On
March 5, 2011, 20,000 passionate readers will give away a million books
to people across the U.K. and Ireland during the inaugural World Book Night,
a celebration of reading backed by the Booksellers Association, the
Publishers Association, Independent Publishers Guild, the Reading
Agency, libraries, charities and others.
Patrons of World Book
Night already include Damon Albarn, Dave Eggers, Colin Firth, David
Gilmour, Antony Gormley, Seamus Heaney, Damien Hirst, Nigella Lawson,
Mary Portas, J.K. Rowling and Tilda Swinton.
"World Book Night is
a unique collaboration between publishers, booksellers, libraries,
writers and individual members of the public and one that I think is
going to have an enormously positive impact on books and reading," said
Jamie Byng, the initiative's chairman. "There are few things more
meaningful than the personal recommendation and having one million books
given to one million different people on one night in this way is both
unprecedented and hugely exciting."
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Oren Teicher, American Booksellers Association CEO, wrote in Bookselling This Week about his November trip to Shenzhen, China, where he participated in a conference that was part of the city's 11th annual Reading Month festivities.
Shenzhen's planners "decided that a world-class city needed--and we certainly wouldn't argue with this--bookstores," Teicher observed. "In fact, one of Shenzhen's leading public officials said that for a city to be great there never should be more than 10 miles between bookstores!
"In a striking parallel to the U.S., it was determined that successful bookstores needed to be more than just a place where books are sold--they also should become community centers where people would want to visit and spend time.... What became clear very soon after my arrival was that the invitation to participate in the Reading Month programming was part of an effort to show off these extraordinary bookstores and Shenzhen’s multifaceted efforts to promote reading, both at home and to people from around the world. Beijing hosted the summer Olympics, Shanghai the recent World Expo, but Shenzhen is determined to be recognized as a city where books and reading are paramount."
Teicher noted that his visit to Shenzhen was "full of many reminders about how important books are, and, despite the numerous differences between us, how we share a common goal of encouraging reading and promoting books. Before I knew it, filled with lasting memories--and having made many new friends--it was time to cross the border to Hong Kong for the long trip home."
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Sherry Black, who owned B&W Collector Books, Salt Lake City, Utah, was found stabbed to death in the store, the AP reported. Black was working alone when she was killed. Her brother said nothing was missing.
Black
sold mostly used and rare Mormon texts, books about Utah and Western
Americana and children's books, and her husband, Earl Black, sold
billiard tables at Billiards Supply at the same location.
Black's son-in-law is Greg Miller, a Utah Jazz executive.
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Cool idea of the day: In Durham, N.C., more than 20 businesses have joined with the Regulator Bookshop for Shop Independent Durham Week, which runs through Sunday. Sustain A Bull! is the motto for the movement, which has the goal of promoting the pleasure and importance of shopping at locally owned, independent businesses. The Regulator is offering 20% off books from local publishers Algonquin Books and UNC Press, and raffling off a $100 gift certificate, along with other promotions.
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Bookselling This Week profiled Pudd'nhead Books, St. Louis, Mo., noting that since 2008, owner Nikki Furrer "has been living her dream" in her native state.
"I understand these people," she said. "I see their perspective and I know what's important to them so it's easier for me to buy the right books.... It's been going really well. I definitely have to load my car a lot. We sell books all over the place."
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Last summer, Animal Planet's new show Pets 101 filmed a segment at the Spirit of '76 bookstore, Marblehead, Mass., about Stanley, the African pygmy hedgehog owned by store manager Hilary Emerson Lay (Shelf Awareness, July 12, 2010). That episode will air Saturday, Dec. 11 at 8 p.m. on the Discovery Channel.
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Northern Lights Books & Gifts, Duluth, Minn., has been put up for sale and will close after the lease expires in February if no buyer is found. Owner Anita Zager, who told the News Tribune she has been quietly seeking a buyer since August, cited family concerns and competition from e-books as the primary motivations for the decision.
"My head and heart are in other places.... I just need to have fewer responsibilities," she said, adding that for the industry, "It's kind of a Gutenberg moment. If we had the ability to sell e-books to our customers, it would be different."
Although there has been some interest from potential buyers, she hasn't received any solid offers yet.
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Thomas Gladysz, former manager of the Booksmith, San Francisco, Calif., chose his "most interesting film books of 2010" for the Huffington Post, noting: "What gets a film book recommended? What makes them 'best'? Some are well done. And some are interesting. Others are groundbreaking, or perhaps the first book on the subject. Some are comprehensive, or authoritative. In the case of coffee table books, some are beautifully printed and simply a pleasure to look at."
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"Look at This Freaking Library," courtesy of Flavorwire, which noted that "architectural firm Concrete has won the 2010 Lensvelt de Architect Interieur Prize for its new library in Almere, the Netherlands."
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USA Today "scanned the shelves and struck pop-culture gold" for its 2010 Holiday Gift Guide to books.
Christmas books for children were also recommended.
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"We usually cringe when we hear about film adaptations of great, difficult literary authors' books," Flavorwire observed in showcasing "10 Authors and the Directors Who Were Born to Adapt Them" as well as reporting that "There Will Be Blood director Paul Thomas Anderson is thinking about bringing Thomas Pynchon's latest novel, Inherent Vice, to the big screen."
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Book trailer of the day: The King's Speech: How One Man Saved the British Monarchy
by Mark Logue and Peter Conradi (Sterling). Logue is the grandson of
Lionel Logue, the speech therapist who worked with King George VI on his
stutter--which is the focus of the new movie, The King's Speech,
which has opened in limited release and will open nationally next
Friday, December 10. The book is based on Logue's diaries. Geoffrey Rush
plays Logue in the movie.
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Effective February 1, the Experiment,
the New York City nonfiction publisher founded last year, will be sold
and distributed by Workman Publishing. The agreement includes print and
digital editions and distribution internationally through Workman
affiliates such as Thomas Allen & Son in Canada. The Experiment has
been distributed in the U.S. and internationally by PGW and in Canada by
Publishers Group Canada.
"Workman Publishing's industry-leading
commitment to not only frontlist but also backlist titles is
self-evident to everyone who publishes in their categories or reads
their catalogs," Experiment president and publisher Matthew Lore said.
"The Experiment's aim from our first day has been to publish nonfiction
books that will sell long after initial publication."