Archive: September 2010 (1-10 of 37)

Sep 30 2010 12:13 PM ET

Candice Bergen to write a second memoir

Filed under: News and tagged: , ,

candice-bergenImage Credit: Tommaso Boddi/PR PhotosSimon & Schuster announced this morning that  Candice Bergen will make good on a 23-year-old contract to deliver a sequel to 1984′s Knock Wood (a memoir that came out well before her Murphy Brown fame). In a press release, S&S publisher Jonathan Karp said, “Some authors are worth waiting for, even if you have to wait for two decades, and Candice Bergen is one of them.” The as-yet-untitled book will be out in 2012.

Sep 29 2010 01:05 PM ET

EW Exclusive: Stephen King talks vampires in introduction to comics series

Filed under: Books, Twilight and tagged: , , ,

stephen-king-american-vampireImage Credit: Ida Mae Astute/ABC via Getty ImagesStephen King’s ‘Salem’s Lot helped to bring vampires back to their Bram Stoker origins, with an emphasis on the heartless, frightening nature of the bloodsuckers combined with a side-focus on real estate, so he knows a little something about the creatures of the night. In his introduction to the first volume of the upcoming American Vampire series from DC Comics, the horror maestro makes his feelings about how vampires should really be portrayed known: That is, as truly monstrous and evil, not fanged and fabulous. And most definitely not as “lovelorn southern gentlemen,” “anorexic teenage girls,” or “boy-toys with big dewy eyes.”

Click here to read King’s introduction exclusively on EW.com.

So is King right? Does scary beat sexy? Are you excited for American Vampire?

Sep 29 2010 11:50 AM ET

Snooki from 'Jersey Shore' to write a novel

Filed under: Books and tagged: ,

jersey-shore-snookiImage Credit: Scott Gries/Picture Group/MTVThat groan you hear is every author that’s ever put pen to paper turning over in their graves. After news that her Jersey Shore co-stars The Situation, Ronnie, and J-Woww all have book deals, Nicole “Snooki” Polizzi, the shortest and orangest cast member on the reality show, is set to pen a novel called A Shore Thing. Gallery Books will publish it in January 2011. That’s long after the submission deadline for the 2011 Pulitzer Prizes, just in case anyone was wondering.

In the press release, the editor-in-chief of Gallery asks, “Who better than Snooki to write a fun, sexy novel about a single girl looking for love on the Jersey Shore?” I’m just going to take a wild guess and say, maybe someone who’s read a book at some point in their lives? What do you think, inhabitants of Shelf Life? Does this news make you want to go disinfect your bookshelves?

Sep 28 2010 10:50 AM ET

'Catching Fire,' Stephenie Meyer, J.K. Rowling among winners of Canada's first-ever Teen Read Awards

Filed under: Books

And the results are in: After twelve weeks of online voting, here are the results of Canada’s Teen Read Awards, sponsored by Indigo Books and Music:

Best Read: Catching Fire, Suzanne Collins

Best New Writer: Kate Lauren, Fallen

Best Teen Series: Vampire Academy, Richelle Mead

Best Hottie: Jace Waylaynd from Mortal Instruments: City of Glass, Cassandra Clare

Best Lip Lock: Bella and Edward from Breaking Dawn, Stephenie Meyer

Best Book-to-Flick: Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, J.K. Rowling

Best Hero: Percy Jackson from The Last Olympian, Rick Riordan

Best Villain: Alice Milthorpe from Prophecy of the Sisters, Michele Zink

Best All-Time Fave: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, J.K. Rowling

Best Canadian Read: The Reckoning, Kelley Armstrong

Thoughts? Anyone want to quibble with the results?

Sep 28 2010 09:10 AM ET

J.K. Rowling to appear on 'The Oprah Winfrey Show' this Friday: What do you hope they discuss?

JK-Rowling-and-OprahImage Credit: Solarpix/PR Photos (2)Oprah has always had a magic touch when it comes to snagging hard-to-get author interviews. Just look at her extremely rare on-camera interview with Cormac McCarthy. Now, she’s secured a guest that also knows something about magic touches: J.K. Rowling. The Harry Potter author will be stopping by The Oprah Winfrey Show for the first time this Friday to talk about her life, her fame, and writing one of the most popular book series of all time.

The interview already took place in Edinburgh, Scotland, so barring a Time-Turner, it’s unlikely that we’ll be able to affect what questions Oprah poses to Rowling. But that doesn’t mean we can’t speculate. Personally, I hope she asks why there was so much camping in the last book. It may just be in my memory, but I feel like a third of the book took place in the woods. Some snippets of the interview have already been released. On dealing with her enormous and enthusiastic fan base, the author shares this anecdote: “There was this enormous Barnes & Noble, and I thought, ‘Oh my God.’ And the queue snaked up the street, up the Barnes & Noble, up through four floors and they took me in the back entrance.  They opened the door and they screamed. They screamed….That’s a real stand-out moment for me. I knew it was getting big in that there was press attention and so on, but at that point, that for me…was when it felt ‘Beatle-esque.’”

So, Harry Potter fans — and let’s be honest, aren’t we all? — what do you think Oprah and Rowling will talk about, just one billionaire gal to another? Any topics you hope they’ll touch on?

Sep 27 2010 04:34 PM ET

Anthony Bourdain is working on an ultra-violent food-themed graphic novel. Yum.

