Bookburger

between the buns with...rachel cohn

Lissenup, rockers...we bring you Rachel Cohn, effortlessly cool multitasking author of the big books The Steps and Gingerbread, as well as new novels Shrimp and (with her co-author Dave) Nick & Norah's Infinite Playlist. We don't know how she found the time, but she stole a second recently to take our famous burger pop quiz....

Who is your favorite writer that most people have never heard of?
Hmm...my tastes aren't all that obscure, I think most of my favorite writers are pretty well known!  I guess I would choose the great writer Dawn Powell, whom I like to describe as "Dorothy Parker, but with a heart."

What kid or teen books rocked your world growing up?
Among picture books, I loved anything Dr. Seuss (but especially "The Ear Book" and "Cat in the Hat"), and among chapter books, I loved (and still love):  HARRIET THE SPY, ARE YOU THERE GOD? IT'S ME, MARGARET, DEENIE, FROM
THE MIXED-UP FILES OF MRS. BASIL E. FRANKWEILER, and anything by Ellen Conford (I guess she would be my favorite YA writer that I'd love kids today to know about).

Describe your ideal place to write.
A dark and lonely cubicle nook, on a rainy day, with my iPod blaring and the rest of the world (outside of my characters) tuned out.

Your life is a TV series. Name the theme song, one event that would be on the "best of" episode, and one that would be on the blooper reel.
The theme song from "And Then There's Maude" would be mine, because (1) it's sung by Donny Hathaway (one of my favorite singers ever), and (2) I'd like to be thought of as a "sister who really cooked."  (For the record, I rarely actually cook.  I am all about the take-out menu.  I do bake on occasion.)

My "best of" episode would be a montage of all the great times spent with family (especially my two sisters) and friends.  The blooper real, sadly, would not be my own - it would be circa many, many years ago, and it would show me and my mom schlepping to the public library to watch the Star Trek (original TV version) blooper real, because back in the olden days before the DVD, that was where you had to go to get your fix of Captain Kirk walking into doors that don't open, or of Mr. Spock flashing an unexpected, non-stoic smile at the camera.

Burger-flippers want to know: have you ever had a job that required you
to wear a geeky uniform? Details, please!
I worked as a front desk clerk at a Hyatt Regency for two days, sort of.  On the first day I wore the uniform jacket.  On the second day I called them and told them I'd eloped to Las Vegas and couldn't make it in to work. I went to see a Mel Gibson movie instead.  (The jacket had everything to do with why I didn't show up the second day.  Also, Mel Gibson, circa 1990.)

We'd like to name a burger in your honor.  What kind of fixins should it have?
I go for a turkey burger (preferably from Barney's in San Francisco) with red onion, tomato and mayo.  Don't forget the fries.

AND...a special Nick & Norah question: what song is at the absolute TOP of your personal playlist right now?
TODAY:  "Spaced Cowboy" by Sly & the Family Stone.
YESTERDAY:  "Get Off the Internet" by Le Tigre.
(And so on.)

PS. burgerites: you can get playlists, podcasts, blogs by the characters, and other key info about Nick & Norah here.

Private!

B-listers!

It has come to our attention that a fab new series has arrived on the scene! Of course we're talking about Kate Brian's latest, Private. It's about a girl who gets a scholarship to a prestigious prep school, falls in with the It Crowd, and discovers that their pretty, pretty faces hide ugly, ugly secrets! (Mwahahaha!) We love it already.

And here's a little secret for YOU, revealed right here on the Grill: Kate Brian is none other than Kieran Scott, who was interviewed on this very site not too long ago! Check out her interview: http://bookburger.typepad.com/bookburger/kieran_scott/index.html

Sounds like the perfect read for those of us who never could wait to get back to school...to hear the gossip.

library thang

Galley Cat just clued us in to this ultra-cool site called LibraryThing. Burgerites, you must check it out. It's like a bookworm orgy over there! Reading junkies, librarians, and other bookpeople basically dish on what they own, and exchange notes with people whose libraries suggest a perfect meeting of the minds. You can spy on who's read what and what they're saying about it. Meg Cabot, for example, gets an average rating of 3.76 out of 5 stars for her combined works, while Rachel Cohn (our next burger interviewee) gets a 4.03.

