Wordsy Top Stories

Writer behind Danish Muhammad Cartoons Seeks Publisher

mwilliams — Wed, 07 May 2008 10:05:20 -0500

The Danish writer who commissioned cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad, igniting violent protests across the Muslim world, says he can't find a publisher for his latest work, a translation of the Qur'an.

Go figure.

Trouble in Book Lovers’ Paradise

mwilliams — Mon, 05 May 2008 12:37:28 -0500

An NY literary landmark and intellectual oasis since 1927, The Strand has always been a hip, independent and romantic symbol of the city’s literary status. Nowadays, though, it’s become the scene of ire, rife with allegations of racial discrimination and accusations of tyranny. Is the independent and world’s largest used bookstore morphing into a corporate entity that cares only for profits?

Book Swapping, Who Benefits?

mwilliams — Sun, 04 May 2008 09:27:52 -0500

Environmentally friendly and guilt free, book swapping sites are hugely popular. Aside from the obvious benefits for the trees, book swapping introduces readers to authors they normally wouldn’t have chanced. Not actually purchasing the book apparently lends freedom to the process of choosing the next read. But some authors, such as Jeanette Winterson, are not so keen on the idea.

Read the Book! 23 Disappointing Movie Adaptations

Jakob — Thu, 01 May 2008 07:24:00 -0500

The misguided ''Golden Compass'' has found its way to DVD -- but it's not the first book-to-big-screen project to veer off course, as fans of ''Da Vinci Code,'' ''Memoirs of a Geisha,'' ''Eyes Wide Shut,'' and%

YOU could be on the Wordsy Podcast

hansdekker — Sat, 03 May 2008 04:57:04 -0500

The more the merrier! That's what I say. Now you can hear me say it live on the Wordsy Podcast.

Young adult sections in bookstore -- a parallel universe of little-regarded awesomeness

bottleofshine — Fri, 02 May 2008 19:38:19 -0500

Cory Doctorow discusses how fans can't find his new book--Little Brother--because they're looking in the wrong section. Perhaps some Wordsy readers who are adult and also male can shed some light on the assumption that going into YA sections suggests you're a child molester! Comments full of hilarity (plus recommendations).

Committing Series at SF Novelists - Lyda Morehouse

kingrat — Tue, 29 Apr 2008 11:19:22 -0500

Romantic Times had an article in their recent issue called "Stop the Series!" What the article didn’t discuss in any depth is how strong the pressure can be to continue a successful series - or invent one. I gave [my editor] a whole laundry list of stand-alone ideas in an email. At the very end of this, I added: "Or I suppose I could write a sequel." "Do that," was the response.

A Crash Course in Alternate History Novels

kingrat — Tue, 29 Apr 2008 10:45:13 -0500

So you've snapped up Michael Chabon's Nebula Award winning novel The Yiddish Policeman's Union, and now you want more thoughtful alternate histories to fill your brain and bookshelf. While there are literally hundreds of alternate histories out there (many of them written by various Michael Moorcocks and Harry Turtledoves in different timelines), a few standouts will help you get into the genre.

New mothers stop reading classics after birth and turn to 'chick lit', study claims | the Daily Mail

kingrat — Mon, 28 Apr 2008 16:32:23 -0500

Women stop reading serious literature and turn to 'chick-lit' after having children, research suggests. Mothers were shown to swap novels and non- fiction for lighter reads including celebrity autobiographies by the likes of Victoria Beckham and Jordan.

Locus Online News: 2008 Nebula Awards Winners

kingrat — Sun, 27 Apr 2008 00:19:30 -0500

Winners of this year's Nebula Awards, presented by the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America, were announced this evening, Saturday April 26, 2008. Best novel: Michael Chabon - The Yiddish Policemen's Union. Click through to see short story and cinema winners.

Push to Reprint Mein Kampf

mwilliams — Sun, 27 Apr 2008 12:16:48 -0500

ONE of the great publishing taboos of modern Germany is beginning to buckle: historians are pressing the authorities to bring out a new edition of Adolf Hitler's anti-Semitic manifesto, Mein Kampf.

Poll The People: Greatest Ever Books

kingrat — Tue, 22 Apr 2008 22:21:55 -0500

In an ongoing world-wide poll, Poll The People asks what your top 5 favorite books of all time are.

New book commenting site

WellRead — Thu, 24 Apr 2008 20:45:41 -0500

When I'm not reading I always on the the look out for that next great read. I've had great luck with sites such as Shelfari, LibraryThing and Open Book Toronto. The other other night I came across Juicespot. Readers share opinions on books they've read. Found a couple of suggestions. Nice, simple site too. Worth stopping by.

