Welcome to EarlyWord
Our luanch of EarlyWord YA GalleyChat on Feb. 14 was a rousing success. Join us for the second one on Tues., March 20 at 4 p.m. ET (a get-to-know-each-other social begins at 3:30). And, don't forget our adult GalleyChat, the first Tuesday of each month (info on how to join each, here).
Let us know what is happening in your library. Email me with information on books that are getting an unexpected number of holds and the titles you enjoy recommending.
Keep on reading,
NoraNora Rawlinson Co-Founder and Editor
On the Daily Beast, Daphne Merkin writes about the cleverly titled Masters of Sex, a biography of Masters and Johnson, the pioneers of sex research, Masters and Johnson, calling it
…a richly informed and elegantly organized account of the two people behind the logo that stood for new sexual horizons.
The review is as fascinating as the book sounds.
Several libraries have not yet ordered it.
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Podcast: Play in new window | Download
Congrats to this week’s sponsor, Highbridge, on getting high praise in the current issue of AudioFile for the audio version of Impulse, the latest in Ellen Hopkins’s bestselleing YA series;
Readers Laura Flanagan, Jeremy Guskin, and Steve Coombs tap into the raw, overwhelmed feelings of abused adolescents and deliver such an honest performance that it’s startling. They perform with a visceral complexity and perfect timing that are nothing short of masterful.
You can listen to a segment by clicking above.
Below is ordering information on the titles:
Identical
Crank
Glass
Burned
Impulse
Who of us could resist this headline – A Sleuth Goes to the Library?
It’s for the Wall Street Journal‘s review of a book most of us won’t be able to resist, Curiosities of Literature, “a book crammed with enough amusing trivia to fuel your cocktail-party conversation until Bernie Madoff’s memoirs come out.”
Indeed, the review is peppered with fascinating literary tidbits.
Unfortunately, a full three paragraphs is spent detailing typos and errors in grammar.
Wait! Should my first line have started with “Whom of us…”?
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USA Today announces the birth of the “digi-novel,” called a “revolution in publishing for the YouTube generation,” by its creator, Anthony Zuiker, also the creator of the various CSI TV series.
The book, Level 26: Dark Origins, the first in a projected series, is supplemented by 20 three-minute online videos or “cyber-bridges.”
As USA Today points out, this isn’t the first effort to combine text and online; 39 Clues and Patrick Carman’s Skeleton Creek.
There is also the grand-daddy of them all, the Cathy’s Book series, which uses Web sites, phone numbers and emails to create “Fourth Wall” interactive stories. The final book in the series, Cathy’s Ring came out last week, see below.
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(Cover is from the publishers catalog, p 24, and may change)
Level 26: Dark Origins (Dark Chronicles)
Anthony E. Zuiker and Duane Swierczynski
Mystery reviewer Sarah Weinman is impressed with the choice of Swierczynski as co-author.
Also in audio from Penguin Audio
The upcoming titles in the series are:
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The following is based on the 5/17 NYT lists (sales through 5/2) and the 5/7 USA Today general list (sales through 5/3).
Peter Brown’s Curious Garden continues to rise, now at #2 after 3 weeks. It’s shut out of the top spot by the picture book version of Three Cups of Tea.
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#3 NYT Picture Books
On USA Today general list for 2 weeks; peak, #63
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#6 NYT Picture Books
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#1 NYT Chapter Books
#70 USA Today General
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#10 NYT Chapter Books
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Also available in unabridged audio from Listening Library
The following is based on the 5/17 NYT lists (sales through 5/2). No new nonfiction titles appeared on the USA Today general list this week.
The Girls from Ames is on the rise, climbing from #5 to #3 on the NYT Nonfiction list and from #35 to #23 on USA Today, possibly indicating it was a choice for Mothers Day gifts (those sales will also be reflected in next week’s lists).
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Also available in audio from Recorded Books (ISBN: 9781440715952) and large print from Thorndike.
#6 NYT Nonfiction
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Also available in audio from S&S.
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#9 NYT Nonfiction
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Also available in audio from Hachette and downloadable audio and ebook from OverDrive
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#22 NYT Nonfiction Extended
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Also available in audio from Books on Tape and downloadable audio and ebook from OverDrive
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#23 NYT Nonfiction Extended
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Also available as downloadable ebook from OverDrive
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#35 NYT Nonfiction Extended
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Also available as downloadable ebook from OverDrive
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# 9 NYT Hardcover Advice
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Also available as downloadable ebook from OverDrive
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# 11 NYT Hardcover Advice Extended
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#14 NYT Hardcover Advice Extended
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Also available in audio from Books on Tape and downloadable audio and ebook from OverDrive
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# 9 NYT Paperback Advice
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The following is based on the 5/17 NYT list (sales through 5/2) and the 5/7 USA Today general list (sales through 5/3).
#1 NYT Fiction
#1 USA Today general
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Also available in audio from Books on Tape and Hachette; as downloadable Adobe EPUB eBook and audio from OverDrive; and large print from Little, Brown.
