Canada's Nicholas Hoare "mini-chain" of three indie bookstores, "famous for its high-quality selection and tastefully appointed decor," is preparing to close the Ottawa and Montreal locations next month, the Toronto Globe & Mail reported.

When asked to confirm or deny the report, Hoare said, "You won't get either. You're about 48 hours or 72 ahead of the curve. We're still cleaning up the fine ends and bits and pieces that we've got down here. You're just one step ahead of the posse." He added that more details will be available by the end of the week.

Hoare also offered a measure of reassurance to Toronto patrons regarding the fate of a third bookstore in the St. Lawrence Market, telling the Star: "Toronto is fine--there is absolutely no change whatsoever."
 

For the second time in less than a week, a proposal in the Arizona Senate that would require Amazon to collect taxes on goods it sells to the state's residents failed to pass. The Capitol Times reported that "several senators who balked at the proposal last week changed their mind, but it still wasn't enough to give the bill 16 votes, the threshold that must be reached to pass it. The final tally was 14-16."

With the proposal's latest defeat, it would now "take the unanimous consent of senators to revive the bill again--a nearly impossible task," the Capitol Times wrote.

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In New Jersey, a Record editorial argued that a bill that would exempt Amazon from collecting state sales tax "if it builds two warehouses in the state has gotten better, but it's still not good enough. The bill passed an Assembly committee on Monday, but should go no further... Whether or not it gets a sales tax exemption, Amazon has a logical reason to locate warehouses near its customers. And the wealthy and very populated New Jersey market is not one the company will ignore. While the latest proposal would increase the amount of the company's investment and shorten the exemption period, it still would give Amazon a benefit it likely doesn't need and would hurt many smaller, but more established, New Jersey businesses."
 

Erik Christensen and Jason Zutaut, co-owners of the Book Shack, Kingston, Mass., will open a second location in a 4,000-square-foot space at the Hanover Mall by the end of this month, Wicked Local Kingston reported. Christensen and Zutaut launched their first store last October in a 23,000-square-foot Independence Mall space formerly occupied by Borders.

The Book Shack's retail model focuses on bestsellers and bargain books, using Zutaut's connections as the owner of distributor Book Enterprises. Christensen said business in Kingston has met expectations thus far: "People are buying books, believe it or not." The owners hope to open a third location in Burlington in May.
 

A pair of new reports that focus on the shipment of media tablets and e-readers "shows that nobody really has any idea yet whether tablets are cannibalizing e-reader sales," paidContent reported.

According to market research firm IDC, during the fourth quarter of 2011, "worldwide media tablet shipments into sales channels" increased by 56.1%, to 28.2 million units (up 155% over Q4 2010 shipments). IDC noted that Kindle Fires accounted for 4.7 million of the tablets shipped, compared to 15.4 million iPads, giving Apple a 54.7% worldwide market share and Amazon 16.8%, with Barnes & Noble, at 3.5%, sandwiched between Samsung in third and Pandigital in fifth.

IDC reported that traditional e-readers "also experienced 'stronger-than-expected' growth in Q4, which the company attributed to 'sharp price cuts in established markets' as well as more shipments to countries outside North America," paidContent wrote. IDC claimed that 10.7 million e-readers were shipped worldwide in Q4, up from 6.5 million units in Q3. The company predicted 7.4 million units would ship during the first quarter of 2012 and growth will continue as Amazon, B&N and Kobo expand internationally.

On the other hand, a recent Digitimes report contended that "e-reader shipments will 'slip' to two million units in Q1 2012, down from an estimated nine million units in Q4 2011," paidContent reported, calling the discrepancy "just another reminder that they are estimates and that this data is coming from research firms, not directly from Apple, Amazon and Barnes & Noble themselves."
 

Last week, Crown Publishing Group president and publisher Maya Mavjee hosted a launch party for The Expats by Chris Pavone. From l.: Mavjee; Madeline McIntosh, president of sales, operation and digital at Random House (and wife of the author); Pavone; Molly Stern, senior v-p and publisher of Crown; and David Drake, senior v-p, executive director of publicity at Crown.

Consortium Book Sales & Distribution is adding the following eight presses, effective June 1, except for the cases noted:

Central Recovery Press, Las Vegas, Nev., affiliated with the Las Vegas Recovery Center, specializes in addiction treatment and recovery and behavioral healthcare topics for people in recovery and their families, professionals and the general public. Central Recovery Press's titles will be available July 1.

February Books, New York, N.Y., founded by book marketers Dee Dee DeBartlo and Gretchen Crary, publishes books that tell stories that "will ignite meaningful debate and catch readers' attention." February Books' first two titles are Obama Karma: Lessons on Living Inspired by the 44th President by Russell Razzaque and Getting to Bartlett Street: Our 25-Year Quest to Level the Playing Field in Education by Joe and Carol Reich.

