In honor of Columbus Day, Shelf Awareness will not publish tomorrow or on Monday. Enjoy the weekend.

It's not exactly a leak, but in a kind of irony the New York Times and others are reporting that former Hewlett-Packard CEO Carly Fiorina says in her new book, Tough Choices: A Memoir (Portfolio, $24.95, 159184133X), which is embargoed until next Tuesday, that she ordered the first investigation of leaks by the H-P board of directors. More recent H-P investigations involved investigators impersonating board members to obtain their phone records--and have led to a series of firings, resignations and investigations. Just yesterday the California attorney general filed felony charges against the former H-P board chair and four others.

As in the case of pre-pub stories about Bob Woodward's State of Denial last week, the Times noted carefully that it had bought a copy of Tough Choices "at a bookstore."

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The months-long quiet of stories about cars crashing into bookstores was shattered last weekend. The deck of the Thousand Oaks Acorn story says it all: "Valley Book and Bible store gets a drive-through customer." Manager Michael Darden was doing paperwork Saturday evening in the Thousand Oaks, Calif., store after closing when a woman driving a Chevy S10 Blazer crashed through the front window and destroyed most of the card and music departments. No one was hurt. The driver said another car had swerved toward her, making her lose control.

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Deb Covey, who has worked at Books-A-Million's Books & Co., Dayton, Ohio, for more than 10 years, is joining Joseph Beth Group as book product manager. She will be responsible for all book-related matters, excluding co-op (still handled by Ann Comello) and author events (still handled by Jen Reynolds). Terribeth Smith will still be responsible for all children's books.

In addition, Catherine Rihm has become operations team leader for Joseph-Beth's Lexington, Ky., store.

Covey may be reached at dcovey@josephbeth.com and 513-412-5700, ext. 114.

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Next summer Barnes & Noble plans to open a store in Roanoke, Va., in the Valley View Mall at 4802 Valley View Boulevard, Northwest. The store will stock the usual nearly 200,000 book, music, DVD and magazine titles.

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Dogstar Books, a 1,000-sq.-ft. store that will offer mostly used titles and some new books, opens tomorrow in Lancaster, Pa., according to the Lancaster Newspapers. The story stated, "Owner Brian Frailey, who formerly sold books online, said he plans to host speakers and feature artwork. Dogstar will also have a small seating area and sell some coffee."

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The east eleven café in Glassboro, N.J., is closing this weekend and the used bookstore connected with it will be open only a few hours a day, the Gloucester County Times reported. Margie Tannenbaum, who opened the café and bookstore with her daughter nearly four years ago, told the paper that a Rowan University plan to revitalize the downtown had moved too slowly for the store, which nonetheless attracted many students. The Tannenbaums will be moving to Portland, Ore., next month.

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The Portland Tribune, Portland, Ore., profiles an unusual publisher: Ooligan Press, the country's only student-run commercial trade press, part of the publishing program at Portland State University. Alumni and others have set up their own presses, literary agencies and at least one literary journal--and some have found jobs in the industry.

 

Book TV airs on C-Span 2 from 8 a.m. Saturday to 8 a.m. Monday and focuses on political and historical books as well as the book industry. The following are highlights for this coming weekend. For more information, go to Book TV's Web site.

Saturday, October 7

6 p.m. Encore Booknotes. In a segment first aired in 1996, Noa Ben Artzi-Pelossof, granddaughter of Yitzak Rabin, the assassinated prime minister of Israel, talks about her memoir, In the Name of Sorrow and Hope (Schocken, 0805210849), written when she was 19.

9 p.m. After Words. Adam Clayton Powell III, director of the Integrated Media Systems Center at the University of Southern California and son of civil rights leader Rev. Adam Clayton Powell, Jr., longtime congressman from Harlem, interviews Lawrence Otis Graham, lawyer and author, about his new book, The Senator and the Socialite: The True Story of America's First Black Dynasty (HarperCollins, $27.95, 0060184124), about Blanche Bruce, a onetime slave who became the first African-American to serve a full term in the U.S. Senate. (Re-airs Sunday at 6 p.m. and 9 p.m.)

10 p.m. History on Book TV. At an event held at the Washington, D.C., Jewish Community Center, Marthe Cohn discussed her memoir, Behind Enemy Lines: The True Story of a French Jewish Spy in Nazi Germany (Three Rivers Press, $14, 0307335909). A member of the French First Army intelligence service during World War II, Cohn made many covert trips inside Nazi Germany. During the presentation, she recounted those missions during which she disguised herself as a young nurse searching for her fiancé in order to find information about German troop movements. (Re-airs Sunday at 4 p.m.)

