Wench by Dolan Perkins-Valdez has “sleeper success” written all over it, with a fascinating story line about an Ohio resort where slave masters brought their slave mistresses and rapturous early reviews, including one in People, calling it a “devastating beautiful account of a cruel past.”

The author appeared on NPR’s Tell Me a Story yesterday and added a third element to the list of pros; an author who can sell her book. She tells how she learned the story about the real resort that is the backdrop for her book, in a biography of W.E.B. Du Bois. Images of the actual resort are available on the author’s Web site.

Click here to listen to the story.

Location information: the real resort was in Xenia, in southwest Ohio near Dayton.The author was born and raised in Memphis, Tennessee and now splits her time between Washington, DC and Seattle.

Wench Dolen Perkins Valdez Retail Price: $24.99 Hardcover: 304 pages Publisher: Amistad – (2010-01-01) ISBN / EAN: 006170654X / 9780061706547 Unabridged Audio: Book on Tape Audio and eBook downloadable from OverDrive

Perkins-Valdez learned about the real resort in this bio of W.E.B. Du Bois, which won a Pulitzer Prize for Biography:

W. E. B. Du Bois, 1868-1919: Biography of a Race David Levering Lewis Retail Price: $24.00 Paperback: 752 pages Publisher: Holt Paperbacks – (1994-12-15) ISBN / EAN: 0805035680 / 9780805035681

Next week’s most-anticipated nonfiction book is bestselling business guru Seth Godin‘s guide to mastering the new economy, Linchpin: Are You Indispensable?  Three of the four libraries we checked had it, with holds of close to 2:1 on orders of 8-15 copies

Though the reserves aren’t huge, they appear to be a positive effect of Godin’s gamble on Internet-only publicity campaign, in which he bypassed the traditional media, giving away books at his own expense to the first 3,000 readers who agreed to make a minium $30 donation to the Acumen Fund.

So far, Godin has a page of positive blog reviews and tweets to show for his efforts, and the Acumen Fund has raised more than $100,000.

Linchpin: Are You Indispensable? Seth Godin Retail Price: $25.95 Hardcover: 256 pages Publisher: Portfolio Hardcover – (2010-01-26) ISBN / EAN: 1591843162 / 9781591843160

Audio available from Random House on 2/09/10:

• CD: $15; ISBN 9780307704078

Other Major Titles Going on Sale Next Week:

Eternity Soup: Inside the Quest to End Aging by Greg Critser (Harmony) is a journalist’s irreverent look at the anti-aging industry. Kirkus found it “a delightful, politically incorrect view of the life-extension movement, accompanied by the disappointing news that aging is reversible but not in the near future.”

I Am Ozzy by Ozzy Osbourne (Grand Central) is the legendary rocker and reality show star’s memoir, which Kirkus deemed “as toxic and addictive as any drug its author has ever ingested.”

Why I Stayed: The Choices I Made in My Darkest Hour by Gayle Haggard (Tyndale) is a memoir by the wife of evangelical Christian leader Tim Haggard who had liaisons with a male prostitute.

Tea with Hezbollah: Sitting at the Enemies Table, Our Journey Through the Middle East by Ted Dekker and Middle East expert Carl Medearis  (Doubleday Religion) is an account of the Christian novelist’s effort to love his enemies.

As we noted yesterday, Robert Parker, whose recent death is being widely mourned by the reading community, has several more books coming. In addition to the two scheduled for release this year, his agent tells Entertainment Weekly that “a couple more” are in the pipeline and he was “30-40 pages into” a new Spenser novel when he died.

Below are the titles scheduled for this year:

Split Image (Jesse Stone) Robert B. Parker Retail Price: $25.95 Hardcover: 288 pages Publisher: Putnam Adult – (2010-02-23) ISBN / EAN: 0399156232 / 9780399156236

Random House Audio; UNABR; 2/23/10; 9780739357484; $32
Thorndike Large Print; 2/1/10; 9781410421876; hdbk; $35.95
Audio available from OverDrive

Coming in May is the fourth in Parker’s Virgil Cole and Everett Hitch western series, following Appoloosa, Resolution and Brimstone.

Blue-Eyed Devil Robert B. Parker Retail Price: $25.95 Hardcover: 304 pages Publisher: Putnam Adult – (2010-05-04) ISBN / EAN: 0399156488 / 9780399156489

Random House Audio; UNABR; 5/4/10; 9780307735478; $32

Thriller fans are driving strong library demand for two titles coming next week, from Tom Dorsey and Kay Hooper – and early reviews favor Dorsey.

