EarlyWord

Speculation is rife on who will win the coveted lead role of Katniss Everdeen in the upcoming movie of Suzanne Collins’s Hunger Games (Scholastic, 2008).

The L.A. Times quotes producer Nina Jacobson this week, who says auditioning will begin in the new year. There’s lots of interest, but,

“There are no front-runners yet…It really comes down to finding that person who can capture the physicality, the vulnerability and the toughness. She’s a paradoxical character and you need somebody who has the range to capture all of those dimensions.”

Directed by Gary Ross (Seabiscuit), the movie is set to begin shooting in the spring.

The entertainment news site BuzzSugar just posted a Winter Reading List: 15 Books to Read Before They’re on the Big Screen slideshow, useful for real and virtual book displays.

One caution, however, many of the movies have no cast or directors yet, so it’s anyone’s guess whether they will actually see the light of the big screen and one is opening today (True Grit, which is getting fantastic reviews and bringing new attention to the book; see our coverage, as well as yesterday’s NYT review).

You might prefer to use two of our Movies Based on Books lists (in links, at the right and continuously updated), Upcoming — with Tie-ins and In Production. If you want to go way out on the edge, check our Film Rights Acquired listing.

The BuzzSugar list leads with Jennifer Egan’s The Keep (the author’s A Visit from the Goon Squad has emerged as the top fiction pick on the Best Books ’10 lists).

It was optioned back in October, with Niels Arden Oplev, director of the Swedish-language Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, signed to direct, but no news since.

If you haven’t already, be sure to check out the responses to our Favorite 2010 Books to Recommend challenge. We asked you to give us your own passionate book recommendations (not reviews, but an expressions of true love) and you came through. It’s like eavesdropping at the new book shelves.

We want more! Please add to the list (click here and add to the comments).

Here’s a few that sold me:

The Dirty Life: On Farming, Food, and Love Kristin Kimball Retail Price: $25.00 Hardcover: 288 pages Publisher: Scribner – (2010-10-12) ISBN / EAN: 1416551603 / 9781416551607

Corinne Chronopoulos: The Dirty Life tells the true story of a NYC journalist who falls for an organic farmer while writing a story about him. This may sound like a cliche story line – city girl goes to the country – but it is actually a story about where our food comes from and the choices we make when we eat. Kimball is a fantastic writer and I really loved hearing about how two people struggled to bring a piece of land alive and produce food for themselves and their community. This book made we want to be a farmer and changed the way I consume.

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An Irish Country Courtship: A Novel (Irish Country Books) Patrick Taylor Retail Price: $25.99 Hardcover: 464 pages Publisher: Forge Books – (2010-09-28) ISBN / EAN: 0765321742 / 9780765321749

Linda: I loved An Irish Country Courtship by Patrick Taylor. This series is one of my favorites for escapist reading. The author evokes life in a Northern Irish village in the mid-1960′s with wonderful characters and an exceptional ear for dialogue. There’s even a glossary at the end clarifying unfamiliar local expressions.

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Turtle in Paradise Jennifer L. Holm Retail Price: $16.99 Hardcover: 208 pages Publisher: Random House Books for Young Readers – (2010-05-11) ISBN / EAN: 0375836888 / 9780375836886

Susan: I like books that make the reader want to do further research into a specific time or event. This semi-autobiographical novel about a young girl who is shipped off to her mother’s family in Key West during the Great Depression has a wonderful cast of characters, real buried treasure, and an ending that will knock your socks off.

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Boneshaker (Sci Fi Essential Books) Cherie Priest Retail Price: $15.99 Paperback: 416 pages Publisher: Tor Books – (2009-09-29) ISBN / EAN: 0765318415 / 9780765318411

Debbi: Steampunk, zombies, airships & pirates, Seattle a long time ago, crazy inventors, single mother wanting only the best for her teenage son and highly poisonous materials floating around… completely unlike anything I’ve read before, quite outside my usual interests and I LOVED it.

Hold on to your seats, I am about to recommend a business audio. It is true that I rarely write about books (or audiobooks) for grown-ups, but I can’t stop talking about Delivering Happiness by Tony Hsieh.

Delivering Happiness: A Path to Profits, Passion, and Purpose Tony Hsieh Retail Price: $29.98 Audio CD: Unabridged Publisher: Hachette Audio – (2010-06-07) ISBN : 9781607882305

What is our experience as librarians with the business book category? Do we read them because the Director went to a “who moved my cheese” seminar and found a way to force the staff to read a book not of their choosing? Because the Four Hour Work Week has an appealing title and is on best seller lists? Did a friend recommended Freakanomics?

