BOOKFINDS

The film version of Sue Monk Kidd’s adored novel, THE SECRET LIFE OF BEES, is opening in October and Borders has the first peek at the movie. It stars Dakota Fanning, Jennifer Hudson, Queen Latifah and Alicia Keyes.

Jonathan Karp recently wrote in The Washington Post about the fate of books in today’s publishing world. It was an interesting piece on why books don’t last anymore and why it sometimes seems that the fast-paced world of publishing could be making real literary works extinct. Jessa Crispin from Bookslut wrote a piece in response to Karp’s article. Read Jessa’s take here.

This is a question posed by Gawker.

Victoria Gotti, daughter of mob boss John Gotti, was sued Thursday by HarperCollins for $70,000. That is the amount Victoria was paid as an advance on a memoir she never completed.

According to Reuters, Gotti and HarperCollins signed a contract in 2005 for two books, including an untitled memoir.

Jules Asner, former E! News Daily host and wife of director Steven Soderbergh, is dipping her toe in the warm waters of fiction. She has written WHACKED, a novel about true crime television writer, Dani Hale, who tries to navigate the treacherous hills of Hollywood. Asner fills her book with enough mystery and celebrity to keep readers turning pages well into the night. There is something to be said for the authenticity of a writer who writes about the lifestyles of celebrities and lives it, too! (Although, I’m sure she isn’t going to be naming names, her husband is still going to need actors to fill his roles). Here is a recent New York Daily News article on Ms. Asner and her upcoming release.

Elizabeth Wurtzel, author of the infamous and award winning, Prozac Nation, has graduated from Yale Law. Wurtzel was profiled in The New York Times Sunday Style Section in October about her law school path and life as a summer associate. Wurtzel also wrote this opinion piece in the LA Times about the disappearance of feminism.

Wurtzel wrote her most well-known work, Prozac Nation, at the age of 26. She certainly sounds like a motivated individual…and would probably make a very interesting dinner guest. It’s hard to imagine this self-proclaimed “wild child” as a lawyer, but I’m sure it will lend itself well to some interesting work.

Author of THE DEPARTMENT OF LOST AND FOUND, Allison Winn Scotch, posted on her blog today that her new book (which doesn’t release until October) has been acquired by The Weinstein Company.

TIME OF MY LIFE is the story of a thirty-something housewife who is at an emotional crossroad in her marriage and gets the chance to go back in time to squelch those tiny, lingering doubts that send women googling old friends and exes or wistfully pulling out pictures from their past.

It sounds like a cross between Peggy Sue Got Married and Sliding Doors. Allison is a very consistent blogger, so I’m sure we will hear movie news along the way.

Entertainment Weekly is offering a first glimpse at the final book in Stephenie Meyer’s Twilight series. Read the excerpt here.

Curtis Sittenfeld’s newest book, AMERICAN WIFE, was one of the galleys to grab at BEA over the weekend. She has said openly in interviews that the basis for the character is Laura Bush. It is also interesting to note that Sittenfeld has been a fan of the First Lady for a quite awhile. Here is an article from Salon.com dating back to 2004, when she was actually beginning her research for AMERICAN WIFE.  There is also a very interesting interview with Sittenfeld over at MediaBistro’s GalleyCat.

Much, if not all, of the growth of electronic books will be directly related to the Kindle. This was the topic of much discussion at BEA over the weekend. The New York Times ran a piece about the kindle and its reception at BEA. The main competitor to the Kindle is the SONY Reader, which has been around since 2006.

I don’t have a kindle or a SONY Reader and therefore have yet to experience reading on small screen, but I can say that after a week of traveling with bags heavily weighed down with books, I can definitely see the appeal. However, I would never take an electronic device to the beach (a place where many people find themselves getting good reading time while on vacation). The Kindle, unlike the Sony Reader, can also download daily newspapers and magazines.

The New York Times reported that publishing insiders are also gravitating towards the ease provided by the Kindle. Random House and Penguin have given their entire sales force team electronic readers so that they don’t have to carry around as many galleys and copies of books.