Prolific Amazon reviewer makes it into a book

kingrat — Wed, 23 Apr 2008 09:57:05 -0500

I don't mean to be too hard on Harriet - I'm sure she's sincere, and really does read and critique six books a day. But when I was writing THE PREFECT, and needed a handy index by which to measure the prefects' ability to speed-read, the name "Klausner" couldn't help but jump to mind.

Ten Fantasy Books That Should Be Movies

mwilliams — Sat, 19 Apr 2008 14:12:54 -0500

I’m happy to see The Sword of Shannara by Terry Brooks and the Chronicles of Amber by Roger Zelazny made this list. Both would make great movies IMO. But if I had to choose just one it would be the latter. There is some grand special effects potential there. Opinions?

World’s Largest Non-Fiction Historical Prize—It’s Canadian Eh!

mwilliams — Sun, 20 Apr 2008 10:17:58 -0500

A London-based Canadian financier and investment manager is establishing the world's largest prize for non-fiction historical literature, and he's getting his alma mater, Montreal's McGill University, to administer it.

The Cundill International Prize in History is worth $75.000 and will be presented annually, with the inaugural prize awarded on November 25th.

Authors Using Video to Promote Their Books

Phil Lanuto — Wed, 16 Apr 2008 21:09:24 -0500

Writers have long lamented that television and video are killing reading and book. But video now offers a great way to get the word out about your book. It’s relatively inexpensive to create a great looking book trailer that can be distributed across the Internet for free.

A Nose for Books

mwilliams — Wed, 16 Apr 2008 11:25:40 -0500

Scottish scientists are searching for the antidote to decaying books by bottling the atmosphere of the British Library in test tubes and using mass spectrometers to isolate the chemicals given off by decaying paper…by their smell. Armed with this info, researchers hope to design a chemical ‘nose’ that can be placed on library shelves to give the alarm when the decaying process begins.

Books tool to boost literary web offering

mwilliams — Tue, 15 Apr 2008 13:49:46 -0500

A new digital book-browsing tool is to make the full works of about 500 authors, including Sebastian Faulks and Jacqueline Wilson, available to read and search online. Launched today at the London Book Fair, the application by the publisher Random House will eventually be expanded to include as many as 5,000 books by the end of the year.

Sounds like a good deal for readers.

Robots wrote my bestseller

mwilliams — Mon, 14 Apr 2008 20:47:17 -0500

Philip M. Parker has written over 200,000 books, and all of them have turned a profit. How does he do it? With the magic of computers.

Most of the titles so far are textbooks generated by scripts searching the Internet for information on the subject, but plans are already in hand for a series of romance novels and volumes of poetry.

Some might consider this cheating.

E-Book Pros and Cons

mwilliams — Sun, 13 Apr 2008 12:44:14 -0500

Okay, so e-books save trees, but what about the non-biodegradable plastic and batteries? And yes, paper books degrade and damage easily, but will your e-book reader stand the test of time? Blogger Sam Houston has a rebuttal for each argument author Lisa Logan puts forth on the advantages of e-books over the real McCoy. What side of the fence are you on?

Lost Novel Returns as Bestseller

mwilliams — Sat, 12 Apr 2008 10:52:38 -0500

In the late 1980’s, a French scholar discovered that Alexandre Dumas had penned an obscure work entitled The Last Cavalier. Lost for over a century, this “stirring 750-page rampage through the Napoleonic wars” echoes the themes and style of Dumas’ The Three Musketeers. The author’s final novel is already a big hit in France, and will be published in Britain next month.

Fatwa Revisited?

mwilliams — Tue, 08 Apr 2008 16:15:05 -0500

In 1990 Salman Rushdie claimed he had renewed his Muslim faith and repudiated the attacks on Islam in his novel Satanic Verses, for which there was a fatwa on his head. Now he’s recanted that statement in an interview to be broadcast next month, saying it was all a sham, a product of “deranged thinking”.

Well, it will be a noble death, I suppose.

Off-the-Wall Book Club Questions

mwilliams — Fri, 04 Apr 2008 20:37:57 -0500

I’m hard pressed to find the perfect adjective for some of these real-life, back-of-the-book questions designed for book club discussion, but the flippant versions penned by Joe Queenan, covering some favorite classic tales, had me chuckling out loud.

Pulitzer Prize-Winning Books 2008

mwilliams — Mon, 07 Apr 2008 16:54:20 -0500

This years Pulitzer Prize winners have just been announced. Among those honored are Junot Diaz for The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao and John Matteson for Eden's Outcasts: The Story of Louisa May Alcott and Her Father. The complete list of finalists and winners can be had here.