Shelf Awareness for Wednesday, January 17, 2007


Workman Publishing:  Atlas Obscura: Wild Life: An Explorer's Guide to the World's Living Wonders by Cara Giaimo and Joshua Foer

Berkley Books: The Seven O'Clock Club by Amelia Ireland

Simon & Schuster: Broken Country by Clare Leslie Hall

Little, Brown Books for Young Readers: Nightweaver by RM Gray

News

Notes: Dutton's Developments; IPG Changes

Among the mix of news in a Los Angeles Times piece on bookstore changes in Southern California:

  • The landlord of Dutton's Brentwood is talking about redeveloping the site and says he wants to keep a spot for the store, owned by Doug Dutton. "It's the ultimate redevelopment site," Charles T. Munger, a lawyer and Berkshire Hathaway principal, said, adding, "We've always been straight with Doug and told him the property would be developed in due course. The more time goes by, the closer we are to due course."
  • Vroman's of Pasadena will open a branch in another mixed-used development Munger is building.
  • Book Soup's South Coast Plaza store in Costa Mesa will close at the end of March.

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One of the oldest bookstores in the country, Burke's Bookstore, Memphis, Tenn., is moving into slightly smaller space but an area the Memphis Commercial Appeal called "one of the trendiest stretches of storefronts in town."

Co-owner Cheryl Mesler told the paper: "We're so excited about this. It just happened, but we've been looking at that space since August."

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Independent Publishers Group has announced the following personnel changes:

  • Brooke O'Donnell has been named publishing director of Trafalgar Square Publishing, the distributor of U.K. presses that IPG bought last year. Formerly trade sales manager of IPG, O'Donnell will work with Trafalgar Square publishers to help develop their U.S. lists and will coordinate sales with IPG staff.
  • Jeff Palicki has joined IPG as trade sales manager. He was formerly national accounts manager at Sourcebooks and earlier worked for 10 years as an assistant manager and manager at several Barnes & Noble stores.
  • Elisabeth Malzahn has been named publicity manager at IPG, where she manages publicity for several IPG publishers, consults with the rest and coordinates campaigns for Trafalgar Square titles. Malzahn has worked in IPG's publicity department since 2004 and earlier was academic product manager at Perseus Books Group.
  • Chris Chaney has been promoted to operations associate from customer service representative. He will work with Trafalgar Square publishers, sending and following up on purchase orders and tracking weekly consignments from the U.K.


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Where's Barnes?

Livraria Nobel, the bookstore company in Brazil that has opened franchised stores in Portugal and Spain and will open soon in Mexico and Angola, is "starting negotiations" to open stores in the U.S., according to Brazzil magazine. Altogether Nobel has some 150 stores and aims to open 30 more stores in Brazil this year.
 


Disruption Books: Our Differences Make Us Stronger: How We Heal Together by La June Montgomery Tabron, illustrated by Temika Grooms


Dissident AMS Board Member Resigns

Robert E. Robotti, who joined the board of Advanced Marketing Services less than two months ago (Shelf Awareness, November 29, 2006), has resigned, the company announced. Robotti, who is affiliated with or head of companies that together own 7% of AMS, resigned, AMS said, because he disagreed with the board's decision to go ahead with the annual stockholders meeting on January 24. Because of advance notice requirements in AMS's bylaws, stockholders don't have enough time to nominate alternative directors or bring other business before the meeting. He had wanted the meeting postponed.

Robotti had joined the board as part of an agreement to end a proxy battle that would have taken place at the January 24 meeting--an agreement made more than a month before the bankruptcy declaration.

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In other AMS/PGW news, David Steinberger, president and CEO of the Perseus Books Group, confirmed that the company continues to be in discussions with Avalon publisher Charlie Winton, AMS and PGW "on finalizing a proposal that will be made to all PGW clients to ensure that they continue to receive distribution services and the cash they need to continue operating. The proposal will attempt to address the needs of all parties that have a stake in this outcome."

He added that Perseus has "a very high regard for the PGW organization and the PGW team. That is a major factor in our thinking as we are developing our plan for how to move forward."

 


NYU Advanced Publishing Institute: Early bird pricing through Oct. 13


Jones Puts Stamp on Borders Executive Suite

George Jones, CEO of Borders Group since July, has brought two former colleagues on board at the highest levels of the company. At the same time, 15-year veteran Vin Altruda, most recently president of Borders worldwide, will leave the company at the end of February. Jones thanked Altruda "for his dedicated service and many contributions."

