It seems that latest the adventures of Harry Potter are really too much for just one movie. The popular books by J.K. Rowling have rallied many to read more and see the movies over and over again. Harry Potter has become an industry unto itself.
One of my favorite book blog sites, BookBrowse.com reported that the seventh and last book in the Potter tales will be made into TWO flicks due out in 2010 and 2011. Also, it says that Universal Studios in Orlando, will be opening a theme park feature called “The Wizarding World of Harry Potter” next year.

But I bet the interest in Harry Potter will nevertheless continue to grow…..

Matthew Lewis, 7, of Stony Point reads a Harry Potter book during the Rockland County Read-In at Thiells Elementary School Feb. 28, 2008. This year’s theme was “Camp Out With A Good Book.” ( Angela Gaul / The Journal News )

Novelist Kate Christensen has won the prestigious book award, the PEN/Faulkner Award for Fiction for her work, “The Great Man.” The man in the title is a recently deceased painter, but the book is about his wife, mistress and sister — the three women in his life that shaped who he was and what he was interested in.

Christensen has written three previous novels, “The Epicure’s Lament,” ” Jeremy Thrane,” and “In the Drink.” Her essays and articles have appeared in numerous publications. She lives in Brooklyn.

The PEN /Faulkner Foundation announced the award this week. The judges , three novelists chosen by the directors of the Pen/Faulkner Foundation, considered close to 350 novels and short story collections by American authors published in the U.S. during the 2007. Submissions came from over 70 publishing houses, including small and academic presses, according to the PEN/Faulkner folks.

Founded in 1980, the PEN/Faulkner Award is the largest peer-juried prize for fiction in the country. As this year’s winner, Christensen receives $15,000. Each of the four finalists receives $5,000. All five novelists will read portions of their work and be honored at the 28th annual PEN/Faulkner Award ceremony, May 10th at the Folger Shakespeare Library in Washington, DC.

2008 FINALISTS:

Annie Dillard, “The Maytrees”
David Leavitt, “The Indian Clerk”
T.M. McNally, “The Gateway: Stories”
Ron Rash, “Chemistry and Other Stories”

Previous top winners of the PEN/Faulkner Award:

2007  “Everyman: A Novel” by Philip Roth

2006  “The March” by E L Doctorow
2005  “War Trash” by Ha Jin
2004  “The Early Stories: 1953-1975” by John Updike
2003  “The Caprices” by Sabina Murray
2002  “Bel Canto” by Ann Patchett
2001  “The Human Stain” by Philip Roth
2000  “Waiting” by Ha Jin

This week’s suggestion come from a career educator: James Ryan, the head of BOCES in Rockland County who is heading to Carmel as the Putnam district’s superintendent of schools.

We chatted late last month about his sumertime move (he wants to expand all the good things going on in Carmel) and chatted with parents (they wish him well and hope his experience at BOCES, as well as in Ossining and Lakeland high schools, will help him with the diverse and sprawling district).

Here is his reading list:

“In addition to trying to keep up with my professional reading, I
particularly enjoy reading non-fiction. Authors such as David
McCollough and Doris Kearns Goodwin have kept me busy for the past few
years. I was fascinated by McCollough’s “The Great Bridge.” This is a
story of the building of Brooklyn Bridge, but also covers the Roebling
and Warren families in considerable detail. General Warren resided on
Fair Street in the village of Cold Spring and the Roeblings are buried
in the Cold Spring cemetery.

“I have just started reading Ron Chernow’s biography of Alexander
Hamilton. Perhaps I can give you some insights into this work when I
finish it.”

Interesting reading tastes, I would say. Along the same lines, I’d suggest Gay Talese’s wonderful book “The Bridge” about building the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge, which offers colorful history of the times and many people stories.

Enjoy the weekend.

Working and job security is the topic of a program tomorrow, Friday,  for career counselors that also might be informative for employers and job seekers. It is hosted by the Westchester Library System and Westchester Career Counselors’ Network (WCCN).

Louis Uchitelle, New York Times columnist and author of  the 2007 book “The Disposable American: Layoffs and Their Consequences,”  will be speaking from 12:30 to 2 p.m. Friday at Reid Castle, Manhattanville College, Purchase

Layoffs are becoming more and more prevalent in today’s economy as we all know. Louis Uchitelle, a New York Times reporter, will  be on hand in Westchester to discuss changes in the employer-employee relationship, consequences of layoffs and their psychological impact on workers, and the issue of corporate and government responsibility.

This program is intended to give counselors a deeper understanding of  changes that have occurred in the workplace and how income volatility, a lack of job security  and multiple layoffs have made workers anxious.

For more information, contact, Elaine Sozzi, WCCN Steering Committee and WLS Career & Educational Counseling Service (WEBS), esozzi@wlsmail.org or (914)674-3612. ($35 fee for non WEBS members)

The authors of a new book “The 30-Day Diabetes Miracle” have begun a 14-city nationwide book tour and tonight at 7 p.m. they will be in SUNY-Rockland. On Friday, March 14 they will be in New York City.

The authors are Dr. Stuart Seale, Dr. Franklin House and Ian Blake Newman. They contend that the effects of diabetes can be reversed naturally through diet and present a natural, health-promoting eating plan that attacks the diabetes process at the level of cause, not symptoms.

