May 2008 Archives

As a woman of a certain age, and struggling to keep fitting into the clothes I own, the title of the collection of short stories by Elizabeth Berg caught my eye. "The Day I Ate Whatever I Wanted, And Other Small Acts of Liberation" just says it all to me.

While publishers pray for a new children's series as popular as Harry Potter and anxiously await Dan Brown's follow-up to "The Da Vinci Code," a report released today predicts a tight market for at least the next few years.

Those of you of a certain age (and you know who you are) who are members of AARP will want to check out Borders’ latest promotion.

Just go to www.borders.com and click on “Exclusive offer for AARP members.”

You can save from 10 to 35 percent on books purchased both online and at the store. And if you’re not a member, they will sign you up on the spot.

Occasionally getting older has its advantages.

Readers would rather curl up with a printed book than go online or read an e-book, a new Random House/Zogby poll finds.

An 800-word Harry Potter prequel is one of 13 card-sized works to be sold at a charity auction in London.

“The Taking of Christ,” a painting by the Italian Baroque artist Caravaggio, has been missing for centuries. Could it possibly be hanging above the fireplace in an obscure residence for Jesuit priests in Dublin?

Ervin R. Stutzman, author of " Emma: A Widow among the Amish," will speak at Metzler Mennonite Church in Ephrata at 7 p.m. June 2 in a free program sponsored by the Lancaster Mennonite Historical Society.

While all major book publishers have announced environmental goals, such as using recycled paper, they haven’t completely arrived, according to the Associated Press.
For this week’s BookExpo America, about 30,000 event guides, just over 40 pages long, will be distributed at the Los Angeles Convention Center, along with 19,000 copies of the 700-page program guide. More than 10 million pages in all will be printed, none on recycled paper.

At the convention, three panels will review recent trends and initiatives and a featured speaker, New York Times columnist Thomas Friedman, will promote his new book, “Hot, Flat, and Crowded: Why We Need a Green Revolution — and How It Can Renew America.”
Other authors will include actor/political activist Alec Baldwin, promoting a book on parenthood after his well-aired telephone tirade against his daughter, filmmaker Michael Moore, media mogul Ted Turner, former basketball great Magic Johnson, and novelists Michael Connelly and Sherman Alexie.
Amazon.com head Jeff Bezos is expected to discuss the state of digital publishing and retailing, including Amazon’s Kindle.

Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich's latest book, "Days of Infamy," written with historian William Forstchen, debuted at No. 11 on the New York Times Fiction Best-seller list this week.

This comes on the heels of the success of Gingrich’s non-fiction work, "Real Change: From the World that Fails to the World that Works," which spent 12 weeks on the NY Times Non-Fiction Best-seller list.

Gingrich joins the ranks of only a handful of authors who made the fiction and non-fiction list in the same year.

OK-I’ve seen the movie version of Then She Found Me, starring Helen Hunt and Bette Midler. We saw a screener copy, meaning that it had an unfinished look. The color was off in several scenes-sometimes everything had a greenish tinge. I was more disturbed by Helen Hunt’s thinness though-she looked positively gaunt. I don’t know if she always looks like that, or if it was for the role.

The book: “With All My Heart” (Xlibris, $15.99).
The author: Eric Royster of Hallam is 20 years old and has lived in York County for 11 years. He attended Scotland School for Veteran’s Children.

What it’s about: A young man named Robert Zandefer seems to have everything in order with his life as far as school and his looks are concerned. However, he has a hollow personality and the only thing that can seem to fill the void is something he doesn’t trust or understand — women.

Excerpt: “Rob began to feel heavier and he stopped walking. I could hear the ambulance sirens in the distance. I stood Rob straight up and I looked at his face. His eyes began to roll back in his head and they began to close. A wave of panic came over me. My best friend since high school was going to die right in front of me.”

To buy: Borders Books & Music, 3000 Whiteford Road, Springettsbury Township, and Hearts & Minds bookstore, 234 E. Main St., Dallastown.

If your child has just started to learn to read, or if he could use a little encouragment to read, Pippa, Buster and Jackson can't wait to hear a good story!

Respected York Daily Record columnist Jim Hubley died Tuesday, but his work lives on for public enjoyment via his 1994 book "Off The Record, York County Life Through a Newsman's Eyes."

