Prince Valiant, the comic strip knight who weilds the Singing Sword, is getting some new attention with the release of a collection of his earliest adventures.

But, while Valiant serves as one of King Arthur’s Round Table knights, he was at the center of a notorious crime here in Westchester in the more modern era of the late 1980s. Back then, original Prince Valiant artwork was held at the Museum of Cartoon Art, which occupied a castle (yes, a castle) in Rye Brook.

In spring, 1989, it was discovered that Read more of this entry »

In the new children’s book, Harry and Horsie, the hero (that would be Harry) is a local guy, son of a somewhat noteworthy personality.

The real-life Harry is the son of David Letterman, and, because we just love making local references here at The Journal News/lohud.com, custom requires that I tell you Letterman is a North Salem Read more of this entry »

The winner of the “2009 Amazon Breakthrough Novel Award” is a local guy. Sort of.

James King, author of the upcoming Bill Warrington’s Last Chance lives in Wilton, Conn., but he wrote much of the novel while enrolled in the graduate writing program at Manhattanville College in Purchase.

Full disclosure here: I know Jim. I attended Read more of this entry »

Got this e-mail from the New City Library:

“At the New City Library, several collections are being moved in an attempt to make materials more readily available to customers. The changes made reflect the library’s ongoing focus to make a customer’s visit quick and easy. To start, Large Print books have been moved from the second floor to the first floor by the Adult Reference collection. All collection changes should be completed by September 5. Assistance is available at the Adult Reference desk if a person has difficulty finding materials.”

I’m going to bring Italo Calvino into our discussion, which you can see here, about when to buy books and when to borrow them from the library.

It happens that I’ve just started reading some Calvino, the Italian author. (The back of one book jacket calls im “Italy’s most brilliant modern writer.” He lived from 1923 to 1985.) And in that volume, If on a winter’s night a traveler, he writes about the pleasure of buying a new book.

I should point out that he was specifically writing about the pleasure of buying his new book. So, Read more of this entry »

I own too many books.

I was raised by parents who lived through The Great Depression and who therefore scrutinized every purchase, a skill that’s suddenly in vogue again.

For me, then, books have always been a guilty purchase. After all, doesn’t the library have enough to read?

And yet, I do buy books.

So we’re starting a debate here. Is it better Read more of this entry »

If you don’t know about The Onion, the satirical newspaper and news Web site, I highly recommend becoming acquainted with it.

Check out this recent article on the site that takes a shot at The Brothers Karamazov, or, Read more of this entry »

I keep checking the Web site for the Brooklyn Book Festival to see who will show up this year.

Well, it’s exactly a month away — Sunday, Sept. 13 is the big day — and still, nothing.

I love the Brooklyn Book Festival. They not only get some good writers — Joan Dideon, Dave Read more of this entry »

If you’d gone to the Barnes & Noble book store at Union Square park in Manhattan last night, you would have seen The Prince of Tides and The Great Santini author Pat Conroy confessing that he knows nothing about women.

That was one topic that came up when he and Richard Russo, author of Nobody’s Fool and Empire Falls discussed their Read more of this entry »

I hate to take advantage, but what the heck? As a rewards member of Borders Books & Music, I get their coupons e-mailed to me constantly.

I can’t help but notice that, while I used to get coupons for 15 or 25 percent off. More and more, it seems, the coupons are coming for 40 percent off any one item.

It’s the economy, of course. People are spending less on optional purchases, and Borders is obviously feeling the pain. The Borders Group’s stock hit a low Read more of this entry »