This Republic of Suffering:

Death and the American Civil War

• Hardcover:$27.95
• Publisher: Knopf (January 8, 2008)
• ISBN-10: 037540404X
• ISBN-13: 978-0375404047

In July, Civil War scholar Drew Gilpin Faust became the first woman president of Harvard (appropriately, replacing Lawrence H. Summers, who got into trouble for his denigrating remarks about women in the sciences).

Now, she has her first bestseller (she already has many titles to her credit, the most recent being Mothers of Invention: Women of the Slaveholding South in the American Civil War, 1996, University of North Carolina Press). This Republic of Suffering is currently #24 on the Amazon list and #10 on the Boston Globe hardcover nonfiction list. It’s also the featured review on the cover of this week’s NYT Sunday Book Review and received an equally laudatory USA Today review (”Faust’s analysis will profoundly alter your understanding of the Civil War — perhaps of any war”) on Wednesday.

If you haven’t already, check your hold situation, you may need to buy more copies.

The Last Lecture
By Randy Pausch with Jeffrey Zaslow

• Publisher: Hyperion (April 10, 2008)
• Hardcover: $21.95
• ISBN-10: 1401323251
• ISBN-13: 978-1401323257

• Unabridged CD: $21.95
• Publisher: Harper Audio
• ISBN-10: 1401323251
• ISBN-13: 978-1401323257

In September of last year, Jeffrey Zaslow wrote a moving column in the Wall Street Journal about dying professor Randy Pausch’s last lecture — so moving that Oprah had Pausch reprise the lecture on her show in October, millions of people watched the video on the Web, and Hyperion paid a substantial advance for a book based on the story. We probably don’t need to remind you that Hyperion published the blockbuster Tuesdays with Morrie.

And then Zaslow and Pausch began a race against time to finish the book. Hyperion has just announced that the book will be published on April 10th. Happily, Pausch may live to see the publication.

By the way, in March last year, Zaslow wrote a column for the Wall Street Journal called “Of the Places You’ll Go, Is the Library Still One of Them?” In it, he talked about the library in his suburban Detroit community and his hope that his “girls would see the library as an oasis where they’d learn to understand themselves and the world.”

If you’ve ever wondered about Amazon’s “Top Reviewers,” check out Tuesday’s article in Slate. It’s a strange world where people feel it’s necessary “To keep writing, lest another reviewer usurp one’s spot. To say something nice, in hopes that someone will say something nice about you,” and all for very little gain (besides the dubious pleasure of being flooded with books sent by hopeful authors).

Today’s Wall Street Journal turns its journalistic skills to the question of when we might see the next Dan Brown tome (several years ago, it was tentatively titled The Solomon Key), “purported to be about freemasonry and the Founding Fathers.” Stephen Rubin, president of Doubleday Broadway Publishing Group, will only give this Da Vinci Code style reply, “Dan Brown has a very specific release date for the publication of his new book, and when the book is published, his readers will see why.” The Journal’s speculation on what date that could be proves the danger of such statements.

The article claims that booksellers are impatient because, “Book sales are generally sluggish, and one explosive, high-profile title can jump-start sales across the board.” Talk about pressure.

I just wanted to do a Friday shout out to Richard Reyes-Gavilan, for making one of the best points I’ve heard about the N.E.A. report on the decline in reading of creative literature in America. In response to the New Yorker two-part series “Twilight of the Books,” he points out that the survey was conducted in August, 2002; “Speaking for myself — and countless readers at the New York Public Library, where I worked at the time — the twelve-month period beginning in September, 2001, was not a particularly good one by which to measure reading habits.” He quotes Ian McEwan, who said that post-September 11th, he found it “wearisome to confront invented characters.” (The study only reported on “literary reading” which excludes nonfiction).

Naively, after the N.E.A report, “Reading at Risk” was published, I thought it was counterproductive to argue with the results. Surely, pointing out this “national crisis” would bring a multitude of efforts to solve the problem? The NEA created “The Big Read.” And, on the other hand, we get responses like Steve Jobs casually declaring the Kindle a failure because “people don’t read anyway.” Thanks, Richard Reyes-Gavilan, for standing up for readers.

Eat This Not That:

Thousands of Simple Food Swaps That Can Save You 10, 20, 30 Pounds-or More!

By David Zinczenko

• Publisher: Rodale Books (December 10, 2007)
• Paperback Original: $19.95
• ISBN-10: 1594868549
• ISBN-13: 978-1594868542

Eat This Not That is currently #1 on the Amazon bestseller list (beating out Stephen King’s Duma Key), but, as Publishers Weekly reports this week, (it just debuted on their Trade Paperback Bestsellers list at #14 last week and is now at #10), the book will not appear on the NY Times bestseller lists. Why? Because the NYT considers it a calorie counter book and they do not track books in that category.

As we mentioned earlier, there are no reviews for this title.