This morning on the Today Show: Michael Weisskopf, author of Blood Brothers: Among the Soldiers of Ward 57 (Holt, $25, 0805078606). He will also appear on Hannity & Colmes tonight.

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Today on Good Morning America: David Lieberman, author of Dave's Dinners: A Fresh Approach to Home-Cooked Meals (Hyperion, $27.50, 1401301290).

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Today on the Early Show: Larry Miller, author of Spoiled Rotten America: Outrages of Everyday Life (Regan Books, $25.95, 0060819081).

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Today on CNN's American Morning: Andy Borowitz, author of The Republican Playbook (Hyperion, $16.95, 1401302904). Borowitz is also scheduled for CNBC's Donny Deutsch.

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Today on KCRW's Bookworm: Mark Z. Danielewski, author of Only Revolutions (Pantheon, $26, 0375421769). As the show describes it: "There's no mistaking a novel by Mark Danielewski for any other. This new one can be read forward, backward and upside down. It has multi-colored inks; two sewn-in bookmarks (green and gold); and a circular structure. Here, we explore how the book's design reflects the joy-ride/killing spree of its two perpetual teenagers as they careen through time and space."

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Today on NPR's All Things Considered: Neil Gaiman whose new book is Fragile Things: Short Fictions and Wonders (Morrow, $26.95, 0060515228).

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Today on the View: Actress and author Meg Tilly, whose new novel is Gemma (Syren Book Co., $15.95, 0929636619). She'll also talk about her debut novel, Singing Songs, first published by Dutton in 1994, and reissued this past week (Syren Book Co., $14.95, 0929636627).

Also on the View: Queen Latifah, whose new children's book illustrated by Frank Morrison is Queen of the Scene (Laura Geringer, $16.99, 0060778563). She's also on the Early Show on Friday.

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Today on WAMU's Diane Rehm Show: Ngozi Chimamanda Adichie, author of Half of a Yellow Sun (Knopf, $24.95, 1400044162).

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Today on NPR's Fresh Air and Imus in the Morning: former Secretary of State James A. Baker III, author of Work Hard, Study . . . And Keep Out of Politics!: Adventures and Lessons from an Unexpected Political Life (Putnam, $28.95, 0399153772). Baker will be on Hannity & Colmes tonight. He's also on Good Morning America on Friday.

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Tonight on the Daily Show with Jon Stewart: David Rakoff, author of Don't Get too Comfortable (Broadway, $12.95, 0767916034).

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Tonight on the Charlie Rose Show:

• John Danforth, author of Faith and Politics: How the Moral Values Debate Divides America and How to Move Forward Together (Viking, $24.95, 0670037877).
• Mark Halperin and John F. Harris, authors of The Way to Win: Taking the White House in 2008 (Random House, 1400064473).
  

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Friday morning on the Today Show: Lou Dobbs, author of War on the Middle Class: How the Government, Big Business, and Special Interest Groups Are Waging War on the American Dream and How to Fight Back (Viking, $24.95, 0670037923).

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Friday on Good Morning America: Andy Borowitz, author of The Republican Playbook (Hyperion, $16.95, 1401302904).

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Friday on the View: Whoopi Goldberg, actress and author of the children's book Whoopi's Big Book of Manners, illustrated by Olo (Jump at the Sun, $15.99, 078685295X).

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Friday on the Martha Stewart Show: Laurie David, author of Stop Global Warming: The Solution Is You! (Fulcrum, $9.95, 155591621X), part of the publisher's of Speaker's Corner Series.

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Friday on Court TV's Catherine Crier: Larry Miller, author of Spoiled Rotten America: Outrages of Everyday Life (Regan Books, $25.95, 0060819081).

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Friday night on the Charlie Rose Show: Katherine Ketcham, author of Broken: My Story of Addiction and Redemption (Viking, $25.95, 0670037893).

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Saturday on NBC Weekend Today: Elizabeth Edwards, author of Saving Graces: Finding Solace and Strength from Friends and Strangers (Broadway, $24.95, 0767925378).

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Sunday on NBC Weekend Today:

• Annie Leibovitz, author of A Photographer's Life (Random House, $75, 0375505091).
• Daniel Goleman, author of Social Intelligence: The New Science of Human Relationships (Bantam, $28, 0553803522).
• Laura Stack, author of Find More Time: How to Get Things Done At Home, Organize Your Life, and Feel Great About It (Broadway, $12.95, 0767922026).

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The Spoken Word, which will be aired on many public radio stations on Sunday evening at 8 p.m. (as well as some other times next week), features:

George Soros, international financier, philanthropist and author of The Age of Fallibility: Consequences of the War on Terror (PublicAffairs, $24, 1586483595), who will be interviewed by John Podesta, former chief of staff to President Clinton.

