Book to TV and Stage Alert

Hilary Mantel's Man Booker Prize winning novels Wolf Hall and Bring up the Bodies, historical novels fictionalizing the life and times of Oliver Cromwell and King Henry VIII court and marriages, have been adapted into a 6-part mini-series titled Wolf Hall airing this month on BBC Two and coming to America's PBS channels in April. The Royal Shakespeare Company is also bringing a version of these novels to Broadway in March.

Here is the trailer from BBC-Two:



There is still time to read these fascinating books before the series airs in April. Click on the book covers above to place the books on hold or stop in today to pick them up.

Us by David Nicholls

Douglas Petersen may be mild-mannered, but behind his reserve lies a sense of humor that, against all odds, seduces beautiful Connie into a second date . . . and eventually into marriage. Now, almost three decades after their relationship first blossomed in London, they live more or less happily in the suburbs with their moody seventeen year-old son, Albie. Then Connie tells him she thinks she wants a divorce.

Narrated from Douglas’s endearingly honest, slyly witty, and at times achingly optimistic point of view, Us is the story of a man trying to rescue his relationship with the woman he loves, and learning how to get closer to a son who’s always felt like a stranger. 

"Nicholls . . . has created in Douglas a man who has always known where he was and where he was going and who now is suddenly adrift emotionally as well as physically. And all the guidebooks and online tours won't be enough to right his course. Are you thinking this is a predictable tale of family dynamics? Think again; this is Nicholls, after all. For those who loved One Day, the author's latest is another heart-grabber about discovering what makes us happy and learning to let go." (Library Journal Reviews)

This highly anticipated new novel has received many positive reviews and is already on the long list for the Man Booker Prize. Place your hold for Us today.

The Man Booker Prize 2014

On Tuesday, October 14th, the winner of the 2014 Man Booker Prize for Fiction was announced, and the winner is ...Richard Flanagan for his novel, The Narrow Road to the Deep North!

As outlined on the official Man Booker Prize website, "the prize, which celebrated its 40th anniversary in 2008 after launching in 1969, aims to promote the finest in fiction by rewarding the best novel of the year written by a citizen of the United Kingdom, the Commonwealth or the Republic of Ireland.To maintain the consistent excellence of the Man Booker Prize, judges are chosen from a wide range of disciplines, including critics, writers and academics, but also poets, politicians and actors, all with a passion for quality fiction."

Click here for more information on the Man Booker Prize and click here to place a hold on The Narrow Road to the Deep North.

Bring Up The Bodies Wins Man Booker Prize

Hilary Mantel has been awarded her second Man Booker Prize for contemporary fiction by writers from the British Commonwealth and Ireland for her novel, Bring Up The Bodies.  Chosen from over 145 entries, the novel, the middle of a projected trilogy which began with Wolf Hall, tells the story of Thomas Cromwell, an adviser to Henry VIII and the downfall of Anne Boleyn.  Don't be fooled by the historical aspect.  The Man Book chair said the book is as much "Don Corleone as it is DH Lawrence".  Mantel's prize makes her the first in history to win for a direct sequel as well as the first woman to win two prizes.  The third book in the series, The Mirror and The Light, is due out in 2013.

England's highest literary honor goes to 'The Sense of an Ending'

Julian Barnes has won the Man Booker Prize for his new book The Sense of an Ending.  In addition to the prestige of England's highest literary honor, the prize also comes with £50,000 (about $78,000) in prize money.  This new award-winner "follows a middle-aged man as he contends with a past he has never much thought about--until his closest childhood friends return with a vengeance, one of them from the grave, another maddeningly present."