Better World Books Podcast: Chris Cleave

Posted by Dana on 03.09.2010 at 6:15 pm

Have you ever eaten a dessert so delicious you had no words to describe it?  I mean you could try;  “it’s rich…delicious…so chocolatey”,   or maybe  “so delicate…it melts in your mouth…the perfect blend”, but really the words just don’t do it justice.

That’s kind of how I feel about Little Bee.   And whoever wrote the back cover copy clearly agrees with me.  Little Bee IS a great story – and it IS filled with well developed characters and though it is not drenched in raspberry sauce, it is indescribably good.  It unfolds in a unique way.  It plays with language.  It asks you questions and it puts you in uncomfortable positions without judging.

Read more…

 

 Better World Books Author Podcast [17:29m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download (32)

Have your say » | Tagged Author Podcast, Author Interview Podcast, Chris Cleave, Little Bee

The Oscars: Dresses, Weird Humor & Books, Yes Books

Posted by Dana on 03.08.2010 at 6:13 pm

Did you watch the Oscars last night?  I swore I wasn’t interested.  Didn’t care.  Wasn’t going to waste my time.  And then I put it on.  Just for a minute.  And I was sucked in.  Argh.

I will admit that I’m not sure how long I would’ve stuck with it if it weren’t for the joys of Tivo, but as it stood I managed about 1.5 hours before I gave up and went to bed.

I saw the fabulous opening number where Neal Patrick Harris danced about in a sparkly black jacket and sang about Botox, Twilight and Julia Child.

Then on to the comic stylings of Steve Martin and Alec Baldwin who essentially roasted all the nominees and some random audience members while the camera panned to a dark spot where James Cameron was and to an angry, sulky looking George Clooney.  I think maybe that was some kind of joke – but if so my response was not to ROFL or even to LOL – it was more of a hmmm?? – not even really a haha.

Thanks to a blue Ben Stiller, some strange line flubs and the inability of many of the women to manage their dresses while walking, the awkward humor continued.

And then there was the fashion.  I won’t do a full red carpet run down, but I will say this…what was up with Sarah Jessica Parker’s hair?  And was that England, France or Zoe Saldana’s underpants on display when she tottered up to the mic?

But on with the show…as is often the case…many of the year’s notable and Oscar worthy movies are adapted from our favorite books.  This year was no exception.

Congrats to:

• Sandra Bullock – Best Actress – The Blind Side – Adapted from the Michael Lewis book of the same name.
• Mo’Nique – Best Actress in a Supporting Role – Precious – Adapted from Push by Sapphire
  (This one got the award for Best Adapted Screenplay too)
• Jeff Bridges – Best Actor  – Crazy Heart – Adapted from the debut novel of the same name by Thomas Cobb.  (This one got Best Original Song, too).

And oooh almost – but nice try to:

• Matt Damon – nominated for Invictus, based on the book by John Carlin
• Stanley Tucci – nominated for The Lovely Bones, based on the book by Alice Sebold
• Meryl Streep – for Julie and Julia, based on the book by Julie Powell

They’re all winners in my book – and as you can see there’s lots of books in the winners!

1 Comment » | Tagged Books on the Big Screen, Crazy Heart, Invictus, Jeff Bridges, Julie and Julia, Oscars, Sandra Bullock, Sarah Jessica Parker, The Blind Side, Twilight, Underpants, Zoe Saldana

Better World Books Podcast: Wendy Wax

Posted by Dana on 03.03.2010 at 7:01 pm

I met Wendy Wax, author of Magnolia Wednesdays and The Accidental Bestseller several years ago through work and we became friends.  Good friends.  The kind of friends that know each others families and drink wine together whenever possible.

So, reading a book by a friend has an interesting quality to it, as does interviewing them.  When reading, I think “Hmmm.  That living room she is describing sounds a lot like her living room” or better yet ” I think I might know who she based that character on!”.  While interviewing Wendy I struggled not to lapse into our usual chit chat about the struggles of the day – and I didn’t jump in to admit that indeed I was the friend who went ballroom dancing with her in the name of research.

