It may be widely accepted that the movie is never as good as the book but I’m excited for this one!  Author David Ebershoff recently visited the Calgary, Canada set of the forthcoming Lifetime TV original movie based on his novel, The 19th Wife. The book and film center around Ann Eliza Young, the 19th wife of Mormon Church leader Brigham Young. From left to right in the photo are the film’s cast, Matt Czuchry, Chyler Leigh and Jeff Hepner. Mr. Ebershoff is pictured on the far right. We don’t have to wait too long for the movie. It will premeire on Lifetime on September 20th.

If you haven’t yet read The 19th Wife, you’d better get on it. Historical fiction fans will especially love it! Read my review of the book in a past issue of our Random Revelations newsletter here.

-Marie

Sam Raimi, the director of “Evil Dead,” et al. has taken an interest in the movie project “Earp: Saints for Sinners” based on the graphic novel of the same name published by Radical. “Earp” reimagines its gunslinging title character (Wyatt, that is) and his brothers, along with his comrade-in-spurs Doc Holliday, in a whole new environment–the Future–where everything is ravaged and pretty much the only city left standing is Las Vegas.  (Read the full story on Hollywood Reporter.)

I’m excited to see what Raimi can do with this one. Radical is great at coming up with borderline-crazy “what if” scenarios that can easily turn into films. Another being looked at is “Oblivion,” which was actually written by “Tron Legacy” director Joseph Kosinski.

-David

By now you all are probably familiar with CommonReads, a blog dedicated to One Book, One Community and other common reading programs. If you haven’t already, please visit the CommonReads Facebook page and “like us”!

Does your library or institution have a common read? Visit this page to learn more about linking up to CommonReads and expanding your discussion community.

-Marie

As any bibliophile (especially one who has attended an ALA) knows, books are heavy.  That’s why when e-books came along, the jetsetting subset of bibliophiles rejoiced. Now, instead of packing 4 books in your suitcase–which is, yes, something I’ve done–you could just pack your e-reader and some batteries or a charger, which weighs you down much less and allows room for those swin fins you wanted to bring.

But.

But you still needed to pack your travel guide.

How else would you know where to eat, where to stay, what to do? You’re just a helpless little tourist with no Internet access.

Voila! Introducing electronic travel guides from Fodors. Just download it to your reader and you’re off! No extra packing, so maybe now you can bring your swim fins AND your frisbee!

We just have 4 for right now, but there are more to come.

978-1-4000-0560-4 • Fodor’s National Parks: Yosemite, Sequoia & Kings Canyon

978-1-4000-0559-8 • Fodor’s National Parks: Yellowstone & Grand Teton

978-1-4000-0564-2 • Fodor’s National Parks: Grand Canyon & Arizona

978-1-4000-0561-1 • Fodor’s National Parks: California

-David

Boston! It’s about time you held a city-wide reading program. And we’re thrilled that, for their first-ever city-wide read, Beantown has selected DARK TIDE by Stephen Puleo.

It’s a strange, strange story. In January 1919, a 50-foot-tall steel tank filled with 2.3 million gallons of molasses collapsed on Boston’s waterfront, disgorging its contents in a 15-foot-high wave of molasses that, at its outset, traveled at 35 miles an hour.

So much for all the molasses-being-slow cliches.

The wave demolished wooden homes, even the brick fire station. The number of dead wasn’t known for days. It would be years before a landmark court battle determined who was responsible for the disaster.

Oddly, this bizarre and tragic event has been nearly forgotten. I mean, Wikipedia has an article on it, but they have an article on everything. And that makes it perfect for a program like this–a communal learning experience, something of local interest, and generally just a strange, eye-opening true-story. Boston voters clearly know what they’re doing when it comes to picking books.

For more regional picks, check out the last page of our newly updated One Book, One Community catalog.

-David

The graphic novels keep coming. From our imprints to our distribution clients, everyone’s getting into the act. So it was fairly evident that we needed to update our Graphic Novel Catalog–now including, along with books from DC and Del Rey and Pantheon, titles from Radical Comics, Campfire, Archie Comics, and more. We’ve also reorganized it and added more cover art, based on your feedback, and indicated which titles are appropriate for YA audiences.

