“Founder” Calvin Coolidge
Monday, August 16th, 2010Glenn Beck’s “Founder’s Friday” looked at Calvin Coolidge. Books by guests Amity Shlaes and David Pietrusza rose on Amazon sales rankings as a result.
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Archive for the ‘Uncategorized’ Category
The Votes Are In
Thursday, August 5th, 2010
NPR posts the list of Top 100 Killer Thrillers, as selected by 100,000 listeners. Critic Maureen Corrigan, noted that many of the choices are dark; “Even the [Agatha] Christie pick, And Then There Were None, is one of her creepier novels.” (Looking ahead, our own maven of all things creepy, Macmillan library marketing head, Talia Sherer has posted her picks of the upcoming fall and winter titles).
Below are the top ten:
1. The Silence of the Lambs by Thomas Harris
2. The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larsson
3. Kiss the Girls, by James Patterson
4. The Bourne Identity, by Robert Ludlum
5. In Cold Blood, by Truman Capote
6. The Da Vinci Code, by Dan Brown
7. The Shining, by Stephen King
8. And Then There Were None, by Agatha Christie
9. The Hunt tor Red October, by Tom Clancy
10. The Hound of the Baskervilles, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
Shteyngart Speaks to Terry Gross
Tuesday, August 3rd, 2010On NPR’s Fresh Air last night, Gary Shteyngart explained that his book, Super Sad True Love Story, is set in the future because, in today’s world, that’s where we all are living. About new technology he says, “If anything, we are now always connected but we don’t know what we’re connected to. It’s just an endless stream of information.”
The book rose to #11 on Amazon sales rankings.
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Audio: Recorded Books
No More Lame Library Videos
Wednesday, July 21st, 2010You may have seen the Old Spice Guy video. Now, he has competition, from a library promo video.
Earlier, the Old Spice Guy tried his hand at promoting libraries. Nice try, but we’d rather look at the New Guy.
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The New Spice Guy video appears on Brigham Young University’s Harold B. Lee Library web site, as well as on YouTube, where it’s received over 1.3 million hits since it was posted last week. It was made by the library’s multimedia production crew (here’s hoping they don’t get hired away). You can see more HBLL Productions on their YouTube channel, A BYU’s news release says that the New Spice Guy is Stephen Jones, a senior studying psychology and president of BYU’s stand-up comedy club.
Here’s hoping The New Spice Guy signals the end of lame library videos
Now, let’s work on ending lame book trailers.
MONEYBALL Is Rolling
Thursday, July 15th, 2010People magazine’s photo of a clean-shaven Brad Pitt, reveals that the long-delayed film of Michael Lewis’s Moneyball has finally begun shooting in L.A. Pitt plays Oakland A’s general manager Billy Beane.
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Audio; Books on Tape
OverDrive WMA Audiobook
Late Life Divorce
Friday, July 2nd, 2010Even long-term marriages can end in divorce, which was the subject of the Diane Rehm Show on NPR yesterday. As evidenced by the many comments about the show on the Web site, this is a hot-button issue.
As is the case with nearly any legal situation, there is a NOLO Press book on the subject and the author, attorney Janice Green joined the discussion.
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Also featured was Andrew Cherlin Professor of Sociology and Public Policy at Johns Hopkins University and author of The Marriage-Go-Round: The State of Marriage and the Family Today.
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ONE DAY On USA Today Best Seller List
Thursday, July 1st, 2010The British best seller One Day recently drew news attention when Anne Hathaway signed to star in the movie version. Released as an original trade paperback in the US, it hits the new USA Today best seller list at #38 in it’s first week on sale. It is the seventh adult trade paperback fiction title on the list; expect to see it on the forthcoming NYT list and in many beach bags.
Library holds are growing quickly. Ordering was generally modest, but many libraries have recently added a significant number of copies.
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Galley Chat This Afternoon
Tuesday, June 15th, 2010Join us at 4 p.m., EDT, to talk about galleys of forthcoming books.
To join the EarlyWord Galley Chat:
- If you are not already on Twitter, set up an account.
- Put June 15th at 4:00 EDT on your calendar.
- Just before the discussion starts, log on to Twitter or whatever interface you prefer. (Tweetchat is good; it refreshes quickly and automatically loads your hashtag when you are in the discussion; be sure to sign in with Twitter at the upper right).
- To follow the discussion, enter #ewgc (which stands for EarlyWord Galley Chat).
- To post a comment to the discussion, make sure that you include hashtag #ewgc in each of your tweets (if you’re using Tweetchat, it will do that for you). It will also help if you write book title in all caps, to make them stand out. (like this — Anyone else reading THE PASSAGE? #ewgc). Since this is a galley chat, we ask that you only write about forthcoming books (June through fall titles).
Can’t wait to hear what you’re reading!
Galley Chat on Tuesday
Friday, June 11th, 2010Join us for Galley chat on Tuesday, June 15, at 4 p.m., EDT (see instructions here).