Read more…

 

 Standard Podcast [20:35m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download (58)

Have your say » | Tagged Author Podcast, Author Interview Podcast, dana barrett, Magnolia Wednesdays, The Accidental Bestseller, Wendy Wax

TEDActive Explained (Sort Of)

Posted by Dana on 02.23.2010 at 1:47 pm

I have now tried and erased about 10 opening sentences to this post.  Here’s why – it’s difficult to sum up TEDActive in a sentence or two.  So let me just start with this…TEDActive rocks.  Or as Sarah Silverman would say “TED is fancy”.  (She said quite a few other things, too – but we can talk about that later).  Okay not sure what TED is all about?  Well, there was a whole talk on just how to explain what TED is to people who ask.  Once that’s online all your questions will be answered.  In the mean time here is my take:

TED is a conference where the world’s foremost thinkers of things talk about the things they have thought and the audience of thinkers think about the thinking and talk about it.  TEDActive is the same thing only more active.  Hence the bean bags (see picture below).  Okay that’s not exactly it.  TEDActive is a simulcast of TED for people who like bean bags and sushi.

But seriously folks, working for Better World Books, I have gotten to run event bookstores at a multitude of conferences and festivals and TEDActive was truly awesome (did I mention the sushi – or the Bollywood dance lesson?).    We brought around 100 titles with us to the conference and were given an absolutely beautiful space to display them.  Check it out!

And, while we were busy hawking our wares at the store, we had the pleasure of being able to listen to talking thinkers…which was thought provoking and um cool.

We also got to eat More cupcakes, meet neuro-scientists (you know who you are) and drink slow, intelligent coffee from Intelligentsia.

So – if you missed the thinking or talking or talking about thinking – you can still read what the thinkers think in their thoughtful books by checking out our online TEDActive bookstore.  Great titles, great prices, and FREE SHIPPING in the US as always ($3.97 per book worldwide).

Oh – and before you run off,  check out books by some of the TEDActive attendees:

– Dana Barrett, BWB Blog Editor

Have your say » | Tagged Company News, David Eagleman, Do More Great Work, Michael Bungay Stanier, Palm Springs, Sarah Silverman, Sun: forty tales from the afterlives, Tara Hunt, TED, TED Active, TED Active Bookstore, TEDActive, The Whuffie Factor

Books = Love

Posted by Dana on 02.12.2010 at 9:30 am

I love books.  I love reading them most of all, but I also like buying them, displaying them and owning them.  If you’re anything like me, you’ll appreciate the fact that we here at Better World Books love you for loving books.  And to honor that love, we present you with roses and chocolate.  Kidding … but even better we give you the sweetest smelling, smoothest tasting deal in town.  14% off 2 or more books!  Use coupon code BWBFF14 at checkout.

And if you love book about love – well then you’ll want to check out the following hot new love-fests:

Sizzle by Julie Garwood, Roses by Leila Meacham & Winter Garden by Kristin Hannah.  For more fun, hot or romantic reads click here!

Have your say » | Tagged Book Lists, 14% off, Coupon, Hot New Romance Books, Julie Garwood, Kristin Hannah, Leila Meacham, Roses, Sizzle, Winter Garden

Better World Books Podcast: Jasper Fforde

Posted by Dana on 02.09.2010 at 9:30 am

Interviewing an author is not as straight forward as you might think.  Often they are coming in from out of town for 24 hours or less and have a fairly tight schedule while they are here.

Sometimes the authors have been affected by the congestion and general purpose ickiness that is Atlanta traffic.

Sometimes the schedule is plagued by the questionable info on the various mapping websites that often will lead them to some place other than our office.

And sometimes they arrive at the right place and the right time and for some unknown reason the recording equipment will decide not to work.