Robert P. Gruen, most recently executive v-p of merchandising for the Home Shopping Network, has been named executive v-p of merchandising and marketing, effective February 5. He will be in charge of "all product buying, inventory management, development and execution of merchandising programs and the company's strategic marketing programs." Gruen earlier was president and CEO of Saks's Parisian division; group v-p, softlines and home, at Meijer; and before that worked at Target, Roses Stores and Warner Bros. He has more than 30 years of retailing experience and has worked 18 of those years with Jones. Gruen's position at Borders had been open; Mike Spinozzi, who had been executive v-p and chief product officer, left the company last February.

Kenneth H. Armstrong has been named executive v-p of U.S. stores, effective February 26. He was formerly senior v-p and director of stores at Saks's Parisian division and earlier worked at Lord & Taylor and Macy's. He also has worked with Jones.

In related news, David Roche, managing director and CEO of Borders U.K., and John Campradt, managing director of Borders Asia Pacific, who formerly reported to Altruda, will report to Jones.


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G.L.O.W. - Galley Love of the Week
Be the first to have an advance copy!
The Queen of Fives
by Alex Hay
GLOW: Graydon House: The Queen of Fives by Alex Hay

Quinn le Blanc, "the Queen of Fives," is the latest in a dynasty of London con artists. In August 1898, she resolves to pose as a debutante and marry a duke for his fortune. According to the dynasty's century-old Rulebook, reeling in a mark takes just five days. But Quinn hasn't reckoned with the duke's equally shrewd stepmother and sister. Like his Caledonia Novel Award-winning debut, The Housekeepers, Alex Hay's second book is a stylish, cheeky historical romp featuring strong female characters. Graydon House senior editor Melanie Fried says his work bears the "twisty intrigue of a mystery" but is "elevated [by] wickedly clever high-concept premises and explorations of class, social status, gender, and power." The Queen of Fives is a treat for fans of Anthony Horowitz, Sarah Penner, and Downton Abbey. --Rebecca Foster

(Graydon House/HarperCollins, $28.99 hardcover, 9781525809859, January 21, 2025)

CLICK TO ENTER


#ShelfGLOW
Shelf vetted, publisher supported

Media and Movies

Media Heat: Jerry Rice Goes Long

On Good Morning America today, Dr. Mehmet Oz offers advice from You on a Diet: The Owner's Manual for Waist Management (Free Press, $25, 9780743292542/0743292545).

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Today on the Early Show: John M. Gottman, Ph.D., Julie Schwartz Gottman, Ph.D., and their baby And Baby Makes Three: The Six-Step Plan for Preserving Marital Intimacy and Rekindling Romance after Baby Arrives (Crown, $24.95, 9781400097371/1400097371).

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The Book Report, the weekly AM radio book-related show organized by Windows a bookshop, Monroe, La., will have the theme "stranger than fiction" and feature an interview with Erik Larson, author of The Devil in the White City and Isaac's Flood whose new book is Thunderstruck (Crown, $25.95, 9781400080663/1400080665).

The show airs at 8 a.m. Central Time and can be heard live at thebookreport.net; the archived edition will be posted this afternoon.

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Today on Live with Regis and Kelly, Jerry Rice goes long with Go Long!: My Journey Beyond the Game and the Fame (Ballantine, $24.95, 9780345496119/0345496116). Rice also goes late today, appearing on the Daily Show with Jon Stewart

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High on the list of topics today on the Rachael Ray Show: Dr. Manny Alvarez, author of The Checklist: What You and Your Family Need to Know to Prevent Disease and Live a Long and Healthy Life (Rayo, $24.95, 9780061188787/0061188786).

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Today the View welcomes actor Rupert Everett, who dishes about Red Carpets and Other Banana Skins: The Autobiography (Warner, $25.99, 9780446579636/0446579637).  

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Today on NPR's On Point: Neal Pollack, author of Alternadad (Pantheon, $23.95, 9780375423628/0375423621).

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Tonight on the Colbert Report: Richard Clarke, whose second thriller is Breakpoint (Putnam, $25.95, 9780399153785/0399153780).

 


Books & Authors

Books For Understanding: Mexico

The Association of American University Presses has unveiled its latest Books for Understanding bibliography. The subject is Mexico, which had a tumultuous 2006 that featured a contested election, civil unrest in Oaxaca and the continued stalemate over immigration policy with the U.S. Some of the books on the list address the political, social and economic roots and contexts of those events.

The bibliography also has titles that help provide a deeper understanding of Mexico's rich and fascinating cultural history, which includes the pre-Columbian civilizations and a range of revered 20th-century artists and writers.

