flying blind when it comes to the series' larger story arc...

More »

Jul 23 2012

Dust Girl, by Sarah Zettel

2012-07-23-dust-girl-by-sarah-zettel

Sarah Zettel's Dust Girl has been criticized for its cover art, which several reviewers felt failed to convey an important element of the book—that the heroine is biracial. I wasn't hugely bothered by this, as the character is supposed to be able to “pass” as white and the cover model resembles the book's description, but I do have my own objections to the cover: A) it doesn't do much to evoke the book's Dust Bowl-era setting, and B) it's ridiculously boring...

More »

Jul 19 2012

That is some low-budget cover art, too.

2012-07-19-that-is-some-low-budget-cover-art-too

According to E!Online, some e-book company called Clandestine Classics has taken a bunch of classic novels and sexed 'em up. The article name-drops the Brontes, Austen, Melville, and Conan Doyle as potential subjects (victims?)...

More »

Jul 18 2012

Eat like Holden Caulfield

2012-07-18-eat-like-holden-caulfield

Flavorwire recently featured a several images created by graphic designer Dinah Fried. The photo series, entitled Fictitious Dishes, features recreations of famous meals from classic novels, including The Catcher in the Rye, Moby Dick, and, of course, the gruel from Oliver Twist...

More »

Jul 17 2012

Unleashed, by Nancy Holder and Debbie Viguie

2012-07-17-unleashed-by-nancy-holder-and-debbie-viguie

First of all, I'd like to congratulate whoever designed the cover art for Nancy Holder and Debbie Viguie's Wolf Springs Chronicles: Unleashed for finding a model who so closely resembles Buffy Summers. Well played, cover designer, well played indeed. Nothing says “smart paranormal fiction” like Buffy the Vampire Slayer, so this book was off to an excellent start before I'd even opened it...

More »

Jul 16 2012

80s TV revival?

2012-07-16-80s-tv-revival

According to a THR interview with the lead actors, the CW's upcoming Beauty and the Beast adaptation is "close" to the late-80s CBS TV series of the same name, but with some sci-fi (the Beast is the product of a military experiment gone wrong) and police procedural elements (Beauty's a cop) tossed in....

More »

Jul 16 2012

Texting Jane

2012-07-16-texting-jane

Following up their Texts from Scarlett O'Hara and Texts from Sweet Valley High posts, The Hairpin has produced a series called Texts from Jane Eyre. They're very Hark! A Vagrant in style...

More »

Jul 13 2012

Disney goes old-school

2012-07-13-disney-goes-old-school

The trailer is out for Disney's adaptation of Oz The Great and Powerful, and they've clearly spent a boatload of money on it. It looks very 3D-friendly and boasts plenty of big-name actors, but when it comes to Oz sequels and prequels my heart will always belong to the ultra-creepy 1985 movie Return to Oz...

More »

Jul 12 2012

Flogging a dead horse

2012-07-12-flogging-a-dead-horse

Wow: apparently there was a bidding war for Zenescope's ultra-classy-looking Wonderland graphic novels, and THR informs me that Lionsgate TV won. I haven't read this series (although I've made some snide comments about Zenescope's projects in the past)...

More »

Jul 12 2012

Digital storytime

2012-07-12-digital-storytime

When we first heard about the Reading Rainbow app, details were pretty limited, but now this sucker has hit (virtual) stores. According to CNN, the free app contains 150 books and 16 video field trips, but the "full experience" will cost parents $9.99 per month...

More »

Jul 11 2012

The Lizzie Bennet Diaries: not quite perfect, but awfully fun

2012-07-11-the-lizzie-bennet-diaries-not-quite-perfect-but-awfully-fun

I've finally gotten fully caught up on The Lizzie Bennet Diaries (a professionally acted, modern-day retelling of Pride and Prejudice told via twice-weekly YouTube videos), and while I'm finding them at least 90% adorable, I think the writers are making a couple of mistakes. Mostly, they need to make Lydia less charming, because right now she's kind of making Lizzie seem like a judgmental bitch...

More »

Jul 10 2012

Swashbuckling!

2012-07-10-swashbuckling

The full-length trailer has been released for the upcoming Rurouni Kenshin movie adaptation, and I am so excited. The trailer looks outstanding (apart from the poorly-chosen pop-rock song that kicks in around the one-minute mark), the action scenes seem well-choreographed...

More »

Jul 10 2012

Lies, damned lies, and statistics (I hope)

2012-07-10-lies-damned-lies-and-statistics-i-hope

I'd like this eye-catching poster more if it conveyed less depressing information. I always find the sales figures for The Da Vinci Code and the Twilight books depressing, but seeing them totally trump The Diary of Anne Frank like that is heartbreaking....

More »

Jul 9 2012

Vampire fashion

2012-07-09-vampire-fashion

Speaking of the intersection between literature and fashion, HBO and HSN have created a makeup line inspired by True Blood. The collection will include a perfume by Givaudan, Deborah Lippmann-designed nail polish and lip color, and undefined "luxury home goods" from D.L. & Co...

