Kathleen Smith

Who knew that a 108-year-old vampire and an unsuspecting high schooler were the perfect twosome for horror and romance? Stephenie Meyer had a hunch, and while many writers before her have popularized the vampire tale, her internationally best-selling Twilight Saga has taken vampire love to an entirely new level. The saga will come to a conclusion on August 2, when Breaking Dawn, the fourth and final book in the series, is released, with a huge first printing of 3.2 million copies.

In Meyer’s previous novel, Eclipse, Bella was forced to choose her love for Edward, a reformed vampire, over her friendship with Jacob, a werewolf; this decision could lead her to become a vampire herself, but eager readers will have to wait for the release of Breaking Dawn to learn Bella’s final fate. To celebrate the release of the book, Meyer is holding a Breaking Dawn Concert Series, a sold-out, four-city concert tour featuring the music that stimulated Meyer’s muse while she was writing the story.

An unknown Mormon mother who was raising three sons in Arizona when Twilight was published in 2005, Meyer has become one of the most talked-about authors in recent years, earning a devoted following of readers who mob her book tours. She was chosen by Time magazine as one of the 100 Most Influential People of 2008. Interest in the characters Bella and Edward spans the globe, with more 30 countries purchasing translation rights for Twilight. Sequels New Moon and Eclipse claimed the top spot on the New York Times bestseller list for weeks, and her most recent novel and first adult book, The Host, topped the fiction list as well.

Interest in Meyer’s work is expected to reach a new high in December, when Twilight lands on the big screen. The film will star Kristen Stewart (Into the Wild) as Bella and Robert Pattinson (Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire) as Edward. Meyer also is currently writing her next novel, Midnight Sun, a companion novel to Twilight as told from Edward’s perspective.

Fiction, Women's Fiction

Fiction Women's Fiction

The sand, the surf, the books

Review by Kathleen Smith

by Kathleen Smith

Escape to the enchanting beaches of Nantucket Island with best-selling author Jane Green's latest novel, The Beach House. Nan, a spunky 65-year-old, has outgrown her beauty as well as the inhibitions of youth, and earned a reputation as the crazy woman of the island. When her seemingly endless finances dwindle, she is forced to rent rooms for the summer to keep her beloved home. To her surprise, Nan finds delight and comfort in the new faces of her adopted family and one very unexpected guest.

Originally self-published by real estate agent-turned-novelist Maryann McFadden, The Richest Season aims to reach any woman who has toyed with thoughts of leaving home for self-discovery. With the kids grown and her workaholic husband facing another transfer, Joanna decides to shed her corporate-wife image and leaves husband and home for stunning Pawley's Island, South Carolina. Living with an elderly widow and courted by a local fisherman, she anticipates the happiness that has always seemed to elude her – until her penitent husband arrives on the island.

Nancy Thayer's dramatic Moon Shell Beach proves there is magic to be found when years of estrangement are finally bridged. Bound by their love for a secret hideaway on Nantucket, Lexi and Clare had the closest of childhood friendships. But when Lexi returns to the island at age 30, recently divorced from her wealthy husband, Clare must find the courage to forgive her lost friend and open her life and home to the struggling woman.

Audio, Fiction

Fiction Audio

Sparks’ romantic ‘Nights in Rodanthe’ finds new life on the big screen

Review by Kathleen Smith

by Kathleen Smith

This fall, the fourth Nicholas Sparks novel-turned-screenplay, Nights in Rodanthe, will open in theaters nationwide. The love story stars film greats Diane Lane and Richard Gere, reunited for the first time since the sizzling 2002 film Unfaithful. Their onscreen chemistry should help lure Sparks' fans back to the theater for the movie's October 3 premiere.

Sparks' novels have become a lucrative franchise for movie makers during the past decade. A Walk to Remember earned a respectable $47 million in 2002, and blockbusters Message in a Bottle (1999) and The Notebook (2004) grossed more than $100 million each at the box office. Sparks has also reportedly sold the film rights for novels True Believer and At First Sight and is currently working on an unsold screenplay for The Guardian. With an additional $100 million in DVD sales for the first three movies, an excellent turnout at theaters for this fall's film could send Sparks' work toward the half-billion mark in movie earnings. Avid fans certainly wouldn't be disappointed to see all of Sparks' 14 books come to life on screen someday, and it is safe to say that Hollywood wouldn't mind either.

