This is off topic, but we thought you’d like to know:

Maybe it’s not completely off topic, though; how about a memorial display, featuring the book:

Dear Socks, Dear Buddy: Kids’ Letters to the First Pets
by Clinton, Hillary Rodham
Unfortunately, no longer in print.

Buddy, who did not get along with Socks (which is the reason that Socks went to live with President Clinton’s secretary, Betty Currie, when the Clintons moved to Chappaqua, NY) died after he was hit by a car in 2002.

The Book Beast declares, The Great Summer Read Is Almost Here, referring to Colson Whitehead’s fourth novel,Sag Harbor, coming in late April. According to Jane Ciabattari, writing in The Beast, Sag Harbor,

… reads like summertime in a book.  Whitehead, 39, blunts his usual wild imagination and satiric edge (familiar to readers of The Intuitionist, John Henry Days and Apex Hides the Hurt) and goes all autobiographical on us. He evokes the season’s glories of the Hamptons of his adolescence, from the sweet anticipation of arrival at the beach house (leaving early to avoid traffic) to the letdown of that Labor Day party (it’s 1985, and the summer’s end anthem is “Ain’t No Stopping Us Now”).

Whitehead talks about Sag Harbor in Sag Harbor, in a video that is so laid back and understated, it’s almost an anti-promotional book video (watch it anyway, especially if you could use a shot of summer right now).

Sag Harbor got a starred review in Booklist. Libraries have it on order in modest quantities (two or fewer for large branches), with comfortable reserve to copy ratios.

In the Sunday NYT‘s sports section, the story Powerful Agent’s Blunt Warning About Future of the N.B.A. is about the new book, The Bald Truth by David Falk. It was not reviewed prepub and most libraries have not ordered it.

The Bald Truth

David Falk

• Hardcover: $27; 384 pages
• Publisher: Pocket (February 3, 2009)
• ISBN-10: 1416584382
• ISBN-13: 978-1416584384

Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos will talk about the Kindle and “what it means for publishing,” tonight on The Daily Show with Jon Stewart.

NPR’s All Things Considered interviewed the Director of Harvard University Library, Robert Darnton, about his piece in the New York Review of Books, Google and the Future of Books (click here to listen to the podcast of the interview).

Under the terms of an settlement between Google and publishers and authors last fall, Google will charge for access to the books they have scanned. Darnton says this amounts to the “comercialization of  a gigantic stock of books which  libraries have been building up over the years” and “raises the danger of a monopoly…of access to information” because nobody else will be able to compete with Google.

He’s also concerned about the agreement that libraries can give their users free access through just one library terminal, pointing out that this will be absurd in a large library, resulting in “readers crawling over each other trying to get access to the [free] terminal.”

NPR also speaks to Daniel Clancy, the engineering director for Google’s book search project. He feels the Book Rights Registry, (Roy Blount, Jr., President of the Authors Guild, calls it “the writer’s equivalent of ASCAP”), which was set up by the settlement to control prices will set them, “so that every school in American can gain access to it.”

Library Journal’s Academic Newswire reported on a meeting of librarians last week in Washington to discuss the issues raised by the settlement. Earlier, the Association of Research Libraries published a Guide for the Perplexed: Libraries and the Google Library Project Settlement.

A fairness hearing on the settlement will be held June 11th; the deadline to file an objection or notice of intent to appear is May 5th.

A service in honor of the two librarians killed on their way to the Denver Airport, while returning from ALA MidWinter, has been scheduled for March 20th. Kevin McCarthy, director of the Perrot Memorial Library in Old Greenwich, CT, where the two worked, told the local newspaper, the Greenwich Time, that “everyone in the world is invited.” 

March 20, 3:30 p.m.
First Congregational Church of Greenwich
108 Sound Beach Ave
A reception will follow at the library, at 90 Sound Beach Ave. in Old Greenwich

As a result of the accident, two counts of vehicular manslaughter and two counts of leaving the scene of the accident have been filed in Denver against Sandra Lee Jacobson. Since then, Jacobson was out on bond and was arrested two more times, for driving on a suspended license and in an effort to increase her bail, which has been raised to 200,000.

