We have three main series to focus on this year; Robert Jordan’s, Wheel of Time (WoT), Robin Hobb’s Rain Wilds Chronicles and Brandon Sanderson’s Stormlight Archive. Yes, I realize that due to Robert Jordan’s death, Brandon Sanderson will have written the last two books in the Wheel of Time, but for those of you that don’t follow his twitter account (http://twitter.com/BrandSanderson) let me assure you that before his untimely death, Robert Jordan left specific instructions as to how the series would be concluded, including writing the ending himself.

Below is a proposed schedule, one that both myself and MJ Reader plan to adhere to;

January: Read Book 1 of Robin Hobb’s Rain Wilds Chronicles, Dragon Keeper. We are slowly easing into our “Year of Sci-Fi” and if you haven’t read Hobbs before, she has created a beautifully detailed world with interesting characters we watch develop and change throughout the books.

February: Book 2, Dragon Haven.

March: Read Book 3, Dragon Keeper, the conclusion to this fun trilogy!! If you enjoyed this trilogy, Hobb’s has two other trilogies, Liveship Traders and Tawny Man trilogies, all taking place in the Rain Wilds.

April: In order to be completely committed and prepared for Book 14, A Memory of Light, the final book in the epic WoT series, I plan to read books 1-3, The Eye of the World, The Great Hunt and The Dragon Reborn throughout the month of April. Recognizing that some of the middle books are a bit slow, and as this is the FOUTH and FINAL time I plan to read through this series, I will jump ahead to book 10 in May.

NOW TAKE A DEEP A BREATH, ARE YOU READY FOR MORE??

May/June: Read Books 10-13, Crossroads of Twilight, Knife of Dreams, The Gathering Storm and Towers of Midnight. These books move quickly and the characters engage in long awaited action! I know that once I have finished Towers of Midnight I will be anxiously awaiting the release of A Memory of Light. At that point I plan to go to my room and not come out until I have read the entire thing.
July: Read A Memory of Light!
Despite not having a specific date for the release of A Memory of Light (AMoL), most WoT fans think it will be mid-2012. Sanderson just finished the first draft of AMoL and revisions and printing will likely take 4-5 months. If you have you time or have became as consumed with a WoT as I have, you may even want to attend a book signing, where you have the opportunity to be part of the TOWER GUARD! (http://www.dragonmount.com/index.php/News/tom/the-tower-guard-program-r39) . Whatever your July looks like, make sure to set aside the time to fully enjoy the conclusion of this remarkable series.

Well done! We have successfully navigated through thousand’s of pages of the WoT. We’ve earned it and I am taking August and September off from Sci-Fi.

October: More Brandon Sanderson!! Read Book 1 of the Stormlight Archive, The Way of Kings. Based on a quick perusal of the blogs, the census seems to be that Book 2 is due to come out late 2012 or early 2013. I am keeping my fingers crossed that it is late 2012, and in case it does, I intend to be ready.

November: If everything goes as I hope, I will be happily engrossed in Book 2 of the Stormlight Archive throughout this month. If not I will be utterly disappointed and very sad.

December: As a finale to our remarkable year, we are going to end with a classic, reading Tolkien’s, The Hobbit. Peter Jackson has been hard at work on the movie adaptation in preparation for the December 14 release. Once you have finished reading the book, be sure to go see the movie!! After the amazing job Jackson did on Lord of the Rings, I am excited to see how he handles The Hobbit.

And that’s all! The year of sci-fi is finished!! Hopefully you enjoyed it as much as I did, and found a few new authors you will continue to read.

-the sci-fi goddess

The couple appeals to women because:

1. Roarke is hot.
2. Roarke is dangerous and has a shady past. Who doesn’t love a bad boy, especially a bad boy turned good for the woman he loves but still retains enough of his “bad boyism” to keep it exciting.
3. Roarke is strong and is Eve’s knight in shining armor.  Every woman, despite how strong she is (and Eve is VERY strong), wants a man to take care of her and put her first.
4. Roarke is devoted to Eve and supports her in every way, including her police work. Roarke, however, is not a wimp.  While a woman wants a devoted soul mate, she doesn’t want someone she can completely control and will eventually lose interest in.
5. Roarke captivates the reading audience because he stimulates Eve inside and outside of the bedroom.  They still have their conflict, because they are both strong willed, but in the end, Eve knows that Roarke does what he thinks is in her best interest even if they don’t agree on what that is.

In sum, J. D. Robb has woven good stories around the woman we all wish we were (strong, I can take care of myself but I really don’t want to) and paired her with the man of every woman’s dreams (sexy, strong, devoted and caring/loving wrapped in a very nice looking package).  It makes for fun reading!  We have a many J. D. Robb books in the store, as well as some listed online.
Go Eve!  Go J. D. Robb!

See you next time!

C.R.

