Book Buzz

• A few days ago, after weeks of excessive snow, my family discussed the possibility of cannibalism. We speculated over whether or not we would be able to cannibalize each other to survive the winter. Ultimately, I volunteered to be the first sacrifice due to my abundant meatiness. Not surprisingly, I have always been intrigued by the Donner party, and I am apparently not the only one. Sunday’s New York Times reviewed Ethan Rarick’s Desperate Passage: The Donner Party’s Perilous Journey West.

• USA Today ran an article today about the controversy over Oprah’s book recommendation Eat, Pray, Love (currently #7 on Amazon). I had no desire to read the book before the controversy, but now I need to know what all the fuss is about. Unfortunately, I am #25 in the library queue, so I better develop a lot of patience.

• #15 on Amazon is Stephenie Meyer’s Breaking Dawn. Why is this surprising? The book, the fourth in the Twilight series, won’t be released until August. Meyer also has an adult romance novel about aliens (yes, you read that correctly), The Host, coming out in May. The movie version of Twilight will be released in December. I may not be able to survive so much Stephenie Meyer in one year.