Shelf Awareness for Tuesday, April 17, 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

News

Notes: Seajay Seen in London; New Library in Baltimore

There may have been some astounding rights deals taking place at the London Book Fair yesterday, but for us the most astounding moment was bumping into and catching up with Carol Seajay, the editor and publisher of the late Feminist Bookstore News, one of the best publications that ever covered bookselling. After FBN, Carol set up Books to Watch Out For, a monthly subscription e-mail service about feminist, lesbian and gay books that she continues to head. Last September, Carol made another major change, moving to England to become director--that is president and CEO--of Mslexia, a quarterly magazine for women in the U.K. who write. Naturally for a Seajay publication, it's a friendly, informative journal with many articles about writing, writing in progress, book reviews, information about literary prizes, competitions, retreats, workshops and more. Mslexia has 11,000 paid subscribers. Her many fans should know that Carol seems very happy--and is still amazed that a headhunter recruited her for the job. 

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If the first library to open in Baltimore, Md., in 35 years reminds you of a contemporary bookstore, there's a good reason. Community volunteer Jacqueline Watts told the the Baltimore Examiner that the genesis of the 27,000-sq.-ft., $11 million Enoch Pratt Southeast Anchor Library was an awareness of changing consumer tastes: "When [Free Library executive director] Carla Hayden arrived in 1993, she said the new concept for super bookstores was that they copied ideas from libraries and created lounge areas. . . . Dr. Hayden said it was time for us to start stealing from them." The library, which opens May 14, will feature an 80,000-volume collection, computer lab, self-checkout, drive-through window for book pick-ups and a café.

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Nicki Leone, who among other things develops marketing and outreach programs for the Southern Independent Booksellers Alliance and tends to SIBA's list serve, has a lovely column on BiblioBuffet called A Room Full of Books that will resonate with all book lovers: it's about her dream library, which she recently created in her home. As she put it, "You can take the girl out of the bookstore, but you can't take the bookstore out of the girl!"

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Senator John Kerry and Teresa Heinz Kerry, co-authors of This Moment on Earth, made headlines during their whirlwind western book tour over the weekend.

The Denver Post reported that on Sunday the couple appeared at the LoDo Tattered Cover bookstore, where "about 250 people" attended a speech and book signing that "kicked off the LoDo Earth Action Festival, a series of environmentally conscious events leading up to Earth Day."

On Saturday Kerry signed books for a crowd of 350 at a Borders bookstore in Santa Fe, N.M. According to the Sante Fe New Mexican, Teresa Heinz Kerry arrived late for the event, but was able to sign some copies. Also in attendance were U.S. Representative Tom Udall (D-N.M.) as well as three New Mexico ranchers featured in the book--Gilbert Armenta, Tweeti Blancett and Linn Blancett.

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Christopher Stoddard wrote a poignant tribute to Kurt Vonnegut for the Orlando Sentinel in which he recalled "rushing into the Borders bookstore on Main Street in Ann Arbor, Mich., in the fall of 1973 to get a copy of Breakfast of Champions." Stoddard and a friend had made a pact to support living writers they loved by purchasing their works in hardcover. This group included Vonnegut, who "spoke to us like a crazy old uncle." At the cash register, the cash-strapped Stoddard was reduced to searching desperately through his pockets for change when he found himself a dime short of the purchase price. The bookseller, however, recognizing a kindred reading soul, offered to make up the difference because "He's my favorite author, too," she said. So it went.


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Distribution Deals: Peterson's to S&S; Chronicle to Hachette

Effective yesterday, Simon & Schuster will handle trade book sales and distribution to bookstores, mass merchants, warehouse clubs, wholesalers and other retail outlets for all Peterson's books. Peterson's books had been distributed by Thomson, which sold Peterson's to Nelnet last year.

Peterson's specializes in career, executive training, educational search and selection, test prep and financial aid titles.

Peterson's editor in chief Del Franz said in a statement, "Our partnership with Simon & Schuster will enhance our ability to help education-seeking families plan, prepare, and pay for school."

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Effective January 1, 2008, all Chronicle Books back office functions, including customer service, warehousing, billing and credit for the North American and international trade book markets, will be handled by Hachette Book Group USA. Chronicle's warehousing has been done by GENCO Distribution Systems, Reno, Nev.

Chronicle will continue to handle sales for its line and for its own distribution clients, who currently are Blue Apple Books, Handprint Books, Hg2, Laurence King Publishing, North-South Books, Princeton Architectural Press, Quirk Books and SmartLab.

In a statement, Tom Fernald, Chronicle's v-p, operations and finance, said, "While it is difficult to give up our own customer service and collections at the end of the year, and extremely difficult to part with the staff in those departments who have been such an important part of the Chronicle Books family, we could not have found a better fit for our business than Hachette Book Group."


