Weekly book agenda: personal ads, 'Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter'
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Your support makes all the difference.February 2 marks the release of a second "greatest hits" collection of personal ads taken from the London Review of Books. Out a month later, Seth Grahame-Smith of Pride and Prejudice and Zombies adds a vampire twist to the life of former US president Abe Lincoln.
International Comics Festival in Angoulême
January 28-31
Angoulême, France
The International Comics Festival in Angoulême is the largest event of its kind in Europe. The 37th edition, which began January 28, features a Manga Building, an exhibition of Russian comics, and an International Encounters Forum. An annual highlight is the 24-hour Comic Strip Contest, in which contestants create 24-page comic books in the 24 hours before the festival begins. General entrance fees are €14 per day, or €30 for all four days.
http://www.bdangouleme.com/
New Delhi World Book Fair
January 30 - February 7
New Delhi, India
India's publishing industry, the third largest for English books after the US and UK, has been featured in recent years as guest of honor at the 2006 Frankfurt Book Fair, Market Focus of the 2009 London Book Fair, and guest country at the 2009 Moscow International Book Fair. The National Book Trust of India has organized the New Delhi World Book Fair since 1972 to integrate the Indian publishing world with the global market. The theme of the 2010 fair, in honor of the Commonwealth Games, is "Reading Our Common Wealth: An International Rights Exhibition of the Books on Sports in India."
http://www.nbtindia.org.in/
Blio software
February
International
A highlight among the e-reader software and devices presented at the 2010 Consumer Electronics Show, the Blio e-reading software will be available for free download in February to most internet-enabled devices. Blio displays books as PDFs in exactly the same layout and design as they appear in print, including color. Other features include 3D page turns, a text-to-speech function, and ability to store books online and download them for offline reading. The platform is being released through a partnership with book distributor Baker & Taylor (B&T), which will reportedly contribute 180,000 titles to the Blio bookstore.
'Lunch in Paris: A Love Story, With Recipes'
February 1
International
Lunch in Paris is likely to follow the success of memoirs such as Eat, Pray, Love and Under the Tuscan Sun, mixing in observations on French culture and food à la Julie & Julia. In this title, blogger and journalist (her stories have appeared in The New York Times, International Herald Tribune, and Wired) Elizabeth Bard tells the story of her decision to move to Paris, where she is "plunged into a world of bustling open-air markets, hipster bistros, and size 2 femmes fatales." Accompanying the story are recipes for summer ratatouille, swordfish tartare, and molten chocolate cakes, to name a few. Lunch in Paris is a Barnes & Noble "Discover Great New Writers" pick for Spring 2010.
'Sexually, I'm More of a Switzerland'
February 2
International
This collection is a follow-up to the popular 2006 title They Call Me Naughty Lola: Personal Ads from the London Review of Books (LRB). In Sexually, I'm More of a Switzerland, editor David Rose gathers a second round of the most hilarious and creative personal ads from the publication where he is advertising director. For a sampling of what the book has to offer, visit the LRB personal ads Twitter feed: http://twitter.com/LRBpersonals.
'Point Omega' by Don DeLillo
February 2/March 5
North America/UK
American author Don Delillo, born in 1936, is a central figure in contemporary literature, known for works such as White Noise that satirize postmodern society. The short novel Point Omega, which follows 2007's Falling Man, will be published on February 2 in North America (Scribner), and on March 5 in the UK (Picador). An early short description reads: "A young filmmaker visits the desert home of a secret war advisor in the hopes of making a documentary. The situation is complicated by the arrival of the older man's daughter, and the narrative takes a dark turn."
Best Translated Book Award shortlist
February 16
Rochester, NY, USA
Three Percent, a resource for international literature based at the University of Rochester, USA, is due to announce its finalists for the Best Translated Book Award. In order to be considered, books must have been published in the US in English translation between December 1, 2008 and November 30, 2009. Authors from 23 different countries writing in 17 different languages are on the 25-title longlist, including Orhan Pamuk (Turkey), Robert Walser (Austria), and Roberto Bolaño (Chile), and lesser-known authors Wolf Haas (Austria), Ferenc Barnas (Hungary), and Cao Naiqian (China). Winners will be announced in March, date TBD.
http://www.rochester.edu/College/translation/threepercent/
'Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter' by Seth Grahame-Smith
March 2
International
Seth Grahame-Smith is the author of the runaway hit Pride and Prejudice and Zombies, now on its way to becoming a feature film. In Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter, he uses the same mashup of history and horror in a retelling of the life of Abraham Lincoln, beginning when the one-day US president learns at an early age that his mother was killed by a supernatural predator.
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