Shelf Awareness for Tuesday, January 9, 2007
Quotation of the Day
News
Notes: Raising the Book Club Bar
Book club members continue to become more "creative about how they meet, read and socialize over books," the AP (via the Seattle Times) reported.
One
example of creative book clubs at Village Books, Bellingham, Wash.,
stood out. Participants in the monthly Pages, Pictures and Pints club
read a book,
see the movie based on the book and then meet for drinks at a bar to
talk. On tap for discussion this year: The Constant Gardener by John le Carre and Touching the Void by Joe Simpson.
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In
July, Barnes & Noble will open a store in Jacksonville, N.C., in
the Jacksonville Mall at Western Boulevard and Country Club Road. In
October, B&N will open a store in Buffalo, N.Y., in the McKinley
Mall at 3701 McKinley Parkway.
Both stores will stock close to 200,000 book, music, DVD and magazine titles.
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Historian and Tufts University professor Felipe Fernandez-Armesto was
arrested for jaywalking last Friday while attending the American
Historical Association annual meeting in Atlanta, Ga. According to the History News Network, "after being thrown on the ground and handcuffed, the former Oxford don was formally arrested."
The author of 19 books, including Pathfinders: A Global History of Exploration
(Norton), Fernandez-Armesto was detained for eight hours. The incident
turned ugly after the professor requested to see identification from
an officer dressed in street clothing. Charges against
Fernandez-Armesto were eventually dropped.
Later that weekend police were seen reprimanding anyone caught
jaywalking near the convention hotels, although no more
arrests were made. The AHA council has sent a letter of complaint to
local officials who helped organize the convention "with the
understanding that the AHA's concerns would be passed along to the
appropriate city authorities."
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The Sobol Award
has folded, the AP reported. Launched in September, the award offered
agentless writers a $100,000 first prize as well as publication
contracts with S&S for the top three winners. But because of an $85
entry fee and the requirement that Sobol officials act as the winners'
agents, the award was attacked for exploiting aspiring authors.
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Anyone who subscribes to the free International Thriller Writers'
newsletter before February 15 will automatically be entered into a
contest with a thrilling prize for the grand prize winner: autographed copies of 150 novels by thriller writers
Joseph Finder, Tess Gerritsen, John Lescroart, Gayle Lynds and David
Baldacci, among others. Three runners-up will receive copies of the
2006 Thriller Anthology edited by James Patterson.
The monthly ITW newsletter contains information about
forthcoming thriller novels, thriller authors and general thriller news. Sign
up and entry information is at www.150Thrillers.com.
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Bill and Gene, the guys at Unshelved
(the comic about a library), have proudly unveiled a Read poster that
the American Library Association asked them to create. It's a glossy
full-color 36" x 12" panorama of the Mallville Public Library, with the
time-honored theme "Read Responsibly."
The poster can be bought at the ALA's online store
or by calling 1-866-SHOP ALA. Attendees at the ALA Midwinter conference
in Seattle later this month can stop by the Unshelved booth (#742) 10
a.m.-Noon on Saturday, January 20, for a poster-signing
session. Bill and Gene will be around the rest of the time, too, with a
selection of Unshelved books, clothes and personal care products.
Bah Humbug at Borders, Too
During the nine weeks ended December 30, sales at Borders rose 3.5% to $1.1 billion. Sales at U.S. superstores rose 2.7% to $709.2 million, but sales at superstores open at least a year dropped 1.9%. (As reported last week, at B&N comp-store sales dropped 0.1% and at BAM comp-store sales were down 2.1%.) At Waldenbooks, comp-store sales fell 6.3%, and the international group's comp-store sales rose 1.0%.
The company blamed the superstore comp-sales drop on "a decline in store traffic" and noted that books performed "slightly better than the overall comparable store sales trend." The other major categories of movie, Seattle's Best Coffee and Paperchase gifts and stationery had positive comp-store sales while "music continued its steep decline."
"The holiday season was very competitive and highly promotional," CEO George Jones said in a statement. "We are disappointed that store traffic and sales trends were not better, especially considering the significant investment made in the Borders Rewards loyalty program. Borders Rewards provides our company with many competitive advantages. By applying what we learned from it this holiday season, we will make modifications to the program to improve it going forward."
