Shelf Awareness for Monday, March 26, 2007


Quarry Books: Yes, Boys Can!: Inspiring Stories of Men Who Changed the World - He Can H.E.A.L. by Richard V Reeves and Jonathan Juravich, illustrated by Chris King

Simon & Schuster: Broken Country by Clare Leslie Hall

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

G.P. Putnam's Sons Books for Young Readers: The Meadowbrook Murders by Jessica Goodman

Overlook Press: Hotel Lucky Seven (Assassins) by Kotaro Isaka, translated by Brian Bergstrom

Quotation of the Day

Books As 'My Happy Place'

"A lady buying one of my books [said], 'I buy these books because they're my happy place.' What more do you want, really, than to make someone a happy place?"--Sophie Kinsella, on tour for Shopaholic & Baby, talking about a comment by a customer, as quoted in the Lakeland Ledger.


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News

Notes: Kinokuniya's Manhattan Move; Texas Store Reopens

Kinokuniya, the Japanese bookstore with 75 stores in Asia, one in Australia and eight in the U.S., is moving its New York City store from Rockefeller Center to Sixth Avenue, across from Bryant Park, according to Crain's New York Business. The 24,000 sq.-ft. space will include three floors, a mezzanine and a café. The new store will open in the fall; the old store will close some six months later.

In recent years, the New York Kinokuniya store has attracted a greater range of customers by offering more Japanese fashion magazines and graphic novels. Two decades ago, 85% of the titles at the Rockefeller Center store were in Japanese; now some 60% are Japanese. The Bryant Park store will feature larger sections for fashion, anime and music.

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Good news from Beaumont, Tex.: 18 months after Hurricane Rita destroyed the store, Nu World of Books is about to reopen, the Houston Chronicle reported. The store, which primarily serves the black community, will have enhanced services, such as free wi-fi, a beverage bar and more merchandise.

Owner Adekunle Odusanwo has been helped by a Small Business Administration loan and lessons he learned at several jobs he's had since the store was wrecked. "At the home furnishing store, he developed an appreciation for lighting, store layout and efficient records management," the paper wrote. "Working construction, he learned the value of individual steps toward progress." The store's insurance had lapsed before the hurricane hit.

Odusanwo also learned about the value of his store, saying, "I wouldn't have known how the community embraced Nu World of Books if I didn't experience the destruction of the old bookstore."

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Cook Inlet Book Co., Anchorage, Alaska, has closed, and owners Lynn and Ron Dixon, who founded the store in 1993, have filed for bankruptcy, the Anchorage Daily News reported. The 6,000-sq.-ft. space is still partly occupied by A Novel View, the used bookstore that had moved in on February 1 (Shelf Awareness, January 26, 2007).

A Novel View owner Pat Tegtmeier said the landlord is allowing her to stay through the month, and she is looking for new space. Since a Waldenbooks has also closed, downtown Anchorage has no new bookstore, so Tegtmeier is considering adding new books, magazines and newspapers, although her first priority is finding a new site.

Bankruptcy court documents so far show that Cook Inlet Book's assets are between $10,000 and $100,000 and it owes between $100,000 and $1 million to 203 creditors, according to the Daily News.

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Lone Creek by Neil McMahon, a HarperCollins mystery/thriller set in Montana that appears April 3 (and is the first book edited by marketer/sales guy/author and now editor Carl Lennertz!), was chosen by more than 70 booksellers at the Pacific Northwest Booksellers Association spring trade show last week as the BuzzBook of the show. The booksellers voted after touring the show floor; PNBA called competition "lively and tight."

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BEA's Saturday night benefit concert, to be held at Town Hall on June 2, features Jon Bon Jovi and Amy Grant, both of whom have books coming out later this year from Doubleday Broadway's Flying Dolphin Press. Money raised at the concert goes to the Book Industry Foundation, which is composed of the American Booksellers Foundation for Free Expression and the Association of American Publishers' Get Caught Reading Campaign. Tickets are $25 and may be purchased via BEA registration form or at the Javits Center during the show.

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Laine and Alice Harling are closing the George Washington Bookstore & Tavern, Concord, N.C., and leasing the space to the Natural Harvest Food Store, which is adding a café, according to the Charlotte Observer. The Harlings had founded the bookstore and tavern five years ago; their daughter was the restaurant chef and their son a musician who played sometimes at the tavern.