Also, if you ever felt like you have too many books, you'll be comforted when you see the size of some of these people's collections. The number of trips they must make to Ikea for shelving...that's a heckuva alot of swedish meatballs.

MoFest '06 continues!

If, because of prior commitments, you can't take this year off to go bumming around the globe, sleeping in youth hostels, going a long time between showers, and eating suspect food from street vendors, we bring you the next best thing: Mo Willem's You Can Never Find a Rickshaw When It Monsoons: The World on One Cartoon a Day.  Since, where we live, it's been monsooning like crazy lately, we're feeling like it's time for another sneak peek.

covergirl's so-hot summer

Hi, fellow fans of truth, beauty, and fabulous jackets! It's me, Covergirl, Bookburger's resident book-cover critic, and I want to know: are you wearing sunscreen? what's your spf?  have you bronzed lately? I only ask because, well, it's summer, and these things matter. Looks matter. Books' looks matter, too...at least, if you're like me, and you prefer to judge a book by its cover, instead of slogging your way through all those vocabulary words.

So here's a book that I'm loving right now:
Grab on to Me Tightly As If I Knew the Way by Bryan Charles
This cover has a faux-naive quality I adore. It's really very hip-looking. It's just screaming, "Buy this book, read the flap copy, then display it casually on your table at the local java house while you're on your laptop shopping for cute accessories." Know what I mean? And I mean that in a good way! I'm completely in love with this cover. And, from the flap copy, it sounds kinda good too...so while at the java shop or the beach, I may actually crack this one open.Your book's look is working for you, Bryan.

On the other hand, I will NOT be laying down my hard-earned cash for this one:
It's Godless: The Church of Liberalism by Ann Coulter. Ann, luv, you look silly. All you're missing is a thought balloon above your head that says, Look, I have bazooms! I will now hypnotize you with them and compel you to buy my book!   Come, Annie, we're not thinking about the "The Church of Liberalism" when we look at Godless. No, it's more like the "Church of the Cheesehound in a Black Spandex Top on Her Way to Jazzercize Class at a Gym for Desperate Singles." Sorry, dollface...nice spray-tan, though!

Skin-deeply yrs,

Covergirl

lisapapa's a bestseller!

Guess what? Bookburger's own lisapapa has been on the New York Times children's books bestseller list...for like three weeks now!  We have been in the presence of a NYT-bestselling author, burgerites...and we didn't even know it! Her book Rani in the Mermaid Lagoon is apparently being snapped up by fairy-loving readers everywere. Congrats, lovely Lisa, on becoming NYT-bestselling Lisa!

mo' mo

It's Wednesday afternoon. The middle of the week, and here at the burger we're feeling quite...middling. We wish we could take a plane to somewhere exotic, but instead, we'll be going to  the dermatologist. Is your Wednesday feeling equally blah? Let's feast our eyes on another cool drawing from Mo Willem's globe-trotting new book You Can Never Find a Rickshaw When it Monsoons.  It's like a mini vacation!

peace, love and free books

we have so many giveaways coming up at the burger, it verges on the ridiculous. Heck, just in the last 18 hours, we've given away 5 signed copies of Kieran Scott's Brunettes Strike Back to brand-new B-listers Jennifer, Lauren, Trisha, Lanae, and Adrianne. Congrats, lovelies. We're also giving away audio versions of E Lockhart's Fly on the Wall and Ally Carter's I'd Tell You I Love You But Then I'd Have to Kill You (the title alone will cost us extra postage!). We'll announce those winners in the next mailing of the B-list, this weekend. Still tons o' time to sign up and enter to win...

How do the contests work? We simply choose a person from our B-List, using a superscientific online random number generator (really!). Every time we mail a bulletin, you have a chance to win! Coming up, we'll be giving away lots more...from a sexy MJ Rose number to hilarious beauty wisdom from Rachel Weingarten's Hello Gorgeous to the wacky wiccan tell-all Confessions of a Teenage Witch. 

We officially declare this the summer of free books.

between the buns with...kieran scott

Hold the pickles, people! It's time for another author to get grilled by the burger...and this time, it's Kieran Scott, author of the beloved (by us non-blonde ex-cheerleaders) I Was a Non-Blonde Cheerleader and its new sequel Brunettes Strike Back.  So let's do a celebratory herkie (don't freak--it's a jump--see left) then hand the megaphone off to Kieran as she takes the famed burger pop quiz...

