Archive for April, 2010

Yet Another Thing to Worry About

Tuesday, April 20th, 2010

Terrorism expert Richard Clarke, warned NPR listeners about the threat of terrorist attacks via computers last night on NPR’s Fresh Air with Terry Gross (listen here).

As a result, the book rose to #63 on Amazon sales rankings. Several libraries we checked have not ordered it yet.

Cyber War: The Next Threat to National Security and What to Do About It
Richard A. Clarke, Robert Knake
Retail Price: $25.99
Hardcover: 304 pages
Publisher: Ecco – (2010-05-01)
ISBN / EAN: 0061962236 / 9780061962233

Adobe EPUB eBook available from OverDrive.

The Next Big Thing; South African Mysteries

Tuesday, April 20th, 2010

In the current issue of Library Journal, Wilda Williams talks to Barbara Peters of Poisoned Pen as well as several other mystery editors about what’s on the horizon.

It looks like South Africa is the next Scandinavia (although the Nordic wave has not crested).

Partial proof is that a movie of Roger Smith’s Mixed Blood is set to shoot in Cape Town later this year, starring Samuel L. Jackson.

Mixed Blood: A Thriller
Roger Smith
Retail Price: $15.00
Paperback: 320 pages
Publisher: Picador – (2009-12-22)
ISBN / EAN: 0312429509 / 9780312429508

Coming to Comedy Central

Monday, April 19th, 2010

Monday, The Colbert Report

A new, paperback edition of George Wills’ classic study of professional baseball, is being released in a new edition.

Men at Work: The Craft of Baseball
George F. Will
Retail Price: $14.00
Paperback: 384 pages
Publisher: Harper Paperbacks – (1991-04-24)
ISBN / EAN: 0060973722 / 9780060973728

Tuesday, The Daily Show with Jon Stewart

On the heels of a NYT report that indicates the members of the Tea Party movement are wealthier and more educated than the rest of the population, one of the founders appears on the show.

A New American Tea Party: The Counterrevolution Against Bailouts, Handouts, Reckless Spending, and More Taxes
John M. O’Hara
Retail Price: $24.95
Hardcover: 336 pages
Publisher: Wiley – (2010-01-12)
ISBN / EAN: 0470567988 / 9780470567982

Wednesday, The Colbert Report

The First Lady’s brother on the lessons of his childhood.

A Game of Character: A Family Journey from Chicago’s Southside to the Ivy League and Beyond
Craig Robinson
Retail Price: $26.00
Hardcover: 288 pages
Publisher: Gotham – (2010-04-20)
ISBN / EAN: 1592405487 / 9781592405480

Monday, April 19th, 2010

13 BANKERS

Monday, April 19th, 2010

Simon Johnson, co-author of 13 Bankers, made news on the HBO show, Real Time with Bill Maher on Friday night, by declaring that John Paulson should be charged with fraud. Paulson is the hedge fund manager who designed the Goldman Sachs security that was “basically a mechanism of transferring money from you to John Paulson.”

He and his co-author James Kwak were also on Bill Moyers Journal on PBS Friday night, in an hour filled with outrage and incredulity (view it here). The authors told Moyers that the big banks have become more powerful since the bailout and are using their political muscle to change the rules to favor them, spending more than $1 million a day to fight financial reform.

The book is currently at #9 on Amazon sales rankings, making it the second nonfiction title on that list, after another book on risky securities, Michael Lewis’ The Big Short. Libraries we checked are showing heavy holds on both titles.

13 Bankers: The Wall Street Takeover and the Next Financial Meltdown
Simon Johnson, James Kwak
Retail Price: $26.95
Hardcover: 320 pages
Publisher: Pantheon – (2010-03-30)
ISBN / EAN: 0307379051 / 9780307379054

Available as Adobe EPUB eBook from OverDrive.

Galley Chat!

Monday, April 19th, 2010

Thanks to all of you who joined in on Galley Chat on Friday. Twenty-five contributed to the discussion and we’re guessing many others were lurking. Thanks, also, to the library marketing folks from Penguin and Random House, who jumped in and offered galleys to those who wanted them.

This was our first attempt, so we didn’t know what would happen. It turned out to be very lively; like doing RA with a bunch of colleagues (in 140 characters, which, although limiting, isn’t as difficult as I expected).

