Archive for June, 2011

« Older Entries

RA Run Down

Sunday, June 26th, 2011

The readers’s advisory librarian’s weekly update, from a scan of more than 100 blogs, newsletters, magazines, newspapers and television. This blog is brought to you by the Reader’s Advisor Online, the subscription database based on Libraries Unlimited’s Genreflecting Advisory series. We’d love to hear from you. Feel free to comment on any of our posts, or contact us at raoblog@lu.com. Also check out our free newsletter with more in-depth articles at Reader’s Advisor News.

By Cindy Orr

New Titles On the Bestseller Lists


Fiction
AGAINST ALL ENEMIES, by Tom Clancy
ONE SUMMER, by David Baldacci
FOLLY BEACH, by Dorothea Benton Frank
CARTE BLANCHE, by Jeffery Deaver
SISTERHOOD EVERLASTING, by Ann Brashares

Nonfiction
THE ORIGINAL ARGUMENT, by Glenn Beck with Joshua Charles
LAST CALL, by Daniel Okrent

Graphic Books
BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER: SEASON EIGHT, VOL. 8

To see the best links to this week’s bestsellers broken down into formats and categories, look to the righthand column for the Most Wanted: Bestseller Links.

To Be Published This Week:


James Patterson & Michael Ledwidge – Now You See Her – 9780316036214

Monica Ali – Untold Story – 9781451635485

Shelley Shepard Gray – The Protector (Families of Honor) – 9780062020628 – 100,000 copies

LaHaye, Tim – Thunder of Heaven (John Jordan) – 9780310326373

Bobbie Ann Mason – The Girl in the Blue Beret – 9781400067183

Margaret Leroy – The Soldier’s Wife – (trade paper) – 9781401341701 – 100,000 copies

This is just a sample. Scroll down or click here for the complete list.

Summer Book Lists

Look to the right hand column for our Summer Reading Lists links. As we find new lists, we’ll add them at the top of the list, so you have a quick way to get at the books being recommended for reading this summer.


News of the Week:

J. K. Rowling and the amazing exploding book industry

PW says “interesting but not a game changer,” but physical bookstores are worried and frustrated

Scribner signs Rep. Gabrielle Giffords and her astronaut husband Mark Kelly for story of their life together

The next ebook million seller? Self-published thriller writer John Locke

Ebsco’s Novelist and GoodReads make a deal

Vote for the best Science Fiction or Fantasy book on NPR

Amazon Publishing gets Ed McBain backlist

Modern vampire books owe everything to Dark Shadows

Random House to relaunch Loveswept as digital only imprint

Self-help Hyperion author convicted of negligent homicide in sweat lodge deaths

Amazon’s top reviewers don’t always make independent decisions on books

Awesome People Reading

Books on Screen


Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part II four-night premiere event

First pictures from The Hobbit

Kiss Me Deadly, based on the novel by Bill Crider

Awards


Bram Stoker Award winners for horror

Andrea Levy wins Walter Scott Prize for historical fiction

Authors

Jan Burke – interview

Martin H. Greenberg – obituary

Amanda Hocking – profile of the self-published phenom

John Locke – sells a million copies of his self-published books

Lists


Books Every College Bound Student Should Read

Top 10 Island Stories

Indie Bestsellers

Lighthearted Link of the Week

Best Author to Author Insults

Posted in RA Run Down | No Comments »

New, Noteworthy, and No-Brainer

Friday, June 24th, 2011

MONDAY FICTION

  • James Patterson & Michael Ledwidge – Now You See Her – 9780316036214

    • MONDAY NONFICTION

  • Ina Caro – Paris to the Past – 9780393078947
  • David Kaiser – How the Hippies Saved Physics: Science, Counterculture, and the Quantum Revival – 9780393076363

    • TUESDAY FICTION

  • Lara Adrian – Deeper Than Midnight (mass market) – 9780440246114
  • Monica Ali – Untold Story – 9781451635485
  • Janet Chapman – Mystical Warrior (mass market) – 9781439159903
  • Dietrich, William – Blood of the Reich – 9780061989186 – 75,000
  • Lori Foster – Savor the Danger (mass market) – 9780373775828
  • Shelley Shepard Gray – The Protector (Families of Honor) – 9780062020628 – 100,000 copies
  • Karleen Koen – Before Versailles – 9780307716576

