In the last few years, Target has become "a tastemaker for books" through its book club and the Bookmarked Breakout program, both started in 2005, the New York Times wrote. The programs have "highlighted largely unknown writers, helping their books find their way into shopping carts filled with paper towels, cereal and shampoo.

"By assembling a collection of books by unheralded authors," the paper continued, "Target behaves more like an independent bookstore than like a mere retailer of mainstream must-haves (although, of course, Target sells its share of best-seller list regulars, like James Patterson and Janet Evanovich)."

Among highlights from the story:

• Target carries about 2,500 titles in each of its 1,700 stores, including many more paperbacks, particularly trade paperbacks, than hardcovers. Most books are shelved faceout.
• Target's "core" book buyers are women with a median age of 42 and median annual household income of $60,000. About half have college degrees, and some have children at home.
• The books for both programs are chosen by a panel of Target employees who meet monthly to review submissions from publishers.
• For each book selected as a Bookmarked Club Pick, the publisher produces a special edition, and the author writes a letter addressed to Target readers.

Among examples of titles selling well after being highlighted by Target are Still Alice by Lisa Genova, which sold 51,000 copies in its Target edition and some 174,000 copies overall, making Target the single-largest outlet for the book.

Sarah's Key by Tatiana de Rosnay, which sold only 2,000 copies in hardcover, sold more than 145,000 copies in Target. The regular paperback edition has sold 200,000 copies.

The Year of Fog by Michelle Richmond sold 152,000 copies at Target.

The Plastic Logic e-reader, which the company plans to introduce early next year, will have a wireless connection supplied by AT&T that will allow users to download books from anywhere with a phone signal a la the Kindle, the AP reported.

On Monday, B&N announced that as part of its new eBookstore, it will offer e-books for the Plastic Logic e-reader.

The device's "target market will be professionals who would want to display business documents in nearly full size," the AP added. "Reading novels would be a secondary application."

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IndieBound has updated its iPhone app so that it now fully integrates with users' book lists on IndieBound.org. Additions, changes, new lists, etc., are synched back to IndieBound.org. The app also remembers users' favorite bookstores for online shopping.

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The Brooklyn Paper showcased WORD Bookstore's literary basketball league and organizer/referee/bookseller Stephanie Anderson, who "says the league started as a joke, but a quick post on the bookstore’s blog received more than a hundred responses."

Of the five-question bookish application, she added: "I had no idea so many people could answer those questions and wanted to play basketball."

"It’s so much fun, everyone is low key," said Faith Black, an editor at Avalon Books and captain of the Mrs. Balloway team.

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Lizz Kuehl's photographs in Time Out New York captured the spirit of the Gothic Charm School Tea Party Picnic, held July 18 at Green-Wood Cemetery in Brooklyn, N.Y., to celebrate publication of Gothic Charm School: An Essential Guide for Goths and Those Who Love Them by Jillian Venters

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For readers intrigued by the challenge of a book discussion in 140 characters or less, the Twitter Book Club has chosen Elizabeth Strout's Olive Kitteridge for its next meeting, August 17, from 9-10 p.m. The online book club meets live on Twitter on the second and third Monday of every month and is co-hosted by the Book Studio's Bethanne Patrick and and Kassia Krozser of Booksquare.

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To alphabetize or not to alphabetize, that is the question. Or one of several questions addressed in a Guardian piece headlined: "Bookshelf etiquette. How to arrange your books."

Writer Sarah Crown observed that, "after a lifetime of experimentation, I find I prefer the fortuities and disjunctions that arise from eschewing arrangement altogether: my books end up on my shelves according to where I can jam them, which has the advantage of cutting down on random acts of borrowing, as only I know where anything is located."

Jim Crace offered alternative methods, including "The literary snob . . . Old Penguins, heavily creased to denote re-reading, are lined up in rows of orange, black and grey. These can be bought by the yard at most secondhand bookshops, and are a very easy way of acquiring instant intellectual credibility."

Tomorrow on KCRW's Bookworm: John Wray, author of Lowboy (Farrar, Straus & Giroux, $25, 9780374194161/0374194165). As the show put it: "John Wray's novel about a schizophrenic boy's quest for sex and/or love flirts violently with the thriller form. Here, he explains his attraction to genre writing and his desire, through compassionate understanding and admiration for the poetic outsider language of his young hero, to go beyond the thriller."

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Tomorrow on NPR's Talk of the Nation: Lizzie Skurnick, author of Shelf Discovery: The Teen Classics We Never Stopped Reading (Avon, $14.99, 9780061756351/0061756350).

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Tomorrow on the Diane Rehm Show: Daniel Asa Rose, author of Larry's Kidney: Being the True Story of How I Found Myself in China with My Black Sheep Cousin and His Mail-Order Bride, Skirting the Law to Get Him a Transplant--and Save His Life (Morrow, $25.99, 9780061708701/0061708704).

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Tomorrow on the Colbert Report: Zev Chafets, author of Cooperstown Confidential: Heroes, Rogues, and the Inside Story of the Baseball Hall of Fame (Bloomsbury, $25, 9781596915459/1596915455).

