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Critics label Dan Brown's "Inferno" a clunky page-turner

Wed, 15 May 2013 07:08:14 -0400

LONDON (Reuters) - Early reviews of Dan Brown's fast-paced fourth book in "The Da Vinci Code" series labeled it a "clunky" page-turner that will nevertheless delight his fans. Critics said the dark mysteries, mind-bending codes and history-laced tourism in "Inferno" will thrill Brown devotees, but panned the U.S. author for passages they said were more suited to a Hollywood film script than a novel. ...

Book Talk: Of apes and atheists - is empathy evolution?

Thu, 16 May 2013 04:10:42 -0400

By Ed Stoddard JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) - For biologist Frans de Waal, a peaceful species of great ape in Africa is a mirror of humanity and a living argument that empathy and cooperation are far from unique to mankind. "The Bonobo and the Atheist: In Search of Humanism among the Primates", argues that both traits may be evolved behaviors based on his studies of the bonobo, which is found only in the jungles of the Democratic Republic of Congo, and other primates. ...

Dan Brown's "Inferno" novel in hot demand ahead of release

Mon, 13 May 2013 13:06:29 -0400

LONDON (Reuters) - Booksellers are predicting that "Da Vinci Code" author Dan Brown's latest title "Inferno" will become the biggest-selling book of the year, ahead of its release on Tuesday. Sales of the book, which sees the return of fictional symbologist Robert Langdon, have already reached the highest level of customer pre-orders at retailer Waterstones since the release of Harry Potter author JK Rowling's adult fiction "The Casual Vacancy" last year. ...

Book Talk: "The Last Train to Zona Verde," Paul Theroux's African signoff

Thu, 09 May 2013 12:28:02 -0400

By Randall Mikkelsen BOSTON (Reuters) - Paul Theroux said his literary goodbye to Africa at a train station in Luanda, Angola, five decades after he first visited the continent as a Peace Corps volunteer. In his new book, "The Last Train to Zona Verde: My Ultimate African Safari," Theroux describes a journey through South Africa, Botswana, Namibia and Angola that dead-ended at the depot when he felt no need to go further. The book, he says, represents a final chapter on his travels in Africa. Theroux's first book on Africa was a novel. ...

'12th of Never' climbs to top of U.S. best-sellers list

Thu, 09 May 2013 13:16:49 -0400

NEW YORK (Reuters) - "The 12th of Never," by James Patterson and Maxine Paetro, climbed to the top of the U.S. best-sellers list on Thursday. The list is compiled using data from independent and chain bookstores, book wholesalers and independent distributors nationwide. Hardcover Fiction Last Week 1. "The 12th of Never" by James Patterson and Maxine Paetro (Little, Brown, $27.99) 18 2. "The Hit" by David Baldacci (Grand Central, $27.99) 1 3. "Whiskey Beach" by Nora Roberts (Putnam, $27.95) 2 4. "Daddy's Gone a Hunting" by Mary Higgins Clark (Simon & Schuster, $26.99) 4 5. ...

Author Murakami makes first Japan public appearance in 18 years

Mon, 06 May 2013 08:56:56 -0400

By Yoko Kubota KYOTO, Japan (Reuters) - Japanese author Haruki Murakami made his first public appearance in his homeland in 18 years on Monday, describing his newest novel, which was an instant-best seller, as a story that takes place in the real world, unlike many of his other novels. "Colorless Tsukuru Tazaki and His Years of Pilgrimage" has attracted positive reviews, with readers spotting familiar Murakami themes such as people bonding through pain. Publisher Bungeishunju made the rare decision to print 1 million copies within a week of its April release in Japan. ...

Death knell for books rung too early as sex sells

Wed, 01 May 2013 13:30:41 -0400

By Belinda Goldsmith LONDON (Reuters) - Erotic trilogy "Fifty Shades of Grey" helped drive print and e-book sales in Britain to record levels in 2012 with publishers hailing figures on Wednesday as proof that digital books are not killing the traditional market quite yet. Print and e-book sales rose 4 percent to 3.3 billion pounds ($5 billion) after slipping 2 percent in 2011, top British trade organization The Publishers Association said, although printed book sales fell 1 percent and had dropped 5 percent in 2011. ...

