I just finished reading Michael Crichton’s Next. Unlike many of his previous novels, Next is not ready-made for a movie. In fact, it was a somewhat jarring reading experience in that the main character is… indiscernible. There are so many characters and settings flopping around, it is difficult to latch on to any. Truly, several times I found myself flipping backwards to remind myself who a character was. The ‘villain’, in as much as there is one, disappears for over a hundred pages before reasserting himself into the story. Oddly enough, he was one of the...

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Amazon, the almighty online distributor, has plans in the works to release and publish book titles. AmazonEncore, Amazon's newly established and "traditional" publishing company will be focused on re-releasing books from other major publishing companies that are currently out of print. Their first publication will be the novel Legacy, which was written by a young teenager named Cayla Kluver. Legacy was a bronze medalist in the 2008 Moonbeam Children's Book Awards, a finalist in Young Adult Fiction in the National Best Books Awards 2008, and is sponsored by USA Book News. Legacy will be re-published as a hardcover edition sometime in August 2009. Legacy,...

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Lookin' to get more literary knowledge while in San Francisco? Or just want to get to know more literary lovers in the city? When in San Francisco, be sure to attend these festivals. 1. Bay Area Anarchist Book Fair The Bay Area Anarchist Book Fair started when Bound Together, an anarchist collective bookstore, wanted to celebrate their 20th anniversary. Around 40 anarchist authors and publishers attended as vendors, displaying their works. Fourteen years later, the Anarchist Book Fair is still going strong with this year's affair happening on May 14 and 15 at the SF Country Fair Building at Golden Gate Park. 2....

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NAIBA, or the New Atlantic Independent Booksellers Association, has started a new program rightfully named the NAIBA Notables, which casts one worthy independent book a month in the limelight. NAIBA executive director Eileen Dengler commented, "In a marketplace where books are sold everywhere, a little support each month on a very worthy title will remind publishers and consumers where the best books are sold.” NAIBA plans to do just that, show readers which independent books are the best reads and where they can be found. The first few books featured will be chosen by the board to get the program started. However,...

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