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Tomorrow on the Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson Show: Ben Mezrich, author of Bringing Down the House: The Inside Story of Six M.I.T. Students Who Took Vegas for Millions (Free Press, $15, 9781416564195/1416564195).

Thanks to the efforts of Oscar-winner Charlize Theron, the "37-year effort to bring Atlas Shrugged to the screen is finally gaining momentum," according to the Hollywood Reporter. Theron has been in talks with the producers about playing Dagny Taggart, but "has been concerned that a feature would lose many of the nuances of the monster-sized novel. So the Rand adaptation would, under a plan she and producers discussed, be turned into a miniseries for Epix, the pay-cable network Lionsgate is forming with MGM and Viacom/Paramount."

Does that mean that Atlas Shrugged will finally hit the screen? Maybe. Despite her active participation in the discussions, Theron's "involvement remained uncertain at press time," the Hollywood Reporter observed, adding: "While those familiar with the discussions say she has been driving the development process, her reps say that she has recently come to a decision but has not yet informed the studio or producers. WME and longtime manager J.J. Harris told THR late Monday that Theron 'is not moving forward with the project.'" Stay tuned.

Uma Thurman will star in Girl Soldier, "portraying a cleric who helped rescue 140 schoolgirls abducted in Uganda," according to Variety, which noted that the "producers are eyeing a first-quarter shoot." The film is adapted from Stolen Angels: The Kidnapped Girls of Uganda by Kathy Cook (Penguin Global, $24, 9780143054818/0143054813).

"This is a film that had to get made," Thurman said. "It's beyond me that in this day and age the exploitation of child soldiers goes virtually unnoticed and unchecked by Western media." 

Variety reported that Caspian Pictures, which will make the film, "was founded by [Will] Raee and Brian Bullock last year with the goal of making socially conscious and commercially viable films with mass audience appeal."

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Warner Bros. has acquired the film rights to Beginner's Greek by James Collins (Back Bay Books, $14.99, 9780316021562/0316021563). Variety reported that the studio "has hired 500 Days of Summer scribes Scott Neustadter and Michael H. Weber to pen the adaptation. . . . Chuck Weinstock will produce and De Line exec VP Andrew Haas will exec produce."

Honoring a "British writer who shows exemplary 'engagement with the times,'" the new PEN/Pinter prize, named in honor of the late Harold Pinter, will be given annually by English PEN "to reward a writer who casts an 'unflinching, unswerving' gaze upon the world, and who shows a 'fierce intellectual determination . . . to define the real truth of our lives and our societies,'" the Guardian reported.

The winner will receive £1,000 (US$1,645), and £1,000 will be given "to an imprisoned writer of conscience of their choice, selected in consultation with English PEN's Writers in Prison Committee," according to the Guardian. The initial prize, to be presented on October 14 at the British Library, will be judged by Pinter's widow, Antonia Fraser, Tom Stoppard, English PEN president Lisa Appignanesi, broadcaster Mark Lawson and National Theatre director Nicholas Hytner.

Suzanne Brockmann has written more than 40 books and is one of the leading voices in romantic suspense. Her work has won many awards, including Romance Writers of America's #1 Favorite Book of the Year three years running, two RITA Awards and many Romantic Times Reviewer's Choice Awards. She lives west of Boston with her husband, author Ed Gaffney. Brockmann's latest, and 15th in the Troubleshooters series, is Hot Pursuit, which goes on sale July 28 from Ballantine.

On your nightstand now:

I don't keep books on my nightstand because I can't read anyone else's fiction while I'm writing my own, and the temptation would be too intense. Once I start a good book, I find it impossible to put it down, and I'd never get any writing done. So I keep my TBR (to be read) pile safely out of reach but ready for me to dive into when I'm done--at which point I gleefully read about a book a day. I just finished Virginia Kantra's Sea Fever and Hank Phillippi Ryan's Drive Time. (Loved 'em both.) Right now I'm in the middle of J.R. Ward's wonderful Lover Avenged, with Susan Elizabeth Phillips's What I Did for Love and Carla Kelly's The Surgeon's Lady in the on deck circle. While I'm writing, I read a lot of World War II historical nonfiction and political commentary. And I do a lot of sudoku--it gives the writing part of my brain a real break.
 
Favorite book when you were a child:

Oh, there were so many. But the book I remember impacting me the most was Mr. Bass's Planetoid by Eleanor Cameron. When I realized it was part of a series (along with The Wonderful Flight to the Mushroom Planet and Stowaway to the Mushroom Planet), I was absolutely thrilled. I'm talking chills down my spine thrilled. I was maybe 10, but I still remember it to this day, in stark detail--where I was in the library, which corner, what it looked like, what it smelled like (books--ahhh!). I used to kneel in order to browse the stacks, and I remember holding another of the Mushroom Planet books in my hand and thinking, "This story that I love so much and regretted having to finish and say goodbye to the characters that I loved is not over . . . " To this day, I love reading books that are a part of a series, and I love writing them, too. Old friends, you know?

