Shelf Awareness for Friday, December 4, 2009


William Morrow & Company: Horror Movie by Paul Tremblay

Del Rey Books: Lady Macbeth by Ava Reid

Peachtree Teen: Romantic YA Novels Coming Soon From Peachtree Teen!

Watkins Publishing: She Fights Back: Using Self-Defence Psychology to Reclaim Your Power by Joanna Ziobronowicz

Dial Press: Whoever You Are, Honey by Olivia Gatwood

Pantheon Books: The Volcano Daughters by Gina María Balibrera

Peachtree Publishers: Leo and the Pink Marker by Mariyka Foster

Wednesday Books: Castle of the Cursed by Romina Garber

Quotation of the Day

Her First Typewriter

"There was something about linking words together that had a hold on me and I would sit in my bedroom with piles of scrap paper and write poems and stories in longhand for hours. So when other girls were asking for Barbie dolls, I was wishing for a typewriter, one that would actually tap out a world of my own creation. Imagine how thrilled I was on my fifteenth birthday when I received that second-hand Smith & Corona as a gift. I can still hear the clickety-clack as I struck those keys for the first time."--Carol Hoenig, author of Without Grace, recalling her first typewriter in a piece on Huffington Post, inspired by the story about Cormac McCarthy's typewriter (Shelf Awareness, December 1, 2009).


Now Streaming on Paramount+ with SHOWTIME: A Gentleman in Moscow


News

Notes: Ho Hum, November General Retail Sales Flat

In November, sales at general retail stores were estimated in a range of up 1% to down 0.3% compared to the same month a year ago, when sales fell between 7% and 8% compared to November 2007, according to the New York Times and Wall Street Journal.

"November's results were worse than October's and weaker than analysts were expecting," the Times said, adding that consumers "teetered between optimism about signs of economic recovery and fears about the job market and home values."

Bill Dreher of Deutsche Bank Securities told the Times, "We knew it was going to be a nail-biter Christmas. But it's going to be worse than we imagined."

In response to the disappointing figures, the Journal predicted that many retailers will offer "broader discounts before the end of the holiday shopping season . . . though no one expects a return to the extremes of last year's inventory markdowns."

Most discount stores did well. At Costco, sales at stores open at least a year rose 6%. TJX, which includes Marshalls, rose 8%. Kohl's was up 3.3%. Target, however, slipped 1.5%.

Department stores fared the worse. Macy's comp-store sales dropped 6.1%, and Penney's was down 5.9%. Luxury department stores had huge drops, including Saks, down 26.1%, and Neiman Marcus, off 12.7%.

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Amazon.com has begun a Textbooks Trade-In program, under which customers may exchange used textbooks for an Amazon gift card. At amazon.com/tradeinbooks, students can search for the books they want to trade. When they find a match, they print out a prepaid shipping label and drop the package in the mail. Once the book is received and verified by a third-party merchant, an Amazon gift card will be deposited into the student's Amazon account. Amazon already has programs like this for used DVDs and video games.

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"Despite the best efforts of the American Booksellers Association and others in the book industry," Sony Readers will not be available for sale in independent bookstores this holiday season, Bookselling This Week reported. Sony had said in August that it was working with ABA and other retailers, as well as publishers, to make the e-readers and a variety of e-books available for sale by now.

"Those plans were derailed by the fact that Sony won't handle direct orders for small quantities," BTW said. "ABA, which has been working nonstop to broker an arrangement that would enable its members to sell eReaders, stressed that it will be continuing its efforts."

Like B&N's Nook, Sony's new Daily Edition Reader is having shipping and fulfillment problems.

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The as-yet-unnamed third book in Suzanne Collins's bestselling trilogy that began with The Hunger Games in fall 2008 and continued with Catching Fire this fall has been set for next August 24. The U.S. hardcover edition (Scholastic, $17.99, 9780439023511) will be released simultaneously with a U.S. audio version (Scholastic, $39.99, 9780545101424).

On July 6, the trade paperback edition of The Hunger Games (Scholastic, $8.99, 9780439023528) will appear.

The first two books in the trilogy have more than 1.5 million copies in print in North America.

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On November 23, Joseph-Beth Booksellers, which has stores in Kentucky, Ohio, Pennsylvania and North Carolina, opened a 5,500-sq.-ft. store on the main campus of the Cleveland Clinic in Ohio, Bookselling This Week reported. This week, a second store, which has 500 square feet of space, will open at one of the Cleveland Clinic health centers.

