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After rumors started swirling that Jason Collins, the NBA player who came out as being gay just last week, was looking to publishers for a potential book deal, Collins took to Twitter to quiet the rumblings. Collins tweeted, “Contrary to Sportscenter reports, I have no current plans to write any books. Sorry to disappoint my literary loving fans.” READ FULL STORY »
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The most well-read cities in the country may surprise you.
According to the third-annual survey conducted by Amazon.com, the most well-read city in the country is Alexandria, Virginia. Fitting that it is name for an ancient city with the most famous library in the world, right?
Well, not exactly — it isn’t the classics that are boosting Alexandria’s readership. According to Amazon, ranking is based on sales of books, magazines, and newspapers — in print and for Kindle. The top selling book was Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn. Romance novels like E L James’ Fifty Shades of Grey contributed greatly to sales in two-time list-topper Alexandria, and this year’s number two city, Knoxville, Tennessee.
Knoxville made a jump from the number 12 spot to number two this year, in large part due to sales of Fifty Shades of Grey. Vancouver, Washington, Dayton, Ohio, Clearwater, Florida and Tallahassee, Florida are on the list for the first time this year.
See the top 20 here.
Benjamin Percy (The Wilding) is the latest author to take on the supernatural world, mixing werewolf mythology with a zombie formula of modern horror. In Red Moon, humanity is threatened by an animal-borne pathogen that transforms innocent bystanders into supernatural beings, and the government’s reaction to that epidemic is nearly as dangerous as the disease. In the book’s exclusive trailer, we see the beginnings of what appears to be a war between lycans and the human race. As the trailer puts it, “They live among us. They are our neighbors, our mothers, our lovers. They change.”
Watch the exclusive Red Moon trailer below, and find the book on shelves May 7: READ FULL STORY »
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Margaret Thatcher made sure her legacy would live on.
Before her passing, the former British prime minister approved a biography to be released after her death. NPR reports that the biography, titled Margaret Thatcher: The Authorized Biography, Volume One: Not For Turning, was written by Charles Moore and published by Allen Lane.
Allen Lane released a statement saying, “The biography was commissioned in 1997 on the understanding that it would not be published during Baroness Thatcher’s lifetime. Charles Moore was given full access to Baroness Thatcher’s private papers and interviewed her extensively.”
Thatcher’s biography will be released immediately following Thatcher’s funeral, which will take place next week.
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Scottish author Iain Banks recently informed readers that he has been diagnosed with gall bladder cancer and has only months to live.
The well-loved fiction and sci-fi author, who wrote The Wasp Factory and Consider Phlebas, issued an official statement on his website, which explained that the gall bladder cancer had spread and effectively ruled out any opportunity for surgery:
“The bottom line, now, I’m afraid, is that as a late stage gall bladder cancer patient, I’m expected to live for ‘several months’ and it’s extremely unlikely I’ll live beyond a year. So it looks like my latest novel, The Quarry, will be my last.
As a result, I’ve withdrawn from all planned public engagements and I’ve asked my partner Adele if she will do me the honour of becoming my widow (sorry – but we find ghoulish humour helps).”
Banks, who has not yet decided if he will undergo chemotherapy to extend his life, also informed his fans that his publishers are working diligently to move up the publication date of The Quarry so that he will be around when it hits shelves. In the meantime, a website will be up and running soon where readers can keep track of his progress. Read Banks’ full statement here.
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Author and TV writer Maria Semple talks ‘Where’d You Go, Bernadette’, ‘Arrested Development’, and the ‘Bernadette’ movie
The New York Times’ haiku blog is the best thing about National Poetry Month
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Where’d You Go, Bernadette, released in paperback today, tells the story of Bernadette Fox, a brilliant architect turned neurotic housewife who spends her days planning a family trip to Antarctica per her teenage daughter’s request. What results is a hilarious epistolary novel constructed almost entirely of letters and email correspondence. When Bernadette goes missing, it becomes her daughter’s sole purpose to track down her mother in this story about family, failure and bouncing back. The second novel from television writer Maria Semple, Where’d You Go, Bernadette, made a splash in the book world in 2012 and is now being made into a feature film. We caught up with Semple to talk about the book, the movie and everything in between: READ FULL STORY »
If you’re a U.S. fan of Norwegian author Jo Nesbo, we have some good news!
Nesbo’s first novel, The Bat, is going to be distributed in the U.S. for the first time as a Paperback Original on July 2. The first of three books in the Inspector Harry Hole series, The Bat tells the story of Harry Hole’s work on the Oslo Crime Squad, located in Austrtalia. When called to observe a case, Hole discovers a serial killer. The crime thriller then mixes suspense with romance when Hole stars to fall for a friend of one of the victims.
The Vintage Crime/Black Lizard publication of The Bat follows the U.S. release of Nesbo’s second book, Phantom, on Apr. 23 and the final book in the trilogy, The Redeemer, in May.
Check out an exclusive first look at The Bat‘s new cover below! READ FULL STORY »
Less than a week after The Washington Post first claimed that Jane Goodall’s latest book, Seeds of Hope: Wisdom and Wonder From the World of Plants, contained multiple passages that were lifted from other sources, Grand Central Publishing has postponed the book’s release.
The primatologist, who is most famous for her work with chimpanzees and the creation of the Jane Goodall Institute, wrote Seeds of Hope with freelance writer Gail Hudson. The book was originally scheduled to be released next month, before a total of 12 passages were called into question for plagiarism. Word-for-word copy appeared to be lifted from a website for Choice Organic Teas, as well as others, including several passages that appeared to be lifted from Wikipedia.
In an email to The Washington Post, Goodall issued an apology and stated that, “This was a long and well researched book, and I am distressed to discover that some of the excellent and valuable sources were not properly cited, and want to express my sincere apologies.”
We’re not so sure we would call Wikipedia an “excellent and valuable source,” but perhaps that’s one of the many things Goodall will work on now that the book’s released has been pushed back.
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The British crown ‘Goblinproofing One’s Chicken Coop’ as weirdest book title of the year
One of the best jokes on last night’s Girls involved Hannah’s therapist, played by guest star Bob Balaban, mentioning he had written a bestselling series of children’s books about a bionic dog.
The big-screen adaptation of Stephenie Meyer’s The Host doesn’t hit theaters till March 29, yet there’s already chatter that the Twilight author might turn this sci-fi thriller into a trilogy.
“Once you’ve created characters that have life to them, unless you kill them all, you know where their stories go. You’re always aware of what happens next,” Meyer told the Associated Press earlier this week. “I’ve got outlines for the next books. I would hope that this would be a three-book arc, but we’ll see.”
Not so fast, cautions a source close to Meyer, who tells EW that there’s been no new news to report on the sequel/trilogy front. Besides, Meyer’s plate is pretty full at the moment — in addition to promoting The Host she’s a producer on the newly Sundance-acquired Austenland, starring Keri Russell.
READ FULL STORY »