  • LaHaye, Tim – Thunder of Heaven (John Jordan) – 9780310326373
  • Leroy, Margaret – The Soldier’s Wife (trade paper) – 9781401341701 – 100,000
  • McCaffrey, Anne – Dragon’s Time (Dragonriders of Pern) – 9780345500892
  • Linda Lael Miller – The Creed Legacy (Montana Creeds Series) – 9780373776009

  • Richards, Emilie - Sunset Bridge – 9780778312383 – 70,000
  • Josh Ritter – Bright’s Passage – 9781400069507
  • Adam Ross – Ladies and Gentlemen – 9780307270719

    • TUESDAY NONFICTION

  • William Dietrich – Blood of the Reich – 9780061989186 – 75,000 copies
  • Amanda Foreman – A World of Fire: A Saga of the Civil War, at Home and Abroad – 9780375504945
  • Lorna Graham – The Ghost of Greenwich Village – 9780345526212
  • Linda Hogan – Wrestling the Hulk: My Life on the Ropes – 9780062030207 – 75,000 copies
  • Bobbie Ann Mason – The Girl in the Blue Beret – 9781400067183
  • James O’Shea – The Deal from Hell: How Moguls and Wall Street Plundered Great American Newspapers – 9781586487911
  • Lee Siegel – Are You Serious? How to Be True and Get Real in the Age of Silly – 9780061766039
  • Gary Younge – Who Are We? And Why It Should Matter in the 21st Century – 9781568586601

    • WEDNESDAY FICTION

  • Jacqueline Carey – Naamah’s Blessing – 9780446198073
  • Margaret Leroy – The Soldier’s Wife – (trade paper) – 9781401341701 – 100,000 copies
  • Emilie Richards – Sunset Bridge – (trade paper) – 9780778312383 – 70,000 copies
  • Jacqueline Carey – Naamah’s Blessing – 9780446198073 – 50,000 copies

    • THURSDAY FICTION


  • Sarah Strohmeyer – Kindred Spirits – 9780525952220

    • THURSDAY NONFICTION

  • Mark Adams – Turn Right at Machu Picchu: Rediscovering the Lost City One Step At a Time – 9780525952244
  • Rachel Shteir – The Steal: A Cultural History of Shoplifting – 9781594202971
  • Rebecca Wolff – The Beginners – 9781594487996

    • FRIDAY FICTION

  • Jeff Abbott – Adrenaline – 9780446575171 – 75,000
  • Alys Clare – The Rose of the World – 9780727880239
  • Susan Conant – Brute Strength – 9780727880673
  • Kate Ellis - Kissing the Demons (Joe Plantagenet Murder Mysteries) – 9781780290010
  • Caitlin Horrocks – This Is Not Your City (trade paper) – 9781932511918
  • Rosemary Rowe – The Vestal Vanishes (Libertus) – 9780727880291
  • Sarah R. Shaber – Louise’s War – 9780727880406
  • Dan Simmons – Flashback – 9780316006965
  • Roz Southey – The Ladder Dancer (Creme De La Crime) – 9781780290034
  • Ronald Tierney – Good to the Last Kiss – 9780727880307
  • Patricia Wynn – A Killing Frost – 9781935421016

    • Posted in New, Noteworthy, and No-Brainer | No Comments »

    Newflash: Reader’s Advisor Online is now free!

    Wednesday, June 22nd, 2011

    Dear Reader:

    The sponsor of this blog, Reader’s Advisor Online, is embarking on a new phase of growth and transformation. As of June 1, 2011, ABC-CLIO is offering RAO as a free service and not as a paid subscription publication. While we will no longer update content on the online version, we will continue to post frequent additions to this blog, where you’ll find news, booklists, tips and so much more. Over the next year we will work hard to reinvigorate RAO, and are targeting a re-launch date of fall 2012.

    We will continue publishing the blog, and we encourage you to keep visiting us, using Reader’s Advisor Online, and offering your input and ideas for how we can help you improve Readers’ Advisory Services. If you’re not familiar with this great product, click here for a tour.

    We’ll be sure to keep you posted regarding our progress. Stay tuned for details.

