Wednesday Book News: 5 Links For Your Morning Coffee Break (Blog Edition!)
Good morning, book people! I can’t believe how sunny it is this morning–could Spring really be heading our way? I hope so! And not just because it’s pretty and I detest the cold, but because my poor kidlet has his first ear infection, and could really use some extended strollin’ time by the river. There’s nothing quite like sauntering along the Charles chatting to the geese and picking wild irises with a snuggly kidlet.
Lots of things I’m reading today, so let’s get started!
First, an oldie (in internet time) but a goodie–Henry Sene Yee, the Creative director at Picador, walks us through the design of a book cover. The cover in question? Wesley Stace’s Charles Jessold, Considered As A Murderer. It’s a striking design, so head on over to learn how it came to be.
Over at Forever Young Adult, a drinking game to make the I Am Number Four movie more bearable. I haven’t seen the flick yet, but a drinking game in lieu of a movie review? Hmm…
Also at FYA, a return to Avonlea (see what I did there? And I’ve only had four hours sleep!) with a review of L.M. Montgomery’s Anne’s House of Dreams, in which Gilbert & Anne finally get it together. Definitely worth reading if you’ve ever been irritated by heroines giving up their dreams and settling down. (Also, I loved this book.) Thanks to @MelanieCordova, YA reader extraordinaire, for the tip off to FYA.
Getting back to covers–Melissa Walker, one of the totally awesome Readergirlz has the inside scoop on the cover design for Gwendolyn Heasley’s Where I Belong, which drops later this month.
The Shelf Elf (I <3 her header elf!) has a most excellent, thoughtful review of Gennifer Choldenko’s No Passengers Beyond This Point.
I’ll be back later with a giveaway, and a few thoughts on award shortlists, as promised in Monday’s edition of the Coffee Break.
Have you read I Am Number Four yet? Seen the movie? Bought the t-shirt? What are you reading this morning?
Read MoreWednesday Book News: 9 Links for your Morning Coffee Break
Good morning, beautiful people! Can you believe it’s already Wednesday?
According to the WSJ, Borders has just filed for bankruptcy protection. I’ll tweet any new news as it comes in.
This morning’s links are mostly oldies (in internet time–a lot of them are from late January/early February) but goodies. If you’re in a rush, make sure you check out Mary’s assistant post, Janice’s query post, and Tom’s post on Celebooks–that should cover the stuff you’re not overly obsessive about, and make you feel a little better about *insert reality tv star here* getting a book deal.
First up, in case you missed it, Harper Collins has sacked The Vampire Diaries’ writer, LJ Smith. Here’s LJ thanking her readers for their support, and asking them not to boycott the publisher. Thanks to Sheryl for letting me know I had the wrong url! It’s all fixed now.
Tom M Franklin has a great piece from last month on why we should love Celebooks. It doesn’t replace seeing the Newbery and Caldecott winners on the Today Show, but it does soften the blow.
Catherynne M. Valente has a thoughtful post on the perception of Soviet Russia in fiction. It’s definitely worth reading, especially if you’re writing from a well-known or well-explored angle/place.
Mary Kole at Kidlit has a primer on the agenting industry, and why assistants are marvelous people, especially for writers (like me!) who’re busy hitting up slush piles.
My critique partner and friend Amitha has a post on the book review every writer is afraid they’ll get. Favorite part? “Anyway, I hope the bookstore accepts returns. Good luck trying to get your next book published!”
Janice Hardy tells us what our queries are really saying. If you’re doing the submission rounds, you need to read this now.
Another older post, but worth reading–the Blood Red Pencil on the when and why of combining characters. Special bonus post–a quick look at things that drive an editor crazy.
And finally, PW’s Barbara Vey gets the scoop on what women’s fiction really is in these interviews with readers. The extra interesting thing? She talks to both men and women.
What are you reading this morning? What do you think women’s fiction is? And who would you like to see take over The Vampire Diaries?
l
Read MoreWednesday Book News: 6 Links for your morning coffee break
Good morning, book people! Today is babysitting day in Peta-land, so I’ll spend a good chunk of it catching up. In the meantime, here’s what I’m reading–and loving–over this morning’s cup of coffee.
An oldie but a goodie, Michiko Kakutani reviews Alison Pearson’s YA novel, I Think I Love You, about a 13 year old in love with David Cassidy for the NYT.
Not writing specific, but The Guardian has an update to their Juliet Jacques series on learning to live as a woman, which is well worth a read. Juliet’s transition through hormone therapy and into womanhood–or rather, recognized womanhood–is an eye-opener, but if you need to justify the time reading in lieu of working, think of it as research into character development. (Go here series beginning.)
Also at The Guardian, the Manic Street Preachers’ Nicky Wire tells us why must save libraries. Favorite line? “There’s a tendency to resort to romantic cliche when talking about libraries; clearly in a digital age they aren’t a “sexy” alternative.”
At the WSJ (in the free content!) Stephen Goldblatt writes about Shakespeare and the revision process–even the bard was prone to “obsessive fiddling” with his work. (I’m feeling much better about the time I spent an hour and an half working on one sentence now.)
GalleyCat’s Jason Boog has a quick piece about The Lisa Simpson Bookclub, which collects references to Lisa’s rather extensive–and eclectic–reading list. Embedded video of a referenced clip, too.
Ari at Reading in Color has an interview with Wendy Wan-Long Shang and a review of her book, The Great Wall of Lucy Wu.
What are you reading this morning?
Image credit: amantea, via flickr
Read MoreMonday Book News! 7 links for your morning coffee break
Good morning, interwebs! It’s finally warming up in Boston (finally!) but I still need a morning coffee and something to read. Here’s what I’m checking out this morning.
Update: Mir just stuck his foot in my coffee (not hot) so it might be tea for me today…
11:58 am: This should probably be 8 links now, because my interview with Scott Westerfeld about the Bitch Media 100 feminist YA books is now up @ PopMatters.
From the weekend NYT – More kids are using e-readers, and e-book sales for January show it.
From last week’s Guardian Books Blog, reflections on no longer being a young novelist.
At The Australian, a nice repost on the new Alan Gribben’s edition of The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn with a good sampling of comments from the NYT.
And, in case you missed it, here’s Gribbens’ reasoning, excerpted from the introduction to the book.
At ebookNewser, a quick piece on Sarah Salway’s 2004 book, Something Beginning With, rocketing up Kindle charts with a little help from Twitter.
GalleyCat reports that AOL is acquiring Huff Po for $315 million.
And finally, more from the NYT, with a January 30th piece about young Americans of mixed race identifying as mixed rather than one side or the other. Some of the language in this piece is frustrating, like “ethnically ambiguous,” but it’s an interesting read nonetheless. Provides some insight into the YA market, too.
What are you reading today?
Image credit: 5.0OG, via Flickr
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