Shelf Awareness for Tuesday, October 27, 2015


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

News

Liberty Bay Books Opening Holiday Store in Bremerton

Liberty Bay Books, Poulsbo, Wash., is opening a holiday store in Bremerton in November and December. The towns are about 10 miles from each other, across Puget Sound from Seattle.

Suzanne Droppert of Liberty Bay Books noted that Bremerton, a town of 40,000, has no new-book bookstore. The pop-up store will carry a range of new books--bestsellers, regional authors, favorite children's titles--as well as sidelines, cards, games and more. Booksellers from the Poulsbo store will staff the Bremerton store, which will be at 409 Pacific Avenue, near Hot Java and the Admiral Theater.

The Bremerton store will open Halloween Day, "in costume of course, to hand out candy to our new community of Bremerton readers," Droppert wrote. To start, the store will be open 11-6 p.m., Wednesday-Sunday.


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


Taurel Appointed Pearson's Chairman

Sidney Taurel has been appointed chairman of Pearson, succeeding Glen Moreno, who is stepping down at the end of the year after more than a decade in the role, the Bookseller reported. From 1998 until 2008, Taurel was CEO of Eli Lilly, where he remains chairman emeritus. Pearson owns 47% of Penguin Random House.

"We are delighted to have in Sidney a new chair with strong experience of global business and markets, used to leading in a complex regulatory environment," said Moreno. "Our search process, led by Pearson's senior independent director Vivienne Cox, has identified a business leader in tune with Pearson's values and culture."

Taurel said Pearson "has a great purpose at its heart--to help more people progress in their lives through learning. I am looking forward to helping the Pearson management team develop our strategy and deliver long-term value for our students, customers and our shareholders."


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


Literary Tour: Bethany Beach Books Going to England

Bethany Beach Books in Bethany Beach, Del., is planning its first-ever literary tour. The 10-day trip, slated for October 6-16, 2016, will begin and end in London and feature stops in Bath and Stratford-upon-Avon. The tour will visit a plethora of literary and cultural attractions, including Westminster Abbey, St. Paul's Cathedral, Jane Austen's house, Platform 9¾ and the Royal Shakespeare Theatre, and travelers will be treated to a tour of London's independent bookstores. Registration for the tour opens on November 2; tickets can be reserved with a $100 down payment; the total price is $2,864 (double occupancy; airfare extra), and final payment is due by August 1, 2016.

The tour is being in run in conjunction with AZ Consulting & Travel. More information on the tour can be found here.


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


Obituary Note: Lisa Jardine

Historian and author Lisa Jardine CBE, who "studied both Mathematics and English at university, was fluent in eight languages including Ancient Greek and Latin, and wrote on everything from Shakespeare and Francis Bacon to feminist theory and the history of science," died Sunday, the Telegraph reported. She was 71.

Jardine won the Cundill International Prize in History, was elected an honorary fellow of the Royal Society and was awarded its prestigious medal for popularizing science. Her books include Ingenious Pursuits: Building the Scientific Revolution; Erasmus, Man of Letters: The Construction of Charisma in Print; Going Dutch: How England Plundered Holland's Glory; The Curious Life of Robert Hooke: The Man Who Measured London; and The Awful End of Prince William the Silent: The First Assassination of a Head of State with a Handgun.


SCIBA: 'We're All in This Together'

"You are putting books in front of guarded eyes," said Aaron Hartzler, author of the YA novel What We Saw, during the children's award breakfast at the annual Southern California Independent Booksellers Association trade show in North Hollywood on Saturday. "Thank you for what you do."

Authors Jennifer L. Holm (Sunny Side Up) and Judy Schachner (Dewey Bob) also spoke at the awards breakfast, while Marlee Frazee took home the picture book award for The Farmer and the Clown. Pam Muñoz Ryan won the middle grade award for her book Echo and Jennifer Niven received the young adult award for All the Bright Places.

"I can't do what I do without you," said Muñoz Ryan during her acceptance speech. She told the booksellers and publishers present that following a challenge to her book Esperanza Rising for depicting the social and economic struggles of minorities, she had T-shirts printed with the words "contentious, unacceptable and dangerous" on them, which were taken from the challenge. She added: "We're all in this together."

