The readers’ advisory librarian’s weekly update, from a scan of more than 100 blogs, newsletters, magazines, newspapers and television.
New This Week
Well, it’s Thanksgiving week in the US, and that must be the reason there are no new big fiction titles scheduled to hit the shelves this week. But never fear, there are three big nonfiction titles that will be published in the next week, all with print runs of 200,000 or more. The biggest is Steve Martin’s Born Standing Up, with 350,000 copies due to be shipped. Check New This Week for the list (look to the right just under the Bestseller Mashup).
Book TV?
Here’s an idea for creating a particular ambiance for readers: Borders has installed 37-inch flat screen TVs in several of its stores. The screens will not be intrusive, according to a Borders spokesperson, but are intended to be entertaining. We’ll have to see. If it works in the bookstore, maybe it would work in libraries.
Another NEA Reading Study Released
According to Publishers Weekly, Daniel Gioia, Chairman of the National Endowment for the Arts, released another reading study last week called “To Read or Not to Read.” The bad news is that 15 to 24 year-olds spent less than ten minutes a day on voluntary reading. The good news is that reading time for 9-year-olds has not declined, and reading skills for this age have increased. I haven’t been able to find a copy of the full study yet, which seems peculiar (why isn’t it on the NEA site?), but Sara Nelson of PW says it’s not clear whether the study, when it asked if teens had done voluntary reading, included only books. If anyone out there can find the study, please pass it on. I remember wondering last time they did a reading study, how many people answered incorrectly because they asked the question, “do you read literature?” My theory is that many might have said no, as they thought what they read wasn’t up to the standard of “literature.” Any thoughts? Can anyone find the actual questions as asked?
And while we’re speaking of reading polls, a new one shows that most people support the writers strike and will spend their extra time reading or using the Internet rather than watching reruns. Get those book displays filled up!
More Good Books Than Ever
The Columbia Journalism Review, in an article on the declining number of newspaper book review pages points out one bright spot: “Never before in the whole of human history has more good literature, attractively presented, sold for still reasonably low prices, been available to so many people. You would need several lifetimes over doing nothing but lying prone in a semi-darkened room with only a lamp for illumination just to make your way through the good books that are on offer.”
Google My Library Challenges Library Thing
Goggle added a new feature a couple of months ago called My Library. Wired magazine says that if it can add just a couple of features, it will blow the other two products out of the water. Shelfari says that readers can catalog their books with Google, then import them into Shelfari in order to do the fun part…talk about them. Worth checking out.
The Bookseller of Kabul Writes His Own Book Denying That He’s a Jerk
Shah Mohammad Rais originally welcomed journalist Asne Seierstad into his home in Kabul, Afghanistan in 2002 and willingly gave interviews according to Seierstad, the author of The Bookseller of Kabul, but now he says she wrote lies about him and printed things that were confidential. Rais says that even though he was given a fake name in the book, readers could easily identify him, and now people blame him and his family has been destroyed. Seierstad says that she moved into his house with notebooks and a computer and conducted formal interviews with him. Her position, “”I wrote my book, he wrote his, that is fine, and the reader can judge.”
Henry James Woollett Question Solved
Scholars have argued for decades about the identity of “the nameless little object” manufactured in Woollett, Massachusets, which comes up several times in The Ambassadors by Henry James. Finally, the mystery has been solved, says Joshua Glenn in Slate. And it was solved by reading Henry Petroski’s newest book. Yes, James fans, it was a toothpick.
Ira Levin Dies
Ira Levin died this week at the age of 78. Levin was the author of Rosemary’s Baby, The Boys from Brazil, A Kiss Before Dying, and The Stepford Wives, Levin had a very interesting take on the thriller genre. ”When I was young and starting out,” he says, ”I thought, ‘Well, someday, I’m going to write the great American novel – or several of them.’ But as I got older I was perfectly content with suspense, with thrillers,” he said. For more of the quote, click here to go to Sarah Weinman’s outstanding blog. And here’s another tribute recommended by Sarah.
Awards
Bill Pronzini will receive the title of Grand Master from the Mystery Writers of America next May 1 in New York City during the Edgar Awards banquet. MWA executive v-p Daniel J. Hale said that Pronzini “is not only a passionate author and reader of crime fiction–he is also one of the most ardent proponents of the genre. For 40 years, he has distinguished himself with consistently high-quality writing and editing in all areas of the field, including creating one of the longest-lasting detective series ever.”
Pronzini has written more than 70 books, including 32 novels in the Nameless Detective series and three written with his wife, Marcia Muller, who was the MWA’s Grand Master in 2005.
Booklist has posted a list of their top ten first novels of the year.
Amazon has published two lists of the 100 Best Books of 2007–one is by the customers and one by the editors.
The World Fantasy Awards were announced at the annual convention in Saratoga Springs, NY this month:
LIFE ACHIEVEMENT
Betty Ballantine
Diana Wynne Jones
NOVEL
Soldier of Sidon, Gene Wolfe (Tor)
NOVELLA
Botch Town, Jeffrey Ford (The Empire of Ice Cream, Golden Gryphon Press)
SHORT FICTION
“Journey Into the Kingdom”, M. Rickert (F&SF May 2006)
ANTHOLOGY
Salon Fantastique, Ellen Datlow & Terri Windling, eds. (Thunder’s Mouth)
COLLECTION
Map of Dreams, M. Rickert (Golden Gryphon Press)
ARTIST
Shaun Tan
SPECIAL AWARD, PROFESSIONAL
Ellen Asher (for work at the Science Fiction Book Club)
SPECIAL AWARD, NON-PROFESSIONAL
Gary K. Wolfe (for reviews in Locus and elsewhere)
The World Fantasy Convention in 2009 will be held in San Jose, California, and the convention in 2010 in Columbus, Ohio.
Notable Author Interviews
Sherman Alexie
Karen Armstrong
James Lee Burke
Christopher Hitchens
Barbara Kingsolver
Ian Rankin on the end of Rebus.
Oliver Sacks
And Google has begun posting author interviews on YouTube.
Happy Thanksgiving to all!
