Shelf Awareness for Tuesday, October 16, 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: 'Scrappy' Porter Square Books; Riggio Buys More B&N

"If there was a casting call for a scrappy independent bookstore, Porter Square Books [Cambridge, Mass.] would certainly fit the bill," the Somerville News noted. In the profile of the bookshop, manager Dale Szczeblowski said, "The service is more personal. We meet the needs of the people who buy beyond the brand name books."

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Barnes & Noble chairman Len Riggio bought 300,000 shares of company stock last week for between $37.43 and $38.71 a share, the AP reported. The purchases amounted to at least $11,229,000. Last month and earlier this summer, Riggio purchased 200,000 shares of B&N, spending about $6.6 million for those shares (Shelf Awareness, September 9, 2007), his first B&N stock purchases on the open market in two years. He has now spent about $18 million on company stock in the past four months.

As of September, Riggio owned more than 13 million shares of the company, worth half a billion dollars, give or take $500,000. 

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Effective immediately, Borders Group has named Anne Frazer to the new position of senior v-p, merchandise planning, replenishment and allocation. She was most recently v-p of inventory planning and replenishment for the Home Depot. Before that, she was v-p, merchandise planning and allocation, at Toys R Us.

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Presidential candidates are winning--and losing--their marbles as campaign book season heats up in New Hampshire. Water Street Bookstore, Exeter, N.H., has been running its own early presidential poll, based upon book sales. A reporter for the Midland Mich., Daily News noticed the window display while vacationing in New Hampshire recently.

According to the article, "A sign in the bookstore's window called the 'one book--one marble' poll unscientific and 'just a fun way to gauge interest in each presidential candidate.' This is the first year the store has had the poll--a project 'cooked up' by bookstore manager Elizabethe Plante."

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Do longer TV commercials increase reading time? USA Today reported that Fox Sports cameras spotted Stephen King reading The Ghost by Robert Harris between innings during the Red Sox-Indians playoff game Friday at Fenway Park. "King told reporter Chris Myers on-air that he 'could read 18 pages between innings normally. But now that Fox is doing the games, I can read 27 pages between commercial breaks.' Not a bad idea for home viewers."
 


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Bookstore Sales: No Dog Days of August

Bookstore sales in August were $2.286 billion, up 9.3% from $2.091 billion in sales in August 2006, according to preliminary estimates from the U.S. Census Bureau. For the year to date, bookstore sales have been $10.804 billion, down 0.7% from $10.885 billion in the first eight months of 2006. This marks the second month in a row that bookstore sales were up over the same period last year.

By comparison, total retail sales in August were $355,284 billion, up 3.9% over August 2006, and sales for the year to date were $2.6 trillion, up 3.8%.

Note: under Census Bureau definitions, bookstore sales are of new books and do not include "electronic home shopping, mail-order, or direct sale" or used book sales.

 


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


Media and Movies

Media Heat: A Better You, The Book of Vice

This morning on Good Morning America: Deanna Favre, author of Don't Bet Against Me: Beating the Odds Against Breast Cancer and in Life (Tyndale House, $22.99, 9781414319070/141431907X).

Alice Sebold, author of The Almost Moon (Little, Brown, $24.99, 9780316677462/0316677469), also appears on GMA.

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This morning on the Early Show: Bobby Flay, author of Bobby Flay's Mesa Grill Cookbook: Explosive Flavors from the Southwestern Kitchen (Clarkson Potter, $35, 9780307351418/0307351416). He will also appear tomorrow and Thursday.

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This morning on the Today Show:

  • David Michaelis, author of Schulz and Peanuts: A Biography (Harper, $34.95, 9780066213934/0066213932)
  • Brigit Binns, author of The Relaxed Kitchen: How to Entertain with Casual Elegance and Never Lose Your Mind, Incinerate the Souffle, or Murder the Guests (St. Martin's, $32.95, 9780312371548/0312371543)
  • David S. Kidder, author of The Intellectual Devotional: American History: Revive Your Mind, Complete Your Education, and Converse Confidently about Our Nation's Past (Modern Times, $24, 9781594867446/1594867445)
  • Donald Trump, author of Think Big and Kick Ass in Business and Life (Collins, $26.95, 9780061547836/0061547832).