The Cleveland Clinic stores have 15%-20% books and magazines and 80%-85% gift items, are owned fully by Joseph-Beth and are staffed by Joseph-Beth booksellers.

Co-owner Neil Van Uum told BTW that with the stores, Joseph-Beth aims to "go after more predictive sales, instead of waiting for people to walk in the door. We wanted to get into growing areas, and education and health care are both growing. We're already involved in schools and book fairs. Now we're mining different opportunities to get involved in the health community and hospitals. We talked with Cleveland Clinic, and now we've got a couple of hospital gift shops in our family of stores."

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We're very sorry to note the death of Don Congdon, legendary editor and agent, who died on Monday at the age of 91. The longtime agent for Ray Bradbury, among many other authors, started out in the business as a delivery boy for a literary agency in Manhattan. The New York Times has a detailed obituary.

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Yesterday's Morning Edition on NPR featured "Top Picks from Independent Booksellers." The three offering recommendations were Daniel Goldin, Boswell Book Co., Milwaukee, Wis., Rona Brinlee, the BookMark, Atlantic Beach, Fla., and Lucia Silva, Portrait of a Bookstore in Studio City, Calif.

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Larry Hughes, "book flack, writer," offered a Grouch's Guide to Un-Christmas Books, on Huffington Post. For those not exactly in the holiday spirit, he wrote, "What you need is an un-Christmas book. An un-Christmas book takes place at Christmastime, but its tone, story and subject matter have nothing to do with the season. It provides perfect cover when the Noël nags accuse you of being a holiday poop. Simply point to the word Christmas in the text and say, 'See, I'm reading this Christmas book,' and just keep the un- part to yourself."

One example is The Thin Man by Dashiell Hammett. Hughes commented: "Stopping over in New York City for the holidays, Nick and Nora Charles get involved in several murders and a lot of other unpleasantness, while knocking back so many cocktails and highballs that you start thinking maybe there was something to Prohibition after all. Following a night of hard drinking on Christmas Eve, the fun-loving couple is up at 5:00 am to welcome in Christmas with--what else?--Scotch and soda."

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Looking for a recession-minded holiday gift guide? ABC News featured a "collection of gift books that can help disgruntled job seekers, downtrodden employees and those pining to work from home."

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Get a Grip on Physics, a layman's guide to physics by British science writer John Gribbin, has had a jump in sales after it was spotted on the floor of Tiger Woods's famously crashed SUV in a widely distributed photo. According to the Wall Street Journal's Speakeasy blog, its Amazon sales rank quickly rose to 2,268 from 396,224.

The best part of the hullabaloo may be a comment by our former colleague Jim Milliot, business and news director at Publishers Weekly: "Anytime a book gets highlighted, you get a spike of a day or two," he said. "It happened when President Bush was carrying some books on vacation. It happened with Obama." When Speakeasy asked if there is an industry term for such a sales boost, he responded, "Dumb luck."

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"Gosh darn, I feel almost as popular as Sarah Palin. I'm not sure if she would get a standing O in Vermont," said Stephen King to a crowd of more than 800 fans at an Under the Dome event hosted by the Northshire Bookstore, Manchester Center, Wednesday night.

"You people who are here tonight, go to Northshire Books, and buy that sucker out to the walls," King advised the audience. "Any independent bookstore is a treasure, but this is a very special place to have in the heart of Vermont."

The Rutland Herald reported that "King ended by taking a poke at his own fame and how well he is and isn't known. He said he had been stopped in an Oregon supermarket by an older woman who told him she recognized him and didn't respect what he did. 'I like uplifting things like that Shawshank Redemption.'

"I said, 'I wrote that one, too.' She said, 'No, you didn't.'"

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Congratulations to Creekside Books & Coffee, Skaneateles, N.Y., which celebrates its fifth anniversary tomorrow with a performance at the Auburn Public Theater of A Child's Christmas in Wales by Dylan Thomas; a fifth anniversary dedication-poem reading; a tasting of holiday sweet breads and spreads; and a holiday tea and wine tasting. Also on tap: a 15% coupon for books and gifts in the store.

