Book News
“Glee” books.
TV’s “Glee” may have wrapped up its season, but Gleeks jonesing for more Slushie-drenched drama will soon be able to hit the books and bone up on all the musical theater madness. It’s been reported that publisher Little, Brown Books for Young Readers will publish a collection of tomes based on the hit series.
Unauthorized books based on the breakout show are already on the market, but the Fox TV team behind “Glee” will work with Little, Brown on the content for the upcoming volumes.
The first book in the series, “Glee: The Beginning,” a prequel to the TV show is set to land on bookshelves in August. The volume will arrive with a poster and is expected to be available by the time “Glee” heads back to the airwaves.
Fans have already proved their buying power when it comes to “Glee” offersings with the show’s popular soundtracks. Chock-full of earnest revamps of classic and contemporary hits, the albums have ruled the charts.
First Lines
A Fierce Radiance, by Lauren Belfer
Claire Shipley was no doctor, but even she could see that the man on the stretcher was dying. His lips were blue from lack of oxygen. His cheeks were hollow, his skin leathery and tight against his bones. His eyes were open but unfocused, like the glass eyes in a box at a doll factory she’d once photographed. Although his hair was full and dark brown, not gray, Claire pegged him at over eighty. His head swayed from side to side as the orderlies slid the stretcher out of the ambulance and onto the gurney. Beneath the once- white blanket, his right leg was grotesquely swollen.
Making a split-second appraisal of the scene, guided by intuition, Claire crouched and pivoted until she found the best angle. Using the 35mm lens, she stopped down on the Leica to increase the depth of field. She took a quick series of photos, bracketing to quarantee the exposure: the patient in profile and a half-dozen nurses, doctors, and orderlies gathered around him, like a group portrait by Rembrandt, their faces saying their thoughts. They knew he was dying, too. Out here in the cold without their coats on, with the man looking dead already and nobody else nearby but Claire, they dispensed with their usual cheery and encouraging expressions.
Recommendations by independents
1. Backseat Saints, by Joshilyn Jackson
2. The Particular Sadness of Lemon Cake, by Aimee Bender
3. The Madonnas of Echo Park, by Brando Skyhorse
4. First Contact: Or, It’s Later Than You Think, by Evan Mandery
5. So Cold the River, by Michael Koryta
6. Junkyard Dogs, by Craig Johnson
7. The Marrowbone Marble Company, by Glenn Taylor
8. Take Good Care of the Garden and the Dogs, by Heather Lende
9. Seven Year Switch, by Claire Cook
10. The Burning Wire, by Jeffery Deaver
