Whenever disasters strike, I immediately wonder what’s happening to the libraries and pets in the area.

On Friday, Library Journal posted an interview with Marie DeVries of Cedar Rapids Public Library. Astoundingly, despite heavy damage to the library’s main branch, the staff has managed to continue their summer reading program in temporary quarters (a shoe store!). Other staff members are working at a 24 hour crisis hotline.

In Des Moines, the central library has become the city’s emergency management center. Even the city’s tv station has been broadcasting from inside the library.

As for the pets, the National Geographic reports that 875 have been rescued and are being cared for by volunteers. (Photo from “Franny’s Cats Blog” on About.com).

It seems the abridged audio of Barbara Walters’s bestselling Audition is missing some important information — like her various love affairs, outlined in the chapters “Fun and Games in Washington: and “Special Men in My Life.”

Time magazine uncovered the omission (you gotta wonder; what made someone at Time sit down and compare the two versions?). Walters was the reader for the abridgment and approved the final version, so she’s not worried about what was left out.

This is not an issue for libraries, however. Most libraries own the unabridged, Books on Tape version read by Bernadette Dunne.

Maybe this is an opportunity for a new slogan? “Libraries: We Don’t Leave Out the Good Parts.”

Audition

Barbara Walters

• Unabridged Audio: $129.00
  
• Publisher: Books on Tape (August 5, 2008)
• Narrator: Bernadette Dunne
• CD: 9781415943663
• Tape: 9781415955000

Today’s Wall Street Journal examines the risky business of publishing expensive first novels, in this case, The Gargoyle, which sold for $1.25 million last year. The book pubs on August 5th.

The plot is fantastical and it’s fun to watch reviewers and journalists try to describe it. Let’s just go with Doubleday’s synopsis:

The narrator of The Gargoyle is a very contemporary cynic, physically beautiful and sexually adept, who dwells in the moral vacuum that is modern life. As the book opens, he is driving along a dark road when he is distracted by what seems to be a flight of arrows. He crashes into a ravine and suffers horrible burns over much of his body. As he recovers in a burn ward, undergoing the tortures of the damned, he awaits the day when he can leave the hospital and commit carefully planned suicide—for he is now a monster in appearance as well as in soul.

A beautiful and compelling, but clearly unhinged, sculptress of gargoyles by the name of Marianne Engel appears at the foot of his bed and insists that they were once lovers in medieval Germany. In her telling, he was a badly injured mercenary and she was a nun and scribe in the famed monastery of Engelthal who nursed him back to health. As she spins their tale in Scheherazade fashion and relates equally mesmerizing stories of deathless love in Japan, Iceland, Italy, and England, he finds himself drawn back to life—and, finally, in love. He is released into Marianne’s care and takes up residence in her huge stone house. But all is not well. For one thing, the pull of his past sins becomes ever more powerful as the morphine he is prescribed becomes ever more addictive. For another, Marianne receives word from God that she has only twenty-seven sculptures left to complete—and her time on earth will be finished.

As the Kirkus review puts it, “this spellbinding narrative seems considerably less ludicrous when reading it than when summarizing it.” One hopes.

Other prepub reviews agree:

Library Journal 6/1/08 — “An essential summer book; highly recommended for all libraries”

PW, 6/16 — starred review — “Once launched into this intense tale of unconventional romance, few readers will want to put it down”

The Journal notes that the first 75 pages include explicit descriptions of sex and painful injuries. One bookseller, from the midwest, feels this will turn off potential buyers.

Most libraries have it on order, in large quantities for a first novel, with no reserves so far. It’s also available in audio from Books on Tape, but the audio versions are not yet listed in the library catalogs I checked.

The Gargoyle

Andrew Davidson

• Hardcover: $25.95
• Publisher: Doubleday (August 5, 2008)
• ISBN-10: 0385524943
• ISBN-13: 978-0385524940

• Unabridged Audio: $120.00
  
• Publisher: Books on Tape (August 5, 2008)
• Narrator: Lincoln Hoppe
• CD: 9781415956885
• Tape: 9781415959299

And, More Mashup Madness. People picked their favorite “Sizzling Summer Reads” this week (6/30 issue; unfortunately the list is not posted, but, happily, they did post the list of “The Single and Sexy Men of 2008“) and O the Oprah Magazine features “The Books of Summer” in the July issue.

So, I’ve updated the Summer Reads Mashup with titles from the above lists as well as from the following:

Miami Herald ‘Summer Reading: Jump in…the fiction’s great”

NPR “Critics’ Lists: Summer 2008”

Washington Post, “Spring Books Preview”

The Mashup began with the titles from:

USA Today, “2008 Summer Books”

Wall Street Journal, “Summer Reading”

L.A. Times, “2008 Summer Reading List”

Some of these sources included older titles. For consistency, I’ve only included titles to be released from June onward. The list is in Excel format, so you can sort it in any way that you need.

