Monday, May 23, 2011

Super Sad True Book Video

Thanks to the book-trade daily email Shelf Awareness (www.shelf-awareness.com) for this heads-up:

Hilarious book trailer of the day: Super Sad True Love Story by Gary Shteyngart (Random House). The trailer for the hardcover edition starred James Franco; this one, for the paperback, stars Paul Giamatti as Shteyngart's roommate, who goes with the author to a book club meeting in Shteyngart's honor. The meeting is a super sad love story.

Sunday, May 22, 2011

Regulator’s Top Ten Bestsellers Week May 15-21

1. The Wilder Life by Wendy McClure
This is McClure’s deeply heartfelt, frequently hilarious tale of her quest to recreate the world of Laura Ingalls Wilder once and for all.

2. Neverisms by Mardy Grothe
A book of quotations of things you should never do, or never never do. A delight for quotation lovers and language aficionados.

3. F in Exams by Richard Benson
A short excerpt from this graduation gift of poorly answered exam questions:

Biology Exam Question: What is a fibula?
Answer: A little lie.
Math Exam Question: To change centimeters to meters you_____.
Answer: Take out the centi

4. The Dry Grass of August by Anna Jean Mayhew
North Carolina author writes a story set in 1950s South.

5. Butterfly’s Child by Angela Davis-Gardner
Local author's latest novel. "The kind of book you sink into, becoming so transfixed by the story that you cannot help devouring it in just a few sittings. Davis-Gardner has created a masterful novel and an engaging read."—Charlotte Observer

6. What Happened to Goodbye by Sarah Dessen
Chapel Hill native and YA rockstar's latest book!

7. Bossypants by Tina Fey
Super funny star of 30 Rock. Who can resist those man arms?

8. Cooking in the Moment by Andrea Reusing
Owner of the Lantern Restaurant here in Chapel Hill, who just won the James Beard award!

9. Super Sad True Love Story by Gary Shteyngart
A funny book about the financial crisis from this bestselling author.

10. The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot
Who was the woman behind the immortal Hela cells now studied by scientists the world over?

Monday, May 16, 2011

We get Wilder than ever!

Wednesday night the Wilder Life wagon train rolls into town, as Wendy McClure discusses her new book The Wilder Life: My Adventures in the Lost World of Little House on the Prairie.

What is it about these books that people are still fascinated by them 75 years after they were first written? (I've secretly wanted to go on a vacation to the Dakotas ever since I read these books to my own daughter almost 20 years ago). And who was Laura Ingalls Wilder anyway?

Wendy McClure became obsessed with Laura and the whole Little House thing, and luckily for the rest of us "lesser obsessives" she did something about her obsession.

The Chicagoist web site says "In The Wilder Life McClure brings her readers on a journey in which she discovers the lost world of Little House on the Prairie as untarnished and delightful as it ever was, despite the pieces that have rusted, disappeared or been replaced with time."

Whether you prefer the Prairie or the Big Woods...Wendy McClure, Wednesday night at 7:00 here at The Regulator.
Tom Campbell

Thursday, May 12, 2011

Mardy Grothe's Neverisms

"Never underestimate the powers of a reader." - Wallace Bacon.

Just one of many "Neverisms" Mardy Grothe has collected in his latest book, Neverisms: A Quotation Lover's Guide to Things You Should Never Do, Never Say, or Never Forget. Mardy will be here next Thursday at the Regulator! Craig Wilson in USA Today reviews the book, saying: "Never is a great word. It's so final. There are no gray areas with never. It's the exact opposite of spineless maybe."

Also, check out Mardy's post with Neverisms and pictures of the neverists he quotes at the Huffington Post.

Monday, May 2, 2011

Patricia Wells on Tuesday, Gary Shteyngart on Wednesday

From Paris and Provence to Ninth Street! The award-winning cookbook author Patricia Wells will be at the bookshop Tuesday night with her newest book, Salad as a Meal: Healthy Main Dish Salads for Every Season.

And Wednesday night (for something completely different) we host one of my absolutely favorite current novelists, Gary Shteyngart, celebrating the paperback release of his recent novel, Super Sad True Love Story.
Super Sad... (it's not, really) is set in a dystopian near future where the U.S. is bankrupt, everyone walks around wearing i-phones on steroids that broadcast all their intimate details to everyone around them (and to the government as well), and no-one reads anything longer than an email. Wandering through this not so brave new world is one Lenny Abramov, a fan of "printed bound artifacts" (books), who has fallen in love (how retro...) with a Korean-American woman named Eunice Park.

It's Woody Allen meets George Orwell, with an extra dash of Russian fabulism. Super Sad True Love Story was named a "Best Book" on more than forty 2010 year-end lists-and that doesn't count mine. David Mitchell calls the book "An intoxicating brew of keen-edged satire, social prophecy, linguistic exuberance, and emotional wallop."

Come meet a great writer--and a real live wire--Gary Shteyngart, at The Regulator Wednesday night.