Download the PDF here or read it on Issuu! You can also request a copy by writing to library@randomhouse.com.

Want more? You can also catch the LIVE Library Journal webcast on August 10, where panelists will discuss upcoming graphic novels! (Link not yet available.)

-David

Hot off the press and the ALA conference, our newly updated One Book, One Community catalog highlights the Random House, Inc. titles we think are the best bets for your community programs! 

For help planning your One Book, One Community program contact us at library@randomhouse.com.  We can answer questions about author availability, quantity discounts, and provide additional information about our titles, as well as preview copies.

To request a printed copy of our catalog, send your address to library@randomhouse.com and we’ll send one right out to you!

Last night, somewhere between the season finale of Glee and the NBA Finals, I saw a trailer I’d been anticipating for quite some time. The movie is called “Charlie St. Cloud,” based on The Life and Death of Charlie St. Cloud by Ben Sherwood, and concerns a young man so overcome with grief from his younger brother’s death that he takes an evening job in the cemetery just to be near him. Every evening, Charlie plays catch with his brother’s ghost, and they chat. But then Charlie meets a young lady, a beautiful “sailor girl,” and he must make a choice between a promise he made to his brother and a newfound love.

The Movie-Tie-In edition of the book comes out June 22. The movie, starring Zac Efron, is slotted for October 15. Check out the preview below!

Also on the rise in the book world and in the works for an Anne Hathaway film is David Nicholls’s One Day, which was a huge hit in the UK and is getting great in-house buzz here. If you have a book club, I suggest you give it a long look. Here’s some praise it’s garnered so far:

“Big, absorbing, smart, fantastically readable . . . brilliant on the details of the last couple of decades of British cultural and political life . . . the perfect beach read for people who are normally repelled by the very idea of beach reads.” —Nick Hornby, from his blog

“A wonderful, wonderful book: wise, funny, perceptive, compassionate and often unbearably sad . . . the best British social novel since Jonathan Coe’s What a Carve Up!. . . . Nicholls’s witty prose has a transparency that brings Nick Hornby to mind: it melts as you read it so that you don’t notice all the hard work that it’s doing.” —The Times (London)

 

Believe it or not, ALA Annual in Washington, DC is just around the corner.  We’re already packing up our convention supplies and organizing our schedules.  As usual, we have a great line-up of author events and a booth chock-full of giveaways. Here’s what we have on our agenda:

The Random House, Inc. BOOK BUZZ:
Sunday, June 27th
Washington Convention Center, Room 152A
Join us for a slideshow of the big Fall 2010 books you MUST have and the
important mid-list books you don’t want to miss! All attending will receive
a selection of FREE, hot advance reader’s copies! Refreshments will be served.
Please RSVP to library@randomhouse.com.
Children’s Titles: 10:00am – 11:00am | Adult Titles: 11:15am – 12:15pm

All-Star Author Events:
We have a sensational line-up of top-notch authors, including Salman Rushdie, Toni Morrison, Dan Chaon, John Grisham and many more.  For a full, printable schedule, CLICK HERE.

Featured Galley Giveaways:
We’ll have stacks of Fall galleys to pass out at the booth (Available while supplies last, so stop by early), including:

Promise Me by Nancy G. Brinker (Broadway)
At Home by Bill Bryson (Doubleday)
Thrive by Dan Buettner (National Geographic)
Ape House by Sara Gruen (Spiegel & Grau)

We look forward to seeing you at Booth #2903!

So you  finished THE GIRL WHO KICKED THE HORNET’S NEST in a day and a half, you’ve seen the swedish film version of DRAGON TATTOO three times, What to do while you wait for the U.S. release of the swedish movie sequel: THE GIRL WHO PLAYED WITH FIRE (July 2)? Channel your inner goth and dress up like Lisbeth Salander, of course.  Knopf Doubleday is hosting a look-a-like contest and giving away cool stuff like IKEA gift certificates, HORNET’S NEST t-shirts, and HORNET’S NEST Swedish Film DVDs.

Vist the Knopf Doubleday site for contest rules and regulations.