Who is your favorite writer that most people have never heard of? 

Wow. You started me off with a tough one. I am blissfully unaware of what other people have or have not heard of. Isn't that awful? But I'll give you one author I love who hasn't had a new book in a while and who young readers therefore might not know about. Barbara Kingsolver. Love everything she has ever written.

What kid or teen books rocked your world growing up?

I couldn't get enough of Little House on the Prairie and Anne of Green Gables. I loved The Secret Garden and The Endless Steppe. Later it was Sweet Valley High, and then somehow I jumped directly to Stephen King. I still don't know how that happened. The Talisman remains one of my favorite books to this day.

Describe your ideal place to write.

A screened in porch overlooking a lake or the ocean. I like to be by the water. I'd have a big, comfy chair and a huge desk with a flat screen monitor in front of me and a puppy at my feet. No matter where I looked I'd be able to see water. Ah, someday . . . . For right now, my cozy little office with its Caribbean-ocean-colored walls and great sunlight will do. I'm working on getting the puppy.

Your life is a TV series. Name the theme song, one event that would be on the "best of" episode, and one that would be on the blooper reel.

The theme song would be "Walking on Sunshine" by Katrina and the Waves. One event that would definitely be on the "best of" episode would be the moment right after our eighth grade musical when I had to give a "thank you speech" to the music director, who had made all our lives a living hell. I sort of coyly put him in his place while saying thank you at the same time and everyone in the audience and cast laughed. I still smile when I think about it. I mean, he was an ADULT! And we were in PUBLIC! But he deserved it and I think he knew it. For a blooper I would have to say . . . there are so many moment so choose from . . . . Okay, in college I had this boyfriend who was in a fraternity. One night my friends and I went to a party at his frat and there was this long line. A few of his brothers were on the porch and they saw me and waved me down. They were like, "Come around! You don't have to wait!" So of course everyone on line gave me these looks of death and I felt SO COOL. I knew the brothers! I was cutting in line! Look at me! Look at me! So I cockily told all my friends to follow me and started across the yard, where my ankle promptly caught on this low chain-fence thing and I flew forward and landed directly on my face. Hard. Until that moment I never really understood how someone could actually fall ON their face. I always figured your hands would have to break your fall. Not the case. It hurt like you would not believe and EVERYONE was laughing at me. I seriously could not have scripted it better.

Burger-flippers want to know: have you ever had a job that required you to wear a geeky uniform? Details, please!

Oh, you have no idea. I worked at the Disney Store back in college. This was when working at the Disney Store required a girl to wear the following, (ahem): White sneakers, flesh-colored stockings, knee-length gray polyester pleated skirt, pink button down shirt, over-sized teal varsity sweater with a big M on it. Plus the nametag. Oh, and minimal makeup and jewelry. This on a girl with short hair and no chest? Very androgynous and not at all attractive. In high school I did a stint at Haagen Dazs with the white polo shirt, tan pants, burgundy apron and black baseball cap, but that wasn't quite as bad.

We'd like to name a burger in your honor. What kind of fixins should it have?

American cheese, bacon, lots of ketchup, red onions and lettuce. Let no pickle touch my burger lest you wish to feel the full scope of my wrath!

 

 

TESTING SCROLL INTO VIEW

a monday-morning mo willem moment

We happen to be huge fans of Don't Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus, mostly because certain 4-year-olds in our aquaintance giggle uncontrollably whenever this popular picture book is opened in their presence. So when we heard that Mo Willems, the artist behind the pigeon, had put out a book of his travel drawings, You Can Never Find a Rickshaw When It Monsoons - The World on One Cartoon a Day, aimed at big-kid readers (like me and you), we were instantly curious. The drawings were done when he was just out of school and bumming around the globe, and they're totally charming and interesting.  The burger has secured some of the book's cartoons...and we're gonna be laying 'em on you, burgerites. Here's the first one, for your Monday morning pleasure:
 

branded book guys fight back!

So remember Cathy's Book, the novel we posted about below? You know, the one whose characters got free Cover Girl Cosmetics makeovers, courtesy of their creators' promotional deal with that brand? Well, it"s kinda been getting slammed--and not just from us small fry here at the burger. Commercial Alert, a self-styled watchdog group, even sent out 350 emails to book reviewers, telling them to ignore the book.

