tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-364288232010-02-09T05:35:00.654-08:00Book reviews, book-related news and author interviewsLinda L. Richardshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05868426000807302834noreply@blogger.comBlogger1568125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36428823.post-78815280862663567352010-02-09T05:35:00.000-08:002010-02-09T05:35:00.659-08:00

Neil Gaiman (The Sandman, American Gods, Coraline) has indicated he will be writing an upcoming episode of the British television series, Doctor Who.From BBC News:During his acceptance speech for best comic at the SFX Awards, Gaiman said: “As anyone who’s read my blog knows, I’m a big fan of a certain long-running British TV series. One that I started watching -- from behind the sofa -- when I

Linda L. Richardshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05868426000807302834noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36428823.post-79838477541413857002010-02-09T05:25:00.000-08:002010-02-09T01:20:45.340-08:00

Terrell’s latest novel (after The Map Thief and The Chrysalis) weaves the historic tale of Ireland’s beloved Saint Brigid with a contemporary thread involving an appraiser of medieval relics.While readers who like their history pure will chafe at the modern bits in Brigid of Kildare (Ballantine), Terrell handles these parts as ably as she does those that introduce us to Ireland’s only woman

Sienna Powershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00066864126359185592noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36428823.post-41203241377634869002010-02-09T00:53:00.000-08:002010-02-09T00:53:00.820-08:00

So many people are talking about green issues these days, alternative lifestyles have gotten to be mainstream. Long gone are the days when a hostess could plunk a steak down in front of dinner guests without first asking about food preferences and considering the social and moral implications of such an act. In the West, we are critically concerned with the consequences of our actions and while,

Linda L. Richardshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05868426000807302834noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36428823.post-67517040187529032902010-02-08T10:30:00.000-08:002010-02-08T10:30:00.232-08:00

It’s impossible not to compare debut novelist Nicholas Ruddock’s The Parabolist (Doubleday Canada) to Vincent Lam’s Giller Award-winning debut from 2006, Bloodletting and Miraculous Cures. And not just because Lam has offered up a blurb for Parabolist’s cover: “An inventive, poetic and thoroughly wonderful novel,” Lam offers. In some ways he’s right though, certainly, The Parabolist isn’t a patch

Monica Starkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13139525425995764883noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36428823.post-4737669750760001732010-02-08T08:23:00.000-08:002010-02-08T08:23:00.834-08:00

Christie’s auction house has announced that the extensive art collection owned by the late author Michael Crichton will be sold in May.The author of Jurassic Park, The Andromeda Strain, The Great Train Robbery and many other books had a significant collection of art. It is expected to bring 20 million pounds -- roughly 30 million U.S. dollars -- and includes works by Robert Rauschenberg, Roy

Linda L. Richardshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05868426000807302834noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36428823.post-82536658131104993792010-02-05T14:09:00.000-08:002010-02-05T14:09:00.841-08:00

Even mainstream news agencies are carrying news about the Google book deal and the Amazon Macmillan electronic rights wars. I’ve read a lot of misinformed articles and cock-eyed assessments of both situations in the last week -- both in the world and on the Web. I’ll bet you have too.With a few exceptions, we’ve been resisting the urge to comment on either story at January Magazine, other than

Linda L. Richardshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05868426000807302834noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36428823.post-66030605508799945912010-02-05T13:40:00.000-08:002010-02-05T13:40:00.302-08:00

The cover is ridiculous. Lurid and garish, it looks more appropriate to a steamy romance novel best read at the beach. In My Sister’s House (Ballantine/One World) is not that book. Rather it is a sharp and realistic representation of life in urban America. It might not be high art, but neither is it the low brow escape that the cover would suggest.Skylar Morrison owns a hot Philadelphia nightclub

Sienna Powershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00066864126359185592noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36428823.post-86879330507304221052010-02-03T00:05:00.000-08:002010-02-03T01:31:47.575-08:00

A new prize will honor the memory and literary passion of Sir Walter Scott with a significant prize:He is seen as the father of the historical novel, so it’s perhaps only fitting that a new literary prize honouring the genre is to be launched in the name of Sir Walter Scott.The £25,000 award is being set up by the Duke and Duchess of Buccleuch, whose ancestors were closely linked to Scott. They

Linda L. Richardshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05868426000807302834noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36428823.post-78825712420351599992010-02-02T14:30:00.000-08:002010-02-02T14:30:00.557-08:00

