As USA Today’s Book Buzz column points out, Barack Obama’s two books got a convention bump and rose on their bestseller list. Audacity of Hope went from #47 to #25 and Dreams of My Father from #109 to #56.

Meanwhile the two books critical of Obama, Obama Nation and The Case Against Barack Obama dropped significantly. The two veep books, also got a bump, but aren’t reflected on this list.

Another political title debuts on the list this week. Michael Moore’s Mike’s Election Guide, at #78.

The list is dotted with movie tie-ins. Curiously, they are all for movies that haven’t opened yet. Nights in Rodanthe, at #8 and The Road, at #49, both continue from last week. New to the list is a tie-in for The Duchess, starring Keira Knightly and Ralph Fiennes (which has an appropriately gorgeous trailer). The movie, to be released Sept 19th, is based on the biography of Princess Diana’s racy ancestor, Georgiana Duchess of Devonshire by Amanda Foreman (renamed for the tie-in edition).

At #146 is the YA title City of Ember by Jeanne DuPrau, to be released as a movie starring Bill Murray and Tim Robbins on Oct. 10.

These and tie-ins for other forthcoming movies are in our Upcoming Movies — with Tie-ins listing.

Moving Back Up the List:

#25 The Audacity of Hope, Barack Obama, Three Rivers Press, from #47 after 63 weeks. Peak was #2.

#42 The Story of Edgar Sawtelle, David Wroblewski, Ecco         from #70 last week, after 12 weeks. Peak was #25. The author was  interviewed by Meredith Viera on the Today Show last week.

#56 Dreams from My Father, Barack Obama, Three Rivers Press, from #109 after 88 weeks. Peak was #15.

Debut Hardcovers & Original Pbk:

#13 Devil Bones, Kathy Reichs, Scribner

#16 The Gypsy Morph, Terry Brooks, Del Rey

#41 Silks, Dick Francis, Felix Francis, Putnam

#78 Mike’s Election Guide, Michael Moore, Grand Central

#94 The Laughter of Dead Kings, Elizabeth Peters, Morrow

Moving Down:

#29 Smoke Screen, Sandra Brown, S&S, from #13 after 3 weeks. Peak was #12.

#33 The Obama Nation, Jerome R. Corsi, Threshold (S&S), from #11, after 5 weeks. Peak was #8.

#50 The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society, Mary Ann Shaffer, Annie Barrows, Dial. It peaked at #34 last week, after 5 weeks.

#52 The Bourne Sanction, Robert Ludlum, Eric Van Lustbader, Grand Central, from #26 to #52 after 5 weeks. Peak was #19.

#35 Star Wars: The Force Unleashed, Sean Williams, Del Rey, from peak of #15, after 2 weeks.

#77 Acheron, Sherrilyn Kenyon, St. Martin’s, arom #28 after 4 weeks. Peak was #7.

#91 The Case Against Barack Obama, David Freddoso, Regnery, from #64 after 4 weeks. Peak was #30.

#122 The Lace Reader, Brunonia Barry, Morrow, from #84 last week, after 5 weeks. Peak was #55.

Following a string of reviews, Joyce Carol Oates takes on American Wife by Curtis Sittenfeld in Sunday’s NYT BR. The book has since risen to #16 on Amazon’s bestseller list. Holds in libraries have also increased significantly.

Like the other reviewers, Oates finds the portrait of Alice/Laura  more compelling than that of Charlie/George W. 

Unlike other reviewers, she sees a metaphor in the book (which she says Sittenfeld surely did not intend);

the “American wife” is in fact the American people, or at least those millions of Americans who voted for a less-than-qualified president in two elections — the all-forgiving enabler for whom the bromide “love” excuses all.

 

American Wife

Curtis Sittenfeld

• Hardcover: $26.00
• Publisher: Random House (September 2, 2008)
• ISBN-10: 1400064759
• ISBN-13: 978-1400064755

• Audio CD: Abridged, $34.95
• Reader: Kimberly Farr
• Publisher: Random House; (September 2, 2008)
• ISBN-10: 0739323865
• ISBN-13: 978-0739323861

Backlash? What backlash? Stephenie Meyer’s “Twilight” series now holds all four top spots on the USA Today bestseller list. Amazing as it seems, there must still be new people discovering the series, since the first title, Twilight, is in the #2 spot.

It’s clear from the list that we’re into the school season, with To Kill a Mockingbird, 1984, Of Mice and Men, Lord of the Flies and the Merriam-Webster Dictionary rising or reappearing on the list (which makes it a smart idea to do mid-summer classics replacement list each year).

As USA Today’s Book Buzz column points out, books related to upcoming movies are on the rise:

• #8 Nights in Rodanthe, Nicholas Sparks,  (movie opens Sept. 26).
• #34 The Road, Cormac McCarthy (the movie, with Viggo Mortensen, opens Nov. 26)

But the movie-related title that’s been on the list the longest is for a movie that doesn’t actually open until next year, The Watchmen, at #14 after 6 weeks. RH announced in its library marketing newsletter yesterday that the title will be re-released in hardcover on Nov. 8 (ISBN: 978-1-4012-1926-0 (1-4012-1926-8).