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#1 NYT Paperback Trade Fiction
#3 USA Today general
This is Nora Roberts’s first trade original and the first in a new series. Upcoming titles are:
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Also available in audio from Brilliance; in downloadable eBook and audio from OverDrive.
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#2 NYT Fiction
#10 USA Today general
Breaking onto the hardcover fiction list for the first time, after several years on the paperback lists, is J.R. Ward’s seventh installment of the Black Dagger Brotherhood, a series about vampire warriors. The previous titles in the series are:
Ward begins another “dark and edgy paranormal romance” series this year Covet: A Novel of the Fallen Angels, (Signet; ISBN-10: 0451228219; ISBN-13: 978-0451228215; $7.99 pbk).
She will also continue the Black Dagger Brotherhood series.
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Also available in audio from Penguin and downloadable ebook and audio from OverDrive.
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#4 NYT Fiction
#19 USA Today general
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Also available in audio from Brilliance; in downloadable eBook and audio from OverDrive.
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#9 NYT Fiction
#121 USA Today general
This marks the first time in the NYT top ten for Laurie R. King’s Mary Russell and Sherlock Holmes series.
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Also available in large print from Throndike and downloadable Adobe EPUB eBook from OverDrive.
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#14 NYT Fiction
#148 USA Today general
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Also available in audio from Random House and downloadable Adobe EPUB eBook from OverDrive.
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#19 NYT Fiction, Extended
#120 USA Today general
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Also available in audio from Brilliance; in downloadable eBook and audio from OverDrive.
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#30 NYT Fiction, Extended
Debut novel with significant bookseller backing.
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Also available in audio from Random House and downloadable Adobe EPUB eBook and audio from OverDrive.
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#34 NYT Fiction, Extended
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Also available in audio from Books on Tape and downloadable Adobe EPUB eBook and audio from OverDrive.
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#35 NYT Fiction, Extended
This crime novel by National Book Award winning author (Tree of Smoke) originally appeared as a serial in Playboy. it’s being reviewed widely, including a very strong review in this week’s NYT Book Review.
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Also available in audio from BBC Audio and downloadable audio from OverDrive.
Stephenie Meyer’s Twilight series drove sales increases for the entire juvenile category last year (according to Nielsen Bookscan), so it’s little wonder that Little, Brown Books for Young Readers is releasing some jazzy new editions alongside the expected paperbacks this summer and fall.
A hardcover special edition of Breaking Dawn with a “one-time-only” printing of a million copies has already risen to #126 on Amazon, in advance of its August 4 release. It will include a DVD of the Breaking Dawn Concert Series, a color poster and other extras.
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A trade paperback edition of Eclipse, book three in the series, will also be available on August 4. Since many of you still have long reserve lists, this will be a good way to add more copies and to replace worn ones.
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In the fall, the New Moon movie tie-in program begins with three titles that are not yet available for order (we will let you know as soon as they are). The movie is scheduled to release on November 13th.
Also of note—though not a library item—is the Twilight Journals set, with four blank books illustrated with images from the series packaged in a “keepsake” tin. Not scheduled to arrive until October 13, it is already at #149 on Amazon.
Many EarlyWord readers know that I am a children’s librarian. Because I am a school librarian I am also a teacher. School librarians morphed to media specialist sometime in the 1970′s and now have reclaimed themselves as Teacher/ Librarians.
All this is to say go get copies of See Me after Class: Advice for Teachers by Teachers by Roxanna Elden.
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Eldon has collected sage advice from experienced teachers, but even more useful, she gets them to admit their abject failures with wry humor and grace. She claims her book is ”Hard Liquor for the Teacher’s Soul,” digging under the often repeated platitudes for surviving the school year. Ms. Eldon captures the frustration of classroom management, the sunny optimism of the new teacher ready to fix the system and the day-to-day reality that no one knows what teachers are really feeling as the days grow short and winter break approaches.
Who is this book for? Teachers, of course. Even more valuable to student teachers… maybe those people who want to change professions to see what it is really like. I can’t help thinking about all those “helicopter parents,” who hover over their kids. Gosh, wouldn’t it be great if they could read their kid’s teacher’s mind? This is the book.
The major takeaway from Jeff Bezo’s unveiling of the new Kindle DZ for many tech commentators was his declaration that sales of Kindle ebooks now represent 35% of the total print sales of those same titles at the e-retailer. That’s up from 13% just a few months ago, according to Tech Crunch. Amazon currently carries 275,000 titles for the Kindle.
This makes you think that Kindle owners are buying a LOT of books, since estimates are that the Kindle 2 has sold only 300,000 since it went on sale in February.
How much are ebook sales contributing to publishers’ bottom lines? The ebook news Web site, Teleread, analyzed stats from Association of American Publishers, showing ebook sales accelerating rapidly in 2008, but estimates they “ will still only represent 1/2 of 1 percent of book industry sales,” for the year, growing to 6% over the next five years.
Healing the Addicted Brain: The Revolutionary, Science-Based Alcoholism and Addiction Recovery Program by physician Harold Urschel sped up Amazon’s bestseller list yesterday after Dr. Phil featured the author on a show about “How to Stay Sober.”
