Recently in Fantasy Category

The New Oxford Area Historical Society will host a ghost tour of haunted properties in New Oxford at 6 and 8 p.m. Nov. 7 at New Oxford Coffee Company and Visitor's Center in Center Square.

Steve McNaughton, paranormal investigator and author of "Pennsylvania's Adams County Ghosts," will be the guide.

Tickets are $11 the day of the tour, $10 in advance and $9 to NOAHS members, available at the New Oxford Coffee Company and The Christmas Haus, 110 Lincoln Way West. Proceeds benefit the historical society.

No children under the age of 10 and no children under the age of 16 without an adult.

McNaughton will sell and sign copies of his book after each tour.

Hanover YWCA is accepting used books for its annual used book sale Nov. 6, 7 and 8. Books can be brought to the YW at 23 W. Chestnut St. and placed in the "book box" located in front of the building. Please no encyclopedias, Readers Digest condensed books or magazines. Books should be in good condition and placed in bags or boxes.

I went to Borders this weekend with my stepdaughter, Britni. I finally bought the first installment to "Vampire Diaries." I read this series back when I was in high school, which was a very long time ago. And I wanted to reread the series for my own enjoyment.

I have read the "Twilight" series and did enjoy it.

Back to "Diaries," I completed Vol. 1: The Awakening, and about halfway through Vol. 2: The Struggle.

On L.J. Smith's Web site there is an updated book listing of more stories to follow in the "Vampire Diaries" series.

To add more fuel to the fire. The CW "Vampire Diaries" series premiere is Thursday, Sept. 10 8/7c.

So, Edward beware: A new vampire is moving into the dark shadows and he doesn't sparkle. Paul Wesley as Stefan in "THE VAMPIRE DIARIES."

A review from reader Nancy Duncan:

One of my favorite books is "Pride and Prejudice" by Jane Austen. When I heard about the new edition of the book, where zombies had been added to this tale of manners, I was a little leery about how the classic would fare.

I need not have worried.

Dean Koontz's fourth book in the Odd Thomas series, "Odd Hours," is now in paperback.

To learn more, click here.

To read a review, click here.

From reader Nancy Duncan:

In preparation for the July release of the next Harry Potter movie, I decided to re-read "Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince." It was a good thing I did.

and that definitely applies to book lovers.

The following Web sites offer used books for purchase or exchange, some for as little as the postage to ship them.

Check them out, and if you know of any others, please let us know.

www.bookmooch.com

www.bookins.com

www.swaptree.com

www.paperbackswap.com

From the Associated Press:

A softcover copy of the first Harry Potter book has sold for just over $19,000, according to a Dallas auction house.

This just in from the Associated Press:

It's not the sensation of his first effort, but Stephen King's latest e-adventure is another best-seller.

King's agent, Ralph Vicinanza, said Tuesday that downloads of King's novella "UR," available only as an e-book and released to coincide with the launch of Amazon's upgraded Kindle reader, have reached "five figures" after barely three weeks on the market.

Following were best-sellers at Borders Books & Music in Springettsbury Township for the week that ended Feb. 22.

1. "Eclipse" by Stephenie Meyer.
2. "The Associate" by John Grisham.
3. "Run For Your Life" by James Patterson.
4. "Diary Of A Wimpy Kid 3: The Last Straw" by Jeff Kinney.
5. "Breaking Dawn" by Stephenie Meyer.

From the Associated Press:

An early, long-unpublished work by J.R.R. Tolkien is coming out.

"The Legend of Sigurd and Gudrun," a thorough reworking in verse of old Norse epics that predates Tolkien's writing of "The Hobbit" and "The Lord of the Rings" trilogy, will be published in May by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt.

According to Houghton, the book will include an introduction by Tolkien and notes by his son, Christopher Tolkien.

J.R.R. Tolkien, whose fantasy novels have sold millions of copies, died in 1973. "The Legend of Sigurd and Gudrun" was written in the 1920s and '30s, when the author was teaching at Oxford University.

News from the Associated Press:

Oh, the horror: Neil Gaiman has received the top prize for children's literature: The John Newbery Medal.

Gaiman's spooky "The Graveyard Book," about a boy raised by vampire, a werewolf and a witch, was named the winner of the 88th annual Newbery. The Randolph Caldecott Medal, given to the illustrator of the best picture book, went to Beth Krommes for "The House in the Night," written by Susan Marie Swanson.

The Coretta Scott King Award for best author was given to Kadir Nelson, for "We Are the Ship: The Story of Negro League Baseball. The illustrator award went to Floyd Cooper for "The Blacker the Berry." The King prizes were founded 40 years ago to honor the works of African Americans.

To read more about "The Graveyard Book," click here .

Stephenie Meyer sold more books in 2008 than any other author according to her publisher. To read more, click here.

This just in from the Associated Press:

Taylor Lautner will be back to morph into the monstrous Jacob Black in the "Twilight" sequel "New Moon."

Following were best-sellers at Borders Books & Music in Springettsbury Township for the week that ended Dec. 28:

1. "Eclipse" by Stephenie Meyer.
2. "The Tales of Beedle the Bard" by J.K. Rowling.
3. "Breaking Dawn" by Stephenie Meyer.
4. "The Last Lecture" by Randy Pausch.
5. "The Christmas Sweater" by Glenn Beck.