    Posted in Announcements | No Comments »

    RA Run Down

    Sunday, June 19th, 2011

    The readers’s advisory librarian’s weekly update, from a scan of more than 100 blogs, newsletters, magazines, newspapers and television. This blog is brought to you by the Reader’s Advisor Online, the subscription database based on Libraries Unlimited’s Genreflecting Advisory series. We’d love to hear from you. Feel free to comment on any of our posts, or contact us at raoblog@lu.com. Also check out our free newsletter with more in-depth articles at Reader’s Advisor News.

    By Cindy Orr

    New Titles On the Bestseller Lists


    Fiction
    HIT LIST, by Laurell K. Hamilton
    THE KINGDOM, by Clive Cussler with Grant Blackwood
    STATE OF WONDER, by Ann Patchett
    SUMMER RENTAL, by Mary Kay Andrews
    ROBOPOCALYPSE, by Daniel H. Wilson
    THE WINTER SEA, by Susanna Kearsley

    Nonfiction
    DEMONIC, by Ann Coulter
    RECKLESS ENDANGERMENT, by Gretchen Morgenson and Joshua Rosner
    THE SECRET KNOWLEDGE, by David Mamet

    Original Paperbacks
    HUNT THE MOON, by Karen Chance
    SENTENCED TO DEATH, by Lorna Barrett

    Graphic Books
    WONDER WOMAN: ODYSSEY, VOL. 1, by J. Michael Straczynski and Don Kramer
    THE INFLUENCING MACHINE: BROOKE GLADSTONE ON THE MEDIA, by Brooke Gladstone and Josh Neufeld
    TRANSFORMERS: DARK OF THE MOON, by John Barber and Jorge Jimenez Moreno
    NARUTO, VOL. 51, by Masashi Kishimoto
    VAMPIRE KNIGHT, VOL. 12, by Matsuri Hino
    BLEACH, VOL. 35, by Tite Kubo
    FULLMETAL ALCHEMIST, VOL. 25, by Hiromu Arakawa
    OURAN HIGH SCHOOL HOST CLUB, VOL. 16
    BLUE EXORCIST, VOL. 2, by Kato Kazue
    BAKUMAN, VOL. 5, by Tsugumi Ohba
    ONE PIECE, VOL. 57, by Eiichiro Oda
    CLAYMORE, VOL. 18, by Norihiro Yagi

    To see the best links to this week’s bestsellers broken down into formats and categories, look to the righthand column for the Most Wanted: Bestseller Links.

    To Be Published This Week:

  • Janet Evanovich – Smokin’ Seventeen (Stephanie Plum) – 9780345527684 – 750,000
  • James Rollins – The Devil Colony – 9780061784781 – 350,000 copies. One-day laydown
  • Joseph Finder – Buried Secrets – 9780312379148 – 150,000 copies
  • Linda Castillo – Breaking Silence (Kate Burkholder) – 9780312374990 – 125,000 copies
  • Melissa de la Cruz – Witches of East End – 9781401323905 – 125,000 copies
  • Jan Burke – Disturbance – 9781439152843 – 100,000 copies
  • Neil Gaiman – American Gods: The Tenth Anniversary Edition – 9780062059888
  • George R.R. Martin – Fort Freak (Wild Cards) – 9780765325709
  • Eva Gabrielsson – “There Are Things I Want You to Know” about Stieg Larsson and Me – 9781609803636 – 80,000 copies
  • Oscar Hijuelos – Thoughts Without Cigarettes: a Memoir – 9781592406296

    • This is just a sample. Scroll down or click here for the complete list.

    Summer Book Lists

    Look to the right hand column for our Summer Reading Lists links. As we find new lists, we’ll add them at the top of the list, so you have a quick way to get at the books being recommended for reading this summer.


    News of the Week:

    J. K. Rowling will launch a new website “project” . . . is it ebooks?

    Salman Rushdie believes that TV series are taking the place of novels

    Crowdsourcing RA

    Shelf-Awareness debuts newsletter for readers

    Amazon ebook store clogged by spam titles

    Yale University announces new lucrative literary awards

    Barbara Hoffert’s ALA Galley & Signing Guide 2011

    Reading on the road: taxis of knowledge

    Internet Archive wants to store one copy of every title ever published; the storage format? print

    Amazon as publisher: what does it mean?

