November 2008 Archives

You might want to check out this book by Philadelphia Daily News beer columnist Don Russell.

Perfect gift?

Check.

The following were best-sellers at Borders Books & Music in Springettsbury Township for the week that ended Nov. 16:

1. "Too Fat to Fish" by Artie Lange.

2. "You Being Beautiful" by Mehmet Oz.

3. "The Christmas Sweater" by Glenn Beck.

4. "Dewey: The Small-Town Library Cat Who Touched the World" by Vicki Myron.

5. "Just After Sunset" by Stephen King.

York Revolution Baseball has launched a "Rev Up Reading" program to entice students to read four books. Books completed will be marked on special bookmarks that also have vouchers for half-price tickets for their school's scheduled game night.

Debbie Macomber wrote '8 Sandpiper Way' with inspiration from her York friend, Minda Butler.

By BETH VRABEL
For the Daily Record/Sunday News

Best-selling author Debbie Macomber's fans might be too excited to get to the latest gossip in her recent Cedar Cove series installment, "8 Sandpiper Way," to peruse the dedication page.

So Macomber wrote a letter to her readers, in which she asks them to take note of that page, and the women she thanks for their courage and strength. First among them is Minda Butler of York. "I think that she probably inspired the entire story," Macomber said.

One of my former college roommates is obsessed with something called Book Crossing.

You might have heard of it. Maybe from the stamp inside a paperback in your dentist's waiting room, the stickers on stacks of free books in a local coffee shop.

Here's how it works:

For the first part of my life I was a cat person. I enjoyed their independence and their superior attitude to all.

Then, five years ago my daughter brought home a puppy. It was the classic "isn't he cute, can we keep him" scenario. Well, I was hooked. I still love cats, but there is something about a dog's unabashed joy in life that gives them an edge in my estimation.

Gloria Fogal, books page editor, and Nancy Duncan, children's librarian, discuss Neil Gaiman's "The Graveyard Book."


Gloria: After watching a video of author Neil Gaiman reading the first chapter of his new children's novel, "The Graveyard Book," I knew I had to find out what happened to Nobody Owens, the boy raised in a graveyard by ghosts after his parents and sister are murdered. I was familiar with Gaiman, having read his decidedly weird yet engaging "Coraline."

Nancy: I knew nothing about Gaiman except that he was one of the "cool" authors of graphic novels, so I had no expectations when I began reading "The Graveyard Book." Maybe I should have done some research on the book first. It is catalogued at the library as JFiction-geared for children in elementary grades through middle school. It would take a special child to read and understand this book.

Book award winners, announced Nov. 19, from left: Mark Doty, poetry; Annette Gordon-Reed, nonfiction; Judy Blundell, young people's literature and Peter Matthiessen, fiction.

Judges for the National Book Award honored a comeback, giving the fiction award to Peter Matthiessen's "Shadow Country," a thorough revision of a trilogy of novels from the 1990s.
The nonfiction prize went to Annette Gordon-Reed for "The Hemingses of Monticello," while the poetry category was won by Mark Doty's "Fire to Fire." Former genre writer-for-hire Judy Blundell won in young people's literature, for "What I Saw and How I Lied."
For more on book awards http://features.csmonitor.com/books/2008/11/20/national-book-award-prizes-announced/

Greg Mortenson never made it to the top of K2, one of the Himalayas' most formidable peaks. But his mountain-climbing defeat turned into a victory over ignorance and illiteracy.
Because of him, thousands of Pakistani and Afghan children, including girls, can go to school. And it all started when he wandered into a remote village in Pakistan.

This just in from McClatchy Newspapers:

BELLINGHAM, Wash. -- Michelle Obama's fashion savvy may earn her a spot on a future cover of Vogue magazine.

But her political influence has already won over Bellingham, Wash.-based publishing company Bluewater Productions, which plans to feature the future first lady in the third book of its "Female Force" comic book series.

Elizabethtown College Professor Mark Harman has crafted a new translation of Franz Kafka's first novel, "Der Verschollene" ("The Missing Person").

Harman's translation of Kafka's "Das Schloss" ("The Castle") was named best book of the year by the Los Angeles Times.

John Gartner, assistant professor of medical psychology at Johns Hopkins University Medical School, has written "In Search of Bill Clinton: A Psychological Biography."

Gartner is also the author of "The Hypomanic Edge."

In his new book, Gartner attempts to show that Clinton has a hypomanic temperament which helps explain both his charisma and his reckless impulsive behavior.

Red Land Community Library, 48 Robin Hood Drive, Etters, closed today for renovations and anticipates a reopening celebration in February.

Dairy Delights, an ice cream shop at 320 Newberry Commons, will host the library for limited hours and story times throughout the construction.

Michiko Kakutani of The New York Times calls Toni Morrison's new novel, "A heartbreaking account of lost innocence and fractured dreams [that] also stands, with Beloved, as one of Ms. Morrison's most haunting works yet."

Read an excerpt from the book and watch a video of Ms. Morrison by clicking here.

To read the first two chapters of Dean Koontz's latest book, "Your Heart Belongs to Me," due in bookstores Nov. 25, click here.

