January 28th, 2010 By: Nora Rawlinson
Apple’s iBook App
Not much information is available on Apple’s iBook app; the best coverage so far is Apple’s iPad: What book lovers need to know, on Entertainment Weekly’s Shelf Life blog.
EarlyWord
News for Collection Development and Readers Advisory Librarians
January 28th, 2010 By: Nora Rawlinson
THE POLITICIAN Arrives Early
News is leaking from a book by former John Edwards’ aide, Andrew Young. On the Today Show this morning, a reporter called the book,
…salacious, full of tawdry details, betrayal and countless lies. And as brutal as it is about John Edwards, it’s also tough on Elizabeth, who, the book says, became intoxicated by power, and sometimes looked the other way.
Tomorrow night, Young appears on 20/20.
The release date, originally scheduled for next week, has been moved up to Saturday, according to Entertainment Weekly.
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Unabridged audio will be available from Tantor:
Publisher: Tantor, 2/22/10
Read by: Kevin Foley
Trade: 9781400116508; 10 CD’s; $34.99
Library: 9781400146505; 10 CD’s; $69.99
MP3: 9781400166503; 1 MP3-CD; $24.99
January 28th, 2010 By: Nora Rawlinson
WENCH Compared to THE HELP
We’ve got a good feeling about the debut novel Wench (see earlier posts). Prepub reviews were great; the story brings to light a little-known, but fascinating piece of history, based on real events and the author is engaging (as proved by her interview on NPR last week; listen to it here).
Now, USA Today adds the icing to the cake by writing,
Readers entranced by Kathryn Stockett’s The Help…will be equally riveted by Dolen Perkins-Valdez’s Wench, a brutally told fictional account of slave women forced to be the “mistresses” of their white masters in the years leading up to the Civil War.
Like The Help, Wench immerses readers in its characters’ complex emotional lives.
Most libraries bought small quantities (fewer than 1 copy per branch) and are showing holds of 10:1.
We first heard about Wench at a HarperCollins library buzz session. Check out the buzz on their Summer 2010 titles by clicking here (and enter for a chance to win a set of five Advance Readers Editions).
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Unabridged Audio: Books on Tape Audio and eBook downloadable from OverDrive |
January 27th, 2010 By: Nora Rawlinson
TEMPLE GRANDIN; HBO Movie
Clare Danes plays autistic animal specialist Temple Grandin in an HBO biopic debuting on Saturday, February 6th.
Entertainment Weekly is very enthusiastic about it, admitting that the subject, autism and cattle handling, doesn’t scream “must see,” but that the movie is “…relatable to anyone with a heart, and fascinating to anyone with a brain. The fact that it does so with such a singular story only makes the movie that much greater.”
Grandin has written several books, including last year’s Animals Make Us Human; her autobiography has been reissued as the tie-in.
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eBook and audio available from OverDrive.
January 27th, 2010 By: Nora Rawlinson
It’s Official; It’s the iPad
See the live coverage of Apple’s announcement here.
I guess “iPad” is an interesting variation on “iPod,” but I wonder if any women had a vote on the name?
Update: It will sell for much less than many had predicted;
Expect announcements of price cuts for the Kindle. The basic model now retails for $259 and the larger Kindle DX, which is the same size as the iPad, goes for $489.
Apple CEO Steve Jobs, the man who just last year dismissed the Kindle because “people don’t read any more,” now says, “Let me show you another one of our apps that we’re very excited about, an e-book reader…Today we’re announcing the iBooks store.”
He said the store is working with Penguin, Simon and Shuster and a number of other big publishers.
Of course, books will have to compete with movies, tv shows and videogames, which can also be accessed via the iPad.
The iPad site is now up and running.
January 27th, 2010 By: Nora Rawlinson
Lisbeth Salander’s Real Life Counterparts
In The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, Lisbeth Salander is a talented (and heavily tattooed) computer hacker who uses her skills to investigate crimes.
In real life, there are hackers (with or without tattoos) who work to track down international high-tech criminals. The stories of two of these investigators are told a new book, Fatal Error, by the Financial Times‘ cyber-security reporter Joseph Menn. In an interview in the San Francisco Chronicle this weekend, he said hopes his book will wake up Americans to the dangers of cybercrime.
Stieg Larsson fan Vicky Raab writes on the New Yorker‘s “Book Bench” blog that Fatal Error corroborates much of what Larsson wrote about in his books; “how inept and/or corrupt law-enforcement, corporations, news agencies, and governments can be, and what the skinny really is on cybercrime.” As she points out, that should come as no surprise, since Larsson was a journalist himself. Further, she says the book kept her “riveted to the couch all weekend.”
The book, which was also featured on NPR’s Fresh Air last night (listen here) was embargoed until yesterday, so it was not reviewed prepub. It is rising on Amazon’s sales rankings, and is now at #62.
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eBook downloadable from OverDrive.
January 27th, 2010 By: Nora Rawlinson
ALICE Reviewed on NPR
A debut novel that imagines the life of Alice Liddell, the inspiration for Alice in Wonderland, was reviewed last night by Maureen Corrigan on NPR’s Fresh Air with Terry Gross. Corrigan says Alice I Have Been, “…occasionally stumbles into melodrama, [but] most of the time it’s a nuanced, moody envisioning of the life of Alice Liddell” (listen to the full review here).