    Next Wimpy Kid book will have a printing of 6 million copies

    Sequel to Wind in the Willows to be written by Newbery winner

    Niclas Salomonsson, big time Scandinavian literary agent has a life that could have come from one of the crime novels of his clients

    Online course on YA RA begins July 5

    Um. . . Tom Cruise as Jack Reacher? 6 foot 5 physically intimidating blond Jack Reacher?

    Books on Screen


    Moneyball by Michael Lewis heads to the screen

    Final trailer for Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part II

    Ben Affleck to direct movie version of Harlan Coben’s Tell No One

    Awards

    2011 Nero Wolfe Award nominees

    Colum McCann wins the IMPAC Dublin Award

    Best and Worst Book Trailers of the Year

    Authors


    L. A. Banks – has late stage cancer

    Lists

    The 100 greatest nonfiction books

    Literary fathers and sons

    10 novels about lost wealth and the Great Recession

    Lighthearted Link of the Week

    Test your literature IQ

    Posted in RA Run Down | 2 Comments »

    New, Noteworthy, and No-Brainer

    Friday, June 17th, 2011

    MONDAY FICTION

  • Duane Swierczynski – Fun & Games – 9780316133289

    • MONDAY NONFICTION

  • Colin Grant – The Natural Mystics: Marley, Tosh, and Wailer – 978039308117

    • TUESDAY FICTION

  • Elizabeth Adler – From Barcelona, with Love – 9780312668358 – 75,000 copies
  • Stefan Merrill Block – The Storm at the Door – 9781400069453
  • Alafair Burke – Long Gone – 9780061999185
  • Jan Burke – Disturbance – 9781439152843 – 100,000 copies
  • Linda Castillo – Breaking Silence (Kate Burkholder) – 9780312374990 – 125,000 copies
  • Lindsey Davis – The Iron Hand of Mars (Marcus Didius Falco Mysteries) – 9780312647292
  • Melissa de la Cruz – Witches of East End – 9781401323905 – 125,000 copies
  • Paul Doiron – Trespasser – 9780312558475
  • Janet Evanovich – Smokin’ Seventeen (Stephanie Plum) – 9780345527684 – 750,000 copies
  • Joseph Finder – Buried Secrets – 9780312379148 – 150,000 copies
  • Neil Gaiman – American Gods: The Tenth Anniversary Edition – 9780062059888
  • Daisy Goodwin – The American Heiress – 9780312658656 – 75,000 copies
  • Carolyn Haines – Bones of a Feather (Sarah Booth Delaney Mystery) – 9780312595029
  • Elin Hilderbrand – Silver Girl – 9780316099660
  • Lars Kepler - The Hypnotist – 9780374173951 – 100,000
  • Karen Kingsbury – Learning (trade paper) – 9780310276333
  • George R.R. Martin – Fort Freak(Wild Cards) – 9780765325709
  • James Rollins – The Devil Colony – 9780061784781 – 350,000 copies. One-day laydown
  • April Smith – White Shotgun (Ana Grey) – 9780307270139
  • Erica Spindler – Watch Me Die – 9780312363949
  • Dorothy Wickenden – Nothing Daunted: The Unexpected Education of Two Society Girls in the West – 9781439176580

    • TUESDAY NONFICTION

  • Thomas H. Cook – The Quest for Anna Klein – 9780547364643 – 20,000
  • Kenneth C. Davis – Don’t Know Much About History: Everything You Need to Know About American History but Never Learned – 9780061960536
  • John Ferling – Independence: The Struggle to Set America Free – 9781608190089
  • Eva Gabrielsson – “There Are Things I Want You to Know” about Stieg Larsson and Me – 9781609803636 – 80,000 copies
  • Motley Fool and Lou Ann Lofton – Warren Buffett Invests Like a Girl: And Why You Should Too – 9780061567551
  • William Rempel – At the Devil’s Table: The Untold Story of the Insider Who Brought Down the Cali Cartel – 9781400068371
  • Sonia Shah – The Fever: How Malaria Has Ruled Humankind for 500,000 Years – 9780312573010

    • WEDNESDAY NONFICTION

  • Oscar Hijuelos – Thoughts Without Cigarettes: a Memoir – 9781592406296

    • Posted in New, Noteworthy, and No-Brainer | No Comments »

    Reviewing the Reviews (Part 3)

    Thursday, June 16th, 2011

    by Sarah Statz Cords

    So did you notice any trends in how many review source stars were awarded to 2010 fiction and nonfiction titles, as opposed to how many “best of” lists the same books popped up on?