Alas – on the scheduled date of my interview with Jasper Fforde, it was the airline that got in the way.  We were supposed to meet at noon that day.  He was to come to straight to our offices after getting off a flight from Miami.  But the plane broke.  Okay – I’m sure it was more technical than that, and probably less dramatic, but you get the idea.  Our poor author had to spend something like 4 hours on the tarmac while the plane fixers did their thing.

Read more…

 

 Better World Books Author Podcast [21:15m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download (177)

Have your say » | Tagged Author Podcast, Better World Books Author Podcast, Jasper Fforde, Shades of Grey

Better World Books Podcast: Janice Y. K. Lee

Posted by Dana on 01.21.2010 at 5:19 pm

Ask any overnight success how easy their success really was and they’ll tell you it certainly didn’t feel overnight to them.  Janice Y. K. Lee is no exception to that.

THE PIANO TEACHER is Janice’s debut novel and she admittedly didn’t have too much trouble finding a publisher, but she did spend 5 years writing the book as well as several years in a graduate writing program and several years reviewing and reading books for Elle and Mirabella magazines.

As with any artist Janice wasn’t sure she could write a novel let alone get it published and she is thrilled about how well the book has been received.  And with good reason.

THE PIANO TEACHER takes place in Hong Kong during WWII and then in the period 10 years after the war.  It is a story of the glamorous seeming British Read more…

 

 Better World Books Author Podcast [10:26m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download (103)

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Book Club Update

Posted by Dana on 01.14.2010 at 3:49 pm

It’s been awhile since I’ve blogged about the Better World Book Club and a lot has happened since August!  We’ve been reading some great books and we are starting some live meetings at participating Whole Foods Markets in the Atlanta area.

We’re now announcing books a month ahead of time so that you can participate in our online and local discussions.  Our newest pick – which we’ll be discussing the first week in February is THE BRIEF WONDROUS LIFE OF OSCAR WAO by Junot Diaz.

Stay tuned for details on a twitter discussion – and also feel free to comment right here on the blog!

Our January pick is AWAY by Amy Bloom and the local discussions are taking place tonight at 7PM participating Whole Foods Markets.

Previous picks include:

OUTCASTS UNITED by Warren St. John
THE GUERNSEY LITERARY AND POTATO PEEL PIE SOCIETY by Mary Ann Shaffer & Annie Barrows

Have a book you’d like to suggest? Want to set up a live local meeting near you? Email me at bookclub@betterworldbooks.com.

Have your say » | Tagged Better World Book Club, Amy Bloom, Annie Barrows, Atlanta area, Away, Better World Book Club, Junot Diaz, Mary Ann Shaffer, Outcasts United, The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao, THE GUERNSEY LITERARY AND POTATO PEEL PIE SOCIETY, Warren St. John, Whole Foods Markets

Top 5 Series for Teens Who Love Twilight

Posted by Dana on 12.21.2009 at 3:22 pm

My friend Stacy recently asked for some book recommendations for her teenage daughter who loved Twilight and hasn’t found anything she’s liked as much since.  I figured many moms and teens are having the same problem, so I checked in with my daughter who recommends the following 5 series.  (She has read them all, in fact and likes #1 and #5 the best).

	#1 – Blue Bloods Series by Melissa De La Cruz This one is Gossip Girl meets Twilight – a page turner, but a little racy.
	#2 – The Immortals Series by Alyson Noel Immortality – check, magic – check, teen romance – check, check…. All bases covered.
	#3 – House of Night Series by P.C. Cast and Kristin Cast In a world where humans know about and tolerate vampires – the main character Zoey is marked to become a vampire and starts her training at Hogwarts…oops no the House of Night School.  So Twilight meets Harry Potter – but older and a bit racy.  Pattern?  Surely not.  Still great angsty teen vamp fun.
	#4 – The Gemma Doyle Trilogy by Libba Bray A Victorian boarding school, a Gothic mansion, a gossipy clique of girlfriends, and a dark other-worldly fantasy.  What more could you ask for?
	#5 – Percy Jackson and the Olympians Series by Rick Riordan About to be a movies starring Uma Thurman this one is a bit of a departure – not vamps – but Greek gods.  Might not sound as compelling at first – but trust me it is!