Filed under: Books, News and tagged: ,

anthony-bourdainImage Credit: Alexander Tamargo/Getty ImagesIn the past, the ranks of comic book nerds and foodies didn’t tend to overlap, probably because Cheetos and a Big Gulp of Mountain Dew don’t quite go with haute cuisine. But now globe-trotting, pho-slurping, culinary badass Anthony Bourdain has announced that he’s working on a graphic novel for DC Comics. It’s called Get Gyro and Bourdain says it’s an “ultra-violent slaughter-fest” like “Fistful of Dollars meets Eat Drink Man Woman.” So it sounds like we’re pretty much guaranteed at least one death by chopstick.

Bourdain has plenty of experience writing, both nonfiction best-sellers like Kitchen Confidential and the new Medium Raw as well as fiction with his epicurean crime novels, but this will be his first foray into the world of comics. If Get Gyro turns out well enough, perhaps DC or archrival Marvel will ask him to contribute to some of their other titles. Fantastic Fork? Souperman? Maybe he’ll even team up with Alan Moore for Watchmenu or P for Pancetta. What say you, Shelf-Lifers? Excited for some tasty ultra-violence courtesy of Bourdain?

Sep 27 2010 11:19 AM ET

On the Books: September 27

Filed under: Books and tagged:

Think you’ve got a sense for censorship? Are you an expert in expurgation? Try out The Guardian‘s quiz on controversial tomes in honor of Banned Books Week.

The Boston Globe has a great piece on the posthumous treatment of authors’ book collections.

The bestselling book in England is this guide to knitting your own dog. Feel free to reread that last sentence.

Good news for trees: E-book sales continue to rise.

According to the AP, National Geographic magazine will start printing in Arabic.

Sep 24 2010 10:55 AM ET

EW Shelf Life Book Club: 'Ape House'

Filed under: Books and tagged: , , ,

Ape-House-by-Sara-GruenI can’t think of a single female friend who hasn’t read Water for Elephants. (I’m sure there are countless men out there who similarly fell for that rollicking tale of Depression era circus life but I’ve yet to ooh and ahh with one over my beloved Rosie.) Sara Gruen’s  novel was a delight, even if I had quibbles about a romance I thought demanded another 25 pages or so of development. So when I got my hands on Ape House, I tore through it in two nights.

The novel, about an enormously endearing family of bonobos apes and the humans who both advocate and endanger them, is quick, momentum-fueled read. Every single person I’ve spoken with about it, regardless of how much they enjoyed the novel as a whole, fell hardest for the bonobos themselves. Truth be told, some of the human characters in Ape House drove me nuts. John’s wife Amanda struck me as more tedious than sympathetic and his hand-wringing about having kids felt half-baked. The eeeee-vil reporter Cat was perhaps more caricature than character. I thought the book really came most alive when we were back in the room with the bonobos. Several Shelf Life readers wrote in with questions regarding Gruen’s affinity for animal characters, to which the author was gracious enough to respond.

READ FULL STORY »

Sep 23 2010 09:58 AM ET

Singer Shania Twain to pen memoir

Filed under: Books, News and tagged: ,

shania-twainImage Credit: Ray Tamarra/Getty Images Country singer Shania Twain singed an agreement with Atria Books, an imprint of Simon and Schuster, to publish her first book—an autobiography.

“When I read Shania’s manuscript, it amazed me how rich, clear, unfiltered and honest she was,” said  publisher Judith Curr in a press release. “There is a depth that comes through in her writing. The book will be a help and inspiration to many and those who think they know her from her music will be surprised at the raw and personal place she writes from.”

The book will discuss Twain’s upbringing in Ontario, the death of her mother and stepfather, and her rise to fame among other things. “There have been moments in my life I was concerned by the reality that tomorrow would never come. Recently I experienced one of those moments to an intensity that brought on a sudden urgency to document my life before I ran out of time, before I had the opportunity to share an honest and complete account of my life, in my own words,” Twain said. “There are times in your life that are meant for reflection, and this was one of them. I began writing this book with a sincere respect for the past, present and future as something never to be taken for granted.”

The yet-to-be-titled book will be published in spring 2011. Does this news impress you much? (Sorry. I couldn’t help myself.) Will you be reading or passing on this latest celebrity memoir? Sound off in the comments.

Sep 22 2010 09:00 PM ET

'39 Clues' exclusive: New series from Scholastic will feature David Baldacci

Filed under: News and tagged: ,

David-BaldacciTomorrow morning Scholastic will officially announce the second series of its smash hit 39 Clues franchise. (Movie rights first-10 book series, which has more than 8.5 million copies in print, have been snapped up DreamWorks, with Steven Spielberg the possible director.) The new seven-book series, The 39 Clues: Cahills Vs. Vespers, kicks off on April 5, 2011 with Vespers Rising, written by Rick Riordan, Peter Lerangis, Gordon Korman and Jude Watson. In a surprise twist, Scholastic has hired David Baldacci will write the final book in the series, set to be released in March 2013.

In honor of the big announcement, Baldacci talked with us about how he got involved with the project and why he’s excited to write his first book for children.

ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY: How did you get involved with The 39 Clues project?
DAVID BALDACCI:
I got a call over the summer from Scholastic, and actually first my agent and I talked to Scholastic and they said that they wanted me to write the last book in The 39 Clues series, and that’s how I first found out about it. I didn’t think long about it, it was actually a cool offer, and I thought that it’d be something different, something challenging, so I said that I’ll do it. READ FULL STORY »

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