Though I’m not much on novels of alternate history, Connie Willis’ latest epic, Blackout (Spectra), is really something more. A time-traveling thriller with cultural and scientific implications. Blackout is big, muscular, thoughtful and altogether terrific: a novel quite worthy of the eight year wait for the latest words from the six-time Nebula and 10-time Hugo Award-winning author.In Blackout

Lincoln Chohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14928697448708430161noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36428823.post-59821472179359565752010-02-02T11:11:00.000-08:002010-02-02T13:15:09.482-08:00

(Editor’s note: In the two weeks since author Robert B. Parker suddenly passed away, there’s been a significant outpouring of appreciation for what he contributed to the detective-fiction genre. Most of that has come from American writers, but not exclusively. The following tribute was penned by Jim Napier, a mystery and crime fiction critic who lives in Quebec, Canada, and contributes to the

J. Kingston Piercehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17073921191624535912jpwrites@wordcuts.org0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36428823.post-17122515333247427802010-02-02T09:05:00.000-08:002010-02-02T09:05:01.003-08:00

In a week that seems likely to be filled with book news of the maddening kind, it’s fun to come across a story that celebrates books and reminds us of the excitement they can bring.The announcement of Lost Man Booker, seems designed to help us refocus on what's really important about books and how they can influence our culture and our lives in beautiful and meaningful ways.Here’s the setup: two

Linda L. Richardshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05868426000807302834noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36428823.post-23620924598260219642010-02-01T00:05:00.000-08:002010-02-01T00:05:00.121-08:00

Don’t get me wrong: I’m confident that 2010 will be filled with fantastic new books and even new voices in the twinned genres of science fiction and fantasy. Even so, I think it’s going to be tough for me to get as excited about another book as I am about Del Rey’s release this month of El Borak and Other Desert Adventures by the tragic and doomed Robert E. Howard, the prolific pulp

Lincoln Chohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14928697448708430161noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36428823.post-79465475257933236512010-01-31T18:37:00.000-08:002010-02-01T09:25:30.314-08:00

Well, it looks as if Amazon has blinked first in its big e-book battle against mega-publisher Macmillan. An announcement posted this evening by the “Amazon Kindle team” reads:Dear Customers:Macmillan, one of the “big six” publishers, has clearly communicated to us that, regardless of our viewpoint, they are committed to switching to an agency model and charging $12.99 to $14.99 for e-book

J. Kingston Piercehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17073921191624535912jpwrites@wordcuts.org0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36428823.post-90591999459563808952010-01-29T05:00:00.000-08:002010-01-29T05:00:03.447-08:00

It sounds like a spam come-on, not the headline on an article in the blog of one of the most respected newspapers in the world:How to publish your own book online -- and make moneyYet there it is: in backlit black and white, on The Guardian’s technology blog. Technology and economics columnist -- and fledgling poet -- Victor Keegan takes a very personal approach to the topic of self-publishing

Linda L. Richardshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05868426000807302834noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36428823.post-4415261488557056172010-01-29T00:05:00.000-08:002010-01-31T18:35:25.707-08:00

The day after Apple released the device some industry watchers are expecting to help kill Amazon’s Kindle e-book reading device, Amazon released a statement seemingly set to diffuse the iPad’s early impact:“Millions of people now own Kindles,” said Jeff Bezos, founder and CEO of Amazon.com. “And Kindle owners read, a lot. When we have both editions, we sell 6 Kindle books for every 10 physical

Linda L. Richardshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05868426000807302834noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36428823.post-37408646937599481112010-01-28T11:42:00.000-08:002010-01-28T16:50:26.742-08:00

Almost 60 years after the publication of his only novel, the seminal Catcher in the Rye, the mysterious and reclusive Jerome David Salinger is dead, just a few weeks after his 91st birthday. The New York Times obit is here:Mr. Salinger’s literary reputation rests on a slender but enormously influential body of published work: the novel “The Catcher in the Rye,” the collection “Nine Stories” and

Linda L. Richardshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05868426000807302834noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36428823.post-91780403951954555072010-01-28T02:30:00.000-08:002010-01-28T02:30:00.785-08:00

Into a sea of stories on Apple’s new iPad yesterday, covering everything from specs to speculation, the New York Times’ Motoko Rich piped up with some book-related facts and figures:When Steven P. Jobs announced the new iBooks app, he said five of the six largest publishers -- Hachette Book Group, HarperCollins Publishers, Macmillan, Penguin and Simon & Schuster -- had signed on to provide e-book