The 165-page book, published by the York Daily Record and the York County Heritage Trust, is packed with a sampling of the 1,300 columns he had written through 1994. It's out of print but is available via the York County Library System.

A sampling of his work is also available on the Web via the searchable blog yorktownsquare.com, particularly the post YDR columnist James A. Hubley: 'What I prefer is a simple, Jim.'.

My book Club is doing something different this month. We’re watching a movie! Now, being a book club, we also read the book, so don’t think we’re getting away with not reading this month.

For the first time in nearly 10 years, the New York Times best-seller lists do not have any Harry Potter books, the Times Book Review reported on May 11.

“Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone,” the first in the series, made it onto the bottom of the list on Dec. 27, 1998.

Within a year and a half Harry held the top three spots, and the Book Review decided to start a separate children’s best-seller list.
Once again the Harry Potter books dominated until another list, for series books, was begun to clear up space.
For complete story, click here. http://www.nytimes.com/2008/05/11/books/review/InsideList-t.html?_r=1&oref=slogin

The book: “Semus Bracelet.”
The author: Tessa LaRock is a resident of Felton and graduate of Red Lion Area Senior High School. She is a homemaker and writer.

What it’s about: A young Egyptian prince finds the bracelet of the gods. The bracelet ends up in the hands of a down-on-his-luck American who gives it to his girlfriend. It is a story of camaraderie and love and the battle between deities. Those who have become ensnared within the bracelet’s power are surrounded by danger.

The Children’s Book Council has announced the winners of the first annual Children’s Choice Book Awards at a gala in New York City, hosted by Jon Scieszka, national ambassador for young people’s literature.

Children across the country voted for their favorite books, author and illustrator at bookstores, school libraries and at www.BookWeekOnline.com. Close to 55,000 votes were received.

The winners are:

So, what can you tell about a person from the books they check out from a library? I recently visited the Dover Area Community Library and, not intentionally, came away with six books that, taken together, probably say something about what's rambling through my mind these days. Or not. You make the call.

These are the six books I snagged:

"Lost Mountain" by Erik Reece. Synopsis: From Publishers Weekly: "Reece's up-close assessment of a rapacious coal industry is a searing indictment of how a country's energy lust is ravaging the hills and hollows of Appalachia. ... This process of 'mountaintop removal' left a barren wasteland that, months earlier, had supported songbirds, fox, deer and other wildlife, and a rich cover of trees."

"A Trip to the Beach" by Melinda and Robert Blanchard. Synopsis: A pair of Vermonters tell their tale of trying to open a restaurant on a little known island in the British West Indies.

I was introduced to Billy Collins' poetry in college. He spoke at our campus, and I missed it. But a friend raved so much that I picked up one of his books.

I remember opening "Sailing Alone Around the Room," a compilation of his works, to the first poem, titled "Another Reason Why I Don't Keep a Gun in the House."

It opens:

"The neighbors' dog will not stop barking.
He is barking the same high, rhythmic bark
that he barks every time they leave the house.
They must switch him on on their way out."

I've been a fan every since.

After a lot of reading surrounding the Battle of Thermopylae and the Greco-Persian wars in general (see this previous post), I decided to check out one of the earliest sources.

So, I picked up "The Histories" by Greek historian Herodotus, specifically the Penguin Classics edition edited by Aubrey de Selincourt.

Herodotus was a historian when historians didn't really exist, making for plenty of claims that simply aren't true or are heatedly debated (thank goodness for notes) (and yes, I really do page back to check each note). His intentions are also debated, some modern historians arguing he knowingly fabricated parts of his "Histories"; others believing incorrect information merely came from faulty sources.

Fred Rosenmiller made the news recently for his donation of scores of valuable bottles, a vintage vehicle and other items to the York County Heritage Trust.

It might not be as well know that he and other bottle collectors wrote the book on bottles, York County bottles: "Bottles & Jugs".

On Friday night, I finally got to watch "The Kite Runner" on DVD.

I loved Khaled Hosseini's book when I read it several years ago, so I was anxious to see how the movie would turn out.

The verdict: the book was far more moving.

Fifth-graders Bryant Geesey, left, and Luke Moscato laugh as their teacher, Lauri Graybill, reads from ‘Diary of a Wimpy Kid’ at Sinking Springs Elementary School.