A review from reader Beth Vrabel:

Take Shirley Jackson's "The Lottery" and mix with the Olympics. Blend in all that's evil about reality televison, add a dash of "Romeo & Juliet," and you'll end up with something not nearly as irrestible as "The Hunger Games."

This book, despite being geared toward Young Adults (of whom, sadly, I am not), was so compelling and original that I flipped back to the beginning to read again as soon as completing the last page.

From the Associated Press:

"Twilight" fans have a short wait for the next installment of the vampire saga.

Summit Entertainment spokesman Paul Pflug says "New Moon" is following just 12 months after the first movie, opening Nov. 20, 2009, over the same weekend as "Twilight" this year.

Summit has tapped Chris Weitz ("The Golden Compass") to direct "New Moon," based on the second book in Stephenie Meyer's best-selling series about the dangerous romance between a teen (Kristen Stewart) and a vampire (Robert Pattinson) fighting his bloodsucking instincts.

Weitz is taking over the franchise from "Twilight" director Catherine Hardwicke. "Twilight" has shot to $150 million at the box office since debuting Nov. 21.

Following were best-sellers at Borders Books & Music in Springettsbury Township for the week that ended Dec. 7.

1. "The Tales of Beedle the Bard" by J. K. Rowling.
2. "Breaking Dawn" by Stephenie Meyer.
3. "Eclipse" by Stephenie Meyer.
4. "The Christmas Sweater" by Glenn Beck.
5. "Multiple Blessings" by Kate Gosselin.

that books make great gifts, but now we can listen to famous authors tell us why.

Gloria Fogal is the Daily Record/Sunday News books page editor. Nancy Duncan is a Daily Record/Sunday News staff librarian and the children's librarian at Red Land Community Library.

Nancy: What do readers really want for Christmas? More books! So, Gloria and I came up with our top five books of all time. Believe me, it wasn't easy limiting myself to just five titles.

Here are my favorites, in no particular order.

"Pillars of the Earth" by Ken Follett

The building of a 12th-century cathedral and all it entails. A huge, spellbinding book with ambition, sex and the struggle for power -- all that you want in a novel that will last a long time. A wonderful choice for a long, cold winter.

Here is a review of J.K. Rowling's "The Tales of Beedle the Bard" by Deepti Hajela of The Associated Press:

"The Tales of Beedle the Bard" (Children's High Level Group, $12.99, 111 pages), by J.K. Rowling: Just in time for the holidays, J.K. Rowling has given Harry Potter fans a little gift.

According to the Associated Press:

A rare original edition of J.K. Rowling's latest book is going on display at the New York Public Library, just as the work is being published around the world.

"The Tales of Beedle the Bard" is a collection of five stories that's mentioned in the last book in Rowling's "Harry Potter" series. It's being released today.

Rowling originally wrote and illustrated seven copies of the book as gifts. She gave one to Arthur Levine at Scholastic, which published the American versions of the books. It's Levine's copy that will be on display at the library through Jan. 4.

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.

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

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.

This just in from the Associated Press:

"Pan's Labyrinth" director Guillermo del Toro is collaborating with crime author Chuck Hogan on a trilogy of vampire novels, starting next summer with "The Strain."

Here's a review from one of our readers, Loretta Martin:

"The Twilight Saga" by Stephenie Meyers

I'm not one who would choose a novel about vampires or werewolves for reading. But if that's the reason you're not devouring "The Twilight Saga" by Stephenie Meyers, you're cutting yourself off from some of the best reading "for kids" out there today.

I recently spent a vacation week plowing through the first three books in Stephenie Meyer's "Twilight" series.

I found the books overwritten and overwrought for the most part. Way too much dialogue for me and I didn't find any of the characters all that compelling.

Still, there was enough action to propel me on to the fourth book.

I've heard so much good stuff about this series. Is there anyone out there who feels the way I do about Bella, Edward and Jacob ... sorta lukewarm?

I was the blogger who was going to read all the Harry Potter books this summer. Well, here it is Labor Day, the official end of summer, and I have a confession to make. I only re-read the first one! What a disappointment. I have no excuse except that other books got in my way-specifically books by Stephenie Meyers.

Fans of Stephenie Meyer's "Twilight' series won't have to wait much longer to see their favorite novel on the big screen.

"Twilight," the film adaptation of Meyer's best-seller, will now open Nov. 21.

Directed by Catherine Hardwicke ("Lords of Dogtown"), the big screen "Twilight" will introduce Bella Swan (Kristen Stewart), a 17-year-old girl who falls in love with the utterly dreamy Edward Cullen (Robert Pattinson). She's a mortal. He's a
vampire. Swooning ensues.

"The Tales of Beedle the Bard," the book J.K. Rowling wrote and illustrated and auctioned off to benefit the charity she co-founded, the Children's High Level Group, will be available to all Harry Potter fans beginning Dec. 4.

Stephenie Meyer is being called the "heir apparent to J.K. Rowling."

To find out why, click here.