More »

Jul 9 2012

Cinderella goes a little Vegas

2012-07-09-cinderella-goes-a-little-vegas

Shoe designer Christian Louboutin has created a new (and non-glass) version of Cinderella's famous slipper. The shoe, which won't be available for mass sale, was created in honor of the upcoming Blu-ray release of Disney's Cinderella, and 20 pairs will be given away world-wide this fall. I'm unclear as to how, exactly, the recipients will be chosen...

More »

Jul 5 2012

Please do Alice in Wonderland next.

2012-07-05-please-do-alice-in-wonderland-next

Much to my delight, Penguin has released three more "Penguin Threads" editions. The new titles, which feature a variety of styles of embroidery-inspired cover art, are Little Women, The Wizard of Oz, and The Wind in the Willows, and they're all so gorgeous I'm even tempted to buy Little Women (and you guys know how I feel about that book)...

More »

Jul 5 2012

Anna Karenina meets Mad Men

2012-07-05-anna-karenina-meets-mad-men

I'm having difficulty picturing this, but InStyle informs me that Banana Republic is planning a capsule collection inspired by the upcoming film adaptation of Anna Karenina, but "with more of a 50s feel"...

More »

Jul 3 2012

HBO mines bookstore shelves (again)

2012-07-03-hbo-mines-bookstore-shelves-again

According to Flavorwire, HBO has hired Lost showrunner Damon Lindelof to collaborate with author Tom Perotta on a TV adaptation of Perotta's 2011 novel The Leftovers. The book (which I haven't read), apparently...

More »

Jul 3 2012

Cover art on a budget?

2012-07-03-cover-art-on-a-budget

The cover art is out for J.K. Rowling's upcoming non-Harry Potter novel The Casual Vacancy, and it's, uh, fine. Totally underwhelming. It reminds me of these editions of Jane Austen's books...

More »

Jun 29 2012

Literary artwork at the best possible price

2012-06-29-literary-artwork-at-the-best-possible-price

I'm totally in love with Mr. Printables.com, a website devoted to free printable art for kids. (I'm not part of the target audience, but nobody loves a good coloring sheet more than I do.) Anyway, the site includes...

More »

Jun 28 2012

Self-help on the big screen (again)

2012-06-28-self-help-on-the-big-screen-again

According to Vulture, Reese Witherspoon is going to star in a fictionalized movie adaptation of Men Are From Mars, Women Are From Venus. I'm frankly amazed that What To Expect When You're Expecting made enough money to encourage still more self-help-book-inspired movies, but I guess things could be worse...

More »

Jun 28 2012

Ew.

2012-06-28-ew

CasaSugar recently put together a slide show of home decor looks inspired by the hero of Fifty Shades of Grey. I'm a little taken aback by how much detail the author of that series seems to have provided (and I'm choosing to believe, for the love of all that is good and just in this world, that leather sheets aren't a real thing).

More »

Jun 26 2012

Romance-writing school

2012-06-26-romance-writing-school

Whoa: Nora Roberts has apparently given McDaniel College a boatload of money to start a center focusing on the study of romance writing. The center will include support for a romance novel collection in the college library, the establishment of a minor in romance fiction, and an online graduate-level romance writing program, featuring PROFESSOR JENNY CRUSIE...

More »

Jun 26 2012

She's obviously not retiring any time soon

2012-06-26-shes-obviously-not-retiring-any-time-soon

According to PublishersWeekly, Janet Evanovich has signed an eight-book deal with Random House, agreeing to churn out four more books in her bestselling Stephanie Plum series and four books in a new series that will be co-written with some dude named Lee Goldberg...

More »

Jun 25 2012

Juliet Immortal, by Stacey Jay

2012-06-25-juliet-immortal-by-stacey-jay

I set the bar low for fantasy novels—all I ask is that they follow their own rules. I'm perfectly willing to buy “It's magic!” as an explanation for something, but if the magic in question behaves a certain way, it better keep behaving that way throughout the novel....

More »

Jun 25 2012

Undoubtedly a scintillating read

2012-06-25-undoubtedly-a-scintillating-read

Four pages of the seventh-century text De Laude Virginitatis (“In Praise of Virginity”) are going up for sale at Sotheby's next month. De Laude Virginitatis is England's earliest known book written for women. The author—an Anglo-Saxon cleric named Aldhelm—produced a book of advice for the abbess nuns of Barking Abbey, giving them specific pointers on avoiding the “untamed impulses of bodily wantonness”...

More »

Jun 21 2012

The end of an era

2012-06-21-the-end-of-an-era

Yesterday, NPR posted a loving tribute to Matt Groening's weekly alt-comic Life in Hell, which ended last Saturday after 1,669(!) installments and more than 30 years...

More »

Jun 21 2012

No thank you.

2012-06-21-no-thank-you

Ugh. I'm not a fan of Anna Karenina, or Joe Wright, or Tom Stoppard, or Merchant-Ivory-lite literary adaptations in general. But this lavish new trailer certainly looks pretty, and I suspect the movie will win many awards (but not my hard-earned $10)...

More »