EarlyWord

Two of the books that librarian Nancy Pearl recommended on NPR’s Morning Edition yesterday experienced impressive sales surges at Amazon. A World on Fire: Britain’s Crucial Role in the American Civil War by Amanda Foreman rose to #49, from #282.

A World on Fire: Britain’s Crucial Role in the American Civil War Amanda Foreman Retail Price: $35.00 Hardcover: 1008 pages Publisher: RH/Random House – (2011-06-28) ISBN / EAN: 037550494X / 9780375504945

Audio; Books on Tape; audio and ebook on OverDrive

The book Nancy calls “the best fantasy novel for fifth- to eighth-graders that I’ve read in a couple of years,” Down the Mysterly River by Bill Willingham and Mark Buckingham, rose to #158 from a lowly #14,220.

Down the Mysterly River Bill Willingham Retail Price: $15.99 Hardcover: 336 pages Publisher: Macmillan/Starscape – (2011-09-13) ISBN / EAN: 0765327929 / 9780765327925

Audio; Brilliance

Slate‘s technology columnist, Farhad Manjoo, tries to pour cold water all over Richard Russo’s NYT opinion piece, “Amazon’s Jungle Logic,” which argues that shopping at Amazon endangers local businesses.

Manjoo’s column, “Don’t Support Your Local Bookseller” asserts that killing off indie bookstores might not be such a bad thing because they are, “some of the least efficient, least user-friendly, and most mistakenly mythologized local establishments you can find,” calling them “cultish, moldering institutions.”

What does “efficiency” mean to Majoo? Lower prices. Indies are not “efficient” because “Rent, utilities, and a brigade of book-reading workers aren’t cheap, so the only way for bookstores to stay afloat is to sell items at a huge markup.”

Paging George Orwell.

Editor/author/pundit, Marc Aronson spoke to NYC school librarians in November and repeatedly expressed his dislike for the phrase “non-fiction.”

“It is as if books about real things are less than made-up stories,” he exclaimed incredulously. He passionately advocated the renaming of the category “reality” books as in reality TV.

I wouldn’t go that far. At my library the signage says “non-fiction,” but the phrase we use more often is “information books,” so the kids who only want books about “real things” can find them. If you’re asked to recommend gift books for kids who aren’t interested in fiction, here’s my list of the year’s best.

Picture Book Biographies

This year brought three exemplary, highly illustrated memoirs by award-winning picture book illustrators.

All the Way to America: The Story of A Big Italian Family and A Little Shovel by Dan Yaccarino, RH/Knopf, $16.99  Ages 5 and up

As a nation of immigrants, we have many family stories of “coming to America.” This is Yaccarino’s, beginning with his great-grandfather, who grew up on a farm in Sorrento, Italy. As a child, he was given a little shovel to help tend the zucchini, tomatoes and strawberries that the family sold in the village. That shovel, handed down through the generations, tells the the story of Michele coming to New York City and the family that grew in the new land.

The House Baba Built: an Artist’s Childhood in China by Ed Young, Little Brown, $17.99, Ages 9 and up

Using mixed media — watercolor, pen and ink, crayon — the artist has created a collage of memories, depicting the China of his youth just before and during WWII. His family portraits, interspersed with archival magazine photos and illustrations evoke a lost time as he describes the home his father made in Shanghai to keep the children safe in troubled times.

Drawing From Memory by Allen Say, Scholastic Press, $17.99 ages 10 and up

Born and raised in Japan at the tail end of WW II, this Caldecott-winning artist left home at age twelve to live alone and attend an elite school.  This memoir describes those years with his best friend Tokido, apprenticed to Noro Shinpei, a renowned cartoonist who they called Sensei.

Books about Animals

Animal Baths by Bob Barner, Chronicle, $15.99, Ages 2 and up

Did you know eels’ pointy teeth are cleaned by tiny shrimp? That bears scratch against tall trees to rub off mud and ticks?  This cheerful collection about how animals keep clean is illustrated with cut paper collage with pastels.

[A dozen more titles, after the jump; click below]

Read the rest of this entry »

An eBook-only title appears at No. 8 on the current the NYT eBook Nonfiction list. It is just the second e-only title to hit that list, (after Sarah Burleton’s self-pubbed abuse memoir, Why Me?), according to tracking by Publishers Lunch.

The book, The POLITICO Playbook 2012: The Right Fights Back, by Mike Allen and Evan Thomas, is an instant digital book, the first in a series of four titles about the 2012 election to be published in a joint venture between the political news site, Politco and Random House. It is billed as “the first in-depth look inside the 2012 Republican race to the nomination.”

As with other Random House titles, it is available for library lending via OverDrive, in Kindle, ePub and audio formats. However, relatively few libraries seem to have ordered it, raising the question of how libraries discover and buy e-only titles.

