July 2009 Archives

This just in from the Associated Press:

SEATTLE -- A high school student is suing Amazon.com Inc. for deleting an e-book he purchased for the Kindle reader, saying his electronic notes were bollixed, too.

Amazon CEO Jeffrey P. Bezos has apologized to Kindle customers for remotely removing copies of the George Orwell novels "1984" and "Animal Farm" from their e-reader devices. The company did so after learning the electronic editions were pirated, and it gave buyers automatic refunds. But Amazon did it without prior notice.

From the Associated Press:

LONDON -- The purported autobiography of a movie-star chimpanzee is among the contenders for Britain's most prestigious literary award.

"Me Cheeta" is one of 13 novels on the Booker Prize longlist. Originally published anonymously, James Lever's book claims to tell the life story of the chimp who gained 1930s Hollywood stardom in "Tarzan" movies.

From the Associated Press
On the morning after Michael Jackson died, literary agent Joy Harris began getting the e-mails: When, publishers wanted to know, would Jackson's memoir "Moonwalk" be returned to print?

"It did seem abrupt to me," Harris said. "But when I thought about it, it didn't surprise me, in the way that everything is so immediate these days."

"Moonwalk," originally acquired by then-Doubleday editor Jackie Kennedy and published in 1988, will be reissued in October by Random House Inc. with a first printing of 100,000 copies and a new introduction from a Jackson friend who has not been identified.
The book is also coming out in Germany, France and the United Kingdom.

Two York area women have stories published in "Chicken Soup for the Soul" collections.

Joyce Seabolt of Red Lion has written two stories, "Sister/Survivor" and "Tough Task," which appear in "Chicken Soup for the Soul: Tough Times, Tough People."

"A Time to Remember," by Georgia Shaffer of Mount Wolf, appears in "Chicken Soup for the Soul: The Cancer Book."

Patrick Radden Keefe will speak and sign copies of his new book, "The Snakehead: An Epic Tale of the Chinatown Underworld and the American Dream," from 2 to 4 p.m. Sunday at the York County Heritage Trust Historical Society Museum, 250 E. Market St.

Below, Byron Borger, owner of Hearts & Minds bookstore in Dallastown, writes about the book and his own experiences:

I can remember the conversation like it was yesterday. I recall planning the subsequent protest/prayer vigil at York County Prison, the guns aimed at us there on Concord Road, the impromptu press conference. I recall the natural leadership of my dear friend and local United Methodist pastor, Joan Maruskin as she stepped -- pushed by the Spirit, she might say -- into the local and national limelight.

I will never forget the gladness in the moment we met the savvy and passionate -- -ticked off with righteous indignation, he might say --- small town lawyer, Craig Trebilcock. It was obvious that he was willing and able to speak to prison officials and TV reporters and the array of religious human rights advocates gathered at the prison.

It was early August 1993. It was one of the most important days in my life as it started an involvement with the local support group, People of the Golden Vision, gathered to demand fair asylum hearings for dozens of Chinese immigrants detained by the INS, sent oddly to our central Pennsylvania prison.

When "The Snakehead" author Patrick Keefe writes of that day, halfway through his sprawling epic of organized crime in Chinatown, climaxing in the study of human smuggling, including the Golden Venture detainees, my hands shook.

A review of "The Third Angel" by our staff librarian, Joan McInnis.

What a magical spell Alice Hoffman has created in "The Third Angel."

The reader, is quickly caught up in the lives of two sisters reuniting for the London marriage of the older, Allie. The hotel setting, once the residence of their mother during a London visit years before, foretells happenings that are out of the ordinary.

Best-sellers at Borders Books & Music in Springettsbury Township for the week that ended July 19.
1. "Glenn Beck's Common Sense" by Glenn Beck.
2. "The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo" by Stieg Larsson.
3. "Swimsuit" by James Patterson.
4. "The Angel's Game" by Carlos Ruiz Zafon.
5. "Julie and Julia" by Julie Powell.

By BETH VRABEL
For the Daily Record/Sunday News
Karen Hostetter knows how to pick a great read, and not just because she is in charge of library relations for all of York County libraries. She listens to patrons as they return their orders. If they're still raving about the book when it's due, she knows to take it home.
That's why she's a big fan of a new feature in the annual Summer Reading Club, going on now in county libraries. Patrons can go online to leave reviews of books they've checked out. The anonymous critiques are posted on a link for the Summer Reading Club, organized by age group.
"The adult (membership) is what just blew me away," said Hostetter, who said half her day is spent signing up club readers. More than 1,000 reviews have been submitted so far, Hostetter said. Members can add their reviews while logging their reading time online.

From the Associated Press:

A publicist for E. Lynn Harris says the author has died at age 54.

Publicist Laura Gilmore says Harris died Thursday night after being stricken while at the Peninsula Hotel in Beverly Hills. Gilmore says a cause of death had not yet been determined. A coroners' official in Los Angeles said only that a man matching Harris' name and date of birth had died Thursday night at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center.

Harris was a pioneer of gay black fiction and a literary entrepreneur who rose from self-publishing to best-selling status.

From the Associated Press:

It's teen time for "The Secret."

Rhonda Byrne's self-help multimedia phenomenon, which has sold millions of copies, will come out this fall in an edition for young people. "The Secret to Teen Power" will be written by Paul Harrington, who produced the DVD version of the original "Secret."