Because of lower-than-expected sales and high investments in Borders Rewards and in other promotions, gross margins were "negatively impacted." Those and other adjustments have led the company to announce that fourth quarter and full year earnings will fall short of previous predictions. In response, in after-hours trading, Borders stock fell 4.2% to $21.16 a share.
Borders will introduce its major strategic plan in March.
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Media and Movies
Media Heat: NO-nonsense Advice for Parents
Today on Good Morning America: Dr. Mehmet Oz, co-author of You on a Diet:
The Owner's Manual for Waist Management (Free Press, $25,
9780743292542).
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This morning on the Early Show and later on the Diane Rehm Show: David
Walsh, psychologist, president and founder of the National Institute on
Media and the Family and father of the new book on parenting, NO: Why
Kids--of All Ages--Need to Hear It and Ways Parents Can Say It (Free
Press, $23, 9780743289177).
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Today the Martha Stewart Show hosts Helen Sacko Walters, author of The
Soul of a New Cuisine: A Discovery of the Foods and Flavors of Africa
(Wiley, $40, 9780764569111).
Also on the Martha Stewart Show: Kathy Santo, pet behaviorist and
author of Kathy Santo's Dog Sense: Everything You Need to Know About
Raising, Training, and Understanding the Dog in Your Life (Knopf,
$19.95, 9781400043439).
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Today on the Rachael Ray Show: Naomi Judd chats about Naomi's Guide to
Aging Gratefully: Facts, Myths, and Good News for Boomers (S&S,
$23, 9780743275156).
Also on the Rachael Ray Show: Kristin Armstrong, ex-wife of Lance
Armstrong and author of Happily Ever After: Walking with Peace and
Courage through a Year of Divorce (FaithWords, $16.99, 9780446579896).
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Tonight on the Daily Show with Jon Stewart: Harry Frankfurter, whose new book is On Truth (Knopf, $12.50, 9780307264220).
Books & Authors
Awards: Sami Rohr Prize Finalists
The finalists for the new $100,000 Sami Rohr Prize for Jewish
Literature, administered by the Jewish Book Council, have been
announced. The winner will be named in March. The prize is largest
Jewish literary prize and honors "an emerging writer whose work, of
exceptional literary merit, stimulates an interest in themes of Jewish
concern."
"One of the goals we wish to accomplish through the creation of the
Sami Rohr Prize is the establishment of an elite corps of writers of
Jewish literature from all over the world," Geri Gindea, director of
the program, said.
The Rohr family is also establishing the Sami Rohr Jewish Literary
Institute, a forum devoted to the continuity of Jewish literature. The
Institute, also run under the auspices of the Jewish Book Council, will
hold a biennial gathering, creating an environment in which established
and emerging writers can meet and exchange ideas and perspectives.
The five finalists for the prize, which include two authors published by Toby Press, are:
- Naomi Alderman of England for Disobedience (Free Press)
- Amir Gutfreund of Israel for Our Holocaust (Toby Press)
- Yael Hedaya of Israel for Accidents (Metropolitan Books)
- Michael Levigne of San Francisco, Calif., for Not Me (Random House)
- Tamar Yellin of England for The Genizah at the House of Shepher (Toby Press)
Attainment: New Books Out Next Week
You Suck: A Love Story by Christopher Moore (Morrow, $21.95, 9780060590291). Newly minted vampire Tommy Flood is in love and on the run in funnyman Moore’s twisted romantic caper.
Bad Blood by Linda Fairstein (Scribner, $26, 9780743287487). More urban intrigue for Manhattan prosecutor Alexandra Cooper.
The Suspect by John Lescroart (Dutton, $26.95, 9780525949985). A page-turner about crime and justice set in San Francisco from the author of The Hunt Club.
Breakpoint by Richard A. Clarke (Putnam, $25.95, 9780399153785). The second thriller (set in 2012) from the counterterrorism expert and author of Against All Enemies: Inside America's War on Terror.
Dust by Martha Grimes (Viking, $25.95, 9780670037865). The 21st in the series starring Scotland Yard superintendent Richard Jury.
The Enemy at Home: The Cultural Left and Its Responsibility for 9/11 by Dinesh D'Souza (Doubleday, $26.95, 9780385510127). The author of Illiberal Education argues that Muslims are enraged more than anything by "a decadent and depraved American culture." His charming solution: "In order to defeat the Islamic radicals abroad we must defeat the enemy at home."
