A movie trailer about the literary author, Mary Shelley, author of the novel Frankenstein, has just been released. The movie stars Elle Fanning as Mary Shelley and Douglas Booth as Percy Bysshe Shelley. Continue reading “Trailer for Movie About Mary Shelley Released”
Oreo.
Boogie.
Snob.
These are some terms that I have been associated with when I was in middle school. I was teased for my musical preference. I was tormented for the way that I talked (and not only for my lisp) and how I presented myself. I never embodied the stereotype of a black person, whatever that is supposed to be. I had to deal with comments from friends, classmates, even from my own family, just because I didn’t live up to their or society’s expectations for the color of my skin. It took me a long time to finally accept me for me and if people don’t like it, that’s their problem.
But the conflict with my personality and societal expectations is on the rise and this time, books are at the forefront.
Format: Hardcover
Pages: 208 pages
Published: June 6, 2011
Publisher: Clarion Books
Genre: Nonfiction, Biography, Young Adult
Synopsis:
Jane Austen’s popularity never seems to fade. She has hordes of devoted fans, and there have been numerous adaptations of her life and work. But who was Jane Austen? The writer herself has long remained a mystery. And despite the resonance her work continues to have for teens, there has never been a young adult trade biography on Austen.
Catherine Reef changes that with this highly readable account. She takes an intimate peek at Austen’s life and innermost feelings, interweaving her narrative with well-crafted digests of each of Austen’s published novels. The end result is a book that is almost as much fun to read as Jane’s own work—and truly a life revealed.
Continue reading “Book Review: Jane Austen: A Life Revealed by Catherine Reef”
Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme hosted by The Broke and Bookish. Today’s post is:
Top Ten Author Duos You’d LOVE To See Write A Book Together (aka my (Jamie’s) world would explode if Gayle Forman and Jandy Nelson wrote a book together) — might be hard to come up with 10 but still would be fun! Bonus points if you tell us what kind of book you’d like them to write!”
Meg Cabot & Emily Giffin
Two funny writers…an interesting combination
Jojo Moyes & Kate Morton
They both do such great emotional writing, it would just be so great to have them combined.
Joshilyn Jackson & Karen White
Jane Austen & Charlotte Bronte
I know that Bronte didn’t exactly like any of Austen writings, but it would be interesting to see these great minds work together.
Libba Bray & JK Rowling
They both done such a great job creating worlds…why not try to write one together?
I couldn’t really think of anymore right now but maybe during day I’ll think of others. Who would be on your list?
Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme hosted by The Broke and Bookish. Today’s post is:
Top Ten Of Your Auto-buy Authors (no matter the genre or what it’s about…you’ll buy it from these authors!). “
This is going to be a mixture of books I automatically buy at the bookstore or borrow from the library (because even though I like the author I may not necessarily buy their latest book):
And the attack on Amazon continues…
Popular authors like Malcolm Gladwell, Ursula Le Guin, Michael Chabon and Ann Patchett compiled a letter attacking Amazon’s “monopoly hold on the book world” and is asking the US Department of Justice to conduct and investigation in their business practices.
Authors United, a group that was created after the Amazon vs. Hachette debacle last year, wrote this letter that will hopefully be delivered at the end of this month. Here is more from The Guardian:
“We are authors with a deep collective experience in this field, and we agree with the authorities in economics and law who have asserted that Amazon’s dominant position makes it a monopoly as a seller of books and a monopsony as a buyer of books,” runs the letter, going on to claim that “in recent years, Amazon has used its dominance in ways that we believe harm the interests of America’s readers, impoverish the book industry as a whole, damage the careers of (and generate fear among) many authors, and impede the free flow of ideas in our society”.
The authors are calling for the justice department’s antitrust division to investigate Amazon, suggesting that the online retailer “has blocked and curtailed the sale of millions of books by thousands of authors” in order to pressure publishers, and has “extract[ed] an ever greater share of the total price of a book from publishers”, resulting in “publishers dropping some midlist authors and not publishing certain riskier books, effectively silencing many voices”.
The letter is backed by missives from the Authors Guild and the American Booksellers Association, the New York Times reported. “As with our author colleagues, we are concerned that the mega-book-retailer Amazon.com has achieved such considerable market power with such questionable business tactics that it is undermining the ecosystem of the entire book industry in a way that will be detrimental, especially to midlist authors, new authors, and minority voices,” wrote both the president and the chief executive of the ABA in a letter to the justice department printed by the paper.”
If you would like to read the full letter, you can find it here.
To read the full Guardian article, click here.
Thank you Bella of The Amazing Life of a Bookworm for tagging me!
*Would you rather only read trilogies or only read standalones?*
I think that is based on what genre it is. If its supernatural/fantasy, then I would prefer to read trilogies. I think more could be expanded more if the storytelling is just right. It it’s science fiction, then I would prefer it to be standalone. The story tends to be continuously beaten down and gets old real fast if it’s in a series. So importantly I think it’s really based on the storyline if it warrants for a trilogy.
*Would you rather only read male or female authors?*
I really don’t go out and seek male or female authors. Yes, a lot of the books that I read are by female authors but that is not because I deliberately picked them. I choose books based on my interest in the plot, not the gender. If the author happens to be female, so be it.
*Would you rather shop at Barnes and Noble or Amazon?*
I used to work in Barnes & Noble and because of my unpleasant work experience, I avoid shopping there like the plague (This is just me. I’m totally bias. Please continue to shop there if you feel comfortable). Honestly, I shop at an independent bookstore first in NYC, Strand Bookstore, before I go anywhere else. But if I can’t find the book or it’s cheaper, I’ll shop on Amazon.
