In case you you thought our previous post "Publishers Feelin' the Blues" was overstating the case, take another look. No, we're not crazy: there really is a BLUE THING going on in the publishing world.
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It's weird...just sayin'. One of our readers commented that there must have been a sale on blue ink. Best explanation so far! Anyone else got an idea?
If you're watching any one or more of these Book-to-TV iterations—or if you've got a favorite—let us know.
Books to TV True Blood—Dead Until Dark by Charlaine Harris is the inspiration behind TV's True Blood. The story follows waitress Sookie Stackhouse through Bon Temps—a factional Louisiana town inhabited by both vampires and humans. Dexter—The first novel in Jeff Lindsay's series Darkly Dreaming Dexter, provided the inspiration for the popular TV show. The story chronicles the life of Dexter Morgan, a blood- splatter analyst for the Miami police department who moonlights as a serial killer. Game of Thrones—The first installment in The Song of Ice and Fire series penned by George R.R. Martin, Game of Thrones, inspired the hit HBO series. The story follows the leaders of several noble houses as they battle for the throne of the seven kingdoms. Orange Is the New Black—Piper Kerman's memoir spawned the Netflix original series by the same title. The plot revolves around Piper Chapman after she is sentenced to 15 months in Federal prison for her involvement with drug trafficking. Boardwalk Empire—Set during the prohibition era of the 1920s, Nelson Johnson's novel, Boardwalk Empire: The Birth, High Times, and Corruption of Atlantic City, centers around "Nucky" Thompson. The HBO series returns for its final season this fall (2014). Sleepy Hollow—Most everyone knows Washington Irving's tale of the headless horseman that terrorizes Sleepy Hollow. The FOX series of the same name gives the legend a modern facelift with a few new surprises. Justified—Based on Elmore Leonard's three works—Pronto, Riding the Rap, and Fire in the Hole—the TV series follows Raylan Givens as he enforces his own form of justice in his hometown of Harlan, Kentucky.
[YA] books consistently indulge in the kind of endings that teenagers want to see, but which adult readers ought to reject as far too simple.... These endings are emblematic of the fact that the emotional and moral ambiguity of adult fiction—of the real world—is nowhere in evidence in YA fiction.As you can imagine, the article has generated a pronounced divide between literary purists and writers and readers of YA books.
"Why did you say that about YA?” I asked, as tears streamed down my face like rain.You get the gist. It's very funny. But Hale is serious when she retorts (while turning into a werewolf, of course) that Graham's complaint is hardly new. Nathaniel Hawthorne, in 1855, disparaged the "damned mob of scribbling women" and the books they wrote as "trash." Fifty years ago, Flannery O'Conner and others complained that Harper Lee's now classic novel—written for a youthful audience—shouldn't be handled by adult readers.
“Because it’s true!” she hissed. And I saw in the moonlight that her anger made her beautiful. This was before the war, when the oceans still had water, and the moon was still visible in the sky.
“YA is formulaic, worthless dreck,” she said, transforming into a vampire.
Original Works # of Fanfiction Spinoffs Harry Potter 685,000 Twilight 216,000 Hunger Games 39,500 Pride and Prejudice 3,400 Gone With the Wind 838 The Fault in Our Stars 494 Kite Runner 57 One Hundred Years of Solitude 3 Room 1
Librivox—An entirely volunteer curated project that donates recorded books to the public for free. The coolest part? Anyone can sign up to read and upload a book!
Books Should Be Free—Dedicated to presenting available literature in a visually appealing way, you can flip through images of available covers instead of scrolling through pages of hyperlinks.
Podiobooks—If you’re looking for something a little different than the usual public domain titles, Podiobooks has you covered. Budding authors donate their works to the site for free streaming, though you do have the option of making a donation to the site as well.
Storynory- Perfect for a long car ride with little ones, Storynory offers a wide array of both classic fairy tales and original stories all performed by professional actors.
ThoughtAudio - Browse through a list of all the best literature and conversations aimed at making you think. Though you may stream the content on your computer for free, you may download some of these works on MP3 files for a small fee if you choose.
#1"So what are your students reading?" I write back. And the next morning...I get another email.
Hello...I am an English teacher from Minnesota, living and teaching in Estonia, Europe. I am using your book-club questions to help my students discuss what they are reading for my "home-reading" assignments. Thank you so much—they have really helped my students get more out of their reading.
#2Who is this guy? I wonder. "Who are you," I write"... and what are you doing in Estonia?" His name is Parry...and next morning, I get a 3rd note!
My sixth graders have read some graded readers, Around the World in 80 Days, Last of the Mohicans, some sports books about soccer players and so on.
Older kids are interested in the pop literature of the day—the Divergent Series, Lord of the Rings, Hunger Games, The Fault in our Stars. Some kids read biographies or non-fiction as well. They do a mostly good job of summarizing what they have read, but then have difficulty discussing anything further—that is where your questions have really helped us out.
#3
I teach at a private school in Tallinn, the capital of Estonia. The school, or kool, is called Rocca al Mare ("rock by the sea") and it is right next to the Baltic Sea in a beautiful forest setting. I am from Minnesota but have been living in Estonia for almost 9 years. I have family here now and have no plans to return to the U.S. anytime soon.
Most of his kids, Parry writes, are quite fluent in English—speaking and writing with relative ease. It's an "A language," which means they begin learning it in first grade. They're also influenced by the Internet and TV—often inserting English words into sentences when speaking in Estonian. Or they'll take an American verb and "Estonianize" it.
Estonia is so small that language-learning is extremely important, says Parry, even in everyday life. Many people can speak 3, 4, even 5 languages, sometimes fluently. Starting in the 3rd grade, students can also choose a "B language"—French, German, Russian, or Spanish—and later can add a "C language," which at that point includes Finnish.
A favorite movie of mine, I tell him, is The Singing Revolution—how Estonia gained independence from the Soviets in 1991. They literally sung their way to freedom. It's a gripping, powerful story.
He knows the movie. "Estonians are very proud of how they won their independence that time. Summer 2014 is the next Summer Song Festival, which is held every four years; you might find videos of past song festivals under the title Laulupidu, which means song festival in Estonian."
Then he ends with..."Of course, Estonia's freedom is very fragile: it has never been free as a nation for any long period of time."
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