Global Book Sales, London, England, is a new company providing global sales and distribution that has chosen Consortium as its U.S. distribution partner. Global Book Sales is launching with two publishers in the U.S.: Fonthill Media, a new company led by Alan Sutton, founder of Arcadia Publishing, which publishes history, military and transport books; and Clarksdale Books, the music imprint of Ovolo Books, which will publish titles about contemporary music.

Independent Thinking Press, Bancyfelin, Wales, a new imprint of Crown House Publishing, will specialize in educational titles covering a spectrum of "educational innovation from practical strategies to engage and motivate all young people to inspirational yet no-nonsense approaches to educational leadership."

Torrey House Press, Torrey, Utah, is publishing books that increase awareness of and appreciation for the land, history, people, economy, and cultures of the American West. Torrey House Press is donating 2% of sales to environmental organizations.

Tyrant Books, New York, N.Y., founded in 2009, is a "testing ground for today's emerging writers whose work is initially deemed too incendiary or avant garde for the more mainstream audiences and presses."

Uncivilized Books, Minneapolis, Minn., founded by Tomasz Kaczynski, publishes comic books by "a fresh breed of cartoonists who are unafraid to grapple with big ideas and push comics into the future."

Zuccotti Park Press, Brooklyn, N.Y., and the Occupied Media Pamphlet Series were inspired by the Occupy movement and created by Greg Ruggiero to produce accessible, pamphlet-sized works by a variety of authors, including Noam Chomsky, Mumia Abu Jamal and Angela Davis, who envision a society based on democracy, justice and equality. Produced by Adelante Alliance, a Brooklyn non-profit that serves the Spanish-speaking immigrant community, titles will address "ignored, taboo, or under-discussed issues necessary for greater public participation along with occasional works of the imagination, poetry and indigenous culture."

Bookmasters is now distributing Express Publishing's English Language Learning materials in the U.S. and Canada. The Express catalogue of books, AV materials and whiteboard applications will be sold by Sussman Sales Company and its LightSwitch Learning division, which are Bookmasters' exclusive sales reps to the K-12 market.

Founded in 1988, Express Publishing has offices in London and Athens and has some 2,000 titles that are sold in 80 countries.

Fair Coin by E.C. Myers (Pyr/Prometheus).

Tomorrow morning on Good Morning America: Heather Poole, author of Cruising Attitude: Tales of Crashpads, Crew Drama, and Crazy Passengers at 35,000 Feet (Morrow, $14.99, 9780061986468).

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Tomorrow morning on CBS This Morning: Liza Mundy, author of The Richer Sex: How the New Majority of Female Breadwinners Is Transforming Sex, Love and Family (Simon & Schuster, $27, 9781439197714).

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Tomorrow on Prime Time Radio: R. J. Smith, author of The One: The Life and Music of James Brown (Gotham, $27.50, 9781592406579).

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Tomorrow on MSNBC's Dylan Ratigan Show: Kate Stone Lombardi, author of The Mama's Boy Myth: Why Keeping Our Sons Close Makes Them Stronger (Avery, $26, 9781583334577).

Warner Bros. Studio Tour London: the Making of Harry Potter opens March 31, but the Guardian's Sam Jones had an early peek at the exhibition, which "promises to bring true wizard fans closer to the heroes and villains than ever before.... they will be able to stroll down Diagon Alley, peer into Professor Snape's potions class and gaze around Dumbledore's office as the set where the eight films were shot opens to the public for the first time."

Jones noted that while "the veil is well and truly lifted" on the Harry Potter moviemaking mystique (see photos here), "the more technical trickery reveals its sleight of hand, the more the sheer ingenuity and effort that went into the films becomes apparent... [and] all the signs suggest it will enchant visitors as much as the books and films that gave rise to it."
 

Book TV airs on C-Span 2 this week from 8 a.m. Saturday to 8 a.m. Monday and focuses on political and historical books as well as the book industry. The following are highlights for this coming weekend. For more information, go to Book TV's website.

Saturday, March 17

9 a.m. Jamal Joseph, author of Panther Baby: A Life of Rebellion & Reinvention (Algonquin, $14.95, 9781616201296), recounts his life as a member of the Black Panther Party. (Re-airs Sunday at 7 p.m. and Monday at 6:45 a.m.)

10:30 a.m. David Rothkopf discusses Power, Inc.: The Epic Rivalry Between Big Business and Government--and the Reckoning that Lies Ahead (FSG, $30, 9780374151287).

12 p.m. Daniel Flynn talks about Blue Collar Intellectuals: When the Enlightened and the Everyman Elevated America (Intercollegiate Studies Institute, $27.95, 9781610170208). (Re-airs Saturday at 9 p.m. and Sunday at 3 a.m.)