I read "Bunnicula" when I was in grade school. I don't remember a whole lot, but it's about a vampire bunny that enjoys sucking the juices out of vegetables. yummy...

For a better synopsis click here

I haven't read this fast since I read the Vampire Chronicles by Anne Rice. And that was about 15 years ago.

The sneak peek of the first chapter in the next novel "New Moon" had me thirsting for more...

I need sleep... it's way past my bedtime....

I'm almost finished reading Twilight and I couldn't help comparing it to another vampire series called "The Vampire Diaries" by L.J. Smith.

There are a lot of similarities. "Diaries"
came before "Twilight" but I like the "Twilight" series better. The central female character is blonde and beautiful, while in "Twilight" the central female character is described as a beauty but a unique one and very intelligent, you won't get that from Elena in "Diaries." Elena is depicted as the typical popular girl in high school and of course the only guy who is not seemingly interested is the brooding outsider, Stefan....

Anyway, I don't want to give too much away, but I would definitely recommend reading both the "Vampire Diaries" and "Twilight" and then come to your own conclusion.

FOR A SNEAK PEEK at my page design for the movie "Twilight" click here.

So, I keep checking IMDb for news on the movie adaptations of "The Hobbit," but there hasn't been a whole lot new lately.

They're still writing the scripts at this point. From what director Guillermo del Toro has been saying, it sounds like the first movie will encompass a lot of "The Hobbit" and the second will finish up what's in the book and then provide some sort of bridge to the Lord of the Rings trilogy.

I can't help but think about who I'd like to see cast in some of the key roles.

Aside from the obvious need to re-cast Ian McKellen as Gandalf, Andy Serkis as Gollum and Hugo Weaving as Elrond (and Viggo Mortensen in the second film if they decide to bring in Aragorn for the "bridging" of Hobbit/LOTR), here are some thoughts.

Last year, Christopher Hivner of Dallastown published a collection of his horror stories as an ebook. That book, "The Spaces Between Your Screams," is now also available as a paperback from www.etreasurespublishing.com and from Amazon.com as a paperback or for the Kindle.

Video being a dominant medium these days and so many of us checking online videos, here's one that does something different. It promotes a book.

Check it out.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/mpd/permalink/m2LPBA0SKVWTR7

"The Hour I First Believed" by Wally Lamb hits bookstores Tuesday.

Lamb is the author of "She's Come Undone," an Oprah's Book Club pick, and "I Know This Much Is True."

To read an excerpt of the book and see a video featuring the author, click here.

The following books were best-sellers at Borders Books & Music in Springettsbury Township for the week that ended Nov. 2.

1. "Dewey: The Small-Town Library Cat Who Touched the World" by Vicki Myron.

2. "Against Medical Advice" by James Patterson.

3. "The Lucky One" by Nicholas Sparks.

4. "The Gate House" by Nelson DeMille.

5. "Flat Belly Diet" by Liz Vaccariello.

Family-Child Resources and Borders are partnering to give families the gift of reading this holiday season.

This just in from the Associated Press:

Michael Crichton, the million-selling author of such historic and prehistoric science thrillers as "Jurassic Park," "Timeline" and "The Andromeda Strain," has died of cancer, his family said.

He died Tuesday in Los Angeles at age 66 after a long battle with the illness.

Carolyn Chute, author of gritty, earthy novels about her native Maine, will release a new one, "The School on Heart's Content Road" on Friday.

To read about Chute, author of the hit "The Beans of Egypt, Maine," click here.

Mary Hamilton's "Rising from the Wilderness," a biography about controversial newspaper owner J.W. Gitt, won the American Journalism Historians Award for Best Book in Media History published in 2007. The book was published by the York County Heritage Trust.

In September of 1939, Nazi bombers attacked Warsaw. One of the casualties was the Warsaw Zoo.

Alice Walker is the latest author to launch her own Web site.

Walker is the author "The Color Purple" (a great book and a great movie).

Alice Walker's Garden (www.alicewalkersgarden.com) features her poetry and writings, photographs, a timeline of her work, a bookstore and a link to her new blog. Walker will use her blog to publish new articles like "Anxiety Soup!" -- her latest article created especially as medicine for this moment in our history.

Following were best-sellers at Borders Books & Music in Springettsbury Township for the week that ended Oct. 26.

1. "The Lucky One" by Nicholas Sparks.

2. "Extreme Measures" by Vince Flynn.

3. "Dewey: The Small-Town Library Cat Who Touched the World" by Vicki Myron. (To read about this book, click here.)

4. "Against Medical Advice" by James Patterson.

5. "Brisingr" by Christopher Paolini.

By BETH VRABEL
Daily Record/Sunday News

Jacqui LeBeau listened to her husband's latest musical composition from her Spring Grove sun-room, overlooking woods where squirrels and chipmunks played, and eagles soared.

A story began forming in her mind, knitting the notes and the scene.

LeBeau scrambled for a pen and paper, and "If I Could Fly," the story of a squirrel named Aria and a wish from a majestic eagle, was born.