Dan Graham, SCIBA board member and assistant promotions director at Book Soup in West Hollywood, Calif., hosting the luncheon.
Author Deborah Harkness (The Book of Life) signing books.

At the adult awards luncheon later that day, Melanie Benjamin (The Swans of Fifth Avenue), Julia Claiborne Johnson (Be Frank with Me) and Janice Y.K. Lee (The Expatriates) all spoke. Deborah Harkness took home the fiction award for her novel The Book of Life. Don Winslow accepted the T. Jefferson Parker mystery award in absentia for his novel The Cartel, and Josh Kun won the nonfiction award for To Live and Dine in L.A. The Glenn Goldman Award for Art, Architecture and Photography went to Jane Brown for Both Sides of Sunset.

---

According to SCIBA executive director Andrea Vuleta, the association saw an increase in membership over the past year, despite some locations closing or moving. At the start of this year's show, the number of member stores stood at 63. Vuleta said she expected an attendance of approximately 300 people, including about 130 booksellers and some 65 educators and librarians.

---

During the annual membership meeting on Friday evening, Maureen Palacios, SCIBA's outgoing president and owner of Once Upon a Time in Montrose, pointed to socks as "the new coloring books."

Palacios also encouraged SCIBA members to submit more reviews for Indies Next titles and report sales for the IndieBound bestseller list.

---

Samantha Schoech, the program director of Independent Bookstore Day, Scott Becker, manager of {pages} a bookstore, in Manhattan Beach, Mary Williams, general manager of Skylight Books in Los Angeles, and Jessica Dickieson, digital media coordinator of Vroman's Bookstore in Pasadena were all on hand Saturday afternoon to share tips and best practices for Independent Bookstore Day.

Among some of the most popular and more effective promotions last year were photo booths, crafts and games, and "off-kilter, quirkier" author events (as an example of the latter, Books Inc. in the Castro had Dave Eggers in store to help customers edit their dating profiles). It was also a good idea to have something that ran all day, such BookSmith's day-long Alice in Wonderland-themed tea party. And it was a mistake, the panelists agreed, to assume that everyone who comes in the store on IBD knows what's going on. It's important for participating indies, Schoech said, to contextualize the celebration. It also helped to display and advertise the IBD items as exclusive and of limited quantity.

Some of this year's exclusive items include a Neil Gaiman coloring book, an Anthony Bourdain print and a plush Curious George with an Independent Bookstore Day T-shirt. IBD 2016 will be held on April 30. --Alex Mutter


Notes

Image of the Day: Bookstore with a View

It's not often when the view from a bookstore keeps us from looking at the books. Here's the view from Darvill's Bookstore on Washington State's Orcas Island on October 26, which explains the Halloween display. --Karin Snelson


Owner of Devaney, Doak & Garrett Booksellers Honored

Kenny Brechner

Kenny Brechner, owner of Devaney, Doak and Garrett Booksellers, Farmington, Maine, was honored with the 2015 MSBA Business Friend of Education Award by the Maine School Management Association, the Daily Bulldog reported. The award is given to companies that have made "significant contributions to public education."

"For the past 13 years, Mr. Brechner has been instrumental in the success of the Community Read literacy program at Messalonskee Middle School," said MSBA president Becky Fles. "He suggests book titles; makes the books available at extremely low costs; and, somehow convinces the authors to donate their time to speak to students, either through in-person visits to the school or over Skype. He also writes a digital newsletter that connects books in all content areas to the Common Core standards and facilitates book clubs for adults and children in his bookstore and in local schools in the Farmington area."

"We've just tried to dedicate ourselves to bringing a love of reading into the classroom," Brechner said. "The store is turning 25 in May, and working to develop literacy outreach programs with the school districts is the most rewarding aspect of my job." The bookstore won the Pannell Award in 2014.


The Library: Short Film on the 'Wonder of Libraries'

Director Jason LaMotte "was profoundly affected by his neighborhood library in Houston, Tex.--and the magical feeling it carried was the inspiration behind his new film The Library," the Guardian reported

"The story told in The Library initially came from wanting to explore the relationship between memory and place," LaMotte wrote. "I have strong recollections of my neighborhood library in Houston, Tex., in the U.S. I can recall the layout, where certain sections of books were, the smells, and the sounds.... It's a film about first love, about libraries and the writing they are home to, and about the sadness that surrounds dementia. I hope you enjoy watching our film as much as we enjoyed making it!"


