Just one week (six days if you want to get technical) until Wally Lamb’s new book The Hour I First Believed comes out!
Get a sneak peak at the cover, inside blurb, and first few pages here:
Looking for some themed reading? Fictionwise, a Web site that sells and promotes electronic books in formats for printing, reading on screen, or downloading to hand-held devices, is having a Halloween related book sale.
All MultiFormat Horror and Dark Fantasy eBooks are currently 25 percent off regular price, and all Secure Horror and Dark Fantasy eBooks receive a 25% Micropay Rebate when paying with a credit card or PayPal. Additionally, you can save 40 percent through Micropay Rebate on the entire Inheritance Cycle Series by Christopher Paolini, which is a popular series featuring dragons, ancient races, elves, and dwarves. Both offers end November 1, 2008.
Fictionwise’s Micropay Rebates work by crediting your account with the promised amount after you make a purchase. For example, if you bought a $10 eBook with a 20 percent rebate, you would receive $2 in your Fictionwise account that could be used toward future purchases.
MultiFormat books come unencrypted in up to 12 different formats. Secure ones are encrypted files that are specific to one reader or device, such as an Adobe PDF.
Fictionwise also offers a selection of free eBooks, with only registration for the site required.
There is a 4-year-old girl in my life that inspired me to always turn off the water faucet when brushing my teeth or sudsing up my hands. This young eco-concerned lady has learned many great green habits from her environmentally-aware mom, but shutting the water off came from elsewhere: TV. One of her favorite cartoon characters talked about conserving water, and thus, she too wanted to do her part (if only for a week or two, I mean she is only 4).
Wouldn’t it be great if you could inspire such an appetite for saving the planet while encouraging your child to read? Toss some pirate adventure into the mix and kids will surely love to learn about being green.
That’s the concept behind the new eco-fiction book for kids, Curse of the Bone Pirates, sponsored by Nui food and beverage products, written by Nui President Brian Machovina. Nui makes healthy options for kids such as the natural fruit-flavored Kid Water, and is proud to expand their product line to include education through fiction.
The adventures of the bone pirates - who are sinister, but lovable - and sixth-grader Brett, take place on the Island of Nui, a fictional, exotic island in the South Pacific. The plot itself includes plenty of science, exploration, and adventure, but hidden in the subtext readers will also find information about conservation, sustainability, and healthy eating. Lessons such as water purification, composting, and eating a rainbow of colorful food will be presented as Brett explores island life.
Nui donates 50 percent of all its proceeds to kid-empowering nonprofits and will additionally donate $1 for every book purchased.
YouTube can be a fun way to pass the time (so long as your Internet connection is fast enough to keep up). You might head there to check out music videos, embarrassing moments, cute animals, video blogs, or TV show clips. But have you ever thought about checking for videos related to your favorite author or book?
Science fiction and fantasy publisher Galaxy Press has such a large collection of popular YouTube-posted videos for their authors, that they have created a Galaxy Press Channel where you can peruse author interviews, book-to-movie trailers, and clips from book release parties.
Featured prominently on the channel is author L. Ron Hubbard (shown here) who wrote his first fiction book - Buckskin Brigades - in 1936 at age 26, and his last - the ten-volume Mission Earth collection - in the last three years of his life, 1985-1987.
Author videos also include appearances by Anne McCaffrey, Dragonriders of Pern series; Sean Williams, Star Wars: The Force Unleashed; Orson Scott Card, Enders Game, and Robert J. Sawyer, Rollback.
There’s a fun magnetic poetry-style book title game passing around the book blog world. I read it on the Publishing Insider, who heard it from Shelf Awareness, who saw it when Boing Boing pointed readers toward Nina Katchadourian who reinvigorate 1993’s Sorted Books project.
Okay, now that we’ve cleared up the trail, what is this fun word game that people are playing? The Sorted Books project reorganizes piles and shelves of books whose titles, when carefully arranged, create phrases, poems, and conversations.
Care to play along? Here are some of my creations - some in photo form, others typed out. Click on any of the sites mentioned in the first paragraph to see others’ musings.