Based on the 2002 novel Nights in Rodanthe, the upcoming movie is another of the love stories skillfully imagined by Sparks. Most of the novel is set in 1988, the same year Sparks and his wife Cathy first met. Protagonist Adrienne Willis, played by Diane Lane, is a middle-aged librarian and divorced mother of three. When her errant spouse seeks to return to her, and her teenage daughter grows ever more indignant, Adrienne escapes the chaos to an inn owned by a friend on the Outer Banks of North Carolina, where she tries to gain clarity and a moment of peace. Just as an ominous storm begins to roll into the coast, Dr. Paul Flanner, played by Richard Gere, arrives at the inn as a guest, also searching for respite from an inner crisis and a troubled past. As the two lone guests find consolation in each other, they embark on a romance that will echo long after their separation.

Readers who want to savor the full romance of the novel before seeing the movie have several options to choose from. Nights in Rodanthe is available in hardcover and paperback editions, with a new movie tie-in paperback set to go on sale in August. In audio, the book is available unabridged on CD.

Directed by George C. Wolfe, the film will also star James Franco, Scott Glenn and Christopher Meloni. The movie was filmed at various locations along the North Carolina coast, including Rodanthe, a small community on Hatteras Island. The locations are not far from the home in New Bern, North Carolina, where Sparks and his wife Cathy live with their five children.

Skeptical readers have suggested that the characters and plot for the novel were influenced by The Bridges of Madison County, though Sparks, who acknowledges similarities, has denied any such connections. In fact, he has revealed that the novel is not entirely fiction, with certain events having been inspired by his own romantic pursuit of his wife. Much of the novel is, in fact, a parallel to their real-life courtship.

Nicholas and Cathy met in a small coastal town while on spring break during their college years.

For the novel, however, Sparks was inspired to write about middle-aged characters for the first time. The names of Paul and Adrienne are actually the names of Sparks' in-laws, who asked for the gesture as a Christmas present.

Like Paul, Nicholas admitted to Cathy the day after they met that he wanted to spend his life with her, and like Adrienne, Cathy was dubious of his declaration. After spending five days together, Nicholas and Cathy left the small town where they met, but continued to call and write to each other daily. Several of the letters included in the novel contain excerpts from Sparks' original love letters to his future wife. "Love comes at any age, at any time, and often when we least expect it," reads the novel's flap, a statement which Sparks attests through his own life story and marriage of 19 years.

Sparks' next book is The Lucky One, which features a man who finds a photograph and becomes determined to track down the woman pictured, convinced that she holds the key to his happiness. The novel is due for release on Sept. 30.

Children's & YA

Children's & YA

America from all sides

Review by Kathleen Smith

by Kathleen Smith

Travel trivia
For those who want to make this summer's family road trip a little less grueling, tag along with the fact-filled Farley family in Go, Go America. This appealing picture book family guides young readers through all 50 states, highlighting their wild customs and strange histories. Inspired by his own family's road trips from his childhood, award-winning author and veteran illustrator Dan Yaccarino combines each of his hundreds of trip tidbits with bold and entertaining illustrations, from a fire-hydrant-eating horse to one very large boll weevil statue. The guide combinescultural history and local flair, introducing facts from bizarre festivals and strange tidbits from state law books. Did you know, for example, that it is illegal to tickle a girl in Norton, Virginia, or tie a giraffe to a telephone pole in Atlanta, Georgia? Whether it's the Middle-of-Nowhere celebration in Nebraska, the world's largest frying pan in Delaware, or the Great American Bathtub Race in Alaska, Go, Go America captures the best and the strangest of the U.S.A. in all its glory.

For the birds
For a glimpse of America from a bird's-eye view, Hudson Talbott's United Tweets of America presents 50 state birds who have a little to say about each other and a lot to say about the states where they nest. Meet a Louisiana pelican with a taste for jambalaya, a Minnesota Loon who confuses lakes with mall parking lots and a New York bluebird with his sights set on Broadway. The parade of bird pageantry also includes a number of mammals, reptiles and humorous mythical creatures, from a bucking jackelope to the terrifying Mothman who roams West Virginia. Though many states share the same bird, no two are alike in Talbott's eyes. The American Robin may march to a fife and drum in the Constitution State, but he is behind the wheel in Motor City. Talbott's collection of amusing illustrations also introduces the peculiarities of bird fashion, from cheeseheads in Wisconsin to bird boots in Utah. This guidebook captures the charm of American birds and the flair of American talent in a unique tour through the states, which erupts into one big bird brawl for top tweet but ends in one sweet song from the trees.