So, we’re going to try it again. While Fridays at 4 EDT seems like a good time, at least for those who showed up at this one, it conflicts with Follow The Reader‘s weekly librarian/bookseller chat (we had complaints from several, who were bouncing back and forth between the two). So, for our next Galley Chat, we are going to try Wednesday, May 12, at 4 p.m. EDT. Info on how to join here.

Below are the titles that elicited the most comments during Friday’s chat, in reverse order by pub month.

AUGUST TITLES

Stiltsville: A Novel
Susanna Daniel
Retail Price: $24.99
Hardcover: 320 pages
Publisher: Harper – (2010-08-01)
ISBN / EAN: 0061963070 / 9780061963070

Virginia Stanley, HarperCollins library marketing, made an impression when she talked about this first novel at PLA (she also presented it at MidWinter, listen here). Robin Beerbower of Salem, OR sent a comment in advance, saying it’s a “terrific first novel about a long marriage” and was particularly taken with the setting, a community of homes on pilings in Biscayne Bay, FL.

JULY TITLES

Still Missing
Chevy Stevens
Retail Price: $24.99
Hardcover: 352 pages
Publisher: St. Martin’s Press – (2010-07-06)
ISBN / EAN: 0312595670 / 9780312595678

Still Missing, St. Martin’s big thriller debut, was the most-discussed of the Galley Chat titles. One library had just added it and is already getting holds, so is planning to buy more.

JUNE TITLES

The One That I Want: A Novel
Allison Winn Scotch
Retail Price: $24.00
Hardcover: 288 pages
Publisher: Shaye Areheart Books – (2010-06-01)
ISBN / EAN: 0307464504 / 9780307464507

Rebecca Vnuk particularly loves The One That I Want and is planning to write about this for her women’s fiction blog.

The Particular Sadness of Lemon Cake: A Novel
Aimee Bender
Retail Price: $25.95
Hardcover: 304 pages
Publisher: Doubleday – (2010-06-01)
ISBN / EAN: 0385501129 / 9780385501125

RH’s Marcie Purcell presented Lemon Cake movingly at PLA; about a young girl who discovers she can taste her mother’s despair in the cake she baked for her daughter’s birthday. Many said it’s on their list to read next.

The Passage
Justin Cronin
Retail Price: $27.00
Hardcover: 784 pages
Publisher: Ballantine Books – (2010-06-08)
ISBN / EAN: 0345504968 / 9780345504968

Those who have read it say it’s tough to talk about The Passage without introducing spoilers, but they were clearly dying to talk about specific sections. We may need a to feature this in a discussion that is only open to those that have read it.

Crashers
Dana Haynes
Retail Price: $24.99
Hardcover: 352 pages
Publisher: Minotaur Books – (2010-06-22)
ISBN / EAN: 0312599889 / 9780312599881

Audio; UNABR; 978-1-4272-1215-3; $39.99

Lots of  excitement about Crashers; a sabotaged jet crashes and investigators have a race against the clock to prevent another. Said one person, “Page-burning suspense. Keep the Dramamine handy.”

MAY TITLES

Ship Breaker
Paolo Bacigalupi
Retail Price: $17.99
Hardcover: 336 pages
Publisher: Little, Brown Books for Young Readers – (2010-05-01)
ISBN / EAN: 0316056219 / 9780316056212

Ship Breaker is a YA title (one person says it’s perfect for those who love Hunger Games), but with potential cross over to adult. The author’s first book, The Wind-up Girl was on many end-of-the-year best lists and is nominated for a Hugo Award.

The Lonely Polygamist: A Novel
Brady Udall
Retail Price: $26.95
Hardcover: 602 pages
Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company – (2010-05-03)
ISBN / EAN: 0393062627 / 9780393062625

The Lonely Polygamist is long, but readers say it’s engrossing and the writing is beautiful. Daniel Golden, the owner of Boswell and Books in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, is a big fan and has been blogging about it and about “hating, then loving big, fat books.”

The Last Stand: Custer, Sitting Bull, and the Battle of the Little Bighorn
Nathaniel Philbrick
Retail Price: $30.00
Hardcover: 496 pages
Publisher: Viking Adult – (2010-05-04)
ISBN / EAN: 0670021725 / 9780670021727

Audio; Penguin Audio; UNABR; 9780142427699; $39.95

The only nonfiction title that came up. Nobody in the group had read it yet, but is definitely high up on TBR lists. At PLA Book Buzz, Nancy Pearl gave it kudos, saying it shows Custer as you never imagined him.

