On NPR’s Morning Edition, Pulitzer fiction juror, Susan Larson says that the jurors were “shocked .. angry … and very disappointed” that there was no winner. She says they jury would have been happy if any one of the three finalists had been been chosen.

How can that be? It seems the Pulitzer Board reviews the juror’s votes and makes the final decision. Since there wasn’t a majority, they decided not to award a prize this year.

The book that rose the highest on Amazon after yesterday’s announcement of the Pulitzer Prize winners was the winner for poetry (Note: there was no winner for fiction this year).

Here’s how they stack up:

THE WINNER FOR POETRY

#97 (from #38,923)

More about the Life on Mars from Minnesota Public Radio

Life on Mars: Poems Tracy K. Smith Retail Price: $15.00 Paperback: 88 pages Publisher: Graywolf Press – (2011-05-10) ISBN / EAN: 1555975844 / 9781555975845

THE WINNER FOR GENERAL NONFICTION

#141 (from #904) 

The Swerve: How the World Became Modern Stephen Greenblatt Retail Price: $16.95 Paperback: 368 pages Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company – (2012-09-03) ISBN / EAN: 0393343405 / 9780393343403

THE WINNER FOR HISTORY

#277 (from # 6,736)

Malcolm X: A Life of Reinvention Manning Marable Retail Price: $18.00 Paperback: 608 pages Publisher: Penguin (Non-Classics) – (2011-12-28) ISBN / EAN: 0143120328 / 9780143120322

THE WINNER FOR BIOGRAPHY

#298 (from  #5,567)

George F. Kennan: An American Life John Lewis Gaddis Retail Price: $39.95 Hardcover: 800 pages Publisher: Penguin Press HC, The – (2011-11-10) ISBN / EAN: 1594203121 / 9781594203121

The judges for the major international prize for books written by women, the UK’s Orange Prize, announced their short list this morning. The prize was created in 1996 by a group of reviewers, librarians, and others in the U.K.’s book world, who felt that book prizes were disproportionately awarded to men.

Among the titles are three that were librarian favorites on GalleyChat:

The Song of Achilles, Madeline Miller (HarperCollins/Ecco Press)

Several libraries are showing heavy holds on this debut (as high as 10/1), published in early March. It received a strong review from Mary Doria Russell (Doc, Random House, 2011) in the Washington Post. USA Today also reviewed it, saying, “It takes a truly gifted writer to make a song this old feel this beautifully new.”

The Orange Prize judges comment, “Terrific. The Trojan Wars and the legendary love story of Patroclus and Achilles told with all the intensity and accuracy that this world of violence and superstition and romance deserves.”

The Forgotten Waltz, Anne Enright, (Norton, 10/3; Thorndike large print)

This book is still showing a wait list in most libraries after being published in October.

The Orange Prize judges say, “What an achievement, we all thought — a flawed heroine, a modern tale of unromantic adultery and conflicted parental loyalties, and a compelling, believable, lyrical read.” This is the fourth novel for Enright, who lives in Dublin

State of Wonder, Ann Patchett, (Harper, 6/6; Recorded Books; HarperLuxe; HarperAudio; ebook from OverDrive)

The title on the short list that libraries own in the greatest quantities. Nevertheless, most are still dealing with heavy holds.

After the jump, the other three titles on the list:

(more…)

The 2012 Pulitzer Prizes were just announced. The following were the winners in the book categories.

Annotations are from the press release.

Fiction

Winner:

NO Award — the first time since 1977. No explanation was offered beyond the statement, “The three books were fully considered, but in the end, none mustered the mandatory majority for granting a prize, so no prize was awarded.”

Finalists:

Train Dreams by Denis Johnson (Macmillan/ FSG) — “a novella about a day laborer in the old American West, bearing witness to terrors and glories with compassionate, heartbreaking calm.”

Swamplandia! by Karen Russell (Alfred A. Knopf) — “an adventure tale about an eccentric family adrift in its failing alligator-wrestling theme park, told by a 13- year-old heroine wise beyond her years”

The Pale King by the late David Foster Wallace (Little, Brown and Company) — “a posthumously completed novel, animated by grand ambition, that explores boredom and bureaucracy in the American workplace.”

General Nonfiction

Winner:

The Swerve: How the World Became Modern, by Stephen Greenblatt (Norton) — “a provocative book arguing that an obscure work of philosophy, discovered nearly 600 years ago, changed the course of history by anticipating the science and sensibilities of today.”

Finalists:

One Hundred Names For Love: A Stroke, a Marriage, and the Language of Healing, by Diane Ackerman (Norton) — “a resilient author’s account of caring for a stricken husband, sharing fears and insights as she explores neurology and ponders the gift of words.”