1 p.m. Marwan Bishara presents his book The Invisible Arab: The Promise and Peril of the Arab Revolution (Nation Books, $26, 9781568587080). (Re-airs Sunday at 6:45 a.m.)

2:15 p.m. Senator James Inhofe talks about The Greatest Hoax: How the Global Warming Conspiracy Threatens Your Future (WND Books, $25.95, 9781936488490). (Re-airs Sunday at 6 a.m. and 8:15 p.m.)

7 p.m. Masha Gessen discusses The Man Without a Face: The Unlikely Rise of Vladimir Putin (Riverhead, $27.95, 9781594488429). (Re-airs Sunday at 4 a.m.)

8 p.m. At an event hosted by Politics & Prose Bookstore, Washington, D.C., David Brock presents his book The Fox Effect: How Roger Ailes Turned a Network Into a Propaganda Machine (Anchor, $15, 9780307279583). (Re-airs Sunday at 5 a.m.)

10 p.m. After Words. Michael Tomasky interviews Linda Killian, author of The Swing Vote: The Untapped Power of Independents (St. Martin's, $25.99, 9780312581770). (Re-airs Sunday at 9 p.m., and Monday at 12 a.m. & 3 a.m.)

11 p.m. A panel discussion--"Global Economy: Crisis Without End"--features George Soros, Paul Krugman, Jeffrey Sachs and Edmund Phelps, with Robert Silvers as moderator. (Re-airs Sunday at 9 a.m.)
   
Sunday, March 18

11 a.m. Mark Levin, author of Ameritopia: The Unmaking of America (Threshold Editions, $26.99, 9781439173244), argues that utopianism is untenable. (Re-airs Sunday at 10 p.m. and Monday at 2 a.m.)

As he accepted the prize for Outstanding Debut Fiction during last night's National Jewish Book Awards for his novel Boxer, Beetle, Ned Bauman (foreground, right) told the audience about growing up in Hampstead, which he described as a very Jewish but very secularized neighborhood of London. "Because of my background," he quipped, "nobody had ever said mazel tov to me before, so I don't know exactly what it means," and since he wasn't getting any reception on his smartphone, he couldn't look it up online. "But I know it's a good thing, because people have been saying it to me all day."

Although Beauman is currently living in New York City, Simon Sebag Montefiore actually did come from London to accept the award for the Jewish Book of the Year for Jerusalem: A Biography, speaking amiably about his family's historical connection to the city--his 19th-century ancestor, Sir Moses Montefiore, was a major philanthropic supporter of the city's Jewish community--and his efforts to reflect all the religious and ethnic perspectives that have shaped the city's history. After their acceptance speeches, Montefiore and Beauman and the evening's other honorees gathered in the front hall of the Center for Jewish History to sign books for the audience. A full list of the recipients is available at the National Jewish Book Awards website. --Ron Hogan

The Children's Book Council's fifth annual Children's Choice Book Awards, in association with Every Child a Reader, are now in full swing. Children and teens may vote to help determine the winners among 30 finalists in six categories, including Author and Illustrator of the Year. Last year a record-breaking 525,000 children and teens took part in the contest.

Young readers may now cast their votes for their favorite books, author and illustrator at bookstores, schools and libraries, and at www.BookWeekOnline.com until May 3. The winners will be announced at the annual Children's Choice Book Awards Gala on May 7 at Espace in New York City as part of Children's Book Week (May 7-13). 

The Children's Choice Book Award categories and finalists are:

Kindergarten to Second Grade Book of the Year
Bailey by Harry Bliss (Scholastic)
Dot by Patricia Intriago (FSG/Macmillan)
Pirates Don't Take Baths by John Segal (Philomel/Penguin)
Three Hens and a Peacock by Lester L. Laminack, illustrated by Henry Cole (Peachtree)
Zombie in Love by Kelly DiPucchio, illustrated by Scott Campbell (Atheneum/S&S)

Third Grade to Fourth Grade Book of the Year
Bad Kitty Meets the Baby by Nick Bruel (Roaring Brook/Macmillan)
A Funeral in the Bathroom: And Other School Bathroom Poems by KalliDakos, illustrated by Mark Beech (Albert Whitman)
The Monstrous Book of Monsters by Libby Hamilton, illustrated by Jonny Duddle and Aleksei Bitskoff (Templar/Candlewick)
Sidekicks by Dan Santat (Arthur A. Levine/Scholastic)
Squish #1: Super Amoebaby Jennifer L. Holm and Matthew Holm (Random House)

Fifth Grade to Sixth Grade Book of the Year
Bad Island by Doug TenNapel (Graphix/Scholastic)
How to Survive Anything by Rachel Buchholz, illustrated by Chris Philpot (National Geographic)
Lost & Found by Shaun Tan (Arthur A. Levine/Scholastic)
Okay for Now by Gary D. Schmidt (Clarion/HMH)
Racing in the Rain: My Life as a Dog by Garth Stein (HarperCollins)