    Because I am most interested in nonfiction, my eyes went right to the nonfiction results. A first question for me was, only 18 of the books on the most “best of” lists were nonfiction? Why would that be? It’s harder to come to a consensus on good nonfiction? “Best of…” lists tend to focus on fiction? Even without considering the numbers of stars those nonfiction titles received, there’s plenty of questions to be asked about NF and yearly “best” lists.

    But, looking at our chart, I also notice that the review sources don’t seem to be particularly good at indicating when a nonfiction title will take off in the zeitgeist. At first glance, with the top titles Rebecca Skloot’s The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks and Isabel Wilkerson’s The Warmth of Other Suns, garnering four stars each, the review journals seem to be doing a great job. But scanning further down the list reveals some weaknesses: Michael Lewis’s popular and timely business/investigative title The Big Short only garnering one star, although it popped up on 31 “Best of” lists? Keith Richards’s memoir Life only getting one star, and Stephen Sondheim’s memoir not getting any? And how on earth did everyone miss Laura Hillenbrand’s long-awaited return to nonfiction (after her bestselling title Seabiscuit)? Her book of World War II biography and history, Unbroken, also didn’t receive any stars.

    Strange stuff. Looking at the nonfiction alone, I think I’d be tempted to say that the biggest review journals often used by library staff did not do a particularly fantastic job of indicating which titles would take off with readers (or at least critics who serve readers). Why would this be? Speaking personally, I wonder if reviewers for these publications always understand exactly what constitutes a “star”-able title. Only titles they think are “superlative”? Titles they may or may not have that were great, but will be big sellers and popular with mainstream reviewers? Perhaps one of the problems is that reviewers for these journals in particular aren’t given a lot of guidelines.

    What do YOU think?

    Posted in A Closer Look | No Comments »

    Display Brainstorming: July 2011 Edition

    Wednesday, June 15th, 2011

    by Sarah Statz Cords

    As always, please let us know in the comments if we’ve missed some display-worthy events or celebrations!

    July is:

    Cell Phone Courtesy Month
    International Zine Month
    National Black Family Month
    National Grilling Month
    National Ice Cream Month
    National Recreation and Parks Month
    Tour de France: July 2-24

    Holidays in July Include:

    July 1: Canada Day (Canada)
    July 4: Independence Day
    July 11: World Population Day
    July 14: Bastille Day (France)
    July 23: National Day of the Cowboy
    July 24: Parents’ Day

    July Famous Author Birthdays

    George Sand (novelist): July 1, 1804
    M.F.K. Fisher: July 3, 1908
    Dave Barry: July 3, 1947
    Nathaniel Hawthorne: July 4, 1804
    E.B. White: July 11, 1899
    Henry David Thoreau: July 12, 1817
    Richard Russo: July 15, 1949
    Hunter S. Thompson: July 18, 1939
    Ernest Hemingway: July 21, 1899
    Cormac McCarthy: July 20, 1933
    Raymond Chandler: July 23, 1888
    Beatrix Potter: July 28, 1866
    Emily Bronte: July 30, 1818
    J.K. Rowling: July 31, 1965

    July Famous Birthdays

    Diana, Princess of Wales: July 1, 1961
    Calvin Coolidge (30th president of the U.S.): July 4, 1872
    P.T. Barnum: July 5, 1810
    George W. Bush (43rd president of the U.W.): July 6, 1946
    Frida Kahlo: July 6, 1907
    Satchel Paige: July 7, 1906
    John Quincy Adams (6th president of the U.S.): July 11, 1767
    Gerald Ford (38th president of the U.S.): July 14, 1913
    Rembrandt: July 15, 1606
    Nelson Mandela: July 18, 1918
    Edgar Degas: July 19, 1834
    Amelia Earhart: July 24, 1897

    July Historical Events:

    July 2, 1881: President James Garfield shot
    July 2, 1937: Amelia Earhart disappears
    July 2, 1964: Civil Rights Act signed into law
    July 4, 1776: Declaration of Independence approved and signed
    July 7, 2005: London terrorist bombings
    July 9, 1893: First open-heart surgery performed
    July 20, 1969: First moon landing
    July 28, 1914: World War I begins
    July 30, 1935: Paperback books introduced by Penguin in the U.K.