Co-author Mike Allen, the chief White House correspondent for Politico, has promoted the book on several national television shows, including PBS’s Charlie Rose Show and  CBS Face the Nation (bringing a tongue-in-cheek protest from the site FishBowlDC.com that POLITICO’s constant promotion has reached the saturation point).

NPR’s Fresh Air featured Extra Virginity: The Sublime and Scandalous World of Olive Oil by Tom Mueller yesterday, sending the book to #110, from 248, on Amazon’s sales rankings.

Extra Virginity: The Sublime and Scandalous World of Olive Oil Tom Mueller Retail Price: $25.95 Hardcover: 256 pages Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company – (2011-12-05) ISBN / EAN: 0393070212 / 9780393070217

Audio: Dreamscape

Appearing on the CBS Early Show, Kathryn Stockett admits that her next book, which will be set in Oxford, Mississippi during the 1920’s, was due to her publisher last January, but she’s still working on it.

On NPR’s Morning Edition today, Nancy Pearl talks about her favorite books of the year; those that feature people who become part of your life, so much so that when you finish, it’s “like you’re losing a friend.” (listen here)

Among the four titles she features on air (three more are on the Web site) is a debut novel, that she calls “her favorite novel of the year”:

In Zanesville: A Novel Jo Ann Beard Retail Price: $23.99 Hardcover: 304 pages Publisher: Hachette/Little, Brown- (2011-04-25) ISBN / EAN: 0316084476 / 9780316084475

Audio: Dreamscape

She also recommends a 1,000-page  history of the Civil War, written from the point of view of Great Britain. Nancy says that author Amanda Foreman brings to life each one of the over 200 people she describes, from well-known politicians to a lesser-known female spy. The book is on many of the year’s best books lists.

A World on Fire: Britain’s Crucial Role in the American Civil War Amanda Foreman Retail Price: $35.00 Hardcover: 1008 pages Publisher: RH/Random House – (2011-06-28) ISBN / EAN: 037550494X / 9780375504945

Audio; Books on Tape; audio and ebook on OverDrive

Amazon’s price-check app promotion is the subject of an opinion piece by author Richard Russo in today’s New York Times. Outraged by the program, he checked in with several fellow writers on how they feel about it. Even though all of them make a considerable amount of money through Amazon sales, they were all against Amazon’s tactics. Dennis Lehane calls it “scorched-earth capitalism.”

Russo makes an eloquent argument for supporting local bookstores and not shopping at Amazon. Unfortunately, many of the comments support cheaper prices over buying locally.

EarlyWord kids’ correspondent, Lisa Von Drasek recommended The Chronicles of Harris Burdick by Chris Van Allsburg, (HMH, $24.99; Brilliance Audio) as one of her “Books to Give Kids You Don’t Know Very Well.”

Nancy Pearl explores this unusual book in her interview with Van Allsburg on Friday’s Book Lust show on Seattle’s cable channel.

Above: Button and coaster from Diesel Bookstore in Oakland, CA

The Huffington Post poses the question of whether consumers should boycott Amazon.

The company’s Price Check App, which offers a 5% discount to customers in exchange for scanning prices in bricks-and-mortar store, was introduced late last week. The American Booksellers Association immediately issued a strongly-worded statement against the promotion (even though the program does not apply to books).

As The Huffington Post notes, the new policy further angers retailers, publishers and politicians who are already upset about the company’s sales tax policies and over the Amazon Kindle lending library.

Of course, many libraries buy from Amazon, either when specific titles are not available elsewhere, or when prices are significantly cheaper.

We’d like to hear from you about whether you have stopped buying from Amazon and why. Please let us know in the comments section.

[More on “Occupy Amazon” swag here]

Lawrence Lessig, best known to librarians for his work on copyright, also founded RootStrikers.org (previously, Fix Congress First!), a web site aimed at reducing the influence of money on politics. His latest book is Republic, Lost: How Money Corrupts Congress–And a Plan to Stop It, (Hachette/Twelve, Oct). He will appear on Comedy Central’s The Daily Show with Jon Stewart on Tuesday.

On a quite different note, Food Network host, Anne Burrell (Secrets of a Restaurant Chef and Worst Cooks in America) and author of Cook Like a Rock Star: 125 Recipes, Lessons and Culinary Secrets (RH/Clarkson Potter, Oct) appears on the show tonight.

On Tuesday, Comedy Central’s Colbert Report features journalist Mark Whitaker, author of My Long Trip Home, (S&S, Oct), a memoir that examines his parent’s lives and marriage. Whitaker describes the marriage as “doubly scandalous;” they were not only an interracial couple in the 1950’s, but the relationship began when Whitaker’s white mother was his African-American father’s professor at Swarthmore. Below, Whitaker describes the book.