We end up with a total of 139 titles. Only 33 appear on two or more lists. No title appears on all of them; America America comes the closest, appearing on six of the lists.

People’s list is dominated by what is traditionally considered “beach reads” — light, frothy and not too taxing in the summer sun. But it also contains two literary darlings (The Story of Edgar Sawtelle and America America) as well as a serious memoir (Counselor, Ted Sorensen, which they say will make you “feel smart.. by Election Day.”)

The top pick (am I right to assume it’s the top pick? They’ve superimposed a gold medal on the book’s cover) doesn’t appear on the other lists:

A Summer Affair

Elin Hilderbrand

• Hardcover: $24.99
• Publisher: Little, Brown (July 1, 2008)
• ISBN-10: 0316018600
• ISBN-13: 978-0316018609

• Audio CD: ; Unabridged, $39.98
  
• Publisher: Hachette Audio (July 1, 2008)
• ISBN-10: 1600242324
• ISBN-13: 978-1600242328

People calls it “voyeuristic fun.” Hilderbrand writes grownup chick lit with serious themes. Her Nantucket-based books build in sales with each outing. It’s included in LJ’s “Summer Getaways for Chicks” in the 6/15 issue.

Talk about a long-lead bestseller. Artie Lange’s Too Fat to Fish hit the Amazon list at #27 this moning and it won’t be out for five months (Stephenie Meyer’s Breaking Dawn still holds the record. It went on at #10, six months before its Aug. 2 pub date).

Lange is a regular on the Howard Stern Show on Sirius Satellite radio. According to the publisher, Stern wants to show his clout by making the book a bestseller and has already begun plugging it.

To get the flavor of the book, check out Lange’s appearance on David Letterman last week. If you don’t have time for the entire nine minutes, pick it up 8 minutes in, when Artie explains the book’s title. I laughed out loud, but then I’m married to an a guy from New Jersey who had an Italian American mother. Lange is spot on.

The book was originally planned as a Spring ‘09 release, but was recently moved up to November. No cover available yet.

Too Fat to Fish

Artie Lange

• Hardcover: $24.95
• Publisher: Spiegel & Grau (November 11, 2008)
• ISBN-10: 0385526563
• ISBN-13: 978-0385526562

• Audio CD: Abridged, $29.95
  
• Publisher: Random House Audio (November 11, 2008)
• ISBN-10: 0739381962
• ISBN-13: 978-0739381960

I’ve often wondered if the DVD release of a movie based on a book also boosts the book’s sales. This week, John Adams, the David McCullough book, reappears on USA Today’s bestseller list (at #71). The reason? The DVD of the HBO series was released on 6/10. It’s now #1 in DVD sales on Amazon and B&N.com. Most libraries have it, with heavy holds.

• Studio: HBO
• DVD Release Date: June 10, 2008
• ASIN: B000WGWQG8

• Paperback: $20.00
• Publisher: Simon & Schuster; Reissue edition (January 29, 2008)
• ISBN-10: 141657588X
• ISBN-13: 9781416575887

The Wall Street Journal declares The Story of Edgar Sawtelle, by David Wroblewski, a hit and credits Amazon with making it happen (”Amazon Shows Its Clout“). The book now has 90,000 copies in print, just a week after pub date, an outstanding reception for a first novel (the initial printing was 26,000).

The book just hit the USA Today list at #142 today and is at #11 on the Indie Fiction Bestseller list, showing particular strength on the MidWest and Mountains and Plains lists (the book is set in Wisconsin, where the author grew up; he now lives in Colorado).

But Sawtelle has had so many things going for it that I question singling out Amazon’s efforts. As we’ve pointed out, it had stellar reviews (USA Today adds to them in the current issue), and is the #1 pick by independent booksellers for the month of July. And, Amazon isn’t the only online seller that’s had success with the title; it’s been in the top 50 on the B&N since pub date, rising as high as #8, also its highest position on Amazon (curiously, today, it’s at #57 on B&N and #15 on Amazon).

As the WSJ points out, Amazon has an exclusive essay by Wroblewski on their site as well as a longish blurb by Stephen King who gives it the ultimate praise (”I will be re-reading this one”). If you’re not yet a believer, they’re worth reading.

Unfortunately, all but one of the 15 libraries I checked show the book still on order and in modest quantities, with holds piling up. WSJ says that the publisher is increasing promotion. They’ve doubled the number of cities on Wroblewski’s tour and will be advertising it heavily.