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The bookseller members of the board of the American Booksellers Foundation for Free Expression are urging ABA members to join ABFFE when they renew their ABA dues in December, according to Bookselling This Week. "Booksellers have been calling ABFFE for help for almost 20 years," the letter said. "Your support will ensure that there is always someone there to answer."

General membership in the anti-censorship foundation is $50. Premier members, who contribute $75, and VIP members, who give $100, receive premiums. Besides checking the ABFFE box on their dues renewal form, booksellers can join ABFFE by calling 212-587-4025, ext. 15, or sending a check to ABFFE, 275 Seventh Avenue, Room 1504, New York, N.Y. 10001.

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Spain and Spanish publishing will be the focus of the Global Market Forum at BookExpo America in May. The Forum will host a daylong series of educational conference programs at BEA on Tuesday, May 25. In addition, BEA is working with various literary and cultural institutions in New York City, including the 92nd St. Y, the New York Public Library and the Brooklyn Public Library, to provide programming that will be held outside the convention center and be open to the public.

Sponsors for the Forum include the Ministry of Culture of Spain, the Federation of Spanish Publishers (Federacion de Gremios de Editores de Espana) and the Spanish Trade Commission.

 


GLOW: Greystone Books: brother. do. you. love. me. by Manni Coe, illustrated by Reuben Coe


Cool Idea of the Day: Birthday Shopping Spree

Sheryl Cotleur, the buyer at Book Passage, Corte Madera, Calif., shared the following great story with us:

We had a wonderful thing just happen at Book Passage. A woman named Diana Phillips gave her partner, Diane Allevato, 63 minutes of shopping here for books for her 63rd birthday. Diane came in with lists (she prepared for weeks), her partner used a timer and off she went. I was given notice and did some decorating beforehand and had signs made welcoming her.

I was allowed to help her by pulling titles and suggesting others I thought she'd like, and Elaine Petrocelli pushed the cart and also helped find some titles already selected. They also brought two friends, and after it was over we treated them to candlelight dinner in our cafe with several courses and fine wine, white tablecloth, etc. Diane ended up with 73 books, which is pretty amazing as she tried to spend a few minutes with any book she wasn't sure of to consider its appeal. She is known to us as a terrific reader, but still was thrilled when her partner came up with this idea for her birthday.

We all had great fun with this; the gifter and giftee have thanked us several times for how Book Passage fussed over them and even decorated, and of course we were thrilled that someone would think up this idea. We hope this is a trend that will continue!!

 


BINC: Apply Now to The Susan Kamil Scholarship for Emerging Writers!


Holiday Hum: Lyon Books Keeps It Local

Nearly 70 scribes are helping to kick off the holiday shopping season at Lyon Books in Chico, Calif. The store is hosting a series of five Local Author Open Houses, which began on November 19 and culminate tomorrow afternoon. Each event has a minimum of 10 authors signing copies of their books, along with live music, homemade cookies and door prizes. "This is a fun time for us," said owner Heather Lyon. The Open House tradition began last year; 44 authors signed up to be guests of honor.

Lyon Books is also partnering with area authors for another promotion. Authors were invited to chip in toward joint advertisements in two local newspapers. The first full-page, full-color ad appeared the day before Thanksgiving, with four more running once a week after that. The cost was $35 per title per newspaper. Authors could opt to have their books showcased in one or both publications, and a total of 114 spots were purchased. "The response from the community has been wonderful, and these books have been flying off the shelves," Lyon said.

The idea for the group ads came about last year as a way to expand the store's seasonal outreach to authors not featured in the Northern California Independent Booksellers Association regional holiday catalogue, which Lyon, an NCIBA board member, has inserted as a newspaper supplement.

Lyon avidly supports local authors, whether they're with a big house, a small press or self-published. "It turns out there are a lot of people in the area who write and have books," she said. "We try to carry them all here." The store's bestsellers include titles by area residents and Random House writers Greg Cootsona (Say Yes to No) and Susan G. Wooldridge (Poemcrazy: Freeing Your Life with Words). Also among the top sellers are the self-published books Dancing Boots and Pigs' Feet: Memoir of a Refugee from the Hungarian Revolution of 1956 by Miklos Sajben and Walking the Way: A Medieval Quest by Neal A. Wiegman, who came to an Open House dressed in medieval-style garb.

