The movie adaptation of Kathryn Stockett’s The Help is scheduled for release on August 12. It’s the directorial debut of Stockett’s childhood friend, Tate Taylor.

Below is a still. Featured in the center of the photo is Emma Stone as Skeeter. More stills are available at BuzzFocus.com (several were featured in People in early November).

The current tag line:

Based on one of the most talked about books in years and a #1 New York Times best-selling novel, The Help is a provocative and inspiring look at what happens when a southern town’s unspoken code of rules and behavior is shattered by three courageous women who strike up an unlikely friendship.

A trade paperback edition of the book is scheduled to release in April.

The Help Kathryn Stockett Retail Price: $15.00 Paperback: 544 pages Publisher: Berkley Trade – (2011-04-05) ISBN / EAN: 0425232204 / 9780425232200

It’s a slow week for book releases. During this big shopping season, publishers assume that booksellers are out front selling, rather than unpacking new shipments from publishers.

As a result, major releases are slim next week and are all for younger readers.

The Gift (Witch and Wizard Series #2) by James Patterson and Ned Rust (Little Brown Books for Young Readers), ages 10+, about teen sibling magicians, elicits utter contempt from Kirkus: “There are no characters that even rise to the level of stereotypes and no genuine emotions in this embarrassing attempt at a ‘fantasy’ series that insults both genre and audience at every turn… A new low in children’s publishing.”

Entice by Carrie Jones (Bloomsbury Children’s Books) is the latest book in the bestselling paranormal romance series. Kirkus says, “Fans of the first two will continue to swoon, enjoying prose that’s idiosyncratically casual and indulgently, oh-so-teen-like angsty.”

The Vixen by Julie Larkin (Delacorte for Young Readers) is the first in a new series, set in the 1920’s. Like the Luxe series, in which Gossip Girl meets Edith Wharton, this one could be considered Gossip Girl meets F. Scott Fitzgerald. PW called it a “frothy debut,” but felt “the plot doesn’t live up to scrutiny.”

Coming for adults is the followup to last year’s How to Sew On a Button: And Other Nifty Things Your Grandmother Knew (which is still showing holds in several libraries):

How to Build a Fire: and Other Handy Things Your Grandfather Knew, by Erin Bried, (Ballantine Books) imparts the skills the Greatest Generation supposedly knew, from chapters on “How to Buy Meat” to “How to Plan a Date.”

The most important cultural moment of 2010 may have been when the 92nd St. Y refunded money to those who bought tickets to hear an interview with Steve Martin (reportedly, many were disappointed that Martin talked too much about “art”), satarized on the Colbert Report last night.

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An Object of Beauty: A Novel Steve Martin Retail Price: $26.99 Hardcover: 304 pages Publisher: Grand Central Publishing – (2010-11-23) ISBN / EAN: 0446573647 / 978

OverDrive WMA Audiobook; BBC Audio America
Hachette Audio, UNABR, Campbell Scott Narrator, 9781607886129, $34.98
BBC Audio; UNABR; Campbell Scott, Narrator, 9781607889403; $74.99

A new trailer has just been released for Julie Taynor’s version of Shakespeare’s play. It debuts this weekend in select theaters.

Shakespeare might have enjoyed the star-studded premiere.

Official Movie Site: Tempest-TheMovie.com

The latest trailer for Beastly, based on the YA novel by Alex Flinn, has just been released.

The male lead is played by heart-throb-in-the-making Alex Pettyfer, who starred as Alex Rider in Operation Stormbreaker, based on the novel by Anthony Horowitz. He will also star in the Steven Spielberg-produced I Am Number Four (based on the YA novel by James Frey, writing as Pittacus Lore), coming February 18.

The female lead is Vanessa Hudgens (High School Musical) who also appears in another highly-anticipated film, Sucker Punch (which is NOT based on a book), also coming in March.

How time marches on; Mary-Kate Olsen is one of the “other actors” in the film.

