If you haven’t already, check out the “For Fun” section of today’s Shelf Awareness, (scroll down to the final story), which imagines what VP Sarah Palin would do with the Library of Congress.

According to Editor and Publisher, the trade journal on the newspaper business, the Washington Post had a deal to run a four-part excerpt beginning on Sunday. Fox News posted a story on the book late yesterday, saying  “an advance copy was obtained exclusively by FOX News.” 

As a result of Fox breaking the embargo, the Washington Post, put up a detailed story about the book less than two hours later on their Web site, which also appears on the front page of the Post today. Both the Fox and the Post stories have now been picked up by news agencies all over the world.

The book is considered one of the major titles of the Fall, but library holds are surprisingly light at this point. At the four large libraries I checked, there are a total of 231 holds on 177 copies; a ratio of 1.31 holds per copy. 

Woodward will appear on 60 Minutes on Sunday.

The War Within: A Secret White House History 2006-2008

Bob Woodward

• Hardcover: 512 pages; $32.00
• Publisher: Simon & Schuster (September 8, 2008)
• ISBN-10: 1416558977
• ISBN-13: 978-1416558972

It feels like they created this one just for me, since my personal pick of the Fall, Dewey: The Small-Town Library Cat Who Touched the World is the opening image. But, I’m not the only one who’s been smitten by this kitten; USA Today featured the book back in June. And who could resist that face?

Have fun browsing the listings; for both collection development and readers advisory staff, it’s interactive format, including excerpts, covers and annotations, makes it a convenient way to brush up on what may be the big titles of the fall (they included the then little-known Story of Edgar Sawtelle in their summer list).

In addition, USA Today editors have picked ten titles consider “talkers;” books you want to talk about.

We’re at work putting together a mashup of all the fall picks, similar to the one we did for the summer titles. This time, since we often hear how frustrating it can be to hunt down various formats for a title, we’re including ISBN’s for audio and large type editions.

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.

This week (9/15, double issue; “Sarah Palin’s Family Drama” shares cover with “66 Celebrity Babies”) the book coverage includes:

Book Feature:

Fitting in with the issue’s baby theme, People features “vegan gurus” Kim Barnouin and Rory Freedman on the newest in the Skinny Bitch series, Skinny Bitch: Bun in the Oven. The book was pubbed on Monday, but all libraries I checked are still showing it on order.

Lead Review:

Curtis Sittenfeld’s American Wife gets 3 1/2 out of a possible four stars. Unprophetically, People declares the book will “set tongues wagging” (they’ve been wagging for quite some time now). Library holds have nearly doubled since the last time we checked. It’s been in the teens on Amazon most of the week, which means it will appear on next week’s print bestseller lists.

Four-star titles:

Wesley the Owl: The Remarkable Love Story of an Owl and His Girl

Stacey O’Brien

• Hardcover: $23; 240 pages
• Publisher: Free Press (August 19, 2008)
• ISBN-10: 1416551735
• ISBN-13: 978-1416551737

Cal-Tech biologist adopts baby owl; “her portrait of the complex and unforgettable animal she grew to love is irresistible.” So is the accompanying photo of the author, cuddling Wesley. Libraries have ordered lightly and have comfortable holds to copy ratios.

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Map of Home, Randa Jarrar

• Hardcover: $24.95; 304 pages
• Publisher: Other Press (September 2, 2008)
• ISBN-10: 1590512723
• ISBN-13: 978-1590512722

Novel about a girl who escapes with her family from Kuwait during the Iraqi invasion, “Depictions of her hilarious family…are punchy and vibrant. Jarrar’s lack of sentimentality and her wry sense of humor make Home a treasure.”

——————

Book tie-ins:

The new HBO series (debuting Sunday), True Blood gets 3 out of four stars, but the review reads more like a single star; Anna Paquin’s “refreshingly direct, simple performance lights up this nutty, boddy production…without her, it might seem like the hell spawn of Anne Rice and Dexter.” The series is based on Charlaine Harris’s Dead Until Dark.