Debut Hardcover Titles:

• #15 Star Wars: The Force Unleashed, Del Rey
• #33 Eat This Not That! For Kids! David Zinczenko, Rodale; the Monday Today show appearance was too late to affect this list, which reflects sales through Sunday, so we might expect this to move higher next week. In addition to this new version of the bestselling title for adults, Eat This, Not That! Supermarkets! comes out in late December. None of the titles are eligible for the NYT list, because they are considered calorie counting books, which the Times does not track.
• #135 Rough Justice, Jack Higgins, Putnam

Moving Up:

• #30 Eat This Not That! David Zinczenko, from #79 last week, after 36 weeks
• #53 Killing Sacred Cows, Garrett B. Gunderson, Greenleaf Book Grou[\p, from #59 after 2 weeks

Back on:

• #56 The Gift of Fear, Gavin De Becker, Dell; Oprah’s Jan. 29 show featuring De Becker re-ran on Monday, 8/18
• #60 Six Disciplines Execution Revolution, Gary Harpst, Six Disciplines Publishing
• #75 The Purpose-Driven Life, Rick Warren, Zondervan

Moving Down:

Big-name, repeat authors hit the list high, but then move down very quickly. Meanwhile, the slow-building Story of Edgar Sawtelle, has hung on for 11 weeks (it could move up next week; author Wroblewski was interviewed by Meredith Viera on the Today Show this morning.)

• #28 Acheron, Sherrilyn Kenyon, St. Martin’s from #17 last week, after 3 weeks
• #58 Dangerous Days of Daniel X, James Patterson, Little, Brown, from #38, after 5 weeks
• #63 Moscow Rules, Daniel Silva, Putnam, from #33 after 5 weeks
• #70 The Story of Edgar Sawtelle, David Wroblewski, Ecco from #65, after 11 weeks
• #88 Money and the Law of Attraction, from #22, after 2 weeks
• #93 Tribute, Nora Roberts, Putnam, from #52, after 7 weeks
• #95 Mercedes Coffin, Faye Kellerman, Morrow, from #66, after 2 weeks
• #96 Foreign Body, Robin Cook, Putnam, from #74 after 3 weeks
• #115 Love the One You’re With, Emily Griffin, St. Martin’s Press, from #88 after 15 weeks
• #134 Fearless Fourteen, Janet Evanovich, St. Martin’s Press, from #15 after 10 weeks

As USA Today points out in this week’s “Book Buzz” column, the three top spots on their bestseller list are occupied by books 1, 2 and 4 in Stephenie Meyer’s Twilight series (book #3 is in the #5 position, after The Last Lecture). Her other title, The Host, is at #20.

Among the debuts on this week’s list is a title that began appearing on Amazon’s top ten recently (currently, it’s at #20). Called Killing Sacred Cows, it’s an investment self-help book published by the Greenleaf Book Group, a publisher and distributor in Austin, TX. Greenleaf was profiled in Inc. magazine’s 500 fastest-growing small companies in 2006 (where they ranked #224, with 562% three-year growth) and, according to the Austin Business Journal, are “turning the publishing world on its ear.”

I’ve been told that they’ve run full-page ads for the book in the New York Times (since I don’t read the NYT in print, I haven’t seen them myself). The book got a strong review in PW;

…In the vein of The Secret and the classic Think and Grow Rich, Gunderson suggests that prosperity is a state of mind from which value and wealth flow. Readers will find his assault on traditional financial nostrums fresh, eye-opening and emboldening.

It’s owned in small quantities by most, but not all, of the libraries I checked.

Greenleaf is also the distributor for the self-pubbed Six Disciplines, which hit the lists (USA Today and the Wall Street Journal) a few weeks ago and just went back up on Amazon to #7.

Killing Sacred Cows: Overcoming the Financial Myths That Are Destroying Your Prosperity

Garrett B. Gunderson and Stephen Palmer

• Hardcover: $21.95
• Publisher: Greenleaf Book Group LLC (July 1, 2008)
• ISBN-10: 1929774516
• ISBN-13: 978-1929774517

Debut hardcover titles:

#12 Smoke Screen, Sandra Brown, S&S

#22 Money and the Law of Attraction, Esther Hicks, Jay Hicks, Hay House

#59 Killing Sacred Cows, Garrett B. Gunderson, Stephen Palmer, Greenleaf Book Group

#66 Mercedes Coffin, Faye Kellerman, Morrow

#75 Off Season, Anne Rivers Siddons, Grand Central Publishing

#92 The 19th Wife, David Ebershoff, Random House

#149 Generation Kill, Evan Wright, Berkley

Moving up:

#8 (after 3 weeks) Obama Nation, Jerome Corsi, S&S (from #12 last week) 

#13 (after 5 weeks) Watchmen, Alan Moore, Dave Gibbons,  DC Comics (from #18 last week) 

#30 (after 2 weeks) The Case Against Barack Obama (#47 last week) 

Moving Down:

After rising for many weeks, the surprise bestseller of the season, Edgar Sawtelle, looks like it has peaked. The other talked-about debut novels are beginning to decline, as well, with the exception of The Gargoyle, which stays at #111 after two weeks.