Also on the show: Tom Bell, who discusses this week's Book Sense picks; and Robin Fischer, who talks about Handselling on the Radio.

For a listing of the radio stations playing the Spoken Word, click here.

 

Poet and book editor Robin Robertson has won the £10,000 Forward Prize (worth about $18,800) for his collection Swithering. The judges called his work "as close as it is possible to come to a perfect poem," according to the BBC. Robertson's first volume of poetry, A Painted Field, won the Forward Prize for best first collection in 1997.

Tishani Doshi won the £5,000 best first collection prize for Countries of the Body.

Sean O'Brien won the £1,000 best single poem prize for Fantasia on a Theme of James Wright.

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At Bouchercon, one of the mystery and suspense genre's biggest conventions, held last weekend in Madison Wis., award winners included:

Anthony Awards

• Best Mystery Novel: Mercy Falls by William Kent Krueger (Atria)
• Best Paperback Original: The James Deans by Reed Farrel Coleman (Plume)
• Best First Mystery: Tilt-a-Whirl by Chris Grabenstein (Carroll & Graf)
• Best Critical/Non-Fiction: The Heirs of Anthony Boucher: A History of Mystery Fandom edited by Marv Lachman (Poisoned Pen Press)
• Best Short Story: "Misdirection" by Barbara Seranella (in Greatest Hits edited by Robert J. Randisi; Carroll & Graf)
• Best Fan Publication: CrimeSpree Magazine edited by Jon and Ruth Jordan
• Special Service to the Field: Janet Rudolph, Mystery Readers International

The Macavity Awards

• Best Novel: The Lincoln Lawyer by Michael Connelly (Little, Brown)
• Best First Novel: Immoral by Brian Freeman (St. Martin's Minotaur)
• Best Non-fiction: Girl Sleuth: Nancy Drew and the Woman Who Created Her by Melanie Rehak (Harcourt)
• Best Short Story: "There Is No Crime on Easter Island" by Nancy Pickard (Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine, September-October 2005)
• Sue Feder Historical Mystery Award: Pardonable Lies by Jacqueline Winspear (Holt)

The Shamus Awards

• Best Hardcover: The Lincoln Lawyer by Michael Connelly (Little, Brown)
• Best Paperback Original: The James Deans by Reed Farrel Coleman (Plume)
• Best First Novel: Forcing Amaryllis by Louise Ure (Mysterious Press)
• Lifetime Achievement Award: Max Allan Collins

The Barry Awards

• Best Novel: Red Leaves by Thomas H. Cook (Harcourt)
• Best First Novel Published in the U.S. in 2005: Cold Granite by Stuart MacBride (St. Martin's Minotaur)
• Best British Novel Published in the U.K. in 2005: The Field of Blood by Denise Mina (Bantam Press)
• Best Thriller: Company Man by Joseph Finder (St. Martin's Minotaur)
• Best Paperback Novel: The James Deans by Reed Farrel Coleman (Plume)
• Best Short Story: "There is No Crime on Easter Island" by Nancy Pickard (Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine, September-October 2005)
• Don Sandstrom Memorial Award for Lifetime Achievement in Mystery Fandom: Janet A. Rudolph

 

The American Crime Writers League Ellen Nehr Award for mystery reviewing was won by Chicago Tribune critic Dick Adler.

                     
 
Display this book by the register and you'll be reordering in a nanosecond. The most appealing cover of the year delivers a book that lives up to the jacket's promised sweetness; however, this is not a saccharine tale. Its charm is more than balanced with a gritty, black-humored narrative by a tough Marine in a really tough place.
 
Lt. Col. Jay Kopelman first met the raggedy little puppy who roo-roo-roo-ed his way into the combat veteran's life when his Marine unit, the "Lava Dogs," was sweeping an abandoned house in Fallujah. At first mistaking the click of little paws for--grenade pins? timed explosives? an insurgent?--they inexplicably held their fire long enough to see a careening furball barrel towards them. "I see the fear in his eyes despite the bravado. He's only a puppy, too young to know how to mask it, so I can see how bravery and terror trap him on all sides while testosterone and adrenalin compete in the meantime for every ounce of his attention. Recognize it right away." Kopelman picked him up, mesmerized by his energy and bluster. "I liked the way he felt in my hands. I liked that he forgave me for scaring him. I liked not caring about getting home or staying alive or feeling warped as a human being--just him wiggling around in my hands, wiping all the grime off my face."
 