Personnel Changes at Hachette

In Hachette Group international sales:

Simon McArt has become head of sales, India and North America

Matt Cowdery, who has relocated to London, has become head of sales, Africa and the Middle East, overseeing the Dubai office and managing sales to South Africa.  

Abigail Mitchell has become head of sales, Europe.  

Laura Ricchetti becomes international sales executive.

Emily Hogarth joins the team on a permanent basis as international sales assistant.


Book Trailer of the Day: Paper Sumo

Paper Sumo by Cochae (Chronicle Books), a video created by designer Jane Harrison and starring designer Ryan Hayes and former design fellow Jaclyn Merk. Cochae is the design team of Yosuke Jikahara and Miki Takeda, who live in Japan.


Media and Movies

Media Heat: Shaq on Conan

Today on Fresh Air: Carrie Brownstein, author of Hunger Makes Me a Modern Girl: A Memoir (Riverhead, $27.95, 9781594486630).

---

Tomorrow morning on Good Morning America: Rachael Ray, author of Everyone Is Italian on Sunday (Atria, $39.99, 9781476766072).

---

Tomorrow morning on the Today Show: Drew Barrymore, author of Wildflower (Dutton, $28, 9781101983799).

---

Tomorrow morning on CBS This Morning: Rachel Renee Russell, author of Dork Diaries 10: Tales of a Not-So-Perfect Pet Sitter (Aladdin, $13.99, 9781481457040).

---

Tomorrow on Diane Rehm: Barry Lynn, author of God and Government: Twenty-Five Years of Fighting for Equality, Secularism, and Freedom of Conscience (Prometheus Books, $19, 9781633880245).

---

Tomorrow night on Conan: Shaquille O'Neal, author of Little Shaq (Bloomsbury, $9.99, 9781619637214).

---

Tomorrow night on Late Night with Seth Meyers: Lauren Groff, author of Fates and Furies: A Novel (Riverhead, $27.95, 9781594634475).

---

Tomorrow night on the Late Show with Stephen Colbert: Jonathan Franzen, author of Purity: A Novel (Farrar, Straus and Giroux, $28, 9780374239213).


TV: Sherlock; Tiny Beautiful Things; Still Star-Crossed

For the first time, the popular BBC/PBS series Sherlock will premiere on the same date on both sides of the Atlantic. Deadline.com reported that Sherlock: The Abominable Bride will make its debut January 1, and plans for movie theaters around the world to show the 90-minute episode are also in the works, with the first of those cinema dates now set for January 5-6 in the U.S. The plan is to include more than 500 cinemas nationwide, with cities to be confirmed closer to November 6, the on-sale date for tickets. Theater audiences will also see 20 minutes of exclusive, additional footage.

---

HBO has put in development Tiny Beautiful Things, a drama series based on Cheryl Strayed's bestselling collection of essays compiled from her "Dear Sugar" advice column. Deadline.com reported that Strayed and her husband, filmmaker Brian Lindstrom, "will write the TV adaptation, set to explore love, loss, lust and life through the eyes of a Portland family who live by the mantra that the truth will never kill you."

Strayed and Lindstrom will executive produce with Wild co-stars Reese Witherspoon and Laura Dern, along with Witherspoon's producing partner at Pacific Standard, Bruna Papandrea, and Jayme Lecheryl.

---

A series adaptation of Still Star-Crossed, based on Melinda Taub's novel "that picks up after Romeo and Juliet's tragic ending," has landed at ABC from Shondaland's Shonda Rhimes, Betsy Beers and screenwriter Heather Mitchell (Scandal, Grey's Anatomy), Variety reported.



Books & Authors

Awards: Hurston/Wright Legacy; CODE Burt; Readings

The winners of the 2015 Zora Neale Hurston/Richard Wright Legacy Awards, presented annually to authors of African descent for the year's best works in fiction, nonfiction and poetry, are:

Fiction: The Moor's Account by Laila Lalami (Vintage)
Poetry: Citizen: An American Lyric by Claudia Rankine (Graywolf)
Nonfiction: Not for Everyday Use: A Memoir by Elizabeth Nunez (Akashic)

---

Rachel and Sean Qitsualik-Tinsley won CODE's C$12,000 (about US$9,130) Burt Award for First Nations, Métis and Inuit Literature for Skraelings: Arctic Moon Magick, Book 1. The C$8,000 second prize went to Frank Christopher Busch for Grey Eyes, and Aaron Paquette won the C$5,000 third prize for Lightfinder. CODE commits to purchasing a minimum of 2,500 copies of each title at a bulk discount for distribution to schools, libraries and Friendship Centres that serve First Nations, Métis and Inuit youth across Canada.