I was surprised by how engaging these non-fiction books were. I tend to think non-fiction = textbooks or obscure stories about historical figures. Despite some of the technical information, I still found them fascinating and look forward to reading more of their kind.
So without further ado here are 3 non-fiction books you should read!

1. A Jane Austen Education: How Six Novels Taught me about Love, Friendship and the Things that Really Matter  The main reason I loved this book is that a guy wrote it. The book begins with William Deresiewicz as a graduate student forced to read Austen. Like many men he scoffs at her “girly works,” but then he encounters Emma and begins to think perhaps there is more to Austen than just romance. Part memoir, part biography and part literary criticism, Deresiewicze shows not only how Austen’s works made him grow as a person but how her life and relationships influenced the books she wrote. He made me love Jane Austen and even start to like Fanny from Mansfield Park.

2. The Emperor of all Maladies: A Biography of Cancer Siddhartha Mukherjee won the Pulitzer prize for this incredible book which traces the history of cancer from what may be the earliest case of breast cancer in 1600 b.c. to today. He does not simply give a timeline but rather continually switches the lens from which he is viewing the disease. In some instance we are approaching it as a patient in the 1950’s, other times as the cell itself and what causes it to divide in this particular pattern. Mukherjee shows us the persons and politics involved in making cancer a health priority in the U.S. and how scientists have been approaching cancer. The most intriguing factor for me was what it said about the nature of scientific discovery. Over and over again the entire scientific community would hold so tightly to a thought pattern or idea only to have one person discover something on their own that shook the foundations of that community and allowed it to progress. Simply put. I was inspired.

3. The Sorcerer’s Apprentice: A Season in the Kitchen at Ferrian Adria’s El Bulli  No, it’s not a science fiction book, although some of the food they discuss may belong in a different realm. Instead, this fascinating book shows a behind-the-kitchen-door look at one of the world’s top restaurants. Author, Lisa Abend, traces the stories of the stagiaires (apprentices) who cook for six months for next to nothing and what drives them to become chefs. She takes the story even deeper by examining the relationship between food and art and the part Ferrian Adria has played in redefining traditional notions of art and how we experience food.

Anyone out there have any must read non-fiction suggestions?

Happy Reading!

Mj Reader

I have also realized that turning a book into a movie is a difficult feat.  The filmmakers are essentially trying to reach two different audiences – the regular movie goer who is not going to have all the details and those who have read the book.  Those who have read the book spend their time during the movie constantly comparing it to the book.  They are waiting for the film to make a mistake in how a character is portrayed or a scene is done.  In addition to whittling down hundreds of pages into a 2-hour movie, they have to somehow reveal what is often happening in the thoughts of a character. The Twilight movies were not well received, but imagine making a movie from a book where 80% of the writing is about the thoughts of 2 characters… I thought they did a decent job.

So now that I frequently watch movies based on books I want to suggest three things to you budding filmmakers looking to make bestselling books into movies:

• Stay true to the book – If you are already constrained for time, then try not to add additional scenes unless it’s absolutely necessary.

• Don’t add extra Hollywood lines or action scenes just because they are  “cute” or make it seem more like what a “movie” should look or sound like. This drove me crazy in the extended extended edition of Lord of the Rings. Director Peter Jackson kept adding lame lines for the hobbits, detracting from what is Tolkein’s extraordinary juxtaposition between the nobleness and free spirited nature of the hobbits that makes them incorruptible.

• Don’t make the characters prettier or cooler than they are in the books.

Here are some movie lists just for fun! Feel free to add other suggestions in the comments section.

Favorite Adaptations:

(The books are available in Cornerstone Used Books’ retail store location and/or online)

• Lord of the Rings
• Pride and Prejudice: The BBC and Kiera Knightly versions as well as  the modern adaptation, Clueless!   (available in at Cornerstone Used Books online store)
• Emma: The BBC and Gweneth Paltrow versions as well as the modern adaptation Bridget Jone’s Diary
• Harry Potter: The Goblet of Fire and The Deathly Hallows
• Jurassic Park
• Jane Erye
• Tom Clancy Books (courtesy of my sister, the sci –fi goddess)    (available in the store and some titles online)
• Anne of Green Gables    (available at Cornerstone Used Books online store)
• A Little Princess

Adaptations I Hated

• The Lightening Thief     (available at Cornerstone Used Books online store)
• Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince    (available at Cornerstone Used Books online store)

Books That are Better as Movies

• Little Women   (available at Cornerstone Used Books online store)
• The DaVinci Code    (available at Cornerstone Used Books online store)
• Gone With the Wind    (available at Cornerstone Used Books online store)

Upcoming Movies
Finally, if you are looking for books that have recently been released as movies or will soon be coming to theaters, check out the following titles available at Cornerstone Used Books!

