American Booksellers Association members have voted in the three candidates nominated for the board. Serving three-year terms as directors beginning next month are Becky Anderson of Anderson's Bookshop, Naperville, Ill.; Betsy Burton of the King's English Bookshop Salt Lake City, Utah; and Beth Puffer of Bank Street Bookstore, New York, N.Y., Bookselling this Week reported.

Anderson and Puffer are already on the board and will begin their second three-year terms.

ABA members also ratified Michael Tucker of Books Inc., San Francisco, Calif., to serve a one-year term as ABA president and Becky Anderson to serve a one-year term as vice-president/secretary.

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The Addison Independent explored how changes in the book industry--and books themselves--are affecting indie bookstores for a piece headlined, "In the digital age, booksellers adapt business to stay afloat."

"It's a struggle," said Becky Dayton, owner of Vermont Book Shop, Middlebury. "We have to work the 'shop locally' angle hard." The Independent noted that Dayton is "trying to reach out to the demographic that's embraced online shopping. She said she thinks all Middlebury businesses need to focus on educating shoppers about what keeping dollars local really means for the economy.

"It's the ones who have gone away, and who went away a long time ago--those are the ones we need to get back," she added.

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"All the books that were there before the Internet are still there, now they're just more expensive. Everyone thinks they are a scholar," David Aronovitz, owner of the Fine Books Company, Rochester, Mich., told the Detroit News.

Arnowitz's collection gained attention recently when "AbeBooks.com sent an e-mail to its customers around the globe trumpeting a collection of 126 award-winning science fiction and fantasy books, most of them signed or inscribed by their authors, many of which are famous personalities."

"When I told AbeBooks what I had, I figured they would jump on it and they did," said Aronovitz, who "took the collection on consignment from a longtime customer and hopes to fetch $116,530 in the sale," the News added.

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Valley Books, Amherst, Mass., owned by Larry Pruner, will close July 31. According to the Republican, "business had been slow for a few years, but the recession exacerbated it."

"People don't browse and walk out with six or seven books," Pruner said. "I don't feel sad about this . . . there's some sense of relief."

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Bohannons' Books with a Past, Georgetown, Ky., will close tomorrow, and the Lexington Herald-Leader offered a final look at the bookshop that was started 12 years ago by sisters Barbara Hoffman and Kay Vincent, whose retirement from the book business "will be bittersweet."

"The economy forced us to look at what we were doing," Vincent said. "But it didn't force us to close, because we could have made it."

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Graeham Owens, a division of W.G. Ellerkamp, is offering handmade paper products designed exclusively for the ABA, including IndieBound bookmarks and journals, Bookselling This Week reported.

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Congratulations to M.J. Rose! Fox has decided to pick up Past Life, which is based on her novel The Reincarnationist, for next season. Past Life "follows a team of detectives who solve crimes using regression therapy and the theory of reincarnation," the Hollywood Reporter said.

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Well done. HarperStudio has its first bestseller: Emeril Lagasse's Emeril at the Grill is No. 8 on this coming Sunday's New York Times paperback advice, how-to and miscellaneous list.

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Yesterday on Fresh Air, book critic Maureen Corrigan gave a rave review of the Moe Prager novels by Reed Farrel Coleman (back in print courtesy of Busted Flush Press and Bleak House). She said she was introduced to the books by "one of God's own divine messengers--that is, an independent bookseller."

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Josalyn Moran has been named children's publishing director at Chronicle Books, effective June 10. She was formerly v-p of children's books at Barnes & Noble, a position she has held for the past nine years. Prior to that, she was v-p, associate publisher, at North-South Books, and v-p, director of special sales, at Golden Books. We first met Moran when she was a leader at the Educational Paperback Association, in charge of educational marketing for the Booksource in St. Louis, Mo.

Moran will attend BEA on behalf of Chronicle team before relocating to San Francisco.
 

Starbucks has chosen Crazy for the Storm: A Memoir of Survival by Norman Ollestad (Ecco) as its next book pick. The memoir will go on sale at some 7,000 Starbucks-operated stores in the U.S. June 2.

In a statement, Starbucks said that "Ollestad, now 41, was thrust into the world of surfing and competitive downhill skiing at a very young age by the father he idolized. As an 11-year-old boy, he was in a plane that crashed into an 8,600 foot mountain engulfed in a blizzard. He was the only survivor. Crazy for the Storm is a vivid illustration of his terrifying physical and psychological descent down the mountain in extreme conditions. It is also Ollestad's portrayal of his touching relationship between he and his father, which reveals how his father instilled in him the characteristics to persevere, and ultimately, survive."