Business books are a genre I read for fun after a pile of picture books. My first reading of Managing The Non-Profit Organization by Peter Drucker was when I worked as a retail manager for a children’s museum. I was intrigued by the way he laid out organizational structure, interpersonal relationships and above all the difference between a for-profit entity and a non-profit.

I heard the rumors that everyone who worked on Composing a Life by Mary Catherine Bateson quit their job and went to something else, following “their calling.” Within a year of reading it, I, too, quit my job in publishing, enrolled in graduate school and started my career as a librarian at the Brooklyn Public Library. That’s what a thoughtful examination of how we evaluate our work will do… instigate change.

What is about Delivering Happiness? I’m not in a rut at work. I have high expectations of interesting developments, my managers encourage and support new ideas, curriculum and projects (like the recent BookFest@Bank Street). They expect me to stretch and grow, to mentor and teach, to be passionate about our work and to enjoy the daily work of teaching.

So here comes Tony Hsieh examining and sharing what makes Zappos.com a great place to work. He lays out how serendipity, exciting hard work, kindness, generosity, passion and personal growth can all be part of a corporate strategy for success. Hsieh’s presentation jells with my own philosophy of work life. To be passionate, to encourage others, to be of service, to blow off steam in productive but fun ways, to find ways small and big to improve how we do things to serve our students and teachers, and to do more with less, to learn that obstacles or misaligned philosophies are growth opportunities.

Hsieh’s passion for “delivering happiness” is palpable on the audio edition of the book. He sounds almost amazed at where life has taken him, he generously shares his mistakes and errors in judgement as well in a sure-why-don’t-we-try-that attitude. The audio includes the voices of others on his team who grew Zappos with him as well as Jeff Bezos after the Amazon buy-out. (More complicated than that… read the book).

It confirms my own business philosophy and articulates how I can grow within my organization as well as partner with those outside who share our core values.

Needless to say, I’ll be giving it to many friends this holiday.

Back in October, the NYT ran an article that made me crazy. If you’re not familiar with it, the title alone indicates why; “Picture Books No Longer a Staple for Children.”

The article asserted that picture books are in a decline and that a major factor is parents, who want to push their kids into reading chapter books. I wrote a rebuttal, explaining why picture books are still important for children; thanks to all of you who chimed in.

This week, Publishers Weekly‘s cover story carries a headline we can all toast, “Don’t Write the Obit For Picture Books Yet.” It also presents encouraging stats that refute that NYT‘s basic premise,

“The evidence: BookScan figures show that last year, picture books represented 10.8% of the overall children’s market—virtually the same as in 2005, when they represented 10.7%.”

The article goes on to quote publishers’ views of the market (definitely not declining) and gives an insightful look at the history of children’s book publishing and retailing. Great reading for the holidays!

We are all dealing with the sad truth that we must do more with less. A key component for libraries is to figure out how to most effectively spend materials budgets and make use of existing collections.

Many librarians have spent hours gathering information from their ILS, with the goal of analyzing their collections. Unfortunately, this can take so much effort that precious little time is left for the actual analysis. Rather than an ongoing process, it becomes a once-a-year chore.

Last year at MidWinter, I learned about a collection development toolkit developed by a Scottish librarian and now used by 50% of public libraries in the UK and being introduced into the North American market.

I was impressed. In a few minutes, the product puts together information from a library’s ILS, showing what subject areas and genres (using BISAC codes) are circulating well, which ones are dated, which ones are declining, which books are likely to be worn out, based on age and number of circs (called a “grubby report”).  It even shows which specific authors are rising and which declining in popularity so libraries can adjust their standing orders accordingly. Furthermore, by aggregating collection usage data, users can see what is working well for other public libraries and make more informed decisions about what to buy based on the experience of other public libraries. Sold as an annual subscription service, it requires no hardware and can be used by any authorized user from a PC.

Along with June Garcia and Susan Kent, who were also impressed with the product, I’ve been helping introduce collectionHQ to North American libraries through demos at PLA, ALA and BEA. Already some 40 libraries have signed up.

In these times, libraries can use all the help they can get to maximize their dollars. More information on collectionHQ is available here and through free live webcasts (schedule here) as well as individual Web demos.

Patrick Anderson, mystery and thriller reviewer for the Washington Post, enthuses,

Peter James’s novels about Detective Superintendent Roy Grace have been bestsellers in England but have had little impact in this country. That could change with the publication here of the sixth in the series, Dead Like You. It’s a remarkably inventive story of sexual obsession, possibly the most engrossing thriller since Thomas Harris’s The Silence of the Lambs.