Lyon Books has some 200 self-published titles on consignment, and the store keeps 40% of those sales. Books by local authors account for a substantial portion of the store's revenue. In addition, noted Lyon, focusing on this segment of the market "allows us to distinguish ourselves" from Chico's other bookstore, Barnes & Noble. "This is something they don't do and we can do well." And Lyon's support of local authors has another benefit. "They become cheerleaders for our store," she said. "It really has been the key to our success."--Shannon McKenna Schmidt

 


Media and Movies

Media Heat: Live from FAO Schwarz, It's Jon Scieszka!

Tomorrow on the CBS Early Show: Jon Scieszka, author of Robot Zot (S&S Books for Young Readers, $17.99, 9781416963943/1416963944) will host the "Children's Book Recommendations" segment live at the FAO Schwarz store in New York City.

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Tomorrow on Morning Edition Saturday: Daniel Pinkwater and Scott Simon discuss Ounce Dice Trice by Alastair Reid and Ben Shahn (New York Review Children's Collection, $15.95, 9781590173206/1590173201).

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On CBS Sunday Morning: Matteo Pericoli, author of The City Out My Window: 63 Views on New York (Simon & Schuster, $21.99, 9781416569909/1416569901).

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Books & Authors

Awards: Guardian First Book; Grammy Spoken-Word Nominees

Petina Gappah's An Elegy for Easterly, a story collection about her native Zimbabwe, won the 2009 Guardian First Book Award, which is open to first-time authors writing in English, across all genres. The Guardian's literary editor and chair of judges Claire Armitstead "said she was thrilled to name Gappah as winner, particularly since 2009 is the year of the short story. There had been some wonderful first books, she said, and "Petina Gappah's humane and disarmingly funny mosaic of life in Zimbabwe is undoubtedly one of the very best."

"When I was told, I think I laughed," said Gappah. "It was the last thing I expected. Did you read the books on the shortlist? I mean, seriously good. If I'd been judging the prize I certainly would not have chosen me."

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The following are the nominees for the 2010 Grammys in three spoken-word categories. The main ceremony takes place January 31.

Best Spoken Word Album

  • Always Looking Up by Michael J. Fox (Hyperion Audio)
  • Jonathan Winters--A Very Special Time by Jonathan Winters, with music by Verne Langdon and Skip Edwards (Dejavu Record Company/The Orchard)
  • The Lincoln-Douglas Debates by Richard Dreyfuss and David Strathairn (BBC Audiobooks America)
  • The Maltese Falcon by Dashiell Hammett, narrated by various artists, including Michael Madsen, Sandra Oh and Edward Herrmann (Blackstone Audio)
  • We Can Have Peace in the Holy Land by Jimmy Carter (Simon & Schuster Audio)
  • Wishful Drinking by Carrie Fisher (Simon & Schuster Audio)

Best Spoken-Word Album For Children

  • Aaaaah! Spooky, Scary Stories & Songs by Buck Howdy (Prairie Dog Entertainment)
  • Captain Nobody by Dean Pitchford (Random House Audio/Listening Library)
  • Nelson Mandela's Favorite African Folktales by various artists (Hachette Audio)
  • The Phantom Tollbooth by Norton Juster, narrated by David Hyde Pierce (Harper Children's Audio)
  • Scat by Ed Asner (Random House Audio/Listening Library)
  • Through The Looking-Glass and What Alice Found There by Lewis Carroll, narrated by Harlan Ellison (Blackstone Audio)

Best Comedy Album

  • Back From the Dead by Spinal Tap (The Label Industry/Artist2Market Distribution)
  • A Colbert Christmas: The Greatest Gift of All! by Stephen Colbert (Comedy Central Records)
  • Internet Leaks by "Weird Al" Yankovic (Volcano)
  • My Weakness Is Strong by Patton Oswalt (Degenerate/Warner Bros.)
  • Suckin' It for the Holidays by Kathy Griffin (Music With a Twist)
  • Tall, Dark & Chicano by George Lopez (Comedy Central Records)

 

 


Holiday Gifts: Books for Cooks

Salty Sweets: Delectable Desserts and Tempting Treats with a Sublime Kiss of Salt by Christie Matheson (Harvard Common Press, $19.95, 9781558324152/1558324151, September 2009)
It started for me years ago--the divine pairing of french fries and piña coladas, then the relatively more sophisticated champagne and potato chips. Finally the New York Times caught up with the salt-sweet thing and named salted caramel 2008's hot flavor. (That needs adjustment--it really should be chocolate salted caramel.) Now here's a fine cookbook with 75 recipes catering to this great taste. Sweet Cornbread with Honey Butter tarted up with sea salt; Lemon Sugar Cookies with Zesty Lime Salt; Drunken Sauce (butter, brown sugar, rum, vanilla and--of course--sea salt). Yum.