They took the dog back to camp secretly, because he came with a problem: General Order 1-A, which prohibits caring for or feeding any type of domestic or wild animals, and is taken quite seriously by the military. "That's because they've invested a lot of time and money into trashing your moral clarity, and they don't want anything like compassion messing things up. Your job is to shoot the enemy, period, and if anything close to compassion rears its ugly head, you better shoot that down too, or you're in some deep, scary shit." Kopelman says while it feels good to do what you're trained to do, it doesn't feel so good about it feeling so good. What do you do with yourself later? At some point between the afternoon he saw dogs scavenging dead bodies and the time he found Lava cuddled in his sleeping bag, he began to rationalize breaking the rules. He started asking friends and family for help in getting Lava stateside, although they had a hard time reconciling the person they knew with the word "puppy": "They're all scared that if I don't get killed, I'll lose my mind in Iraq and end up eating raw meat, collecting weapons and sending anonymous scary letters to people I don't know. So when I tell them I have this puppy and then there's this long silence, I can sense them connecting the dots between who I was when I left and who they're terrified I'll be when I get back." Soon after his decision to save Lava, the Department of Defense hired contractors to kill all non-military dogs on bases, and time for the rescue began to run out more quickly. But Kopelman was determined, even though the mission was lunacy.
 
Shipping Lava to the states presented an almost insurmountable task. It was a maze of moving him from Fallujah to Baghdad, from the Green Zone to the Red Zone, from there to Syria, or Jordan, or maybe Kuwait. Then there were the vaccination papers, the official papers, the whatever papers. Many people were involved, from the Lava Dog Marines to the IAMS pet food company to NPR correspondents to folks at the Helen Woodward Animal Center; NPR's Anne Garrels took care of Lava in Baghdad and managed to get him out, and saying that was difficult is a mere whisper of the reality; "Sam" was one of the Iraqis who helped at the NPR compound, who said he'd rather sacrifice an eye than take care of an unclean animal, who ended up scouring the city for dog biscuits and teaching Lava how to play soccer.
 
Jay Kopelman has written a memoir that will steal your heart just as Lava stole his, but it's not all fluffy puppy and brave Marines who melt at a wagging tail. The reality of Iraq is front and center, where the government announced that it had stockpiled hospital beds and medical supplies in the event of democracy happening after the elections; where "in our rush to hand out private contracts for Iraq's reconstruction, oversight was shoveled away with just about everything else including sanity"; where Chevy Suburbans are sold with the slogan "Let us bite the bullet--not you!" With the chaos and futility and brutality of the war, he knows that some will wonder why he focused any energy on a dog at all, and he has a fine answer. As for the others who cared for Lava, what did the little guy do for them? "[His] presence at the compound allows all humans a temporary exit pass from reality and maneuvers them through various checkpoints into the 'Land of Make Believe' where puppies romp on plush, green grass and it's a beautiful day in the neighborhood."--Marilyn Dahl

Five months after a university advisory committee recommended that the Brown Bookstore in Providence, R.I., remain institutionally operated and not outsource operations to a national retailer, the store is nonetheless poised for change.

The most significant of those changes is the departure of Larry Carr, director of bookstore and services, who will be leaving at the end of the year. A replacement has yet to be named. "Leaving Brown is difficult," said Carr, who has been with the university for 18 years. "I have a strong affection for the people I work with and the community we serve. However, change can be good both for an organization and for oneself."

More change is coming in the wake of the committee's decision for the bookstore to remain independent, which was due in large part to the efforts of the student-led Save the Bookstore Coalition. "It was pretty amazing," Carr commented. "I know a lot of my colleagues in the industry were very impressed by the response we got, to have that level of student support." Since the announcement was made in early May, the reaction from the university community as well as from the public "has been positive," Carr said. "Now it's a matter of figuring out how to take the next steps."

These next steps include improving all areas of the Brown Bookstore, which includes a textbook department, a campus shop, a computer store and a general books division. Although some modifications have already been made, among them extended evening hours to accommodate after-work shoppers, large-scale alterations will be put into effect by a new director. Until then, "we're in a bit of a holding pattern right," said Tova Beiser, trade book and promotions manager. Another issue is "working out the renovation plan," noted Carr. The changes to the bookstore are just one area in which the university is making improvements, which also include the nearly completed construction of a new Life Sciences building.

In addition to its own initiatives, the university is working with the recently-formed Thayer Street Management Authority to revitalize the urban retail district in which the campus is located. "Everybody wants to improve the store, to have it be an anchor for Thayer Street," Carr said. Increasing general books sales is a primary objective, a challenge the university advisory committee addressed by talking to Harvard Book Store and other booksellers.

The basic goal of the bookstore is to serve two groups of customers: the university and the general public. "It's exciting. It's interesting. It's fun," said Beiser. "It's nice to be able to serve the larger community as well as the Brown community. Our community support was a big factor with where we are and where we've always been."--Shannon McKenna