Alice Harling told the paper, "It's one of those old-timey family-run businesses, but we're all ready to do something else."

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The Second Story Book Shop, Chappaqua, N.Y., has been a favorite of the town's most famous residents, Bill and Hillary Clinton, since they bought a house there in 1999. Now the store has taken another step in emphasizing the relationship, according to the Journal News. It offers Clinton memorabilia that includes silk scarves, bookmarks, commemorative coins, mugs, tote bags, CDs of speeches and watches with prices ranging from $1.95 to $59.95--the items come from the Clinton Museum Store in Little Rock, Ark., the only other place where they are available.

"A lot of people drive up to Chappaqua to see where the Clintons live, and wish they had something to take back to mark their trip," Connie Fails, director of the Museum Store, told the paper. "I heard that from so many people visiting the museum."

She wanted to find an outlet for the memorabilia near his home and started first with Second Story. The former president "loves small, independent bookstores [and owner Joan Ripley immediately agreed to the proposal], so I didn't have to look any further," she said.

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In October 2008, Barnes & Noble plans another simultaneous opening and closing. When it opens a new store in the Streets at Southglenn center at the corner of Arapahoe Road and University Boulevard in Centennial, Colo., it will close its store at 8555 East Arapahoe Road in Greenwood Village.

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National Book Network has added the following former PGW publishers to its stable:

  • Bell Springs Publishing
  • Brick Tower Press
  • Bristol Park Books
  • Cadmus
  • ExPress
  • IBooks
  • Learning Express
  • Moonlight
  • Para Publishing
  • Planning Shop
  • Smart Publications
  • Tech News
  • Windsor Peak Press

NBN said that inventory of many of these publishers is already in its warehouse and is shipping. NBN is working with PGW to pick up the remaining titles as quickly as possible.

 


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


Media and Movies

Media Heat: Celebrity Authors

This morning on the Today Show: Senator John Kerry and Teresa Heinz Kerry, authors of This Moment on Earth: Today's New Environmentalists and Their Vision for the Future (PublicAffairs, $25, 9781586484316/1586484311). The Kerrys will also be on the Daily Show with Jon Stewart tonight.

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Today on the Martha Stewart Show: Kirk Douglas keeps going with Let's Face It: 90 Years of Living, Loving, and Learning (Wiley, $22.95, 9780470084694/0470084693).

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Today the Rachael Ray Show receives advice from Mariel Hemingway, author of Mariel Hemingway's Healthy Living from the Inside Out: Every Woman's Guide to Real Beauty, Renewed Energy, and a Radiant Life (HarperSanFrancisco, $26.95, 9780060890391/0060890398).

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Today the View turns the spotlight on actor Gene Wilder, whose debut novel is My French Whore: A Love Story (St. Martin's, $18.95, 9780312360573/0312360576).

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Today on the Diane Rehm Show, field scientist Caitlin O'Connell sheds light on The Elephant's Secret Sense: The Hidden Life of the Wild Herds of Africa (Free Press, $24, 9780743284417/0743284410).

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Tonight on the Charlie Rose Show: former Senator and Knick star Bill Bradley whose new book is The New American Story (Random House, $25.95, 9781400065073/1400065070).



Books & Authors

Awards: Publishing Triangle and Ferro-Grumley Finalists

Finalists for this year's Publishing Triangle and Ferro-Grumley Awards are listed on the Publishing Triangle's Web site. Winners will be announced at a ceremony Monday, May 7, in New York City.


Book Sense: May We Recommend

From last week's Book Sense bestseller lists, available at BookSense.com, here are the recommended titles, which are also Book Sense Picks:

Hardcover

Vinnie's Head by Marc Lecard (St. Martin's Minotaur, $23.95, 9780312360214/0312360215). "From the moment Johnnie LoDuco unexpectedly snags his friend Vinnie's noggin while fishing for flounder, this story lurches and careens from one delightfully outlandish episode to another, as hapless Johnnie tries to evade the thugs who seem desperate to get a hold of the head. Wickedly funny and delightfully gruesome."--Karen Spengler, I Love A Mystery, Mission, Kan.