The Frozen Rabbi
Steve Stern
Retail Price: $24.95
Hardcover: 384 pages
Publisher: Algonquin Books – (2010-05-11)
ISBN / EAN: 156512619X / 9781565126190

Many said they thought it sounded wonderful. If you want a copy, go here,. For just a taste, you can to Tablet Magazine, where it is being serialized.

APRIL TITLES

Girl in Translation
Jean Kwok
Retail Price: $25.95
Hardcover: 304 pages
Publisher: Riverhead Hardcover – (2010-04-29)
ISBN / EAN: 1594487561 / 9781594487569

Audio; Penguin Audio; 9780142427996; $39.95

A “non-cliched”  Chinese immigrant coming-of-age tale, with potential YA crossover.

Silverman’s Media Shower

Monday, April 19th, 2010

The media is lining up to interview comic Sarah Silverman about her first book of essays, Bedwetter: Stories of Courage, Redemption, and Pee. Often compared to Lenny Bruce, the 39 year-old trash-talking comic who performs in pigtails and football shirts will appear on ABC’s Nightline on April 19, CBS’s The Early Show on April 20, and on NPR’s Fresh Air (date to be determined), among many other TV and print outlets.

Some libraries may be a step behind the demand – several we checked had only one copy of the book, with demand likely to grow.

PW gave it a starred review:

“Best known for sexually explicit jokes, Silverman is able to address more serious subjects in the book without losing her edge, particularly her teenage struggle with depression and that her often abrasive public persona allowed her to “say what I didn’t mean, even preach the opposite of what I believed…. It was a funny way of being sincere.”

According to New York magazine, the book has “a tenderness that is disarming… But while it can be revealing, it is curiously unreflective, much like Silverman’s stand-up.”

The Bedwetter: Stories of Courage, Redemption, and Pee
Sarah Silverman
Retail Price: $25.99
Hardcover: 256 pages
Publisher: Harper – (2010-04-01)
ISBN / EAN: 0061856436 / 9780061856433

Rising Tide of Spring Fiction

Monday, April 19th, 2010

Lots of major fiction arrives next week, as publishers prepare for the lead-up to Mother’s Day in bookstores. Here are the highlights of next week’s crop, all of which have strong holds in libraries we checked.

Deliver Us from Evil by David Baldacci (Grand Central): Holds are huge for this one, but unfortunately, PW says it “lacks the creative plotting and masterful handling of suspense that marked his earlier thrillers.”

Deliver Us from Evil
David Baldacci
Retail Price: $27.99
Hardcover: 416 pages
Publisher: Grand Central Publishing – (2010-04-20)
ISBN / EAN: 0446564087 / 9780446564083

This Body of Death (An Inspector Lynley Novel) by Elizabeth George is “richly rewarding,” according to PW, with “an intricate plot that will satisfy even jaded fans of psychological suspense.”

Burning Lamp by Amanda Quick (Penguin). Library Journal says: “With quirky humor and typical flair, Quick has penned another riveting, fast-paced adventure that… will leave readers anxious for the final installment, Jayne Castle’s Midnight Crystal, coming in September.”

Lucid Intervals (A Stone Barrington Novel)  by Stuart Woods (Penguin). “Woods mixes danger and humor into a racy concoction that will leave readers thirsty for more,” PW declares.

The Double Comfort Safari Club (The No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency Series #11) by Alexander McCall Smith (Pantheon) gets a positive review from PW, which notes that the tale’s resolution many seem “unduly fortuitous, but it makes sense within the framework of these books, which are more about humanity than logic.”

Eight Days to Live by Iris Johansen (Macmillan). “Think The Da Vinci Code crossed with an Anne Stuart romantic suspense novel, and you’ll have a sense of the plot and tone,” says Library Journal.

Parrot and Olivier in America by Peter Carey (Knopf). Reviews in PW and Booklist are enthusiastic, along with Library Journal, which sums up: “Written by a two-time Booker Prize winner, this engaging book will be particularly appreciated by readers interested in early 19th-century American history, the French aristocracy, and emerging democracy.” It’s also reviewed in the current NYT BR.

New Al’s Book Club Pick

Monday, April 19th, 2010

Kids asked author N.D, Wilson about his book, 100 Cupboards on the Today Show on Friday, as part of “Al’s Book Club.”