A new PBS series (begins Sept 20) features Gwyneth Paltrow and Mario Batali (don’t roll your eyes; they’re “pals”, even though she doesn’t eat meat and he emphatically does; she clearly diets and he…), Spain…On the Road Again runs for 13 weeks.

Most libraries I checked have not ordered it.

Spain: A Culinary Road Trip

Mario Batali and Gwyneth Paltrow

• Hardcover: $34.95; 384 pages
• Publisher: Ecco (October 21, 2008)
• ISBN-10: 0061560936
• ISBN-13: 978-0061560934

Reuters headline is Murdoch yearns to buy New York Times; New York Magazine likes the part about Rupert’s dye job, The Aubergine-Haired Mogul and the Girl From Shandong Province (the Financial Times, which has a “People” Column, who knew?, gets all NY Posty with Do or dye for Rupert Murdoch). Most, however, ran with the revelation that Obama, Murdoch and Fox News Chairman Roger Ailes had a sit-down (e.g., Howard Kurtz in the Washington Post, Obama Met With Fox News Executives). That story dovetails nicely with news that Obama will appear on the O’Reilly Factor on Fox tomorrow night.

If so much news can be generated from a short excerpt, you’ve got to wonder what will happen when the book comes out in February.

As we mentioned in our story yesterday, the book has not yet been reviewed by prepub sources and is not on order in any of the libraries we checked.

The Man Who Owns the News: Inside the Secret World of Rupert Murdoch

Michael Wolff

• Hardcover: $27.95; 320 pages
• Publisher: Broadway (February 17, 2009)
• ISBN-10: 0385526121
• ISBN-13: 978-0385526128

Library purchasing was light, which is odd given the innate appeal of poking fun at the Brits. The PW review probably put buyers off, saying the author’s observations of the British are “neither overly perceptive nor interesting and much of her material is creakingly familiar.”

The consumer reviews have essentially agreed with that assessment, but less harshly. The most recent, in Sunday’s NYT BR says,

Throughout her frequently amusing account of living in England as a reporter for The New York Times, Ms. Lyall takes refuge in roomy generalizations that are hard to refute while at the same time being, at best, half true.

“Frequently amusing” applied to a book on life among the Brits may be all readers need to hear.

Tantor has just released an audio verison which is not yet on order in the libraries I checked.

The Anglo Files: A Field Guide to the British

 Sarah Lyall

• Hardcover: $24.95; 256 pages
• Publisher: W. W. Norton (August 18, 2008)
• ISBN-10: 0393058468
• ISBN-13: 978-0393058468

It has not yet been reviewed by prepub sources and is not on order by any of the libraries I checked.

The Man Who Owns the News: Inside the Secret World of Rupert Murdoch

Michael Wolff

• Hardcover: $27.95; 320 pages
• Publisher: Broadway (February 17, 2009)
• ISBN-10: 0385526121
• ISBN-13: 978-0385526128

Not only that, the audio went from #7,959 to #265 and the original hardcover from #17,119 to #152 (later — these numbers are from Amazon, as our astute commenter points out. Thanks for the clarification). 

Mark your calendars for Friday, Sept. 19; when Oprah announces the next title in her Book Club. We’ve place our bets; how about you?

Called True Blood, it is based on Charlaine Harris’s Southern Vampire series. Ball began reading the series as a way to wind down after Six Fee Under and ended up with his next project. As he tells the San Jose Mercury News, he was taken with Harris’s “romantic, sexy, scary, hilarious world.”

Anna Paquin stars as the small-town waitress/paranormal sleuth Sookie Stackhouse, and British actor Stephen Moyer as her vampire lover. Season one is based on Dead Until Dark, the first book of the series.

The HBO series has not received much media attention; it doesn’t figure high in Fall television previews. An LA Times blog is very positive, but the AP review is quite the opposite.

There’s quite a difference in tone between the original cover and the tie-in:

Dead Until Dark

Charlaine Harris

• Hardcover reissue: $23.95
• Publisher: Ace Books
• Pub. Date: January 2008
• ISBN-13: 9780441015979

Paperback Tie-in: $7.99; 304 pages
Publisher: Ace (September 3, 2008)
ISBN-10: 0441016995
ISBN-13: 978-0441016990