 
Savory Baking by Mary Cech (Chronicle, $24.95 trade paper, 9780811859066/0811859061, August 2009)
Continuing with the sea salt theme, Mary Cech's recipe for Thyme, Lemon and Sea-Salt Shortbread looks heavenly. She takes "savory" seriously--Italian-scented Madeleines have Parmesan cheese, and her profiteroles are filled with Caprese salad. Winter Squash, Brown Butter and Sage Souffle, Scones Stuffed with Caramelized Red Onions and Brie, Yukon Gold Brown Betty--this book is perfect for the fall and winter seasons. It also has 75 recipes--is that a magic recipe number for a cookbook?


 
The Asian Grandmothers Cookbook: Home Cooking from Asian American Kitchens by Patricia Tanumihardja (Sasquatch Books, $35, 9781570615566/157061556X, October 2009)
The author compiled more than 75 recipes from grandmothers, mothers, aunties and friends and also searched through old church and community cookbooks. The result is not just a wide-ranging recipe collection but a conduit to the past and a hope that Asian-American home cooking will not become a lost art. The recipes, like Nepalese Nine-Bean Soup, Stuffed Potato Flatbread and Japanese-Style Beef Stew, include explanations from the author, variations on the dish and often "Grandma Says"--bits of kitchen wisdom (don't chop cilantro leaves because steel changes the flavor).


 
Pure Simple Cooking: Effortless Meals Every Day by Diana Henry (Ten Speed Press, $21.95 trade paper, 9781580089487/1580089488, April 2009)
Luscious photographs: the first page I opened to featured Pain Perdu with Crème Fraiche and Raspberries, and while Henry promises effortless cooking, I don't care how complicated the recipe might be--next raspberry season, I'm in. And then Roasted Squash with Garlic and Thyme; not a revolutionary recipe, but the photo compels you to make the dish. Or try Vine-growers' Sausages--pork sausages with celery, onion, grapes and red wine. The recipes without illustrations are compelling, too--Roasted Vegetables with Indian Spices, Melting Roast Onions, Sicilian Sweet-and-Sour Tuna. And in spite of some complicated names, the recipes do look almost effortless.
 

Stir: Mixing It Up in the Italian Tradition by Barbara Lynch (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, $35, 9780618576814/0618576819, November 2009)
This is a cookbook I want to work my way through, and it will have a spot right next to Mark Bittman on the shelf. It's attractive, with a simple layout, luscious pictures and sensible explanations. Each recipe has a helpful introduction, and each looks scrumptious. The Roasted Eggplant with Golden Raisin-Pine Nut Vinaigrette and Feta has a bit of anchovy added, which imparts a slightly salty "undertone"; Orecchiette with Cauliflower, Anchovies, and Pistachios, with the anchovy perking up the cauliflower--Lynch knows her way around this salty little gem. Poulet au Pain is a chicken wrapped in bread dough, then baked, resulting in pure comfort food--tender chicken and cracker-like bread. And the desserts! Winter Citrus with Cumin Meringue and Whipped Crème Fraiche; Peaches and Cream made with white wine and mascarpone; Creamy Vanilla Pudding with caramel sauce and Chantilly cream. Too good!


 
My New Orleans: The Cookbook by John Besh (Andrews McMeel, $45, 9780740784132/0740784137, September 2009)
This is a winner in the really big cookbook category--picture-book-sized, over five pounds and chock full of photographs, writing about Louisiana and its food and, of course, lots of recipes. Some of them aren't for the average cook--buster crabs or soft-shell crabs aren't available in many areas, nor are bobwhite quail--and some aren't for the faint of heart, like Père Roux Cake with more than four sticks of butter. But most of the dishes are doable and oh so tempting: Crab Bisque; Rare Seared Tuna with Crushed Figs; Salad of Heirloom Tomatoes, Cheese, and Country Ham; and the excellent Grandmother Walter's Biscuits. Chef and restaurateur John Besh has created a fine cookbook for the seasoned cook.


