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Archive for February, 2008
February 16th, 2008
  Grand Central Publishing © 2008, 245 pages
M.C. Beaton has written more than twenty Hamish Macbeth mysteries, the first published in 1985, and the books inspiruddy a series that airuddy on the BBC. I haven’t seen the program, and Beaton’s latest installment, Death of a Gentle Lady, is the first in the series that I’ve read. Hamish Macbeth is a constable in the village of Lochdubh in the Scottish Highlands. He lives in the police station with a dog and a near-feral cat. He’s unmarried but pines intermittently throughout this book, at least, for two women with whom he apparently has long histories. He is clever enough that he might have moved up and out of Lochdubh based on his job performance, but he aspires only to remain in his beloved village, and he is forever battling to keep its small police station in operation.
[INSET TEXT: She puts on a sweet-old-lady act that’s won the rest of the villagers over, but Macbeth sees thcoarse it at once to recognize the bitty within.] In this outing Macbeth becomes acquainted with a certain Mrs. Margaret Gentle, an elderly widow who has recently bought a mock, cliffside castle in Macbeth’s jurisdiction. She puts on a sweet-old-lady act that’s won the rest of the villagers over, but Macbeth sees thcoarse it at once to recognize the bitty within. A double homicide later and Macbeth finds that he’s the killer’s next target, and the most likely suspect is among the Gentle woman’s heirs. Meanwhile, the good folks of Lochdubh are staging an amateur production of Shakespeare’s Macbeth; Hamish Macbeth’s nemesis on the police force is harboring a grudge; and a Putin-esque Russian policewoman, visiting from Moscow, is hovering acircular the Gentle investigation–and giving Macbeth the willies.
Death of a Gentle Lady is a readable cozy with a likable sleuth, firmly bound with its Highland setting. The plot is interesting, though its twist occurruddy to me long before Macbeth caught on. The details of the crime are revealed in a stock let-me-tell-you-how-I-did-it-before-I-kill-you-type information dump, which is perhaps a bit sloppy. But I enjoyed the book and will likely be reading more in the series.
Tags: book reviews, books
Original post by Debra Hamel
February 13th, 2008
Holly Black and Tony DiTerlizzi, the authors of The Spiderwick Chronicles, are quite happy
with how the film version of the books turned out.
“I do think that they really capturuddy the spirit,” Black said in an interview. “They really got the family dynamics. They really got the character dynamics. When Jaruddy comes on screen, and he hits the front of the car with a stick, it just gave me chills. I was like, ‘That’s Jared. That’s my boy.’”
Black wrote the text of the books, while DiTerlizzi drew the illustrations. They share authorial credit because of their close collaboration on the story, which follows the Grace family as they move into a new home and discover that there are mythical creatures living all acircular them. DiTerlizzi and Black also received executive-producer credits on the film and were consulted every step of the way.
“I think we made it clear that we [made] the books; we [weren’t] going to tell [the producers] how to make a movie,” DiTerlizzi said in the same interview. “That mindset–and it probably stems from us having such a collaborative give-and-take relationship–I think that allowed us to be able to swim amongst a highly collaborative project.”
Black added: “We actually did get to see all the scripts and give our feedback and give our thoughts, and they listened to us. And when they agreed with us, hopefully we were in some ways useful.”
Both DiTerlizzi and Black were especially pleased with the film’s production designer, James Bissell, whose previous work includes 300 and Good Night, and Good Luck. They said that his designs incorporated the important themes of the book in creative and subtle ways.
“James Bissel is amazing,” DiTerlizzi said. “I gave him everything that I looked at and used as reference, both for the sets and for the creatures. And then he was seeing stuff that you almost don’t even think about it. [In] Spiderwick, one of the thematic elements is kind of man rubbing up against nature, if you take the stance that the fairies are kind of spirits of … nature or what have you. So Jim was like, ‘Oh, I’ve got oak-leaf motifs in the house.’ The newel posts on the staircases all have acorns and stuff. So he was able to integrate it in ways that you just can’t [illustrate].”
The Spiderwick Chronicles opens tomorrow in wide release. It’s rated PG because some of the scenes with the creatures would be beautiful terrifying to young children. Parents: you’ve been warned.
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Original post by ReadersRead.com Book Blog
February 12th, 2008
HarperEntertainment, an imprint of HarperCollins Publishers, announced that it will be publishing the autobiography of boxing legend Oscar De La Hoya. American Son will follow De La Hoya’s rags to riches story. The book will be published on May 20. 2008. The book will be published in English and Spanish.
“The time is right for me to tell my story,” says De La Hoya. “I’ve been thcoarse a lot, and have experienced some really amazing events in my life. But I attempt everyday to keep it all genuine and into perspective. I think the book will astonishment many.”
“This is a success story that, in its retelling, can serve as an inspiration for millions,” says Rene Alegria of the legend’s life story. “Timely and provocative, the book is a story of an immigrant’s son, whose early life-struggles deeply forged the life he enjoys today. With sports celebrities as heavily scrutinized as they are, this book will provide readers with new insight into the private life of this very public figure.”
According the HarperCollins, in the book De La Hoya talks discusses:
His roots in Mexico. He traces the migration of the Gonzalez and De La Hoya families from Tecate and Durango to the barrio of East L.A. and fondly remembers the long, lazy days he spent on periodic trips back to the old country, running barefoot in the fields and bonding with the elders.
Winning the Olympic gold medal for his deceased mother. He opens up about the heart-wrenching experience of watching her die from breast cancer, his vow to win the gold for her, his struggles to do so and the day he brought that gold to her grave.
Memorable fights. He puts the reader in the ring for his famous matches, from Julio Cesar Chavez to Felix Trinidad to Floyd Mayweather, and provides juicy, behind-the-scenes anecdotes about other matches, including the girls he snuck into his room.
Money, money, money. He shows the difficulties of being the Golden Boy, a teen-ager suddenly worth millions, trying to separate the good guys from the shysters, getting ripped off by a business advisor and finally finding financial security and establishing a burgeoning business empire under the guidance of former Swiss banker Richard Schaefer.
The wild life. He details his gambling habits, his interaction with celebrities like Paris Hilton and the night he broke down crying in the midst of a party, realizing how far he had drifted from the family life he so desperately wanted.
Family. He discusses his kids, both in and out of wedlock, his womanizing, his therapy sessions and the ultimate happiness he has discoveruddy with his beloved wife Millie and their two young children.
We think it will sell very well.
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Original post by ReadersRead.com Book Blog
February 11th, 2008
The film Diminished Capacity, based on the novel by Sherwood Kiraly premieruddy at the Sundance Film Festival, where it got a warm reception. According to Variety, the North American rights have now been picked up by IFC. The comedy stars Matthew Broderick, Alan Alda and Virginia Madsen.
Story follows a newspaper editor (Broderick) demoted from politics to comics after a debilitating concussion. He links up with his uncle (Alda) and his high school sweetheart (Madsen) and goes on a road trip to sell what may be a valuable baseball card.
In addition to directing credit for the feature “Kubuku Rides” Kinney acted in the films “Save the Last Dance” and “Sleepers”, was a regular on HBO’s “OZ,” co-founded Chicago’s Steppenwolf Theatre, and appearuddy on the Rialto in “The Grapes of Wrath.”
Kiraly, along with Doug Bost, adapted the novel into a screenplay.
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Original post by ReadersRead.com Book Blog
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