    Sources include: Chase’s 2011 Calendar of Events; Holiday Insights

    Posted in Display Brainstorming | No Comments »

    RA Run Down

    Sunday, June 12th, 2011

    The readers’s advisory librarian’s weekly update, from a scan of more than 100 blogs, newsletters, magazines, newspapers and television. This blog is brought to you by the Reader’s Advisor Online, the subscription database based on Libraries Unlimited’s Genreflecting Advisory series. We’d love to hear from you. Feel free to comment on any of our posts, or contact us at raoblog@lu.com. Also check out our free newsletter with more in-depth articles at Reader’s Advisor News.

    By Cindy Orr

    New Titles On the Bestseller Lists


    Fiction
    DREAMS OF JOY, by Lisa See
    KISS OF SNOW, by Nalini Singh
    TRADER OF SECRETS, by Steve Martini

    Nonfiction
    THROUGH MY EYES, by Tim Tebow
    INCOGNITO, by David Eagleman
    LADY BLUE EYES, by Barbara Sinatra
    RECKLESS ENDANGERMENT, by Gretchen Morgenson and Joshua Rosner

    Original Paperbacks
    CREED’S HONOR, by Linda Lael Miller
    JUST LIKE HEAVEN, by Julia Quinn
    BEACH LANE, by Sherryl Woods
    THE RELUCTANT VAMPIRE, by Lynsay Sands
    MAGIC SLAYS, by Ilona Andrews
    TRACE OF FEVER, by Lori Foster

    Graphic Books
    AMERICAN VAMPIRE, VOL. 2, by Scott Snyder and Rafael Albuquerque
    GREEN LANTERN CORPS: REVOLT OF THE ALPHA LANTERNS, by Tony Bedard and others
    LIFE WITH MR. DANGEROUS, by Paul Hornschemeier
    GREEN LANTERN: SECRET ORIGIN, by Geoff Johns and Ivan Reis
    SPICE AND WOLF, VOL. 4, by Isuna Hasekura and Keito Koume
    THE MELANCHOLY OF SUZUMIYA HARUHI-CHAN, VOL. 2, by Nagaru Tanigawa and Noizi Ito

    To see the best links to this week’s bestsellers broken down into formats and categories, look to the righthand column for the Most Wanted: Bestseller Links.

    To Be Published This Week:

  • David Baldacci – One Summer – 9780446583145 – 600,000 copies
  • Ann Brashares – Sisterhood Everlasting (Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants) – 9780385521222
  • Tom Clancy – Against All Enemies – 9780399157301
  • Jeffery Deaver – Carte Blanch: the New James Bond Novel – 9781451620696 – 300,000 copies
  • Joseph Finder – Buried Secrets – 9780312379148 – 150,000 copies
  • Dorothea Benton Frank – Folly Beach: A Lowcountry Tale – 9780061961274 – 250,000 copies. One-day laydown
  • Melissa de la Cruz – Witches of East End – 9781401323905 – 125,000 copies
  • Ruth Rendell – Tigerlily’s Orchids – 9781439150344
  • S. J. Watson – Before I Go To Sleep – 9780062060556 – 150,000 copies
  • Billy Joel and Fred Schruers – The Book of Joel: A Memoir – 9780061797491
  • Michael Lewis – Boomerang: Travels in the Third World – 9780393081817

    • This is just a sample. Scroll down or click here for the complete list.

    Summer Book Lists

    Look to the right hand column for our Summer Reading Lists links. As we find new lists, we’ll add them at the top of the list, so you have a quick way to get at the books being recommended for reading this summer.


    News of the Week:


    Lee Child and Suzanne Collins are the latest authors to pass the million Kindle sales mark

    Is there too much doom and gloom in YA fiction? and another take here, and Sherman Alexie on the subject.