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Today on PBS's Tavis Smiley Show: Todd Gitlin, author of The Bulldozer and the Big Tent: Blind Republicans, Lame Democrats, and the Recovery of American Ideals (Wiley, $25.95, 9780471748533/0471748536).

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Today on NPR's Diane Rehm Show: Lynne Cheney, author of Blue Skies, No Fences: A Memoir of Childhood and Family (Pocket Books, $26, 9781416532880/1416532889).

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Today on Oprah: Christiane Northrup, author of Women's Bodies, Women's Wisdom: Creating Physical and Emotional Health and Healing (Bantam, $20, 9780553384109/0553384104).

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Today on NPR's Fresh Air: Peter Sagal, host of NPR's Wait Wait . . . Don't Tell Me and author of The Book of Vice: Very Naughty Things (and How to Do Them) (HarperEntertainment, $24.95, 9780060843823/0060843829).

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Today on the View: Amy Grant, author of Mosaic: Pieces of My Life So Far (Flying Dolphin Press,  $24.95, 9780385522892/0385522894).

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Tonight on Larry King Live: Joel Osteen, author of Become a Better You (Free Press, $25, 9780743296885/0743296885).

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Tonight on the Colbert Report: Bob Drogin, author of Curveball: Spies, Lies, and the Con Man Who Caused a War (Random House, $26.95, 9781400065837/1400065836).

 


Books & Authors

Awards: The Dayton Literary Peace Prizes

Elie Wiesel has won the Lifetime Achievement Award from the Dayton Literary Peace Prize Committee. The Nobel laureate, who has written more than 40 books, was cited for "his role as a literary and political spokesperson on behalf of Jews and other groups who have suffered persecution and death due to their religion, race, or national origin."

Brad Kessler won the Peace Prize fiction award for Birds in Fall. Lisa Fugard was the fiction runner-up with Skinner's Drift.

Mark Kurlansky won the nonfiction award for Nonviolence: Twenty-five Lessons From the History of a Dangerous Idea. The nonfiction runner-up prize was won by Greg Mortenson and David Oliver Relin for Three Cups of Tea: One Man's Mission to Promote Peace . . . One School at a Time.

The awards were presented last Sunday. 

 



Ooops

DVD in In the Hot Zone, Too

In the Hot Zone: One Man, One Year, Twenty Wars by Kevin Sites (Harper Perennial, $15.95, 9780061228759/0061228753), reviewed in Shelf Awareness last Wednesday, October 10, includes a DVD of the documentary A World of Conflict, which chronicles Sites's journey.
 


Deeper Understanding

NCIBA: Busy and Buoyant by the Bay

The following coverage was contributed by Mark Anderson, associate sales manager of the University of California Press. Thank you, Mark!

Looking out on a bustling NCIBA exhibit floor Saturday morning, Paul Yamazaki, book buyer of City Lights, San Francisco, commented, "What is significant is the amount of younger booksellers, particularly at the Friday roundtable." He was also cheered, he said, by the amount of people "reporting a good year coming from all over the Bay Area."

The numbers backed up the sense that bookseller representation had grown at the Northern California Independent Booksellers Association meeting held in Oakland, October 5-7. Bookseller attendance increased to 700 from 600 the previous year. The number of stores represented stayed even at 150. Exhibitors dropped to 500 people from 100 companies compared to 600 badges from 130 companies in 2006.

One bookseller new to NCIBA, a veteran of several New England Independent Booksellers Association shows, was Jim Baxter, buyer for the Booksmith, San Francisco. "The show is generally a confirmation, a chance to see some of the books," he said. Although he placed several orders, he indicated that he didn't see as many new books on the floor as he had at other shows, largely because there simply weren't as many books on the floor. Exhibitors take note.

Barry Rossnick of Books Inc. said the show is important as a place to see "finished copies, particularly in gift books. I always go back and increase orders based on how the books came out. There's a real difference between seeing the actual book and a page in the catalog. Also, as we buy centrally, we send 20-25 people to the show so that they can see what's coming."

