Loving Literary

Barbara Streisand has finished building her dream home and is thinking about writing a memoir. She is an actor, singer and director. Streisand already has an illustrated book coming out the fall of 2010, “A Passion for Design”.  She’s been writing, but isn’t sure if she wants to write a memoir or not. I’ll keep you posted!

Meg Whitman, former CEO of eBay is now working on a book where she will outline the “core values” she used to set up the incredibly successful online auction website. The book will be published by Crown Business in February 2010. Meg Whitman has said she will donate all of her earnings to charity. Her book will be about her life, her time with eBay and other companies. Crown Business is an imprint of Random House, Inc. Meg Whitman joined eBay in 1998 when the company was still small. She resigned last year. She is said to be seeking the position of the Governor of California.

Israeli author, Amos Elon, passed away recently at the age of 82. He left Israel and started a nice life in Italy. Elon died in Tuscany due to a blood disorder much like Leukemia. Elon was born in 1926 in Vienna. He moved to Mandatory Palestine in 1933 with his parents. Elon went to Jerusalem’s Hebrew University where he studied history and law. Elon started his career writing articles for the Haaretz. His books included Herzl , The Pity of it All , Founder: a Man and His Time , Jerusalem: City of Mirrors , and A Blood-Dimmed Tide.

BookExpo America is where countless publishers, authors, agents, and editors will network. There will be more than 1,500 exhibitors, over 500 authors, and more than 50 topic sessions. BookExpo America holds its convention at the Jacob J. Javits Center in New York City, NY. This year it will be taking place from May 28th until May 31st.

Learn all about Memorial Day with this book from True Books by Christian Ditchfield. Memorial Day teaches you about facts of the holiday and helps young readers understand what we are celebrating. It is recommended for children ages 9-12 and is 48 pages long. Memorial Day also has some colorful illustrations.

Sarah Palin, the governer of Alaska and woman who ran for Vice President with John McCain, has chosen a ghostwriter to help her with her memoir. No title has been released as of yet. Palin’s memoir is scheduled to be released next year through HarperCollins. Palin chose Lynn Vincent an author and co-author of several books. Vincent is a features editor for World magazine.

Since the economy is in the toilet more and more books are being published digitally. According to Bowker, only 275,000 books were traditionally published in 2008. That is a drop of about 9,000 books from 2007. Bowker claimed the largest reductions were in the categories of religion, travel and biography. On Demand books rose in 2008 from 22,000 in 2006 to 285,000 in 2008. On Demand books are stored digitally and printed only when a customer places an order.

The Forever War by Joe Haldeman is a book I have just finished. Wow. This is a damn good book.

Joe Haldeman wrote The Forever War in 1974. In 1975 it won the Locus Award and the Nebula Award.  In 1976 The Forever War won the Hugo Award.

It’s a detailed story in which humans are at war with creatures called Taurans. The one thing that makes this story fascinating is the fact of time dilation. The soldiers at war return home after hundreds of years have gone by. This allows the author to create new worlds and communities over and over again in the book. With everything focused on the main character, someone from our time, we learn all about the war and the new worlds he comes back to. It even has a love story. The Forever War is a brilliant science fiction book, and that is why it has gone into its second printing this year!

Reverend Ksawery Knotz says there is nothing wrong with a steamy sex life. His book is a guide for Catholic married couples and it does not have anything to do with the strict attitudes of the Roman Catholic Church.

Exerpt:

“Some people, when they hear about the holiness of married sex, immediately imagine that such sex has to be deprived of joy, frivolous play, fantasy and attractive positions, (They think) it has to be sad like a traditional church hymn.” “Sex as You Don’t Know It: For Married Couples Who Love God” hit stores in Poland last month.

The son of the Starbuck’s creator has written a memoir about his father and his way of seeking out adventures. The book’s title is “Crazy for the Storm” by author Norman Ollestad. His memoir tells about surviving a plane crash and his father’s love for skiing and surfing and competitive sports. The book will be released June 2nd, just in time for Father’s Day and is published by Ecco, a division of HarperCollins.