    E-books are the next chapter for getting kids to read

    First Conan Doyle novel will be published for the first time

    King County PL (WA) named LJ’s Library of the Year

    From BookExpo America: 3rd Annual Librarian Shout and Share: a panel of star librarians share their favorite books of 2011 (video)

    Ann Patchett – “I can’t live in a city without a bookstore.” So she’s opening a bookstore in Nashville.

    Conservative Christian group attacks Republican leaders who admire Ayn Rand

    Going to ALA? Interested in joining Sisters in Crime at the conference center for a breakfast discussion on how readers find books (Saturday) or how library programming promotes reading (Sunday)? If so, contact Barbara Fister – bfister@hickorytech.net. Breakfast is provided.

    Books on Screen


    Coming July 15: Snowflower and the Secret Fan (video)

    Awards


    Orange Prize goes to Tea Obreht

    Thriller Award predictions

    Edith Pearlman wins Malamud Prize

    2011 Indie Book Award Winners

    Authors


    Lilian Jackson Braun – obituary

    Raymond Chandler and Ian Fleming discuss their protagonists, James Bond and Phillip Marlowe (audio)

    Ben Herman – obituary

    Ann Patchett – interview

    Lists


    The Top Drunken Authors

    Thrillers: 20 Core Classic and Contemporary Titles

    Controversial couples in literature

    20 Most Anticipated Books of the Summer

    The 10 Most Powerful Women Authors

    Top 10 Pirate Books

    Esquire’s 75 Books All Men Should Read (1 is by a woman)

    Lighthearted Link of the Week

  • Inappropriate Book Covers

    • Posted in RA Run Down | No Comments »

    New, Noteworthy, and No-Brainer

    Friday, June 10th, 2011

    MONDAY FICTION

  • Newt Gingrich – A Nation Like No Other: Why American Exceptionalism Matters – 9781596982710
  • David S. Reynolds – Mightier Than the Sword: Uncle Tom’s Cabin and the Battle for America – 9780393081329
  • Pat Shipman - The Animal Connection: A New Perspective on What Makes Us Human – 9780393070545

    • TUESDAY FICTION

  • David Baldacci – One Summer – 9780446583145 – 600,000 copies
  • Jesse Ball – The Curfew – 9780307739858
  • Carol Birch – Jamrach’s Menagerie – 9780385534406
  • Ann Brashares – Sisterhood Everlasting (Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants) – 9780385521222
  • Kate Christensen – The Astral – 9780385530910
  • Tom Clancy – Against All Enemies – 9780399157301
  • Jeffery Deaver – Carte Blanch: the New James Bond Novel – 9781451620696 – 300,000 copies
  • Joseph Finder – Buried Secrets – 9780312379148 – 150,000 copies
  • Dorothea Benton Frank – Folly Beach: A Lowcountry Tale – 9780061961274 – 250,000 copies. One-day laydown
  • Eleanor Henderson – Ten Thousand Saints – 9780062021021
  • Lauren Kate – Passion – 9780385739160
  • Pam Lewis – A Young Wife – 9781451612721 – 100,000 copies
  • Johanna Lindsey – When Passion Rules – 9781451628371
  • Melissa de la Cruz – Witches of East End – 9781401323905 – 125,000 copies
  • Lee Martin – Break the Skin – 9780307716750
  • Ruth Rendell – Tigerlily’s Orchids – 9781439150344
  • Keith Scribner – The Oregon Experiment – 9780307594785
  • J. Courtney Sullivan – Maine – 9780307595126
  • Nancy Thayer – Heat Wave – 9780345518316
  • S. J. Watson – Before I Go To Sleep – 9780062060556 – 150,000 copies

