Shelf Awareness for Wednesday, October 3, 2007


Del Rey Books: The Seventh Veil of Salome by Silvia Moreno-Garcia

Dial Press: Whoever You Are, Honey by Olivia Gatwood

Pantheon Books: The Volcano Daughters by Gina María Balibrera

Peachtree Publishers: Leo and the Pink Marker by Mariyka Foster

Wednesday Books: Castle of the Cursed by Romina Garber

Overlook Press: How It Works Out by Myriam LaCroix

Charlesbridge Publishing: If Lin Can: How Jeremy Lin Inspired Asian Americans to Shoot for the Stars by Richard Ho, illustrated by Huynh Kim Liên and Phùng Nguyên Quang

Shadow Mountain: The Orchids of Ashthorne Hall (Proper Romance Victorian) by Rebecca Anderson

Quotation of the Day

Waning of the Wal-Mart Approach

"For the first time in a long time, quality has a chance to gain on price."--Lee Peterson, v-p of WD Partners, a consulting firm, in a front-page Wall Street Journal article about the Wal-Mart era "drawing to a close." The story also says that rivals have done well by "offering greater convenience, more selection, higher quality, or better service."

HarperOne: Amphibious Soul: Finding the Wild in a Tame World by Craig Foster


News

Notes: Iconoclast's Move; TVs in College Store?!

Iconoclast Books, which has stores in Ketchum and Sun Valley, Idaho, is moving from its 3,300-sq.-ft. space in Ketchum to a 4,500-sq.-ft. space that will include a café and should be open December 1, according to the Idaho Mountain Express and Guide.

Gary Hunt, who owns the store with his wife, Sarah Hedrick, said of the move, "With big, wide sidewalks and the other retail in that part of town, it makes more sense. It's sad to lose the historic brick ambiance but we will replace it with something better."

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The Tacoma News Tribune celebrates the move and grand reopening of Pacific Lutheran University's Garfield Book Company off campus. The paper described the new location this way: "This bookstore is green, it's inclusive, and it's there to serve the wider community." The store has helped transform the Garfield Street area "into a well-walked boulevard peopled by students and shoppers and anchored by a unique concept in college bookstores," the paper continued.

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The installation of seven 42-inch flatscreen TVs in the A.S. Bookstore at Chico State University, Chico, Calif., has elicited a range of reactions, the Orion reported. Bookstore director Steve Dubey said, "With this generation of college students, it is no longer a two-dimensional experience walking into a place like this. We want to make the atmosphere and experience more dynamic." He added that "the screens are generating conversation and that's what we want."

One employee complained of the distraction of so many screens showing ESPN and MTV. Another student almost walked into a wall. But some like the change.

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When he opened the first Books & Books in a then-quiet downtown Coral Gables, Fla., in 1982, Mitchell Kaplan was an English teacher at Southridge High "who dreamed of opening his own bookstore, saw a future where book lovers from near and far would gather on Aragon Avenue to get a shot of literature, or culture or both," the Miami Herald wrote in a piece about the store's month-long 25th anniversary celebration.

''So much has changed,'' Kaplan told the paper. "When we started doing our author reading and author events, I think we tapped into a market that hadn't quite been tapped into here in Coral Gables.''

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The day after the collapse of the deal for Thalia to take over the book departments in Karstadt department stores, the owner of the German department store chain announced that DBH Buch Handels' Hugendubel and Weltbild will buy and run Karstadt's book operations and open their own bookstores in 52 Karstadt stores, according to Booktrade.

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Borders will pay a quarterly cash dividend of 11 cents a share on October 26 to shareholders of record at the end of the day on October 12. The move continues Borders's dividend rate of 44 cents a year.

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The Los Angeles Times travels to Pasadena, Calif., to examine the "local books" trend, exemplified in this case by a title called Hometown Pasadena, which author Colleen Dunn Bates published herself and became the start of a small publishing house, Prospect Park Books. Hometown Santa Monica appears next week, and similar titles on Santa Barbara and Berkeley appear next year.

Vroman's Marie du Vaure told the Times that sales of the book are "phenomenal." The Pasadena bookstore devoted an entire table to the book, not just because it filled a gap but because the design is appealing. Hometown Pasadena has sold more than 10,000 copies at Vroman's and other outlets.


