Shelf Awareness for Monday, January 23, 2017


S&S / Marysue Rucci Books: The Night We Lost Him by Laura Dave

Wednesday Books: When Haru Was Here by Dustin Thao

Tommy Nelson: Up Toward the Light by Granger Smith, Illustrated by Laura Watkins

Tor Nightfire: Devils Kill Devils by Johnny Compton

Shadow Mountain: Highcliffe House (Proper Romance Regency) by Megan Walker

News

Many in Book World Join Women's Marches

Many members of the book industry across the country participated in the Women's Marches held on Saturday, and as the American Library Association Mid-Winter Meeting and Exhibits got underway in Atlanta, Ga., some attendees ducked out to attend the city's march. Among our favorite signs seen in photos from the marches: "Librarians for Facts," "Book Clubs Against Bigots," "Make Margaret Atwood Fiction Again," "Women Who Read Are Dangerous" and "Women Are Literally the Best."

From top l., clockwise: Shelf Awareness's Kristianne Huntsberger and Marilyn Dahl in Seattle, Wash.; Margot Sage-EL, Watchung Booksellers, Montclair, N.J., in New York City; Christine Onorati of WORD Bookstores in Brooklyn, N.Y. and Jersey City, N.J., at the march in Washington, D.C.; Suzanna Hermans of Oblong Books & Music, Rhinebeck and Millerton, N.Y., with Alex Wolf in Washington; Steve Ross, Abrams Artists Agency, in D.C.; Flatiron's Bob Miller and Brian DeFiore of DeFiore & Company Literary Management in New York.


BINC: Do Good All Year - Click to Donate!


Amazon Opening Ninth Fulfillment Center in Texas

Amazon plans to open its ninth Texas fulfillment center in Coppell. The one million-square-foot facility will pick, pack and ship smaller customer items. Akash Chauhan, v-p of North American Operations, said the warehouse "will be a new addition to the Amazon Robotics fulfillment network, which already has a robust presence" in the Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex.

Dallas County Commissioner Mike Cantrell cited Amazon's continuing growth and job creation in the county as "a testament to the dedicated workforce and healthy business environment here in the region."


GLOW: Workman Publishing: Atlas Obscura: Wild Life: An Explorer's Guide to the World's Living Wonders by Cara Giaimo, Joshua Foer, and Atlas Obscura


Rakuten Kobo Partners with South Africa's Exclusive Books

Rakuten Kobo is partnering with South African bookstore chain Exclusive Books to transfer its e-book customers to the Kobo e-reading service. Exclusive Books has stopped selling e-books directly from its site, but will continue to offer them as a Kobo partner, directing its online customers to www.kobo.com. The digital migration of Exclusive Books' customers is occurring throughout January.

"We want to encourage people to read more and are pleased to be working with Exclusive Books to offer digital reading to its customers," said Michael Tamblyn, CEO, Rakuten Kobo. "We have been sharing our love of books in South Africa for more than four years now, and will ensure Exclusive Books' e-book customers are able to continue enjoying, as well as expand, their digital libraries."

Ben Williams, Exclusive Books general manager, marketing, said the partnership "will allow us to concentrate on what we do best, namely, curating and selling the largest and widest selection of physical book titles in Africa. Meanwhile, working with Kobo will help us deliver a world-class e-reading experience to our customers who prefer digital books."


Weldon Owen: The Gay Icon's Guide to Life by Michael Joosten, Illustrated by Peter Emerich


Booksellers Recommend: YA & Middle Grade

Our look at upcoming winter and spring titles continues today with young adult and middle grade books, all recommended by booksellers. Lists of fiction and nonfiction titles ran last week; the series will conclude tomorrow with a look at children's and early readers.

First on today's list, coming next week from Flatiron Books, is Stephanie Garber's debut fantasy novel, Caraval. Sisters Scarlett and Tella have lived on a tiny island for their entire lives, all but imprisoned by their controlling and powerful father. Scarlett has always dreamed of leaving the island and visiting a mysterious, annual performance called Caraval. One night she manages to escape the island with Tella and together they travel to the show. Suddenly Tella is kidnapped by Caraval's organizer, and soon Scarlett is embroiled in a game that dangerously blends performance with reality. Brandi Stewart, bookseller at Changing Hands Bookstore in Tempe and Phoenix, Ariz., said she already had a staff pick in place for Caraval, and that the book would be a great fit for fans of Erin Morgenstern's The Night Circus. Max Probst, buyer at Vroman's Bookstore in Pasadena, Calif., also pointed to Caraval as a debut to watch.