"When selecting a book to carry in our stores we seek out well-written, thought-provoking pieces that spur conversation," said Chris Bruzzo, Starbucks v-p of brand content. "Crazy for the Storm is the right book for right now. It's a life-affirming tale that gave us pause to reflect on thriving in the face of adversity. Ultimately, it's a story about a father and a son, and that makes it a perfect gift for Father's Day."

Roxanne Coady, owner of R.J. Julia, Madison, Conn., moderates the panel The Tie That Binds: A Conversation Between Authors and Indie Booksellers, which opens the ABA's Day of Education on Thursday, May 28, at the Javits Center. This panel runs from 9-10:30 a.m. and features Sherman Alexie, Jon Meacham, James Patterson and Lisa Scottoline.

Among other Day of Education panels:

Book Club Brainstorming takes place 10:45-12:15 a.m. in Room 1E11. Panelists are Becky Anderson, co-owner, Anderson's Bookshops, Naperville, Ill., Karen Corvello, head buyer, R.J. Julia Booksellers, Madison, Conn., and Jennifer Laughran, book fair coordinator and children's specialist, Books Inc., San Francisco, Calif. Carol Fitzgerald, president of the Book Report Network, is the moderator.

The ABA introduces IndieCommerce (formerly known as BookSense.com) from 10:45-12:15 a.m. in Room 1E12. The new IndieCommerce system allows booksellers more control and flexibility with their websites and allows the ABA to add new features faster.

Bookstore as the Third Place: Making Your Store a Community Center Through Innovative Events takes place at 1:15-2:30 p.m. in Room 1E11. Panelists are Jessica Stockton Bagnulo, events coordinator, McNally Jackson Booksellers, New York City, and co-owner of Greenlight Bookstore (yet to be opened), Brooklyn, N.Y., Kelly Justice, owner, the Fountain Bookstore, Richmond, Va., Robert Sindelar, managing partner, Third Place Books, Lake Forest Park, Wash. ABA COO Oren Teicher moderates.

Going Digital: An Industry Discussion on Selling E-Content will be held 1:15-2:30 p.m. in Room 1E12. Panelists are Mark Nelson, digital content strategist, National Association of College Stores, and v-p, strategy and development, NACS Media Solutions, Jenn Northington, events and marketing manager, the King's English Bookshop, Salt Lake City, Utah, and Andrew Savikas, v-p of digital initiatives, O'Reilly Media. ABA chief program officer Len Vlahos moderates.

Social Media and the Independent Bookseller at 2:45-4 p.m. in Room 1E12. The ABA's Len Vlahos moderates a panel that consists of three accomplished social media mavens: Stephanie Anderson, manager, WORD Bookstore, Brooklyn, N.Y., Ann Kingman, district sales manager, Random House, and Megan Sullivan, head buyer, Harvard Bookstore, Cambridge, Mass.

Independents Week: Creating a Community-Wide Local First Celebration at any Time of the Year will be held 2:45-4 p.m. in Room 1E11. Panelists are Carla Jimenez, co-owner, Inkwood Books, Tampa, Fla., Lucy Kogler, manager, Talking Leaves Bookstore, Buffalo, N.Y., Paige Poe, ABA IndieBound outreach liaison, and Meg Smith, ABA chief marketing officer.

From 2:45-4 p.m. in Room 1E10, handseller extraordinaire Joe Drabyak of Chester County Book & Music Company, West Chester, Pa., and ABA CEO Avin Domnitz discuss handselling.

These days, who doesn't feel a pinch in their wallet? (Or even a full-blown clampdown?) But that's no reason to deny yourself the joys of New York City window shopping while you're here for BEA. It's no surprise that many of our window designers have a theater background--looking at the spectacular displays on Fifth Avenue are practically a free performance. On a sunny warm day, weaving in and out of landmark department stores, glossy international designer boutiques and flagship chains, you'll get a shopping buzz, even if you're just picking up a tube of lipstick.

The intersection of Fifth Avenue and 57th Street distills a mix of old and new, exclusive and accessible. From these corners you'll see blue-chip New York classics (jeweler Tiffany & Co., the Bergdorf Goodman department stores), luxury giants (Gucci and the glass box of Louis Vuitton), a high-tech wonderland (another glass cube for Apple), and show-off digs for informal brands (NikeTown, Abercrombie & Fitch). Capping this shopping stretch at 58th Street is the colossal, exceptional toy store F.A.O. Schwarz.

