Tampa Book Buzz

john le carre’s the constant gardener is books to movies pick at new port richey library

According to WMNF’s website, John le Carre’s The Constant Gardener is October’s Books to Movies feature at the New Port Richey Public Library. Read the book, then see the movie. Light refreshments will be served. The screening will take place Monday, October 17, at 5:00 p.m. Call 727-841-4547 ext. 288 for details.

tampa review prize poet lance larsen in tampa september 29

From the Tampa’s Downtown Happenings newsletter:

Lance Larsen, winner of the Tampa Review Prize for Poetry and director of graduate studies at Brigham Young University in Utah, will celebrate publication of his book and help launch the newest issue of Tampa Review, which features a selection of his poems, at a reading and reception this month at the University of Tampa.

For the rest of the article and the details, click here.

banned books week at inkwood books

September 24 — October 1 is Banned Books Week at Inkwood Books in Tampa.

micklersmith in st. pete only sells books about florida

The St. Pete Times reports that a new bookstore called MicklerSmith opened in June in St. Pete and only sells books about Florida.

the tbb online book club’s selection for october is…

…The Notebook by Nicholas Sparks. (Wondering what the TBB Online Book Club is all about?  Keep reading this blog to find out.) 

the tampa book buzz online book club

I’m starting something new here at TBB. I’ve started an online book club at Target’s Bookmarked website. Club members will choose one book each month to read and discuss. Throughout the month, I will post news and information about the book and the author. Then on the last day of the month, I will write about the book. Anyone who’s read the book is welcome to post comments about what they thought of that month’s book.

The advantages of being an “official member” through the Target Bookmarked website are: (1) only TBB Online Book Club members can choose which books to read; (2) you’ll receive occasional emails to let you know the current month’s selection and to remind you of the last-day-of-the-month posting; and (3) if I ever win any of the book club prizes I’m registered for at the Bookmarked site, only club members will share the winnings.

If you’d like to join the Tampa Book Buzz Online Book Club, please email me (tampafilmfan (at) aol.com) so I can send you an invitation email from the Bookmarked site. Happy reading!

local author kelley st. john has new book coming out

Congratulations to local author Kelley St. John, whose book Good Girls Don’t is coming out this December. I haven’t read her book yet, but the description sounds intriguing. Visit www.kelleystjohn.com to learn more about St. John’s new book, her seminars and appearances, and to register for a vacation giveaway.

the joy of audiobooks

This week at my Real Job (much less fun than blogging, but it pays the bills) I had to clean out a departing coworker’s office and get things ready for a new employee. This boring task was enlivened by playing Finders Keepers. I figured any personal possessions left behind were abandoned on purpose. So in addition to a jump-out-and-startle-you Halloween decoration left strategically in the middle of the desk to scare the new person, I took home Skipping Christmas by John Grisham on CD. Unabridged, of course — if it were abridged, I would have left it for the new person myself.

I’m about 3/4 of the way through it and I was already familiar with the basic plot based on previews of the movie version Christmas with the Kranks. It’s an amusing story of a couple who, because their daughter is in Peru with the Peace Corps, decide to forgo the rituals, stress and expenses of Christmas and take a cruise instead. Of course, everyone in their social circle, neighborhood and practically their whole town is shocked and angered by their decision.

I am having the most fun listening to it in my car. Part of the reason is because I’m enjoying the story, but part of the reason is because I’ve discovered how to read more in my severely time-challenged life. I drive 30 minutes to work each way, every day, which means I have five hours every week when I could be listening to a book instead of singing along to the radio or getting depressed listening to the news. Five hours! As soon as I finish blogging today, I’m going to the library’s website and checking out their audiobook selection. (Unabridged, of course. Abridged doesn’t count.)

sunshine in the dark:florida in the movies by susan fernandez and robert ingalls

I trekked out to USF in the pouring rain Wednesday night to hear USF professors Susan Fernandez and Robert Ingalls talk about their new book Sunshine in the Dark:Florida in the Movies. It was well worth the trip.

Fernandez spoke at length about their research and methodology. Watching almost 300 movies sounds like an easy task, but tracking these films down, researching them, taking meticulous notes on various aspects of them, and suffering through the terrible ones turned out to be a difficult, challenging four-year-long project.

When Evans said that they decided to write this book for general readers instead of for scholars, I cheered silently in my seat. Such an interesting topic deserves to be read by a wider audience. Evans and Fernandez looked at films that portrayed Florida, whether filmed here or not, excluding shorts, documentaries and made-for-TV movies. Some movies were included in the book because they contain scenes of characters dreaming of Florida (Dustin Hoffman’s Ratso Rizzo’s dying wish to go to Florida in Midnight Cowboy). They considered the plot, characters and the settings/environment.

They divided their book into several themes, including:

–crime (Rosewood, The Longest Yard, The Crew)
–tourism (The Cocoanuts)
–starting over/rebirth (City by the Sea, Midnight Cowboy)
–indigenous Florida people (Distant Drums, The Yearling)
–warriors and heroes (The Right Stuff)
–issues of gender, race, class and social status (Florida Enchantment, Monster)
–the working class and retirees (Juke Girl, The Crew)

Sunshine in the Dark:Florida in the Movies should be out around November or December. I will be anxiously waiting for it.

For more information, read this article in the USF Oracle.

local author zane lalani has new book about the beatles

Averstream Press has announced the publication of Teenagers Guide to the Beatles by Tampa author Zane Lalani. Visit their website for more information.