Anderson is right about James being big in the UK — Dead Like You went right to #1 on London’s Sunday Times best seller list in its first week of publication and enjoyed extensive review coverage there.

Dead Like You (Detective Superintendent Roy Grace) Peter James Retail Price: $25.99 Hardcover: 560 pages Publisher: Minotaur Books – (2010-11-23) ISBN / EAN: 0312642822 / 9780312642822

This morning, NPR’s Morning Edition reaches all the way back to a book published in February by Harvard U. Press and owned by just a few public libraries. In it, Suzanne Smith writes about A. G. Gaston, a little-known enterpreneur who was instrumental in the Civil Rights movement. Like other black funeral directors, he used his wealth to pressure for change (threatening to withdraw his money from  the local bank if they didn’t get rid of their segregated drinking fountains).

To Serve the Living: Funeral Directors and the African American Way of Death Suzanne E. Smith Retail Price: $29.95 Hardcover: 288 pages Publisher: Belknap Press of Harvard University Press – (2010-02-25) ISBN / EAN: 0674036212 / 9780674036215

For those of you who just can’t get enough of Best Books lists, several more appeared over the weekend:

Entertainment Weekly, Top Ten:

Their top choice is Barry Udall’s The Lonely Polygamist , Norton, which was also a PW Top Ten, and was on the Kirkus and Washington Post lists.

At #9, is a book that hasn’t appeared on others; Rich Boy by Sharon Pomerantz, Twelve/Grand Central. It didn’t get reviewed widely and Entertainment Weekly was its champion, calling it a “compulsively readable debut.”

Rich Boy Sharon Pomerantz Retail Price: $24.99 Hardcover: 528 pages Publisher: Twelve – (2010-08-02) ISBN / EAN: 0446563188 / 9780446563185

San Francisco Chronicle

Top 10 books of 2010

Best 2010 books by Bay Area authors

100 recommended books from 2010

Best science fiction and fantasy books of 2010

Best poetry books of 2010

The Seattle Times

27 best books of 2010

For those of you who can’t stand to read yet another Best Books list, try Ron Charles’s take:

Books were all over CBS Sunday Morning this week, sending every one mentioned up Amazon’s sales rankings.

#15 (from #240) The Gourmet Cookie Book, HMH

#45 (from #61) Awkward Family Photos, Mike Bender, Three Rivers/Crown (video not available online).

#86 (from #145) True Grit, Charles Portis, Overlook
In a profile, Matt Damon, who stars in the Coen brothers movie of True Grit (opening on Wednesday), says he may be “only person in America who hasn’t seen the [1968 John Wayne] movie.” When Damon asked the Coen brothers if he should see it, they said, “Actually, the book is where you should go, because we’re not looking at it as a remake of that film as much as a strict adaptation of this great book.” Portis is also profiled today in the NYT.

A story about book covers is not very insightful, although it’s fun to see some of the people behind several books.

One of the covers discussed is for the forthcoming The Story of a Beautiful Girl, by Rachel Simon, featured recently in LJ‘s “PrePub Alert.”

The Story of a Beautiful Girl Rachel Simon Retail Price: $24.99 Hardcover: 352 pages Publisher: Grand Central Publishing – (2011-05-04) ISBN / EAN: 0446574465 / 9780446574464

The long-gestating film version of Jonathan Safron Foer’s Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close is moving closer to reality. Warner Bros. announced this week that they signed up 13-year-old Jeopardy winner Thomas Horn to star as Oskar Schell. Tom Hanks and Sandra Bullock will play his parents in the film directed by Stephen Daldry (who has some experience with book adaptations; he directed The Hours and The Reader). Producer Scott Rudin has been developing the project ever since the book was published in 2005, but as the movie news site Deadline stated, “it is not the easiest film adaptation.” Shooting is supposed to begin early next year.

Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close Jonathan Safran Foer Retail Price: $14.95 Paperback: 368 pages Publisher: Mariner Books – (2006-04-04) ISBN / EAN: 0618711651 / 9780618711659

The first trailer for Water for Elephants debuted last night on Entertainment Tonight. It is scheduled for release on April 15th (UPDATE: Rescheduled to 4/22).

