Genre Fiction

People feel free to repeatedly sing “Mustang Sally” to me (even though most of them don’t know more than five words). They make jokes about Sally Jessy Raphael and about Dick and Jane. But why has nobody ever mentioned that there is a classic fiction novel called The Adventures of Sally? The very first few words of this P.G. Wodehouse novel have me hooked just by the title of chapter one: “Sally Gives a Party.”

What’s more - Sally, a young American girl whose life is turned upside-down when she inherits a wealth of money, is a repeating character for the comical author. Sally’s debacles first appeared as serial stories in Collier’s Weekly and Grand magazines. He again created a character named Sally for Doctor Sally; this time she is a golf expert.

I must get my hands on a copy of Wodehouse’s Sally stories!

And the publishing world’s attempts at capitalizing on the Obamas’ fame and celebrity continue …

Not long after “Bo” Obama got his own tribute book, Bo: America’s Commander in Leash, Michelle is getting one of her own.

Female Force: Michelle Obama, available in bookstores starting today, is a Bluewaters Productions comic book edition about the new first lady. Female Force is a series that biographies leading ladies and has previously profiled other female politicians including Hillary Clinton, Sarah Palin, and Caroline Kennedy.

Just as Palin’s and Clinton’s issues sold out upon their release, Obama’s comic book sold out before the end of the first day of its release. Perhaps the company is not printing enough, perhaps they really are top notch reading, or perhaps Michelle hired someone to go around and buy all of the copies so that no one else could see it. Either way, you don’ have to worry - more copies are on their way!

Aside from filling the pages of magazine with advertisement cards encouraging you to “get 4 books for 99 cents,” Book-of-the-Month Club, an 80-year-old mail-order book club, recognizes one book annually through its First Fiction Award. This year, the 2008 award was given to Andrew Davidson for his novel The Gargoyle, which the Club calls “an extraordinary tale of love that transcends the boundaries of time”.

“Finding and promoting new authors is at the heart of what we do at the Club,” said Deborah Sinclaire, Editor-in-Chief of Book-of-the-Month Club. “This award is our way of recognizing authors whose debut novels have had a powerful impact on our editorial team as well as our readers.”

Previous years’ winners of BOTM Club’s fiction award include:

2007: The Tenderness of Wolves by Stef Penny
2006: The Observations by Jane Harris
2005: Incendiary by Chris Cleave
2004: no award given
2003: Lucky Girls by Nell Freudenberger
2002: The Russian Debutante’s Handbook by Gary Shteyngart
2001: Mary and O’Neil by Justin Cronin
2000: Some Things That Stay by Sarah Willis
1999: God is a Bullet by Boston Teran
1998: Caucasia by Danzy Senna
1997: The Man in the Box by Thomas Moran
1996: Push by Sapphire
1995: Private Alters by Katherine Mosby

Hey, did you know that celebrities crack open a book once in awhile?

Actress Rachel McAdams, who will star in the eventual release of the movie version of Audrey Niffenegger’s The Time Traveler’s Wife, was seen grabbing a bite - and a few books from a local New York City library last week in the morning of Thursday, April 23. McAdams will also be seen on the big screen later this year in Sherlock Holmes, which is scheduled to be released in December.

On the same day in the same city, actress Angelina Jolie was toting around a book on the set of her new film Salt . The book seen here in her hand was a copy of Richard N. Haass’s War of Necessity, War Of Choice: A Memoir of Two Iraq Wars.

Michael Turner, librarian and head of conservation at Oxford’s Bodleian Library, was sorting through the archives of book-trade ephemera that had been bought by the Bodleian in 1892 when he came across an huge discovery: He found the book jacket shown here, which is the oldest known book dust jacket, dating from 1830.

In the 19th century, book jackets were more wrapper like than today’s versions. This was wrapped around a book, Friendship’s Offering, which has been separated from the jacket, to protect its silk binding. The two red stains that you can see in this picture are from a wax seal that was used to hold the wrapper around the book in a classy gift wrapping manner.

“These books were like gift books, often bound very nicely and probably in silk,” Clive Hurst, the Bodleian’s head of rare books and printed ephemera, told the UK’s Guardian. “Silk bindings are very vulnerable to wear and tear and handling so bookselllers would keep them in these wrappers to protect the silk binding underneath. When you bought the book you would take the wrapper off and put it on your shelves, which is presumably why so few of these covers have survived.”

Later in the 1800s, bookbinding became more durable. Publishers also began to realize that the outside cover was the ideal time to capture the consumer’s attention. They began using more vibrant colors and images, and started including more detailed descriptions, full titles, and the author’s information.

Friendship’s Offering was published annually for many years in the 1800s as an anthology of work by famous writers of the time.