The next book in the club is Kiki Strike: Inside the Shadow City.

Kiki Strike: Inside the Shadow City
Kirsten Miller
Retail Price: $7.95
Paperback: 400 pages
Publisher: Bloomsbury USA Children’s Books – (2007-05-29)
ISBN / EAN: 1599900920 / 9781599900926

There’s some sound issues in the beginning of this clip; they just can’t get Jimmy Durante off the stage. Al; we love your club, but it’s time to ditch that song.

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

100 Cupboards: Book 1 (The 100 Cupboards)
N. D. Wilson
Retail Price: $6.99
Paperback: 320 pages
Publisher: Yearling – (2008-12-23)
ISBN / EAN: 0375838821 / 9780375838828

Beach Books. Are YOU Ready?

Friday, April 16th, 2010

It’s not too early to begin packing a summer beach bag. In their Summer Entertainment issue, Entertainment Weekly rounds up “18 Books We Can’t Wait to Read This Summer.” Included, of course, is the final volume in Stieg Larsson’s super-hot trilogy, The Girl Who Kicked The Hornet’s Nest (Knopf, May 25), Stephenie Meyer’s recently-announced novella, which offers another take on the Twilight saga, The Short Second Life of Bree Tanner (Little, Brown, June 5) and Ballantine’s big post-apocalyptic The Stand readalike, The Passage by Justin Cronin, (June 8).

Also making the list of 18 are several other titles librarians have already heard about.  The Particular Sadness of Lemon Cake, by Aimee Bender (The Girl in the Flammable Skirt), was movingly presented at PLA’s Buzz Panel by Marcie Purcell, Random House’s head of library marketing. It begins when a young girl discovers she can taste her mother’s sadness in the cake she baked for the girl’s birthday. Entertainment Weekly calls it “A magical novel.”

The Particular Sadness of Lemon Cake
Aimee Bender
Retail Price: $25.95
Hardcover: 304 pages
Publisher: Doubleday – (2010-06-01)
ISBN / EAN: 0385501129 / 9780385501125

Another title that was big at PLA and MidWinter is Girl in Translation. Entertainment Weekly says, “Though the plot may sound mundane — a Chinese girl and her mother immigrate to this country and succeed despite formidable odds — this coming-of-age tale is anything but.”

Girl in Translation: A Novel
Jean Kwok
Retail Price: $25.95
Hardcover: 304 pages
Publisher: Riverhead Hardcover – (2010-04-29)
ISBN / EAN: 1594487561 / 9781594487569

Audio; UNABR CD; 9780142427996; $39.95

At the PLA Buzz Panel, Nancy Pearl gave the thumbs up to  The Last Stand by Nathaniel Philbrick, saying it portrays Custer as you’ve never seen him before. Entertainment Weekly concurs, “If anyone can breathe life into the oft-told tale of Lieutenant Colonel George Custer, it’s Philbrick.”

The Last Stand: Custer, Sitting Bull, and the Battle of the Little Bighorn
Nathaniel Philbrick
Retail Price: $30.00
Hardcover: 496 pages
Publisher: Viking Adult – (2010-05-04)
ISBN / EAN: 0670021725 / 9780670021727

Audio; UNABR CD; 9780142427699; $30

Winning Winspear

Thursday, April 15th, 2010

USA Today‘s review of Jacqueline Winspear’s mystery, The Mapping of Love and Death, begins with an experience familiar to fans of any series, “Sometimes when you adore a series, you’re terrified to crack open the next installment, fearing disappointment.”

Far from it, this seventh installment in the author’s Maisie Dobbs series is dubbed “excellent” (the understated headline of the review, Jacqueline Winspear’s Mapping of Love and Death doesn’t disappoint, seems the fitting tone for a series set in WWI Britain).

Several libraries are showing holds ratios of 5:1 on 40 copies.

The Mapping of Love and Death (Maisie Dobbs, Book 7)
Jacqueline Winspear
Retail Price: $25.99
Hardcover: 352 pages
Publisher: Harper – (2010-04-01)
ISBN / EAN: 0061727660 / 9780061727665

THE GROWN-UP BRAIN

Thursday, April 15th, 2010

The good news is that middle-aged forgetfulness is normal and we can actually improve our brains, says New York Times health and medical science editor Barbara Strauch in her new book, The Secret Life of the Grown-up Brain. She spoke to Terry Gross about the book on NPR’s Fresh Air last night (listen here).