So what are the ultimate big-city stores with retail razzle-dazzle? Check out these Fifth Avenue giants, and from the doormen in braided livery, to the sweeping ballroom-style staircases, you'll glimpse NYC shopping at its most grand.

Best Department Stores:

Saks Fifth Avenue (611 Fifth Ave., between 49th and 50th Sts., 212-753-4000): The original "Fifth Avenue" location. Here you'll find fashion and nothing but.

Bergdorf Goodman (754 Fifth Ave., between 57th and 58th Sts., Men's store: 745 Fifth Ave., at 58th St., 212-753-7300): A New York fashion landmark, these partner stores (one for women, the other for men, guess which has the housewares) are both genteelly tasteful.

Takashimaya (693 Fifth Ave., between 54th and 55th Sts., 212-350-0100): Cool and collected, this Japanese emporium has a gorgeous florist on the top floor and a serene tea salon if you need to take a break.

Best Flagship Stores:

Louis Vuitton (1 E. 57th St., at Fifth Ave., 212-758-8877): You'll find the LV logo in every permutation across signature handbags and leather goods, plus a jet-set clothing line upstairs.

Chanel (15 E. 57th St., between Fifth and Madison Aves., 212-355-5050): The name alone is synonymous with French chic. This Chanel flagship carries all the hallmarks, from little black dresses to double-C jewelry.

Apple (767 Fifth Ave., between 58th and 59th Sts., 212-336-1440): Gadget-junkies, take note: this store houses all your favorite chip-driven devices, and it's open 24 hours a day.

Gucci (725 Fifth Ave., at 56th St., 212-826-2600): Snakeskin pumps, anyone? Here you can check out classic designs and goodies exclusive to this store.

Best Serious Jewelry:

Tiffany & Co. (727 Fifth Ave., at 57th St., 212-755-8000): It may be a bit tricky to have breakfast here, but you can still hum "Moon River," check out the dazzling gems and pearls, then head upstairs for the far more affordable silver collection.

Cartier (653 Fifth Ave., at 52nd St., 212-753-0111): Both classic and slinky new designs glitter inside a turn-of-the-20th-century mansion.

Harry Winston (718 Fifth Ave., at 56th St., 212-245-2001): Made famous in the song "Diamonds Are a Girl's Best Friend," this is the ultimate stop for some new ice (or really just to admire the blinding bling).

Best Gift for Your Kids:

F.A.O. Schwarz (767 Fifth Ave., at 58th St., 212-644-9400): Pick up an incredibly lifelike stuffed animal here. They've got exclusive Steiff "purebred" dogs, for instance, that come with authenticity certificates from the American Kennel Club. And if you take a whirl on the giant floor keyboard, no one will judge.

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For more New York City shopping recommendations, check out Fodor's New York City 2009, the guide that the New York Times calls "the can't-go-wrong choice," or visit fodors.com.

Tomorrow morning on Good Morning America: Emeril Lagasse, author of Emeril at the Grill: A Cookbook for All Seasons (HarperStudio, $24.99, 9780061742743/0061742740).

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Tomorrow All Things Considered discusses Prisoner of State: The Secret Journal of Premier Zhao Ziyang (Simon & Schuster, $26, 9781439149386/1439149380).

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Sunday on ABC's This Week with George Stephanopoulos: James Carville, author of 40 More Years: How the Democrats Will Rule the Next Generation (Simon & Schuster, $24, 9781416569893/1416569898).

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Sunday on Meet the Press: Richard Haass, author of War of Necessity, War of Choice: A Memoir of Two Iraq Wars (Simon & Schuster, $27, 9781416549024/1416549021).

Forest Whitaker and Curtis "50 Cent" Jackson will star in a new adaptation of Robert Louis Stevenson's The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, "which will be contemporized and titled Jekyll and Hyde," Variety reported.

"The combination of such formidable talent in front of and behind the camera will turn this wonderful gothic story into a modern classic for a whole new generation," said Luc Roeg, one of the executive producers.