Cast:

Robert Pattinson … Jacob Jankowski
Reese Witherspoon … Marlena Rosenbluth
Christoph Waltz … August Rosenbluth
James Frain … Rosie’s Caretaker
Hal Holbrook … Jacob Jankowski – older
Paul Schneider … Charlie
Dan Lauria … Sheriff
Tim Guinee … Diamond Joe
Ken Foree … Earl
Scott MacDonald … Blackie
Abbie Dunn … Caroline
Tatum Etheridge … Jacob’s Daughter

The tie-in is scheduled for March:

Water for Elephants (movie tie-in)
Sara Gruen
Retail Price: $14.95
Paperback: 368 pages
Publisher: Algonquin Books – (2011-03-01)
ISBN / EAN: 1616200707 / 9781616200701

People’s Best (and Worst) of 2010 issue has arrived, with the Top 10 in Books (no Worst are awarded in this category). Making the cut are:

Life, Keith Richards, Little, Brown

Room, Emma Donaghue, Little, Brown

The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks, Rebecca Skloot, Crown

I Remember Nothing, Nora Ephron, Random

A Visit from the Goon Squad, Jennifer Egan, Knopf

Unbroken, Laura Hillenbrand, Random

Just Kids, Patti Smith, HarperCollins/Ecco

Autobiography of Mark Twain, U. of Cal. Press

One Day, David Nicholls, Vintage

Good Housekeeping is also in to the Best Books competition. We’re please to see that one of our favorites from the year, Making Toast by Roger Rosenblatt (HarperCollins) is their top pick. This list is arranged by what the reader is in the mood for, making it helpful for readers advisory.

Giving a sneak peek at their 2010 best book selections, coming in the combined Jan. 1 & 15 issue, Booklist announces the top title in each category. Their adult editors agree with most of their fellow critics, but there’s a couple of surprises in children’s selections (you can download our spreadsheet of all the titles picked so far — one for adult titles and one for children’s).

Adult Fiction

Jennifer Egan’s A Visit from the Goon Squad received rapturous reviews (Bookmarks shows 20 in total). Time picks it as the #2 book of the year (after Franzen’s Freedom); the NYT Book Review, the Washington Post and PW all rank it in their top ten of the year.

While it hasn’t appeared on the NYT Best Seller list (we’re betting it will when it comes out in paperback next year), it hit the IndieBound list shortly after publication and stayed on it for thirteen weeks, going back on again last week.

Libraries are still showing holds, heavy in some areas.

A Visit from the Goon Squad Jennifer Egan Retail Price: $25.95 Hardcover: 288 pages Publisher: Knopf – (2010-06-08) ISBN / EAN: 0307592839 / 9780307592835

Audio; BBC AudioBooks; 9780792771746; 8 CD’s; $79.95
Adobe EPUB eBook from OverDrive

Adult Nonfiction

Author Rebecca Skloot is not only featured on many best books’s lists (The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks ties with Isabel Wilkerson’s The Warmth of Other Suns for the most mentions), she is also being hailed as a leader for her persistence in telling the story of a poor black woman who died of cervical cancer in 1951, but lives on through her cells which are still used, without her consent,  in medical research. Skloot also established a scholarship fund for Henrietta Lacks’ heirs. Oprah Winfrey and True Blood producer Alan Ball signed it for an HBO film back in May.

The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks Rebecca Skloot Retail Price: $26.00 Hardcover: 368 pages Publisher: Crown – (2010-02-02) ISBN / EAN: 1400052173 / 9781400052172

Random House Audio; UNABR; 9780307712509; $35
Audio and e-book available from OverDrive

Youth Fiction

The top pick in this category has not appeared on any of the other lists.

The Adventures of Nanny Piggins R. A. Spratt Retail Price: $15.99 Hardcover: 256 pages Publisher: Little, Brown Books for Young Readers – (2010-08-16) ISBN / EAN: 0316068195 / 9780316068192

Youth Nonfiction

With this selection, They Called Themselves the K.K.K. now ties for the most picks for a children’s nonfiction title with Ballet for Martha: Making Appalachian Spring, by Jan Greenber, & Sandra Jordan, illustrated by Brian Floca (Flashpoint/Roaring Brook).

They Called Themselves the K.K.K.: The Birth of an American Terrorist Group Susan Campbell Bartoletti Retail Price: $19.00 Hardcover: 176 pages Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Books for Children – (2010-08-23) ISBN / EAN: 061844033X / 9780618440337

Youth Picture Book

Although this one received admiring reviews, it has not appeared on any of the other best books lists.

Nini Lost and Found Anita Lobel Retail Price: $17.99 Hardcover: 40 pages Publisher: Knopf Books for Young Readers – (2010-09-14) ISBN / EAN: 0375858806 / 9780375858802

Video

Audio

The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet’s Nest Stieg Larsson Retail Price: $40.00 Audio CD: Publisher: Books on Tape – (2010-05-25) ISBN -13: 9780739377710

Reference Source