The Story of Edgar Sawtelle David Wroblewski

• Hardcover: $25.95
• Publisher: Ecco (June 10, 2008)
• ISBN-10: 0061374229
• ISBN-13: 9780061374227

• Audio CD: Unabridged
• Publisher: Recorded Books
• ISBN-13: 9781436149587

• Large Print Paperback: $25.95
• Publisher: HarperLuxe; (August 19, 2008)
• ISBN-10: 0061691623
• ISBN-13: 978-0061691621

Ethan Canin, whose America, America is on nearly all of the critics summer reading lists, was one of the featured speakers at the Random House/LJ Author Breakfast for Collection Development Librarians at BEA.

Reviews are beginning to hit this week, including a 2,378 word near-rave from John Updike in The New Yorker (”a complicated, many-layered epic of class, politics, sex, death, and social history”) and a MUCH shorter B+ from Entertainment Weekly’s Tina Jordan (”the satisfying, compulsively readable saga of a northeastern coal dynasty.”)

The book even makes People’s list of 14 “Sizzling Summer Reads” this week (unfortunately, the list is not posted on the People Web site. Guess they had to give priority to their list of “Single & Sexy Men of ‘08“). Eerily echoing Updike, the VERY short People review says “status, money and politics intersect in this ambitious tale.”

So far, library holds to copy ratios are comfortable.

• Hardcover: $27.00
• Publisher: Random House; (June 24, 2008)
• ISBN-10: 0679456805
• ISBN-13: 978-0679456803

• Audio CD: Unabridged, $44.95
• Publisher: Random House Audio; (June 24, 2008)
• Reader: Robertson Dean
• ISBN-10: 0739368494
• ISBN-13: 978-0739368497

We’ve just added the Indie Bestsellers to our links (see list at right). Created by the American Bookseller Association, the list reflects sales in independent bookstores nationwide.

The Indie list sometimes includes titles you don’t see everywhere else. This week, for instance, Goodnight Bush: An Unauthorized Parody debuts at #9 on the Hardcover Nonfiction list (the only other list it appears on is the San Francisco Chronicle Non-fiction at #7).

Goodnight Bush: A Parody

Gan Golan and Erich Origen

• Hardcover: $14.99
• Publisher: Little, Brown, (May 27, 2008)
• ISBN-10: 031604041X
• ISBN-13: 9780316040419

The SF Chronicle’s recent review says, “Goodnight Bush stands to become a popular American political parody.” How could it not, with lines like these:

Goodnight Constitution

And goodnight evolution …

Goodnight contractor beheading

Goodnight innocent bloodshedding …

The Indie lists adds valuable perspective on what customers are seeking. Thanks to Barbara Genco, Collection Development Director for Brooklyn Public (my local library), for the suggesting we add it.

The current issue of USA Today features The Monster of Florence by Douglas Preston. Preston’s mystery series with Lincoln Child, as well has his solo titles, recently broke onto the bestseller lists. This is his first nonfiction title (Correction: as noted below, Preston has written nonfiction before).

The book has been getting attention (excerpted in The Atlantic Monthly, a strong review from Entertainment Weekly).

From a readers advisory standpoint, the most interesting is Sarah Weinman’s article on true crime in last Sunday’s LA Times. Working in a bookstore, Weinman began to realize that “crime fiction readers and crime nonfiction readers are two distinct camps.” Why?

Crime fiction readers and writers express frustration about the lack of motivation and satisfying resolution of real cases, and prefer fictive escapism to reality’s lack of order; true crime enthusiasts wish fiction purveyors would pay more attention to the facts and appreciate the messiness and viscera of real murder.

She then suggests titles that will appeal to both camps; true crime novels with strong narratives. Monster of Florence leads the list.

Looks like she’s right; the book now ranks #6 in nonfiction sales on Amazon. Expect to see it on upcoming print bestseller lists.

Libraries bought this one conservatively; reserves are heavy in most areas.

The Monster of Florence
Douglas Preston

• Hardcover: $25.99
• Publisher: Grand Central Publishing (June 10, 2008)
• ISBN-10: 0446581194
• ISBN-13: 978-0446581196

• Audio CD: Unabridged edition, $39.98
• Publisher: Hachette Audio; (June 10, 2008)
• Reader: Dennis Boutsikaris
• ISBN-10: 160024209X
• ISBN-13: 978-1600242090

• Large Print, Hardcover: $27.99
• Publisher: Grand Central Publishing (June 10, 2008)
• ISBN-10: 044650534X
• ISBN-13: 978-0446505345