Recipe Report: Chocolate Gingerbread Muffins

Jill O’Connor’s Sticky, Chewy, Messy, Gooey Treats for Kids (Chronicle, Nov.) is filled with uncomplicated, easy recipes for cookies, donuts, pancakes, cakes and other treats. And while children may be O’Connor’s target, who’s to say a bunch of college kids wouldn’t enjoy the Chock-a-Block Chocolate Chip Gingerbread Muffins?

Short Order: November 23

Food52's Piglet cookbook tournament pitted 16 cookbooks against each other, and Nora Ephron chose the winner... Also in this issue's installment of cookbook-related news, William Morrow Cookbooks celebrates Lulu Powers Food to Flowers in New York City, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt cancels the publication of Cookie Family Dinner Cookbook following the magazine's folding, and Lidia Bastianich stops by the Running Press offices to work on her new children's picture book.

Comics Reviews: 11/23/09

Taiyo Matsumoto's follow-up to Tekkonkinkreet, Al Columbia's long awaited Pim and Francie and the latest from Vertigo Crime are reviewed this week, along with a new Kin Kull volume.

Fiction Book Reviews: 11/23/2009

Reviewed this week, novels by
Roberto

Bolaño

, Jasper Fforde, André Aciman, Daniel Suarez, and Bill Guttentag. Plus, television writer Jeffrey Stepakoff makes his fiction debut, Paula Reed fashions a Scarlet Letter sequel, and more.

Fact and Fiction About H1N1

It's in the headlines everywhere, as schools across the country have recorded heavy student absences this fall, with children laid low with flu symptoms. H1N1. To help parents and educators answer questions and assuage children's fears about this virulent virus, Stone Arch Books, an imprint of Capstone Publishers, is currently offering free downloads of its January 2010 release, Finn Reeder, Flu Fighter, a middle-grade novel...

Dynamite: Five Years and Counting

While many have proclaimed the "death of the pamphlet" where periodical comic books are concerned, a few companies have been able to prove that it still has a lot of life left in it. Five-year-old Dynamite Entertainment is one of the success stories in recent years with a mix of licensed and creator-owned titles.

‘Wimpy Kid’ Becomes Hit Zombie Parody for Papercutz

Papercutz, a tween-focused graphic novel publisher, seems to have caught lightning in a bottle as demand for its zombie parody of Jeff Kinney's bestselling children's book, Diary of a Wimpy Kid, is sending the publisher back for a second and third printing. The title has sold about 30,000 copies since early November. Papercutz publisher Terry Nantier, who published the graphic novel anthology...

Royal Flush Magazine Doubles Down

Fans of Royal Flush magazine have had to wait more than a year for the sixth installment of the comics- and interview-packed independent arts publication—a wait that was unexpectedly extended even longer when retailers including Borders, Barnes & Noble, Hot Topic and Hastings refused to carry the magazine without poly-bags, on account of the potentially "offensive" material within.

Comics Briefly

Geoff Johns Tabbed as C2E2 Guest of Honor; Carla Speed McNeil, Sarah Ryan Team To Create New Vertigo GN; New Silent Film from Gaiman; Kevin Baker on NPR with Luna Park; First Look at the New Spider-Man Parade Balloon.; This Week @ Good Comics for Kids; and This Week @ The Beat

Panel Mania: Goats: The Corndog Imperative

Goats: The Corndog Imperative is the second collection of the webcomic Goats by Jonathan Rosenberg. In this seven page preview two characters are stuck in a bar in an alternate dimension, where other strange people keep popping in. Goats: The Corndog Imperative will be released by Del Rey on December 1.

Comics Reviews: 11/17/09

Children's Book Reviews: 11/16/2009

In this week's children's book reviews: picture books from Peter McCarty, David McPhail, Sandra Boynton, and Arnold and Adrianne Lobel; fiction from Iain Lawrence, Mike Lupica, James Patterson, and Peter Lerangis; and a round-up of the latest pop-up books to hit the market.

Little, Brown Inks Snicket Deal with Handler

Daniel Handler, who had a long and successful run with his Lemony Snicket-penned A Series of Unfortunate Events series at HarperCollins, is moving to Little, Brown Books for Young Readers in a five-book deal. Under the agreement, Handler will write four Lemony Snicket titles in a new series, with the first due out in 2012. Before that series hits, LBYR will release a Handler young adult novel in 2011 that will feature full-color illustrations by Maira Kalman.

Eddie Campbell’s Life-Sized Comics

Emerging from the British small press scene of the 1980s, Eddie Campbell has since produced a body of thinly-veiled autobiographical comics featuring his stand-in character “Alec” (the pseudonym has been dropped in recent years). These works are distinguished visually by Campbell’s fluid, pen-and-ink technique, which marries the observed realism of classic continuity strips with the loose efficiency of a courtroom sketch artist (a vocation Campbell has practiced).

Comics Programming Grows at the Miami Book Fair

After adding a full slate of programming focused on comics and graphic novels for the first time at last year’s fair, The Miami Book Fair International, scheduled November 8-15 in downtown Miami, returns with new additions to its slate of comics events, panels and workshops.

Del Rey To Publish ‘The Talisman’ as Comic Book Series

In what may be a first at a major trade book publisher, Del Rey Books is releasing its first serialized periodical comic, an adaptation of Stephen King and Peter Straub's The Talisman. The series will be released under a new imprint called Del Rey Comics.

Maid in the U.S.A: Kaoru Mori’s ‘Emma’

In 2006, when CMX, DC Comics’ manga imprint, released volume one of Kaoru Mori’s Victorian Era manga series, Emma, American manga readers had their first taste of Japan’s fascination with both maids and romance. Three years later, Emma will come to a close in December when CMX releases the final volume in this series.

Comics Briefly

Alien Legion Comes to Movies, Returns to Comics; Brian Bendis to Teach Comics Course; James Kolchalka Exhibits "Little Paintings"; This Week @ The Beat; and This Week @ Good Comics for Kids

Panel Mania: Alec: The Years Have Pants (A Life-Sized Omnibus)

Alec: The Years Have Pants (A Life-Sized Omnibus) is a collection of Eddie Campbell's autobiographical comics told from the perspective of his alter-ego, Alec MacGarry. The book is indeed life-sized in its scope, depicting the progression of his life from youthfull pub-crawls to the responsibilites of adulthood. Alec will be released by Top Shelf in December.

Review: Stir: Mixing It Up in the Italian Tradition

Barbara Lynch, chef-owner of Boston’s No. 9 Park, delivers a gorgeous, mouth-watering book that will delight her fans. She offers an ample selection of starters, including quick chicken liver pâté and brioche pizza dough; hearty soups and salads; a substantial section on pasta; fish offerings including pan-fried cod with chorizo and clam ragout; and poultry ranging from lemony breaded chicken cutlets to spice-rubbed roast goose.