As a result of yesterday’s CBS Sunday Morning story on Dewey: The Small-Town Library Cat Who Touched the World (CBS did not post the segment on their site, so we can’t give you a link) the book rose to #5 on Amazon’s besteller list, well ahead of Oprah pick, The Story of Edgar Sawtelle, which is at #10.

We have to acknowledge, however, that the regular edition of Edgar (not the Oprah-stickered edition) appears at #19. It is possible that if the sales of both editions were added up, that Edgar would be much closer to Dewey.

Congrats to librarian Vicki Myron. Her book Dewey: The Small-Town Library Cat Who Touched the World hit the NYT Nonfiction bestseller list in its first week on sale at #13.

In celebration, the book’s publisher, Grand Central has offered to give a limited number of hardcover copies to a EarlyWord’s librarian readers (so you don’t have to fight your customers for the library copies).

Just send an email to: info@earlyword.com, with “Dewey Giveaway” in the subject line, by 11:59 p.m Friday, Oct. 3rd (be sure to include your address so we know where to send the book!).

Dewey: The Small-Town Library Cat Who Touched the World

Vicki Myron

• Hardcover: $19.99
• Publisher: Grand Central Publishing (September 24, 2008)
• ISBN-10: 0446407410
• ISBN-13: 9780446407410

• Audio CD: Unabridged, $22.98
• Publisher: Hachette Audio, (September 24, 2008)
• ISBN-10: 1600243827
• ISBN-13: 9781600243820

• Large Print Hardcover: $22.99
• Publisher: Grand Central Publishing, (September 24, 2008)
• ISBN-10: 0446541192
• ISBN-13: 9780446541190

 Below are specific rules:

CONTEST RULES



NO PURCHASE NECESSARY. VOID WHERE PROHIBITED.
ELIGIBILITY: This contest 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 Early Word. Entries must be received before 11:59 p.m. ET on Friday, October 3rd.

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:

A hardcover copy of: Dewey: The Small-Town Library Cat Who Touched the World by Vicki Myron.

HOW TO ENTER: Send an email, with “Dewey Giveaway” in the subject line to: info@earlyword.com

Be sure to include your name and address so we can mail you the book!

ALL ENTRIES MUST BE RECEIVED BY: 11:59 p.m. ET on Friday, October 3rd.

Some titles really hit their stride when they are released in trade paperback; often because that’s the preferred format for book clubs. Loving Frank by Nancy Horan is a good example. In hardcover, it was on the USA Today bestseller list for just 4 weeks, but in trade paper, it has been on for 21 weeks. Libraries are continuing to show reserves on the hardcover, with long lists in some areas.

Keeping an eye on new trade paperback bestsellers is a good way to identify titles that are headed for a long life as well as books that are working for clubs.

Two titles new to this week’s USA Today list may fit both categories:

#132 The Zookeeper’s Wife: A War Story, Diane Ackerman, W.W. Norton 

The Zookeeper’s Wife: A War Story  

Diane Ackerman

• Paperback: $14.96; 368 pages
• Publisher: W. W. Norton; (September 8, 2008)
• ISBN-10: 039333306X
• ISBN-13: 978-0393333060

Ackerman’s true story of a couple who were unable to save the animals in the Warsaw zoo from the Nazi’s, but managed to rescue over 200 Jews is still on reserve in most libraries. Ackerman is doing an author tour in October and November (L.A. Public Library is one of the stops. In April, she appears at the Cleveland Public Library). A reading group guide is included in the trade paperback edition (also available at Norton’s Web site).

#146 Look Me in the Eye: My Life with Asperger’s,  John Elder Robison, Three Rivers Press

Look Me in the Eye: My Life with Asperger’s 

John Elder Robison

The book was on the USA Today list in hardcover for 5 weeks. Robison has an active speaking schedule. A Teacher’s Guide to the book is available. 

