Shelf Awareness for Tuesday, December 18, 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: Scholastic Plans New Blockbuster; Book Fair Slips

Will lightning strike twice?

Scholastic aims to follow up on Harry Potter by creating a new blockbuster series: the 39 Clues, consisting of 10 books that will be released every two to three months beginning in September, today's New York Times reported. Rick Riordan, author of the Percy Jackson series, has written the first title in the new series, The Maze of Bones, and outlined the nine other titles. The second, third and fourth books will be written by Gordon Korman, Peter Lerangis and Jude Watson, respectively.

The 39 Clues will include "related Web-based games, collectors' cards and cash prizes" in an effort to engage the target audience of children 8 to 12 on the Internet and with video games as well as books. Scholastic's David Levithan commented: "We want to go where the kids are and really be part of their complete world, rather than going to one aspect of their world. We talk of it as being subversively educational."

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The organizers of BuchBasel are canceling the next edition of the trade show, which was scheduled for next May 2-4, because of "difficult market conditions," according to Schweizer Buchhandel. The organizers hope to pick up again in 2009; the show would have been the sixth annual. A decision about the concurrent International Literature Festival will be made shortly. Among the difficult conditions: the end of fixed book prices in Switzerland and "the lack of an effective lobby for the book." In related news, fair director Stephan Lips has resigned.

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Michael Jackson and his three children were spotted and photographed in a Las Vegas Barnes & Noble this past weekend, according to the New York Daily News. "They arrived at 10:30 p.m. Sunday and stayed three hours before leaving with several crateloads of books and magazines, witnesses said. Reading glasses in hand and clad in a homely green Army surplus coat, Jackson wandered through the stacks holding a picture book about dragons in his arms before splitting with his kids in tow."

The story includes an obligatory bizarre photo.

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At the invitation of the Beijing Book Fair--which holds its national edition January 8-11--BookExpo America is taking a delegation of seven booksellers and librarians. (The Beijing International Book Fair is usually held in late August.) The delegation includes:

  • Karl Pohrt, founder and owner of Shaman Drum Bookstore in Ann Arbor, Mich.
  • Rick Simonson, Elliott Bay Book Company in Seattle, Wash.
  • Sarah McNally, owner of McNally Robinson in New York City
  • Alison Hill of Vroman's Bookstore, Pasadena, Calif.
  • Paul Yamazaki of City Lights Bookstore in San Francisco, Calif.
  • Barbara Genco of the Brooklyn Public Library, Brooklyn, N.Y.
  • Nancy Pearl, librarian, bestselling author and book reviewer

[Editor's note: Don't they need a journalist, too?]

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"When was the last time you told a bedtime story?" asked the Kansas City Star in an article that suggested the "bedtime story tradition is fading in American homes."

The Star cited a recently released survey, "Reading Across the Nation," which discovered that "just under half of the parents surveyed said that they or other family members read every day to their children, from newborns to 5-year-olds."

Vermont ranked first in the study, with 67% percent of respondents claiming they read to their children daily; Mississippi was last at 38%.

Pete Cowdin, co-owner of the Reading Reptile children’s bookstore, Brookside, Mo., called the survey’s findings "ridiculous," adding that parents who read to their young children every day are "pretty rare in this day and age." His own estimate of the percentage who do was in the 20s.

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The Press of Atlantic City profiled Sherlock's Tomes bookstore, Bridgeton, N.J., noting that, "in just 14 months, Linda Durkin Richardson and her partner Jim Chiappardi have proved to the skeptics that there is a place for a small retail business . . . even in a city where many businesses have left the area."

Richardson said she "used to visit my grandparents in the '50s and '60s and had memories of a then thriving community. I wanted to bring something back to Bridgeton, and one of my dreams has been to have a bookstore."

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Book Gift Suggestions:

E! Entertainment Television asked "some of our favorite authors recommend their picks for 2007."

"Stuff stockings with festive books for kids," advised the Salt Lake City Tribune.

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Los 4 Fantasticos. Marvel Comics will release its first Spanish-language version of a comic book in the U.S. on December 28, according to USA Today, which reported that "translated American comics have long been available overseas, but this is the first major title to be released simultaneously in English and another language. The creative team, writer Tom Beland and artist Juan Doe, both have Puerto Rican roots, and the story finds the superheroes battling blood-sucking chupacabras."

 


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


Book Sales in October: Up 2.1%, Publishers Say

In October, net sales of books rose 2.1% to $797.2 million, as reported by 82 publishers to the Association of American Publishers. For the year to date, net sales have risen 9.3% to $8.58 billion.

