Aug 31 2007

Another day, another iffy film adaptation

BBC One is making a feature-length film adaptation of Noel Streatfeild's children's classic Ballet Shoes. This production will star Victoria Wood, Richard Griffiths, Marc Warren, and Emma Watson ...

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Aug 30 2007

Where does she find them?

Okay, I am now convinced that there is a place where you can have bad covers designed for you on purpose! Because, without fail, Jayne Ann Krentz finds the world's worst covers for her Ghost Hun...

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Aug 29 2007

Hot coupon action

In honor of our current Featured Book—Jennifer Crusie and Bob Mayer's Agnes and the Hitman—we'd like to point out that their shared website is currently featuring a coupon for a $3 rebate off the ...

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Aug 28 2007

Agnes and the Hitman, by Jennifer Crusie and Bob Mayer

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Agnes and the Hitman, Jennifer Crusie and Bob Mayer’s second romantic-comedy/action-adventure collaboration, is a much more successful effort than their first, 2006’s Don’t Look Down. Their love ...

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Aug 28 2007

Fake Books, Part 87

Awesome or insane? It's your call...The Curiosity Shoppe is offering these bookshelves (they're made from real books, and there are several titles available) for $40. On one hand, $40 seems like...

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Aug 27 2007

Pulptastic

Hard Case Crime has just released Fright, a "lost novel" by pulp fiction great Cornell Woolrich:According to the publisher, "[Fright was] lost for more than half a century and never before publish...

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Aug 26 2007

Bob Mayer

While we here at Wordcandy are only familiar with Bob Mayer's collaborations with Jennifer Crusie, he has also written over 30 novels under the names Joe Dalton, Robert Doherty, Greg Donegan, and ...

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Aug 25 2007

Even more Fake Books

Not only is this paperback-book-printed wallpaper butt-ugly*, it's also a whopping fifty-five euros per yard! Fifty-five euros! You could practically that entire stack of BOOKS for fifty-five eu...

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Aug 24 2007

Rowling out and about?

MSN.com is reporting that J.K. Rowling has been spotted hanging out in Edinburgh coffee houses, working on what her neighbor, fellow novelist Ian Rankin, described as "her Edinburgh criminal detec...

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Aug 23 2007

Richelle Mead

Richelle Mead has currently written three books: Succubus Blues, Succubus on Top, (both of which look pretty funny, although you’d need a fair amount of self-confidence to buy ‘em in public), and ...

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Aug 23 2007

Vampire Academy, by Richelle Mead

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Vampire Academy, Richelle Mead’s first book aimed at young adults, is 100% pure slinky fun. This stylish goth-lite novel isn’t breaking any new ground, but Mead's fiercely devoted heroines make her book a welcome entry into the overstuffed teen vampire genre...

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Aug 23 2007

The Pinball Theory of Apocalypse, by Jonathan Selwood

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Jonathan Selwood obviously worked very hard on making his debut novel, The Pinball Theory of Apocalypse, equal parts amusing and appalling. Too many of his attempts to be shocking fall flat,...

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Aug 22 2007

Props from the Seattle PI...

Dude, we're famous!Wordcandy had another exciting first--we had our first press mention in the Seattle Post-Intelligencer's "What's Online" section. Hopefully many more will come!

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Aug 21 2007

A commendable goal

Math Doesn't Suck: How to Survive Middle-School Math Without Losing Your Mind or Breaking a Nail, a math guide written by mathematician and actress Danica McKellar (a.k.a. The Wonder Years' Winnie...

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Aug 20 2007

Sybil G. Brinton

Little is known about Sybil G. Brinton, but she does hold the title of "Earliest Known Jane Austen Fanfic Writer", which is nothing to sneeze at. Her 1913 book Old Friends and New Fancies: An Ima...

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Aug 20 2007

Old Friends and New Fancies, by Sybil G. Brinton

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Written in 1913, Sybil G. Brinton’s Old Friends and New Fancies was the first Jane Austen sequel ever published, and features characters from all six of Austen’s books. While Old Friends and New Fancies doesn’t quite stand on its own as an independent novel, Brinton’s engaging continuation features a plausible imitation of Austen’s style and tone...

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Aug 20 2007

Wow.

Okay, I totally want this:According to Scotsman.com, the above book, entitled The Ladies Dictionary: Being a General Entertainment for the Fair Sex is a "300-year-old book which appears to be the ...

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Aug 17 2007

If only I could knit.

Thanks to the fine people at AustenBlog, I've just discovered Yarn Love, an online store that sells several colors of hand-dyed yarn inspired by literary heroines.You can buy Scarlet O'Hara yarn (...

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Aug 16 2007

The Off Season, by Catherine Gilbert Murdock

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Catherine Gilbert Murdock’s The Off Season is just as thoughtful and engrossing as its critically praised prequel, 2006’s Dairy Queen. Murdock’s quiet, football-playing heroine has gotten more self-confident since the events of Dairy Queen, but her attempt to take charge of her future is still very much a work in progress...

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Aug 16 2007

A sight to behold

I love these book covers:They look just like James Bond covers... if James Bond covers had been drawn by the people who draw the cover art for sewing patterns.There are at least three books in thi...

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Aug 15 2007

On the hunt

I'm thinking of picking up the first few volumes of Viz's Yakitate!! Japan (story and art by Takashi Hashigushi). A pun-filled cooking comedy about a young man with "otherworldly baking powers"? ...

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Aug 14 2007

Peter Ferguson brings the pretty.

The cover art is now available for Magic and Other Misdemeanors, the fifth book in Michael Buckley's Sisters Grimm series, and illustrator Peter Ferguson continues to knock our socks off:This seri...

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Aug 13 2007

Ergh.

Usually we enjoy retold fairytales, but this film adapation of Snow White looks dorky as hell:And just what did they do to that poor girl's neck?

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Aug 10 2007

Ooh, classy!

I totally encourage everybody to check out the trailer for the upcoming "digitally-enhanced live action" movie adaptation of Beowulf--it had me giggling for hours. Literary purists might be a lit...

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Aug 9 2007

Grossman interview on SCI FI Wire

Wordcandy writer Austin Grossman, author of Soon I Will Be Invincible, was recently interviewed on SCI FI Wire. Despite the fact that he says things like "The tropes of superhero life were develo...

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Aug 8 2007

Austen geeks take note

The people behind the upcoming film adaptation of The Jane Austen Book Club are currently running a contest with an excellent grand prize: a ticket to one of the 2008 JASNA-sponsored tours of Engl...

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Aug 7 2007

The Manny, by Holly Peterson

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Time for another Wordcandy Book Review Double Feature!

The Manny, by Holly Peterson

Thirty-six-year-old Jamie Whitfield is unhappy. She has a fulfilling career and three beautiful children...

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Aug 6 2007

In Memoriam

My godmother Karen died of ovarian cancer in 2003. Karen was an all-around fantastically awesome person who loved to cook and entertain, and her daughter Alison has made a cookbook from her colle...

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Aug 5 2007

Poltergeist, by Kat Richardson

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Kat Richardson’s Poltergeist (sequel to 2006’s Greywalker) is a sharp, sinister urban fantasy that blends storytelling with Seattle history. Painstakingly researched and intelligent, this series is perfect for fantasy/horror fans looking for something more than a spine-tingling cheap thrill...

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Aug 3 2007

*Not* an alphabet book

Roald Dahl fans take note: the paperback edition of Wendy Cooling's D is for Dahl: A Gloriumptious A to Z Guide to the World of Roald Dahl, is due out on August 16th. Dahl was just as weird as an...

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