The readers’ advisory librarian’s weekly update, from a scan of more than 100 blogs, newsletters, magazines, newspapers and television.
By Cindy Orr
This issue of Run Down is about books, books, and more books, as we get into awards season and look back on the past year as well.
This week’s Under the Radar lists a few great books from 2007 that may have been overlooked by your readers. And, as always, our Most Wanted Mashup covers not only current top bestsellers, but also potential bestsellers hitting the shelves for the first time in the next seven days. The new titles include books by Stuart Woods, Michael Pollan, Newt Gingrich and, of course, Andrew Morton’s juicy biography of Tom Cruise. Look to the right and scroll down for these weekly lists.
A Peek At Tom Wolfe’s Book Proposal
Tom Wolfe has switched publishers in order to make more money on his next book—Back to Blood, which will cover racial politics in Florida. New York Magazine managed to get a copy of his 28-page book proposal if you’d like an inside look at how the pros deliver material to the publishers. This might be of interest to any writers’ groups you have in your library.
Expect Even More Demand for Eat, Pray, Love
According to Shelf-Awareness it will be the Costco pick for January!
Writers’ Strike Affecting Book Sales
PW has an article about the effect of the writers’ strike on book sales, as authors hesitate to cross picket lines to promote their books on television. Will this mean bad news for sales? On the upside, bored TV watchers might be enticed to do more reading. How about a display of great books in your library called Tired of Re-Runs? Why Not Read?
ALA Notable Books
The ALA Notable Books list was released at the Midwinter conference this week. (Hello from Philadelphia!) There are some great titles on this list.
Fiction
Englander, Nathan – The Ministry of Special Cases
Holthe, Tess Uriza – The Five-Forty-Five to Cannes
Jones, Lloyd – Mister Pip
McEwan, Ian – On Chesil Beach
Malouf, David – Complete Stories
Pettersen, Per – Out Stealing Horses
Trevor, William – Cheating at Canasta
Nonfiction
Ackerman, Diane – The Zookeeper’s Wife
Angier, Natalie – The Canon
Ayres, Ian – Super Crunchers
Godwin, Peter – When a Crocodile Eats the Sun
Groopman, Jerome – How Doctors Think
Howell, Georgina – Gertrude Bell: Queen of the Desert, Shaper of Nations
Isaacson, Walter - Einstein: His Life and Universe
Kingsolver, Barbara – Animal, Vegetable, Miracle: A Year of Food Life
Margonelli, Lisa – Oil on the Brain
Weisman, Alan – The World Without Us
Poetry
Bosselaar, Laure-Anne – A New Hunger
Kennedy, X.J. – In a Prominent Bar in Secaucus: New and Selected Poems
Left Coast Crime Awards Finalists
And while we’re in Award Mode, the Left Coast Crime Awards finalists have been announced:
The Lefty
Donna Andrews, THE PENGUIN WHO KNEW TOO MUCH
Don Bruns, STUFF TO DIE FOR
Jeff Cohen, SOME LIKE IT HOT BUTTERED
Jess Lourey, KNEE HIGH BY THE FOURTH OF JULY
Elaine Viets, MURDER WITH RESERVATIONS
The Rocky
C.J. Box, FREE FIRE
Bill Cameron, LOST DOG
Margaret Coel, THE GIRL WITH THE BRAIDED HAIR
Tim Maleeny, STEALING THE DRAGON
Twist Phelan, FALSE FORTUNE
The Arty
Megan Abbott, QUEENPIN
Laura Benedict, ISABELLA MOON
Rhys Bowen, HER ROYAL SPYNESS
Ken Issacson, SILENT COUNSEL
Tim Maleeny, STEALING THE DRAGON
December Religion Bestsellers
The monthly religion bestsellers list from PW is up.
Ten Best Recession Titles
Business Week has a list of the Ten Best Books on Innovation to Get You Through the Recession. Uh oh.
Philip K. Dick Award Finalists
The finalists for the 2008 Philip K. Dick awards have been announced. The winner will be announced on Friday, March 21, 2008.
Ally – Karen Traviss (Eos)
From the Notebooks of Dr. Brain - Minister Faust (Del Rey)
Gradisil - Adam Roberts (Pyr)
Grey – Jon Armstrong (Night Shade)
Nova Swing - M. John Harrison (Bantam Spectra)
Saturn Returns - Sean Williams (Ace)
Undertow – Elizabeth Bear (Bantam Spectra)
Read the full story here.
Readers’ Advisory Reporters Wanted
As mentioned last week, if you have an interest in readers’ advisory service and will be going to any RA-related programs at the PLA Conference in Minneapolis, we would love to post your impressions of the programs here in the RAO Blog. Our intention is to let people left at home covering the desk get a taste of what happened in the RA world at the con. All we need is your written impressions–preferably while still at the conference, but if that’s not possible, we can be flexible. The notes can be sent via email–or just scribble something on a piece of paper and we can meet at a predetermined place at the conference for a handoff. If you’re interested, let us know via rablog@lu.com and we can make coordination arrangements beforehand.
What a lot of great books we have listed today! Happy Reading!