    • TUESDAY NONFICTION

  • Glenn Beck – The Original Argument (trade paper) – 9781451650617
  • Juliet Eilperin – Demon Fish: Travels Through the Hidden World of Sharks – 9780375425127
  • Brian M, Fagan – Elixir: A History of Water and Humankind - 9781608190034
  • Jeff Himmelman - Ben: A Personal Portrait of Ben Bradlee, Journalism’s Legendary Editor – 9781400068470
  • Billy Joel and Fred Schruers – The Book of Joel: A Memoir – 9780061797491
  • Ron Liebman – Jersey Law – 9781416569770
  • Irshad Manji – Allah, Liberty, and Love: The Courage to Reconcile Faith and Freedom – 9781451645200 – 60,000 copies
  • Adam Mansbach and Ricardo Cortés – Go the F**k to Sleep – 9781617750250
  • Tatum O’Neal and Hilary Liftin - Found: A Daughter’s Journey Home – 9780062066565
  • David Walsh – Smart Parenting, Smarter Kids: The One Brain Book You Need to Help Your Child Grow Brighter, Healthier, and Happier – 9781439121177
  • David Wise – Tiger Trap: America’s Secret Spy War with China – 9780547553108

    • WEDNESDAY FICTION

  • Ted Riccardi – Between the Thames and the Tiber: The Further Adventures of Sherlock Holmes – 9781605981871
  • Kamala Nair – The Girl in the Garden – 9780446572682

    • WEDNESDAY NONFICTION

  • Bob Mould – See a Little Light: The Trail of Rage and Melody – 9780316045087

    • THURSDAY FICTION

  • Michael Robotham – The Wreckage – 9780316126403

    • FRIDAY FICTION

  • Michael Lewis – Boomerang: Travels in the Third World – 9780393081817

    • Posted in New, Noteworthy, and No-Brainer | No Comments »

    Reviewing the Reviews (Part 2)

    Thursday, June 9th, 2011

    by Cindy Orr

    In Part 1 of this article, we showed a table ranking the top 50 book titles of 2010, based on the excellent megalist compilation of Best of Lists done by Neil Hollands. Then we checked to see how many starred reviews the top 50 books were given by the four standard library reviewing journals: Booklist, Kirkus, Library Journal, and Publishers Weekly. For this part, we used Overbooked All Stars, done by Ann Theis. You’ve had some time to pore over the table. Have you found any trends or oddities?

    Here’s my first take on the fiction titles on the Best of lists. Let’s start by viewing the results through the lens of genre:

    *Not many genre titles appear in the top 50 of the year. Does this mean that when compilers of the lists begin working to identify best books they overlook genre titles?

    *Some genres were totally absent from the top 50: Thrillers, Romance, Westerns, Adventure, Women’s Lives; Hmm. I think I see a pattern here too: If it’s a Romance, or a Western, an Adventure story, a Thriller, or—God forbid—about Women’s Lives, it can’t possibly be worthy of a prize, can it?

    *The genre with the most titles on the list (other than the 20 in mainstream fiction): Historical Fiction with 5. Is this because of the Wolf Hall effect? Is Historical Fiction “finally respectable?”

    *Other fiction genres: 2 Crime Fiction, 1 YA, and 2010 was a great year for Speculative Fiction, with 2 Fantasy, 2 Science Fiction, 2 Horror, and the YA title falling into this category.

    *Many of those “genre novels” in the top 50 might have been considered literary fiction by some—not necessarily because they were not a fit for their genre category, but because the author had previously gained a reputation for being a literary novelist; e.g. Gary Shteyngart, Peter Carey, David Mitchell, Karl Marlantes (Yale Univ and Rhodes scholar), and Julie Orringer.

    *Conversely, some of the titles that we classified as Fiction in the table, are considered by some to be genre titles; e.g. Emma Donoghue’s Room, A Visit from the Goon Squad by Jennifer Egan, and Crooked Letter, Crooked Letter by Tom Franklin.

    So where does that leave us? A next step might be to check the genre prize winners, such as Edgar or Nebula Award winners to see if they made the general best of the year lists—perhaps lower than the top 50. We’ll leave that for another day. But it’s clear that if you’re using best of the year lists for collection building purposes, you can’t forget to check the genre best of lists too, because those titles are usually not on the regular lists. Some lists specifically exclude genre titles. ALA’s Notable Books list, for instance, does not consider genre titles, though their Reading List considers genre only.

    Part 3 of this article will be by Sarah Statz Cords, our resident nonfiction expert, who will cover…what else…nonfiction. As always, comments are welcome.

    Posted in A Closer Look, Genreflections | No Comments »

    « Older Entries