Park Street Press: An Autobiography of Trauma: A Healing Journey by Peter A Levine


Odyssey Bookshop Embarks on New Voyage

When the Odyssey Bookshop makes a move later this month, the S. Hadley, Mass., retailer won't have far to tote its tomes. Currently housed in a space that spans the top and middle floors of the three-story Village Commons shopping center, the store will instead occupy the middle and ground floors--a change that could yield significant results.

The Odyssey Bookshop's new space on the ground floor is adjacent to the shopping center's parking lot, which should increase foot traffic. Shops, service-oriented businesses such as a salon, several restaurants and a movie theater are located along the pedestrian thoroughfare bordering the parking lot. "Right now we have no presence on that level," said Neil Novik, who owns the Odyssey Bookshop with Joan Grenier. "It will be much more beneficial for people to have access to the store from where they're parking. There are people coming to the Commons for the first time who park on that level and don't even know the Odyssey is there."

A spate of windows adorning the ground floor space offers ample display opportunities to attract shoppers, and children's books and toys will be prominently featured. Along with kids' merchandise, the store's bestselling category--trade paperback fiction--will be relocated to the lower level. "I've been here for nine years, and I can't tell you how many times we've moved sections and tried new things," said Novik. "We're a store that thinks of itself as always evolving. And this is certainly a big evolution for us."

Serendipity played a part in the Odyssey Bookshop's latest modification. A business located on the top floor was looking to expand, while at the same time two retailers on the ground floor level decided to close up shop. "It's a multi-part story," said Novik. "If only one of the stores had vacated, we wouldn't have had enough space." Combined the two shops on the ground floor about equal the square footage of the space the Odyssey is vacating.

Construction of a new staircase linking the ground and middle floors is not expected to affect operations, although the store will close for several days at the end of October to move inventory.  Along with their staff, Novik and Grenier will have additional muscle from the loyal customers who have offered their assistance. A re-opening celebration is planned for mid-November, and the soirée will coincide with another noteworthy occasion--the Odyssey Bookshop's 44th anniversary.--Shannon McKenna Schmidt

[Editor's note: With this story about the Odyssey Bookshop, contributing writer Shannon McKenna unveils a new byline: Shannon McKenna Schmidt. Recent nuptials are not the reason for the change in moniker but rather to avoid mistaken identity with a romance author of the same name. The reason for making the distinction now: Novel Destinations: Literary Landmarks from Jane Austen's Bath to Ernest Hemingway's Key West, which Shannon McKenna Schmidt and Joni Rendon wrote, will be published by National Geographic Books in May 2008. Congratulations!]

 


G.P. Putnam's Sons: Take Me Home by Melanie Sweeney


Media and Movies

Media Heat: Charles Phoenix and His Retro Halloween Slides

This morning on Good Morning America: Beth Holloway, author of Loving Natalee: A Mother's Testament of Hope and Faith (HarperOne, $24.95, 9780061452277/0061452270).

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This morning on the Early Show: Jenna Bush, author of Ana's Story: A Journey of Hope (HarperCollins, $18.99, 9780061379086/0061379085). She is also on the Today Show.

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This morning's Book Report, the weekly AM radio book-related show organized by Windows a bookshop, Monroe, La., features two interviews:
  • Pam Munoz Ryan, author of Paint the Wind (Scholastic, $16.99, 9780439873628/0439873622)
  • Jordan Sonnenblick, author of Zen and the Art of Faking It (Scholastic, $16.99, 9780439837071/0439837073)

The show airs at 8 a.m. Central Time and can be heard live at thebookreport.net; the archived edition will be posted this afternoon.

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Today on the Diane Rehm Show: Jim Lehrer, author of Eureka (Random House, $24.95, 9781400064878/1400064872).

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Today on NPR's Talk of the Nation: Dr. Richard Baer, author of Switching Time: A Doctor's Harrowing Story of Treating a Woman with 17 Personalities (Crown, $24.95, 9780307382665/0307382664).

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Today on the View: Cesar Millan, author of Be the Pack Leader: Use Cesar's Way to Transform Your Dog . . . and Your Life (Harmony, $25.95, 9780307381668/0307381668).

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Today on the Martha Stewart Show: Rosie O'Donnell, author of Celebrity Detox: (the fame game) (Grand Central, $23.99, 9780446582247/0446582247). She is on GMA today, too.