Cathy's publisher David Steinberger had this to say in Publishers Weekly:

"It's always disappointing when people feel the appropriate response is to suggest that a book be banned, boycotted, or not read," he told PW. For its part, Perseus has issued its own press release, also sent to book reviewers, stating its displeasure about the situation. Echoing Steinberger's sentiments, the release reiterates the quality of the book and calls it "a terrific cutting-edge YA novel that deserves to be read and judged on its own merits."

We couldn't agree more, Dave. We're not going to burn this book, or ban it. On the other hand, we can't promise we'll read the whole thing, either. I'm thinking we'll just skim, highlighting the good parts in Brazen Raisin (our fave All Day Lipcolor by Cover Girl, of course!).

big goings-on...

over at Sarah Mlynowski's place. Check this out: her latest book hit the shelves yesterday (Frogs & French Kisses...we happen to love both!), she's edited a chick-lit anthology called Girls' Night Out that looks like it's going to get lots of girls to spend the night in...reading.  She's partying all over NYC to launch her new books, and...we think she's running for president (see ya, Hilary!) Oh wait a sec, she's Canadian...maybe she can't be president. But hey, Sarah, the phrase "madame prime minister" does have a nice ring...

So we're sitting here drinking our STARBUCKS blended coffee drink...

...trying to get over our Rocky Mountain jetlag and scanning the papers, when BOING! this weird story about paid product placement hits us. You may have read about it, but if you didn't, you should know that there's this new YA title coming out in August, Cathy's Book, and its authors, Sean Stewart and Jordan Weisman, have been paid "in kind" by Procter & Gamble--they'll mention Cover Girl cosmetics products in their novel, and in return, P&G will promote their books.

In one product-placement example given in the NY Times article, Stewart and Weisman switched a character's brand of lip color from Clinique to Cover Girl. Come on, burgerites, we all know that there's a  big diff between those two..Clinique says one thing about a person (shops a bit upscale, cares about healthy skin) and Cover Girl says an entirely different thing (shops at drugstores, likes to have the latest shades). So, in our minds, despite what they say in the article, the novelists really HAVE agreed to change characterizations to please their marketing partners.

Um...we're all for authors getting paid and promoted...but are we alone in finding this just a step or two over the sleaze line? (Oh and BTW, bookburger's own Covergirl does NOT get paid by Cover Girl. However she would consider offers from MAC or Chanel.)

see you in a few...

hey, we're in colorado! it's too beautiful to be inside! we'll be on a rocky mountain high for a few days, burgerites...talk to you in a bit!

would YOUR life make good TV?

Sure, you like reading about all these spy girls and pool boys and such,  but hey, your life is full of drama too, right? So say your life story was made into a TV drama: would viewers be glued to the screen or reaching for the remote? This quick quiz we designed on a supercool quiz-making site will tell you.

cueball chic

The short story collection you see here, Human Oddities, is featured as a top pick in this month's Seventeen mag, which just happens to be the hair issue...and that (as your brilliant burger-flipper failed to notice until author Noria Jablonski pointed it out to us) is just a tad ironic, considering the Chris-Daughtry-esque look sported by the book's cover model (who is, oddly, not human).

The stories, by the way, have been compared to Mary Gaitskill's, and if you haven't read her stories, they're beautiful and more than a bit naughty. So here's another pick that will NOT be on your teacher's summer reading list...

between the buns with...ally carter

Hey you. It's time for another awesome author to brave our ridiculous burger pop quiz...this week's fearless, fabulous guest is Ally Carter, who took time out from her busy sched promoting her new one, I'd Tell You I Love You But Then I'd Have to Kill You....which we hear has Hollywood knocking and will probably be coming to a theater near you soon...but enough of our blabber--here's Ally!

Who is your favorite writer that most people have never heard of?

About the best YA novel that I’ve read in a long time was by Megan Shull and it’s called Amazing Grace.  I don’t know how many people have heard of her—hopefully a lot—but it bears repeating. 

I also love Dennis Lehane—he wrote Mystic River and a bunch of insanely good mysteries for older readers.  He never disappoints, and I worship him. 

