Sep 28 2010
Tuesday Midday Links: It’s Banned Book Week & October New Releases
This week is banned book week, a week that celebrates literature and reminds us all to remain vigilant against efforts to remove books from our libraries. The books challenged aren’t on how to make a dirty bomb or how to organize your own chapter of the KKK but books that have dirty language in them (To Kill a Mockingbird
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Samhain Freebies for October: 10/1/2010 to 10/14/2010: Love Me
- Colters’ Woman by Maya Banks
- The Ghost Exterminator by Vivi Andrews
- Wolf Signs by Vivian Arend
- A Safe Harbor by Moira Rogers
- Standoff by Lauren Dane
- Long Hard Ride by Lorelei James
- Crazed Hearts by Shiloh Walker
- Collision Course by K.A. Mitchell
- Hara’s Legacy by Bianca D’Arc
- Trey by Cat Johnson
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Avon sent me the promotional copy for Jenny McCarthy’s book LOVE, LUST, AND FAKING IT: The Naked Truth About Sex, Lies, and True Romance and I just had to share the cover. I don’t think the man is Fabio but he should be. I actually thought the excerpts from the book made it sound interesting. I might have to ask for a review copy. McCarthy sounds like the queen of the self deprecating remark and I love that tone.
Looking at Love, she explores the entire arc: from first love to dating, from getting dumped to breaking up. With a hilarious lack of self-pity, she draws on her own wild experiences to share her thoughts on everything from foolishly getting a tattoo while drunk to the always poignant moment of saying good bye to true love ("I was still deeply, deeply in love with Tony Lobianco, but felt a yearning to go see the world. I told him to meet me at White Castle on the corner of 79th and Pulaski.") Sex, never far from the discussion, takes center stage in the Lust section, as McCarthy share her own fantasies ("Sometimes fantasies are better off staying just fantasies") and muses on threesomes, boobs, blow jobs, and the differences between men and women ("I still think it's cruel that we weren't born with the same sex drive as men, but statistics say men usually die before women so I guess we get one bonus in the death department.") And in "Faking it," she reveals how women fake it beyond the bedroom, assuming facades they hope will win them love and approval, and offers her own story as a cautionary tale ("Every magazine I would open up, I was making a wacky face. I kept talking about being this free-spirited, wacky, fun chick, when all I did was sit at home every weekend and play chess with my fifty-year-old boyfriend.")
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Speaking of old school covers, I finished up the October new releases page (I’m late, I know), I noticed this cover by Ciji Ware. It’s published by Sourcebooks and looks very old school – not so much the characters, but the color, layout and font. I wonder if I was in a bookstore whether I would think that this was a used book.
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Richard Curtis at eReads speculates that enhanced ebooks may create problems in making movie deals due to enhanced ebooks requiring interactive rights to be ceded to a publisher. One literary agent has sent out a notice to film agents that “we will no longer be able to agree to the boilerplate language in most studio option/purchase agreements that address multimedia.”
But really, do studios even need rights to make movies based on books? Only if they want to stick close to the book’s contents. Take a look at the ruling that was released last week which found that Steven Spielberg’s remake of Rear Window was not copyright infringement of the original short story. Disturbia cast Shia LeBouf as the role of a housebound teen spying on his neighbor who may have committed a murder. The federal court judge found that the insertion of sub plots, humor, and teen romance made the movie sufficiently different from the original short story.
Ideas are not copyrightable.
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I wasn’t going to write about this when it was first sent to me by a kind reader but then I discovered that Christopher Pike was sock puppetting on Amazon and it became hilarious to me because who doesn’t enjoy a good Candace Sams event.
Here is the timeline:
1) Reviewer takes issue with Christopher Pike’s Secret of Ka because the first twenty pages were so factually incorrect that Pike would obviously not beat a fifth grader in geography. Or use of Google. Because he gets the capital of Turkey wrong on the first page. And refers to Turks as Arabs. And uses the word Papi as Turkish for Grandfather when it is really Dede.
2) Michael Brite comes forward to take the reviewer to task. The comment was deleted but preserved here. Michael Brite puts himself forward as some kind of editor of Pike’s ending his “rebuttal” with this gem: “Pike is flattered that his book made such a deep impression on you that you would want to go to so much trouble on his behalf. Pike embraces fans of all types, especially the crazy ones. “ The rebuttal refers to Brite as not having made the mistakes but those are someone else’s fault and how Brite always accepts blame for his mistakes.
3) Brite is then found out to be Christopher Pike:
This is Pike,
This is the real Christopher Pike, ignore the name this response appears under. I use many names online. The Eternal Dawn is a sequel to the other books. Sita is alive and well and the book explains in detail why Seymour portrayed her as dead at the end of the sixth book. Seymour is in the new books, although he does appear until half way through the first book. I feel the new ones are stronger than the old ones. Thirst 3 will be about 400 pages. I’m finished writing the main story but I’m in the editing stage. Yours, Pike
Rereading the comments left by Brite in that context is hilarious.
Pike would probably laugh at such an email.
and
1. Pike would be the first one to accept blame for any mistakes in his book.
Obviously Pike would not laugh at such an email or accept blame for any mistakes in his book.
Send to Kindle
Sep 28, 2010 @ 13:25:52
Seeing as how McCarthy thinks vaccines cause Autism, she probably thinks love is the direct result of being shot by Cupid’s arrow.