There seem to be a lot of book giveaways on blogs right now! Not all of them are fiction reads - there are crafty and non-fiction ones, too - but they are all books that you can win for free! Here’s some that I have come across recently. Check them out quickly; some end in just a day or two!

* Handcrafted site Whip Up has three copies each of two Make Good Books’ books filled with Japanese-inspired sewing projects.

* Vegan.com is giving away three signed copies of Robin Robertson’s cookbook, Vegan Fire & Spice: 200 Sultry and Savory Global Recipes.

* Reader Views gives out copies of a handful of different featured books each month. Similar monthly giveaways can be found at Rebecca’s Reads and Blogging Authors

* Thought from an Evil Overlord is participating in a May Day giveaway carnival and her prizes are five books.

* For constant book giveaways, keep up with the Great American Book Giveaway site.

* Girls to Grow is hosting her first ever giveaway. The prize is a copy of In Grandma’s Attic by Arleta Richardson.

* Win an audiobook copy of The Total Money Makeover by Dave Ramsey on CD from Christian Personal Finance.

* Fantasy, teen novel writer Beth Revis has cleaned off her book shelves and is giving away two themed clusters of novels on her blog, Writing It Out.

* It’s Pondering the Myriad Things’ second blog anniversary. To celebrate, she is giving away two books: Thich Nhat Hanh’s Peace is Every Step and the 1992 edition of Eliot Coleman’s The Four Season Harvest.

Although I still haven’t read ay of Stephenie Meyer’s Twilight books, I did finally see the movie starring Kristen Stewart as Bella Swan and Robert Pattinson as the dreamy vampire that sparkles, Edward Cullen. And I loved it! When it ended I was tempted to watch it again already!

The movie absolutely lives up to the hype, and according to my friends and family that have read the books, they do too. However, the consensus does seem to be that the first book is easily the best and, although they are all good, they get progressively less so. Recommendations that I read at least the first one have been coming in from everyone from my mom to a 20-something straight edge coworker. The latter told me yesterday that Meyer’s writing is not an outstanding aspect, but rather her concepts and stories are what makes them such good reads.

Now, the next movie chapter, The Twilight Saga: New Moon or simply Twilight 2, is being filmed. With an expected release date of November 20, 2009, number two will hit theaters exactly one year after the big screen release of the first film, on one of the biggest movie release dates of the year.

Summit Entertainment, the studio behind the movies, released this synopsis of New Moon, which is based on the second book in the Twilight series of the same name: “Bella Swan is devastated by the abrupt departure of her vampire love, Edward Cullen, but her spirit is rekindled by her growing friendship with the irresistible Jacob Black. Suddenly she finds herself drawn into the world of the werewolves, ancestral enemies of the vampires, and finds her loyalties tested.”

With the first film breaking several records, and earning worldwide total ticket and DVD sales of $380 million and counting, New Moon has big shoes to fill and there are a lot of people anxiously awaiting its arrival … and I am now one of those people!

Kate Jacobs, author of the growing Friday Night Knitting Club series, has been a very busy writer lately. Aside from keeping up with social networking opportunities by joining Twitter (follow her @KateJacobsBooks) and writing her own detailed, enjoyable e-mail newsletter, she’s right back to the novel-writing grindstone.

Her non-Knitting Club book, Comfort Food, has been released in paperback and is holding steady as a bestseller. But while she’s touring around promoting this book, she’s also taking time to call book clubs and record a welcome message for the nationwide Borders book clubs on April 23. Plus, she’s got a new book on the way!

“I’m working on another adventure in the FNKC series,” Jacobs wrote in her e-news about Knit the Season, her current project. “It takes place a little over a year after the end of Knit Two … [and] focuses on college-age Dakota and a holiday trip to see Gran in Scotland.”

Knit the Season is expected to release November 3, and Jacobs will be sharing more details on her web site.

I am only a few chapters in to reading Rosy Thornton’s new novel Crossed Wires, but I thought that I would share my first impressions of the story, the characters, and the author’s writing style.

The Story: It’s easy to relate to and not outlandish. It’s something that could happen in real life. In fact, I am pretty sure that she stole multiple plot lines from my life! Mina and I both don’t have a car and instead take the 27 bus, which picks up right outside of our doors. Plus, there’s a blonde, curly-haired girl named Sally that reads every second possible.

The Characters: Thornton nails character quirks. Little idiosyncrasies are what we love about people in real life, and it’s what I love most, so far, about the book. From twins that always have to be on the same side of each other, to their father driving his car even though it can’t make left turns.

The Author’s Style: Thornton is from England and uses more British-English terms that other Brit author that I have read. It sometimes makes understanding the dialogue difficult, but certainly not impossible.