Jacobson has had many run-ins with authorities. In an earlier incident, she pleaded guilty to running a red light and crashing into another vehicle, sending the driver to intensive care. She is also facing a jury trial in March for illegally owning a Bengal tiger cub. In 2005, she was charged by the FTC in a pyramid scheme and was banned from the marketing industry.

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This week, as part of their series “The Future of Reading”, the NYT ran a story by Motoko Rich on a Brooklyn school librarian who, like many others around the country,  teaches her students to read critically on the Web (while also encouraging them to enjoy books). 

On the NYTBR podcast (second story), Rich talks to editor Sam Tanenhaus about the story, explaining effectively why schools need trained librarians.

We all know this, but it’s great to hear it from someone outside the profession.

It may be the perfect choice for the current climate;  the cover of the upcoming New York Times Book Review is dedicated to ”an entertaining chronicle of sleaze and vapidity” —  Steven Gaines’s book on South Beach, Fool’s Paradise: Players, Poseurs, and the Culture of Excess in South Beach.

In an inspired pairing, Carl Hiaasen is the reviewer.

Libraries have ordered Fool’s Paradise in small quantities and reserve ratios are comfortable. But keep it in mind — it may be the perfect antidote to all those depressing books on the economy.

Fool’s Paradise: Players, Poseurs, and the Culture of Excess in South Beach

Steven Gaines

• Hardcover: $25.95; 288 pages
• Publisher: Crown – (2009-01-27)
• ISBN-10: 0307346277
• ISBN-13: 9780307346278

The following are titles new to the lists:

Fiction

#23 USA Today General

#4 NYT Fiction

Fool: A Novel, Christopher Moore,  William Morrow,  $26.99

Has received strong newsstand reviews as well as prepub reviews.

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#62 USA Today General

#32 NYT Fiction

Dog on It: A Chet and Bernie Mystery, Spencer Quinn, Atria

Quinn is a first novelist with ambition; with this book, he begins a whole new series of detective stories told from a dog’s point of view. Libraries are showing 5 to 1 reserve ratios.

Sarah Weinman recently included it in a roundup of mysteries featuring animals in the L.A. Times (suggesting that bookstores might want to begin “Anthropomorphic Noir” sections). Universal recently acquired the rights for a movie. 

It is also a B&N Recommends selection (“Marley Stole Your Heart, but Chet Will Make You Howl”), with a readers guide and recently went to #9 on B&N’s bestseller list. It appears that the B&N promotion works — it’s at a much lower #836 on Amazon’s sales rankings.

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#94 USA Today General

#12 NYT Fiction

The Women, T.C. Boyle,  Viking,  $27.95

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#105 USA Today General

#21 NYT Fiction (Extended)

Lethal Legacy, Linda Fairstein, Doubleday, $26.00

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#113 USA Today General

#18 NYT Fiction (Extended)

Drood: A Novel, Dan Simmons, Little, Brown, $26.99

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#137 USA Today General
#22 NYT Fiction (Extended)

The Silent Man, Alex Berenson, Putnam, $25.95

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Nonfiction

#30 USA Today General

Ten Prayers God Always Says Yes To: Divine Answers to Life’s Most Difficult Problems, Anthony DeStefano, Image, $11.95

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#82 USA Today General

#6 NYT Nonfiction

The Gamble: General David Petraeus and the American Military Adventure in Iraq, 2006-2008, Thomas E. Ricks, Penguin Press, $27.95

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#118 USA Today General

#10 NYT Nonfiction

A. Lincoln, Ronald C. White Jr.,  Random House,  $35.00

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#15 NYT Nonfiction

No Angel: My Harrowing Undercover Journey to the Inner Circle of the Hells Angels, Jay Dobyns and Nils Johnson-Shelton. (Crown, $25.95.)