Unnatural Selection: Choosing Boys over Girls, and the Consequences of a World Full of Men, by Mara Hvistendahl (Public Affairs) — “an evocative, deeply researched book probing the causes and effects of a global imbalance in the gender ratio.”

Winners and finalists in Biography, History and Poetry, after the jump:

(more…)

Entertainment Weekly’s Shelf Life column offers an “exclusive;” the first two chapters of Maggie Stiefvater’s next YA title, The Raven Boys (it’s actually available to anyone via Scribed), coming from Scholastic on September 18. It’s the first in a planned series of 4 titles.

Based on the excerpt, EW says, “It seems to be an old-school young adult novel, full of mystery on an epic scale.”

Official Site: The Raven Boys

The Raven Boys Maggie Stiefvater Retail Price: $17.99 Hardcover: 416 pages Publisher: Scholastic Press – (2012-09-18) ISBN / EAN: 0545424925 / 9780545424929

Here’s an interesting readers advisory hook; “Downton Abbey with SS.”

That’s how British novelist, Philip Kerr describes his new thriller, Prague Fatale on NPR’s Weekend Edition Saturday. He says it’s a “traditional country house sort of mystery.”

It’s the eighth in the author’s series about Bernie Gunther, a cynical Berlin detective. Excerpt available here. Tom Hanks and producing partner Gary Goetzman are in talks to acquire the series for HBO.

Kerr’s about to begin his US book tour, which includes an appearance at the St. Louis (Missouri) County Library.

Official Author Site: PhilipKerr.org

Prague Fatale (Bernie Gunther) Philip Kerr Retail Price: $26.95 Hardcover: 416 pages Publisher: Penguin/Putnam/Marian Wood – (2012-04-17) ISBN / EAN: 0399159029 / 9780399159022

Thorndike Large Print

Chralotte Rogan was interviewed on NPR’s Weekend Edition Saturday about her debut novel, The Lifeboat, the story of a ship’s sinking two years after the Titanic.

The Washington Post reviewed it Friday, saying, “Other novels have examined the conscience and guilt of a survivor among the dead, but few tales are as thoughtful and compelling as this.” It was also on CNN’s list of “Three must-read thrillers for spring” and is a Barnes and Noble “Discover Great New Writers” pick.

Holds have risen quickly since we last wrote about it; they are now as high as 10 to 1, on modest orders.

The Lifeboat: A Novel Charlotte Rogan Retail Price: $24.99 Hardcover: 288 pages Publisher: Hachette/Little, Brown/Reagan Arthur – (2012-04-03) ISBN : 9780316185905

Hachette Audio

In today’s New York Times, media columnist David Carr examines the suit that the Justice Department entered last week. It charges Hachette, HarperCollins, Macmillan, Penguin and Simon & Schuster of colluding with Apple, against Amazon, to fix prices on eBooks. All but Macmillan and Penguin have agreed to settle (the text of the filing is here).

According to Carr, the action gives Amazon a major advantage; “Amazon has the Justice Department as an ally to rebuild its monopoly and wipe out other players. ”

Time Magazine's Person of the Year, 1999

The press has been in agreement with Carr. The WSJ offered a similar opinion last week, remarking on Justice’s “hyperventilating account of Apple’s negotiations with the publishers” and that “The book industry is defending the very survivability of a book industry whose products are anything but uniform.”

Amazon’s home town paper, The Seattle Times, reports on speculation that Amazon is behind the law suit.

Disney is beating the publicity drum for The Serpent’s Shadow, the final volume in Rick Riordan’s Kane Chronicles series, arriving May first.

USA Today reports on the two-million copy first printing and Riordan’s live webcast on publication day from the Rosicrucian Egyptian Museum and Planetarium in San Jose (the series features Egyptian mythology). The webcast is co-sponsored by School Library Journal (sign up for it here).

The Serpent’s Shadow (The Kane Chronicles, Book Three) Rick Riordan Retail Price: $19.99 Hardcover: 416 pages Publisher: Hyperion Book CH – (2012-05-01) ISBN / EAN: 1423140575 / 9781423140573

Thorndike Large Print; Brilliance Audio

Excerpt here

Author Web site: RickRiordan.com

We can hear the prosecco corks popping. The Shoemaker’s Wife, by librarian favorite Adriana Trigiani debuts at #5 on the  NYT bestseller list this week; the author’s highest spot to date.

Trigiani says she changed genres for this book, in response to her readers, who asked her to write a “big lush saga.” She based the story on the life of one of her grandmothers (who is featured in her nonfiction title, Don’t Sing at the Table: Lessons from My Grandmothers, 2010).

Trigiani talks about the book on the Today Show (Kathie Lee & Hoda fawning alert) as well as CBS This Morning.

Below, she thanks librarians for their support during the HarperCollins Buzz panel at ALA MidWinter in January:

..