Beloved
Atonement
On Wings of Eagles
Falling Angels
Deliverance
The Iceman Cometh
On the Road
Tomorrow
The End
Last Friday, on her talk show, Oprah Winfrey announced her newest selection for her famous book club.
The mogul with the Midas touch has chosen David Wroblewski’s debut novel The Story of Edgar Sawtelle. Oprah raved about Wroblewski’s writing, calling it the “best novel [she's] read in a long, long, long time,” and comparing it to the workd of John Steinbeck and Harper Lee. Edgar Sawtelle, which was just published over this summer, has already been climbing the New York Times’ bestseller list, but with the addition of the “Oprah’s Book Club” seal it is sure to soar higher and faster.
Oprah is known for picking reads that heart-wrenching, gripping tales about down-and-out characters who struggle through, and ultimately overcome, extraordinary hardships. And The Story of Edgar Sawtelle has all the makings: Disability? Check - born mute. Tragedy? Got that - his dad dies. Crumbling life, bullying antagonist, and only one true friend and ally? All there with a bonus: the ally is a dog.
Connect with other readers, learn about the author, and find a readers’ guide at Oprah’s Book Club online (site requires flash player). Click on the cover photo shown here to read an excerpt at MSNBC.
Next week, September 27 to October 4, publishers, readers, and authors alike will be celebrating Banned Books Week. It’s a time to celebrate our freedom to read whatever we please, regardless of what public libraries and schools tell us.
According to the American Library Association (ALA), more than 400 books were challenged in 2007 for profanity, slang, sexuality, violence, bigotry, and other controversial hot topics.
Here are the ten most challenged books of 2007, both new and old, according to the ALA, and why people want them banned:
1. And Tango Makes Three (2005) by Justin Richardson and Peter Parnell
Reasons: Anti-Ethnic, Sexism, Homosexuality, Anti-Family, Religious Viewpoint, Unsuited to Age Group
2. The Chocolate War (1974) by Robert Cormier
Reasons: Sexually Explicit, Offensive Language, Violence
3. Olive’s Ocean (2003) by Kevin Henkes
Reasons: Sexually Explicit, Offensive Language
4. The Golden Compass (1997) by Philip Pullman
Reasons: Religious Viewpoint
5. The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn (1884) by Mark Twain
Reasons: Racism
6. The Color Purple (1982) by Alice Walker
Reasons: Homosexuality, Sexually Explicit, Offensive Language
7. TTYL (2005) by Lauren Myracle
Reasons: Sexually Explicit, Offensive Language, Unsuited to Age Group
8. I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings (1969) by Maya Angelou
Reasons: Sexually Explicit
9. It’s Perfectly Normal (1996) by Robie Harris
Reasons: Sex Education, Sexually Explicit
10. The Perks of Being a Wallflower (1999) by Stephen Chbosky
Reasons: Homosexuality, Sexually Explicit, Offensive Language, Unsuited to Age Group
Read more about books being banned or challenged and then find a display or event near you during Banned Books Week. Shop RandomHouse.com now through the end of Banned Book Week and save 15 percent on all banned books by entering code “BANNED” at checkout.
While working on word puzzles today (I’m a puzzle editor by day), I came across one about Pulitzer Prize winners for fiction work. Surely, I thought, I’ve read at least one Pulitzer-winning author or book. But, alas, I am apparently lacking in my Pulitzer knowledge, as I have not read a single winning novel. And it’s not much compensation that I have heard of most of them, nor that one is on my “to read” list.
Here are some of the more recent and the more well-known winners of the Pulitzer Prize for fiction, listed alongside the year that they won. Have you read any?
* 2008: The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao by Junot Diaz (currently #2 on independent bookstores’ bestsellers list) 
* 2007: The Road by Cormac McCarthy
* 2006: March by Geraldine Brooks
* 2005: Gilead by Marilynne Robinson
* 2004: The Known World by Edward P. Jones
* 2003: Middlesex by Jeffrey Eugenides
* 2002: Empire Falls by Richard Russo
* 1999: The Hours by Michael Cunningham
* 1994: The Shipping News by E. Annie Proulx
* 1991: Rabbit At Rest by John Updike
* 1988: Beloved by Toni Morrison
* 1983: The Color Purple by Alice Walker
* 1982: Rabbit Is Rich by John Updike
* 1961: To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee
* 1955: A Fable by William Faulkner
* 1953: The Old Man and the Sea by Ernest Hemingway
Hmm … now that I think about it, I think I sort of read To Kill a Mockingbird when I was forced to write about it as a child, if that counts.
For the love of all good books, please, I beg you, don’t fold down the corner of a book to mark your current page! Especially if the book is shared, a library’s copy, or one you intend to trade in at a used bookstore, but even if it is solely you who will ever read the book: treat it with respect.
For those who are not a fan of conventional bookmarks, try folding your own corner marker that gives the illusion of a folded corner without the wear and tear.
The photograph here is from Folding Trees, a Web site all about origami and paper folding techniques. Click on the picture to get directions for folding your own origami book corner marker. Please, the pages in your books are begging you.
It’s only recently that I discover my interest in historic fiction. Before this, I’m sure that I could have told you that such a sub-genre even existed, which has got me wondering what other classifications exist within the realm of fiction.
First, you can specify the length of a work of fiction:
* Flash Fiction: Fewer than 2,000 words (or 1,000 depending on whose definition you use); about five pages.
* Short Story: Between 2,000 and 7,500 words; about five to 25 pages.
* Novelette: Between 7,500 and 17,500 words; about 25-60 pages.
* Novella: Between 17,500 and 50,000 words; about 60-170 pages.
* Novel: 50,000 words or more; about 170 or more pages.
* Epic: 200,000 words or more; about 680 or more pages.
From there, fiction can include fairy tales, poems, movies, comics, and more. Here are a few of the more popular sub-genres of fiction, most of which should be self-explanatory:
* Crime / Detective
* Erotic
* Fantasy
* Gothic (a combination of romance and horror)
* Historical
* Horror
* Medical
* Mystery
* Philosophical
* Political
* Romance
* Satire
* Sci-Fi
* Thriller
* Tragedy
…and the list goes on, with many of these sub-genres having sub-genres of their own.
I would say that, aside from historical fiction, I like my books with a hint of multiple genres. I enjoy a psychological thriller, but prefer the tension to be counterbalanced with a smudge of romance. While I enjoy a romance, I need at least a little tragedy to ward off super sappiness. Although I usually do not like any science fiction, when it is nicely blended with romance, action, and a hint of tragedy - as with Audrey Niffenegger’s The Time Traveler’s Wife - I am thoroughly content as a reader.
When came time to pick out a new book to read after finishing Barbara Kingsolver’s Animal Dreams, it was a no-brainer: I had to finally start Tracy Chevalier’s newest novel Burning Bright.
The second I opened the book, I caught myself letting out a small sigh of happiness. I was in reader heaven. I do apparently really love Chevalier’s historical fiction more than other authors and books.
Burning Bright follows a family made up of a chair-making artisian, his prim and proper wife, their two youngest children, and the memory of the son they recently lost. After meeting a traveling circus man, the family moves from the small town countryside to the city of London. Home becomes a quaint apartment with a strict and bitter landlady, a garden that is reserved for looking only, and diverse, quirky neighbors - including real-life poet William Blake.
Every sentence is a good one, and I never have to reread anything. I understand and love the writing the first time around, even if that’s at midnight, in bed, as I am falling asleep. Tracy Chevalier wins my award for most captivating writing style.
My 9 to 5 hustle is spent making and editing crossword, word search, and cryptogram puzzles. It’s can be fun because I get to spend my time researching and learning about any topics that I chose (with in reason, of course … I don’t think my boss or readers would appreciate a puzzle theme about bondage).
Here’s a Word-Find puzzle to print out and enjoy solving about one of my favorite authors, Jodi Picoult. Click on the picture of it here to get a full-size view.
I also have one copy of the book in which this puzzle is featured to give away. The issue is the November Quality Find the Word, published by Kappa Publishing. In addition to containing this puzzle (and its answer), you’ll find themed puzzles about George Orwell’s Animal Farm, Robert Frost’s poems, book reviews in general, A Beautiful Mindby Sylvia Nasar, and lots of other non-reading related topics such as cooking, fashion, geography, and more.
Want me to send you the copy? Leave me a comment and at the end of the week I will send it out to one lucky person.
Everyone must have heard that I am on the lookout for people reading in public so that I can be nosy. I just saw four more people spreading the fiction love.
* Woman on Bus: Crystelle Mourning (2007) by Eisa Nefertari Ulen. I am having a hard time getting past the title. Is it about a gothic stripper? A new age porn star? Well, apparently it isn’t so scandalous … or realistic; it’s about a woman who tries to escape her childhood in Philadelphia by marrying a well-to-do man and moving to New York City. Unfortunately, the ghost that’s been haunting her - who happens to be that of her high school sweetheart - follows her to NYC.
* Young Female Working Alone at Starbucks: 
13 Little Blue Envelopes (2006) by Maureen Johnson. This one sounds intriguing, and has good potential for a movie. The story is about a 17-year-old girl as she follows messages - that come one at a time, in little blue envelopes - on a scavenger hunt around Europe that her now-deceased aunt set up for her.
* Co-worker in the Lunchroom: To Have and To Hold (2005) by Jane Green. When I asked what she was reading, my co-worker made sure to point out that Jemima J (2001) was by far her favorite book by Jane Green. She also added that it follows Green’s typical storyline: shy and quiet woman gets taken advantage of by a man, but comes back stronger and with a vengeance.
* Girl on Bus: Addicted (2001) by Zane. Yes, just Zane, who’s other titles include The Sex Chronicles, Purple Panties, The Heat Seekers, and Gettin’ Buck Wild. So based on that, I am afraid to ask what this girl was reading in public. I’ll just leave you with the first line of the book: “The first time I ever laid eyes on Jason, I thought he was a junior-mack-daddy-wannabe that probably sat around on a Commodore 64 computer drinking grape Kool-Aid out of a peanut butter jar while watching Good Times.”
And that’s what the people around me are reading right now.
Whenever I see someone reading, I get nosy and try to see the cover and title of their book. Yesterday, on my commute home, I had a field day snooping on my fellow bus riders and their activity of choice, reading included.
Next to me, a young girl listened to an MP3 player while playing games on her
cell phone. Two people at the front of the bus read the free daily newspaper; further back, two people solved the crossword and sudoku puzzles from this same paper. Two high school girls taught each other clapping and stomping rhythms. Finally, I noted two people - one man and one woman - reading books. It took some careful spying, but I determined what novel they each held.
The woman was reading one with an interesting cover: it had three women in bikinis, draping themselves sexily about in water. The name of this tempting gem? Sistergirls.com. After looking it up online, I am even less inclined to give this one a try. 
There are no fewer than eight authors credited for the five books in this series about the intrigue and danger of meeting someone online. It follows the (apparently) in demand Blackgentlemen.com series.
To the left of me, was a boy-man that made it difficult for me to be nosy - the nerve of him getting antsy upon noticing me staring! But I was finally successful; he was reading Harry Potter and the Prisoner Azkaban (1999) by J. K. Rowling, the third of seven in the Harry Potter series.
And that’s what people around me are reading. Keep your eyes open - it’s fun to spy on reading people!
The New York Times posted a good article today, July 27, in the Books section. The article focuses on literacy and reading in the Internet age. “Literacy Debate: Online R U Really Reading?” looks at a family where the parents stick to newspapers and printed novels, and the teenage children prefer online formats.
Personally, I fall in between. As a 20-something who saw the computer popularity surge as it happened, I grew up with equal exposure to the Internet as to books. I love being online, being able to find information on anything at any time from the comfort of my couch, but I love me a good book and take pride in my book shelf collection. I do, however, certainly run to the news online before buying a paper. Guess that comes with being a 20-something, too.
There's nothing quite the same as a good fiction novel. They weave you through triumphs and struggles, real life situations and fantasy lands, great characters that become like best friends and sickening antagonists. But how do you choose a good fiction book? How do you decide which stories will be worth getting to know? Genre Fiction has all these answers and more! Keep up with which books are soaring the bestsellers lists, which writers are on tour, and which books are being made into films. Read reviews of fiction books from both yesterday and today. Delve into the authors' lives. Most of all, find good fiction books to add to your shelf.
Genre Fiction Author(s)
» Sally-Andersen