Among the categories with the largest jumps in sales:

  • University press hardcovers, up 24.5% to $7.3 million
  • E-books, up 23.5% to $2.7 million
  • Professional, up 11.4% to $49.6 million
  • Adult hardcover, up 9.7% to $329 million

Biggest drops:

  • Adult mass market, down 18.1% to $62.6 million
  • Audiobooks, down 17.5% to $20.4 million
  • Children's/YA paperbacks, down 5.2% to $49.3 million

 


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


Holiday Hum: Registers are Ringing

We visit again the three bookstores whose holiday sales we've been covering regularly this month.

The Flying Pig Bookstore

The winter storm that hit New England late Saturday night did nothing to dissuade one intrepid shopper. On Sunday afternoon she arrived at the Flying Pig Bookstore in Shelburne, Vt., on cross country skis and left with purchases tucked in a backpack. Others too braved more than 15 inches of snow to purchase gifts. "Surprisingly, we did a decent business Sunday," said co-owner Josie Leavitt.

Saturday sales were brisk, and nonfiction titles still reign as the store's bestsellers--most notably Journeys of a Lifetime: 500 of the World's Greatest Trips, Service Included: Four-Star Secrets of an Eavesdropping Waiter, Musicophilia: Tales of Music and the Brain and The Rejection Collection volumes 1 and 2. Along with Richard Russo's Bridge of Sighs, fiction selections showing steam are The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao by Junot Diaz and Annie Dillard's The Maytrees.

The Flying Pig's No. 1 title is Cooking with Shelburne Farms: Food and Stories from Vermont. "It's an amazing cookbook," said Leavitt. Shelburne Farms is a well-known 1,400-acre working farm and nonprofit environmental education center with a lakeside inn and a restaurant.

Popular kids' selections include Knut: How One Little Polar Bear Captivated the World, Llama Llama Mad at Mama, The Daring Book for Girls, The Dangerous Book for Boys and The Alphabet from A to Y with Bonus Letter Z! by comedian Steve Martin and New Yorker cartoonist Roz Chast.

So far this season sales at the Flying Pig are up 13.5% over last year. During the handful of days remaining in the 2007 holiday shopping season, "I'm hoping to do better than I did last week," said Leavitt. "And I'm hoping to sell more fiction."

The Yellow Book Road

This past week the Yellow Book Road in La Mesa, Calif., had an increase in sales as well as a boost in profile. The children's bookshop was featured in a San Diego Union-Tribune article about specialty bookstores in the area.

Last Friday the store hosted Edith Hope Fine and Judith Pinkerton Josephson, the authors of Armando and the Blue Tarp School. The duo also appeared at a local school, events that had been scheduled to take place in October but were postponed due to severe wildfires in the area.

The visit made Armando and the Blue Tarp School and Fine's other tome, Under the Lemon Moon, Yellow Book Road's top sellers for the week, followed by Jan Brett's The Three Snow Bears and Gary Soto's Too Many Tamales. New among the bestselling books are Olivia Helps with Christmas by Ian Falconer, The All-I'll-Ever-Want Christmas Doll by Patricia C. McKissack, Randall de Sève's Toy Boat and the pop-up version of C.S. Lewis's The Chronicles of Narnia by Robert Sabuda, Matthew Reinhart and Matthew Armstrong.

Sales were up 30% over this same week last year, noted Yellow Book Road owner Kristin Baranski. "It seems to be a pretty happy Christmas season around San Diego," she said. "Many people feel blessed after the fires this year to have their health, and most of us still have homes."    

Murder by the Book

After a frenzied week of sales, the atmosphere was slightly calmer over the weekend at Murder by the Book in Houston, Tex. The Italian-set mystery The Rainaldi Quartet by Paul Adam has replaced Sue Grafton's T Is for Trespass as the store's top seller, while Saturday's No. 1 book was A Hell of a Woman: An Anthology of Female Noir edited by Megan Abbott. A glowing endorsement appeared in the Chicago Tribune last week--the review is displayed on an easel with the books--and enticed readers to purchase the collection.

Three events are taking place this week at Murder by the Book, beginning tonight with the authors of Houston Homicide, Bill Crider and former Houston p.i. Clyde Wilson. On Saturday David Welling will promote Cinema Houston, a coffee table book about the history of the city's theaters. The local connections are making both books favorite gift selections, said store manager McKenna Jordan.

Deanna Raybourn garnered a following among Murder by the Book staffers with her debut, Silent in the Grave, and she'll appear at the store on Friday evening to sign copies of her new novel, Silent in the Sanctuary. The Victorian mystery is officially on sale in early January, and Murder by the Book is the only store at which Raybourn will appear this year to promote it.

On Christmas Eve day, Jordan will take on the role of entertainer. A classical violinist and the concertmaster for Houston's Opera in the Heights, she and a vocalist will perform a repertoire of holiday songs. A full house is expected for what has become a tradition for many customers, including a seven-year-old who is planning to bring her dad to the festivities.