They're grrrreat!
Pop artist Michael Albert demonstrates how learning more about America can be as simple as opening the pantry in An Artist's America, a collection of pop artworks which incorporate cereal boxes, candy wrappers and other icons from American consumerism. Aptly named Cerealism, Albert's work began with mosaics of familiar cereal box covers, from Kellogg's Frosted Flakes to Cheerios and Trix. In this collection, he expands on that style, incorporating faces of consumerism like Cap'n Crunch and Colonel Sanders into patriotic collages of the "Gettysburg Address," the Statue of Liberty and Mount Rushmore. In "The Signing of the Declaration of Independence," Albert explains, he chose "fifty-six characters from our modern consumer world to represent the fifty-six statesmen" who signed America's founding document. The resulting collage, which features Mr. Clean, Sugar Bear and Fred Flintstone, would certainly give John Hancock a shock. Albert's swirling mosaic recreations offer an entirely unique portrait of America, and their intricate designs and pop culture references will appeal to adults as well as children. Instructions on how to make collages are included, and Albert's style should prove easy to mimic for young artists who have a cereal box, glue and the right imagination. With this book as a guide, young readers will never look at Tony the Tiger in quite the same way again.

Business & Finance, Family & Relationships, Self-Help

Self-Help Family & Relationships Business & Finance

Secrets of success for recent grads

Review by Kathleen Smith

by Kathleen Smith

Working as a waitress at T.G.I. Friday's, Ann Patchett couldn't help but wonder why she had landed in such a line of work after six years of higher education. Based on the commencement address she gave at her alma mater, Sarah Lawrence College, What now? follows the renowned novelist through college and beyond, with inspiring and humorous anecdotes of the many stops and starts in her career as an award-winning writer. Patchett's essays prove that the greatest life lessons occur at the oddest of times, such as when you're scrubbing dishes with a graduate degree. This gift book is ideal for the anxious college grad who could use a reminder that there is joy to be found in unplanned moments.

HOLLYWOOD DREAMS
Tanner Stransky has found a way to convert those couch potato hours into tools for the young professional. In Find Your Inner Ugly Betty, the Entertainment Weekly writer gleans lessons from popular TV shows like "Ugly Betty," "The Office" and "Grey's Anatomy" for eager grads who want to climb the career ladder those first few years after college. With style lessons from the fabulous Carrie Bradshaw, employer relationship challenges with the grouchy Lou Grant and goal-setting strategies a la Betty Suarez, Stransky has fashioned a humorous yet valuable set of on-the-job tips. Who would have figured that the folks at Dunder-Mifflin held the secrets for career success?

For the L.A.-bound graduate harboring delusions of tabloid grandeur, The Hollywood Assistants Handbook aims to turn blindly optimistic dreams into diligent reality. With the book's 86 insider rules, a new grad can learn how to live for free, pimp her looks and assemble an army of interns at her disposal. Authors and former Hollywood assistants Hillary Stamm and Peter Nowalk dish out advice on all aspects of the job, from striking up the right conversation with George Clooney to turning Target wear into Barneys fashion. For these successful power players, name-dropping, shameless flirting and suck-up strategizing are tools of the trade and not for the weak of heart or stomach. The balance of humor and reverence for old-fashioned hard work make the guide a valuable asset for those headed for the Hills.

THE PERFECT FIT
What's That Job and How the Hell Do I Get It? doesn't waste time with career anecdotes, offering "the inside scoop on more than 50 cool jobs from people who actually have them." David J. Rosen's research provides the honest, and sometimes hard to swallow, truth about achieving success in some of the most envied jobs as well as offering a peek into the daily lives of those who claim them. Also provided are characteristics for the ideal candidate, salary information and ratings on "the ol' stress-o-meter," so eager job hunters can determine whether they really want to get their foot in the door. Whether one hopes to be an actor, a psychologist, a real estate broker or even a headhunter, this lengthy guide may prove helpful to clear confusion about many glamorized careers. Readers can aim high, aim correctly and avoid the career that just will not fit, because you don't want to pursue headhunting only to find, as Rosen quips, that there are no blow darts involved.