How Not to Look Old: Fast and Effortless Ways to Look 10 Years Younger, 10 Pounds Lighter, 10 Times Better

by Charla Krupp

• Hardcover:$26.95
• Publisher: Springboard Press (January 2, 2008)
• ISBN-10: 0446581143
• ISBN-13: 978-0446581141

Currently, the eighth most-emailed NY Times article is from yesterday’s “Fashion & Style” section (”Nice Resume. Have You Considered Botox?”). It seems to take issue with How Not to Look Old, which hit the NYT Hardcover Advice Bestseller list last week at #8. But then the article goes on to examine the book’s claim that looking younger is crucial to women’s economic survival and finds studies that prove this is true. The article sums it all up with “Indeed, the real trend behind How Not to Look Old is the rebranding of aging from biological inevitability to outmoded lifestyle option.” You’ve said a mouthful there.

The Times “Fashion & Style” section seems obsessed with this book. This is the second time they have covered it.

It’s as difficult to imagine Paul Giamatti playing John Adams as it is to imagine HBO doing a mini-series on the second president (isn’t this PBS territory?). Nevertheless, the HBO mini-series John Adams begins in March, based on David McCullough’s bestselling, Pulitzer Prize-winning biography. Produced by Tom Hanks it also stars Laura Linney as Abigail. Last Fall, the NY Times referred to it as “HBO’s most anticipated mini-series.”

Simon and Schuster is issuing a tie-in edition (the above is from S&S’s Summer catalog. The actual cover will be in color). It’s a good opportunity to replace worn-out copies.

On Sale: January 29, 2008

Paperback: $20

ISBN 13: 978-1-4165-7588-7

ISBN 10: 1-4165-7588-X

The new USA Today bestseller list (sales through 1/20) is now available in print and online. Stephen King does not appear on the list yet, because Duma Key was released after sales were totaled (it’s currently #2 on Amazon). The book isn’t overlooked, however. It gets a strong review (”a classic Gothic tale of terror…A life without King’s novels would be a parched one indeed”) in the same issue. King is also profiled by Bob Minzesheimer.

Eat, Pray Love returns to the #1 spot, after being knocked out by Janet Evanovich’s Plum Lucky last week. Lucky is now at #2. The “Book Buzz” column does a nice job of outlining the difference (second item) between Evanovich’s “by the numbers” titles (One for the Money through Lean Mean Thirteen) and the “between the numbers” books. Good background for anyone not familiar with her output.

Below are the new titles on the list that are not represented in library catalogs I checked (and seem to not have been reviewed in the prepub sources):

#13

The Breakthrough Company:

How Everyday Companies Become Extraordinary Performers

Keith Mcfarland

• Hardcover: 288 pages
• Publisher: Crown Business (January 15, 2008)
• ISBN-10: 0307352188
• ISBN-13: 978-0307352187

This was listed in PW’s roundup of Fall ‘07 titles, under Business & Personal Finance.

#34

The Food You Crave:

Luscious Recipes for a Healthy Life

Ellie Krieger

• Hardcover:$28.00
• Publisher: Taunton (January 15, 2008)
• ISBN-10: 1600850219
• ISBN-13: 978-1600850219

#42

• Hardcover:$24.95
• Publisher: Free Press (January 1, 2008)
• ISBN-10: 141654772X
• ISBN-13: 978-1416547723

Reviewed in PW’s “Web Exclusive Reviews” 1/14/08.

This also appeared for the first time on the NYT Hardcover Advice bestseller list last week.

#143

The Shack

William P. Young

• Hardcover:$24.95
• Publisher: Windblown Media (December 6, 2007)
• ISBN-10: 0964729245
• ISBN-13: 978-0964729247

• Paperback:$14.99
• Publisher: Windblown Media; (May 1, 2007)
• ISBN-10: 0964729237
• ISBN-13: 978-0964729230

One of the co-founders of the company that was formed to publish this book talks about why they did so on his blog.

#144

Strong at the Broken Places:

Voices of Illness, a Chorus of Hope

Richard M. Cohen

• Hardcover:$24.95
• Publisher: Harper (January 2, 2008)
• ISBN-10: 0060763116
• ISBN-13: 978-0060763114

Reviewed in LJ’s 12/04/07 Express Reviews (online only). Cohen is married to Today Show’s Meredith Vieria. He was interviewed by her in a three-part segment that concluded on Jan. 9.

O.K., I admit it, I was searching for an excuse to run this picture from I Can Haz Cheezburger. Galley Cat (who shares our fascination with felines) reports that the “insanely popular” site (currently #10 on Technorati’s list of most popular blogs in the world) is headed for the print world. Gotham Books, an imprint of Penguin, won a two-day auction for the book. No word on publication date.

I also admit that I stole the headline from Galley Cat, but as the NY Times recently reported, titles cannot be copywrited. Besides, it was too perfect.