 

Hot and Hot Fish Club Cookbook: A Celebration of Food, Family and Traditions by Chris and Idie Hastings with Katherine Cobbs (Running Press, $35, 9780762435524/0762435526, September 2009)
This Southern cookbook sometimes uses ingredients not widely found (it seems one needs to go on a father-son dove shoot for Dove Breasts Wrapped in Benton's Bacon); nonetheless, most of the recipes use common ingredients, and the authors provide examples of substitutions. Chefs Chris and Idie Hastings say, "For us, food is magic," and they are committed to using fresh, locally sourced ingredients (their restaurant is in Birmingham); their passion for this should inspire cooks to do the same. In that spirit, the recipes are arranged seasonally, with each two-month period introduced with stories of family and local food purveyors. Try the Hot and Hot Tomato Salad, made with heirloom tomatoes, of course, and field peas, corn, bacon, chive dressing and deep-fried okra; infuse bourbon with figs to make a special toddy; make a New York strip fabulous with poached farm eggs, Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese and truffle oil. --Marilyn Dahl


Book Brahmin: Carlene Bauer

Carlene Bauer is the author of the memoir Not That Kind of Girl, published by Harper in July 2009. Her writing has appeared in Salon, the New York Times Magazine and Elle. She lives in Brooklyn, N.Y., and is at work on a novel.
 
On your nightstand now:
 
Dostoevsky's The Idiot and Jim Carroll's Downtown Diaries (the sequel to The Basketball Diaries). A stained and cracked (but still sturdy) paperback edition of Pierre Franey's The New York Times 60-Minute Gourmet that had been owned by my boyfriend's mother, who gave it to us thinking that we would put it to good use. I haven't made anything from it yet, but it's like reading a Laurie Colwin novel: urbanity and the kitchen, circa the late '70s and early '80s, when my mom was feeding me and my sister Hamburger Helper in the suburbs. Samuel Richardson's Clarissa, which I started and really got into, and thought I had the stamina for, but then, you know... modern life. Or my own damn laziness. It's a draw. Right now that big fat book is holding up a box of Kleenex. I leave it there to mock me.
 
Favorite book when you were a child:
 
Anne of Green Gables. Heaven to Betsy by Maud Hart Lovelace coming a close second.
 
Your top five authors:
 
Currently: Jane Austen, Sylvia Plath, Flannery O'Connor, Dostoevsky and George Orwell.
 
Book you've faked reading:

I don't think I ever have faked reading a book. I wish I had that talent for bluffing. I haven't made it through Swann's Way, and writing that puts me in a shame spiral. I'm having trouble with The Magic Mountain, too, all of which makes me think I'm depressingly non-Continental in spirit.
 
Book you're an evangelist for:
 
Edna O'Brien's Country Girls trilogy, written in the '60s--The Country Girls, The Lonely Girl and Girls in Their Married Bliss. Austere, frank, elegant, unsentimental but yearning books about two young women who leave the Irish countryside for London and then wrestle with the costs. This is an old story, but O'Brien's version of a girl being stripped of her innocence, sometimes willingly, sometimes not, is devastating. Like a Hardy novel rewritten by an Angry Young Woman.
 
Book you've bought for the cover:
 
A version of the Bible packaged for the Jesus Freak generation by Youth For Christ International. The words "Reach Out," not the Holy Bible, take up the whole cover, and the letters are filled with photographs, circa 1968, of thickly side-burned boys in horn-rimmed glasses and girls with ironed hair. The Living New Testament, illustrated, it says--illustrated with more pictures of thickly side-burned guys and long-haired girls, and annotated with helpful thoughts, like this one, about what it was like back in Jesus' day: "Men were sold like lobsters to die for others' amusement." I love that it reads like a tract but looks like a commercial for Hullabaloo.
 
Book that changed your life:
 
The Moviegoer by Walker Percy. Having been raised evangelical, I had no idea one could write a book for God by writing against God, and make it funny to boot. It turned me toward Catholicism.
 
Favorite line from a book:
 
Most recently, this piece of advice from Flannery O'Connor's letters: "If you feel poorly, get yourself a jar of GEVRAL. You take it in milk & put some coffee in it. It is for old people. I love it. Geriatrics!"
 