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#16 NYT Nonfiction (tied with #15); With a dagger, indicating bulk sales

Meltdown:  A Free-Market Look at Why the Stock Market Collapsed, the Economy Tanked, and Government Bailouts Will Make Things Worse , Thomas E. Woods Jr.

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#41 USA Today General (second week)

The Three Laws of Performance: Rewriting the Future of Your Organization and Your Life

Steve Zaffron, Dave Logan

• Hardcover: $27.95; 256 pages
• Publisher: Jossey-Bass (February 3, 2009)
• ISBN-10: 0470195592
• ISBN-13: 978-0470195598

We’re including ordering information, because it was not reviewed prepub and it looks like most libraries have not ordered it. It is also on the Wall Street Journal Nonfiction list for the second week, at #4 from #8 last week. According to the WSJ sales index, it is selling nearly at the same rate as Malcolm Gladwell’s Outliers (which, of course, has been on the list for many weeks, so is falling off in sales). 

This is first book by Steve Zaffron, who is the head of the Vantro Group, a consulting company that “advises firms on their performance strategies, translating the abstract ideas of organizational transformation into tools to create economic value and new levels of success.”

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#112 USA Today General

Get Motivated!: Overcome Any Obstacle, Achieve Any Goal and Accelerate Your Success with Motivational DNA, Tamara Lowe, Doubleday Business

This title also went on the WSJ Nonfiction bestseller list at #8 this week (it is not the NYT list). It also was not reviewed prepub and, according to WorldCat, just 200 libraries own the book. Lowe describes herself on her site as a “former drug addict and dropout,” who now is a motivational speaker. 

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#30 NYT Nonfiction (Extended)

Angels and Ages, by Adam Gopnik. (Knopf) 

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#35 NYT Nonfiction (Extended)

Somewhere Towards the End, by Diana Athill. (Norton) 

Childrens and YA

#11 USA Today General

#4 NYT Childrens Series

The Clique: P.S. I Loathe You, Lisi Harrison, Poppy,  $9.99

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#66 USA Today General

#7 NYT Childrens Series

Percy Jackson and the Olympians: The Demigod Files

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#68 USA Today General
#3 NYT Childrens Chapter Books

Seekers: Great Bear Lake, Erin Hunter, HarperCollins, $16.99

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#95 USA Today General

#10 NYT Childrens Series (series has been on for 3 weeks)

Vampire Diaries The Return: Nightfall, L.J. Smith, HarperTeen, $17.99

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#146 USA Today General

Fancy Nancy: Poison Ivy Expert, Jane O’Connor, art by Robin Preiss Glasser, HarperCollins, $3.99

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#8 NYT Childrens Picture Books

Love, Splat, written and illustrated by Rob Scotton. (HarperCollins, $16.99.) 

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#10 NYT Childrens Picture Books

Cat, written by Matthew Van Fleet and photographed by Brian Stanton.. (Simon & Schuster, $16.99.) — a pop-up book

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#10 NYT Childrens Chapter Books

Fade, by Lisa McMann. (Simon Pulse/Simon & Schuster, $15.99.) 

Sequel to Wake.

When S&S’s conservative imprint, Threshold Editions, known for its fall bestseller, Obama Nation, signed up an unauthorized bio of Sarah Palin back in September, speculation was that the book’s success depended on whether she won her bid for the  vice presidency.

The book, Trailblazer, was released this week and even though Palin is not the vp, it’s making headlines. The author, Lorenzo Benet, is Assistant Editor at People. This week’s issue features the book is a story about Bristol Palin and her new baby (the online version is the #1 most-read story of the week).

The big “news” in the book that’s making headlines? Palin kept her pregnancy with her son Trig a secret because she wanted to shield her daughters from media attention.

The book was embargoed, so it was not reviewed prepub and few libraries have it on order. It is currently at #1,056 on Amazon, making it unlikely to appear on weekly bestseller lists.