• The Help
• Hunger Games (2012)
• The Lincoln Lawyer
• One Day
• Sarah’s Key
• Water for Elephants

Until next time.

Happy Reading,

MJ

I am trying to come to terms with the fact that this really is the end. When the last book was released, we at least had the anticipation of movies – something to cling to if I may be a bit dramatic.

I can’t remember if we were coming back from a basketball tournament or a trip to Wisconsin when my mom handed me a copy of the first Harry Potter book.  I read it and the next two. Thus began the cycle of reading and waiting.  I was probably about 15 and from then on every year or so I would take a break from life and submerge myself in a different place far removed from high school, college or the ‘real’ world. Reading is not only about the books themselves but often part of the experience is the place or time in life a specific book is read and how that ties to one’s memory of a book.

• My family and I ordered multiple copies of The Goblet of Fire so we could read them at the same time as they arrived from Amazon.

• The Order of the Phoenix marked the first time I went to a store at midnight to pick up a book (a scenario which would be repeated for many books ).  I read the entire book that evening, sitting in the rocking chair in our front room. When I finished it, I simply read it again.

• The Half Blood Prince was released on my way back from a school summer program in Argentina. The next day I was supposed to report to be a camp counselor in Michigan. As my dad drove, I read.  I cried at the shocking ending and spent the next 4 weeks discussing possible scenarios for the final book with the 12 year olds in my care.

• I bought The Deathly Hallows in South Carolina and stayed up half the night reading before I made myself sleep so I could photograph a friend’s wedding the next day. Finally, I sat on the floor at the airport gate and finished the book.  As I closed it and looked around, I swear at least 75% of the people in the airport were carrying the book or reading it.  We felt connected to one another and would catch each other’s eye as if to say, “Yes.  All I want to do is read this book.” or “Can you really believe it’s finally finished?”

When the movies came out, I did not pay them too much attention. But as the books stopped coming the movies by default became a way to stay connected to the world of Harry Potter. Like most movies based on books, I would watch them with a slight detachment. I simply wanted to see how the director chose to adapt the book or play a scene. What would Quidditch, the pensieve or Hermione’s time turner look like?  I was surprised by the vastness of the great hall and how perfect the odd sorting hat fit to the picture in my mind. I would watch, wondering if they would include the final parting between Dudley and Harry or the scene where the Weasley twins fly away from Hogwarts after their famous prank?  My favorite movies so far are The Prisoner of Azkaban and The Order of the Phoenix.  I think we can all agree The Half Blood Prince was awful for reasons we’ll explore in the next post.  Each movie has added to my imagination and made me want to live at Hogwarts, be a part of some important quest in the fight against evil or at least develop a cool British accent.

As I read the reviews, and watch the trailer for the final movie, I once again feel connected to the story. So this weekend, I’ll put on the red Quidditch shirt I bought in the kid’s section of K-mart years ago and go watch the final installment. Given what I have already seen in the trailer and the excellent reviews, I am sure I’ll tear up during the movie.  Not only because of the story but because it truly is the last bit of Harry Potter magic.

Until next time, I will be lost in Harry Potter world and would love to hear your thoughts on the last installment of Harry Potter!

(Click here for a link to our Harry Potter collection.)

MJ Reader

We want to see photos of you and/or someone else caught reading a book. The person who submits the most creative photo will receive a $25.00 gift certificate that can be used on anything in the store. The Catch You Reading Contest began June 15 and will run through August 15.  Send us your entry one of three ways:

(1) via email at info@cornerstoneusedbooks.com,

(2) print a copy and drop it off at the store, or

(3) post it on our Facebook page.

We will post entries on Facebook, Twitter and around the store.  On August 16, we’ll pick a winner.  The winning entry will also appear in Cornerstone’s monthly Newsletter and in this blog.*

To get the ball rolling, here are some great pictures that have been submitted thus far!

Also, this week I came across two articles I want share with you. The first, “5 Reasons Why E-Books Aren’t There Yet” is from Wired, one of my family’s favorite magazines. E-books are a topic we will soon be discussing here at the blog. Everyone seems to have an opinion on if they like them, what their future is, and what it means for traditional books and used books. The other article from the New York Times, entitled “Come Meet the Author, but Open You Wallet,” shows how independent book stores are trying to find ways to generate income from the value they add to the community and events they host.  While charging for events is not something Cornerstone does, the article gives insight into the difficulties independent bookstores face today and how they are adapting.

Finally, if you are looking for a book to read, my mom really enjoyed HEAVEN IS FOR REAL, by Todd Burpo with Lynn Vincent. Its been at the top of the non fiction best seller list for weeks. She said it was an easy read but incredibly engaging.

Until next time, Happy Reading and Photographing!