Book Talk: Story of the twin sister left behind in Iran

Thu, 02 May 2013 02:17:33 -0400

By Elaine Lies TOKYO (Reuters) - Mystery shadows "A Teaspoon of Earth and Sea", a novel about a girl growing up in rural post-revolutionary Iran while dreaming about her identical twin sister and the wonderful life she must be leading in the United States - if she is alive at all. Crowded security lines at Tehran's airport, shouting, a girl chasing her twin as a woman in a long coat holds her hand. That is the memory Saba Hafezi clings to after her mother and sister vanish in a haunting tale by Dina Nayeri. Nayeri left Iran at the age of ten for the United States. ...

Amanda Knox offers her side of sensational murder case in memoir

Tue, 30 Apr 2013 19:25:31 -0400

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Amanda Knox, the American student accused of the 2007 murder of her British roommate while both were students in Italy, paints herself in her new memoir as a naive young woman railroaded by a foreign justice system. Knox, 25, spent four years in prison for the murder of Meredith Kercher while they were exchange students in Perugia, a hilltop Italian university town popular with foreigners. Knox, who became a tabloid sensation in Britain and Italy, was acquitted on appeal in 2011. She returned to her Seattle-area home, but Italy's high court last month ordered a retrial. ...

Book Talk: Man seeks joy at end of life in debut novel by 69-year-old

Thu, 25 Apr 2013 19:25:59 -0400

By Nick Olivari NEW YORK (Reuters) - Salesman or scammer, Jim makes and loses several fortunes in North America and the Brazilian jungle, but then loses himself as he runs over anyone who gets in his way. Old and broke he falls in love with - or at least has serious sexual desires for - Mara, a beautiful and ambitious Israeli woman fifty years his junior. Strangely and perhaps even more unlikely, Mara falls for Jim - or perhaps what he could be if he could again rise from poverty. "The Dream Merchant: A Novel", published by Thomas Dunne Books for St. ...

Russia's oil riches gained and lost as wheel of fortune turned

Thu, 18 Apr 2013 04:10:11 -0400

By Melissa Akin MOSCOW (Reuters) - Some of the world's biggest fortunes were made and lost when the fall of the Soviet Union threw together a motley gang of brash young tycoons, hard-bitten oilmen and KGB veterans to scrabble for riches amidst the rubble of the Soviet oil industry. "The iron curtain did not go down, Russians like to say, it went up," says Georgetown professor Thane Gustafson in "Wheel of Fortune: The Battle for Oil and Power in Russia", a drama of chance and personality which ultimately determined the fate of Russia's oil. ...

"Oblivion" Review: Tom Cruise meets "Tron," "Wall-E," "The Matrix"

Tue, 16 Apr 2013 15:11:59 -0400

By Alonso Duralde LOS ANGELES (TheWrap.com) - Co-writer-director Joseph Kosinski ("TRON: Legacy") digs all the way to the back of the refrigerator for "Oblivion," taking leftover bits of "The Matrix," "WALL-E," "2001," "Moon" and "Planet of the Apes," among countless other science-fiction classics, and putting them into a slick, shiny and state-of-the-art crock pot. The results looks amazing, but most of the ideas that resonate will feel very familiar and more than a bit warmed-over. ...

''Veep'' Review: Bleak, Despairing, Hilarious

Fri, 12 Apr 2013 16:31:03 -0400

By Tim Molloy NEW YORK (TheWrap.com) - If you're looking for a show where politicians occasionally do some good, you might want to check out Netflix's "House of Cards." At least Kevin Spacey's conniving congressman does the occasional favor as he tries to slash his way to the vice presidency. On "Veep," Julia Louis-Dreyfus' Selina Meyer already has the job - and it sucks. As the show returns to HBO Sunday for its second season, she's still abusive to her underlings, ravenously ambitious, and desperate for the POTUS to call. ...

'The Hit' soars to top of U.S. bestsellers list

Thu, 02 May 2013 17:23:25 -0400

NEW YORK (Reuters) - David Baldacci's new book, "The Hit," soared to the top of the U.S. bestsellers list on Thursday. The list is compiled using data from independent and chain bookstores, book wholesalers and independent distributors nationwide. Hardcover Fiction Last Week 1. "The Hit" by David Baldacci (Grand Central, $27.99) - 2. "Whiskey Beach" by Nora Roberts (Putnam, $27.95) 1 3. "Fly Away" by Kristin Hannah (St. Martin's, $27.99) - 4. "Daddy's Gone a Hunting" by Mary Higgins (Simon & Schuster, $26.99) 2 5. "Paris: The Novel" by Edward Rutherfurd (Doubleday, $32.50) - 6. ...