Andy Weiner, national account manager for Harry Abrams, called it "a good show. Everyone seemed nice and busy. Plenty of people were there both days." He hoped the schedule could be improved so that rep picks and other events don't coincide with one another.

Karen Lyberger, a salesperson for Nolo Press, concurred: "I heard a humming when I first came on the floor. It was a busy show, Sunday being the slower, of course, but the chocolates in the afternoon were a special treat. I've never been so happy to see [trade show manager] Joyce Ripp. Orders were certainly up."

One of the biggest surprises on the exhibit floor for booksellers was the lack of a Random House booth. The company took a suite in the convention hotel instead. Although he said he thought Random "did miss something by not being on the floor," Hut Landon, executive director of NCIBA, commented, "We certainly respect Random House's efforts to try something new at the trade show. Most of the regionals tried something new this year, so it isn't surprising that an exhibitor would try as well."

On other potential experiments, such as having the exhibit floor open only for one day, Landon said, "I've been told by every commissioned rep that they need two days to see everyone."

Like Yamazaki, Landon thought the mood of NCIBA members was positive, saying, "People are more optimistic and business is up."

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The following awards were given out by NCIBA during the show:

Friends of Independent Bookselling Awards

  • Richard May, president of the Friends of Noe Valley, for organizing a tour of three Noe Valley Bookstores. Held over several days, the tour featured a different author in each Noe Valley Store, including Phoenix Books, Cover to Cover and SF Mystery Bookstore.
  • Jim Carretta of Partners West for going way above and beyond the call of duty by organizing the distribution plan around Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows (little indie press book, something about a wizard, didn't make the news much) the week that the book released. Jim used the offices of NCIBA and Partners West to get more than 2,000 books to bookstores that otherwise wouldn't have had stock through the book's crucial opening weekend. It wasn't the Berlin Airlift, but this is how independent wholesalers keep bookstores in business.
Bookseller awards--Outstanding Handsellers
  • Kevin Hunsanger of Green Apple Books for selling more than 2,000 copies of You Can't Win by Jack Black. (No, not that Jack Black. As one of the people who picked up the book on Kevin's urging, I can say that its a brilliant firsthand account of life in the West at the end of the 19th century.)
  • Clay Banes at Pegasus in downtown Berkeley for a creating a poetry section for the store, including a blog, poetry events and on-going promotions largely through Small Press Distribution.
Outstanding Event:

Kepler's for its Go Green Summer Series, which featured mostly authorless events and presented topics such as ways to improve the environment, create a healthier community and have fun in the process. The event topics included sustainable design, innovative energy solutions, organic farming and foods, automobile trends, preserving open space and a presentation by local community members of Al Gore's Climate Project with information delivered in An Inconvenient Truth.

The Second Annual Debi Echlin Memorial Award for Outstanding Community Bookstore went to Rakestraw Books in Danville.

The Bestsellers

Mystery Bestsellers in September: The IMBA List

The following were the bestselling titles at member bookstores of the Independent Mystery Booksellers Association in September:

Paperback

1. First Drop by Zoë Sharp
2. The Alehouse Murders by Maureen Ash
3. A Stolen Season by Steve Hamilton
4. Love, Lies and Liquor by M.C. Beaton
5. Catnapped by Gabriella Herkert
6. Crime Seen by Victoria Laurie
6. The Drowning Man by Margaret Coel
6. Still Life by Louise Penny
9. String of Lies by Mary Ellen Hughes
10. Face Down O'er the Border by Kathy Lynn Emerson

Hardcover

1. Heartsick by Chelsea Cain
2. The Girl with Braided Hair by Margaret Coel
3. Dexter in the Dark by Jeff Lindsay
4. An Ice Cold Grave by Charlaine Harris
4. Thunder Bay by William Kent Krueger
6. The 47th Samurai by Stephen Hunter
6. Bones to Ashes by Kathy Reichs
6. Second Shot by Zoë Sharp
9. Sweet Revenge by Diane Mott Davidson
10. The Bloody Tower by Carola Dunn

[Many thanks to IMBA!]

 


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