Many libraries still have holds lists for Jess Walter’s Beautiful Ruins, which HarperCollins just released in paperback. It’s a novel that seems ripe for a movie adaptation (great locations — just look at that cover — and the multiple story lines involve the movie business. Note also, that it has been a hit in audio).

Unsurprisingly, the book was optioned shortly after publication and now comes the news that Todd Field has signed on as the director. He has had experience with book adaptations, having won acclaim for his film Little Children, based on the novel by Tom Perrotta.

In 2011, it was announced that an earlier title by Walter, The Financial Lives of Poets, was  going to be adapted as Bailout, by independent filmmaker Michael Winterbottom, starring Jack Black, but there’s been no news on it for over a year.

Walter’s most recent book, a collection of short stories, We Live in Water (Harper Perennial original paperback), was published in February.

The Brits already have five episodes of Downton Abbey, Season Three, under their belts, but it won’t air here until January. For those unfazed by spoilers, we’ve rounded up what the critics are saying, after the jump.

Those who hate spoilers can safely enjoy this parody, featuring Jennifer Saunders, Joanna Lumley and Kim Cattrell:

(Part Two of the parody is here)

Even more Downton Abbey is on the way; creator Julian Fellowes recently announced that he is planning a prequel.

Downton Abbey, Season Three, Critical Mass…

(more…)

Look at that cover.

Just look at it.

Is it any surprise that I Could Pee on This: And Other Poems About Cats by Francesco Marciuliano (Chronicle Books) is a best seller?

Marciuliano, when not channeling feline bards, writes the comic strip Sally Forth. He invites people to send him photos of their cats reading the book:

Send a photo of your erudite and discerning kitty reading the book to me at fmarciuliano@gmail.com and I will post it on [my blog], on the home page, in Facebook, and through Twitter. Plus, I would love it if you could post your photo through the customer share link at the the I Could Pee on This Amazon page. Maybe the cats could even form a book club.”

And please cc: EarlyWord with your photos. In fact, we’d love a photo of your cat reading ANY book.

I’m trying to get a shot of my gray tabby reading Fifty Shades. She’s confused; it doesn’t seem to be about her.

The new issue of Newsweek goes retro-modern, to celebrate the new season of Mad Men. Included is a comparison of what people were reading in 1966 vs. today (the #1 NYT Fiction best sellers, above). The earlier era is deemed superior, but several of those titles warrant spots on AwfulLibraryBooks.net.

The Muppets do their own version of The Hunger Games trailer (to promote their DVD and VOD “Wocka Wocka Value Pack“):

Meanwhile, Lionsgate has released a new “exclusive” clip from the real thing on Yahoo!

If you need an antidote to all the Best Books lists, try the New York Daily News list of the Most Overrated titles of the year (including the book that Esquire magazine named THE Book of the Year, The Submission by Amy Waldman).

This just may make me feel a bit better about some of my own typos:

As always when John Green mentions his upcoming book on his vlog to his brother Hank, it rose to #124 on Amazon’s sales rankings, from #367.

It seems it had no affect on the sales of The Pasta Bible, (JG Press).

The Fault in Our Stars John Green Retail Price: $17.99 Hardcover: 336 pages Publisher: Dutton Juvenile – (2012-01-10) ISBN / EAN: 0525478817 / 9780525478812

As the former Editor-in-Chief of Random House, Daniel Menaker knows flap copy. On the Barnes & Noble Review, he offers a great tongue-in-cheek guide to incorporating as many cliches as possible into a few short paragraphs.

Kenneth Branagh may have abandoned plans to direct an adaptation of The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society. In August, Variety reported that he was planning to begin production on Guernsey in the spring of 2012. Now, that publication announces that Branagh is set to direct Italian Shoes, based on the book by Swedish writer Henning Mankell (New Press, 2009). Branagh starred in the English-language adaptation of the author’s crime-thriller series Wallander for the BBC.

Italian Shoes is decidedly not a crime thriller, however. It’s the story of an aging former surgeon, living alone on a remote island. Various women from his past come to visit and help him regain the desire to live. Reviewing it, the Boston Globe noted, “…if the plot seems like something out of a film by Mankell’s father-in-law, the late Ingmar Bergman, the prose isn’t any sunnier.” Even so, the reviewer was amazed to report, “But you know something? Italian Shoes is a good read.”

Branagh continues his career in front of the camera, playing Sir Laurence Olivier in My Week With Marilyn, based on the book by Colin Clark, released for the first time here as a tie-in. The Oscar buzzed movie opens this Thanksgiving. Two new clips, featuring Michelle Williams as Marilyn, were released yesterday.