New Hillary Clinton memoir likely to fuel 2016 speculation

Thu, 04 Apr 2013 12:45:11 -0400

By Steve Holland WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Hillary Clinton, already the front-runner in the minds of many Democrats for the 2016 U.S. presidential election, is writing a memoir about world affairs and her time as secretary of state that will likely fuel more speculation about her political future. The presidential prospects of Clinton, the wife of former President Bill Clinton, are a subject of feverish speculation in Washington and elsewhere as Democrats look to see over the horizon past President Barack Obama. ...

Sex, murder and conspiracy sheds new light on Edward VIII-Book

Thu, 04 Apr 2013 04:05:28 -0400

By Belinda Goldsmith LONDON (Reuters) - King Edward VIII may be best known for giving up the throne to marry American divorcee Wallis Simpson, but it wasn't the first time his love affairs posed a threat to the British monarchy. A new book by British barrister and former judge Andrew Rose unearths a little-known affair with a French courtesan 20 years before Edward's abdication, which ended in a rigged trial at the behest of the British establishment trying to protect a future king's reputation. ...

Top of U.S. bestseller list

Thu, 25 Apr 2013 15:18:52 -0400

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Nora Roberts' "Whiskey Beach" debuted at the top of the Publishers Weekly's bestseller list on Thursday. The list is compiled using data from independent and chain bookstores, book wholesalers and independent distributors nationwide. Hardcover Fiction Last Week 1. "Whiskey Beach" by Nora Roberts - (Putnam, $27.95) 2. "Daddy's Gone a Hunting" by Mary Higgins (Simon & Schuster, $26.99) 1 3. "Talking Eve" by Iris Johansen - (St. Martin's, $27.99) 4. "Starting Now" by Debbie Macomber (Ballantine, $26.00) 3 5. "Don't Go" by Lisa Scottoline (St Martin's, $27.99) 2 6. ...

''Captain Underpants'' beats ''Fifty Shades'' in library complaints

Mon, 15 Apr 2013 16:46:42 -0400

(Reuters) - Subversive toilet humor proved more offensive to Americans than bondage and eroticism last year, according to a list of most challenged books in U.S. libraries that saw complaints about "Captain Underpants" outweigh those for "Fifty Shades of Grey." The American Library Association (ALA) said Dav Pilkey's "Captain Underpants" series for children, that features characters like Professor Poopypants and Wedgie Woman, came top of its 2012 list of books that Americans asked to be removed from libraries because of content they considered inappropriate. ...

Book Talk: Tragedy prompted author to write novel in six weeks

Thu, 11 Apr 2013 08:20:46 -0400

By Elaine Lies TOKYO (Reuters) - Elise is a single mother whose only child is killed in a sudden freak accident. Distraught, she at first wants to join her son - but then realizes she must stay alive to care for his beloved cat, which gradually draws her back into life. "The Cat", by award-winning Israeli-born author Edeet Ravel, got its start from the July 2011 news that a gunman had opened fire at a youth camp on a Norwegian holiday island, killing 77 people, setting off a compulsion that had her writing so rapidly she completed a draft of the book in six weeks. ...

"The Company You Keep" review: fugitives, radicals, secrets...but where's the passion?

Thu, 04 Apr 2013 17:29:04 -0400

By Alonso Duralde LOS ANGELES (TheWrap.com) - In adapting Neil Gordon's novel about members of the Weather Underground still on the lam decades later for their violent actions, director Robert Redford and screenwriter Lem Dobbs ("The Limey") could have tackled big ideas about dissent and protest, honed a character study about aging radicals and the young journalist chasing after them, or even dug into Redford's past as the star of "All the President's Men" and "Three Days of the Condor" and crafted a gripping thriller. ...

The man who climbed Everest, the wife who waited

Thu, 04 Apr 2013 05:14:49 -0400

By Elaine Lies TOKYO (Reuters) - Author Tanis Rideout never hiked, hated the cold and at one time had barely heard of British climber George Mallory, who may have been one of the first men to make it to the top of Mount Everest before perishing on its slopes. But an Everest-obsessed coworker at an outdoor equipment store introduced her to Mallory, the controversy about whether he summited the world's highest peak, and video footage from his 1920s expeditions, and she found it impossible to get him out of her head - until finally writing, years later, her debut novel, "Above all Things". ...

Pulitzer winner Strout writes of family ties in new best seller

Thu, 11 Apr 2013 18:51:34 -0400

By Andrea Burzynski NEW YORK (Reuters) - Like her 2009 Pulitzer Prize-winning book "Olive Kitteridge," much of Elizabeth Strout's new novel takes place in a small Maine town in which the characters tackle big issues. "The Burgess Boys" centers on the family dynamics that play out between the title characters, Jim and Bob Burgess, and their sister Susan, who calls upon her brothers to smooth out a scandal involving her son. As they deal with the fallout, the siblings' relationships shift and evolve. ...

