The week that was
This is a big ‘un folks. So let’s get the big stories out of the way:
NEW MOON took a whopping $258.8 million in it’s first weekend! (See the Irish Independent,) and of course – the JK Rowling comparisons have begun. Oprah is taking her day-time talk show off the air (No more Oprah book club?)
Right, now that is out of the way…
Carl Brady in the Sunday Tribune starts the ball rolling on the Christmas book lists. The Observer chooses their books of the year and The London Evening Standard looks for their own best books.
Dave Eggers picks up the Literarian Award. (Yup… the man is a legend.)
Disney Princess branches out with the Princess and the Frog. The Gruffalo hits the BBC Christmas list and Publishers Weekly talks new children’s books.
Shin-chi’s Canoe wins big at the Canadian Children’s Literature Awards. Kathy Reichs announces her plan to write a YA series – “young adult forensic thrillers with a touch of fantasy”.
Neil Gaiman’s Graveyard Book (picked up the Booktrust Teenage prize last week) – the man himself talks to Michelle Pauli. And apparently there was hatemail??
Maurice Sendak goes under the microscope of Tim Walker in the Independent UK and Bryan Appleyard in the Times UK.
Caroline Horn warns that younger readers are being lost in the booming YA market -
John Newman of London-based Newham Bookshop added: “Stand-alone children’s books seem to be a dying breed, but that is how writers like Jacqueline Wilson started. If we are not publishing these books then we are not nurturing talent for the future.
Kate Thompson’s new book, The White Horse Trick, is reviewed by Nicola Baird in the Independent UK.
Despite the heavy theme, this is a positive tale that helps readers envision different ways of living. It does so without once lecturing about energy efficiency or using the bus, but by racing us through likeable teen fairy Jenny’s romance, and piling on comic scenes before concluding with a fittingly Gaian regeneration. It’s best read with the rain pouring down.
Lucy Mangan builds the worlds best book corner – this time with the Finn Family Moomintroll. Josh Lacey has a read of Daniel Finn’s Two Good Thieves in the Guardian.
The legends are out in force: Sean Michaels rejoices – as Alan Moore has agreed to write the lyrics for Gorillaz, Philip Pullman is rewriting the bible (well, kinda) and Michael Moorcock has agreed to write the new Dr Who novel.
Etisalat Prize for Arab Children’s Literature has been announced at the Sharjah World Book Fair.
Megan Crewe has summed up some favourite YA in the world of Fantasy and Sci-Fi for tor.com.
And the mandatory link dump:
Usborne have taken a leap into YA publishing | A Weird Comic… | Waterstones starts selling second-hand books | Move over advertising, PR is where it’s at | Engadget does my christmas shopping
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It’s kind of cool to be called ‘Goth-lit’ ( the indo article on Twilight.) I never heard that phrase before!
‘Goth-lit’ is a new one to me too. I can just about see it applying to Celine and Sarah’s books, but having recently read ‘Lord Loss’ and ‘Demon Thief’, I think Darren Shan has strayed far from that world.
Lol – not too sure Darren is writing too much romance in… but there’s certainly room for other elements in ‘goth-lit’.
(No one more gothic-lit than DO’C himself!)