Book you most want to read again for the first time:
 
I can't think of a book I'd like to read again, but I might like to read Joan Didion's [essay] "Goodbye to All That" for the first time, having now lived in New York longer than she did. When I was 22, I loved the withering, Cassandric tone of the line "It is distinctly possible to have stayed too long at the Fair." I wanted go the Fair and get sick on the rides, too, and come back with that kind of information. But I haven't gotten that kind of sick yet. Woozy, for sure.


Book Review

Book Review: Cairo Modern

Cairo Modern by Naguib Mahfouz (Anchor Books, $15.00 Paperback, 9780307473530, December 2009)


 
Four graduating university students are leaving campus arm-in-arm on a Thursday evening in Cairo as the story begins in Nobel Prize-winning Naguib Mahfouz's newly translated novel. The story of crisscrossing, intersecting lives unfolds at that exciting, unpredictable time in history when women first began attending universities. Of the four young men who form the emotional center of the novel, three are idealistic and righteous, the hope of Egypt--and one is a complete scoundrel, from whose viewpoint the story is told.
 
When his father suffers a stroke and can no longer keep his job, Mahgub's funds are cut off, just as he's about to graduate. Ruthless and merciless, borrowing desperately from friends and relatives, Mahgub is intent on working his way up the social ladder, and he's certainly bold and selfish enough, though not quite as seasoned as he thinks he is about the unpredictable rise and fall of government officials. In an attempt to save himself by landing a government job, he agrees to become a "husband" for the girlfriend of a powerful minister, Qasim Bey, sharing bed rights with the minister, never dreaming that he already knows the mysterious woman he is agreeing to marry sight unseen.
 
Egyptian master Mahfouz writes like an ancient Orient Express still chugging along in perfect condition, old-fashioned in almost every way, with a big Dickensian heart that seems to forgive and understand just about everyone. Crafty and unhurried, Mahfouz steers the narrative with a compassionate, frequently ironic hand, so subtle you're halfway to your destination before you realize where he's taking you. Midway through the novel, this cagey old master reveals a well-prepared shocker, which launches the story toward disaster.
 
The translation by William M. Hutchins is so clean you don't notice it. The morally compromised antihero is the perfect hero for our times, anxious and cunning, insecure and heartless, and somehow in spite of everything sympathetic. An ornate formalism in the plot structure moves the story at a slightly slower speed than most contemporary fiction would dare, and yet Cairo Modern remains constantly fascinating, down to the last detail.--Nick DiMartino
 
Shelf Talker: A story of intersecting lives in Cairo in the 1930s by Egyptian master novelist Naguib Mahfouz: fascinating, ornate and compassionate.


Deeper Understanding

Robert Gray: Marking Books, Marking Time

There are few objects in a reader's life that are more ubiquitous yet personal than the common bookmark. This realization was reinforced last week as I read Sigizmund Krzhizhanovsky's story, "The Bookmark," from his wonderful collection, Memories of the Future (translated by Joanne Turnbull for NYRB Classics).

When the story's narrator rediscovers a favored bookmark with "a flat body of faded blue silk and needlepoint designs trailing a swallowtail train," he recalls, "We hadn't seen each other in a long time: my bookmark and I."

Books had crossed his path in the interim, but "they did not need bookmarks. . . . One consumed these texts posthaste, without reflecting or delectating: both books and two-wheeled carts were needed then strictly to supply words and ammunition. The one with the silk train had no business here."

He thinks fondly of "all the voyages we had taken together--from meanings to meanings, from this set of signatures to that." Now, he resolves, it is time again to "include my old friend in my next reading; instead of a series of memories, I should offer my guest another bundle of books."

Despite the fact that you can mark your place in a novel with Post-its, scraps of paper, napkins, template letters addressed "Dear bookseller or reviewer," dog-eared pages or repositioned end flaps, traditional bookmarks persist.

They must have been among the first sideline items ever sold in bookshops and still hold a place of honor for reliable inventory turns, especially during the holiday season. Bookmarks are a gift that keeps one--especially if the one in question is a hard-to-buy-for reading relative--literally in one's place.

And what other item is both sold and given away free in the same retail environment? Many, if not most, bookshops offer their patrons complimentary bookmarks with the store's logo, contact information and sometimes a pithy quote (perennial favorite: "So many books, so little time") as a promotional tool.

And though computer programmers have attempted to co-opt the term ("Bookmark this page," "Bookmark this item," "Organize Bookmarks," "Bookmarks Toolbar"), the simple act of slipping a flat piece of cardboard or leather or even silk between the pages of a book to save our place remains an important ceremony for readers.