Teen Book of the Year
Clockwork Prince: The Infernal Devices, Book Two by Cassandra Clare (Margaret K. McElderry/S&S)
Daughter of Smoke and Bone by Laini Taylor (Little, Brown)
Divergent by Veronica Roth (Katherine Tegen/HarperCollins)
Passion: A Fallen Novel by Lauren Kate (Delacorte/Random House)
Perfect by Ellen Hopkins (Margaret K. McElderry Books/Simon & Schuster)

Author of the Year
Jeff Kinney for Diary of a Wimpy Kid 6: Cabin Fever (Amulet Books/Abrams)
Christopher Paolini for Inheritance (Knopf)
James Patterson for Middle School, The Worst Years of My Life (Little, Brown)
Rick Riordan for The Son of Neptune (The Heroes of Olympus, Book 2)(Disney Hyperion)
Rachel Renée Russell for Dork Diaries 3: Tales from a Not-So-Talented Pop Star (Aladdin/S&S)

Illustrator of the Year
Felicia Bond for If You Give a Dog a Donut (Balzer + Bray/HarperCollins)
Eric Carle for The Artist Who Painted a Blue Horse (Philomel/Penguin)
Anna Dewdney for Llama Llama Home With Mama (Viking/Penguin)
Victoria Kann for Silverlicious (HarperCollins)
Brian Selznick for Wonderstruck (Scholastic)

This year's longlist has been announced for the Independent Foreign Fiction Prize, which honors modern writing in translation with a £10,000 (US$ 15,701) award that is shared equally by the author and translator. The shortlisted books will be named April 16 at the London Book Fair.
 

Selected books appearing next Tuesday, March 20:

Fall from Grace: A Novel by Richard North Patterson (Scribner, $26, 9781451617054) unravels a web of family secrets after a patriarch's passing.

The Kane Chronicles Survival Guide by Rick Riordan (Hyperion, $12.99, 9781423153627) is an illustrated guide to the world of the Kane Chronicles.

Born to Darkness by Suzanne Brockmann (Ballantine, $26, 9780345521279) follows an ex-Navy SEAL's induction into a secretive institute for psychics.

Gossip: A Novel by Beth Richardson Gutcheon (Morrow, $25.99, 9780061931420) explores the strained personal lives of three New York socialites.

Why Nations Fail: The Origins of Power, Prosperity, and Poverty by Daron Acemoglu (Crown, $30, 9780307719218) argues that the inclusiveness of a country's political and economic institutions determines its success.


Now in paperback:

The Magic by Rhonda Byrne (Atria, $12.99, 9781451673449).

House of Odd by Dean Koontz (Del Rey, $10.99, 9780345525451).

Food Network Magazine 1,000 Easy Recipes: Super Fun Food for Every Day by Food Network Magazine (Hyperion, $24.99, 9781401310745).

In British screenwriter Amanda Coe's debut novel, What They Do in the Dark, "dark" is definitely the operative concept, with the bleak 1970s Yorkshire town echoing the darkness overriding the lives of Gemma and Pauline, the prepubescent girls at the center of Coe's story.

Both girls are fans of child TV star Lallie Paluza, and that's about all they have in common. Gemma comes from a "good" family; that is, she has plenty to eat, pocket money, good clothes and even a bath on a regular basis. Pauline, on the other hand, is a "bad" girl. She is ragged, smells, never washes, is always hungry and bullies her classmates for money and food. She is a foul-mouthed brawler, is barely literate and longs for the love of her mother--or a reasonable facsimile, since the actual one is a hooker who plies her trade in Leeds and returns home only every few months to rest. In her absence, Pauline's household is made up of a random sample of siblings, a derelict grandmother and various "uncles."

When Pauline and Gemma hear that Lallie's production company is going to shoot a move in Yorkshire and their school will be one of the locations, they are agog with hopes of becoming Lallie's friends and, ultimately, movie stars. Those dreams die a-borning as Gemma is overlooked completely and Pauline, in an attempt to be noticed positively for a change, nicks money from her grandmother, goes to a hairdresser and has her hair cut. (Her mother had peroxided it last time she was home, so Pauline's normally dark hair is now black and white.) The casting director, who had looked favorably upon Pauline, now sees her as just part of the crowd of kids.

The cast and crew of the production company form a Greek chorus in the background, and the film's script, so cleverly conceived by Coe, is a perfect example of life imitating art. This darkly funny, sordid, brutally honest concoction comes to a conclusion that nobody could predict, yet it could not have ended any other way, given what happens to Gemma and Pauline as their lives intertwine in a downward spiral toward disaster. --Valerie Ryan

Shelf Talker: A darkly funny story of two young girls whose hopes and dreams come to a disastrously tragic end.