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


Media and Movies

Media Heat: Heart Full of Soul and Cigarette Century

This morning on the Today Show: Bernard Goldberg, author of Crazies to the Left of Me, Wimps to the Right: How One Side Lost Its Mind and the Other Lost Its Nerve (HarperCollins, $25.95, 9780061252570/0061252573). He appears on the O'Reilly Factor later today, too.

Also on Today: Harlan Coben, whose new book is The Woods (Dutton, $26.95, 9780525950127/0525950125).

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This morning on Good Morning America: Taylor Hicks, author of the July title, Heart Full of Soul: An Inspirational Memoir About Finding Your Voice and Finding Your Way (Crown, $24.95, 9780307382436/0307382435).

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Today on the Diane Rehm Show: Allan Brandt, professor of the history of medicine at Harvard Medical School and author of The Cigarette Century: The Rise, Fall, and Deadly Persistence of the Product That Defined America (Basic Books, $36, 9780465070473/0465070477).

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Today on NPR's Marketplace: William D. Cohan, author of the inside story The Last Tycoons: The Secret History of Lazard Freres & Co. (Doubleday, $29.95, 9780385514514/0385514514).

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Today on the Martha Stewart Show, it's la dolce vita for Lidia Matticchio Bastianich, whose new book is Lidia's Italy: 140 Simple and Delicious Recipes from the Ten Places in Italy Lidia Loves Most (Knopf, $35, 9781400040360/1400040361).

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Tonight on the Colbert Report: Elaine Pagels, co-author of Reading Judas: The Gospel of Judas and the Shaping of Christianity (Viking, $24.95, 9780670038459/0670038458).

 


Books & Authors

Awards: Pulitzer Prizes

Knopf authors won three of six book categories for this year's Pulitzer Prizes, announced yesterday, and the fiction winner recently won a different type of award: Oprah picked it for her book club. Pulitzer book winners are:
  • Fiction: The Road by Cormac McCarthy (Knopf)
  • General Nonfiction: The Looming Tower by Lawrence Wright (Knopf)
  • History: The Race Beat by Gene Roberts and Hank Klibanoff (Knopf)
  • Biography: The Most Famous Man in America by Debby Applegate (Doubleday)
  • Poetry: Native Guard by Natasha Trethewey (Houghton Mifflin)
  • Drama: Rabbit Hole by David Lindsay-Abaire (Theatre Communications Group, distributed by Consortium)

And a special citation was give to Ray Bradbury.

Incidentally Native Guard has just come out in paperback from Mariner.


Attainment: New Books Out Next Week

Selected titles with a pub date of next Tuesday, April 24:

Back on Blossom Street by Debbie Macomber (Mira, $24.95, 9780778324515/0778324516). Macomber returns to Seattle's fictional Blossom Street.

Body Surfing by Anita Shreve (Little, Brown, $25.99, 9780316059855/0316059854). In this novel, set in New Hampshire, a 29-year-old woman struggles to rebuild her life.

Simple Genius by David Baldacci (Warner, $26.99, 9780446580342/0446580341). Secret Service agents Sean King and Michelle Maxwell (Hour Game) race against time to expose a secret group that's up to no good.

Do You!: 12 Laws to Access the Power in You to Achieve Happiness and Success
by Russell Simmons (Gotham, $25, 9781592402939/1592402933). The media mogul shares a 12-step program for success.

Horseradish: Bitter Truths You Can't Avoid
by Lemony Snicket (HarperCollins, $12.99, 9780061240065/0061240060). Wit and wisdom from the work of Lemony Snicket.

The Ministry of Special Cases by Nathan Englander (Knopf, $25, 9780375404931/0375404937). From the author of the short story collection For the Relief of Unbearable Urges, this novel is set in Argentina in the 1970s, the period of the Dirty War.

The River Knows by Amanda Quick (Putnam, $24.95, 9780399154171/0399154175). Another Victorian novel from Jayne Ann Krentz.

Nixon and Kissinger: Partners in Power by Robert Dallek (HarperCollins, $32.50, 9780060722302/0060722304). Presidential biographer Dallek uses new source material to shed light on the unlikely political pair.

The Making of Star Wars: The Definitive Story Behind the Original Film
by Charles Lippincott (Del Rey, $35, 9780345477613/0345477618). From the executive editor of Lucasfilm.

Paperbacks on sale, Tuesday, April 24:

Rise and Shine
by Anna Quindlen (Random House, $14.95, 9780812977813/0812977815).

Susannah's Garden by Debbie Macomber (Mira, $7.99, 9780778324447/0778324443).