Gator A-Go-Go by Tim Dorsey is the most-requested title to be released next week, with strong holds of 6:1 or more in libraries we checked. It features homicidal yet discerning anti-hero Serge Storms and his drug-addicted sidekick as they seek rough justice amid the revelry of spring break. Booklist says: “All of Dorsey’s books offer belly laughs, but this one seems a cut above.”

Gator A-Go-Go Tim Dorsey Retail Price: $24.99 Hardcover: 352 pages Publisher: William Morrow – (2010-02-01) ISBN / EAN: 0061432717 / 9780061432712

Large Print available from HarperLuxe on 02/01/2010

• $24.99; ISBN: 9780061945670

Blood Ties by Kay Hooper has holds of at least 1:1, and as high as 7:1 at one library. Publishers Weekly was not very impressed:

Too many interchangeable doll-like victims and a by-the-numbers plot mar bestseller Hooper’s conclusion to her paranormal thriller trilogy that began with Blood Dreams and Blood Sins.

Blood Ties: A Bishop/Special Crimes Unit Novel Kay Hooper Retail Price: $26.00 Hardcover: 320 pages Publisher: Bantam – (2010-01-26) ISBN / EAN: 0553804863 / 9780553804867

Audio available from Brilliance

• CD (9 discs): $87.97; ISBN 9781423333142
• MP3: $39.97; ISBN: 9781423333166

Large Print from Random House

• $26; ISBN 9780739377567

More Major Fiction Releases Next Week:

The Dragon Keeper: Volume One of the Rain Wilds Chronicles by Robin Hobb (Eos/Harper), the first in a two-volume fantasy “mini-series” by veteran fantasist Hobb that Booklist calls as “good as it is massive.”

The Bricklayer by Noah Boyd (Morrow) is the first in a new thriller series by debut author Boyd. Publisher Morrow is backing its high hopes for the book with a 150,000 first printing.

Three Days Before the Shooting . . . by Ralph Ellison; only half the ibraries we checked have ordered this novel that Ellison left unfinished after his death, his second after Invisible Man.

The wife of Appalachian Trail fan, South Carolina Governor Mark Sanford, will appear on national shows to promote her forthcoming book, Staying True, originally announced for a May publication date, but recently moved up to February 5.

Some of her scheduled appearances and coverage include:

February 5th — Barbara Walters interview on ABC’s 20/20

February 8th

• Good Morning America: first of a two-part interview
• The View
• Larry King Live
• The Daily Show with Jon Stewart
• NPR Morning Edition
• People Magazine: excerpt

Little information has leaked about this embargoed title, but Sanford is also scheduled appear on the Christian Broadcasting Networks’ The 700 Club, indicating it will be short on salacious details. As Politics Daily puts it, “With other stories rapidly feeding the public appetite for scandal, is there still interest in Jenny Sanford’s tale before, during and after a South American trip made her famous?”

Libraries we checked are currently showing light reserves on light to moderate ordering.

Staying True Jenny Sanford Retail Price: $25.00 Hardcover: 240 pages Publisher: Ballantine Books – (2010-02-05) ISBN / EAN: 0345522397 / 9780345522399

Random House Audio; UNABR; simultaneous; 9780307736284; $25

The tragedy in Haiti has brought new attention to Tracy Kidder’s Mountains Beyond Mountains (2003, Random House) about Dr. Paul Farmer’s work to solve the country’s public-health problems. It’s been in the top 100 on Amazon for the past 7 days. Farmer’s organization, Partners in Health is behind the Stand on Haiti relief effort (check out the video on the site by librarian Cliff Landis, who created a matching grant of $10,000 for the organization. Warning: don’t watch it if you don’t want to be caught crying in front of your computer).

It’s included in the Daily Beast‘s list of  The Best Books on Haiti (one testy comment points out that it’s actually the best books in English on the country) and the more extensive list on the “Shelf Renewal” blog at Library Journal:

• Understanding Haiti, Part 1 — Nonfiction
• Understanding Haiti, Part 2 — Fiction

There will obviously be more books published on Haiti and specifically on the earthquake. Time magazine has already announced a book by their reporters and photographers; at least $75,000 of the profits will go to Haiti relief efforts. It will be released first as a “bookazine” on 1/29 and as a hardcover in February. Bibliographic information is not yet available.

Mountains Beyond Mountains: The Quest of Dr. Paul Farmer, a Man Who Would Cure the World Tracy Kidder Retail Price: $18.00 Paperback: 352 pages Publisher: Random House Trade Paperbacks – (2009-08-25) ISBN / EAN: 0812980557 / 9780812980554

Also in unabridged audio from Books on Tape

Book and audio available from OverDrive.

Thought the Twilight franchise had ended? Ah, ye of little faith; the graphic novel will be released March 16th from Yen Press, the manga imprint of Hachette, which also owns Little, Brown Books for Young Readers, publisher of the Twilight book series. First printing is 350,000 copies. A second volume is planned.