For those of you wondering what the definition of “middle age” is, Strauch considers it 40 to 68.

The book rose to #11 on Amazon sales rankings. Strauch’s 2003 book on the teenage brain also rose, to #338.

The Secret Life of the Grown-up Brain: The Surprising Talents of the Middle-Aged Mind
Barbara Strauch
Retail Price: $26.95
Hardcover: 256 pages
Publisher: Viking Adult – (2010-04-15)
ISBN / EAN: 0670020710 / 9780670020713

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The Primal Teen: What the New Discoveries about the Teenage Brain Tell Us about Our Kids
Barbara Strauch
Retail Price: $14.95
Paperback: 256 pages
Publisher: Anchor – (2004-09-14)
ISBN / EAN: 0385721609 / 9780385721608

The Condensed OPRAH

Thursday, April 15th, 2010

Newsweek‘s online column “We Read it [So You Don’t Have To]” is a Cliff’s Notes of current popular titles. Today, it analyzes Kitty Kelley’s bio of Oprah. The “Don’t Miss These Bits” section offers a synopsis of the juicier parts (with helpful page references) for those that haven’t been reading the press coverage.

Newsweek says what many others already have, that the book lacks a bombshell, but has “a gossipy nugget on every page” and raises the key question, “…who buys the book? Her many fans? Or her many detractors?”

The audience may be finite; the book has slid down Amazon’s sales rankings, from #1 to #4, with a down arrow. The rate of new holds added in libraries we checked is also slowing.

Oprah: A Biography
Kitty Kelley
Retail Price: $30.00
Hardcover: 544 pages
Publisher: Crown – (2010-04-13)
ISBN / EAN: 0307394867 / 9780307394866

Large Print from Random House; $30; ISBN 9780739377857
Audio from Random House Audio; CD: $50; ISBN 9780307749246

Galley Chat This Friday

Wednesday, April 14th, 2010

We’re hearing from librarians about the galleys they want to talk about during our first Galley Chat this Friday at 4 p.m., EDT  (info on how to join here).

Of course, there’s Justin Cronin’s The Passage (if you think you don’t have the galley, check again; Random House has been papering the earth with it).

The Passage
Justin Cronin
Retail Price: $27.00
Hardcover: 784 pages
Publisher: Ballantine Books – (2010-06-08)
ISBN / EAN: 0345504968 / 9780345504968

There’s also growing interest in St. Martin’s big debut thriller, Still Missing.

Still Missing
Chevy Stevens
Retail Price: $24.99
Hardcover: 352 pages
Publisher: St. Martin’s Press – (2010-07-06)
ISBN / EAN: 0312595670 / 9780312595678

Also on people’s lips is Workman library marketer Mike Rockliff’s favorite, The Frozen Rabbi (which is tied for “Most Memorable Title of the Season” with Norton’s The Lonely Polygamist).

The Frozen Rabbi
Steve Stern
Retail Price: $24.95
Hardcover: 384 pages
Publisher: Algonquin Books – (2010-05-11)
ISBN / EAN: 156512619X / 9781565126190

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The Lonely Polygamist
Brady Udall
Retail Price: $26.95
Hardcover: 602 pages
Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company – (2010-05-03)
ISBN / EAN: 0393062627 / 9780393062625

Others are excited about Stiltville, which HarperCollins’ Virginia Stanley presented succinctly at PLA; “An ordinary tale made extraordinary by the writing. It’s my story, it’s your story.”

Stiltsville
Susanna Daniel
Retail Price: $24.99
Hardcover: 320 pages
Publisher: Harper – (2010-08-01)
ISBN / EAN: 0061963070 / 9780061963070

TINKERS Drama

Wednesday, April 14th, 2010

It’s always fun to see the little guy win. In the case of the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction, the little guy is small press (or, as the Wall Street Journal calls it, “tiny press”), Bellevue Literary Press.

The WSJ‘s “SpeakEasy” blog writes about the drama at Bellevue’s offices when they got the news that they were the first small press to be so honored since Louisiana State won for A Confederacy of Dunces in 1981.

Happily, in this case, the author is still living.

The book continues at #10 (and rising) on Amazon

Tinkers
Paul Harding
Retail Price: $14.95
Paperback: 192 pages
Publisher: Bellevue Literary Press – (2009-01-01)
ISBN / EAN: 193413712X / 9781934137123