A movie tie-in has been available since July, when Beastly was originally scheduled for release. The film was then moved to March 18 to make room for another teen movie based on a book, Charlie St. Cloud (based on The Death and Life of Charlie St. Cloud, by Ben Sherwood). The tie-in is being re-released in February with a new cover.

Beastly Movie Tie-in Edition Alex Flinn Retail Price: $8.99 Paperback: 336 pages Publisher: HarperTeen – (2011-02-01) ISBN / EAN: 0061963283 / 9780061963285

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Beastly Movie Tie-in Edition Alex Flinn Retail Price: $8.99 Paperback: 336 pages Publisher: HarperTeen – (2010-07-01) ISBN / EAN: 0061963283 / 9780061963285

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Sweeping the British Indie Awards last week, The King’s Speech, starring Colin Firth, Helena Bonham Carter and Geoffrey Rush, has also been a hit in the six U.S. theaters in which it is currently showing.

Firth stars as King George VI, the father of Queen Elizabeth II, who overcame a debilitating speech impediment with the help of therapist Lionel Logue (played by Geoffrey Rush). He went on to be beloved for his ability to boost morale in his countrymen during WWII.

The story is also told in book form by the grandson of Lionel Logue and Sunday Times of London journalist, Peter Conradi.

The King’s Speech: How One Man Saved the British Monarchy Mark Logue, Peter Conradi Retail Price: $14.95 Paperback: 256 pages Publisher: Sterling – (2010-11-26) ISBN / EAN: 140278676X / 9781402786761

We challenged you to tell us about your favorite 2010 books to recommend, along with your own passionate annotations, and you came through, making every one sound irresistible.

Please, check out the suggestions and add your own.

Below are the covers of some of the titles:

Oprah and Jonathan Franzen went from estranged to potential BFF’s on her show yesterday (New York magazine’s “Vulture” blog describes the sit down, along with video clips).

The greatest excitement, however, came when Oprah gave everyone in the audience a Kindle (hey, guys, it’s not a car!) Ironically, that moment came right after Oprah talked about the beauty of the “special, deluxe” Penguin edition of the next Book Club pick, Dickens’ Tale of Two Cities and Great Expectations, and declared, “You can pass it on to your grandchildren, because books DO matter. We’re still going to be holding books in our hands for years to come.”

The actual book discussion was reserved for the after show interview, featuring an all-male book club (Oprah claimed she’d never heard of such a thing, but Franzen said they aren’t that rare).

The winner of the Booker Prize, Howard Jacobson, got more attention from NPR on last night’s All Things Considered. This is the second time he’s been featured on the show.

The Finkler Question Howard Jacobson Retail Price: $15.00 Paperback: 320 pages Publisher: Bloomsbury USA – (2010-10-12) ISBN / EAN: 1608196119 / 9781608196111

The winner of the National Book Award, Jaimy Gordon hasn’t received much attention from NPR so far. However, her book, Lord of Misrule, is beginning to catch up in reviews; it was reviewed admiringly by the Susan Salter Reynolds in the L.A. Times.

Lord of Misrule Jaimy Gordon Retail Price: $25.00 Hardcover: 296 pages Publisher: McPherson – (2010-11-15) ISBN / EAN: 0929701836 / 9780929701837

Librarians aren’t the only ones in the best books mashup business. The Huffington Post has put together a slide show of the Best Cookbooks for Giving. Each had to be chosen by at least two of  eight sources (four got by with just one pick — from the Huffington Post’s own Food Editors).