Entertainment Weekly has posted one of the panels from the book and a segment of an interview with Meyer on their Shelf Life blog (an exclusive ten-page excerpt, and the full Q&A will be in this Friday’s issue of Entertainment Weekly).

Twilight: The Graphic Novel, Volume 1 Stephenie Meyer Retail Price: $19.99 Hardcover: 0 pages Publisher: Hachette – (2010-03-16) ISBN / EAN: 0759529434 / 9780759529434

I vividly remember Robert Parker from hearing him speak at an ALA. Very likely, it was an ALA held in Boston, a city I know more through his books than from personal experience. At that event, Parker made gentle but uproarious fun of a bit of library pomposity that went on before he spoke; he was totally charming and had the audience eating out of his hand.

And, now, upon returning from an ALA in Boston, I learn that Parker has died. He was 77 and, according to reports, he died at his desk in his home in Cambridge.

Below are links to some of the first tributes:

• Christian Science Monitor, In appreciation of Robert B. Parker, creator of “Spenser for Hire”
• Entertainment Weekly, In Memoriam: Robert B. Parker
• Wall Street Journal, Robert B. Parker, An Appreciation
• Sarah Weinman, Confessions of an Idiosyncratic Mind, Robert Parker is Dead (includes a full list of tributes)

The most recent Spenser novel, The Professional, came out in October, 2009. His next novel, in the Jesse Stone series, is coming next month.

Split Image (Jesse Stone) Robert B. Parker Retail Price: $25.95 Hardcover: 288 pages Publisher: Putnam Adult – (2010-02-23) ISBN / EAN: 0399156232 / 9780399156236

Random House Audio; UNABR; 2/23/10; 9780739357484; $32
Thorndike Large Print; 2/1/10; 9781410421876; hdbk; $35.95
Audio available from OverDrive

Coming in May is the fourth in his Virgil Cole and Everett Hitch western series, following Appoloosa, Resolution and Brimstone.

Blue-Eyed Devil Robert B. Parker Retail Price: $25.95 Hardcover: 304 pages Publisher: Putnam Adult – (2010-05-04) ISBN / EAN: 0399156488 / 9780399156489

Random House Audio; UNABR; 5/4/10; 9780307735478; $32

Since the Newbery and Caldecott winners were announced yesterday, the books have reached their highest positions to date on Amazon’s sales rankings:

#21  (from #631), When You Reach Me, Rebecca Stead, (Wendy Lamb) — 2,904% increase

#48  (from #1,187), The Lion & The Mouse, Jerry Pinkney, (Little, Brown) — 2,372% increase

In addition, one of the Newbery Honor Books received a significant bump:

#230 (from #3,255) — 1,315% increase

The Evolution of Calpurnia Tate Jacqueline Kelly Retail Price: $16.99 Hardcover: 352 pages Publisher: Henry Holt and Co. (BYR) – (2009-05-12) ISBN / EAN: 0805088415 / 9780805088410

Of the titles going on sale this week, Joshua Ferris’s much-anticipated second novel, The Unnamed, has the most buzz. The tale of how a wealthy New York lawyer and his family cope with his mysterious illness is the #1 Indie Pick for January. Libraries are showing modest holds on modest ordering in the libraries we checked.

Reviews are mixed:

• Newsweek and the Wall St. Journal have already praised the book, though both reviewers struggle with the metaphorical meaning of the protagonist’s illness.
• The Los Angeles Times is most positive, calling The Unnamed “accomplished and daring” and describing it as  “lay[ing] bare the fabric of families, the lengths people will go for the ones they love and the lack of value we place on the simple ability to pause, to stop and to reconsider all the steps we’ve made.
• Entertainment Weekly is less sanguine, and gives it a B- for wandering aimlessely.

What’s your take?  Are the reviews fair? Will your patrons enjoy this one?

The Unnamed Joshua Ferris Retail Price: $24.99 Hardcover: 320 pages Publisher: Reagan Arthur Books – (2010-01-18) ISBN / EAN: 0316034010 / 9780316034012

Audio from Hachette Audio:

• CD: $34.98; ISBN 9781600248771

Large Print from Regan Arthur Books:

• $24.99; ISBN 9780316074001

Also coming this week:

• Wolf at the Door (Sean Dillon Series #17) by Jack Higgins, Putnam: hold ratios as high as 5:1
• The Brightest Star in the Sky by Marian Keyes, Viking: holds of about 2:1 or more.
• Kisser by Stuart Woods, Putnam: holds as high as 9:1 in one of the libraries we checked
• The Burning Land (Saxon Tales) by Bernard Cornwell, Harper: Holds up to 5:1

Libraries and booksellers will not have to scramble to find copies of the Newbery and Caldecott winners this year; both are on bestseller lists and in stock at wholesalers.