Get your own copy today - Crossed Wires by Rosy Thornton went on sale yesterday!

One of the other places that you can find me blogging and writing away is Living Without Meat, a vegan and animal rights site. So if I were to write anything about the Obama family’s new pet dog, I would have guessed that it would have been there. But I chose to forgo writing about Barack’s faux pas with promising to rescue a dog from a shelter then going to a breeder instead. This, however, I can not ignore.

Mascot Books, a small Virginia publisher that specializes in titles about school and professional sports mascots, is jumping on the “Bo” media bandwagon by publishing a children’s picture book about the Portuguese pup. As the narrator, “Bo” takes the reader on a tour of the White House and experiences presidential and Obama traditions including Michelle’s organic garden, the Easter egg roll, and a game of basketball with President Barack himself.

The book is expected to hit stores this week and will retail for $14.95.

When I write I am usually sitting on the couch in my living room with my laptop, fruit smoothie next to me, heating pad on my back, and two big cats on my lap. I also write on scrap paper on public transportation and in journals while laying in bed.

In college I met Prozac Nation author Elizabeth Wurtzel and she told the crowd that when she was working on one of her books she lived and wrote in her publisher’s office, surrounded by empty Chinese take-out containers.

Then there’s the picturesque, serene, desk looking out a window with an inspirational nature scene like Chevy Chase’s character’s was supposed to be in Funny Farm.

And of course there’s the blog that started me on this rant - Sitting Pretty Magazine - which gives pictures and descriptions of writers’ desks … a good number of which include cats.

I am betting that you know who Joan Rivers is. I will also gamble on the fact that you know that she’s had more than her share of plastic surgery. But could you name the dozen different jobs and accomplishments that this self-righteous fashion cop has had during her many decades of life? To start, she’s a comedienne, Tony-nominated actress, playwright, screenwriter, motion picture director, columnist, lecturer, syndicated radio host, Emmy Award-winning talk show host, jewelry designer, and mother. She is also a best-selling author.

In 2004, Rivers co-wrote It’s Better To Laugh … Life, Good Luck, Bad Hair Days & QVC with Kathy Levine. Last year, she wrote her own non-fiction number, Men Are Stupid … And They Like Big Boobs.

February of this year, however, Rivers debuted her first work of fiction - Murder at the Academy Awards - and it’s getting great reviews!

Meghan McCain, the 24-year-old daughter of presidential one-time hopeful John McCain, has previously authored a children’s book titled My Dad, John McCain. But now she’s aiming for the big leagues - and big paychecks.

After a bidding bout between multiple publishing companies, Hyperion won the rights to Meghan’s next writing venture with their bid that is rumored to have a six-figured advance.

The book is set to be released in spring 2010 and, according to Hyperion, it will “explore what it means to be a progressive Republican in the party today,” and “delve into what it means to love the Republican Party, while not always fitting in.” Meghan’s new book will also “touch on topics ranging from what the party needs to do to attract others like her, to the importance of technology in reaching out to younger voters, to what needs to be done to keep young people passionate and involved in politics in the future.”

To celebrate the June 23 release of Finger Lickin’ Fifteen, Janet Evanovich’s newest Stephanie Plum novel, Borders is asking fans to get creative in honor of their favorite lingerie-buyer-turned-bail-bondsman character by creating a short, homemade movie based on the book series and sharing it on YouTube. Interview one of the characters, reenact one of your favorite scenes, write a new scene for what should happen next, or anything you can think to do that relates to Plum’s stories.

Find inspiration by checking out Borders’ own Plum-inspired movie - complete with exploding cars. The example movie also includes an exclusive message from Evanovich and stars Borders employees that are also Stephanie Plum fans.

Once you plan, film, and post your own fan movie, send the link to evanovich@borders.com and Borders might share your with millions of other fans online!

I purposefully avoided a whole section of novel titles that are literary illusion yesterday: Biblical ones. There are so many book titles that are taken from the best-selling Good Book that I decided they needed their own post.

So today I have for you some book titles and the Bible verse which they are named after.

* Absalom, Absalom! by William Faulkner: 2 Samuel 19:4

* A Time to Kill by John Grisham: Ecclesiastes 3:3

* Butter in a Lordly Dish by Agatha Christie: Judges 5:25

* East of Eden by John Steinbeck: Genesis 4:16

* The House of Mirth by Edith Wharton: Ecclesiastes 7:4

* If I Forget Thee Jerusalem by William Faulkner: Psalms 137:5

* The Moon by Night by Madeleine L’Engle: Psalms 121:6

* Number the Stars by Lois Lowry: Psalms 147:4

* The Sun Also Rises by Ernest Hemingway: Ecclesiastes 1:5

* The Wealth of Nations by Adam Smith: Isaiah 61:6