Nina LaCour returns on February 14 with We Are Okay (Dutton Books for Young Readers), the story of Marin, a teenager going to college in New York who left her home in California under heartbreaking circumstances. She hasn't talked with anyone from her old life, family or friends, since. But with the semester coming to an end and the dorms emptying, Marin's best friend from home is coming to visit. With her arrival, Marin will have to confront her past. "This book ripped my heart out," said Suzanna Hermans, co-owner of Oblong Books & Music in Rhinebeck and Millerton, N.Y. "It is deceptive in its simplicity, and the connection you will feel to the main character is intense." Judy Bulow, buyer at Tattered Cover Book Store in Denver, Colo., said that We Are Okay is a well-written, powerful exploration of finding out family secrets and coming to terms with them.

Frogkisser! by Garth Nix is a fantasy adventure that plays with the tropes of classic fairytales. It stars Princess Anya, who lives with her evil stepmother and her evil new husband. Anya has a magical ability to break curses with a kiss and is forced to flee from her home after her stepstepfather takes power for himself. Soon, with a motley band of travelers, Anya sets off on a Quest to free her kingdom. Among her companions are a talking dog, a thief trapped in the body of a newt and an assortment of wizards. Max Probst of Vroman's Bookstore praised Frogkisser! as a fun, entertaining read. It will be available from Scholastic Press on February 28.

In Angie Thomas's debut novel, The Hate U Give, 16-year-old Starr Carter sees her childhood best friend Khalil get shot and killed by the police. Khalil was unarmed. As his death becomes a national story, Starr, who lives in a poor neighborhood but attends a wealthy suburban prep school, finds herself caught between two very different communities. And as the sole witness to the shooting, only Starr knows exactly what happened, but telling the truth becomes an increasingly dangerous proposition. Judy Bulow of the Tattered Cover recommended this novel. It will be published by Balzer + Bray on February 28, and Angie Thomas will be at Winter Institute.

The Bone Witch is the first installment in a new dark fantasy series by Rin Chupeco. It begins with Tea, the youngest witch in a family full of witches, accidentally bringing her brother back from the dead. This marks her as a bone witch, a type of necromancer shunned and ostracized even by other witches. In time, Tea and her resurrected brother are taken in by an older bone witch who begins to teach Tea how to use her magic. But while Tea's abilities grow, dark forces gather. Faith Hochhalter, children's book specialist at Changing Hands, said that Rin Chupeco became an instant favorite of hers after her 2014 debut, The Girl from the Well, and praised her distinct writing style and storytelling instincts. "I imagine it won't be much longer before her books make their way onto all the bestseller lists." The Bone Witch is coming from Sourcebooks Fire on March 7.

Benjamin Alire Saenz's The Inexplicable Logic of My Life is the story of Sal, the adopted son of a Mexican-American family. For most of his life, Sal hasn't questioned his place in life or the particulars of his own family, including his gay father. But in his senior year of high school, Sal is suddenly angry and doubting everything, trying to find his place in the world. Cecilia Cackely, bookseller at Hooray for Books! in Alexandria, Va., recommended The Inexplicable Logic of My Life. Benjamin Alire Saenz will appear at Winter Institute; the book will be out March 7 from Clarion Books.

Jeff Zentner made his debut last year with The Serpent King, an Indie Next List Top Ten Selection that was one of the most acclaimed YA novels of the year, and on March 7 he returns with Goodbye Days. In the book, Carver Briggs finds himself at the center of a tragedy after a text message he sent caused a car accident that killed his three best friends. As if his guilt, isolation and grief weren't bad enough, Carver learns that a powerful judge is pressuring the district attorney to open a criminal investigation, and while he attempts to make peace with the families of his deceased friends, the shadow of criminal charges and time in prison loom large. One of the most anticipated young adult books of Shelf Awareness's children's editor Karin Snelson, Goodbye Days will be available from Crown Books for Young Readers.