With the release of  a "tremendously wide-ranging" longlist for the £20,000 (US$30,413) BBC Samuel Johnson Prize for nonfiction, the Guardian speculated that even Mr. Johnson would have been delighted by the inclusion of Ian McIntyre's biography of Hester Thrale, "his sparring partner and confidante, the woman he referred to as his 'dear Mistress.' " The shortlist will be announced in late May and the winner named June 30 in a televised awards ceremony on BBC2. You can see the complete longlist here.

In her first book, Forget Me Not: A Memoir (a May trade paperback from Mountaineers Books), artist Jennifer Lowe-Anker draws a portrait of two fiercely independent people pursuing their passions as they navigate life in locations ranging from the wild valleys of Montana to the highest peaks of the Himalayas. Lowe-Anker's artwork has been featured in galleries and exhibits throughout the West for three decades; she continues to paint vivid and whimsical images of her Western upbringing. She resides in Bozeman, Mont., with her husband, Conrad Anker, and their sons, Max, Sam and Isaac.

On your nightstand now:

O.K., there is a stack beneath my little nightstand. The top one I just finished last night: Paths of Glory by Jeffrey Archer. The others are Last Child in the Woods by Richard Louv, The Maytrees by Annie Dillard, The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down by Anne Fadiman, The Lady Rode Bucking Horses by Dee Marvine and believe it or not, War and Peace by Tolstoy on the bottom. I am working up the courage to begin that one.

Favorite book when you were a child:

The Snow Goose by Paul Gallico. My grandmother read it to me the first time when I was quite young, and I have read it many times since. It is still one of my favorite reads.

Your top five authors:

Ivan Doig, Norman Maclean, Robert Frost, Beryl Markham and Peter Matthiessen.

Another five:

Jon Krakauer, David Quammen, Barbara Kingsolver, Isak Dinesen and Mary Clearman Blew. I could keep going to a hundred or so.

Book you've faked reading:

War and Peace. I read it long ago but skipped most of the war parts.

Book you're an evangelist for:

Endurance by Alfred Lansing is the one of best adventure stories ever written. People of any age can enjoy it and be inspired.

Book you've bought for the cover:

That would have to be Miss Spider's Wedding, a children's book by David Kirk. Irresistibly illustrated. I still love children's books even though our youngest child just turned 13. Another recent one was Beyond the Great Wall by Jeffrey Alford and Naomi Duguid, a mouth-watering, lusciously illustrated cookbook that I hope will inspire me to make momos.

Book that changed your life:

The Lost Explorer by Conrad Anker and David Roberts helped me along the path of falling in love with my husband. A Sand County Almanac by Aldo Leopold was given to me by my best friend in high school, and it had a profound influence on the person I became. This House of Sky by Ivan Doig is another that I have read and reread. I aspire to write with the poetic style and easy dialogue that Doig so deftly pens.

Favorite line from a book:

"In our family, there was no clear line between religion and fly fishing."--From A River Runs Through It and Other Stories by Norman Maclean.

Book you most want to read again for the first time:

The Three Musketeers by Alexandre Dumas. I remember struggling to begin and then being swept along until the end and feeling the disappointment that I couldn't keep reading it.

 
Food and cooking-related memoirs have glutted the available space on bookstore biography shelves for almost a decade. They include, but are not limited to, celebrity chef gossip, recipe-laden personal narratives, extreme cooking, extreme eating and countless tales from restaurant kitchens. Still, publishers continue to crank out these culinary confessions at regular intervals, creating a particularly enervating form of chef-memoir fatigue--at least for this reader. And yet both hunger and hope spring eternal. There is always time--and room--for a good meal and a compelling story. With The Hunger, John DeLucie, who regularly cooks up the former at the Waverly Inn (the wildly popular celebrity-packed New York restaurant in which he is a partner), also delivers the latter.
 
DeLucie came to cooking late (he was closing in on 30) after a truncated career in financial services and a few aborted attempts at becoming a musician, but quickly discovered his passion and aptitude while taking a 12-week Master Chef course at the New School. DeLucie's subsequent cooking gig (at Dean & DeLuca) was the first of many unglamorous, demanding jobs in sundry New York restaurants (all superbly detailed here) that he toiled at while learning, developing and honing his skills. There were triumphs (both personal and professional) but many more false starts and failures along the way to the ultimate success of the Waverly Inn. Over the course of 15 years, DeLucie worked 10-hour shifts, opened several new restaurants only to close them soon after, battled temperamental bosses, quit, experimented, drank copiously and then repeated it all over again. His personal life, full of the high drama endemic to life in the kitchen, went through almost as many convolutions. He also cooked, and his descriptions of food and the dishes he's prepared are among the most compelling in this consistently entertaining, colorful narrative.
 