None of the major systems we checked have any copies.
Dr. Phil praised Urschel as “the number one addictionologist expert in this particular area,” for his treatment that combines brain chemistry science with psychiatry and environmental and lifestyle adjustments, with clients from around the world seeking his treatment at the Urschel Recovery Science Institute in Dallas, TX.
According to a press release from publisher Sourcebooks,
Dr. Urschel starts with leading-edge thinking about brain science and neuronal chemistry, then integrates the latest anti-addiction medications and therapies, combined with unique, individualized psycho-social direction, stress management, coping skills, and even legal guidance, providing a comprehensive science-based program focused on the prevention of relapse.
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Reserves are piling up on Elizabeth Edwards’s book Resilience, on the heels of her publicity tour. She appeared on Oprah on Thursday and NPR’s All Things Considered last night. An excerpt of the book appears in the new issue of Time. In addition, countless print and online sources have covered the Oprah appearance; on Salon, Rebecca Traister noted that John Edwards, who was also on the show,
…looked about as excited to have Oprah Winfrey arrive at his house to discuss his betrayal of wife and party as anyone would. That is to say, he looked like a man who was about to be dragged backward by his pinky toes through a field of soft horseshit.
The book has been rising on both Amazon (currently at #11) and B&N.com (currently at #4). Libraries show heavy reserving, 10 to 1 in several cases.
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Also in audio from Random House:
The nifty USA Today Summer Book Calendar is now available: CALENDAR: See when your favorites hit bookstores. It’s a quick way to get up to speed on what your customers will be looking for in the coming months.
USA Today also asked booksellers what books they are particularly looking forward to; of course, there are several titles from favorite authors, such as Clive Cussler, Dean Koonts, Elin Hilderbrand, Luanne Rice and Pat Conroy, who returns after a long absence, with South of Broad, (Aug 11, Doubleday, Nan A. Talese).
And a couple of first novels make the list:
The Physick Book of Deliverance Dane by Katherine Howe (June 9); ”…about a contemporary woman whose ancestor was arrested during the Salem witch trials.”
Libraries show light to moderate ordering, with few reserves so far.
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The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie by Alan Bradley (released last week); “a mystery starring a precocious 11-year-old.” This title was chose by independent booksellers as their top title for May on the Indie Next list. Entertainment Weekly reviews it in the upcoming issue (May 15), giving it an A-, and saying of this mystery set in the English countryside in the 1950′s,
For all of the [its] cleverness (the title alone threatens a storm of cuteness)… never loses touch with the darker realities of this rustic English paradise… It’s a rare pleasure to follow [main character] Flavia as she investigates her limited but boundless-feeling world. And it’s nice to know she’ll be back
It also gets a celebrity author endorsement; Charlaine Harris, tells USA Today that it is on her summer reading list.
Libraries are showing heavy reserves on light to moderate ordering.
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In addition to Larry King’s autobiography (My Remarkable Journey, Weinstein Books, May 19), booksellers say they’re backing the following non-fiction titles:
Horse Soldiers: The Extraordinary Story of a Band of U.S. Soldiers Who Rode to Victory in Afghanistan by Doug Stanton (out now); ”about a secret mission undertaken against the Taliban by Special Forces soldiers.”
Libraries are showing very light ordering, with few reserves so far.
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Perfection: A Memoir of Betrayal and Renewal by Julie Metz (June 9); “about a young widow who discovers her husband’s adultery.”
Who could resist that cover?
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This may be a new version of “Email is for old people” — in a survey about their reading habits, 64% of tweens answered the question ”if someone bought you an eReader like the Amazon Kindle would you read books on it?” with “What’s an eReader?”
An astounding 90% “enjoy reading” and 42% get most of their books from school or the library.
For the full report, go to Checking The Pulse: Tweens And Books on YPulse, a news site about marketing to teens, tweens and Gen Y.
When a 29 year-old author’s first novel jumps to #112 on Amazon the day after it goes on sale, it’s time to call it “a precocious debut.” The rise of The Selected Works of T.S. Spivet by Reif Larson appears to have been sparked by an excerpt in Vanity Fair magazine and a Boston Globe writeup that focuses as much on the $900,000 advance paid for the book by Penguin Press as it does on the book’s 12 year-old narrator, Tecumseh Sparrow Spivet. The book follows the Montana rancher’s son on a journey to Washington (without his parents’ knowledge) to collect an award for the maps he obsessively makes, which are reproduced in hand-drawn marginalia that spills over the pages of Larsen’s book.
So far, library orders are on the low side (most in the 4-8 copy range) with reserves ranging from 17 to 30. That may be because early reviews of the novel have varied, with Booklist giving it a star, Library Journal fairly positive and PW and Kirkus more mixed. The book has also attracted publishers in two dozen other countries, and recently drew praise from the Times Online (UK), which called the writing “redolent of Mark Twain’s Roughing It in the rhythms of its humour and the picaresque deviations of its storytelling,” while also observing that the book “loses its poise” in the final chapters.
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UPDATE; We just learned that Spivet is also available in audio:
