I would still call Kingsolver one of my favorite storytellers; however, I have come to notice a few things about her style that irk me, with the main annoyance being her soapbox. In each novel, a little more than half way through, one character suddenly lectures another one for a good three or four pages about how something is working against nature.

Now I’m all for having strong opinions and sharing them in hopes of educating people. But I also feel that there is a time and a place. Stopping the story’s flow to instill a brief lesson creates a disjointed, stand out section that breaks apart from the rest of the novel.

That being said, I still highly recommend both Animal Dreams and Prodigal Summer. Both are great reads; both follow Kingsolver’s formula: Girl sets out to live life her way. Girl meets boy and falls hard. Girl tries to leave boy, as he does not fit in with her master plan. Girl suffers tragedy and reevaluates relationship with boy.

The first, tells Codi Noline’s tale of returning home to a small town in Arizona surrounded by land, Native American reservations, and memories of her childhood. Things begin changing with her atypical family upon her return: her overprotective father is beginning to see signs of Alzheimer’s; her sister Hallie, who is also a good friend, is headed to Nicaragua, during a war, to lend her agricultural expertise; her mother, who died after giving birth to Hallie, remains a mystery that Codi wants to figure out.

The latter, follows wildlife biologist Deanna Wolfe as she spends her time living amongst the coyote, in a shack in the woods, to observe and protect them.

The first is calm and reassuring; the latter, inspirational and passionate. Both are excellent; both are books you should read.

Oops. But, hey, I guess this just gets the buzz and excitement started early.

EW is taking it all in stride, with a laugh no less. Warner Bros. did alert EW to the date changes, but not in time for the print version to change. Online, there is a note about the release date being moved. There are also comical statements about the error on EW’s Hollywood Insider blog, joking that this issue will be a collectible.

The original date, the weekend before Thanskgiving, is annually of the best-selling dates for movie releases. As Harry Potter ducked back to accommodate a later time, Twilight stepped up. Based on Stephenie Meyer’s best-selling vampire series of the same name, Twilight was set to debut December 12, but with Harry out of the way as competition, will now be released on the popular money-making November 21.

Jacobs’s first read is now available in paperback - and her second one is here, too! (Albeit only in hardback, of course).

Comfort Foods (May, 2008) tells a similar tale of womanly strength and comraderie. This time, the setting is cooking show and the mother is a widow with two adult daughters.

Think you might be intrigued? Read the first chapter of Comfort Foods on Kate Jacobs’s Web site. A paperback edition of Comfort Foods is set to go on sale in April, 2009 … unless you’re lucky enough to stumble upon an aunt who splurges on you and buys you a newly released hard cover copy.

Next to me, a young girl listened to an MP3 player while playing games on hercell 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!

If you need even more of the supernatural, here are a few that are hot off the press and chasing each other up the charts (exclusive of Stephenie Meyer who we know is the queen of teen vampire lit):

* The Secret Circle: The Initiation and The Captive Part I (July 2008) by L. J. Smith, author of the Vampire Diaries series (2007): This new venture for Smith began a trek down a related, but slightly different road; now, it’s about witches. And, as the name suggests, Smith fully intends to make a series out of this one, too.

* Vamps (July 2008) by Nancy A. Collins: It’s Harry Potter meets Gossip Girls when female, teen vampires live an elitist life in New York.

* Spirit (July 2008) by J. P. Hightman: It’s a supernatural epic love tale where ghosts and witches run ramped.

* House of Night series (newest installment to be released September, 2008) by P. C. Cast and Kristin Cast: It’s another vampire read with a Harry Potter edge to it. This series follows a teen girl transitioning into adult vampire-hood through her attendance at House of Night - a school for change.

* The Saga of Darren Shan series by Darren Shan: Two main differences in Darren’s vampire series - the main character is male, and not a vampire, just a human who gets coaxed into the vampire lifestyle.

Gleason combines historical fiction, romance, horror, and the paranormal to create books in the Gardella Vampire Chronicles. Like Meyer, Gleason is pumping the series out rather quickly: The first, The Rest Falls Away (2007), was released the same year that second, Rises the Night (2007) was completed. Less than one year later, The Bleeding Dusk (2008) was published as the third in the series. Now, the fourth - but not final - installment is out.

When Twilight Burns (2008) has just hit shelves. To celebrate (and advertise) in a “green,” money-saving manner, Gleason has set up a virtual book tour with Mediasite. The live web cast has passed: it was held on Tuesday, August 5. However, fans and interested readers can still view the video for the rest of the month.

The New York Times has compiled some of these ads and articles onto one page, including the one seen here for Ken Kesey’s One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest. This ad ran on February 18, 1962. Look closely and you can see an approving quote from Jack Kerouac, and a hardcover, new release sale price of $4.95. Autographed copies today sell for upwards of $18,000.

Browse the entire collection at the Times online. You’ll find photographs of authors smoking, claims to be better than sex, prices one-tenth of today’s, and blurbs of rememberance by Times editors. Don’t miss the ad asking legendary writers William Faulkner and Truman Capote to move over for the now virtually unknown Harry Crews.

The photo shown here is a snapshot of a New York City party for Meyer this Friday evening. For everything Stephenie Meyer and the Twiglight Saga, head over to the ultimate and official fan page at TwilightLexicon.com.

Happy birthday to both J.K. and Harry!

* Her birthday is Christmas Eve, 1973, making her 35.

* She currently lives in Phoenix, Arizona with her husband and three sons - Gabe, Seth, and Eli.

* Her husband, Christian, is nicknamed “Pancho.”

* Many of her five siblings’ names are used for characters in her books.

* In 2005, she was named one of the “most promising new authors of 2005″ by Publishers Weekly.

* She graduated from Brigham Young University, Utah, with an English degree. The college is known for being Mormon, and Meyer remains a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

* One story of hers is included in the memoir collection Prom Nights from Hell (2007), edited by Meg Cabot.

* Her novels include: Twilight (2005), New Moon (2006), Eclipse (2007), The Host (2008), Breaking Dawn (August 2, 2008), Midnight Sun (work in progress).

* All of her books are teen fiction, except for The Host, which was targeted for adults.

* Stephenie says that the idea for writing a vampire story came to her in a dream.

* Muse is one of her favorite bands. They are featured in many of her books, as well as Blue October, Coldplay, and Linkin Park.

* Twilight, in addition to earning numerous recognitions and “top lists” honors, has been translated into 20 different languages.

* A big-screen movie of Twilight is set to hit theaters December 12, 2008.