Among the few books that land next week, there’s a debut thriller by the creators of the TV show ER, Neal Baer and Jonathan Greene, plus new titles from Jo Nesbo and Tom Clancy, and a memoir by U.S. Marine Mike Dowling about his patrols on the streets of Iraq with his bomb-sniffing dog.

Watch List

Kill Switch by Neal Baer and Jonathan Greene (Kensington; Blackstone Audio) is a debut thriller by the Emmy Award-winning creators of Law & Order: Special Victims Unit and ER. The protagonist is New York City forensic psychiatrist Claire Waters, who has always been drawn to “untreatable” patients seemingly without conscience or fear. Kirkus says, “The investigative narrative is workmanlike but tolerable, much like the rerun of a TV serial. It’s toward the end, as Claire confronts the killer who abducted her childhood friend and the primary plot becomes a Fugitive-style medical mystery, that this novel starts to lose its edge.”

Usual Suspects

The Leopard by Jo Nesbø (Knopf; Random House Large Print; Random House Audio) finds Inspector Harry Hole deeply traumatized by the Snowman investigation and lost in the squalor of Hong Kong’s opium dens. But when a series of women are murdered in a mountain hostel, he agrees to return to Oslo to investigate. Kirkus says, “Nesbø’s formula includes plenty of participation by Kaja, a very capable woman, and plenty of current geopolitical backdrop, making Nesbø a worthy mysterian-cum-social-critic in the Stieg Larsson tradition… taut, fast-paced thriller with wrenching twists and turns.”

Locked On by Tom Clancy and Mark Greaney (Putnam; Thorndike Press Large Print; Brilliance Audio) brings together Jack Ryan, his son, Jack Jr., John Clark Ding Chavez and the rest of the Campus team as Jack Sr. runs for President of the United States again. But he doesn’t anticipate the treachery of his opponent.

Nonfiction

Sergeant Rex: The Unbreakable Bond Between a Marine and His Military Working Dog by Mike Dowling (Atria Books) is the true story of a U.S. Marine and his German Shepherd Rex, a bomb-sniffing dog on the streets of Iraq’s most dangerous city. PW says, “Despite some tense moments and close calls, this deeply affecting tale of courage and devotion in the cauldron of war has a happy ending.”

The ninety-something P.D. James decided to take a break from her Adam Dalgliesh novels and try her hand at a murder mystery featuring characters by her favorite novelist, Jane Austen. She spoke to NPR this morning about the resulting book, Death Comes to Pemberley, (RH/Knopf; RH Large Print; RH Audio).

The book has been enjoying strong reviews. Says USA Today, “Countless authors writing in a plethora of genres have tried to re-create Austen’s Pride and Prejudice, but James’ new novel is incomparably perfect.” Michael Dirda, in the Washington Post, calls it “a solidly entertaining period mystery and a major treat for any fan of Jane Austen.”

Libraries are showing heavy holds in some areas. The book came out on Tuesday and has already risen to #20 on Amazon’s sales rankings.

New information about Austen has come to light in the last week. An Austen scholar is pursuing a hypothesis that arsenic poisoning was the cause of Jane’s early death (it was an element in several medications at the time).  Also, a previously unidentified portrait recently emerged, which may be of Austen. The Telegraph, reports the story with the upbeat headline, “Jane Austen wasn’t as ugly as people think.”

Hollywood is wringing its hands over recent box office results. According to the AP, last weekend was “dreary” and was made even worse because it came “after a relatively quiet Thanksgiving holiday at movie theaters, despite analysts’ predictions of potential holiday records because of a great lineup of films.”

Martin Scorsese’s first family movie, Hugo, based on Brian Selznick’s The Invention of Hugo Cabret, opened on Thanksgiving and ranked only third last weekend. It was in a limited number of theaters, however. According to the L.A. Times, Paramount is “rolling out the movie slowly in hopes of capitalizing on the movie’s stellar critical reviews and awards buzz.”

Opening this weekend, also with an eye towards the Oscars, is Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy. While the movie is bringing renewed attention to John le Carre’s famous spy novel, it’s bringing even more to the six-hour 1979 BBC miniseries, starring Alec Guiness, now on DVD (Acorn Media). On Countdown last night, Keith Olbermann raved about it, saying he’s watched at least once every year. Not only does he love it, but, “It is to some degree playing on a permanent loop in my brain.” It also won the recommendation of critic Bob Mondello NPR’s All Things Considered Tuesday.

Libraries show growing holds on the book, and heavier holds on the video.

Surprisingly, Olbermann, says the movie lives up to his beloved BBC version; no mean feat since the film has much less time to present the story.

Olbermann has the advantage of knowing that story so well. The movie news site IndieWire warns that the movie can be confusing and suggests “Befuddled audiences may want to take a second look.”

