Texas Pages

Brock Clarke, who appears in Dallas tonight, says his Arsonist's Guide to Writer's Homes in New England was an attempt to write a novel that plays with the memoir genre. But as he points out, "Who can tell the difference these days?"

Along those lines, here's an interview that Hillel Itale of the Associated Press conducted with James Frey:

Sure, it's just a big promotion. But it's nice to see a legendary children's book character get a place of honor at a $1,000-a-night hotel. (For that price, I assume they throw in a set of books. And read them to you before the staff tucks you in and says night-night.)

The Dobie Paisano Fellowship is one of the sweeter deals in Texas letters: Four to six months at a Hill Country ranch, just you and your deep thoughts.

The lucky thinkers for 2008-09 are:

I'll be honest -- these things breed in my mailbox like cockroaches. Big, glossy, 9x12 cockroaches.

So this is one form of reading material that I am not disappointed to learn is being supplanted by the Internet. (I still enjoy reading about pending books, mind you; I personally find the book catalog an inefficient way to learn about upcoming material.)

Hillel Itale explains:

Some of the literary treasures available this week:
* The Art of Racing in the Rain, by Garth Stein (Harper, $23.95). The story of a dog and his race-car-driver owner from the point of view of the dog. It's the new Starbucks-anointed book; does that mean we can take our dogs to Starbucks now?
* Bright Shiny Morning, by James Frey (Harper, $26.95). In James Frey's first, shall we say, official novel, he follows a variety of struggling Los Angeles residents. It's getting rave reviews ... well, at least until it's outed as a memoir.
* Stolen Innocence: My Story of Growing Up in a Polygamous Sect, Becoming a Teenage Bride, and Breaking Free of Warren Jeffs, by Elissa Wall and Lisa Pulitzer (Morrow, $25.95). Chronicles the story of a girl who was forced to marry her cousin at age 14. But with a subtitle that long, do we really need to read the book?
* Up Till Now: The Autobiography, by William Shatner and David Fisher (Thomas Dunne Books, $25.95) explores the life and career of the actor. Please, please, please: Behind-the-scenes at Boston Legal.
* Love the One You're With, by Emily Giffin (St. Martin's, $24.95). Follows a woman who questions her current marriage after meeting an old boyfriend.

There are those who would tell you, "Any book is a good book, if it interests kids in reading."

And then there are those who have not heard about It's Just a Plant: A Children's Story of Marijuana.

How bad an idea is this? The ever-observant Galleycat, who saw a report about the book on CNN, actually tracked town Mike Edison, the former publisher of High Times, and got him to weigh in:

"The book's premise stinks worse than Snoop Dogg's last record - little kids catching mommy and daddy in the act of getting stoned? If you can't get stoned without getting busted by your six-year old, you should have you bong taken away. I am all for education, but there is something seriously wrong about teaching first-graders about weed. What's next, Fisher Price's 'My First Water Pipe'"?

The sweet smell of indignant outrage is burning up the Internet already. (I'm sure the author is bitterly disappointed at the attention.)

Let me just advance the conversation by saying, if you want to share the experience of drifting into a sleepy haze filled with hallucinogenic visions with your child ... isn't Dr. Seuss much more cost-effective?

Amazon.com says you can actually, finally buy one of the red-hot readers again.

If you're considering one, here's the most exhaustive review I've seen, from the tech blog MacInTouch.

(We've had posts previously from Andrew D. Smith, Judy Alter and others.)

Always interested in hearing your own experiences as well.

The Hollywood Reporter says BBC Films is planning to develop an adaptation of Charlotte Bronte's Jane Eyre. Ellen Page -- star of Juno and the upcoming Texas-based roller-derby comedy Whip It! -- is in line to star.
THR.com says the 1847 work (Jane Eyre, not Whip It! ) is among the most filmed English novels of all time, including BBC-produced miniseries in 1973 and 2006.

For those who were dallying -- better hope that traffic is light on the tollway today. As of 4:30, the Stonebriar Barnes & Noble had about 120 tickets remaining for Stephenie Meyer's Saturday appearance in Frisco. A sellout by day's end is expected.

Rick Barrick was on dawn patrol this morning in Frisco as Stephenie Meyer's The Host went on sale -- and tickets for her Saturday appearance were made available.

