February News Roundup

* Charlie Jane Anders (of Writers With Drinks, Other Magazine, and i09.com fame) has organized a San Francisco Bookstore and Chocolate Crawl for Sunday, February 26th!  It starts at noon at Green Apple Books on Clement and ends at Modern Times Books on Florida Street, with stops in between at various book shops and purveyors of chocolate including Borderlands at 4:45 pm!  Complete details here: https://www.facebook.com/events/200529393378320/

* The Custom Made Theatre Company, who are producing the stage play of Cory Doctorow's "Little Brother", have extended the play's run through the end of February. See it, if you haven't yet -- it's really extraordinary. http://www.custommade.org/tickets

* The deadlines for application to Clarion West are fast approaching.  The upcoming session (June 17 to July 27) will be taught by Mary Rosenblum, Hiromi Goto, George R.R. Martin, Connie Willis, Kelly Link and Gavin Grant, and Chuck Palahniuk.  For more information visit their website at http://www.clarionwest.org.

* Author Jim C. Hines recreates the poses from his (and other peoples') book covers & it is hilarious! Thanks, i09. http://io9.com/5875868/fantasy-author-recreates-fantasy-novel-cover-poses-with-hilarious-results

* Lots of genre novels, including GOOD OMENS by Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett, are among the list of 25 books selected to be given away during World Book Night. "Now in its second year, the event will take place on 23 April, marking both Unesco’s International Day Of The Book and Shakespeare’s birthday. Some 20,000 members of the public will be chosen to give away copies of their favourite title from the list, with one million books being  distributed at venues including hostels, pubs and hospitals in a bid to boost reading."  For complete details, and the rest of the list, which also features THE PLAYER OF GAMES by Iain M. Banks, MISERY by Stephen King, and LET THE RIGHT ONE IN by John Ajvde Lindqvist, see http://www.terrypratchett.co.uk/?p=974.

* Stephen Colbert interviews Maurice Sendak, who is deadpan perfection. Hilarity ensues. http://www.hulu.com/watch/322712/the-colbert-report-grim-colberty-tales-with-maurice-sendak-part-1 Part 2 follows.  Sorry for the ads, which are un-skipable.

* We're sorry to report the death of author Christopher Samuel Youd, (who used the pseudonym John Christopher, among several others) at the age of 89. Youd was the prolific author of THE DEATH OF GRASS, The Tripod trilogy, and many others. You can find his obituary in the UK's Guardian newspaper here: http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2012/feb/06/john-christopher-samuel-youd

* Sadly, Dick Tufield, the voice of the "Lost in Space" robot, has also passed away at the age of 85. http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/dick-tufeld-voice-lost-space-284500

January Bestsellers

Hardcovers
1) Distrust That Particular Flavor by William Gibson
2) Nested Scrolls by Rudy Rucker
3) Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins
4) A Dance With Dragons by George R.R. Martin
5) A Path to Coldness of Heart by Glen Cook
6) 1Q84 by Haruki Murakami
7) Reamde by Neal Stephenson
8) Seed by Rob Ziegler
9) Snuff by Terry Pratchett
10) Children of the Sky by Vernor Vinge

Paperbacks
1) A Game of Thrones by George R.R. Martin
2) A Clash of Kings by George R.R. Martin
3) A Storm of Swords by George R.R. Martin
4) A Feast for Crows by George R.R. Martin
5) House Name by Michelle West
6) The Fuller Memorandum by Charles Stross
7) Altered Carbon by Richard Morgan
8) A Hard Day's Knight by Simon R. Green
9) Up Against It by M. L. Locke
10) Lost Gate by Orson Scott Card

Trade Paperbacks
1) The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins
2) Among Others by Jo Walton
3) The Liminal People by Ayize Jama-Everett
4) Empire State by Adam Christopher
5) Blueprints of the Afterlife by Ryan Boudinot

Overheard at the Store

This is a feature that appears periodically, usually as we attend conventions and overhear things.  However, sometimes we overhear amusing tidbits even when we're not attending a convention:

"She described it in terms that I would have been much happier had she never described it in."

"Sometimes, being chewed on by a hyena is Nature's way of telling you to take a break."

"I don't care how cute he is, I don't want to [deleted] someone who wipes out species! Not okay."

"What do you mean, 'Which one?'?! Exactly how many new lesbian werewolf novels ARE there?"