Booklist Online: Book Reviews from the American Library Association

This past summer I was lucky enough to get a chance to talk to fantasist-turned-romancer Maggie Stiefvater, whose recent book, Shiver, is providing vampire-addicted teens a welcome dose of literary lycanthropic methadone. But just how did the author of seriously ass-kicking faerie tales (Lament, Ballad) turn up the heat and find herself writing books with actual [...]

When I started Book Trailer Thursday back in 1986, I was just a lad with an Apple IIe and a dream. Who could’ve guessed that 1,825 posts later, BTT would be the revered institution that it is today?
Okay, so I’ve only been doing BTT for a few months, but the response has still been darn [...]

It used to hold that one of the reasons you became a writer was that you were the sort who ducked out of photographs and preferred to communicate through quill-written correspondence. These days, though, these Salingeresque avoidance techniques won’t win you much love from your publisher–and probably won’t push many books, either.
So Penguin’s the Screening [...]

Craig Johnson, riding high on the acclaim for the latest book in the Walt Longmire series, The Dark Horse, was in Chicago last Saturday for an appearance at the Printers Row Lit Fest. After his panel, he could be seen enjoying a beer at the Dark Horse Tap and Grille, appropriately enough. While we talked, he sold his [...]

In my interview with fantasy scribe T. A. Barron, he tells how, when he quit his venture capital job to write books, a partner tried to refer him to a therapist. Many striving writers face similar reactions when they make the plunge, and no wonder: it can be a quixotic quest, and all too often [...]

In a former life, I interviewed movie stars. I can tell you what Russell Crowe smells like, what Neve Campbell drinks, and what Ben Kingsley would really rather be talking about. But here’s the main revelation: hanging out with movie stars, as it turns out, is kind of a drag.
Which is why, these days, I [...]

I had a ball chatting with Ingrid Law, and Gillian Engberg seemed thrilled to be talking to Ann Brashares, but for sheer frequency of giggling frivolity, it looks like Ilene Cooper has us beat. She had a pow-wow recently with author Kate DiCamillo and before it’s over they both sound like they’re about to hyperventilate [...]

Booklist’s Gillian Engberg had a sit-down with Ann Brashares of The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants fame, and I’m sure glad she did. For anyone who doubts the amount of serious work that goes into creating such blockbusters, dig Brashares as she discusses the influences of Trollope, Hardy, and Faulkner. Maybe it’s all the practice [...]

On the off chance that you missed it, here’s the interview I did last night:

I was lucky enough to sit down with author Ingrid Law the day before she won a Newbery Honor for her debut novel Savvy–one day later and she would’ve been too busy picking out a starter mansion and adding solid-gold dice to her new Rolls. I kid, of course. Ingrid was as humble and delightful [...]