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…

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…

"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…

In recognition of Banned Books Week, the Los Angeles Times published a list of the top 10 most-challenged books of 2009 and the highly acclaimed children’s book And Tango Makes Three garnered a spot near the top of the list, yet again. Authors Justin Richardson and Peter Parnell tell the touching true story of two male penguins in New York City’s Central Park Zoo who nurture an adopted egg and hatch their little daughter Tango. This picture book, aimed at preschool–2nd grade age children has oft been maligned as promoting a gay agenda, which is the reason for the challenges. In an age where “family values” are constantly decried, it is disappointing that some would want to deprive children of an uplifting story about a loving family because of outdated prejudices. Read more…

Earlier this month, the Stockton school board in Missouri ruled in favor of upholding their April decision to ban a book from the 9-12 grade curriculum. The book in question, The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie, is about the experiences of a teenage boy living on a Native American reservation and attending a primarily white high school. The book has themes of hope and survival, touches on violence and racism, and also contains sexual references and profanity. It is these latter elements that have some parents and school board members up in arms, forcing the ban, despite objections from faculty, students and the community at large. A series of articles on the News-Leader website do an admirable job of condemning the ban, highlighting the school board’s shortsightedness and emphasizing the freedom to read. Despite (or perhaps because of) the controversy, the book has obviously struck a chord with young readers. “This book in a nutshell is my hope,” states Stockton senior Dakota Freeze at the recent hearing. “It’s not about giving up. It’s about not letting people tell you you’re not worth it.” Read more…

This week marks the first anniversary of In the Stax! A very big Thank You to those who contributed to the blog over the past year, with great book reviews and enlightening comments. We appreciate your support, and hope you’ll continue to contribute in the year to come. Also, thank you to all the readers out there who have visited the site. It is our goal to provide useful and interesting information to book lovers of all ages. Hopefully, we’ve helped some of you find your next great read!

Nearly a century after the Titanic sank on its ill-fated maiden journey in 1912, a new theory about the cause of the iceberg collision has been brought forth. Novelist Louise Patten, granddaughter of Charles Lightoller, who served as the Titanic’s Second Officer, blames an error committed by the steersman. In an interview with The Independent, Patten explains that sailing ships and steam ships used different steering systems during that era. Each system was the complete opposite of the other. “So a command to turn ‘hard a-starboard’ meant turn the wheel right under one system and left under the other…The steersman panicked and the real reason why Titanic hit the iceberg, which has never come to light before, is because he turned the wheel the wrong way.” In another interview published by Reuters, Patten also blames J. Bruce Ismay, chairman of White Star Line, the company that owned the Titanic, for pushing the captain to continue sailing, causing the ship to sink hours faster than if it had stood still. Read more…

English professor Yunte Huang unravels the true story behind the creation of Charlie Chan, the Chinese detective of books and film who has alternately entertained and offended the American public. Charlie Chan: The Untold Story of the Honorable Detective and His Rendezvous with American History (W.W. Norton & Co., 354pgs) follows four main story threads, the first being Chang Apana, the real man on which author E.D. Biggers based the fictional Chan. Apana was a Chinese detective who worked in Honolulu during the late 19th and early 20h centuries, catching criminals with his signature bullwhip. The second thread focuses on Biggers’ story, a small town boy from Ohio who graduated from Harvard and went on to create one of detective noir’s most prominent characters. The third thread centers around Chan’s incarnation on film and the insidious racial stereotypes that Hollywood propagated. Lastly, the author discusses “Chan’s haunting presence during the era of postmodern politics and ethnic pride in contemporary America.” Read more…

Portrait of Roald Dahl, 1954. By Carl Van Vechten.

Yesterday, marked author Roald Dahl’s 94th birthday and was the kick off day for a month of activities in Britain planned in honor of this giant of children’s literature. Though Dahl died in 1990 from leukemia, his body of work, which includes James and the Giant Peach and Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, remains wildly popular among kids and adults. Roald Dahl Day was initially launched on September 13, 2006 to commemorate his 90th birthday, but the outpouring of public affection for the writer and his stories has turned the event into a month-long celebration. “We thought it was going to be a one-off celebration but, because the previous years have been so successful, we can’t stop,” Felicity Dahl, the author’s widow, explains to The Guardian. “Roald was a great believer in birthdays being filled with treats, so he would be so happy that this tradition seems to be becoming an annual event.” Read more…