He wasn't alone -- 200 people were in line at the Barnes & Noble at Stonebriar Center at 5 a.m.

Rick says:

The line started at 9 p.m. Monday outside the store. Girls and young women made up most of the crowd, because, one woman said, "the books are based on romance" and "peaceful vampires."

University of Texas at Dallas student Matt McKee was one of a few young men in line. "I like vampires. I own all of Anne Rice's books," Mr. McKee said. "There is nothing wrong with romance every once in a while. It's nice to read a paragraph and go, 'Ahhhh.' "

The Mystery Writers of America announced their Edgar Awards were announced over the weekend.

Over at the Los Angeles Times' "Jacket Copy" blog, Carolyn Kellogg thinks mysteries are getting, well, literate. She notes
"that Pulitzer Prize winner Michael Chabon, Man Booker Prize winner John Banville (writing as Benjamin Black) and National Book Award nominee Susan Straight were all up for Edgars this year. That's Literature with a capital L."

Here's a list of winning books:

The Washington Post is reporting that the largest survey ever of youthful reading in the U.S. will reveal Monday that none of J.K. Rowling's popular Harry Potter books has been able to dislodge the works of longtime favorites Dr. Seuss, E.B. White, Judy Blume, S.E. Hinton and Harper Lee as the most read.

Books by the five well-known U.S. authors, plus lesser-known Laura Numeroff, Katherine Paterson and Gary Paulsen, drew the most readers at every grade level in a study of 78.5 million books read by more than 3 million children who logged on to the Renaissance Learning Web site to take quizzes on books they read last year. Many works from Rowling's Potter series turned up in the top 20, but other authors also ranked high and are likely to get more attention as a result.

I've always been a fan of young adult books and hope this study draws more attention to the genre.

How did your favorite books fare?

Some cool news from the folks at Penguin Classics: They have launched a series of African-American classics curated by Henry Louis Gates. The first two titles, both hitting shelves May 27, are The Portable Charles W. Chesnutt; and God's Trombones, by James Weldon Johnson. Chesnutt is perhaps the most influential African-American writer of the post-bellum era. Johnson wrote the classic passing novel The Autobiography of an ex-Colored Man.

And the "worst timing for a book release" award goes to:

Aspire Higher by Avery Johnson.

Arlington book buyers are losing a Barnes & Noble.

But they are gaining a Barnes & Noble.

A press release sent around this morning says that the existing B&N at 3909 S. Cooper St. will close, as a new store opens May 14 in The Parks at Arlington, 3881 S. Cooper St.

At a Preview Night Party froom 6 to 9 p.m. on May 13 ,a portion of the sales will benefit the Arlington Public Library, the release says.

From The Associated Press:

NEW YORK -- A book about the rise and stunning decline of former New York Gov. Eliot Spitzer, co-authored by the makers of a book and film about the fall of Enron, is being published by Penguin Group (USA), Penguin imprint Portfolio announced Wednesday.
Peter Elkind, who helped write the best-seller about Enron, "The Smartest Guys in the Room," is collaborating on the Spitzer book with filmmaker Alex Gibney, who is making a documentary about the law-and-order Democrat who resigned last month over allegations about his connection to a $5,500-an-hour call girl ring.
The book's title and publication date weren't immediately available.

This week's literary banquet includes:
* Life Beyond Measure: Letters to My Great-Granddaughter, by Sidney Poitier (HarperOne, $25.95). Recounts the actor's influential life and career.
* A Wolf at the Table: A Memoir of My Father, by Augusten Burroughs (St. Martin's, $24.95). From the author of way too many memoirs for someone his age; this one explores his horrendous relationship (if you want to call it that) with his father.
* Boots on the Ground by Dusk: My Tribute to Pat Tillman, by Mary Tillman (Modern Times, $25.95). The account by his mother of the former NFL player's controversial death by friendly fire in Afghanistan.
* Sundays at Tiffany's, by James Patterson and Gabrielle Charbonnet (Little, Brown, $24.99). Follows a lonely woman who is reunited with a childhood love.
* The Lady Elizabeth, by Alison Weir (Ballantine, $25). For those whose interest has been whetted by, perhaps, a duo of Cate Blanchett movies, this chronicles the turbulent early life of Queen Elizabeth I.
* Child 44, by Tom Rob Smith (Grand Central, $24.99). A former war hero tries to find a serial killer in Stalinist Russia.
* Hidden History: Untold Tales of the First Pilgrims, Fighting Women, and Forgotten Founders Who Shaped a Nation, by Kenneth C. Davis (Collins, $26.95). A trot through lesser-known incidents in American history.