We’ve got lots to talk about, as the fall galleys are arriving. Here’s some favorites of mine:
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I was mesmerized by this story about a girl yearning for her bipolar mother who suddenly and mysteriously disappears. I’m not the only one; author Jamie Ford (Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet) tweeted in March, “Just finished reading a galley of Susan Henderson’s UP FROM THE BLUE. I’m awestruck.”
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Cormac McCarthy territory, but plot-driven.
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Salon.com author Rebecca Traister spoke at the recent S&S Fall books presentation for librarians, held here in New York. She’s thoughtful, dynamic and passionate; sure to be on many talk shows. In fact, she was on NPR recently, commenting on the Gore split.
Stand Out Standalones
Monday, May 17th, 2010
Debuting on the NYT Graphic Books best seller list at #3, is the latest title from indie-comic favorite Daniel Clowes, Wilson. In the deluge of more mainstream superhero and manga titles, single volumes from independent creators can be lost in the shuffle, so it’s a pleasure to see one of them shoot to the top ranks of the list.
Over this past weekend, I had a chance to attend the Toronto Comic Arts Festival (fondly known as TCAF), considered by many to be the top convention devoted to independent and innovative creators and publishers in the comics world. Since TCAF was first held in 2003, the event has been curated and promoted by the indefatigable Christopher Butcher, owner of one of the best comics stores in North America, The Beguiling, a no-holds-barred comics blogger, and an advocate for the diversity and literary quality of the medium.
TCAF is not a comics convention in the usual sense: there were very few folks in costume (and those that were were sporting richly detailed steampunk outfits, not superhero spandex), and the attendees were clearly more from the hipster set than the stereotypical fanboy horde you see at the larger, mainstream cons.
In 2003, TCAF’s attracted over 70 artists and a crowd of 600 attendees. Last year those numbers grew to over 300 exhibitors and 10,500 attendees. This year’s numbers are sure to come in even higher.
Daniel Clowes himself was front and center debuting Wilson in a special program Friday evening. The trumpeting of both Clowes’s talent and independent publisher Drawn and Quarterly’s street cred shows clearly where TCAF’s heart is: with the innovative, literary creators who are both entertaining and challenging readers. Throughout the weekend, programs highlighted such creators (Charles Vess, Paul Pope, Dash Shaw, James Sturm, Seth, and Chester Brown are but a few headliners) as well as topics of interest to the eclectic crowd: manga outside the mainstream, comics history, the dangers of creating autobiographical comics, and the impact of webcomics and social media on creators.
TCAF also features a whole raft of kids programming. I poked my head in to see the happy crowd of children drawing their own comics and mercilessly interrogating creators Mike Deas (Soccer Sabotage), Eric Wight (Frankie Pickle) and Matt Loux (Salt Water Taffy) about their work.
At the show, treasures of comic art and beautifully crafted prints and books were waiting to be discovered. The most artful finds included a gorgeous hardcover of the webcomic The Abominable Charles Christopher, Kathryn and Stuart Immonen’s Wolrd War II drama Moving Pictures, and Jim Woodring’s Weathercraft. Fanfare/Ponent-Mon’s anticipated Korea as Viewed by 12 Creators (a follow up to their excellent anthology Japan as Viewed by 17 Creators) was newly available. TCAF is also the place to find the small, crafted editions of mini-comics and show specials including Jim Zubkavich’s A Slightly Fictional History of Popcorn, Colleen Frakes’s Tragic Relief, and an amusing fanzine for Lady Gaga Prison for Bitches. (Thanks to fellow TCAF-goers Deb Aoki and Eva Volin for their input on the most memorable finds!)
Even more exciting to this librarian? TCAF takes place at the Toronto Reference Library. The main floor’s study tables are replaced with row after row of artists and writers while another room upstairs was devoted to webcomics creators. Among the stacks are the lines for creator signings, artists sketching and signing prints, and a number of critical conversations to be overheard among fans, publishers, and creators. The library takes full advantage of hosting the festival, pulling out titles for display to show off their own graphic novel and comics collections. Open during the festival and welcoming to all comers, from their usual crowd to the more unusual comics afficcianados, the library has truly embraced all that this event brings them, from new visitors to visibility on the grander city-wide stage.
This is the kind of event that I could imagine organized at other city libraries, like Boston or New York. Of course, you’d need a show organizer with the expertise and zeal of Butcher to pull it off. What a wonderful melding of comics and libraries such a movable feast could be.
OPRAH is #1
Thursday, April 22nd, 2010Kitty Kelley’s bio of Oprah Winfrey has landed at #5 on the new USA Today best seller list, making it the #1 nonfiction title (we hear it is #1 on the upcoming NYT Nonfiction list).
Those sales reflect the first week of media attention. On Amazon’s sales rankings, the book is at #20, making it the 4th best selling nonfiction title. In libraries we checked, holds are averaging 3:1 and slowing.
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Large Print from Random House; $30; ISBN 9780739377857
Audio from Random House Audio; CD: $50; ISBN 9780307749246
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