There’s An App For That!
“Do you hate turning your neck sideways to read book titles at libraries and bookstores? Or scrunching down as well to view lower shelves?” If you answered yes to those questions, the ShelfLook iPhone app may be just what you’re looking for. It is designed to allow users to hold an iPhone horizontally and read titles on the screen.
A Childhood Hero Passes
Maurice Sendak: 1928-2012
Most of you have heard by now that beloved author Maurice Sendak passed away. Today I found a beautiful article written about him and wanted to share —
“We’re sorry to note that Maurice Sendak, one of our favorite children’s book authors, died this morning at age 83. His wonderful works included Where the Wild Things Are and In the Night Kitchen. In a long obituary, the New York Times said Sendak “wrenched the picture book out of the safe, sanitized world of the nursery and plunged it into the dark, terrifying and hauntingly beautiful recesses of the human psyche.” (Shelf Awareness)
What Are You Watching?
In anticipation of the film’s debut at Cannes later this month, a brief clip of The Paperboy has been released. The project, based on Pete Dexter’s novel and directed by Lee Daniels (Precious), stars Matthew McConaughey, Nicole Kidman, John Cusack and Zac Efron.
Indiewire noted that “we’re still yet to be convinced that this has the heft to compete with the rest of the Cannes line-up. But it’s a promising enough start for a film we certainly hope to see more of (and given that the clip is labelled #4, we imagine more footage will be revealed in the next few days).”
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The first official image has been released of Scarlett Johansson starring in the film adaptation of Michael Faber’s novel Under the Skin, directed by Jonathan Glazer (Sexy Beast, Birth). Indiewire reported called the project a “film we’ve been keeping an eye on, and hoping it will pop up somewhere on the 2012 calendar…. Well, the good news is two fold. Cineuropa has tweeted that the film is officially in post-production in London after shooting last fall, and they’ve included the first official image from the movie…. Whatever it turns out to be, our ticket is already sold.”
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CW has picked up the pilot episode of The Carrie Diaries for a series, the Hollywood Reporter noted. The project, based on Candace Bushnell’s’s Sex and the City prequel, stars AnnaSophia Robb as a young Carrie Bradshaw. She leads a cast that also includes Austin Butler, Brendan Dooling, Freema Agyeman, Stefania Owen, Katie Findlay, Ellen Wong, Matt Letscher and Chloe Bridges.
Need A Vampire Fix?
HBO has FINALLY released a trailer for the fifth season of True Blood, the series based on the Sookie Stackhouse vampire series by Charlaine Harris. Entertainment Weekly called the “the bloody, fantastical” trailer for the new season–which premieres June 10. Heads up…it’s spoilery!
Who’s Suing Who?
Seventeen states have joined the class-action lawsuit over e-book pricing against Apple, Macmillan and Penguin, bringing the total of plaintiffs to 31 states, including the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico, paidcontent wrote. The group’s amended complaint includes more details on the allegation that Apple and five of the six major U.S. publishers conspired to create the agency model for e-books and thereby fix prices. The new material includes an e-mail from the late Apple co-founder Steve Jobs; more correspondence from the heads of Macmillan and Penguin; and material that the states say shows the publishers succeeded in pressuring Barnes & Noble not to promote or advertise Random House titles during the period that publisher had not instituted the agency plan.
Featured Book Trailer
The Drowned Cities by Paolo Bacigalupi
Synopsis: THE DROWNED CITIES is the thrilling companion to Paolo Bacigalupi’s SHIP BREAKER, the Printz Award winner and National Book Award finalist.
In a dark future America where violence, terror, and grief touch everyone, young refugees Mahlia and Mouse have managed to leave behind the war-torn lands of the Drowned Cities by escaping into the jungle outskirts. But when they discover a wounded half-man–a bioengineered war beast named Tool–who is being hunted by a vengeful band of soldiers, their fragile existence quickly collapses. One is taken prisoner by merciless soldier boys, and the other is faced with an impossible decision: Risk everything to save a friend, or flee to a place where freedom might finally be possible.
Paolo Bacigalupi is the author of Ship Breaker, a Michael L. Printz Award winner and National Book Award finalist. He is also the author of The Windup Girl and Pump Six and Other Stories, and is a Hugo, Nebula, Locus, Compton Crook, John W. Campbell Memorial, and Theodore Sturgeon Memorial Award winner. He lives in western Colorado with his wife and son.