On the other hand, they could try reading the book.

Official Web site: Tinker-Tailor-Soldier-Spy.com

Tie-in:

Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy: A George Smiley Novel John le Carre Retail Price: $16.00 Paperback: 400 pages Publisher: Penguin (Non-Classics) – (2011-10-05) ISBN / EAN: 014312093X / 9780143120933

Continuing my series to help you with the challenge of recommending kids books for holiday gifts, below are my picks of short story collections (what an amazing year it’s been for them), books for Wimpy Kid lovers and some middle grade and YA sleepers.

Coming soon; nonfiction and holiday books.

Short Story Collections

Ages 9 and Up

Guys Read: Thriller, edited by Jon Scieszka, illustrations by Brett Helquist, HarperCollins/Walden Pond, $16.99

The Guys Read series is back with a compilation of mystery stories by rock-star authors including M.T. Anderson, Gennifer Choldenko, Bruce Hale, Anthony Horowitz, and James Patterson. These are page-turning tales of pirates, smugglers, and detectives.

The Chronicles of Harris Burdick by Chris Van Allsburg, HMH, $24.99; Brilliance Audio

For a weirdly compelling collection, look no further than The Chronicles of Harris Burdick. In 1984, Van Allsburg produced a book of 14 captioned illustrations, titled The Mysteries of Harris Burdick, using the conceit that each drawing came from a different story. The illustrations are humorous, mysterious, whimsical and at times absurd, with images like a wallpaper bird coming to life and flying out a window. The idea comes full circle in The Chronicles of Harris Burdick, a book of stories inspired by the pictures, written by fourteen authors including Kate DiCamillo, Gregory Maguire, Stephen King, Lois Lowry and Cory Doctorow. Or, maybe not. According to the introduction by Lemony Snicket, the writers will confirm or deny their involvement.

Young Adult

Steampunk! An Anthology of Fantastically Rich and Strange Stories, edited by Kelly Link and Gavin J. Grant, includes stories by Garth Nix, Holly Black, Cory Doctorow and Cassandra Clare, Candlewick, $22.99

For Young Adult readers, there’s no better introduction to steampunk than this collection. How do we define this science fiction sub-genre? Is it fantasy set in a parallel world? Or is it science fiction with Victorian manners and modern technologies based on steam engineering? These stories of mad inventors, child inventors, mysterious murders and steampunk fairies are the perfect entry into this fascinating world.

Wimpy Kid Lovers

Tale of a Sixth Grade Muppet by Kirk Scroggs, Hachette/LBYR, $12.99

The Wimpy Kid kids who have already glommed onto The Strange Case of Origami Yoda and its sequel, Darth Paper Strikes Back, (Abrams/Amulet) by Tom Angleberger, will also love Tales of a Sixth Grade Muppet by Kirk Scroggs with the author’s cartoons generously embedded in text.

Middle Grade Sleepers

Wonderstruck, Brian Selznick, Scholastic, $29.99

OK, OK, this is not a sleeper. In fact, it’s on most of the year’s best books lists, but I am including it because it may be overshadowed by Hugo, Scorsese’s movie based on Selznick’s previous title, The Invention of Hugo Cabret. In Wonderstruck, Selznick once again sails into uncharted territory and takes readers on an awe-inspiring journey. Readers young and old will enjoy spotting the inter-textual references to  E. L. Konigsburg’s From the Mixed up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler.

The Falcon Quinn series, Jennifer Finney Boylan, HarperCollins, $16.99

The perfect choice for fans of Harry Potter who think they have read “everything.”  The first title in the series, Falcon Quinn and the Black Mirror,  supplies this crowd with everything they want. Protagonist with hidden talent/curse? Check. Strange secluded boarding academy? Check. Developing loyalties? Check. Frighteningly powerful nemesis? Check. Slyly subversive humor? Check. The second volume, Falcon Quinn and the Crimson Vapor arrived in May and the 4th graders are now haunting my doorway for number three.

Ashtown Burials #1: The Dragon’s Tooth, by N. D. Wilson, RH/Random House, $16.99

If I could pick just one title from the avalanche of fantasy novels for ages 10 and up, this would be it. The story centers on twelve-year-old, Cyrus who lives with his sister and teenage brother in a run-down motel. When a mysterious tattooed stranger visits the siblings, the plot takes off like a roller-coaster ride.

YA Sleepers

Blood Red Road, by Moira Young, S&S/McElderry, $17.99; S&S Audio

A mash-up with the heart-pounding violence of Road Warrior crossed with the romance of Fire and Hunger Games, this fat read is for those teens who need to be swept away.

12 Things to Do Before You Crash and Burn, by James Proimos, Macmillan/Roaring Brook, $14.99