Helen's Reads

Vote For Your All Time Favorite Thrillers

helen — Mon, 19 Jul 2010 20:45:23 +0000

Last month, NPR asked its listeners to submit nominations for a list of the 100 most pulse-quickening, suspenseful novels ever written. 600 titles were submitted. A panel of critics and thriller writers whittled the nominees down to 182. Now its your turn to vote. NPR will share the results on August 2nd.

click here to vote

Maybe You CAN Judge A Book By Its Cover

helen — Thu, 24 Jun 2010 20:32:26 +0000

The results are in. Out of more than 800 entries for “AIGA 50 Books/50 Covers” competition, here are the winners for book cover design in 2009.

“AIGA 50 Books/50 Covers”

Sneak Preview: ‘Water For Elephants’ Set Pictures

helen — Tue, 22 Jun 2010 23:47:31 +0000

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Here are some great shots of Reese Witherspoon playing the part of avid horsewoman, Marlena Rosenbluth, in the film adaptation of Sara Gruen’s very popular novel ‘Water For Elephants’. Film production began last month. Other cast members are: Robert Pattinson as Jacob Jankowski, Christoph Waltz as August, Mark Povinelli as Kinko/Walter, Jim Norton as Camel, Hal Holbrook as old Jacob Jankowski and Tai as Rosie. Release date is set for 2011.

Winter’s Bone

helen — Wed, 16 Jun 2010 20:35:56 +0000

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‘Winter’s Bone’ is a new art-house movie that is getting rave reviews. It is adapted from Daniel Woodrell’s eighth novel of the same name. Set in the Missouri Osarks, ‘Winter’s Bone’ tells a grim tale of a daughter’s search for her meth- cookin’ dad who has missed his court appearance thus putting the family home in jeopardy.

In an 2007 interview with Barbara Peters of Poison Pen Press and Bookstore, Woodrell, a crime writer known for his sleazy characters and white trash settings, reveals his fondness for 30’s and 40’s noir and first person voice. “It’s a voice that allows my character’s ambition to do something that they know they shouldn’t be doing. Something that in the end tests their fate and character and brings dramatic forces to bare.”

6/18/10 Seattle Times: ‘Winter’s Bone’ made in part by Seattleites, hits it big on art-house movie circuit.

Next Season’s Book Club Picks

helen — Thu, 10 Jun 2010 00:07:16 +0000

Both Nora Rawlinson at Earlyword and Kaite Stover over at Booklist Book Group Buzz have posted recently on their predictions for what titles book clubs will favor next season once they come out in trade paperback. Booklist is championing Major Pettigrew’s Last Stand by Helen Simondson, Bloodroot by Amy Greene and Pictures of You by Caroline Leavitt (January 2011), while Earlyword is betting on Wench by Dolen Perkins-Valdez.

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I thought I would join in the fun and pull a book out of my hat also. What with the popularity of HBO’s Big Love, I’m going to put my money on The Lonely Polygamist: A Novel by Brady Udall which landed on several booksellers reading lists as reported by NPR and Earlyword.

Brady Udall’s The Lonely Polygamist was the book of the show at the ABA’s Winter Institute. Daniel Goldin, owner of Boswell & Books in Milwaukee observed, ”not only did every person who read this novel become overwhelmed with emotion, but the line for getting this book signed at the author reception had to be three times the size of anything else.”

Books To Film: Mao’s Last Dancer and The Hedgehog

helen — Sat, 22 May 2010 20:22:42 +0000

Hurrah! Two wonderful books have been adapted into two wonderful foreign films that I can only hope will get wider distribution in this country after they make the rounds of all the international film festivals. Mao’s Last Dancer (Australian) is based on the autobiography of Li Cunxin 5 star reader review and The Elegance Of The Hedgehog (Le Herisson – France) by Muriel Barbery, a best seller in France that I featured in this blog’s Read ‘em And Eat series. If you haven’t read either book yet, I’ve posted both film trailers to whet your literary appetite.

Brontë Sisters Are The New Hollywood Darlings

helen — Sun, 16 May 2010 19:49:12 +0000

The following video has been making the rounds on Face Book. Who knew it would be a ‘portent of things to come’. Hollywood is apparently embracing all books Brontë after nearly two decades of all films Jane Austen. USA Today reports that new versions of Wurthering Heights and Jane Eyre are in the works as well as Brontëwill a Brontë biopic that has been in the works since 2007. Via Earlyword

Read ‘em And Eat: ‘The Elegance of the Hedgehog’

helen — Tue, 27 Apr 2010 00:12:09 +0000

This is my own version of the St. Petersburg Times’ online monthly feature Read and Feed that cleverly provides book club selections and food themed suggestions matched to the book’s plot.

THE BOOK:

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The Elegance of the Hedgehog by Muriel Barbery (2008) This is the upstairs-downstairs story of Renee, a middle age concierge of a posh Parisian apartment building and Paloma, a super smart twelve year old daughter of the Josses, who live on the fifth floor. Renee plays the part of what French society expects of a concierge and hides the fact that she is self educated in the arts. Paloma has determined that life is meaningless and therefore plans to commit suicide and torch the family apartment on her thirteenth birthday. Their carefully managed lives are suddenly shaken up when a new tenant, Mr Ozu, arrives.

WHY READ?

This book was a French best seller and is a great way for a book club to experience a literary perspective and a culture from a writer in another language. The book is full of “eloquent little essays on time, beauty and the meaning of life” which makes for great discussion.

FOOD:

Mr Ozu and Renee discuss philosophy, art, music and Japanese cinema over madeleine cookies and pastry. I found a Hedgehog cupcake recipe courtesy of Martha Stewart that would make for a fun treat. I also found a less time consuming (note all the carefully placed almonds) recipe for a Hedgehog cake that is equally delightful with or without all the layers. Serve with Jasmine tea.

IN A PINCH:

Towards the end of the book, Mr Ozu invites Renee out to dinner to celebrate his birthday at his favorite Japanese restaurant. Pick up an order of sushi from the grocery store or your favorite Japanese restaurant and serve with warmed saki or tea and store bought shortbread cookies.

Past Read ‘em And Eat post Citizen Vince

This CD Just Happens To Be Pure Poetry

helen — Wed, 21 Apr 2010 23:29:21 +0000

Music is something I profess to know nothing about, but I couldn’t let April, which is National Poetry Month, slip by without mentioning this wonderful new CD by Natalie Merchant. Leave Your Sleep, Merchant’s first album since 2003, is ‘literally’ poems set to music. The CD’s official website reads

I chose works by both well-known and obscure poets, ranging from anonymous nursery rhymes and lullabies to poems by British Victorians, early and mid 20th Century Americans, and a few contemporary writers.

Two versions of Leave Your Sleep will be available April 13th on Nonesuch Records: a 26 song version with deluxe packaging and a 16-track “selections” version with abridged liner notes.

Merchant preformed for the TED conference earlier this month. Here is an edited version of that show.

Book Shelves As Art

helen — Fri, 16 Apr 2010 18:13:19 +0000

The old adage ‘killing two birds with one stone’ is evident here (note the perching black birds). This cleaver wall display using bent steel plates drilled into wall studs easily doubles as wall art AND book storage. Via Build Blog