Yvain: The Knight of the Lion is the first graphic novel from National Book Award winner M.T. Anderson. Illustrated by Andrea Offermann, Yvain is a modern retelling of a 12th-century Arthurian epic, in which the eponymous Sir Yvain leaves King Arthur's court to fight a battle against a local lord. His victory forever intertwines his life with those of two women, the defeated lord's widow, Lady Laudine, and her maid Lunette. Judy Bulow of the Tattered Cover said Yvain: The Knight of the Lion was "beautifully retold. This graphic novel has all the elements of Arthurian adventure: our hero is battling monsters and men, freeing many from slavery and servitude, and at the same time longing for a woman who no longer loves him. Yvain transports you to another time and place." M.T. Anderson will appear at Winter Institute, and the book will be available from Candlewick on March 14.

Erin Entrada Kelly's middle-grade novel Hello, Universe, illustrated by Isabel Roxas, is the story of a single day, told from the points of view of four middle-school kids. Virgil, a shy and gentle boy, feels that he doesn't belong in his sports-loving family; Valencia is deaf, and her love of nature, bravery and intelligence mask a hidden loneliness; Kaori insists that she's a psychic and has a little sister named Gen who won't stop following her around; and Chet, meanwhile, loves sports and wishes the kids around him were a little less complicated. After one of Chet's pranks leaves Virgil stuck at the bottom of a well, it's up to Valencia, Kaori and Gen to find him. Recommended by booksellers at WORD Bookstore in Jersey City, N.J., and Brooklyn, N.Y., Hello, Universe will be available March 14 from Greenwillow Books.

In Brigid Kemmerer's Letters to the Lost, Juliet Young has written letters to her mother, a photojournalist who travels the world, for her whole life, and she continues to write to her even after she dies. Instead of putting the letters in the mail, she leaves them at her mother's grave. Declan Murphy, meanwhile, has to complete court-ordered community service at the cemetery and finds one of Juliet's letters. He feels compelled to write back, and soon Juliet and Declan have taken up a correspondence without realizing that they know each other in real life. "This reads like a YA retelling of You've Got Mail, only more thoughtful, complex and emotionally resonant," said Erin Barker, manager at Hooray for Books! Despite the plot's familiar set-up, the novel goes in some surprising directions, and with "tight prose, compelling characters and a swift pace, it's hard not to read this novel in one sitting." Look for it April 4 from Bloomsbury USA.

The final book on today's list is Megan Whalen Turner's Thick as Thieves, coming May 16 from Greenwillow Books. Though it is set in the same world as Turner's Queen's Thief series and features a handful of returning characters, including Eugenides the Thief, Thick as Thieves is a standalone fantasy novel. It is the story of Kamet, a secretary and slave, who has the cunning and ambition to bring himself to power, but before he can realize his goals his plans are exposed, and he must flee for his life across kingdom after kingdom. "Turner is a mature and amazing writer," said Tattered Cover's Judy Bulow. "I love this book: new characters mixed with Eugenides the Thief and world building like no other! My favorite of 2017." --Alex Mutter


Graphic Universe (Tm): Hotelitor: Luxury-Class Defense and Hospitality Unit by Josh Hicks


Obituary Note: Robin Hyman

Robin Hyman, former chairman of Laurence King Publishing and former president of the Publishers Association, died January 12, the Bookseller reported. He began his career at Evans Brothers, where he worked for 22 years, rising to the post of managing director in 1972. He became chairman at Bell & Hyman in 1977. When the company merged with Allen & Unwin to become Unwin Hyman in 1986, he was managing director until 1988, after which he became chairman and chief executive. Between 1991 and 2004, Hyman was chairman at Laurence King. He also served in several executive positions at the PA, including as president from 1989 to 1991.

Calling Hyman a "publisher through and through," PA council member Richard Charkin said: "He loved books. He loved gossip. He understood the importance of commerce as well as culture. And he was always generous, not least with the time and effort he put into the Publishers Association. We shall miss him deeply."

Laurence King, managing director of Laurence King Publishing, noted that Hyman "devoted his whole life to publishing, and was very knowledgeable about it as a business. I was incredibly lucky have him as the first chairman of Laurence King Publishing. I owe him a great deal and will greatly miss him."