Also on Martha Stewart: Charles Phoenix, who shares his Retro Halloween Slides. His latest book is Americana the Beautiful: Mid-Century Culture in Kodachrome (Angel City Press, $35, 9781883318543/1883318548).
 
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Today on PBS's Travis Smiley: Matt Bai, author of The Argument: Billionaires, Bloggers, and the Battle to Remake Democratic Politics (Penguin Press, $25.95, 9781594201332/1594201331).

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Tonight on the Colbert Report: Jim Lovell, one of the astronauts profiled in In the Shadow of the Moon: A Challenging Journey to Tranquility, 1965-1969 by Francis French and Colin Burgess (University of Nebraska Press, $29.95, 9780803211285/0803211287).

 



Books & Authors

Attainment: New Books Out Next Week

Selected new titles appearing next Tuesday and Wednesday, October 9 and 10:

World Without End by Ken Follett (Dutton, $35, 9780525950073/0525950079) follows four children from 1327-1361 as they grow up and deal with such traumas as the Black Death and wars.

The Gift: A Novel by Richard Paul Evans (S&S, $19.95, 9781416550013/1416550011) stars Nathan Hurst, a security guard with Tourette's who is cured by a boy with leukemia.

Mark's Story: The Gospel According to Peter by Tim LaHaye and Jerry B. Jenkins (Putnam, $24.95, 9780399154478/0399154477) is the story of Mark, who witnesses biblical events and writes a gospel about them.

Blonde Faith by Walter Mosley (Little, Brown, $25.99, 9780316734592/0316734594) is the 10th Easy Rawlins novel.

The Year of Living Biblically: One Man's Humble Quest to Follow the Bible as Literally as Possible
by A. J. Jacobs (S&S, $25, 9780743291477/0743291476) chronicles the author's attempt to adhere to the bible's most challenging rules.

A Lifetime of Secrets: A PostSecret Book by Frank Warren (Morrow, $27.95, 9780061238604/0061238600) features a collection of artistic confessions from strangers.

I Am America (And So Can You!) by Stephen Colbert (Grand Central, $26.99, 9780446580502/0446580503) shares Colbert's hilarious patriotic vision for America.

Blue Skies, No Fences: A Memoir of Childhood and Family by Lynne Cheney (Pocket, $26, 9781416532880/1416532889) is the memoir of Vice President Dick Cheney's wife.

Out in paperback next week:

The Thirteenth Tale: A Novel by Diane Setterfield (Washington Square Press, $15, 9780743298032/0743298039).

Culture Warrior by Bill O'Reilly (Broadway, $14.95, 9780767920933/0767920937).


Awards: Joe Keenan Wins Thurber Prize for American Humor

Joe Keenan, Emmy winner and former Frasier executive producer, has won the 2007 Thurber Prize for American Humor for his novel My Lucky Star. He has written two other comedic novels, Blue Heaven and Putting on the Ritz. The award has a $5,000 prize and is sponsored by the Thurber House, which honors James Thurber.

The two runners-up for the Thurber Prize were Bob Newhart for I Shouldn't Even Be Doing This!: And Other Things That Strike Me As Funny and Merrill Markoe for Walking in Circles Before Lying Down.


Deeper Understanding

Fischer's First Fair: NEIBA Show Makes Course Corrections

The following was contributed by Chris Kerr, a principal of the rep group Parson Weems. Many thanks! 

While the queues may not have been as long as the overnight ticket buyers for the Hanna Montana concert or the cheers as loud as the Red Sox received when they clinched their first division title in 10 years, Steve Fischer's first NEIBA trade show as executive director was widely regarded as a roaring success.

Once again NEIBA's robust membership voted with its feet for an exceptional educational program, several sold-out author meals and the usual publisher freebies at the Rhode Island Convention Center, Providence, September 27-29. The educational sessions were particularly well-attended.

Per Fischer, "Final registration numbers were very encouraging; in its 34th year, NEIBA registered 930 booksellers, down only seven from 2006, 450 exhibitors, up 15, and a record 132 authors." The only quibble voiced by the occasional rebarbative* publisher's rep was over the perceived thinner booksellers' ranks and the higher ratio of day-trippers to overnighters.