These should keep your teen – or let’s face it you – reading through all the planes, trains and in-laws’ houses you encounter in the next couple of weeks.

9 Comments » | Tagged Book Lists, Blue Bloods, Gemma Doyle Trilogy, House of Night, Percy Jackson and the Olympians, Teenage Vampires, The Immortals, Top 5 Book Series for Twilight Lovers, Twilight

Top 10 in New Fiction this Holiday Season

Posted by Dana on 12.08.2009 at 5:46 pm

Looking for the perfect gift for the readers on your list?  Or just need something to read on your journey – here’s the latest and greatest fiction for them and for you!

Under The Dome Stephen King On an entirely normal, beautiful fall day in Chester’s Mill, Maine, the town is inexplicably and suddenly sealed off from the rest of the world by an invisible force field.  No one can fathom what this barrier is, where it came from, and when — or if — it will go away.	Her Fearful Symmetry Audrey Niffenegger Six years after the phenomenal success of The Time Traveler’s Wife, Audrey Niffenegger has returned with a spectacularly compelling and haunting second novel set in and around Highgate Cemetery in London.
Last Night in Twisted River John Irving Last Night in Twisted River depicts the recent half-century in the US as “a living replica of Coos County, where lethal hatreds were generally permitted to run their course.” It is written with the historical authenticity and emotional authority of The Cider House Rules and A Prayer for Owen Meany and is as violent and disturbing a story as John Irving’s breakthrough bestseller, The World According to Garp.	The Piano Teacher Janice Y.K. Lee In the sweeping tradition of The English Patient, Janice Y.K. Lee’s debut novel is a tale of love and betrayal set in war-torn Hong Kong. As the threads of this spellbinding novel intertwine, impossible choices emerge-between love and safety, courage and survival, the present, and above all, the past.
Wishin’ and Hopin’ Wally Lamb From the Funicello family’s bus-station lunch counter to the elementary school playground (with an uproarious stop at the Pillsbury Bake-Off), Wishin’ and Hopin’ is a vivid slice of 1960s life, a wise and witty holiday tale that celebrates where we’ve been—and how far we’ve come.	The Humbling Philip Roth Everything is over for Simon Axler, one of the leading American stage actors of his generation. Now in his sixties, he has lost his magic, his talent, and his assurance.In this long day’s journey into night,  all the ways that we convince ourselves of our solidity, all our life’s performances: talent, love, sex, hope, energy and reputation are stripped off.
Pirate Landing Michael Crichton From one of the best-loved authors of all time comes an irresistible adventure of swashbuckling pirates in the New World, a classic story of treasure and betrayal. Pirate Latitudes is Michael Crichton at his best: a rollicking adventure tale pulsing with relentless action, crackling atmosphere, and heart-pounding suspense.	A Good Fall Ha Jin With the same profound attention to detail that is a hallmark of his previous acclaimed works of fiction, Ha Jin depicts here the full spectrum of immigrant life and the daily struggles—some minute, some grand—faced by these intriguing individuals.
Wolf Hall Hilary Mantel In the ruthless arena of King Henry VIII’s court, only one man dares to gamble his life to win the king’s favor and ascend to the heights of political power. Thomas Cromwell is a wholly original man and a consummate politician. But Henry is volatile: one day tender, one day murderous. Cromwell helps him break the opposition, but what will be the price of his triumph?	U is for Undertow Sue Grafton Through twenty excursions into the dark side of the human soul, Sue Grafton has never written the same book twice. And so it is with this, her twenty-first. Once again, she breaks genre formulas, giving us a twisting, complex, surprise-filled, and totally satisfying thriller.

Have your say » | Tagged Book Lists, Audrey Niffenegger, michael crichton, New Fiction, Top Ten