James Marcus at Critical Mass shares his experiences at the Los Angeles Times Festival of Books.

Note these numbers: 400 authors, 140,000 visitors.

Is this something Dallas could pull off someday? Maybe Laura Bush can put that wing of the new family library to use?

Here's the list of winners from this weekend's Nebula Awards in Austin.

(Here's our earlier story, in case you missed it.)

In development that is either a fresh sign of the impending collapse of Western culture, or just another example of how the English language evolves, a new study says that the language of texting is showing up in more writing by teens.

The study also found that teens who keep blogs are more likely to engage in personal writing. They also tend to believe that writing will prove crucial to their eventual success in life.

Which I suppose should make us all :)

If there was any doubt that Texas author Rick Riordan was hitting it big with kids with his Percy Jackson series (which started with The Lightning Thief), the author has just signed a multi-book deal with Disney Publishing Worldwide which includes a new, original fantasy series. In the meantime, a 1 million copy first printing has been announced for the fourth in the projected five book series about a boy who discovers his father is Poseidon (yes, the Greek god of the sea). Percy Jackson & The Olympians, Book 4: The Battle of the Labyrinth comes out Tuesday, May 6. I've got an advance copy in hand and Greek god fan that I am, I'm thoroughly getting into it...And while Mr. Riordan won't be in town for the big release, his cousin Minette Riordan, will be at the Barnes & Noble at 7700 West Northwest Highway Tuesday, May 6 from 4 to 5 p.m. to read from the book and host lots of myth-themed activities. Call 214-739-1124 for information.

Despite its flaws, I did enjoy Andrei Cherny's history of the Berlin Airlift, "The Candy Bombers," which was reviewed on Sunday.

The airlift itself is in the news again, it turns out, as Berlin debates what to do with Tempelhof Airport, the Nazi-era complex that became a Cold War icon.

William C. Hardt and retired United Methodist Bishop John Wesley Hardt have written a very comprehensive reference book charting the growth of various Methodist groups in the Lone Star State. It's published by CrossHouse Publishing of Garland - 1-877-212-0933. Click here to order from Amazon.com.

Today's story in GuideLive shows what an outpost Texas is for science fiction writers. If you'd like to see them at the free book signing at the Nebula Awards in Austin, here's the list of attendees.

If you're interested in the sessions, the Web site indicates $50 memberships are available at the door.

And here are a few links about the authors mentioned in the story:

Joe R. Lansdale (a site so advanced I could not actually get it to reveal anything, but perhaps that is just me.)

Michael Moorcock

Michael Chabon

This page has a collection of links about Bruce Sterliing

Here's a recent column about the legendary Robert E. Howard.

Aaron Allston

MonkeyBrain Books

Elizabeth Moon

Also, the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers Writers of America have their own site.

Our Business staff takes a look at how Half-Price Books has managed to thrive without being all that invested in online sales -- and how that is changing.

Here's a discussion topic: I have always had mixed feelings about Half-Price Books. On the one hand, I love the sheer size of their operation. Back in the days before every book publicist in America was my best friend and sending me reading material by the bucket, I did most of my book shopping there. Mrs. Humble Books Editor and I would actually squander precious date nights at the flagship store. Factoring in the cost of dinner, movie and baby-sitting, those $4.98 hardcovers ended up costing me $75 each. Which still seemed like a bargain.

But I've never been able to love the store. Especially at that gigantic mothership on Northwest Highway. I think the efficiencies that make them a successful business take away some of the soul of a used bookstore. Which, in my world, should always be wildly disorganized, smell vaguely of mildew and have the exact book you want somewhere at the bottom of the stack in the back room where the lighting is dim and you might also expect to find the ark of the covenant, or perhaps Norman Bates' mother.

I miss that experience at Half-Price.

Is it just me?

It's a literary feast this week! Dine slowly, and savor.
* The Whole Truth, by David Baldacci (Grand Central Publishing, $26.99). "Global thriller" featuring a showdown between a defense-contractor "perception manager," an operative of a secret multinationa