Notes

The Wild Detectives Among 'Most Awesome Places' in Dallas

The Wild Detectives bookstore was named one of the "local Dallas-Fort Worth businesses you should support in 2017" by Thrillist, which noted: "Everyone knows that they should support local artists and small businesses (right?), but it's not always easy to know which are the best. That's why we've done the legwork for you and found the most awesome places for music, books, clothing, home goods, collectibles, and sweet one-of-a-kind finds, which combine quality with a great story and personalized attention to detail. What would feel better than to use the power of your wallet to support these local craftsmen and independent retailers and artists in 2017? Nothing, we say. Nothing."

Of the Wild Detectives, Thrillist wrote: "In a world filled with megastores and drone delivery, there's something to be said for the shopping experience that is browsing a carefully curated independent bookstore. Founded by two Spaniards who found themselves in Dallas for work, the little neighborhood book store that could also serves as a work space, bar, and restaurant as well as a performance venue for live book readings, music, and theater."

Thrillist also cited Red Pegasus Comics, noting that "while the shop deals with construction related to development in Bishop Arts District, there's no better time than now to give this local independent business your hard-earned cash."


Book & Bed Tokyo Adds Booze

Book and Bed Tokyo, the bookstore-themed hotel that opened in 2015 in the city's Ikebukuro neighborhood, is "currently putting the finishing touches on a round of renovations that will add a bar to the premises," RocketNews24 reported. The chain's recently opened Kyoto branch already offers this option.

The location will have the new name Book and Bed and Bar Tokyo, and the "new amenity is sure to be a hit with the hotel's youthful, worldly customer base (85% of guests are under the age of 40, and roughly one in three is foreign-born). And just so Tokyoites and travelers who've already secured lodging elsewhere don't feel left out, Book and Bed and Bar Tokyo will also be offering day-use plans, starting at ¥500 (about $4.42) per hour and topping out at ¥1,500 (about $13.26) for a block of time from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m.," RocketNews24 wrote.


Media and Movies

Media Heat: Matt Taibbi on the Daily Show

Today:
Today: Laurie Hernandez, author of I Got This: To Gold and Beyond (HarperCollins, $17.99, 9780062677310).

Morning Joe: Hugh Hewitt, author of The Fourth Way: The Conservative Playbook for a Lasting GOP Majority (Simon & Schuster, $24.99, 9781501172441). He will also appear on Hannity.

Fresh Air: Joshua Kurlantzick, author of A Great Place to Have a War: America in Laos and the Birth of a Military CIA (Simon & Schuster, $28, 9781451667868).

Daily Show: Matt Taibbi, author of Insane Clown President: Dispatches from the 2016 Circus (Spiegel & Grau, $26, 9780399592461).

Tomorrow:
Morning Joe: Leigh Gallagher, author of The Airbnb Story: How Three Ordinary Guys Disrupted an Industry, Made Billions... and Created Plenty of Controversy (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, $28, 9780544952669).

Today: Robert M. Gates, author of A Passion for Leadership: Lessons on Change and Reform from Fifty Years of Public Service (Vintage, $16, 9780307949646).

Tonight: Tim Ferriss, author of Tools of Titans: The Tactics, Routines, and Habits of Billionaires, Icons, and World-Class Performers (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, $28, 9781328683786).

Late Night with Seth Meyers: Ta-Nehisi Coates, author of Black Panther: A Nation Under Our Feet Book 2 (Marvel, $15.99, 9781302900540).

Late Show with Stephen Colbert repeat: Oprah Winfrey, author of Food, Health, and Happiness: 115 On-Point Recipes for Great Meals and a Better Life (Flatiron Books, $35, 9781250126535).


Movies: Wilson; Howard Lovecraft & the Undersea Kingdom

Craig Johnson's (The Skeleton Twins) Wilson made its world premiere yesterday at the Sundance Film Festival, "and fans of Daniel Clowes's original graphic novel should be pleased with the fidelity to the author's comically neurotic take on family values," Deadline reported in featuring a new trailer for the movie. Wilson stars Woody Harrelson, Laura Dern, Isabella Amara, Judy Greer, Cheryl Hines and Margo Martindale.