According to Simon Pulse, an imprint of Simon & Schuster, the new book will show "how teens can transform their own lives and live their dreams, by understanding and using the power they have in their hands."

Simon Pulse announced Wednesday that "The Secret to Teen Power" will have a first printing of 500,000.

When it comes to ancient warfare, Steven Pressfield really knows his stuff.

I previously reviewed the Thermopylae-inspired "Gates of Fire," and I just finished his novel "The Afghan Campaign," which again proves the writer's ability to mix a contemporary fiction narrative with faithfully historical subject matter.

The book is a soldier's account of Alexander the Great's attempt to conquer the area that is now known as Afghanistan.

The Macedonian king had already taken command of all of Greece, moved through the Greek and Persian settlements in eastern Turkey and subdued most of the Persian empire.

But the harsh desert and mountain climates of Afghanistan still remained, the portal to his next wish of dominating India.

This Sunday (July 26), PCN (Comcast channel 21) will air programming featuring the late Pulitzer Prize-winning author Frank McCourt, who passed away on July 19 at the age of 78.

At 3 p.m., the network will re-air the "PCN Profiles" program in which McCourt spoke candidly about his life, achievements and inspirations. McCourt's speech during the Speakers' Millennium Lecture from 2008 will air on PCN at 4 p.m. Replays of the "PCN Profiles" featuring McCourt have also been scheduled to air at 10 p.m. Sunday and 6 a.m. Monday.

A son of Irish immigrant parents and native of Brooklyn, McCourt gained international acclaim after being awarded both the Pulitzer Prize and the National Book Critics Circle Award for his memoir, "Angela's Ashes."

Harlequin, known for publishing romance novels, has taken aim at teen readers with a new imprint, Harlequin Teen.

Read more about it here.

Best-sellers at Borders Books & Music in Springettsbury Township for the week that ended July 12.

1. "Glenn Beck's Common Sense" by Glenn Beck.
2. "The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo" by Steig Larsson.
3. "Swimsuit" by James Patterson.
4. "Angel's Game" by Carl Zafon Ruiz.
5. "Harry Potter & The Deathly Hallows" by J. K. Rowling.

DEB SULLIVAN
On the Shelves

Where will you Mango?

Will you Mango at home or at the library?

Mina Edmondson, director of information services for York County Libraries, hopes that the public will try the Mango Languages software on the www.yorklibraries.org Web site.

Added about three months ago, this new educational resource offers a convenient way to learn Mandarin Chinese, Italian, Spanish, French, German and English-as-a-Second-Language at one's own pace via a library or home computer. Use of the service is free with a library card.

Sad news from the Associated Press:

NEW YORK-- Frank McCourt, the beloved raconteur and former public school teacher who enjoyed post-retirement fame as the author of "Angela's Ashes," the Pulitzer Prize-winning epic of woe about his impoverished Irish childhood, died Sunday of cancer at age 78.

Just in from the Associated Press:

Some final thoughts are coming from George Carlin.

Free Press, an imprint of Simon & Schuster, said Tuesday that the comedian's book "Last Words" will be published in November.

Carlin died in June 2008 at age 71 and worked on the book for the last decade of his life. He collaborated on it with author and humorist Tony Hendra.

Hendra is best known for the memoir "Father Joe."

Carlin's other books included "Brain Droppings" and "Napalm and Silly Putty."

Best-sellers at Borders Books & Music in Springettsbury Township for the week that ended July 5.

1. "Swimsuit" by James Patterson.
2. "Finger Lickin' Fifteen" by Janet Evanovich.
3. "The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo" by Stieg Larsson.
4. "Angel's Game" by Carl Ruiz Zafon.
5. "Glenn Beck's Common Sense" by Glenn Beck.

By BETH VRABEL
For the Sunday News/Daily Record

Jim Rath fell in love with York in the summer of 1980. So, almost three decades later, he decided to blow it up. Fictionally, anyway.

Rath's novel, "American Anarchy" (Cornerstone, $17.96), is about a group of homegrown terrorists who plan to overthrow the U.S. government. Their first move of the rebellion is the sudden and brutal destruction of York.

Scott Butcher's 'Gettysburg Perspectives.'

Prolific York author/photographer has written what one reviewer says is "one of the best, if not the best, photographic anthologies of Gettysburg."

And he has other books on the way.

For details, click here.

From the Associated Press:
LONDON -- The surviving pages of the world's oldest Christian Bible have been reunited -- digitally.

The early work known as the Codex Sinaiticus has been housed in four separate locations across the world for more than 150 years. But starting Monday, it became available for perusal on the Web at www.codexsinaiticus.org so scholars and other readers can get a closer look at what the British Library calls a "unique treasure."

"(The book) offers a window into the development of early Christianity and firsthand evidence of how the text of the Bible was transmitted from generation to generation," said Scot McKendrick, head of Western manuscripts at the British Library.

Jim Hubley's 'Off the Record.'

The York County Heritage Trust has received copies of longtime York Daily Record/Sunday News columnist Jim Hubley's "Off the Record."

The book, a collection of the late columnist's work, was previously believed to be out of print.

For more details and information about purchasing the book, click here.

This just in from the Associated Press:

NEW YORK -- A Swedish author whose new book was promoted as a sequel to J.D. Salinger's "The Catcher in the Rye" cannot publish it in the United States because it too closely mirrors Salinger's classic without adequate parody or critique, a judge ruled Wednesday.