We’re pleased to see Brooklyn well-represented. The Frankies Spuntino’s cookbook (it’s by two Frankies and “spuntino” means “a little snack” in Italian), from EarlyWord‘s neightborhood restaurant, came in with 5 picks:

The Frankies Spuntino Kitchen Companion & Cooking Manual Frank Falcinelli, Frank Castronovo, Peter Meehan Retail Price: $24.95 Hardcover: 256 pages Publisher: Artisan – (2010-06-14) ISBN / EAN: 1579654150 / 9781579654153

And, slightly further afield, but within walking distance of EarlyWord headquarters, the bakery Baked got two picks for its innovative approach to American standards in Baked Explorations. Below, the author/owners talk about a recipe they picked up while touring for their first book:

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Baked Explorations: Classic American Desserts Reinvented Matt Lewis, Renato Poliafito Retail Price: $29.95 Hardcover: 208 pages Publisher: Stewart, Tabori & Chang – (2010-10-01) ISBN / EAN: 1584798505 / 9781584798507

We buckled under pressure. After the great reception for our Childrens Best Books Mashup downloadable spreadsheet, we put together one for Adult Books (if you have any trouble downloading either, or have any suggestions for making them more useful, email me).

As with the children’s lists, there is very little agreement. Of the 250 titles, only three were selected by all four sources (LJ, PW, NYT BR and the daily NYT reviewers).

We’ve focused on the library review sources and the major national lists (we’ll add more as they appear). Neil Hollands at the Booklist blog, “Book Group Buzz,” is is working on a more comprehensive list. We’ll let you know when it’s available.

Catherine Hardwicke, the director of the first in the Twilight series (as well as Lords of Dogtown and Thirteen), has just finished Red Riding Hood, a movie that looks like it will have as much in common with the folktale as the song by Sam the Sham and the Pharoahs.

Little, Brown’s Poppy imprint is doing a novelization.

Red Riding Hood Sarah Blakley-Cartwright, David Leslie Johnson Retail Price: $9.99 Paperback: 352 pages Publisher: Poppy – (2011-01-25) ISBN / EAN: 0316176044 / 9780316176040

Hardwicke’s next project will be based on James Dashner’s first book in the Maze Runner trilogoy, according to The Wrap.

Meanwhile, another dystopian YA book, The Hunger Games. is being adapted by Gary Ross (Seabiscuit), with plans to begin shooting in 2011.

And, according to Deadline, the search is on for a British kids fantasy franchise to replace Harry Potter. Among the candidates are Patrick Ness’s Chaos Walking series and  Joseph Delaney’s The Spook’s Apprentice. Unfortunately, Artemis Fowl, is hung up in legal issues.

Steve Martin jokes on Twitter. “CBS demands refund for my appearing on CBS Sunday Morning,” referring to his recent appearance at New York’s 92nd St Y and subsequent ticket refunds (he spoke more about it in a funny segment on the online “Later on Sunday Morning“).

The CBS appearance, even though it also focused on art, rather than his career, did sell books. As a result of the show, Object of Beauty, rose to #31 from #64.

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An Object of Beauty: A Novel Steve Martin Retail Price: $26.99 Hardcover: 304 pages Publisher: Grand Central Publishing – (2010-11-23) ISBN / EAN: 0446573647 / 978

OverDrive WMA Audiobook; BBC Audio America
Hachette Audio, UNABR, Campbell Scott Narrator, 9781607886129, $34.98
BBC Audio; UNABR; Campbell Scott, Narrator, 9781607889403; $74.99

It’a not just one classic, but two this time, both by Charles Dickens; A Tale of Two Cities and Great Expectations, bound into one 800 page special edition for the club.

The AP’s book publishing reporter, Hillel Italie, broke the news, saying that he purchased a copy of the volume with the logo on the cover.

The official announcement will be made on the show today.

We’ve just added the NYT Book Review‘s Notable Children’s Books to our spreadsheet of the children’s best books selections from the national review media.

Also, we’ve added age ranges for each title.

We will continue updating the spreadsheet as new picks arrive. You can always find the latest version, to the right, under Best Books ’10, Childrens Best, Collated (Downloadable Spreadsheet). If you have any trouble downloading it, or have any suggestions for making it more useful, email me.

Thanks for you enthusiastic response — we’ve had nearly 1.300 downloads of the spreadsheet since we put it up yesterday.