My Week with Marilyn Colin Clark Retail Price: $16.00 Paperback: 336 pages Publisher: Weinstein Books – (2011-10-04) ISBN / EAN: 1602861498 / 9781602861497

Also on audio from Dreamscape and on OverDrive.

The faux picture book phenomenon, Go The F**k to Sleep, gives parents a chance to vent their frustrations with their recalcitrant offspring. But why should parents have all the fun?

Be honest; you’ve felt this way on at least one occasion:

The above is a panel from “Learn to F*cking Search” on Emily Loyd’s comic blog, Shelf Check.

Earlier this week, we highlighted what we thought was one of the funnier of the Royal Wedding books, Knit Your Own Royal Wedding (Andrews McMeel).

Turns out it’s been one of the biggest-selling titles in the UK and is currently out of stock in the US. The staff the Everett Public Library in Washington State actually took up the challenge and knitted the entire wedding party. The resulting display gained coverage from the local newspaper as well as CNN.

Compare the photos below — we think the Everett Public Library knitters’ results are even better than those in the book.

Photo Credit: Everett Library staff

Of course, it was tough to predict exactly what the family would wear, but the knitters got one thing right — Kate Middleton, confounding expectations, wore a tiara.

Take a break from all you have to do before tomorrow and watch this inspired piece (be sure the sound is on!):

We wish we had gotten it together to create a fun holiday greeting. We didn’t, so we’ll just steal this one from those creative folks at Chronicle Books (love the use of the company logo and the dancing CEO).

Happy holidays to all our wonderful EarlyWord readers (try to imagine the EarlyWord bird swooping into the scene).

Starring the Chronicle staff, in order of appearance:

Laura Bagnato, Marketing Designer
Alex Sheehan, Special Sales Manager
Nion McEvoy, Chairman & CEO
Ben Laramie, Industrial Designer
Dean Burell, Managing Editorial Director
Anna Carollo, Marketing Design Coordinator
Jack Jensen, President
Emily Craig, Marketing Designer
Kelly Abeln, Marketing Design Fellow

If you want to find out more about the creation of this stop motion video, check Chronicle’s behind the scenes blog post.

UPDATE: We’ve received several correct answers — these are all based on movies. However, we are looking for a more SPECIFIC answer!

HINT: These movies based on books are tied together by a person who will receive a major award on Jan. 22

To take your mind off all you have to do between now and tomorrow’s feast, we offer the following quiz.

Below is a list of books. If they were in a display, what would tie them together (other than the obvious)?

Bonus question: Why would this display be particularly relevant right now?

Please try to answer without the aid of reference books or Google (in this case, we DON’T want you to cite a source!)

Fiction

• Austen, Jane, Emma
• Chabon, Michael, Wonder Boys
• Condon, Richard, The Manchurian Candidate
• Connelly, Joe, Bringing Out the Dead
• Cunningham, Michael, The Hours
• Erian, Alicia, Towelhead
• Foer, Jonathan Safran, Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close
• Goldsmith, Olivia, The First Wives Club
• Gregory, Philippa,  The Other Boleyn Girl
• Grisham, John, The Firm
• Heller, Zoe,  Notes on a Scandal
• Irving, Washington,  The Legend of Sleepy Hollow
• Kureishi, Hanif,  Venus
• Larsson, Stieg,  The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo
• Levin, Ira,  The Stepford Wives
• McCarthy, Cormac,  Blood Meridian and No Country for Old Men
• Portis, Charles, True Grit
• Price, Richard,  Freedomland
• Russo, Robert,  Nobody’s Fool
• Sinclair, Upton, Oil!
• Tidyman, Ernest, Shaft
• Yates, Richard,  Revolutionary Road

Nonfiction

• Bayley, John, Elegy for Iris
• Goldsmith, Barbara,  Little Gloria… Happy at Last
• Gordon, Barbara,  I’m Dancing as Fast as I Can
• Harr, Jonathan, A Civil Action
• Lewis, Michael,  Moneyball
• McCourt, Frank, Angela’s Ashes
• Mezrich, Ben,  Accidental Billionaires
• Powell, Julie,  Julie & Julia
• Rawicz, Slavomir,  The Long Walk
• Schiff, Stacy,  Cleopatra
• Waizkin, Fred, Searching for Bobby Fischer

Childrens

• Dahl, Roald, Fantastic Mr. Fox
• Lemony Snicket’s A Series of Unfortunate Events