Modern romance author Elizabeth Curtis Sittenfeld, author of Sisterland and American Wife, has set her sights on paying tribute to a writer who defined the genre. Her upcoming book, Eligible, is a contemporary retelling of Jane Austen‘s classic novel Pride and Prejudice. The idea for a remake came from the Jane Austen Project, a group who wants to put together “authors of global significance with Jane Austen’s six complete works.” Eligible, which Sittenfeld has unabashedly described as “Austen fan fiction,” tells the story of two sisters, Liz and Jane Bennet, a magazine editor and a yoga instructor. They leave their New York lifestyle to …
The world of children’s books suffered a major loss last month when the Roald Dahl Prize for comedic kids books was brought to an end. Luckily, Scholastic has picked up the torch with annual awards of their own: The Laugh Out Loud awards, or the LOLlies. The award is debuting in the UK, but there is a high possibility it will be brought to the US as well. We’ve decided to give them a hand and pick out some of the funniest children’s books this year to consider. 1. Around the Clock! by Roz Chast …
Roll out the red carpet, because tonight is the night that the Man Group will announce the winner of its annual Man Booker Prize. Industry experts always have an opinion about who the winner will be each year, and we now know their pick: Hanya Yanagihara, author of A Little Life. The 736-page novel, which deals with four Massachusetts college graduates who move to New York, has garnered critical acclaim across the globe. Published by Doubleday in the US and Picador in the UK, A Little Life found a significant following through digital word of mouth on Twitter. Unsurprisingly, bookmakers …
Twilight writer Stephenie Meyer just unveiled a big surprise for fans- a new book in the Twilight series. However, this isn’t a continuation of the famous series, it’s a spinoff that retells the original story from an alternate universe. Instead of Bella and Edward, this book’s about Beau and Edythe. The book, titled “Life and Death: Twilight Reimagined,” launched today to celebrate the 10th anniversary of the original novel. An anniversary edition of Twilight was announced last month with mystery “bonus features,” and this is certainly one of them. “I wanted to do something fun for the 10th anniversary and the publisher …
Audiences have agreed: Ridley Scott’s The Martian is a seriously awesome adaptation. The movie has grossed $55 million in its opening weekend, according to Rentrak. The film, which stars big names like Matt Damon and Jessica Chastain, had the second biggest October opening weekend of all time, behind last year’s sci-fi adventure Gravity. This massive success comes from humble beginnings, as the original novel was self-published by first time author Andy Weir. The book turned out to be a surprise hit, becoming a Kindle and New York Times bestseller. Naturally, this made it perfect for a film adaptation. Beloved astrophysicist Neil DeGrasse …