Book Review
Mandahla: Man in the Middle Reviewed
Man in the Middle by Brian Haig (Warner Books, $25.99 Hardcover, 9780446530569, January 2007)
I'm not a fan of New Year's resolutions, but a desire to start January the way I want to continue the year is not quite a resolution. More of a nudge in the right direction: Fewer doughnuts, no bad wine, spice shelf rearranged and more mysteries read. Happily, I started the week with Brian Haig, a writer who knows his way around a mystery and around Washington, D.C., usually one and the same. His protagonist, Army Lt. Col. Sean Drummond, is a JAG lawyer--droll, macho, smart-ass, with a moral compass often disconcerting to his handlers. In this story, he's temporarily assigned to the CIA, secretly, of course. Since the CIA usually impersonates other federal agencies, Drummond needs to keep his act straight: "CIA people tend to be intelligent, clever, snide, and arrogant, and you have to suppress that. Feds tend to be intense Goody Two-shoes, wholesome, nosy, pushy and obnoxious, so I was good to go on three out of five. I think it's fairly obvious which three." Phyllis Carney, his agency boss, likes to hire misfits and oddballs for their willingness to apply unorthodox solutions to problems--"It's an interesting management theory. I think she's started looking into a new one since my arrival."
Drummond has been called on to investigate the case of Clifford Daniels, a Pentagon bureaucrat who's committed suicide prior to an appearance before the House Intelligence Oversight Subcommittee. Or was he murdered? Daniels is connected to Mahmoud Charabi, the Pentagon's main man in Baghdad, who hopes to run his country in the near future. "Washington attracts a lot of zealots yearning to borrow Uncle Sam's checkbook and a few legions to rearrange the décor back home. Some are the real deal . . . others are charlatans, schemers, phonies and scoundrels." One guess as to which group Charabi belongs. Aiding Drummond is Bian Tran, a major in the Military Police Corps with a recent combat tour in Iraq on her resume. Given her experience and his (an infantryman before he became a lawyer, who "saw action in Panama, the first Gulf War, Bosnia, and Mogadishu--messy war, good war, utterly confused war, total ****up."), who better to send to Iraq to capture and question a Saudi moneyman who may be the key to whatever is going on? "Whatever" is the operative word by now, since the suicide/murder has been shuffled aside by the convoluted, self-serving machinations of Washington, D.C., concurrent civil wars between Shiites and Shiites, Sunnis and Shiites, Sunnis and Sunnis, a bit of treason and Iraqi politics (hence, Iranian and Saudi politics).
Man in the Middle, like Haig's five previous books, mixes action, complex plot and humor with skepticism and mistrust of our government (and others). He loves the Army, but is not blinded to its imperfections or the flaws and weaknesses of the U.S.: "America has a grand record of knocking over other nations, even if our history of installing lasting new regimes is a bit checkered." He has a lot to say about politics on the Potomac, particularly with regard to the Pentagon: "George Orwell dreamed of rooms, and of men, like this." When Drummond describes a Pentagon defense intellectual as someone who uses big theories to describe small ideas, he adds, "I might have felt better about him, however, if I thought he could distinguish an M1A1 tank from an M1A2 as their treads crushed his shiny Beemer in the Pentagon parking lot." Drummond is the ethical center of Haig's novels, and while his statements may sound simplistic, they point to a morality that is often missing these days. In an argument with Bian Tran about not playing by the rules because the rules don't apply to terrorists, he says, "When you throw away the rule book . . . you get Abu Ghraibs. Play by those rules, they lose and you lose." Drummond is also the voice of reason: "Maybe they are ****ed off because we invaded their country . . . maybe it's why they're trying to kill us." The CIA, somewhat the good guy in this particular tale, is also seen as morally compromised. When Phyllis dismisses Tran's one-track mind, she cites the tension between idealism and pragmatism: "[Bian's] obsessed with justice and honor. We're doing what's best for the country."
From the twisted turnings of the White House and CIA, to the horrors of Baghdad and Fallujah, Sean Drummond attends a short but intense seminar on the Middle East, as do we. The murder investigation, treachery and the war in Iraq can be summed up with "Just when you think it's over, you get jerked through a new knothole." Brian Haig makes it both a dead-serious undertaking and a pleasure.--Marilyn Dahl