The Book of Fate by Brad Meltzer (Warner, $7.99, 9780446612128/044661212X).

Special Topics in Calamity Physics by Marisha Pessl (Penguin, $15, 9780143112129/0143112120).

Mayflower: A Story of Courage, Community, and War
by Nathaniel Philbrick (Penguin, $16, 9780143111979/0143111973).

Born in Death by J.D. Robb (Berkley, $7.99, 9780425215685/0425215687).

Dead Watch by John Sandford (Berkley, $9.99, 9780425215692/0425215695).




Deeper Understanding

Robert Gray: Wizards & Poets in My E-mailbag

Perhaps my e-mailbag runneth over this month simply because Potter and Poetry have distinct, magical qualities, which elicit thoughtful and passionate reactions. People--readers, booksellers, writers, publishers--care about the two Ps and say so. Reason enough to highlight a few noteworthy responses to the recent Harry Potter and National Poetry Month columns.  

Jeffrey Inscho, marketing manager for Joseph-Beth Booksellers in Pittsburgh, Pa., wrote that "we’re launching an online/real world scavenger hunt website (Harry Potter Pittsburgh, countdown tracker up now) on June 1. The final clue that participants receive will be an invitation to reserve their copy at JBB, which gains them VIP treatment at our HP7 party. We anticipate this to be a really beneficial tool, framing JBB Pittsburgh as the Pittsburgh HP7 authority."

Virginia Duffey reported that Page One Bookstore in Albuquerque, N.M., is "selling vouchers at 20% off the full retail price of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, advertising our traditionally big release-eve party, and a stub from the voucher will be entered into a drawing for great prizes like an iPod Shuffle, Dragon-head wizard staff, Alivan wands and other Harry Potter-related gift items. The only way one can be entered in the drawing is to buy their HPVII from us."

According to Elisabeth Grant-Gibson, Windows a bookshop in Monroe, La., "is selling the book at full price (as always) and working on another great Harry Potter Pajama Party. We've also started a Hogwarts Study Group, which is meeting one time for each of the first six books to thoroughly examine the question 'Severus Snape: Hero or Villain?' None of our study group members have read the Mugglenet book about what might happen in Book 7."

Is there any bookstore that can resist Harry's siren song? "We won't be stocking this last Harry Potter and neither did we stock any of the previous titles," wrote Sherri Israels of Watermark Books on Salt Spring Island, British Columbia. "The best reaction to this 'fray' is to stay out of it completely. We don't have to deal with the vagaries of supply and demand on these ludicrously over-hyped 'entertainment items.' We just keep on selling good books to intelligent readers day after day. (Our store is a Harry Potter-free zone, much appreciated by our clientele.)"

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"And life is, I am sure, made of poetry," Jorge Luis Borges contended in This Craft of Verse. "Poetry is not alien--poetry is, as we shall see, lurking round the corner. It may spring on us at any moment."

Penguin rep Meredith Vajda lauded the Poetry Month efforts of Mary Shadoff, bookseller/buyer at University Bookstore in Seattle, Wash., who has "spearheaded their celebration of poetry for the last eight or nine years, maybe longer. Each year, Mary solicits favorite poems from other booksellers at the main store . . . and puts together a chapbook that is used as a giveaway to customers and as the centerpiece of their in-store displays. Penguin has supported this project with co-op advertising for the last four or five years. . . . There is also an evening during the month where local poets read and there’s an open mic time for the public. Mary is a hero to her bookselling associates (and to me!) for the time and effort it takes to pull this together."

Elaine Bleakney, National Poetry Month coordinator for the Academy of American Poets, noted the efforts of Michael A. Mart, "an independent bookseller from Long Island and one of the poetfans we selected after a nationwide search for individuals engaging with poetry in their daily lives. After 34 years of selling books in Port Jefferson, N.Y., Mart developed poetryvlog, a website to support video streams of poetry readings."

And Shawn Wathen of Chapter One Book Store in Hamilton, Mont., said he "just wanted to contribute to the discussion on poetry. It must, especially in the U.S., be a labor of love and responsibility. When I think of its lack of widespread support, Czeslaw Milosz's preface to A Treatise on Poetry springs immediately to mind." He sent me the poem, which ends: "Novels and essays serve but will not last. / One clear stanza can take more weight / Than a whole wagon of elaborate prose." You should find the rest of the poem and read it for yourself.

And maybe a little prose can be your April mantra. Consider this excerpt from David Markson's recently published The Last Novel: "I've had it with those cheap sons of bitches who claim they love poetry but never buy the book. Growled Kenneth Rexroth."--Robert Gray (column archives available at Fresh Eyes Now)

 


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