Sep 28, 2010 @ 13:48:24
Too true, Missy. At least now she’s writing about something she actually knows a thing or two about. What a maroon.
Sep 28, 2010 @ 13:49:52
I think I will buy a banned book today and donate it to my local library.
That’s a lovely thought, but first make sure that a)your library doesn’t already have the book and if so b)has space for another copy; or if not c) is likely to add this under their selection policy.
I’ve never worked in a library that had a blanket policy to accept all donations. Indeed, I would say that almost three quarters of the books we receive are duplicates or out of scope (not counting the huge proportion that are in terrible condition or dreadfully outdated)
However, a cash donation marked “In honor of banned books week, please purchase a frequently challenged book” is almost certain to be honored according to your wishes, and guaranteed to be deeply appreciated.
Sep 28, 2010 @ 14:21:45
Some might consider the military as the last bastion of conservatism. But I will commend our base library as it actively promotes Banned Book Week all year long. The hardcovers on the shelves (and the paperbacks in the swap) indicate that military readers enjoy all genres!
The library sends its duplicates to the Navy Brig!
Sep 28, 2010 @ 14:23:59
@Kim in Hawaii Too bad Pentagon is supporting banned books week by trying to um, ban books.
Sep 28, 2010 @ 14:24:01
Hey Jane–Danielle from Sourcebooks here! This is actually the cover for our new edition of Ciji Ware’s Wicked Company:
http://www.amazon.com/Wicked-Company-Ciji-Ware/dp/1402222718/ref=sr_1_1?s=gateway&ie=UTF8&qid=1285701646&sr=8-1
But I must say, I am digging that old school font :)
Sep 28, 2010 @ 14:32:34
@Daniele So it actually is an old school book. I’ll make the change.
Sep 28, 2010 @ 14:38:46
@Jane: Thank you for the link – I had not heard of the issue. I was just simply pointing out my base library supports the campaign and gives readers the opportunity to choose for themselves.
Sep 28, 2010 @ 15:54:49
I’m really loving the dress on the old school heroine, actually, but I have a thing for red velvet.
Sep 28, 2010 @ 15:58:17
I wouldn’t give Ms McCarthy one thin dime for anything she’s written- but that cover with the heroine checking her text messages is a hoot!
Random House is having a good time with banned books week on their facebook page. Amoung the posts are that The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood was declared both ‘anti-christian' and ‘pornographic' and that the YA book The Giver by Lois Lowry was banned in schools after it was dubbed a ‘suicide book’.
They want to be careful or The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet’s Nest will be banned for having bee-stiality.
Sep 28, 2010 @ 16:41:08
What I find most intriguing is the “Banned and Challenged Classics”, which includes such bastions of depravity as “Charlotte’s Web” and “Winnie-the-Pooh.” Somebody doesn’t like anthropomorphic animals! (“Animal Farm” is also on the list, but I figure that’s probably the anthropomorphic animals plus a bunch of political stuff. Though I thought conservatives liked it, because it was anti-Stalin. Maybe it really is the pantsless talking pig.)
Sep 28, 2010 @ 17:15:53
I have to confess to being culturally clueless here. What is bad about McCarthy?
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Sep 28, 2010 @ 18:24:17
@Jane:
This site, which obviously has an agenda, gets into McCarthy’s nutjobbery: http://www.jennymccarthybodycount.com/Jenny_McCarthy_Body_Count/Home.html
Sep 28, 2010 @ 19:38:21
Ciji Ware’s WICKED COMPANY is indeed an oldie but I remember loving it when I read it years ago. It’s one of those epic type romancs which is probably better described as historical fiction with a strong romantic subplot. From memory, the heroine is either/both a bookseller and an actress and the hero is an actor. Unusually for this type of book, the hero is not abusive or an orse (or a slumming nobleman) but there is a big mis followed by a long seperation. Highly recommended.
Sep 28, 2010 @ 20:01:28
@Jennie: Orwell may have been anti-Stalin but he was a hugely committed socialist.
The real danger of Animal Farm is people might read it and check out other works of Orwell, like the hugely dangerous (and utterly magnificent) ROAD TO WIGAN PIER.
Sep 28, 2010 @ 20:40:31
I’m definitely not giving Jenny McCarthy any money or attention. Aside from promoting the idea mercury in vaccines causes autism, she is also promoting chelation therapy– the latest method for separating distressed and desperate parents of children on the autism spectrum from their money.
Sep 29, 2010 @ 22:38:49
@Jane:
It begins with The Facts In The Case Of Dr. Andrew Wakefield.
Stumbling Over Chaos :: Linkity laceration!
Oct 01, 2010 @ 02:02:58
[...] linkity from Dear Author and [...]
Oct 01, 2010 @ 08:18:22
Oooh, so that’s what the Pike thing was all about. Authorial flounce, gotta love it.
Oct 04, 2010 @ 17:50:32
Does anyone know if the Borders.com or Kobo books specials require anything to get the books for free? It’s 10/4 and none of these books are listed for free. Just thought I’d see if I was doing something wrong.
Oct 04, 2010 @ 18:18:44
@Jennifer U: I emailed Borders and Samhain this morning because you aren’t the only ones who was looking for the freebies today. I haven’t heard anything but I’ll let you know if I do.
Oct 04, 2010 @ 20:44:26
@Jane – Thanks so much!!!
Oct 10, 2010 @ 09:09:14
@Jennifer U I finally have a link for the Borders’ freebies: LINK HERE