• Paperback: $14.96; 320 pages
• Publisher: Three Rivers Press; Reprint edition (September 9, 2008)
• ISBN-10: 0307396185
• ISBN-13: 978-0307396181

Bookstores must be setting up their Halloween book displays; Five Little Pumpkins is back on the USA Today bestseller list (#137).

Of course, the BIG new title of the week is Christopher Paolini’s Brsingr, which hits the list at #1, after only a single day on sale (USA Today’s list reflects sales through the previous Sunday. The book was released on Saturday).

Unsurprisingly, libraries are showing heavy reserves, but they have also ordered in quantity. Congrats Hennepin, you seem to have the most reserves, with 971 on 98 copies.

A few new titles to the list show modest ordering with heavy reserves:

#34 The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, Stieg Larsson, translated by Reg Keeland, Knopf

Ordering in most libraries was modest with holds building.

#47 The Limits Of Power, Andrew Bacevich, Metropolitan Books

Showing heavy holds in most areas, this book began to take off after Bacevich’s appearanceo on Bill Moyers’s show in mid-Aug. and gained further momentum from the author’s Sept. 11 interview with Terry Gross on NPR’s Fresh Air.

#79 Angler: The Cheney Vice Presidency, Barton Gellman, The Penguin Press

Showing heavy holds in some areas.

#106 Boys Will Be Boys: The Glory Days and Party Nights of the Dallas Cowboys Dynasty,  Jeff Pearlman, HarperCollins

Showing heavy holds in a few areas.

#130 The Forever War, Dexter Filkins, Knopf

This was featured as the cover review for the NYT BR 9/14. Ordering in libraries is light, with reserves building.

 

Below is the full list of new-to-the-list hardcover and paperback originals:

#1 Brisingr, Christopher Paolini, Knopf Books for Young Readers

#12 The Other Queen, Philippa Gregory, Touchstone

#17 Faefever, Karen Marie Moning, Delacorte Press

#30 Real Life, Phil McGraw, Free Press

#34 The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, Stieg Larsson, translated by Reg Keeland, Knopf

#35 Guinness: World Records 2009

#46 Through the Storm, Lynne Spears, Lorilee Craker, Thomas Nelson

#47 The Limits Of Power, Andrew Bacevich, Metropolitan Books

#58 Paul Of Dune, Brian Herbert, Kevin J. Anderson,  Tor Books

#65 A Giant Problem: Beyond the Spiderwick Chronicles, Holly Black, Tony DiTerlizzi,  Simon & Schuster Children’s Publishing

#69 When The Soul Mends: A Novel, Cindy Woodsmall, WaterBrook Press (original trade paper)

#79 Angler: The Cheney Vice Presidency, Barton Gellman, The Penguin Press

#80 Revelation, Kate Brian, Simon Pulse YA original paperback

#84 We The People: The Story of Our Constitution, Lynne Cheney, Greg Harlin,  Simon & Schuster/Paula Wiseman Books

#97 Indignation, Philip Roth, Houghton Mifflin

#106 Boys Will Be Boys: The Glory Days and Party Nights of the Dallas Cowboys Dynasty,  Jeff Pearlman, HarperCollins

#109 Adventurer’s Vault, Wizards RPG Team, Wizards of the Coast

#126 Before You Do, T.D. Jakes,  Atria

#127 Forgotten Realms Player’s Guide, Wizards RPG Team,  Wizards of the Coast

#130 The Forever War, Dexter Filkins, Knopf

#136 ChefMD’s Big Book of Culinary Medicine, John La Puma, Rebecca Powell Marx, Crown

USA Today’s “Book Buzz” column indicates that the two big political titles that debuted last week, Woodward’s final volume in his series on the Bush administration and Tom Friedman’s book on the need for a “green revolution” are running neck and neck on their bestseller list. Friedman is at #6 and Woodward is at #7 (both are kept out of the top five by the Twilight series and the Shack).

