Peter Jackson to produce The Hobbit

Posted on December 19, 2007 by Mark

From Guardian Unlimited:

The Tolkien community was in hysterics yesterday. At least that was the verdict on one of the leading Hobbit websites following the announcement in Los Angeles that Peter Jackson, director of the $3bn-plus trilogy The Lord of the Rings, had signed up to produce two films based on The Hobbit, expected to go into production in 2009.

Story here. The Hobbit will be split into two films, tentatively scheduled to release in 2010 and 201. No director has been chosen yet – Peter Jackson is too busy with other projects, according to an article in stuff.co.nz. Presumably, the leading website mentioned is TheOneRing.net.

Posted in Articles, Movie Adaptations, Science fiction/fantasy | Tagged ,

The Times: Christmas Choice Thrillers

Posted on December 15, 2007 by Loy

The Times has a Christmas list of thrillers that are must reads. These novels include:

  • The Ghost by Robert Harris
  • Spook Country by William Gibson
  • The Painter of Battles by Arturo Perez-Reverte
  • Swansea Teminal by Robert Lewis
  • Devil’s Peak by Deon Meyer
  • Conned by Matthew Klein
  • The Lying Tongue by Andrew Wilson

View the full article (which includes a brief description of each of the books) here.

Posted in Reading | Tagged

J.K Rowling's Fairy Tale Sells for £2 million

Posted on December 13, 2007 by Loy

From Times Online:

A unique volume of fairytales handwritten and illustrated by J.K. Rowling fetched nearly £2 million at auction today, far surpassing Sotheby’s estimated selling price of a mere £50,000. Following the auction, an astonished Miss Rowling said: “I am stunned and ecstatic. This will mean so much to children in desperate need of help. It means Christmas has come early for me.”

Read the full article here. View J.K. Rowlings website here.

Posted in Authors, Children's books | Tagged

Doris Lessing: Nobel Laureate 2007 reveals Internet Inanities

Posted on December 10, 2007 by Loy

This is from the Sydney Morning Herald:

New Nobel laureate Doris Lessing has used her acceptance speech to rail against the internet, saying it has “seduced a whole generation into its inanities” and created a world where people know nothing.

Similarly, author Andrew Keen argued in his new book, The Cult of the Amateur, that the internet was killing culture and assaulting economics.

Read the full article here on Sydney Morning Herald online.

Posted in Authors, Awards | Tagged , ,

New York Times: Current Bestseller Lists

Posted on December 10, 2007 by Loy

Everyone wants to read a bestseller. Why not? The New York Times Bestseller Lists can help you see the books that are currently on top sales.

There are usually 8 categories from Hardcover Fiction to Paperback Non-Fiction. On the Children’s Book List, STAR WARS POP-UP GUIDE TO THE GALAXY, by Matthew Reinhart tops the list.

View the full NY Times Bestseller Lists here.

Posted in Reading | Tagged

Stanford law group to defend Harry Potter Lexicon book

Posted on December 6, 2007 by Mark

Harry Potter Lexicon cover From The Canadian Press:

A group of crusading intellectual property lawyers at Stanford Law School say they will help defend a small publishing house being sued by author J.K. Rowling over its plan to print an unauthorized companion guide to her Harry Potter series.

Full story on Google News; you can find the online version of the Harry Potter Lexicon at hp-lexicon.org or visit the publisher here.

Posted in Authors, Non-fiction, Publishers, Upcoming releases | Tagged ,

Anne Fine – "Why I write"

Posted on December 5, 2007 by Mark

Anne Fine

The bestselling author of children’s and adults’ fiction explains how not being able to get to the library got her started and now she has no choice

The interview is available on Guardian Unlimited Books – or, take a look at Anne Fine’s official site.

Posted in Authors, Children's books, Interviews | Tagged

NY Times: Top 10 books of 2007

Posted on November 30, 2007 by Mark

The New York Times released their “10 best books of 2007″ list, which includes five novels:

  • Man Gone Down by Michael Thomas
  • Out Stealing Horses by Per Petterson
  • The Savage Detectives by Roberto Bolaño
  • Then We Came to the End by Joshua Ferris
  • Tree of Smoke by Denis Johnson

View the full article (which includes a brief descriptions of each of the books) here.

Posted in Reading | Tagged

Vinge's Rainbows End as free download

Posted on November 29, 2007 by Keren

Cory Doctorow of BoingBoing writes:

Vernor Vinge has put the entire text of his magnificent, prescient, mind-alteringly good novel Rainbows End online as a free download. This was one of the best books of 2006, a book that practically defines what “post-cyberpunk” really means: stories about what happens when the world (and not the street) finds its own use for technology.

The book is in html format, which means that it can be converted to any number of formats (.txt, .pdb, .pdf…) and read on any open platform – palm pilots, phones, computers, ebook readers et cetera.

Link to html file; link to Rainbows End’s Amazon page

Posted in E-books, Reading, Science fiction/fantasy |

2007 Bad Sex in Fiction Award

Posted on November 27, 2007 by Mark

Lots of recent articles on the Bad Sex in Fiction Award.

BBC News: “‘Bad sex’ winner to be announced”

The winner of the annual Bad Sex in Fiction Award for the most awkward description of an intimate encounter is to be announced later. [...] Now in its 14th year, the prize is awarded by Literary Review magazine in an attempt to discourage authors from writing such accounts.

Times Online: “Sex in Ian McEwan’s novel is not bad enough to impress judges”

Weeks after his novel about a young couple’s unconsummated wedding night was beaten to the Man Booker Prize, Ian McEwan will be feeling relieved that On Chesil Beach has failed to make the shortlist for the Bad Sex in Fiction Award.

Guardian Unlimited: “Bad Sex Award 2007 shortlisted passages” (No, we’re not going to post a snippet, but excerpts of the award contestants can be found at the link.)

We also reported on the award last year:

Posted in Awards |