Stealing Buddha's Dinner by Bich Minh Nguyen (Viking, $24.95, 9780670038329/0670038326). "Bich Minh Nguyen's memoir captures the many nuances of being Vietnamese in 1980s right-wing Grand Rapids, Michigan. To cope with life she develops three different worlds--the one inside her home, outdoors in Grand Rapids, and in her books and television. A great book that I will recommend to my book club."--Andra Tracy, Out Word Bound, Indianapolis, Ind.

Paperback

Alphabet Weekends: Love on the Road From A to Z by Elizabeth Noble (HarperCollins, $14.95, 9780061122187/0061122181). "Noble strikes an immediate rapport with readers by introducing them to Tom and Natalie, friends since childhood, though Tom hopes it will become more. Natalie has just been tossed off by her latest dewy-eyed love, and Tom has a plan: He and Natalie will date-trek through every letter in the alphabet until she sees the light."--Charity McMaster, Schuler Books & Music, Grand Rapids, Mich.

For Teens on Up

Un Lun Dun by China Miéville (Del Rey, $17.95, 9780345495167/0345495160). "Un Lun Dun is where the lost things go: umbrellas blown away in a storm, bicycles left too long chained to a railing, and last year's hip gadgets gathering dust in the basement. Two young girls find their way there in apparent fulfillment of an ancient prophecy. Fortunately, nothing goes as expected, and readers are treated to a much more creative, witty, and refreshing adventure because of it. This will be a favorite of teen book clubs, adult fantasy book clubs, and adventurous readers of any age."--Rich Rennicks, Malaprop's Bookstore/Cafe, Asheville, N.C.

[Many thanks to Book Sense and the ABA!]


Book Review

Mandahla: Porn for Women Reviewed

Porn for Women by Susan Anderson (Chronicle Books, $12.95 Paperback, 9780811855518, May 2007)



What turns you on? The CWPC think they know, and are pretty much on the money: sexy guys, tight T-shirts, worn denims and an ironing board. As they say in the introduction, this is "porn unlike any porn you've seen before. It's so provocative, so incendiary, that we advise each of our readers to find a safe place to sit down before opening these pages." Place it near the cash register with a warning.

In this dreamy world, Michael gazes intently at you and whispers, "God, that's so interesting. Tell me more." Or with the same sweet smile declares, "Ooh, look, the NFL playoffs are today. I bet we'll have no trouble parking at the crafts fair." Joe, with dimples and a six-pack, leans forward and says, "Well, I can't offer you any solutions, but I am a good listener." Later, arising seductively from bed, he offers: "Is that the baby? I'll get her." Curly-haired Rich checks to see if he is folding the clothes properly while making sure that the house never runs out of chocolate. And Adrian, who does the laundry shirtless and likes to give massages, suggests, "Have another piece of cake. I don't like you looking so thin." Every woman's fantasy is here, from the man who enjoys cooking or snuggling or even cleaning the cat box to the man who says, "Why don't we invite your mother over this weekend" or stops to ask for directions. Then there is the three-hour foreplay sequence that begins with Michael and rose petals.

Porn for Women is funny, with decidedly hot men to gaze at, and has some pointed things to say about what turns women (and some men) on: listening, flowers, tenderness, thoughtfulness, shoe shopping. It's a great gift to give a man--humorous and sharp, a good conversation starter for a couple (maybe he would like flowers, too).--Marilyn Dahl


Deeper Understanding

Caravan Project's Next Stage: The Rollout

The Caravan Project, which aims to make serious nonfiction books available to consumers in a variety of physical and digital formats--traditional book, POD book, large print, e-book, online download, audio CD, audio download--and involve all parts of the industry, including publishers, wholesalers, booksellers and libraries, is rolling out this week. The Project makes available 23 titles from seven publishers through eight independent bookstores and 10 Borders stores. In addition, Caravan is working with the New York Public Library to provide digital copies of the titles through OverDrive, and BookSense.com will also begin making digital copies of the books available soon. Ingram is providing major technical and fulfillment support for the project.