However, both Amazon and library hold patterns show a different story, with Friedman pulling ahead of Woodward. Hot, Flat and Crowded has even managed to break through the Twilight log jam on Amazon a few times (USA Today’s list represents sales through last Sunday; Amazon’s list is updated hourly, so it’s more recent). As we noted last week, library reserves on the Friedman have been running double the number on the Woodward.

At least one bookseller has seen an even starker difference in sales of the two titles. Arsen Kashkashian, buyer for Boulder (CO) Bookstore says his stack of Friedman books is shrinking, while the Woodward is staying about the same. In fact, he says, “if Woodward’s book doesn’t turn around it will be one of the worst single buys in my 11 years as a front-list buyer.”

Buyers take note; readers may be turning away from assessing the past and towards trying to figure out the future.

Below is a roundup of titles new to the USA Today list:

#6 Hot, Flat, and Crowded, Thomas Friedman, Farrar, Straus and Giroux

#7 The War Within: A Secret White House History 2006-2008, Bob Woodward,  Simon & Schuster

#16 The 39 Clues: The Maze Of Bones, Rick Riordan,  Scholastic Press

#20 Breakthrough: Eight Steps to Wellness, Suzanne Somers,  Crown

#25 Big Words for Little People, Jamie Lee Curtis, Laura Cornell,  Joanna Cotler

#26 Anathem, Neal Stephenson,  William, Morrow

#36 Sarah: How a Hockey Mom Turned Alaska’s Political Establishment Upside Down, Kaylene Johnson,  Epicenter Press

#50 The Keepsake, Tess Gerritsen,  Ballantine

The movies continue to sell books:

#8 Nights in Rodanthe, Nicholas Sparks,  Warner Vision

#54 The Secret Life of Bees, Sue Monk Kidd,  Penguin

#116 The Duchess, Amanda Foreman,  Random House

#139 The Tale of Despereaux: Being the Story of a Mouse, a Princess, Some Soup, and a Spool of Thread, Kate DiCamillo,  Candlewick

As USA Today’s “Book Buzz” column points out, Stephenie Meyer’s Twilight series continues to occupy the top four spots on their bestseller list. Several other vampire series are also doing well:

• Christine Feehan’s Dark Curse, #16 in The Carpathians Series, debuts at #11 this week. 
•  Jacqueline Frank’s Noah, the fifth volume in the author’s paperback series, Nightwalkers, moved up to #37 from #45 last week. 
• Alan Ball’s HBO series True Blood, based on Charlaine Harris’s Dead Until Dark, began on Sunday. The tie-in edition shipped 100,000 last week. It’s not yet on USA Today’s list, which reflects sales through Saturday, but it is at #53 on Amazon’s rankings. The other titles in Harris’s Southern Vampire series have also risen on Amazon. 
• The next popular vampire series title on the horizon is Laurell K. Hamilton’s Swallowing Darkness, due Nov. 4 (Correction: a smart reader points out that this is NOT one of Hamilton’s  Anita Blake Vampire Hunter Series — the most recent was Blood Noir, which came out in hardcover in May. Swallowing Darkness is the next in the author’s Meredith Gentry fairie series. USA Today was clear on this, but we were not). 

Candidates Titles:

John McCain’s Faith of My Fathers is back on the USA Today list at #89. It was on for 23 weeks in hardcover in 2000.

After sliding down USA Today’s list, Barack Obama’s two books rose again last week and held on to their positions this week. A new book from the Obama campaign, Change We Can Believe In, came out this week, and is at #35 in the Amazon rankings.

Manga:

This is the week for manga, with several new titles appearing on the USA Today list.

