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Disney to Acquire Marvel Comics for $4 Billion
In a blockbuster deal that brings together two of the biggest brands in American film, animation and comic books, the Walt Disney Co. has agreed to acquire Marvel Entertainment for $4 billion in cash and stock.
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Publishers Put Stock in Asian Grandmothers
The grandmother-as-kitchen-guru mystique transcends boundaries, from Italian nonnas to Jewish bubbes. This fall, a number of cookbook publishers are releasing books by Asian women of a certain age. The books are quite serious and not at all hokey or gimmicky, and span a range of nationalities, but all are written about--or by--Asian women over 60.
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Cooking the Books with Ari Weinzweig
In Zingerman’s Guide to Better Bacon, Ari Weinzweig sings the praises of cured pork belly. Weinzeig says “pretty much everybody connected to the food world has got the bacon bug,” and the author, business owner and bacon lover tries to explain why bacon seems to have such a hold on eaters, and also offers some advice for booksellers on surviving the recession.
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As Slow Cookers Evolve, So Do Cookbooks
Despite slow cookers’ increased popularity, highbrow food publications aren’t running stories about the wonderful meals you can make in them. Says one cookbook editor, “I don’t want to sound like a snob, but the usual kind of crock pot cooking is not the kind of thing that serious cooks would have company over for.” However, those attitudes may be changing.
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Obituary: Sheila Lukins
Sheila Lukins, co-author of The Silver Palate Cookbook and The New Basics Cookbook, and author Celebrate!, Ten and other cookbooks, died yesterday. The cause was brain cancer, diagnosed three months ago. Lukins was 66.
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Short Order: August 31
In this issue’s round-up of cookbook-related news, Silver Palate Cookbook co-author Sheila Lukins dies at 66; Gourmand International announces the Paris Cookbook Fair will take place February 11-15, 2010; Food & Wine talks to chefs who learned to cook from cookbooks; and Mastering the Art of French Cooking, first published nearly 50 years ago, makes its debut as a New York Times bestseller.
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Children's Book Reviews: 8/31/2009
Reviewed this week: picture books from David Ezra Stein, Mac Barnett and Adam Rex, and Jonah Winter and Sean Addy; novels from Lisa Yee, Sid Fleischman, Patrick Ness and Malinda Lo; nonfiction from Candace Fleming and Albert Marrin; and a round-up of spooky Halloween books for kids of any age.
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Web Exclusive Reviews: 8/31/2009
This week: Microsoft researchers Bell and Gemmell try remembering everything, psychoanalyst Ken Corbett re-evaluates boyhood, Louis Breger disses Freud, small-town sportswriter Mike Sielski tackles the war, Judy Dutton reviews the science of sex, and an indispensible new guide to shorebirds from Richard Chandler. Plus memoirs from two fun-to-say, easy-to-laugh-at names: Blagojevich and Buttafuoco.
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Fiction Reviews: 8/31/2009
Reviewed this week, new novels from Andrew Vachss, Jess Walter, Barbara Taylor Bradford and Alex Kava. Plus, Maureen Howard finishes her Seasons quartet, Charles Cumming plays spy-games in China and E. Lynn Harris leaves the last piece of his literary legacy.
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Review: The Pleasures of Cooking for One
Longtime Knopf editor Judith Jones has penned a civilized, unfussy guide for solitary diners “who want to roll up [their] sleeves and enjoy, from day to day, one of the great satisfactions of life.” Her book benefits from the diverse and cumulative gleanings of work with many great cooks and cookbook writers (including Julia Child, of course).
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Roker Gets ‘Clues’
Thursday morning on The Today Show, Al Roker announced that 39 Clues #5: The Black Circle by Patrick Carman (Scholastic) is the latest pick in his Al’s Book Club. The Black Circle pubbed on August 11. The 39 Clues series, which will consist of 10 books in total, has more than four million copies in English in print. And the 39 Clues online game has drawn more than 580,000 registered users since it launched last September, when the series started.
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One ‘Fantaskey’ Wedding
This week, author Beth Fantaskey sent out wedding invitations. Surprising, since she is, in fact, already married. However, the invitations aren’t for her—they are for the two main characters in her debut novel, Jessica’s Guide to Dating on the Dark Side, published by Harcourt this past February. The invitations are just the first step in a new promotion featured on Fantaskey’s Web site.
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Ted Kennedy Books on the Rise
With new just out about the death of Edward Kennedy, a number of books about the longtime Massachusetts senator are already starting to climb the charts on Amazon and publishers are gauging consumer interest. Hachette said it still plans on releasing the senator's memoir on September 14.
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‘The Pekar Project’ Webcomic Debuts on ‘SMITH’
After moving from the comics page to the big screen, acclaimed autobiographical comics creator Harvey Pekar has now made his way to the Internet with a new webcomic series called, The Pekar Project, to be published on SMITH, an online magazine featuring personal storytelling.
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New Book Deals For Yang, Roman, Kibuishi, Knisley
First Second will publish new graphic works by Gene Yang, author of American Born Chinese, Teen Boat creator Dave Roman and a new work by Lucy Knisley, author of the French Milk. And Villard and Scholastic Books have signed on to publish additional volumes of Kazu Kibuishi’s Flight anthology and Amulet series respectively.
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Digital Comics Get a New Platform with Sony PSP Deal
Last week, Sony announced they will be offering comic book content as digital downloads for the PSP portable gaming device, via the Playstation store. This confirms rumors of Sony seeking significant comics content for the device dating back to March 2009.
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Confessions of an Immature Pervert: Erika Moen Overcomes Puritanism
Those who still think young women's diaries are full of blushing and crushes will be shocked by Erika Moen's online journal. DAR! A Super Girly Top Secret Comic Diary (found at www.darcomic.com) is a webcomic that can be raw, ribald, and revelatory.
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RELIGION IN REVIEW
You Saw It Here First: Original Religion BookLine Reviews and a Sneak Peek at Religion Book Reviews cMitch Albom’s Have a Little Faith: A True Story; Jean-Yves Leloup’s Compassion and Meditation: The Spiritual Dynamic Between Buddhism and Christianity; Edgar Andrews’s Who Made God? Searching for a Theory of Everything; Bruce Wilkinson’s You Were Born for This: Seven Keys to a Life of Predictable Miracles; and a sneak peek at starred reviews in Sept. 14 issue: Edward E. Curtis’s Muslims in America: A Short History; and
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Last Call
New and Noteworthy August Books; Addendum to Fall Religion Announcements
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Saturday in the Park with Cassie
Last Saturday afternoon’s gray skies deterred no one: 300 eager fans flocked to New York City’s Bryant Park to hear Cassandra Clare discuss her Mortal Instruments series. And Clare gave news of several forthcoming projects, including a new book in the Mortal Instruments series, the creation of a prequel series and a movie adaptation of her books.
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