Tonight’s event is at SUNY Rockland, Cultural Arts Theatre, 145 College Rd., Suffern. For information, call 888-220-5787 or go to their website at www.diabetesmiracle.org

Former White House press secretary Dee Dee Myers is one of four authors to speak this next month at the Westchester Library System’s 17th annual Book & Author Luncheon. The April 17th event is intended to highlight of National Library Week, but I suspect that Myers, whose book is “Why Women Should Rule the World” and who was President Bill Clinton’s press secretary for the first two years of his administration, will have something to say about the upcoming presidential election. Some say she is the “real person” behind television’s “The Wing Wing” character, C.J. Cregg.

For a neat video and interview that she did on The Leonard Lopate Show go to the NPR site.

In addition to Myers, the luncheon’s authors include two writers who call Westchester home, Andrew Gross from Purchase and Josh Swiller from White Plains. The fourth author is novelist Susan Choi, a Brooklyn-ite.

Here is the list of authors and their latest books:
—Susan Choi “A person of Interest,” a novel about a mail bomb, math professor and murder plot.
—Andrew Gross “The Dark Tide,” a thriller about a widow’s search to understand her husband’s past and his death on a commuter train.
—Josh Swiller, “The Unheard: A Memoir of Deafness and Africa,” about coping with deafness in a remote African village.

The event is at the Trump National Golf Club in Briarcliff from noon to 2 p.m. followed by author signings. Tickets are $100 for general admission and $150 for a Library Friend, which includes a pre-luncheon reception with the authors and book signing time.

For information call 914-231-3226 or go to the WLS’s Web site.

The National Book Critics Circle Awards , an organization of book reviewers founded in 1974, gave out its best book awards last week in New York City. The group says its ranks have swelled to roughly 700 members. I always like to check out this list of books. While they aren’t necessarily the most talked about bestsellers, they are usually really linteresting choices and reflect some of the most literary titles of the year.

Awards are in categories: of fiction, general nonfiction, biography/autobiography, poetry, and criticism. There are two special writing honors as well.

And the winners are:
Fiction:
Junot Diaz, “The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao” (Riverhead Books).

General Nonfiction:
Harriet Washington, “Medical Apartheid: The Dark History of Medical Experiments on Black Americans from Colonial Times to the Present” (Doubleday).

Biography:
Tim Jeal, “Stanley, the Impossible Life of Africa’s Greatest Explorer” (Yale University Press).

Autobiography:
Edwidge Danticat, “Brother, I’m Dying” (Knopf).

Criticism:
Alex Ross, “The Rest is Noise: Listening to the Twentieth Century” (Farrar, Straus and Giroux).

Poetry:
Mary Jo Bang, “Elegy” (Graywolf Press).

Ivan Sandrof Lifetime Achievement Award:
Emilie Buchwald

Nona Balakian Citation for Excellence in Reviewing:
Sam Anderson, New York Magazine

This week’s book selection highlights the fabulous good reads provided by Dr. Seuss. Schools across the country held the 2nd annual Read Across America this week in honor of his birthday March 2 — and certainly there were programs many in our region.

In Yonkers, Westchester County District Attorney Janet DiFiore read from one of my favorites, “One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish” to a class of youngsters. See the photo below.

Read Across America is a project of the National Education Association. They have collected reading lists and devised programs throughout the year to encourage everyone, particularly school children, to read more and catch the thrill of books. Seuss’ publisher Random House worked on the project too. For those looking for information on Seuss books, check out  the Seussville site.

And be sure to see the photo essay by TJN photographer Ricky Flores at LoHud.com .

From what I hear, the recent Role Mommy series at White Plains Public Library was a fun and worthwhile.

Here’s what Michelle Tenant reports:

Beth Feldman, President of Role Mommy who organized the Role Mommy
series thought (the Feb. 27th) event at the White Plains library was a
great success. “It was absolutely inspirational to hear these women
share their success stories. Everyone who attended left feeling
energized” The event featured Annabel Monaghan and Elisabeth Wolfe,
authors of “Click!: The Girls Guide to Knowing What You Want and
Making It Happen.”

From left: Nina Restieri, Founder of Mom Agenda; Annabel Monaghan; Elisabeth Wolfe and Elena F. Kaspi, President of LawScope Coaching. In front: Beth Feldman, president of RoleMommy.com (Photo credit/ John Giles.)

This is the second in a three-part series at the White Plains Public Library intended for busy moms who want to connect. It is sponsored by the White Plains Library Foundation and presented by RoleMommy.com, a website and events company designed to entertain, inform and inspire today’s moms.

The third event in the series is Fit For Life, tips on nutrition and exercise from the
authors of bestselling diet and fitness books and fitness experts. To register go to rolemommy.com.

The Historical Society of Rockland County announces that it has updated and re-issued two of its most popular books that happen to have been bestsellers:

• “Century of History” by Linda Zimmermann. The book had been on the Barnes & Noble bestsellers list for multiple years and is now available in soft-cover for $24.95.

• “Camp Shanks and Shanks Village” by Scott Webber, about the heroes of WWII and their families. New price is $14.98, a reduction from the previous price of $29.98. The book serves as a memoir of sorts for the 1.2 million GI’s who shipped out from Camp Shanks in Blauvelt, the countless civilian workers who sent them on their adventure and the veterans who returned after the war to make their home in the Hudson Valley.

Both titles can be purchased at the History Museum on Zukor Road in New City.
For more information visit the historical society’s Web site or call them at 845-634-9629.