---

Stephanie Bishop has won the A$4,000 (about US$2,900) Readings Prize for New Australian Fiction 2015 for her second novel, The Other Side of the World. Readings managing director and prize judge Mark Rubbo said the book is "evocative of its time and place--England and Australia in the '60s--yet has a timelessness about it that makes it totally relevant."

Readings Prize guest judge Hannah Kent, author of Burial Rites, added: "Beautifully written and atmospheric, Bishop illustrates the deep ambivalence one woman feels towards marriage and motherhood with breathtaking insight."


Book Review

Review: Recipes for Love and Murder

Recipes for Love and Murder: A Tannie Maria Mystery by Sally Andrew (Ecco, $26.99 hardcover, 9780062397669, November 3, 2015)

Nonfiction author Sally Andrew (The Fire Dogs of Climate Change) stirs up a satisfying mystery in her debut novel, Recipes for Love and Murder. Tannie ("Auntie") Maria van Harten enjoys writing her recipe column for the newspaper in her small South African town. When the Gazette's editors decide to nix the recipes in favor of an advice column, Tannie Maria tries her hand at mixing culinary and romantic tips. Soon the letters are flooding in, and Tannie Maria finds herself helping readers with matters of both the table and the heart.

When Martine, an abused woman who has written to Tannie Maria, ends up dead under suspicious circumstances, the cook-cum-journalist and her colleagues are drawn into a murder investigation. Against the vast backdrop of the South African veld, Tannie Maria and her fellow reporter Jessie attempt to trace the killer before he or she strikes again.

Andrew has created a charming protagonist in Tannie Maria, who sprinkles her first-person narration with baking tips and Afrikaans words. "My mother was Afrikaans and my father was English and the languages are mixed up inside me," she explains. "I taste in Afrikaans and argue in English." As Tannie Maria works through the case, she takes refuge in familiar recipes, such as beskuit (dried rusks) and melktert (a creamy custard pie). When the handsome detective Henk Kannemeyer catches her eye, Tannie Maria cooks him a feast of tamatebredie (tomato stew) with lamb. Her previous experience with an abusive husband (now deceased) has made her wary of men, but both Martine's death and Tannie Maria's growing attraction to Kannemeyer will force her to confront her past hurts.

While Tannie Maria is the center of the story, Andrew's narrative is full of delightful characters: trim and elegant newspaper editor Hattie, impulsive reporter Jessie, Kannemeyer and his colleagues at the police station. Even some of the murder suspects--including Anna, Martine's volatile lover--are appealingly written. The mystery's final solution neatly weaves together the clues, and although several of the main characters face danger, readers can hope to see them all again in future books.

"We can be sure that our lives will all end with death," Tannie Maria writes to a reader. "There's not much we can do about that. But you can add love and good food to your life. That is your choice." With a dash of South African history and a pinch of social consciousness, Tannie Maria's first adventure serves up a satisfying mix of romance, humor and crime solving. --Katie Noah Gibson, blogger at Cakes, Tea and Dreams

Shelf Talker: A satisfying South African mystery, narrated by a widow who writes a recipe-and-advice column for the local newspaper.


The Bestsellers

Top-Selling Self-Published Titles

The bestselling self-published books last week as compiled by IndieReader.com:

1. Wrong by Jana Aston
2. The 20/20 Diet by Phil McGraw
3. First 100 Words by Roger Priddy
4. Lev: A Shot Callers Novel by Belle Aurora
5. Luke (Blue-Collar Billionaires #5) by M. Malone
6. The Duke's Blackmailed Bride (The Boarding School Series Book 2) by Elizabeth Lennox
7. A Heartwarming Christmas by Various
8. Taming the Monster by Various
9. Breaking Him (Love Is War Book 1) by R.K. Lilley
10. Pucked by Helena Hunting

[Many thanks to IndieReader.com!]


Powered by: Xtenit