Trailblazer: An Intimate Biography of Sarah Palin

by Lorenzo Benet

• Hardcover: $25; 256 pages
• Publisher: Threshold Editions (February 17, 2009)
• ISBN-10: 1439142343
• ISBN-13: 978-1439142349

Before we talk about anything else, a big heads up; my kids at the Bank Street School are very excited because the cover for Percy Jackson and the Olympians, Book 5: The Last Olympian was revealed as of 12:01 this morning on the Percy Jackson site.

It’s also up on B&N.com, so we feel we can post it here. The book has a one-day laydown on May 5. Leading up to the laydown, both the Percy Jackson site and author Rick Riordan’s blog will be featuring sneak peeks of character art, teaser videos, sweepstakes and other items to feed fan frenzy (for my kids, PJ & the O‘s is a big as HP).

The Last Olympian

Riordan, Rick

• Reading level: Ages 9-12
• Hardcover: $17.99; 400 pages
• Publisher: Disney Hyperion Books for Children (May 5, 2009)
• ISBN-10: 1423101472
• ISBN-13: 978-1423101475

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Just in time for Black History Month

Check out my review at Barnes&Noble.com of Langston Hughes’s ground-breaking book for children, The Dream Keeper, with new art by Brian Pinkney as well as new illustrated editions of two poems by Hughes.

The Dream Keeper and Other Poems

by Langston Hughes; illustrated by Brian Pinkney

• Reading level: Ages 4-8
• Hardcover: $18.99; 96 pages
• Publisher: Knopf Books for Young Readers (November 13, 2007)
• ISBN-10: 067984421X
• ISBN-13: 978-0679844211

My People

by Langston Hughes; photos by Charles R. Smith, Jr

• Reading level: Ages 4-8
• Hardcover: $17.99; 40 pages
• Publisher: Ginee Seo Books (January 6, 2009)
• ISBN-10: 1416935401
• ISBN-13: 978-1416935407

The Negro Speaks of the River

by Langston Hughes; illustrated by E. B. Lewis

• Reading level: Ages 4-8
• Hardcover: $16.99; 32 pages
• Publisher: Hyperion Book CH (January 6, 2009)
• ISBN-10: 0786818670
• ISBN-13: 978-0786818679

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Heads Up

A terrific informative book for Muslims and  non-Muslims is just out in paperback.

It features a keep-it-light format covering diverse topics such as Ramadan, Prayer, the Quran and The Four D’s — Dating, Dancing, Drinking, and Drugs. It also includes a post-9/11 survival guide.

The American Muslim Teenager’s Handbook

by Dilara Hafiz, Imran Hafiz, and Yasmine Hafiz

• Reading level: Young Adult
• Paperback: $11.99; 192 pages
• Publisher: Atheneum (February 10, 2009)
• ISBN-10: 1416985786
• ISBN-13: 978-1416985785

Our friend, Robin Whitten of AudioFile is not prone to gushing, but she wrote to say she loves, loves, loves the audio of The Help by Kathryn Stockett, a first novel that is getting buzz (we wrote about it last week). Libraries show it on order (some have just received it) with reserves building.

After hearing from Robin, we asked the publisher, Penguin Audio, if they would be willing to make some copies available to EarlyWord readers. They agreed immediately. For all you readers advisors, it’s a great way to preview the book — consider it an “audio galley.”

First, here’s what Robin has to say about the audio:

The best, really best way to enjoy The Help is with the audio version. I reviewed it last week and it’s a Hot Pick on the AudioFile site (we’ve also posted an audio clip).

It is brilliantly cast, with each of three main “voices” — the storytellers of the book — read by a different actress. The lyrical Southern speech and rhythms are perfectly done—and just fit Miss Skeeter, Aibileen, and Minny.  This audiobook really shows what listening can do to enhance a book. I don’t usually gush—but this is so worth it and I am recommending it madly!