Included among the features on the website for Mirage Bookmarks are a history lesson, bookmark exhibition, link to a Flickr group for vintage bookmarks, as well as a collection of relevant quotations. Two of my favorites:

  • Why pay a dollar for a bookmark? Why not use the dollar for a bookmark?--Steven Spielberg
  • I just got out of the hospital. I was in a speed-reading accident. I hit a bookmark.--Steven Wright

Clearly bookmarks have been on my mind lately. Krzhizhanovsky's story inspired a journey round my office. Moving from shelf to shelf, I ran my fingers along the tops of volumes as I scanned for the presence of my "old friends" and quickly found one marking my place in Fusion Kitsch: Poems from the Chinese of Hsia Yu (translated by Steve Bradbury), a recent acquisition from the Grolier Poetry Book Shop, Cambridge, Mass. The store's bookmark features a blurb from Robert Creeley: "Poetry is our final human language and resource. The Grolier is where poetry still lives, still talks, still makes the only sense that ever matters."

Hidden in an old, broken down Modern Library edition of Henry David Thoreau's Walden was a bookmark from the Hartford Bookshop, Rutland, Vt. Although the bookmark reassured me that the shop was "est. 1835," the sad truth is that the Hartford did not make it beyond the 1970s.

A 17-year-old copy of Michael Ondaatje's The English Patient preserved a black bookmark from Vintage International promoting Corelli's Mandolin by Louis de Bernières by linking it back to back with the Booker Prize winner. I must have kept it because I was a handselling fool for both books.

M.J. Rose's The Reincarnationist sheltered a bookmark from Partners & Crime mystery booksellers in Greenwich Village, where I'd attended a signing. Dava Sobel's Longitude had a glossy bookmark featuring color photos of "John Harrison's Timekeepers" from his 18th century pursuit of the longitude prize. There was an Adelphi University bookmark in my copy of Graham Greene: A Life in Letters and a beautifully understated Archipelago Books card resting in the pages of Gate of the Sun by Elias Khoury.

Each one reminded me of "voyages we had taken together." So I invite you to take a journey round your shelves and see what ancient bookmark treasures are hidden there. Let me know what you find.--Robert Gray (column archives available at Fresh Eyes Now)

 


The Bestsellers

Chicagoland's Top Sellers Last Week

The following were the bestselling titles at independent bookstores in and around Chicago during the week ended Sunday, November 29:

Hardcover Fiction

  1. The Help by Kathryn Stockett
  2. The Lacuna by Barbara Kingsolver
  3. Her Fearful Symmetry by Audrey Niffenegger
  4. A Gate at the Stairs by Lorrie Moore
  5. Wolf Hall by Hilary Mantel

Hardcover Nonfiction

  1. SuperFreakonomics by Steven Levitt and Stephen Dubner
  2. Open by Andre Agassi
  3. The Case for God by Karen Armstrong
  4. You Better Not Cry by Augusten Burroughs
  5. Going Rogue by Sarah Palin

Paperback Fiction

  1. The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larsson
  2. Olive Kitteridge by Elizabeth Strout
  3. The Elegance of the Hedgehog by Muriel Barbery
  4. The Piano Teacher by Janice Lee
  5. Push by Sapphire

Paperback Nonfiction

  1. The Blind Side by Michael Lewis
  2. Julie & Julia by Julie Powell
  3. I Am America (And So Can You!) by Stephen Colbert
  4. Logicomix by Apostolos Doxiadis
  5. Wordy Shipmates by Sarah Vowell

Children's

  1. Waddle! by Rufus Butler Seder
  2. Diary of a Wimpy Kid #1 by Jeff Kinney
  3. Fancy Nancy: Splendiferous Christmas by Nancy O'Connor
  4. The Mysterious Benedict Society by Trenton Lee Stewart
  5. Diary of a Wimpy Kid #4 by Jeff Kinney


Reporting bookstores: Anderson's, Naperville and Downers Grove; Read Between the Lynes, Woodstock; the Book Table, Oak Park; the Book Cellar, Lincoln Square; Lake Forest Books, Lake Forest; the Bookstall at Chestnut Court, Winnetka; and 57th St. Books; Seminary Co-op; Women and Children First, Chicago.

[Many thanks to the booksellers and Carl Lennertz!]

 


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