In a blog post for Newcity Lit college professor Monica Westin discusses the recent popularity of zombie books and questions the value of literary mash-ups like Pride and Prejudice and Zombies and Pride and Prejudice: Dawn of the Dreadfuls. The fact that many of these books have been bestsellers proves that they are obviously entertaining, but does this zombie trend have meaning beyond that? The proliferation of zombie tales of late could be owed in part to the novelty of experiencing characters that are primarily depicted in films or video games in print. Westin attributes most of the modern mythology and code of zombie behavior to George Romero’s Night of the Living Dead film franchise. Through the years, Romero and other fellow horror directors, have used the undead to symbolize cultural fears that range from the spread of communism to globalized viral epidemics. However, Westin argues that when zombies are introduced into a classic piece of literature, “the meaning of the original book often gets lost or marginalized with the addition of a monster plotline.” Read more…

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Boardwalk Empire, the HBO series set on the Atlantic City boardwalk during the 1920′s, garnered rave reviews from its first airing and boasts some of Hollywood’s top talent. Along with the contributions of director Martin Scorsese, writer Terence Winter and actor Steve Buscemi, the valuable skills of a local librarian were called upon to help authenticate the details of Prohibition-era Atlantic City. Heather Halpin Perez, an archivist for the historical Alfred M. Heston Collection at the Atlantic City Free Public Library, was contacted by the show’s lead researcher. “I was one of the historical consultants who was working at providing details about some of the sets and costumes,” she tells American Libraries. The series, which centers around Nucky Thompson, a fictionalized version of real-life crime boss Enoch “Nucky” Johnson, combines fiction with historical fact, and draws on the library’s archives to accurately re-create set pieces such as newspapers and boardwalk attractions. Read more…

Benedict Cumberbatch (left) and Martin Freeman (right) play Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson in modern day interpretation "Sherlock".

Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s archetypal detective Sherlock Holmes has been portrayed countless time on the small and big screen, most notably by Basil Rathbone and Jeremy Brett. But the new television series with a minimalist title, Sherlock, trades in the lace curtains of Victorian drawing rooms for the gritty streets of modern day London and puts a 21st Century spin on the beloved character. “It seemed to somehow make it a bit less reverent and a bit more fun,” show co-creator Steven Moffat tells NPR. “Much as we love Sherlock Holmes, we love Victoriana. Many of the adaptations become about the period as opposed to about the story.” The BBC show, which has been building quite a buzz in Britain, will begin airing in the U.S. on PBS’s Masterpiece on Sunday, October 24. Read more…

Screenshots from "Dracula: The Official Stoker Family Edition" interactive eBook app for the iPad.

A thoroughly modern approach to Bram Stoker’s classic spooky tale, Dracula, makes its debut on Apple’s App Store today, just in time for Halloween. Dracula: The Official Stoker Family Edition, a fully interactive eBook, blends nearly 300 pages of text with 600 illustrations and implements the iPad’s touch screen functionality to create a user experience similar to video game play. Readers can use a lantern to light up words on a page, reveal information on tombstones by blowing away leaves and use their virtual blood to uncover hidden messages. The interactive book was developed by Padworx Digital Media using the company’s proprietary game engine. “It really is a different kind of reading experience,” Jeffrey Schechter of Padworx Digital Media tells USA TODAY. “…Not only can we do everything other interactive books can do, but we can also bring in 3-D graphics and game-play elements.” Read more…

By Lee Child
Delacorte Press | 400pgs
Release Date: October 19, 2010

Summary:
Former military policeman Jack Reacher returns in Worth Dying For, the 15th book of Lee Child’s bestselling Reacher series. On the move again after narrowly escaping the deadly events of the previous novel 61 Hours, the battle-scarred hero finds himself in a small town in Nebraska. There, Reacher encounters a scene very different from the idealized mid-western farming communities. The Duncan clan, a small time crime family specializing in smuggling and human trafficking runs the town, and a confrontation with one of the members puts Reacher directly in their cross hairs. When he learns of a years-old case involving a missing eight-year-old girl, his deepening investigation puts the arrival of one of the Duncans’ valuable shipments in jeopardy. The family may be small fish in a big pond, but their partners who are in want of the shipment, are vicious sharks. In order to find justice for the long lost child and stop the Duncans’ intimidation of the town, the wandering hero must square off with a pack of the clan’s well-muscled henchmen, recruited directly from the defensive line of the University of Nebraska football team. Read more…

Stieg Larsson’s Millennium Trilogy starring the brilliant and enigmatic computer hacker Lisbeth Salander has the taken world by storm. Now, his father Erland, and brother Joakim are scheduled to appear on CBS Sunday Morning this Sunday to share details of a fourth book in the series. After Larsson’s death in 2004, it was revealed that a manuscript for a fourth installment existed, and rumors began to fly about how much of it he was able to develop before being felled by a heart attack. According to an article on the Los Angeles Times website, Erland claims to have seen and held the manuscript. His brother also speaks of receiving an e-mail mere days before the author’s death in which he writes of nearing completion of the book. Read more…

Mad Men, the hit show centered around an advertising firm in the 1960′s has inspired more than a love for retro fashion and classic cocktails over lunch. It was also the impetus for the “Mad Men Reading List”, created by Billy Parrott, manager of the Battery Park City branch of the New York Public Library. The list includes all the books read by characters in the series. “I love the show,” says Parrott in an interview with the New York Daily News. “And being a librarian, I always take note when someone’s reading something.” The list, which is featured on the library’s blog as well as on Twitter under the name batteryparkcity, is becoming quite popular with patrons. “Now, the day after the show, people come in and start asking about stuff.” Read more…

By Ron Chernow
Penguin Press HC | 904pgs
Release Date: October 5, 2010

Summary:
Award-winning author Ron Chernow delves into the life of another iconic figure of American history in Washington: A Life. George Washington, the most revered of our nation’s founders, is portrayed as a man of volatile temper, deep passions and incredible political genius. Drawing on vast amounts of historical research, Chernow goes beyond the fables of cherry trees and wooden teeth to show a living, breathing human being rather than a two-dimensional reference in a history book. The tome spans the entirety of Washington’s life, following his difficult childhood, victories as a young soldier in the French and Indian War, participation in the Constitutional Convention, and his terms as the first President of the United States. Chernow also sheds light on Washington’s personal relationships, touching on his youthful romance with Sally Fairfax, the prickly relationship with his mother, and his marriage to Martha. The author examines the first President’s interior life through all of his professional and personal challenges and triumphs and reveals him to be a man of “deep feelings” who struggles to control his emotions throughout his life. Read more…

"Gross-out" books like "SweetFarts" and "Zombie Butts from Uranus" that pander to base humor, do not effectively encourage literacy.

In an article for the Wall Street Journal, Thomas Spence addresses the worrying literacy gender gap between American boys and girls and suggests some measures parents can take to help instill the value of reading in their young sons. Spence cites statistics from a recent Center on Education Policy report that shows “substantially more boys than girls score below the proficiency level on the annual National Assessment of Educational Progress reading test.” This discrepancy, which emerged in 1992, spans all ethnic and economic strata. Currently some states have recorded scores that show the reading proficiency of boys trails that of girls by more than ten percentage points. What are we to do about this problem? Well, the answer is not, according to Spence, sinking to the level of young boys and enticing them with “gross-out” stories and humor about bodily functions. Read more…