To enter to win a copy, just send an email to EarlyWord, with “The Help Audio Giveaway” in the subject line, by 11:59 p.m, Wednesday, Feb. 25th. Don’t forget to include your mailing address (specific rules for this giveaway appear  below).

The Help
Stockett, Kathryn

• Hardcover: $24.95; 464 pages
• Publisher: Putnam Adult (February 10, 2009)
• ISBN-10: 0399155341
• ISBN-13: 978-0399155345

• Audio CD: $39.95, Unabridged
• Publisher: Penguin Audio; (February 10, 2009)
• ISBN-10: 0143144189
• ISBN-13: 978-0143144182

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RULES

NO PURCHASE NECESSARY. VOID WHERE PROHIBITED.
ELIGIBILITY: The giveaway is open only to librarians residing in the 50 United States.

HOW TO WIN: Winners will be randomly selected from all entries by the staff of EarlyWord. Entries must be received before 11:59 p.m. ET on February 25th.

EarlyWord is not responsible for entries lost or delayed or not received for any other reason.

PRIZES: EarlyWord will notify the randomly selected winners. Each winner will receive:

An unabridged audio version of The Help by Kathryn Stockett

HOW TO ENTER: Send an email to EarlyWord, with “The Help Audio Giveaway” in the subject line.

Be sure to include your name and address so we know where to send it!

ALL ENTRIES MUST BE RECEIVED BY: 11:59 p.m. ET on Wednesday, February 25th.

Making the rounds of the Web is a video of Elizabeth Gilbert speaking at the TED conference last week. The Book Beast put it up, calling it “Elizabeth Gilbert on Ruth Stone’s Genius” — a better take is “Elizabeth Gilbert is Feeling PRESSURE!”

Gilbert introduces her subject as “the emotional risks of creativity,” but the presentation is more like listening in on her own interior monologue as she faces the reception to the follow up to her hugely successful book, Eat, Pray, Love. Touchingly, she admits, “It’s exeedingly likely that my greatest success is behind me.”

Unfortunately, Gilbert offers no details about the book. EarlyWord called the publisher, who is being equally mum on pub date, subject and title. Meanwhile, it’s worth watching the video, if only to learn the origin of the cry, “Olé!”

Its the 40th anniversary of the ground breaking interactive concept book The Very Hungry Caterpillar and the publisher is making it available in two new editions. The pop-up edition is a 3-D delight. The Touch-and-Feel Braille edition is an exquisite rendition of the original and a gift to the world.

I rarely say this, so pay attention. Every library should own at least one copy of the the Touch and Feel Braille Edition of The Very Hungry Caterpillar. This concept book classic is rendered in fabric and handmade paper. It is a work of art that brilliantly presents the classic story to children with low or no vision as well as sighted children. The words are overlaid on the Braille as the caterpillar makes his familiar repetitious journey over, under and through a variety of foodstuffs.

Perhaps you are thinking, “$125 is a lot of money for what?  One or two kids at the most in my community?” But think about all the sight impaired grandparents who will have the joy of reading aloud a picture book.

A big thank you to Philomel for this brilliant edition.

The Very Hungry Caterpillar, Touch-and-Feel Braille Edition
Carle, Eric

• Hardcover Braille: $125; 32 pages
• Publisher: Philomel;  edition (November 13, 2008)
• ISBN-10: 0399251901
• ISBN-13: 978-0399251900

The Very Hungry Caterpillar, Pop-Up Book
Carle, Eric

• Hardcover: $29.99; 14 pages
• Publisher: Philomel; Pop edition (March 10, 2009)
• ISBN-10: 0399250395
• ISBN-13: 978-0399250392

A touching tribute to Kathy Krasniewicz and Kate McClelland, killed in a car accident on their way to the Denver airport following ALA, appeared in the NY Times “Connecticut” section on Friday.

New York Times, 2/13/09, Library Recalls Two Who Made It Better, by Gerri Hirshey