The Lost Symbol broke all previous one-day sales records at Barnes & Noble for adult fiction in the first 24 hours of its release and the e-book edition was the number one title at B&N's eBookstore, according to the company, which also noted that pre-orders were the highest ever for an adult fiction book.
"Tuesday was a record breaking sales day led by Dan Brown," said Jaime Carey, chief merchandising officer for B&N. "It's not every day you get to sell such a rich collection of new titles including such authors as: Dan Brown, Jon Krakauer (Where Men Win Glory: The Odyssey of Pat Tillman), the late Senator Edward Kennedy (True Compass) and Paul Harrington (The Secret to Teen Power), and then round out the week with an Oprah Book Club selection to be announced on Friday."
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West meets east, bookseller style. Patrick Brown of Vroman's Bookstore, Pasadena, Calif., offered an enthusiastic and understandably bookshop-centric account of his recent trip to New York on Vroman's blog. His itinerary included stops at WORD bookstore and BookCourt in Brooklyn, as well as McNally Jackson, Housing Works and Three Lives in Manhattan.
"At BEA and the ABA's Winter Institute, booksellers often say they feel energized by being around so many people who are every bit as excited about selling books as you are, and that’s what I felt on this trip," Brown concluded. "Talking to so many enthusiastic book people gave me great hope for independent stores and for books in general. In short, it was invigorating. New York, I salute you. Thank you to everyone who welcomed my wife and I into your stores, homes and drinking establishments. You made our trip wonderful and exciting, if a tiny bit tiring."
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Book Soup, Los Angeles, Calif., has expanded its sideline offerings with the addition of adult videos from VividAlt. According to NBCLosAngeles.com, "alt porn" is "like regular porn, but more thoughtful and artistic (Warning: clicking on that link will take you to a site that provides a warning that you're about to enter an adult themed website)."
"We've been following the career of Eon McKai [the California Institute of the Arts grad who is the man behind VividAlt] . . . and feel that he's done some exceptional work at VividAlt," said Robert Tyson Cornell, director of marketing and publicity for Book Soup. "We believe that our customers will want to discover his edgy approach to the genre."
"We are thrilled about being in Book Soup," said McKai in a news release. "It's much more than a store, it's an artistic center for the community and it's both loved and respected."
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Tom Kohl, owner of Book Village used bookstore, Holland, Mich., has opened a second location, Book Village 2, the Grand Rapids Press reported.
"I wanted a bookstore in downtown for a long time, but couldn't afford Eighth Street and just waited for a storefront to open on College Avenue," said Kohl.
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We're very sad to report that Kathy Anderson, a longtime college bookseller who was a dear friend, died on Monday night after several months of health problems. She leaves her husband, Eric, and two daughters.
During her career, she worked at the bookstores at the University of California at San Diego, Stanford and Montana State as well as for Ingram, O'Reilly, the University of California Press and the old Harcourt bookstore in California. A year ago she joined Black Oak Books, Berkeley, Calif., as manager. She was active in the National Association of College Stores, teaching bookselling classes and was involved in the general books committee.
Suzy Staubach of the UConn Co-op, Storrs, Conn., called Anderson "one of the great college booksellers." Art Carson of Ingram said, "She was very knowledgeable and a voracious reader."
We will have more soon about memorial services.
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Universal Orlando offered some details about the Wizarding World of Harry Potter, the Florida theme park scheduled to open next spring where Pottermaniacs can "tour Hogwarts, buy quidditch gear and drink butterbeer," the New York Times reported.
"We’ve tried to include something from every book," said Alan Gilmore, an art director for the Potter films who is helping to oversee park designs. "We had free range to be as grand and as excessive as we could be. It’s only money that holds us back in the end."
At Wizarding World, "three rides will form the center of the new park. Universal still will not talk much about the biggest one, a high-tech experience inside the castle called Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey that involves the likenesses of the heroes from the films. Flight of the Hippogriff is described as a family coaster that simulates a Hippogriff (the half-horse, half-eagle beast from Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban) training flight over Hogwarts castle. Dragon Challenge is a twin high-speed coaster that will feature elements from the Triwizard Tournament," according to the Times.
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Marjane Satrapi's The Complete Persepolis was selected for the 2010 One Book, One Philadelphia program, which is entering its eighth year, the Inquirer reported.
"Marjane's book was a natural choice given the recent events in Iran," said Marie Field, chair of the citywide literacy program cosponsored by the Free Library of Philadelphia and the mayor's office. "We felt that the Iranian elections and the protests that followed made this a perfect time for the book."
"We are distributing 5,000 copies to every city library and at least one class in every public high school in the district," said Gerri Trooskin, the One Book project manager at the Free Library.
Yes, this is the same Free Library that this week posted an item on its website saying it may have to close entirely October 2 if the state legislature doesn't pass necessary funding.
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Book trailers of the day: I Shudder: And Other Reactions to Life, Death, and New Jersey by Paul Rudnick.
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A long lexicographical tradition has come to an end. Chambers Harrap Publishers, which publishes the Chambers Dictionary, plans to close its offices in Edinburgh, Scotland. BBC News reported that "all 27 staff were expected to be affected. It is planned Chambers titles will be moved to London to be managed by Hodder Education. The news marks the end of a 200-year association with Scotland for the dictionary."