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RA Run Down

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By Cindy Orr

This Week In Books

We had a few technical problems that delayed the blog this week. Sorry about that! But letâ€™s get going now that thatâ€™s all behind us. This weekâ€™s Under the Radar is Great General Fiction of 2008. Take a look at the right column under The Most Wanted Mashup. Speaking of the Most Wanted, we have a couple of new titles on the nonfiction list. Wishful Drinking by Carrie Fisher and champion swimmer Michael Phelpsâ€™s new book No Limits. The fiction list is the same as last weekâ€™s. And, as usual, look just below this post for our New, Noteworthy, and No-Brainer List. You wonâ€™t be surprised that there arenâ€™t many new titles hitting the shelves this week. Itâ€™s a little late to count on getting into someoneâ€™s Christmas shopping bag But, things will begin picking up after the holidays as we begin the approach to the Spring List.

Depressing News Department
The crashing economy has begun affecting the book business in a big way. Iâ€™ll just make a list of the latest news you should know about:

Borders will close four stores.
Macmillan, whose subsidiaries include Farrar, Straus & Giroux, St. Martin’s Press, Holt, Picador and others, lays off 4% of its staff—64 people.
and sadly, Farrar, Straus & Giroux.
Layoffs at Doubleday and Broadway.
Powellâ€™s Books has asked staff to cut back hours, take sabbaticals.

Publishers’ net book sales fell 20.1% to $644.5 million in October, as reported by 80 publishers to the Association of American Publishers. Sales for the year through October were down 3.4% to $8.362 billion.

Among categories:

E-book sales rose 73% to $5.2 million.
Adult mass market rose 6.3% to $65.3 million.
Children’s/YA hardcover rose 0.8% to $86.4 million.
Professional and scholarly sales slipped 4.4% to $46.3 million.
Audiobook sales dropped 9.1% to $18.4 million.
University press paperbacks fell 13.9% to $4.2 million.
Children’s/YA paperback fell 14.8% to $43.8 million.
University press hardcovers dropped 20.4% to $6 million.
Adult paperback dropped 23% to $95 million.
Adult hardcover fell 25% to $246.2 million.
Religious books fell 25.6% to $57.1 million.

More Best Books of the Year
Seattle Times Childrenâ€™s Books to Give and to Cherish -
NY Daily News Best Books to Buy for Kids
Bloomberg â€“ Ogres and Dragons and Muggles, Oh My!
Dog (and Cat) Lovers Pant for These Holiday Books -
8 Books to Rekindle the Hannukah Spirit â€“
Kansas City Star The Gift of Books for Young Readers

NY Times 2 Minutes for Booking: Hockey Holiday Gift Books â€“
USA Todayâ€™s Top Ten Books of 2008 -
LJâ€™s Best Books of 2008 -
The Newbery Award: Does It Dampen Kids Reading?
Twilight Sequel Movie November 2009

The Future of the Internet
The Pew Internet & American Life Project surveyed several expert and gathered their answers into a report on the future of the Internet. Click here for some interesting observations.

Graywolf Press to Publish Inauguration Poem
Poet Elizabeth Alexander has been asked to read a work at the inauguration of President-Elect Barack Obama. Graywolf Press will make it into an instabook in commemoration of the occasion. More here.

Second Sawtelle Book
David Wroblewski , author of The Story of Edgar Sawtelle will deliver a trilogy about the same characters. In a statement Ecco said that Mr. Wroblewskiâ€™s new book, as yet untitled, would be the second entry in a trilogy, and that it would trace the origins of Edgar Sawtelleâ€™s father and uncle.Â

Lists
Spring Chick Lit for Food Lovers
IMPAC Dublin Award Longlist
Top Ten Most Wanted Out of Print Books

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This entry was posted on Monday, December 22nd, 2008 at 3:30 pm and is filed under RA Run Down. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.

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