• #24 Naruto, Volume 31, Masashi Kishimoto,  VIZ Media, LLC
• #100 Vampire Knight: Volume 05, Matsuri Hino, Nancy Thistlethwaite,  VIZ Media Llc
• #105 Bleach: Volume 24, Tite Kubo,  VIZ Media LLC
• #135 Warriors: Into the Woods, Erin Hunter, Tokyopop

Below is EarlyWord’s full analysis of significant changes on the USA Today list:

Debut Hardcovers & Original Pbk:

#11 Dark Curse: A Carpathian Novel, Christine Feehan, Berkley

#19 The Book of Lies, Brad Meltzer, Grand Central Publishing

#35 American Wife, Curtis Sittenfeld, Random House

#41 God’s Big Idea, Myles Munroe, Destiny Image

#24 Naruto, Volume 31, Masashi Kishimoto, Viz Media, LLC

#100 Vampire Knight: Volume 05, Matsuri Hino, Nancy Thistlethwaite, Viz Media Llc

#105 Bleach: Volume 24, Tite Kubo, Viz Media LLC

#121 Sweetheart, Chelsea Cain, St. Martin’s Minotaur

#129 The Art of Engagement: Bridging the Gap Between People and Possibilities, Jim Haudan, McGraw-Hill

#135 Warriors: Into the Woods, Erin Hunter, Tokyopop

#139 The Scourge of God: A Novel of the Change, S.M. Stirling, Roc. Sequel to 2007’s The Sunrise Lands

Back on:

#68 The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao, Junot Diaz, Riverhead. Now in trade paperback; this is the book’s highest position on the list.

#89 Faith of My Fathers, John McCain, Mark Salter, Random House. Was on the list for 23 weeks in hardcover in 2000.

#121 Fleeced, Dick Morris, Eileen McGann, Harper. Was on for 9 weeks earlier in the summer. Peak, #25

Back Up:

#7 Eat, Pray, Love, Elizabeth Gilbert,  Penguin, from #26 last week, after 86 weeks — because rebroadcast of author’s appearance on Oprah.

#31 Skinny Bitch, Rory Freedman, Kim Barnouin, Running Press, from #57 last week, after 60 weeks — promotion of the newest title in the Skinny Bitch series, Skinny Bitch: Bun in the Oven has brought renewed attention to the first title.

Moving Down:

#28 Devil Bones, Kathy Reichs, Scribner from #13 last week, after 2 weeks. Peak, #13

#48 Smoke Screen, Sandra Brown, Simon & Schuster from #29, after 4 weeks. Peak, #12

#51 The Gypsy Morph, Terry Brooks, Del Rey from #16, after 2 weeks. Peak, #16

#53 The Obama Nation, Jerome R. Corsi, S&S Threshold Editions, from #33 after 6 weeks. Peak, #8

#62 The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society, Mary Ann Shaffer, Annie Barrows, The Dial Press from #50 after 6 weeks. Peak, #34

#71 The Story of Edgar Sawtelle, David Wroblewski,  Ecco, from #42 after 13 weeks. Peak, #25

#78 The Bourne Sanction, Robert Ludlum, Eric Van Lustbader, Grand Central, from #52 after 6 weeks. Peak, #19.

#80 Silks, Dick Francis, Felix Francis, Putnam, from #41 after 2 weeks. Peak, #41

#110 Acheron, Sherrilyn Kenyon, St. Martin’s Press, from #77, after 5 weeks. Peak, #7

The two major nonfiction releases this week are Bob Woodward’s The War Within and Thomas Friedman’s Hot Flat and Crowded.

Both books are in the Amazon top ten, Hot Flat and Crowded at #1. The War Within is at #7, making it the second highest-selling hardcover nonfiction title (Brsinger, the three Twilight series titles and The Shack occupy the five positions in between). Library hold patterns also show a stronger interest in the Friedman title. In four large systems, there are a total of 667 holds on 188 copies in all formats for the Friedman. For the Woodward, there are a total of 307 holds on 177 copies.

Maybe Americans are becoming more interested in figuring out the future than in assessing the problems of the recent past.

• Hardcover: $27.95 pages
• Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux (September 8, 2008)
• ISBN-10: 0374166854
• ISBN-13: 978-0374166854

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