[*Editor's note: we can see without doubt that this is the first use of the word rebarbative in the two-and-a-half year history of Shelf Awareness. Thank you, Chris, for improving our vocabulary.]

Highlights of the show included the Ha Jin, Paul Krugman and Geraldine Brooks Saturday Breakfast, the "best ever" according to many. Suzanne Staubach of the UConn bookstore in Storrs and no Pollyanna said enthusiastically that Krugman was "optimistic about the economy," shocking news to devoted readers of his New York Times column.

At the much-anticipated and sold-out Thursday Industry Lunch, Richard Russo (Bridge of Sighs) received NEIBA's President's Award. Simon & Schuster sales rep Katie McGarry received the Gilman Award as rep of the year. New England Mobile Book Fair's Jon Strymish received the Book Publishers Representatives of New England "Independent Spirit Bookstore Award." (It was widely assumed that this clever tactic was the only way to get the normally diffident Strymish to attend the show.) Shambhala Publications received a 2007 New England Book Award as best regional publisher.

Jessica Stockton, blogger of the Written Nerd, New Atlantic Independent Booksellers Association board member and McNally Robinson, NYC, bookseller, posted that "NEIBA is operating under a similar strategy to NAIBA's show this year, with a smaller, more streamlined trade show floor focused on 'pick of the lists' and helping booksellers sell more books, rather than trying to showcase every title from every publisher. The show floor was therefore smallish and felt very manageable, even in the few hours I had to spare, but I still found myself coming away with a bag of super-useful materials (and, um, free books)."

Rep Bill Palizzolo, billbooks & associates, and an earlier winner of the Gilman sales rep of the year award, commented: "I loved the new format (Friday & Saturday) and thought it worked well. The attendance on Saturday was much better than the prior years' Sunday attendance." He did think that "perhaps moving back to Boston next year will increase attendance."

Book House of Stuyvesant "blurb queen" Susan Taylor was "excited to pick up some galleys, particularly Monsters of Templeton by Lauren Groff (HarperCollins) and I'm Looking Through You by Jennifer Finney Boyle (Random House)."

Wiley rep Wes Romansky said that he signed up "six-eight new accounts that hadn't ordered before from Wiley." Wiley also hosted a cocktail party for "75 happy attendees," as Romansky put it.

Regarding possible changes to the show, Romansky added, "I think we should go to the NAIBA two-day length format. While we set up the morning of day one, they are having their education courses and meetings. Then there are a few selling hours, say 4-6:30 p.m. Day two is selling only, 9 a.m.-4 p.m."

PGW's Kim Wylie refused to dish. When asked for comment, she responded "Sure . . . is this bland enough for you? 'Traffic was pretty great. We had a warm response to the announcement that PGW got to keep our name (hallelujah) and book buyers were grabbing our galleys and in good spirits. Lots of excitement over Eliot Pattison's Bone Rattler as well as excitement over Grove's upcoming Karen Armstrong book, The Bible.' "

For her part, Carole Horne of Harvard Book Store, Cambridge, Mass., said, "I thought the show was great. The mood seemed up; Saturday wound up being quite busy. The Thursday seminars were well attended, and I heard good things about them from lots of people. The two meal events I went to (the awards luncheon and the Saturday author breakfast) were both spectacular. I thought the author reception worked much better than the dinner we've had the last few years. And I was home on Sunday!"

Among the 13 stellar authors who mingled at the SRO Friday evening reception, many booksellers remarked that they particularly enjoyed Brock Clarke (The Arsonist's Guide to Writer's Homes in New England/Algonquin,) Samantha Hunt (The Invention of Everything Else/Houghton Mifflin) and John Burnham Schwartz (The Commoner/Doubleday.)

For many, Friday night's festivities wrapped with the Second Annual Rogue Party, featuring Boston's Charlie Chesterman and the Motorbikes. It drew a "moderate crowd of booksellers and Megadeth fans from a nearby concert, according to organizer Susan Taylor. "Late dinners kept some booksellers away but the band rocked, and a good time was had by all. We'll see what happens with the Rogue Party next year--Boston is a lot more expensive than Providence."

NEIBA's Fischer concluded, "the vibe was upbeat and I had many booksellers and publishers tell me it was a really great few days for them. And I had an absolutely wonderful time myself! On to our Holiday Catalog! We'll see you next year in Boston at the Hynes Convention Center, September 18-20!"


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