#44 (after 3 weeks) The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Society, Mary Ann Shaffer, Annie Barrows, The Dial Press (#34 last week)

#65 (after 10 weeks) The Story of Edgar Sawtelle (#50 last week)

#86 (after 3 weeks) The Lace Reader, Brunonia Barry, William Morrow (#55 last week)

The Gargoyle appears at #14 (tied with #13) on the 8/24 NYT Fiction Bestseller list, joining the other debut fiction titles that have enjoyed pre-pub media attention this summer:

• #3 The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Society, rising from #5 after two weeks on the list
• #6 The Story of Edgar Sawtelle, down from #4 last week, its first dip after rising steadily up the list for the last nine weeks
• #7 The Lace Reader, its second week at #7
• #14 The Gargoyle, its first week on the list

The New York Times Book Review lets Princeton English professor Sophie Gee have at The Gargoyle in the 8/15 issue. She has a fine time picking apart the book’s inconsistencies and literary pretensions, but is less eloquent about the book’s appeal, 

As straight-up entertainment,The Gargoyle is so-so. It’s not exactly unputdownable, but it has enough unexplained details to remain interesting. Could it be true that Marianne lived in the 14th century, and how did she get to the present? Why does she now compulsively carve stone gargoyles in the basement of her house, and what have these grotesque physical forms to do with the hero’s own disfiguring burn scars? All fine questions, which build to a moderately satisfying conclusion.

The press coverage of Obama Nation makes repeated references to the book debuting at #1 on the New York Times bestseller list, but other lists show a different story.

On the Wall Street Journal nonfiction list, it is a distant second to The Last Lecture (which doesn’t appear on the Times nonfiction list because it’s categorized as “Hardcover Advice.” It’s at number one on that list).

The WSJ’s sales index shows Obama Nation is selling at less than 1/3 the rate of The Last Lecture. Comparing it to the number one fiction title, Obama Nation is selling at a bit more than 10% the rate of Breaking Dawn.

The USA Today list shows all titles in one ranking, regardless of age level or category. On that list, Obama Nation is at #12 (it was at #25 last week), after the paperback of Debbie Macomber’s The Manning Brides.

The Amazon list is updated hourly and therefore responds quickly to media attention. On that list, Obama Nation rose from #10 two days ago to #1 today, above Breaking Dawn.

USA Today’s Books Buzz column declares “Guernsey is a Literary Hit.” Of course, we knew that already, based on library hold patterns. Last week, the four libraries we checked had a total of 590 reserves on all formats of the book; this week, it’s up to 852.

Nancy Pearl, also a fan, reviews it this week on her KUOW show.

Our audio contributor, Robin Whitten, Editor and Founder of AudioFile, tells us she’s enjoying the audio version and promises a review in the next few days.

The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society

Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows

• Hardcover: $22.00
• Publisher: The Dial Press (July 29, 2008)
• ISBN-10: 0385340990
• ISBN-13: 978-0385340991

• Audio CD: Unabridged, $80.00
• Publisher: Books on Tape; (Aug 5, 2008)
• ISBN-10: 1-4159-5440-2
• ISBN-13: 978-1-4159-5440-9

• Audio CD: Abridged, $22.00
• Publisher: Random House Audio; (July 29, 2008)
• ISBN-10: 0739368435
• ISBN-13: 978-0739368435

• Hardcover, Large Type: $34.95
• Publisher: Center Point Large Print; (September 2008)
• ISBN-10: 1602852693
• ISBN-13: 978-1602852693

Robin Whitten, Editor and Founder of AudioFile, just let us know that the surprise hit of the season, The Story of Edgar Sawtelle will soon be available on audio (information on the audio was sketchy when we first wrote about the book).

The Story of Edgar Sawtelle

David Wroblewski

• Audio CD: Unabridged, 18 CDs, 21.5 hrs., $39.95 
• Publisher: Recorded Books, LLC 
• Narrator: Richard Poe
• ISBN-10: 1436160308
• ISBN-13: 978-1436160308
• Shipping Date: from Recorded Books  in 2-3 weeks; pre-orders for libraries available through the RB reps  [BN.com lists it as September 16, 2008]

The narrator, Richard Poe, is profiled by AudioFile as skilled “in setting a mood and ‘dressing the set’ of a scene.” Robin says hes did a stunning job with George Packer’s The Assassins’ Gate and Cormac McCarthy’s Blood Meridian last year. Previous titles include Don DeLillo’s Underworld, Jane Smiley’s Good Faith, and Dan Brown’s Angels and Demons.

Why wasn’t this tile released simultaneously with the book? Simply because it wasn’t expected to be such a big success in hardcover. Once it began to pick up steam, Recorded Books bought the rights. Since it’s a long book, it takes a while to record and produce it.

Thanks to Robin for the information. We’re very pleased to announce that she will be contributing regularly to Early Word. In addition, whenever we list audio narrators, we will link to AudioFile’s narrator profiles.

AudioFile reviews nearly 400 adult and childrens audioboks every 60 days, focusing on the audio presentation. New reviews go up on AudioFile’s Web site every week.