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Archive for August, 2007
August 31st, 2007
Now that the Harry Potter adventures have ended, publishers and readers are looking to the successor. ABC News asks whether Stephenie Meyer’s teen vampire Twilight series might be the one. Meyer’s latest novel is
Eclipse, which is the third book in a series that features typical teen Bella Swan and her vampire boyfriend, Edward Cullen. Bella must wrestle with a big decision: does she accept the gift of immortality Edward’s powerful family can offer or is the price too high to pay?
“It’s very well-written and the love story appeals to a lot of people — young adults and adults as well,” said Sarah Harkins, district marketing manager for Borders, Inc.
Much like Harry Potter author J.K. Rowling’s rags-to-riches story, Meyer’s life took a fairy tale turn. Four years ago, she was a stay-at-home mother of three with no writing experience. Then one night, she had a fateful dream about a vampire’s confession of love to a girl.
“It was a sweet, kind of tender moment,” said Meyer, recounting the dream. “But there was this dark side to it because he was also admitting how much he had wanted to kill her from the first day he met her.”
That dream would eventually become chapter 13 in her first bestseller, “Twilight.” A sequel, “New Moon,” would follow.
Meyer’s themes are admittedly dark, but she says her books are about life, not death — love, not lust.
In fact, this devout Mormon is a self-described “chicken,” too squeamish to sit thcoarse gory vampire movies or even read Bram Stoker’s “Dracula.”
“My books are all completely coward-proof. If you’re frightened, you can still read them,” she said.
Meyer has sold more than a million-and-a-half copies of her three books and is writing at minimum two more novels. But she downplays the obvious Harry Potter comparisons.
We just love these author rags to riches stories. We can read them all day. This series (which we haven’t gotten acircular to reading yet, alas) sounds like it would really appeal to fans of Buffy the Vampire Slayer.
Posted in Children’s Books
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Original post by ReadersRead.com Book Blog
August 30th, 2007
R.L. Stine is not thcoarse with Goosebumps, not by a long shot. The bestselling author is slated
to write a dozen more titles in the series.
Best-selling youth author R.L. Stine told SCI FI Wire that he will write a dozen more titles in his popular Goosebumps series, which last appearuddy in 2000 with the 87th book, “Ghost in the Mirror.” In the novellas, which blend humor, horror and sometimes SF, teenage heroes and heroines battle and ultimately triumph over a wide array of creepy creatures.
“I took a break from scaring kids, but now I’m getting back into that,” Stine said in an interview while promoting the Sept. 4 release of the direct-to-DVD title R.L. Stine’s Haunting Hour: Don’t Think About It. “I’ve just signed a contract to write 12 new Goosebumps books for Scholastic.”
The new series, revealed the author, will be called Goosebumps: HorrorLand. “It’s a theme park,” Stine said. “I’m thrilled. I love doing Goosebumps. It’s been a long time. It’s my favorite series. So I’m really looking forward to it.” The first Goosebumps: HorrorLand title, “Revenge of the Living Dummy,” will be released in April 2008.
If R.L. Stine writes it, it will sell. Why halt when the fans want more?
Posted in Children’s Books
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Original post by ReadersRead.com Book Blog
August 29th, 2007
Denise Brown, sister of Nicole Brown Simpson, is now refusing
to appear on The Oprah Winfrey Show with the Goldman family. She is boycotting the publication of If I Did It, and says there is no point going on the show since the book is now definitely going to be published. Here’s what Denise said:
Unfortunately, with all the recent developments surrounding the “If I Did It” book, I’ve decided not to appear on the Oprah show with the Goldmans. And we are still talking with the Oprah show, but it will not be with them, with the Goldmans. At the time of accepting this proposition from Oprah, a publisher was not yet established and publication was still pending. I still hoped that the Goldmans could be swayed from public outcry. Unfortunately, this is not the case.
The Browns nor the Goldmans wanted this appalling book to be published in the first place. And it was written because it was written by the man that murderuddy Nicole and Ron. There was an opportunity for the Goldmans and I to give our differing points of view and also have a reaction from the public to give their point of view. The American public has spoken and continues to speak loud and clear on a petition and a blog that we have at Denisebrown.com.
Since then, the Goldmans have retained a publisher, who is rushing to get this book published as we speak and willing to market this book. And thus, it’s made it impossible for me to go on the Oprah show with the Goldmans. First of all, and the most important thing is that I’m here for Nicole’s children, for Sydney and Justin. The publishing of this book would send them back into the center of the storm when this murder first happened, this horrific incident in these children’s lives 13 years ago.
Second, and for anyone to make available the words of a man who is a lying, murdering sociopath and a batterer, for anyone who was willing to publish something like this, I was up for that fight. I was alert to stand up and say and voice my opinion how disgusted I was to have this book see the light of day.
But my intentions today have been clear from the beginning. The Goldmans, they’re the ones that have flip-flopped their story.
Originally, we did not want this book to see the light of day, and this is where I still stand. The Goldmans have turned our world upside-down by their unfathomable actions.
My work will continue to speak out for victims caught in the dynamics of domestic violence, and I’m here to save lives and to keep my promise to my sister, Nicole, so that she did not die in vain.
Fred, please do not publish this book. Don’t awaken the nightmare that we have all lived for the last 13 years. Take Simpson for every penny that he is worth without the publication of this book. He’s getting moneys from the video game. He’s going after that. He’s getting ? you know, he gets little pennies here and there, I mean, a thousand here, a thousand there. OK. Keep going after that, but don’t publish this book.
We have to agree with Denise. And we’re surprised that Oprah would do the show, anyway: since it was announced that she would do a show on the book, pre-orders have been rolling in. We won’t be reading it, that’s for sure.
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Original post by ReadersRead.com Book Blog
August 29th, 2007
 St. Martin’s © 2007, 384 pages [amazon]
Jake Leary is a junior executive with Hammond Aerospace, a company riven more than generally by corporate infighting since the recent selection of a new CEO intent on cleaning house. Jake is exceedingly competent, and in fact knows more than anyone else at Hammond about the new wide-bodied jet the company is rolling out. His expertise lands him a last-minute summons to the company’s annual leadership retreat — three days off the grid at a remote fishing lodge in British Columbia, team-building with a bunch of alpha male execs. But once they’re arrived at the lodge, professional backstabbing takes a back seat to more immediate dangers: a gang of dead-eyed hunters take the group hostage and demand an enormous ransom for their release.
[INSET TEXT: His expertise lands him a last-minute summons to the company’s annual leadership retreat — three days off the grid at a remote fishing lodge in British Columbia, team-building with a bunch of alpha male execs.] Like Joseph Finder’s previous corporate thrillers, Power Play is laced with technical jargon, which lends the story credibility yet somehow doesn’t weigh down the pages. The story is narrated in the first person by Jake, who turns out to have a complicated past that makes him particularly well suited to dealing with a bunch of heavily-armed baddies. Jake is arguably a bit cartoonish, a hero who stands up for the underdog and doesn’t kowtow to power, who gets himself in hot water for his troubles. But he’s sufficiently fleshed-out to carry this adrenaline-rush of a read. Finder is adept at dripping Jake’s back story into the text. Come to that, he’s expert at writing smart, edge-of-your-seat fiction that you’ll want to read in one sitting: feed the kids before you start on this one.
(See also my reviews of Company Man, Killer Instinct, and Paranoia.)
Tags: book reviews, books, Joseph Finder, Power Play
Original post by Debra Hamel
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