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Mark Hamill (Star Wars) is joining a voice cast that includes Jeffrey Combs (Transformers Prime), Christopher Plummer and Doug Bradley (Hellraiser) for the animated film Howard Lovecraft and the Undersea Kingdom, adapted from Bruce Brown's and Dwight L. MacPherson's graphic novel, Deadline reported. From Shout! Factory and Arcana Studios, the project is written, directed and produced by Sean Patrick O'Reilly and is the second installment of the Howard Lovecraft animated film series, after Howard Lovecraft and the Frozen Kingdom. It is set to be released later this year.



Books & Authors

Awards: RBC Taylor Literary Nonfiction Finalists

Finalists were announced for the 2017 RBC Taylor Prize for literary nonfiction. The award consists of $25,000 (about US$18,770) and a crystal trophy for the winning author, and $2,000 (about US$1,500) for each of the remaining finalists. The winner will be unveiled in Toronto March 6. This year's shortlisted titles are:

By Chance Alone: A Remarkable True Story of Courage & Survival at Auschwitz by Max Eisen
Pumpkinflowers: An Israeli Soldier's Story by Matti Friedman
Mad Enchantment: Claude Monet & the Painting of Water Lilies by Ross King
Marconi: The Man Who Networked the World by Marc Raboy
This Is Not My Life: A Memoir of Love, Prison & Other Complications by Diane Schoemperlen


Book Review

Review: Unwarranted: Policing Without Permission

Unwarranted: Policing Without Permission by Barry Friedman (Farrar, Straus & Giroux, $28 hardcover, 448p., 9780374280451, February 21, 2017)

To get a feel for the state of U.S. policing, one need only look at images of heavily armed Boston police in armored BearCats swarming their sheltered-in-place city during the 2013 bomber manhunt. Or watch 2014 footage of police in Ferguson, Mo., lined up in SWAT body armor and riot helmets, brandishing assault rifles and flash-bang grenades behind military MRAP vehicles to face off against citizens. How did Andy Griffith turn into Sylvester Stallone? In Unwarranted, a measured, commonsense, sometimes even breezy study of current policing, New York University School of Law professor and noted constitutional law pundit Barry Friedman (The Will of the People) reminds us: "The authority to use force on citizens and to conduct surveillance of them... are the most awesome powers we grant any public servants.... The real problem with policing is not the police; it is us."

Like the lawyer he is, Friedman presents his argument as if addressing a jury. He works his way through the fundamentals of the Constitution and Bill of Rights with focus on the Fourth Amendment ("unreasonable searches and seizures") and case law precedent, and does so with a sprinkling of history, real-life incidents of intrusive policing (and not just those that make headlines), statistics and even reasoned opinions contrary to his. At its core, Unwarranted celebrates the power of the Constitution to protect all, especially when many are fearful for their well-being and security: "The Constitution is not at war with our safety; properly understood, it is integral to it."

Friedman acknowledges that many factors caused our policing to go off the rails, but much of the shift in focus from reactive "finding the bad guys, and locking them up" to proactive "deterring anyone from even thinking about committing a bad act" he attributes to Nixon's War on Drugs and the post-9/11 Patriot Act, which effectively condoned almost any government intrusion in the name of eliminating drug use and terrorism. Step by step he addresses the increasingly invasive tools used by police, including no-knock searches, blanket subpoenas, profiling, stop-and-frisk, airport security, roadblocks, DNA testing, cyber-surveillance, SWAT teams with military-grade gear, StingRay cell phone monitoring and ubiquitous CCTV. Many of these have been incorporated into policing without explicit authorization from the people being policed.

Frightening as Unwarranted sometimes is, Friedman's analysis is not without hope and concrete suggestions. He puts much of the burden on courts to take a firmer stand prohibiting police from bending the Constitution without specific authorization from legislatures. Elected representatives also need to step up and draft laws that directly outline the allowed rules for enforcement rather than turn these decisions over to appointed agencies. The police must be more transparent and willing to take direction from citizens. But, in the end, Friedman returns to his main point about democratic policing: "We are the police--each and every one of us--and we are responsible for the turns policing takes." Unwarranted is an accessible and important book at a time when a police force armed to the teeth and a vast government surveillance network have become the norm. --Bruce Jacobs, founding partner, Watermark Books & Cafe, Wichita, Kan.

Shelf Talker: Constitutional law guru Barry Friedman unravels the current state of out-of-control policing in an incisive, provocative and beguiling overview and remedy.


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