For a slightly more serious and comprehensive career guide, look for Michael Gregory's The Career Chronicles, which offers a candid view of what it's really like to work in fields from engineering to health care. More than 750 professionals confess the best, worst and most surprising parts of their jobs, giving graduates an insider's view before they start their own on-the-job training.

Children's & YA

Children's & YA

Back to Narnia

Review by Kathleen Smith

by Kathleen Smith

More than 1,300 years have passed in Narnia since the four Pevensie children first stumbled unsuspectingly through one particularly unusual wardrobe. Eager C.S. Lewis fans might argue that the two-and-a-half year wait for the release of Prince Caspian: The Return to Narnia has seemed almost as long. The second film inspired by the seven-book Narnia series opens on May 16, when the children return to the kingdom to face an even greater challenge and more unforgettable creatures.

Filmmakers began production shortly after shooting the first film, The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, so that the four young actors would not be too old to continue their roles. Ben Barnes (Stardust) joins the cast in the role of Prince Caspian, with Italian actor Sergio Castellitto as Caspian’s uncle Miraz, and Liam Neeson returning as the voice of Aslan the lion.

Though more than a thousand years have passed in the magical kingdom since the adventures in The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, only one year has transpired on Earth for the Pevensie children. Transported from a train in 1941, Peter, Susan, Edmund and Lucy are surprised to find that much has changed in Narnia since they first experienced its spectacular landscapes and peculiar inhabitants, as they discover the ruins of their own treasury room. A race of former pirates known as the Telmarines, imagined by director Andrew Adamson in the style of Spanish conquistadors, has driven the original Narnians underground. The evil king Miraz has taken hold of the throne of Cair Paravel, preventing the rightful heir, Prince Caspian, from reigning as the true king of Narnia. With the aid of Susan’s magic horn, which was left behind from the first adventure, Caspian summons the children back to the kingdom and enlists their aid in reclaiming the throne and battling the ruthless Telmarines who siege Aslan’s How. Prince Caspian also introduces memorable characters like Reepicheep the brave mouse, Glenstorm the Centaur, Trufflehunter the badger and Trumpkin the dwarf.

The first Narnia film from Walden Media and Walt Disney Pictures more than met box office expectations after its December 2005 release, grossing more than $700 million worldwide and becoming one of the most popular live-action films in cinematic history. Adamson has promised moviegoers a grander, more spectacular creation in his latest effort, with elaborate battle scenes, filmed in New Zealand and Eastern Europe, and more than 1,500 special-effects shots.

Because of the warlike tone of the movie, Prince Caspian has a darker, more medieval feel than the first film, and the Weta Workshop, a special-effects house that also worked on The Lord of the Rings trilogy, has constructed an impressive array of armor and weaponry for the sets. For a behind-the-scenes peek at the design and construction of these effects, pick up The Crafting of Narnia. The book offers readers never-before-seen clips of drawings, sculptures and photos of the work that has made Lewis’ enchanted world a reality for moviegoers.

Because Lewis’ magic world can prove daunting to the unacquainted reader, the Narnia Chronology: From the Archives of the Last King (HarperCollins, $19.99, 32 pages, ISBN 9780061240058) is an engaging and handy text. The book presents abridged versions of all seven tales arranged chronologically, with pop-ups, illustrations based on the original drawings by Pauline Baynes, and pull-tab surprises. Prince Caspian: The Return to Narnia (HarperEntertainment, $6.99, 256 pages, ISBN 9780061231063) offers readers the original story, complete with eight pages of colorful movie stills. For first-timers and seasoned fans who want to tackle the whole saga, The Chronicles of Narnia (HarperEntertainment, $21.99, 768 pages, ISBN 9780061231056) includes all seven books from the series, in a boxed set featuring art from the films. This unabridged set also contains a foldout timeline of the adventures in Narnia.

Fans won’t have to wait quite as long for the third movie in the series, The Voyage of the Dawn Treader, scheduled for release in 2010. In the meantime, they are encouraged to sit back and enjoy this return to the land of Narnia.