For all the winners, including Honor books and other awards, see the official press release.

Caldecott

The Lion & the Mouse Jerry Pinkney Retail Price: $16.99 Hardcover: 40 pages Publisher: Little, Brown Books for Young Readers – (2009-09-01) ISBN / EAN: 0316013560 / 9780316013567

EarlyWord Kid’s contributor, Lisa Von Drasek was an early proponent; see her review on The Barnes and Noble Review.

Newbery

When You Reach Me Rebecca Stead Retail Price: $15.99 Hardcover: 208 pages Publisher: Wendy Lamb Books – (2009-07-14) ISBN / EAN: 0385737424 / 9780385737425

Printz

Going Bovine Libba Bray Retail Price: $17.99 Hardcover: 496 pages Publisher: Delacorte Books for Young Readers – (2009-09-22) ISBN / EAN: 0385733976 / 9780385733977

Coretta Scott King

John Steptoe Award for New Talent

The Rock and the River Kekla Magoon Retail Price: $15.99 Hardcover: 304 pages Publisher: Aladdin – (2009-01-06) ISBN / EAN: 1416975829 / 9781416975823

Illustrator

Charles R. Smith for:

My People Langston Hughes Retail Price: $17.99 Hardcover: 40 pages Publisher: Ginee Seo Books – (2009-01-06) ISBN / EAN: 1416935401 / 9781416935407

See Lisa Von Drasek’s essay about Langston Hughes’ books for children. It includes both the winner and the Honor book, The Negro Speaks of Rivers.

Author

Bad News for Outlaws: The Remarkable Life of Bass Reeves, Deputy U. S. Marshal (Exceptional Social Studies Titles for Intermediate Grades) Vaunda Micheaux Nelson Retail Price: $17.95 Library Binding: 40 pages Publisher: Carolrhoda Books – (2009-11-01) ISBN / EAN: 0822567644 / 9780822567646

There’s a theme to the books that Jon Stewart will be featuring on The Daily Show this week:

Monday

Comeback America: Turning the Country Around and Restoring Fiscal Responsibility David Walker Retail Price: $26.00 Hardcover: 240 pages Publisher: Random House – (2010-01-12) ISBN / EAN: 1400068606 / 9781400068609

Audio: Books on Tape
eBook and audio available from OverDrive

Wednesday

Rediscovering Values: On Wall Street, Main Street, and Your Street Jim Wallis Retail Price: $24.00 Hardcover: 272 pages Publisher: Howard Books – (2010-01-05) ISBN / EAN: 1439183120 / 9781439183120

Unabridged Audio: S&S; 9781442305090

At #3 on the NYT Nonfiction bestseller list, where it debuted this week,  and #17 on Amazon sales rankings and rising is Atul Gawande’s Checklist Manifesto.

The book was propelled by an NPR interview. It was reviewed in the Washington Post on Sunday and earlier in the New York Times. Gawande spoke yesterday at ALA MidWinter.

Several libraries are showing heavy holds.

The Checklist Manifesto: How to Get Things Right Atul Gawande Retail Price: $24.50 Hardcover: 224 pages Publisher: Metropolitan Books – (2009-12-22) ISBN / EAN: 0805091742 / 9780805091748

Macmillan Audio: UNAB CD; 9781427208989; $29.99

Eighty-nine 5th and 6th graders from Bank Street School discussed the candidates and  voted!

Here’s the results:

Short list

• Magician’s Elephant
• When you Reach Me
• The Cats of Roxville Station
• Strawberry Hill
• The Year the Swallows Came Early
• The Blue Shoe
• Al Capone Shines My Shoes

Extra credit

• The Dragon of Trellian
• 11 Birthdays
• Where the Mountain Meets the Moon
• When the Whistle Blows

The Winner

When You Reach Me Rebecca Stead Retail Price: $15.99 Hardcover: 208 pages Publisher: Wendy Lamb Books – (2009-07-14) ISBN / EAN: 0385737424 / 9780385737425

Honor Books

Where the Mountain Meets the Moon Grace Lin Retail Price: $16.99 Hardcover: 288 pages Publisher: Little, Brown Books for Young Readers – (2009-07-01) ISBN / EAN: 0316114278 / 9780316114271

———————

11 Birthdays Wendy Mass Retail Price: $6.99 Mass Market Paperback: 272 pages Publisher: Scholastic Paperbacks – (2010-01-01) ISBN / EAN: 0545052408 / 9780545052405

They’re anxiously waiting to see how their results stack up against the professionals.