Mj Reader

I can hear what you are thinking, “Isn’t science fiction for geeky high school boys, or people who live in basements?” Alas, while some of that may be true, if you don’t read science fiction/fantasy, you really are missing out.  So here are some of the things I love about sci-fi:

1. The readers:  Yes, most of the major series have cult-like followings complete with blogs, websites and conventions.  A personal favorite of mine, Dragonmount: A Wheel of Time Community.  I have not gone so far as to join the social networking aspect of the site, but maybe I should and all my online dating dreams will come true.  Or I could attend the 69th Annual World Science Fiction Convention in Reno, Nevada. . . There is nothing better than embracing something you love. So do it.  There is no judgment.

2. The political/religious undertones:  Because most books are set in a different time period, they can be more blatant about themes such as empire, religious extremism, good vs. evil, the environment, gender and war.  Most of these subjects would be too controversial for modern fiction but prove to be thought provoking in the context of a sci-fi/fantasy novel.

3. The made up languages and words:  I love that by the 100th page of a novel I have forgotten that the words are made up because I am so into the story.  If you aren’t going to be bilingual or trilingual, at least you know many words in different languages.

4. The dominant women:  I have to give props to the sci-fi writing community.  They often have strong female leads, especially Robert Jordan and Brandon Sanderson! Maybe it goes back to point number 2 in that they show just how powerful women can be and how those cultures/ideologies which disregard dominant women are missing something substantial.

5. The time commitment:  Many of the series are trilogies or long series. This gives authors the opportunity to develop their characters and settings. Plus, it saves me from having to search for other books to read.

The other day someone asked me what was my favorite type of book to read.  I stopped to think for a moment and realized that it would definitely be young adult science fiction/fantasy. The writing is simpler and draws you in faster.  Also, there is the nostalgia factor of bringing me back to my early reading days. So if you are looking for a place to start, there it is – Madeline L’Engle, Tamora Pierce, the Redwall Series, His Dark Materials Series and of course Harry Potter.

As for other suggestions, you can’t go wrong with the Lord of the Rings and Dune. I love the Wheel of Time Series, and my sister is a big fan of The Sword of Truth Series. A lot of people like Game of Thrones, but I am not a fan. Hitchhikers Guide to the Universe and The Rain Wilds Chronicles are also good reads.

My question this week is:  Do you read science fiction/fantasy?  If no, why not?  If yes, tell us what you like.  I am off to join the world of productivity before another book finds me.

Happy Reading!

Mj Reader

Well, this idea lasted about a week, mostly because the first book I ordered called Suzy Zeus Gets Organized was written in VERSE.  No wonder no one read it when it came out.  I could not find my copy of The Great Gatsby nor did I find myself inspired to read the Grapes of Wrath again. Book List One was a failure.

When I saw the book that had been written in verse, it started me thinking about what are other kinds of books I don’t read and about my “Book Pet Peeves,” so hear goes. . .

1. Obviously things written in verse but also those written in letter, journal entry or email format – No Postmistress or Guernsey Literary and Potato Pie Society for me.

2. I hate to read books that start and go backwards especially if they span generations with a million characters. One recent exception was The Forgotten Garden by Kate Morton.

3. When there are no likeable characters like the Game of Thrones Series.  This is also prevalent in hoity-toity literature books – Yes, I am talking about you, Wuthering Heights.

4. When authors don’t publish books in the chronological order of their characters’ lives. This past week, I spent about an hour trying to figure out whether to read Tom Clancy’s Jack Ryan books by their publication date or chronological order. Mr. C.S. Lewis also causes young readers frustration with where the Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe belongs in the beloved Chronicles of Narnia.

5. Along the same lines, I refuse to read prologues and prequels – Note to Authors: So you wrote a bestseller and now you think you can just bust out a whole story that came before whatever book made you a star.  Why didn’t you just start at the beginning to begin with? (My sister does not have as much a problem as she just wants large quantities of books in a series.)  As for prologues, just call it chapter ONE!

Wow, you must be thinking, “You are picky; it’s amazing you have any books or authors left to read,” but come on; I am sure there are things that annoy you in the book world, or kinds of books you refuse to read. Let’s hear your pet peeves and ideas for summer reading lists.

Happy Reading!

Mj Reader

P.S. If you are looking for a book to read … as opposed to all of the ones I just told you NOT to read, check out Cutting for Stone by Abraham Verghese.  Verghese has the uncanny ability to describe the larger issues of Ethiopia during the 1950-60s while never straying from the complicated personal stories of Marion and Shiva Stone as they are raised by an adopted Indian mother and father alongside the daughter of an Eritrean housekeeper.  I thought the ending was a little contrived but that should be overlook as the rest of the book is so well written, I felt a deep connection to both Ethiopia and the narrator Marion.

Also, check out:

100 Best Novels you have never read
http://nymag.com/arts/books/features/2007/32390/

100 Best Novels
http://www.modernlibrary.com/top-100/radcliffes-rival-100-best-novels-list/