Linda L. Richardshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05868426000807302834noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36428823.post-54732800055794103632010-01-28T01:15:00.000-08:002010-01-28T01:17:32.472-08:00

DreamWorks Entertainment has plans to make a feature-length comedy out of a witty work of non-fiction by a Beverly Hills pediatrician. Scott W. Cohen’s Eat, Sleep, Poop: A Common Sense Guide to Your Baby's First Year will be published by Scribner at the end of March. From Reuters:Nonfiction guidebooks on birthing and parenthood are hot in Hollywood. Two weeks ago Lionsgate and Phoenix Pictures

Linda L. Richardshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05868426000807302834noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36428823.post-38857095608888754302010-01-27T13:00:00.000-08:002010-01-27T13:07:23.225-08:00

Last week we asked if the much anticipated Apple Tablet would kill Amazon’s Kindle e-book reader. The beast was unveiled this morning. We now know it looks just like a giant iPod Touch, it’s called the iPad (shown at right with optional keyboard), it costs about half as much as expected and the answer to the question is, “probably yes.”Everyone’s talking about the iPad, of course, but PC Mag is

Linda L. Richardshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05868426000807302834noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36428823.post-16128174684304341432010-01-27T12:10:00.000-08:002010-01-27T13:28:05.970-08:00

Louis Auchincloss (The House of Five Talents, Last of the Old Guard), the Wall Street lawyer and prolific author best known for his books about the waspier bits of America, died last night of complications due to stroke, according to his son, Andrew.Born in Lawrence, New York, in 1917, Auchincloss was both well regarded and widely celebrated. He was elected to the American Academy of Arts and

Linda L. Richardshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05868426000807302834noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36428823.post-88882420875012953802010-01-27T09:00:00.000-08:002010-01-27T09:00:04.665-08:00

Lee Child spawned a new type of protag when he introduced former military cop Jack Reacher. Well, new but old. With roots in Clint Eastwood’s Man with No Name, Reacher is the contemporary drifter hero, a guy not really tied to law enforcement, but out to do justice nonetheless. Of course, that justice has some strange definitions. Lately, we’ve seen Matt Hilton with his ex-British Army “problem

Jim Winterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06122822825357026014noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36428823.post-51160300599927376062010-01-26T05:30:00.000-08:002010-01-26T05:30:00.596-08:00

Clarrisa Dickson Wright is one half of British television’s Two Fat Ladies cooking team. When her autobiography was first published in the UK in 2007, it was met with wide acclaim. It’s not hard to see why.The first official U.S. edition becomes available this month from Overlook Press and it’s a surprisingly complete book. In a way, Spilling the Beans has everything: fame, celebrity, addiction,

Aaron Blantonnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36428823.post-17124870431588959822010-01-26T00:08:00.000-08:002010-01-26T07:22:43.105-08:00

Merriam Webster’s 10th edition joins an illustrious group of books banned from some American schools, including selected titles by Maya Angelou, Maurice Sendak, Toni Morrison, Judy Blume, Margaret Atwood, J.K. Rowling, Stephen King, Isabel Allende, John Steinbeck, William Golding and many, many others.This newest ban comes after a parent in a Riverside, California, school district complained of a

Linda L. Richardshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05868426000807302834noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36428823.post-34968242551010015612010-01-25T11:47:00.000-08:002010-01-25T11:48:29.693-08:00

Just a week after the unexpected death last week of detective novelist Robert B. Parker at age 77, The Rap Sheet has posted more than 70 tributes from Parker’s professional colleagues, friends, and critics. This collection was put together by Cameron Hughes and comes in two sections. Part I appears here. Part II can be found here.

J. Kingston Piercehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17073921191624535912jpwrites@wordcuts.org0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36428823.post-13247277891017312822010-01-25T05:00:00.000-08:002010-01-25T07:30:21.788-08:00

The writer Virginia Woolf was born on this day in 1882. According to Garrison Keillor’s wonderful Writer’s Almanac, the former Virginia Stephen “never went to school, but her father chose books for her to read from his own library.”She was only allowed to move out of her family home after her father’s death, when she was 22. She moved into a house with her brothers and sister, and instead of

Linda L. Richardshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05868426000807302834noreply@blogger.com1