Alternating chapters that detail his journey with fly-on-the-wall scenes from inside the star-studded Waverly, DeLucie keeps the pace brisk and the tone just light enough, never (thankfully) taking himself too seriously or devolving into preciousness (a common occupational hazard). Ultimately, this chef, renowned for his $50-a-plate truffled macaroni and cheese, turns out to be a fine storyteller. Although larded with elements familiar to anyone who has read any food writing (or, for that matter, watched a single episode of Top Chef), DeLucie's story feels fresh and his telling of it is at once informative, absorbing and surprising. If his food is as satisfying to the palate as his memoir is to the imagination, diners at the Waverly Inn are surely getting their money's worth.--Debra Ginsberg
 
Shelf Talker: A stand-out in the overstuffed chef memoir genre, DeLucie, executive chef and partner at New York's Waverly Inn, entertains, informs and surprises readers with the story of his life in the kitchen.

As BEA approaches, a bookseller's thoughts turn to . . . author events. I've had several conversations recently about the changing landscape of this particular book world ceremony, but it gets more complicated when the subject turns to local authors, especially those who choose to self-publish.

You know the prime questions:

1. How do you put fannies in the seats?
2. How do you get people to buy the damn book?
3. How do you avoid losing money on the deal?

So this topic was already sautéing in my brain-pan when I received an e-mail from Pamela Grath--owner of Dog Ears Books, a small shop in Northport, Mich.--in which she confessed that her approach has gradually altered to a more collaborative effort.

"It began when a friend insisted, over all my protestations, that she would provide the refreshments for her husband's book signing reception," said Grath. "I wasn't sure I liked the idea at first. It seemed to me that it was my business and that my business should be financially able to provide everything for store events, but my friend really wanted to do this. Reluctantly, I agreed. She did food and flowers. We worked together on invitations. I handled publicity. The party was lovely and sold a lot of books."

Since then, Grath has hosted several collaborative events. A local author's son and daughter-in-law offered to share responsibility for refreshments; a husband and wife who co-authored a book published by a small local press provided their own refreshments, flowers and postcard invitations, while Grath took care of publicity and e-mail invitations.

Grath observed that this has caused her to "come around in my thinking to realize that this collaboration is a good thing. The cost savings to the bookstore when authors or family members provide refreshments is only the beginning of a series of advantages for all concerned--author, bookseller, families and community. Having invested psychologically in the event, the author and family are keen to beat the bushes and get people to the bookstore. They don't just show up with a pen, waiting to sign books. Each event is a family as well as a literary event, a celebration party, and so far, these parties have been very successful, both in terms of attendance and sales."

Not all of her events can be handled this way, of course. Grath stressed that "it wouldn't do to insist that a famous or out-of-town author the bookseller had not even met bring their own punch and cookies. The development I'm describing grows naturally out of 'Buy Local' campaigns and sentiments. Local authors--logical supporters of local bookstores but not always tapped as a resource--seem especially eager to show support in tangible ways when they and their work also receive appreciation and support. Community bonds are strengthened in ways that I had to see to believe."

Events featuring local and/or self-published authors come with their own set of "handle with care" instructions. "It wouldn't work for me to host an event every week of the season for just any self-published book," said Grath. "I have to restrict the number of events, so as not to wear out our small public with constant demands to buy books, and it's critical to my reputation that the books I choose to support with in-store events are those I feel are worth their cover price."

As with many aspects of publishing, saying yes is easy; saying no is the tricky bit. "In the beginning I said yes to everything much too easily," Grath said. "I guess in general I've become more comfortable being honest with authors--and there are other, non-bookstore venues available."

How Grath says no "varies with the author and the book. In some cases, I let them know that what they have would be a very hard sell, local audience or no, but they can leave books on consignment. I think my latest realization--that I have to limit the number of events I mount in any given season--will help take some of the sting off rejection. I hope so. Another part of it is that most people understand that I'm in this to make a living, while that was not generally their motivation in writing their books."

Grath shared a detailed e-mail she sends to local writers who have inquired about a possible event. In addition to asking very specific questions to build a local publicity campaign, she ends with a bookseller's vow: "I look forward to reading your book at my earliest opportunity!"--Robert Gray (column archives available at Fresh Eyes Now)