Among the scholarly and general interest titles in the bibliography:

  • La Revolución: Mexico's Great Revolution as Memory, Myth, and History by Thomas Benjamin (University of Texas Press, 2000)
  • Mexico OtherWise: Modern Mexico in the Eyes of Foreign Observers edited and translated by Jürgen Buchenau (University of New Mexico Press, 2005)
  • Democratization Without Representation: The Politics of Small Industry in Mexico by Kenneth C. Shadlen (Penn State University Press, 2006)
  • Lives of Dust and Water: An Anthropology of Change and Resistance in Northwestern Mexico by María Luz Cruz-Torres (University of Arizona Press, 2004)
  • Eat Smart in Mexico: How to Decipher the Menu, Know the Market Foods & Embark on a Tasting Adventure by Joan Peterson and David Peterson (University of Wisconsin Press, 2005)


Book Brahmins: Robert Alexander

Robert Alexander is the author of national bestsellers and book club favorites The Kitchen Boy and Rasputin's Daughter, the latter of which is now out in trade paperback. Both of these historical novels focus on the fate of the Romanovs and the Russian Revolution. For more info: www.robertalexanderbooks.com.


On nightstand now:

Gourmet Magazine, Consumer Reports, Lands End catalogue--all of which is to say that by the end of my writing day I'm so tired of words all I want to look at in the evening are pictures. Maybe I'm shallow. Or maybe I need new glasses.

Favorite book when you were a child:

The Boxcar Children mysteries.

Top five authors:

John Le Carre, Michael Connelly, Ellen Hart, Edvard Radzinsky, Dostoevsky.

Book you've "faked" reading:

The Gulag Archipelago by Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn. Hey, try reading it in Russian . . . who wouldn't fake it? Then again, as a Russian language major, I think it was harder to fake than to actually read it.

Book you are an "evangelist" for:

I've recommended many times The Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd.

Book you've bought for the cover:

Marley & Me. (Okay, I'm a sucker for dogs.)

Book that changed your life:

The Spy Who Came in From the Cold by John Le Carre.  It is beautifully plotted and taught me the economy of plotting.

Favorite line from a book:

Any variation of "The night was moist," such as Solonor Rasreth's "Jim was cold, not cold like the ah-choo I'm dying cold they show you in those Nyquil ads. . ." In other words, don't miss the Bulwer-Lytton Fiction contest.

Book you most want to read again for the first time:

We the Living by Ayn Rand.

Question I'm most glad you didn't ask:

Where do you get your ideas?


Display Alert: Michener's 100th Birthday

The centennial birthday of James A. Michener (1907-1997) is February 3. With 27 books published by Fawcett alone, the display possibilities are staggering, as is Michener's continued popularity (he's sold more than Hemingway and Steinbeck combined). The University Press of Colorado has just published a book that honors this beloved author--Michener's the Name by Robert Vavra ($39.95, 9780870818561/0870818562). The official publication date is March 30, but in recognition of the celebrations planned for Michener's centennial year, the press is rushing copies to wholesalers and booksellers to have stock by February 3.
 
Robert Vavra met James Michener in 1961, in Sevilla, Spain. They became unlikely friends over dinner--a famous, popular author and a young photographer working on his first book. Over the next 35 years they collaborated on a book (Iberia) and remained steadfast friends. Michener comes across as a generous man, nourishing and practical in his encouragement of other writers and artists. Filled with photographs, with captions from Michener and others, the book includes Vavra's memories of their time in Spain and three long letters from Michener. In one of them, he responds to some negative reviews: "And the critics, who sit around bars with their feet higher than their heads, will continue to assure their handful of listeners that they could have written twice the book Michener did. They will have good lives and will win many free drinks developing this subject, and I do not begrudge them their sunny afternoons of triumph." He adds, matter-of-factly, "the sad fact is that they never write the books. I do." And we're all the richer for it.--Marilyn Dahl



The Bestsellers

The IMBA Bestsellers: December

The following are the December bestsellers at Independent Mystery Booksellers Association member stores:

Hardcover

1. Shape Shifter by Tony Hillerman
2. Under Orders by Dick Francis
3. Hannibal Rising by Thomas Harris
3. Nature Girl by Carl Hiaasen
5. The Treasure of Khan by Clive and Dirk Cussler
6. True Evil by Greg Iles
6. No Nest for the Wicket by Donna Andrews
8. Still Life by Louise Penny
9. The Winter of Frankie Machine by Don Winslow
10. What Came Before He Shot Her by Elizabeth George

Paperback

1. S Is for Silence by Sue Grafton
2. French Fried by Nancy Fairbanks
3. Mrs. Malory and a Death in the Family by Hazel Holt
3. Rapid Fire by Donna Ball
5. Hurricane Homicide by Nora Charles
6. Saddled with Trouble by Michele Scott
7. Nothing But Trouble by Michael McGarrity
7. Jar City by Arnaldur Indridason
9. Blindfold Game by Dana Stabenow
10. A Charmed Death by Madelyn Alt

[Thanks to IMBA!]



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