The book explores Lewis Carroll’s relationship with his seven-year-old muse, a relationship Alice’s parents mysteriously and suddenly cut short. It’s presented as less lurid than our modern imaginations might expect but still creepy in a peculiarly Victorian manner; Corrigan says Carroll is portrayed as “… a gentle ancestor of Lolita‘s Humbert Humbert.”
The book was also reviewed in the Washington Post last week.
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Audio; UNABR; Books on Tape; 9780307713469; $90
Audio and eBook available from OverDrive.
January 27th, 2010 By: Nora Rawlinson
Story of the Day: Apple iTablet
Months of speculation will end today as Apple finally announces their new product at 1 p.m EST (10 a.m. PT).
You can follow along on live blogs, including the Wall Street Journal‘s “All Things D.”
Textbook publishers are particularly excited about the announcement because it offers a solution to their problems with the used book market. Terry McGraw, CEO of McGraw-Hill showed his eagerness as he spilled the beans yesterday (thanks to GalleyCat for pointing this out):
January 26th, 2010 By: Nora Rawlinson
The True Story Behind EXTRAORDINARY MEASURES
The movie Extraordinary Measures starring Harrison Ford is about a real-life father, Jonathan Crowley, played by Brendan Fraser, who will do anything to save his two children from a life-threatening disease, even quitting his job to form a biotech company.
The true story first caught Harrison Ford’s eye when Geeta Anand wrote about it in the Wall Street Journal. She went on to write the book The Cure, which is now the trade paperback tie-in to the movie.
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Crowley has written his own book, Chasing Miracles. He appeared on the CBS Early Show this morning.
Watch CBS News Videos Online
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January 26th, 2010 By: Nora Rawlinson
Bringing the Buzz Home
We saw many of you at HarperCollins’ Buzz Session at MidWinter. One of the pleasures of going to conferences is hearing about under-the-radar titles coming out next season so you can be ahead of your readers (it was at an earlier HarperCollins buzz sessions that we first heard about The Lace Reader; this time we heard about the author’s next title, out in May).
If you weren’t able to come to the presentation, you can “bring the buzz” home by clicking here to listen to the audio of each title presentation, get full background and ordering information and even enter to win a set of Advance Readers Editions.
This format offers the opportunity for inhouse RA training; you can have your whole staff watch the presentation and discuss the books they’re looking forward to.
January 25th, 2010 By: Nora Rawlinson
Books for New Gardeners
There’s one business that’s on the rise; the Burpee Seed Company saw a 30% increase in sales of vegetable seeds last year. Combine the desire to save money with the desire to eat fresh food and the result is a lot of new gardeners.
In their annual gardening issue, Publishers Weekly talks to gardening editors about the books they’re publishing this Spring (there’s even a book called Eat Your Yard!, and another called Grow Your Own Drugs).
Here’s a few of the titles that are featured:
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January 25th, 2010 By: Nora Rawlinson
Who Was Anne Boleyn?
Alison Weir’s bio of Anne Boleyn, The Lady in the Tower is recommended as a companion book for Americans who need historical background to enjoy Hilary Mantel’s Booker-winning novel, Wolf Hall.
Now we come full circle; Hilary Mantel reviews The Lady in the Tower for the NYT Book Review.
The Lady in the Tower rose to #93 (from #283) on Amazon sales rankings after the review and a fascinating story on NPR’s All Things Considered (listen here). Holds are as high as 10:1 in several libraries.
Why are people fascinated with Anne Boleyn? Mantel says,
It is because her character has archetypal force…She is the young fertile beauty who displaces the menopausal wife. She is the mistress whose calculating methods beguile the married man; but in time he sees through her tricks and turns against her.
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Audio; Recorded Books; Anticipated Release: Feb 13, 2010
- Unabridged CD; $123.75
- Unabridged Cassette; $113.75
eBook available from OverDrive
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UNABR Audio from MacMillan Audio, 9781427210166; $49.99
Audio and eBook available from OverDrive
January 25th, 2010 By: Nora Rawlinson
Pollan and Oprah
Food guru Michael Pollan appears on the Oprah show on Wednesday. His most recent book is currently at #1 on the NYT paperback bestseller list.
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ebook available from OverDrive
Ethan Watters will appear on The Daily Show with Jon Stewart on Wednesday night.
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January 25th, 2010 By: Lisa Von Drasek
H1N1, The Novel
The only H1N1 novel for the Wimpy Kid crowd. Writing and drawing in his English assignment journal, the snarky narrator observes the over-reaction of his family to the announced pandemic.
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January 22nd, 2010 By: Nora Rawlinson
DEWEY the Movie
Meryl Streep signed to star in the movie of Dewey: The Small-Town Library Cat Who Touched the World, back in November of 2008. Since then, there hasn’t been much news.
Dewey author and former library director, Vicki Myron’s hometown newspaper, the Spencer (Iowa) Daily Reporter was on the scene at a recent Spencer Chamber Tourism Committee meeting where Myron revealed that the movie is now “hanging in the air,”
Screenwriter Pamela Gray, who toured Spencer in May, submitted a second script to five producers recently. Once studio executives accept it, Myron said they’ll return to actress Meryl Streep, who had already signed on to star in the adaptation of her book, to see if she’s still interested in portraying her. If Streep decides to not pursue the role, the movie’s current director and budget will also go with her, Myron said.
“[The studio] is not planning anything until they have her signed and have a director,” Myron added.
This is just another reminder that it’s often a long way between a movie being signed and its appearance in theaters.
Meanwhile, Myron is moving ahead with plans for a Dewey Readmore Books bookstore in Spencer.