Girls’ Poker Night by Jill A. Davis is another favorite of mine.  Burger-flippers are well-aware of E. Lockhart, I know, but The Boyfriend List is one of my faves as well.

Oh, and there are these books about this boy wizard…I can’t remember what they’re called…but those rock, too.

What kid or teen books rocked your world growing up?

My favorite book ever is To Kill a Mockingbird—always has been, always will be.  When I was younger I’d occasionally go through a Nancy Drew phase, but honestly (and a part of me hates to admit this) I wasn’t a huge reader (picture Ally ducking as readers, teachers, and librarians throw things). 

I was outside a lot and had a very active imagination.  When I found a great book I’d read it a hundred times—seriously.  But, to be honest, I don’t think YA fiction was as good then as it is now.  Now, I can’t get enough of it.

Describe your ideal place to write.

I’m a laptop and notebook girl, so I can (and do) write anywhere and everywhere.  Probably my two favorite places are at my dining room table and also at a small, secluded desk in a deserted corner of my local library—no internet, no phone.  When I have a serious deadline, that’s where you’ll find me.

Your life is a TV series. Name the theme song, one event that would be on the "best of" episode, and one that would be on the blooper reel.

Oh my gosh, I have such a music inferiority complex, you can’t even imagine.  So while I want to answer this question, I’m terrified to, because I know that anything I’d say would be so incredibly uncool.  Do you think the Burger-flippers can nominate theme songs for me?  I need all the help I can get. 

A s for the series itself, the “best of” episode would absolutely have to include the day my first book, CHEATING AT SOLITAIRE, came out.  I was in New York, meeting with my editors and publicists for I’D TELL YOU I LOVE YOU BUT THEN I’D HAVE TO KILL YOU.  It was so glamorous and very official.  Then I went to a bookstore to see my book on real shelves for the first time.  It was a great day.

For the blooper reel I see a montage of very unfortunate hair styles.

Burger-flippers want to know: have you ever had a job that required you to wear a geeky uniform? Details, please!

No.  Not really.  But I can tell you that I grew up on a farm, so while other high school kids were sacking groceries and waiting tables I was baling hay and working cows, so my uniform was jeans and shorts and t-shirts with big floppy hats to keep me from becoming a human French fry.  Do big floppy hats count?  They were very big and very floppy if that counts for anything.

We'd like to name a burger in your honor.  What kind of fixins should it have?

A burger?  For ME?  I’m thrilled.

It must have both mayo and mustard—that’s key.  And lettuce, pickles, and swiss cheese.  Okay now I’m hungry.  This is all your fault!

Covergirl reporting for duty!

Hi gorgeous readers! Covergirl here with another book review. I mean book cover review...because judging a book by its cover is just easier. I'm a very busy gal.

So here's a book I won't be buying:

It's Kingdom Hearts, Vol 3 by Shiro Amano. Really, what's going on here? Are my favorite Disney characters wired up on cartoon crank? And if so, do they have rehab in the Magic Kingdom? I adore manga as much as the next slightly geeky girl, but messing with Goofy, Tweety, and Ariel is not OK.  Cease and desist, Mr. Shiro Amano. Invent your own bug-eyed critters, and get your hands off my preschool obsessions!

I will absolutely be buying this book:

It's Inside the Mind of Gideon Rayburn by Sarah Miller. The cover breasts look to be size 34B...just like mine. These bazooms are the ideal accessories for any outfit and every occasion! Who cares what Gideon Rayburn thinks about them..I think they're perfect. And that makes me want to own this book. Congrats on your boobalicious cover, Sarah, and may your novel be a bust-out success!

Superficially yrs,

Covergirl

space exploration

In a post about Hillary Carlip, author of the memoir Queen of the Oddballs, the book publishing blog Galley Cat reports that there's lots of authors "playing" on myspace. Burgerites can feel smug knowing that we have been grooving on myspace since the dark ages, practically (well, for six months, anyhow) Hey, welcome to the party, Galley Cat!

A site we like

Feel like gabbing about books, movies, music with some muy simpatico people? We found a whole bunch of em hanging at KL Going's forums. You know KL...author of Fat Kid Rules the World. We loved that book! And we like the forum, which is a great sort of hidden nook where you can chat happily with other cool gals and not have to contend with giant nudie bazooms and other hazards of the web...