''Big Short'' author Lewis did not defame money manager - judge

Mon, 01 Apr 2013 19:03:13 -0400

By Bernard Vaughan NEW YORK (Reuters) - Author Michael Lewis did not defame a money manager in his best-selling 2010 book "The Big Short," according to a federal judge in Manhattan. In a lawsuit filed in 2011, Wing Chau, a manager of collateralized debt obligations, and his firm Harding Advisory LLC, accused Lewis of including a series of defamatory statements in a chapter revolving around a 2007 dinner in Las Vegas that included Chau and hedge fund manager Steven Eisman. ...

"Evil Dead" looks bloody good for retro week at box office

Thu, 04 Apr 2013 18:17:44 -0400

By Todd Cunningham LOS ANGELES (TheWrap.com) - It's retro week at the box office. "Evil Dead," a remake of Sam Raimi's gleefully gory 1981 horror classic, and Universal's 3D re-release of Stephen Spielberg's 1993 sci-fi smash "Jurassic Park" are the only two movies opening nationwide this weekend. That means the overall box office, which is running about 13 percent behind 2012, won't do much catching up this weekend. Last year at this time, "The Hunger Games" was about to cross $300 million with a $33 million third weekend. ...

Book Talk: Clive Cussler probes coal country, strikes in new book

Thu, 28 Mar 2013 07:40:05 -0400

By Billy Cheung NEW YORK (Reuters) - Best-selling adventure author Clive Cussler, who published his first book 40 years ago, is still entertaining fans. His newest novel, "The Striker," released this month, has already sold thousands of copies. "The Striker," Cussler's 55th book, follows detective Isaac Bell's investigation into union strikes in early 1900s coal country. It contains many of the hallmarks of his earlier work. The story pits young Bell against another detective and his ruthless sponsor, both bent on fomenting violence between miners and industrialists. ...

"G.I. Joe: Retaliation" review: Saturday morning cartoon writ large

Wed, 27 Mar 2013 16:28:15 -0400

By Alonso Duralde LOS ANGELES (TheWrap.com) - Studio marketers love to call action movies "thrill rides," but here's the thing about thrill rides - they work because they occasionally stop to let you catch your breath before jolting you again. Roller coasters don't just speed downhill for the entire ride; there are climbs and flat parts so that you can scream again all the louder when you take another plunge. That's not what happens in "G.I. ...

"The Croods" reviews: Critics mixed on prehistoric toon

Fri, 22 Mar 2013 15:02:07 -0400

By Brent Lang LOS ANGELES (TheWrap.com) - After the failure of "Rise of the Guardians," DreamWorks Animation desperately needs a hit, so the studio has a lot riding on "The Croods." The prehistoric animated film features the voices of Nicolas Cage and Emma Stone and lands in theaters on Friday. Most critics enjoyed the film, although a few reviewers groused that it failed to achieve the emotional highpoints of classic children's movies like "Toy Story" and "Up." "The Croods" received a respectable 61 percent "fresh" rating on critics aggregator Rotten Tomatoes. ...

"Olympus Has Fallen" review: Where are you, Bruce Willis, now that POTUS needs you?

Thu, 21 Mar 2013 17:41:38 -0400

(Note strong language in last paragraph) By Alonso Duralde LOS ANGELES (TheWrap.com) - As Criticwire recently pointed out, the years after 1988 were littered with "Die Hard" knock-offs, set in or on buses ("Speed"), aircraft carriers ("Under Siege"), hockey arenas ("Sudden Death") and Air Force One ("Air Force One"). A quarter-century later, "Die Hard" finally comes to 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. with "Olympus Has Fallen," a thrilling but dopey action flick that keeps things moving even while it defies logic and slavishly follows the barefoot-Bruce-Willis formula. ...

"Love and Honor" review: Earnest but predictable soldier-in-love tale

Thu, 21 Mar 2013 17:49:37 -0400

By Leah Rozen LOS ANGELES (TheWrap.com) - It is extraordinary how smoothly the Aussies do American accents. Liam Hemsworth ("The Hunger Games") and Teresa Palmer ("Warm Bodies"), two of the young actors holding down leading roles in this banal drama about love and friendship during the Vietnam War era, never once vocally betray their Antipodean origins. That a viewer is paying more attention to the accent in which they say their words than the words themselves is indicative of the wan appeal of "Love and Honor. ...