Your top five authors:

Only five? Okay. William Goldman, who wrote Marathon Man and The Princess Bride and Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (which is my all time favorite movie). J. R. Ward, who writes the brilliantly edgy Brotherhood of the Black Dagger series--reading one of her books is like falling backwards into a swimming pool. I become completely submerged in her world. Virginia Kantra, whose latest series is the Children of the Sea. She writes about love and family so movingly. Susan Elizabeth Phillips, who always makes me laugh and care so passionately about her characters. Last but not least, Carla Kelly, who is a military historian. She writes mainly Regency-era romances, but she never glosses over the horror and hardships of war. Again, her characters are so real and so vulnerable. I have rarely read a book twice--I'm just not that kind of reader. But I'll do re-reads of Carla's books and love every minute of it.
 
Book you've faked reading:

There's only one book that I didn't admit to not finishing, and that would be Jude the Obscure by Thomas Hardy. It was for my AP English class in high school. I actually really like Hardy's books, but this one just killed me. I couldn't bear the depression and pain that the characters were going through, so I bailed. Ironically, when I took the AP test, the essay question was one for which this book was the perfect example. So I used it--and got the highest possible score. Go figure.
 
Book you're an evangelist for:

There's a YA book called Super What? by Jax Abbott that is a terrific book, particularly for reluctant readers. It's funny and smart--an awesome book. I'm friends with the author, and I bought about a hundred copies and had her sign them, so I could bring a few with me each time I do a book signing. There's usually always a kid or two, dragged along by their parents, and I love giving them a signed copy of this book (with their parents' permission, of course). I'm also an evangelist for The Area of My Expertise by John Hodgman. This is one of the funniest books I've ever read. My son and I like to read aloud from it, particularly the section titled "Jokes That Have Never Produced Laughter." 
 
Book you've bought for the cover:

That would be the movie tie-in to Cool Hand Luke.  It had Paul Newman on the cover. I was 13. Say no more.
 
Book that changed your life:

Unlimited Power and Awaken the Giant Within, both by Tony Robbins. I read them while I was a young, stay-at-home mom who wanted to become a writer. I was creative, but I liken my creativity at the time to a Ping-Pong ball, zooming around a room with no real direction. Those books taught me to focus my creativity and to learn to assess my strengths and weaknesses--and use them both to my advantage. 
 
Favorite line from a book:

Don't have one. I do have a favorite audiobook, which is Steve Martin's The Pleasure of My Company. 
 
Book you most want to read again for the first time:

The Wedding Dress by Virginia Ellis, a book set in the aftermath of the Civil War. The narrator's voice is so warm and lovely, and the story is so sweet. I read it in manuscript form, years ago, at a time when I was struggling to find my way as an author. I was out on tour promoting The Defiant Hero, the second book in my Troubleshooters series, and I was wondering what the heck I was doing, away from my kids, working so hard. I finished reading the book alone in my hotel room, and there was no one there to tell, to say, "I just read the most wonderful book." Instead, I sat there, and really thought about it--about the way this book had made me feel. It had filled me with hope and happiness, with joy and love for these wonderful characters. And I knew: This was what I wanted to do. This was why I was writing my own books and working so hard. I wanted to write stories that would touch readers as profoundly as this one had touched me. It was truly inspiring, and I'd love to experience that again. 

The following were the bestselling titles at independent bookstores in the Chicago area during the week ended Sunday, July 19:

Hardcover Fiction
 
1. The Help by Kathryn Stockett
2. A Short History of Women by Kate Walbert
3. The Embers by Hyatt Bass
4. The Women by T.C. Boyle
5. Best Friends Forever by Jennifer Weiner
 
Hardcover Nonfiction
 
1. Outliers by Malcolm Gladwell
2. Breadline USA by Sasha Abramsky
3. Catastrophe by Dick Morris
4. Evolution of God by Robert Wright
5. Fergie by Ferguson Jenkins
 
Paperback Fiction
 
1. Olive Kitteridge by Elizabeth Strout
2. The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows
3. The Art of Racing in the Rain by Garth Stein
4. Unaccustomed Earth by Jhumpa Lahiri
5. The Time Traveler's Wife by Audrey Niffenegger
 
Paperback Nonfiction
 
1. Julie & Julia by Julie Powell
2. The Omnivore's Dilemma by Michael Pollan
3. When You Are Engulfed in Flames by David Sedaris
4. In Defense of Food by Michael Pollan
5. Glenn Beck's Common Sense by Glenn Beck
 
Children's
 
1. Diary of a Wimpy Kid Do It Yourself by Jeff Kinney
2. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows by J.K. Rowling
3. The Mysterious Benedict Society by Trenton Lee Stewart
4. Eclipse by Stephenie Meyer
5. Goldilicious by Victoria Kann

Reporting bookstore: Anderson's, Naperville and Downers Grove; Read Between the Lynes, Woodstock; Book Table, Oak Park; the Book Cellar, Lincoln Square; Lake Forest Books, Lake Forest; the Bookstall at Chestnut Court, Winnetka; and 57th St. Books; Seminary Co-op; Women and Children First, Chicago.

[Many thanks to the bookstores and Carl Lennertz!]