The key to the program is Caravan's Web site, which allows customers to order books in-store in any format and either take them with them, have them mailed to their home--or downloaded to their computers or PDAs. Caravan founder Peter Osnos, founder and editor-at-large at PublicAffairs, called the site "as simple to use as any other means of ordering." (The site was built by designer Janet Tingey, Kent Freeman of Ingram Digital Services and Praffull Subhash Kotecha of Infosys.) Both Osnos and Freeman stressed that the ordering site is not a kiosk, includes no special equipment and can be used on any computer at stores with Ingram accounts. For each title, the site lists the various edition options and prices, which include chapters available by digital download. Consumers who buy digital versions of books receive an e-mail with a link to the order and an authorization code that allows them to download the material. Digital downloads are available in Adobe PDF, Microsoft Reader and Palm but not onto Sony and Amazon's proprietary readers. Customers pay for their orders in the store, regardless of the kind of edition they want. Some stores plan to do the transactions at their information desk.

In most cases, print on demand, large print, audio CDs and any traditional titles not in stock will be shipped by Ingram in 24 hours after the order is placed, Freeman said.

Caravan is distributing a countertop display with information about the program, including sample books, audio clips and brochures. Caravan has also made shelftalkers for its books. Osnos and others involved in the project recently visited many of the participating stores, demonstrating the Web site and explaining how the program works.

One participating bookseller, Chris Morrow of Northshire Bookstore, Manchester Center, Vt., called the Caravan Project "an excellent experiment. Northshire looks forward to being a part of this proof of concept program that will hopefully evolve into broader and easier access to the written or spoken word for our customers. Anything that pro-actively pushes the envelope--even a little--in this industry is welcome."

Saying that returns "bedeviled" him when he was a publisher, Osnos stated that Caravan's goal is "for publishers to sell more books by having more diverse formats, reduce the rate of returns and reduce the cost of manufacturing books in increments."

Osnos first outlined what became the Caravan Project here a year and a half ago (Shelf Awareness, August 19, 2005).

Osnos also said that "the notion that buying books is hard and an obstacle for consumers to overcome bothered me," particularly at a time when, for example, people can easily download videos and TV shows onto their cell phones and iPods.

And even though the program includes just 23 titles, "the implications are great," Osnos said. "The mission here is to take what's happening in news, entertainment and movies and apply it to books so that we take a single entity--a book--and make it available a dozen ways and hope the consumer will come to it in a dozen ways. And our approach enables booksellers to be a part of the experience. Stores will be more a showroom than a repository. We will enable people to have what they want, where they want it, when they want it and how they want it."

Both Osnos and Freeman emphasized that for many of the participating publishers certain formats Caravan is offering are usually uneconomical for them. For example, some of the publishers had never done an audio edition of their books and had avoided large print editions because of costs--and so they are unsure of the market size and are inexperienced doing such editions. (For audio editions, Caravan used freelancers or the authors to narrate the books and had them record in public radio studios around the country during station downtimes. Brian Morris directed the audiobook productions from Cape Cod.)

The Caravan Project has funding for a two-year program and has received grants from the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation and the Carnegie Corporation of New York. "We're not measuring its success in terms of profitability," Osnos said. "We want to create a system to show what can be done and show everyone how to do it."

Who and What

Participating publishers for the pilot program are Beacon Press, the Council on Foreign Relations Press, the New Press, the University of California Press, the University of North Carolina Press, Yale University Press and Island Press. Harvard, Columbia and Michigan university presses have joined the group, and several other publishers are expected to join soon. The spring list includes such titles as From the Palmer Raids to the Patriot Act: A History of the Fight for Free Speech in America by ABFFE president Chris Finan (Beacon); The Most Important Fish in the Sea by H. Bruce Franklin (Island); Opting Out?: Why Women Really Quit Careers and Head Home by Pamela Stone (California); and Jasmine and Stars: Reading More Than Lolita in Tehran by Fatemeh Keshavarz (North Carolina). The fall list should include at least 50 titles.

Participating independent booksellers are Politics & Prose, Washington, D.C., R.J. Julia Bookseller, Madison, Conn., Just Books, Greenwich, Conn., the Book Stall at Chestnut Court, Winnetka, Ill., Vroman's, Pasadena, Calif., Books & Books, Coral Gables, Fla., Tattered Cover, Denver, and Northshire.--John Mutter


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