Overall, noted Jordan, December sales are up significantly from last year, boosted by a signing with Grafton earlier this month. Gift certificate sales are up as well, both in terms of the number sold and the denominations purchased. A popular pairing is a gift certificate and one of the store's branded T-shirts bearing the slogans "Suspect everyone" and "Go to hell, I'm reading."

Next year Murder by the Book may do even better because of a book--but in an unusual way. The store is featured in a forthcoming Frommer's publication, Suzy Gershman's Where to Buy the Best of Everything: The Outspoken Guide for World Travelers and Online Shoppers.--Shannon McKenna Schmidt

 


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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)

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Media and Movies

Media Heat: Jim Cramer Stays Mad

Today on CNN's Glenn Beck Show: Jim Cramer, author of Jim Cramer's Stay Mad for Life: Get Rich, Stay Rich (Make Your Kids Even Richer) (S&S, $26, 9781416558859/1416558853).

 


Books & Authors

Image of the Day: Building Up The Age of Shiva

Seattle booksellers met Norton author Manil Suri for dinner December 5, helping to launch his novel The Age of Shiva (Norton, $24.95, 9780393065695/0393065693), due in February. It has been seven years since the bestselling The Death of Vishnu appeared, and the writer and mathematics professor fit a few bi-coastal dinners in around his teaching schedule in order to meet some old friends and make some new.

A few of the happy diners: (from l.) Bill Rusin, Norton trade sales director; Dan Christaens, Northwest sales rep; Marilyn Dahl, Shelf book review editor; Manil Suri; Hilary Vonckx, Queen Anne Avenue Books; Stesha Brandon, events coordinator for University Book Store; Rick Simonson, head buyer at Elliott Bay Book Company.

 


Awards: Best Business Books of the Year

The finalists for the Best Business Book Awards, which include an overall best business book of the year and 13 categories, have been announced. The awards are sponsored by 800-CEO-READ, the business book affiliate of Harry W. Schwartz Bookshops, Milwaukee, Wis. The winners will be announced January 15. For the category finalists go to 800ceoread.com/bookawards.

The shortlist for the Best Business Book of 2007 is:
  • The Dream Manager by Matthew Kelly (Hyperion)
  • The Last Tycoons by William D. Cohan (Doubleday)
  • Made to Stick by Chip and Dan Heath (Random House)
  • Strengths Finder 2.0 by Tom Rath (Gallup)
 

Attainment: New Books Out Next Week

Selected titles appearing next Wednesday, December 26:
 
Heroes: Saving Charlie: A Novel
by Aury Wallington (Del Rey, $24, 9780345503220/0345503228) is based on the hit television show Heroes.
 
Rule of Two (Star Wars: Darth Bane)
by Drew Karpyshyn (Del Rey, $25.95, 9780345477484/0345477480) is the next installment in the story of a young Jedi turned evil.
 
Shadow Music: A Novel by Julie Garwood (Ballantine, $26, 9780345500731/0345500733) follows a princess who starts a war in medieval Scotland.
 
Dragon Harper by Anne McCaffrey and Todd J. McCaffrey (Del Rey, $25.95, 9780345480309/0345480309) is the next chapter in the Dragonriders of Pern series.
 
The GenoType Diet: Change Your Genetic Destiny to Live the Longest, Fullest and Healthiest Life Possible
by Peter J. D'Adamo and Catherine Whitney (Broadway, $24.95, 9780767925242/0767925246) is a new diet based on the possible genetics of the dieter.
 
Homo Politicus: The Strange and Scary Tribes that Run Our Government by Dana Milbank (Doubleday, $26, 9780385517508/0385517505) takes aim at the closed and often baffling world of politics--by the national political reporter of the Washington Post.
 
The Spectrum: A Scientifically Proven Program to Feel Better, Live Longer, Lose Weight, and Gain Health
by Dean Ornish (Ballantine, $27, 9780345496300/0345496302) uses nutrition and lifestyle changes to achieve health.
 
In paperback next Wednesday, December 26:
 
The Best Life Diet by Bob Greene (S&S, $15, 9781416540694/1416540695).
 
French Women Don't Get Fat by Mireille Guiliano (Vintage, $12.95, 9780375710513/0375710515).
 
Smoke, Mirrors, and Murder: And Other True Cases by Ann Rule (Pocket, $7.99, 9781416541608/1416541608).
 
Someone to Love: A Novel by Jude Deveraux (Pocket Star, $7.99, 9780743437172/0743437179).
 
Shopaholic & Baby by Sophie Kinsella (Dial Press, $14, 9780385338714/0385338716).
 
And in paperback on Thursday, December 27:
 
The Overlook by Michael Connelly (Vision, $7.99, 9780446401302/0446401307).

 



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