The Shoemaker’s Wife Adriana Trigiani Retail Price: $21.99 Hardcover: 496 pages Publisher: Harper – (2012-04-03) ISBN / EAN: 0061257095/9780061257094

Audio, read by Annabella Sciorra & Adriana Trigiani; HarperAudio and BOT audio

Author Web site: AdrianaTrigiani.com

Following up on her February announcement that her next book will be for adults, J.K. Rowling revealed the title today, The Casual Vacancy, and the release date, Sept. 27.

It’s described by the publisher, Hachette/Little, Brown, as “darkly comic.”
 

The Casual Vacancy, J.K. Rowling
Hachette/Little,Brown; 480 pages (approx)
Hardcover, 9780316228534, $35
Hachette Large print, 9780316228541, $39
Hachette Audio,9781619695009, $49.98

Publisher annotation:

When Barry Fairweather dies unexpectedly in his early forties, the little town of Pagford is left in shock.

Pagford is, seemingly, an English idyll, with a cobbled market square and an ancient abbey, but what lies behind the pretty façade is a town at war.

Rich at war with poor, teenagers at war with their parents, wives at war with their husbands, teachers at war with their pupils…Pagford is not what it first seems.

And the empty seat left by Barry on the town’s council soon becomes the catalyst for the biggest war the town has yet seen. Who will triumph in an election fraught with passion, duplicity and unexpected revelations?

Blackly comic, thought-provoking and constantly surprising, The Casual Vacancy is J.K. Rowling’s first novel for adults.

 Looks like #21 is lucky for author Donna Leon’s Commissario Brunetti mysteries. Beastly Things, (Atlantic Monthly; Thorndike Large Print; AudioGo), the 21st title   in the series, arrives at #9 on the Indie Bestseller list and at #10 on the NYT Fiction list; the first time Leon has broken in to the top ten.

For those not familiar with the series, long-time fan, NYT mystery columnist, Marilyn Stasio, offers a succinct readers advisory; “Donna Leon is the ideal author for people who vaguely long for a ‘good mystery’. That Leon is also a brilliant writer should only add to the consistently comforting appeal of her Venetian procedurals featuring Commissario Guido Brunneti. Leon allows her warmhearted detective to take what solace he can from the beauty of his city and the homely domestic rituals that give him the strength to go on.”

Leon has also written nonfiction about her adopted home, Venice; book about Venice’s myths and legends, Venetian Curiosities and a book on Venetian cooking, Brunetti’s Cookbook (her fictional detective is an avid cook).

Author’s Web Site: Grove Atlantic/Leon

The AuthorChat with Jean Zimmerman, author of The Orphanmaster is now archived here.

The Orphanmaster is a historical thriller, set in 17th C Manhattan (then New Amsterdam). It’s rich with historical detail that makes the period come alive, based on Jean’s research (she has written several nonfiction titles, including The Women of the House: How a Colonial She-Merchant Built a Mansion, a Fortune and a Dynasty, Harcourt, 2006).

The Orphanmaster Jean Zimmerman Retail Price: $27.95 Hardcover: 432 pages Publisher: Viking Adult – (2012-06-19) ISBN / EAN: 0670023647 / 9780670023646

If schedules hold, next year will be crowded with movies vying to follow in the footsteps of Harry Potter, Twilight or The Hunger Games. Release dates have been set for six new films (with a possible seventh, based on Meg Rosoff’s How I Live Now) plus three sequels to established series, all based on books.

The early spring is particularly crowded, which may be the reason that Summit just moved Ender’s Game, based on the Orson Scott Card book, from March 15 to Nov. 1, 2013, putting it just a few weeks ahead of Catching Fire, the second in The Hunger Games franchise. As Entertainment Weekly comments, the studios apparently “think there’s room in the same month for two dystopian literary adaptations about a group of adolescent children rounded up by a totalitarian government to do battle with each other.”

After the jump, the schedule at this point (for a list of at all the upcoming movies based on books, click on Upcoming Movies Based on Books— with Tie-ins) :

(more…)

NPR’s Morning Edition kicks off a new series that takes a “fresh look at American political history,” with recommendations from  historians of the best books about Abraham Lincoln (listen here).

Eric Foner author of The Fiery Trial: Abraham Lincoln and American Slavery, (Norton), recommends:

Lincoln David Herbert Donald Retail Price: $20.00 Paperback: 720 pages Publisher: Simon & Schuster – (1996-11-05) ISBN / EAN: 068482535X / 9780684825359

Doris Kearns Goodwin, author of Team of Rivals: The Political Genius of Abraham Lincoln, (S&S) recommends:

Battle Cry of Freedom: The Civil War Era (Oxford History of the United States) James M. McPherson Retail Price: $19.95 Paperback: 952 pages Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA – (2003-12-11) ISBN / EAN: 019516895X / 9780195168952