"From Up on Poppy Hill" review: Teenagers, and a nation, come of age in another Miyazaki triumph

Thu, 21 Mar 2013 20:16:04 -0400

By Alonso Duralde LOS ANGELES (TheWrap.com) - There's no shortage of magic in "From Up on Poppy Hill," although it's not the kind people usually associate with the work of master animator Hayao Miyazaki. His earlier classics gave us a cat-bus ("My Neighbor Totoro"), an ambulatory house ("Howl's Moving Castle") and a pilot turned into a pig ("Porco Rosso"), among other delights. "From Up on Poppy Hill" deals strictly with more human concerns. ...

'Black Rock' review: Woman-hunt tale whose only suspense is waiting for it to get better

Fri, 17 May 2013 18:02:58 -0400

By Alonso Duralde LOS ANGELES (TheWrap.com) - I kept forgiving "Black Rock" for being a so-so action movie because I was waiting for it to turn into something else: a rumination on gender roles, perhaps, or even an examination of the government's ambivalent response to the veterans returning from Iraq and Afghanistan. But no, as it ambled along to its fairly inevitable climax, it was clear that a so-so action movie is all it was ever planning to be. One could argue that waiting for a movie to improve counts as actual suspense, but in this case, that's an exceedingly generous interpretation. ...

'The English Teacher' review: Agile performances elevate this pleasant comedy

Fri, 17 May 2013 17:56:09 -0400

By Leah Rozen LOS ANGELES (TheWrap.com) - "Pleasant" is one of those words that English teachers and editors always put on their verboten lists for aspiring writers as being too vague and namby-pamby. But pleasant is the perfect word with which to describe "The English Teacher," an ingratiating little comedy that aims to please and succeeds at its modest goal. The movie's heroine is Linda Sinclair (Julianne Moore), a 40something English teacher at a high school in Kingston, Pa., a suburban town in northwest Pennsylvania. ...

Review: Musical using Leo Tolstoy a messy thrill

Thu, 16 May 2013 19:14:52 -0400

NEW YORK (AP) — What do you get when you take a 70-page melodrama at the center of "War and Peace" and turn it into a musical? Now layer dance music onto the traditional Russian folk music. Now put it in a tent. While you're at it, throw in a meal and strobe lights.

'Frances Ha' review: A lovable loser, neither coddled nor punished

Thu, 16 May 2013 19:13:27 -0400

By Alonso Duralde LOS ANGELES (TheWrap.com) - Filmmakers are the parents of their characters in more ways than one; artists don't just give birth, they also have to guide their creations through life. Some filmmakers are too quick to punish flaws and to force their children to melt under their judging gaze; others coddle and rationalize, letting their brats run rampant and pretending that their bad behavior is adorable. ...

Review: No passing grade for 'English Teacher'

Thu, 16 May 2013 16:47:43 -0400

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Craig Zisk moves from TV to big screen with the story of a teacher played by Julianne Moore who sleeps with a former student.

US-REVIEW Summary

Thu, 16 May 2013 12:11:00 -0400

Novelist Irvine Welsh spies future in mixed-media BRUSSELS (Reuters) - Electronic publishing is allowing authors to be more creative and the best ones are successfully blending video and online content with traditional text, says cult writer Irvine Welsh. The author of "Trainspotting" and "The Acid House", who has also written short stories and plays, said e-publishing meant writers had to work harder to grab readers' attention in an age when wireless devices are rapidly replacing paperback books. ...

Review: 'Metro: Last Light' a can't-miss shooter

Thu, 16 May 2013 11:47:27 -0400

What are you doing after the apocalypse?

Review: Grant returns gracefully with new album

Thu, 16 May 2013 11:47:40 -0400

Amy Grant, "How Mercy Looks From Here" (Capitol Christian)

Review: 'Metro: Last Light' digs deep under Moscow

Thu, 16 May 2013 08:53:15 -0400

What are you doing after the apocalypse?

Review: Clever 'Stories We Tell' explores memory

Wed, 15 May 2013 21:09:56 -0400

"Stories We Tell" is a documentary about Sarah Polley's family: her father and mother, sister and brother and the sister and brother she has from her mother's first marriage. It's about moments they've shared that are seemingly prosaic and universally relatable, depicted through the grainy, faded nostalgia of Super 8 — splashing in the swimming pool, laughing around the dinner table — as well as the betrayals and losses that shaped and strengthened them.