Cynthia Conigliaro, a former Rizzoli International employee and an owner of the old ArchiviaBooks, is opening a new ArchiviaBooks on November 1, according to Interior Design. The 800-sq.-ft. store on the Upper East Side in New York City will have 3,000 titles "curated for designers, architects, collectors and enthusiasts" and will stage author signings, readings and lectures.

Appropriately Conigliaro took some care with the design of the store. The magazine described it this way: "Maple wood and brushed stainless steel accents partner with Tuscan orange walls. Desk chairs are Eames, in white leather, and a Werner Panton chandelier glows from above."

ArchiviaBooks's categories include architecture, design, decorative arts, interiors, furniture, gardens, fine arts and fashion.

The store is located at 993 Lexington Avenue at 71st Street, New York, N.Y. 10021; 212-570-9565.

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Barnes & Noble chairman Len Riggio's recent major purchases of B&N stock, including $11.3 million's worth last week, can be seen as an indication that "he isn't in the midst of negotiating the leveraged buyout many investors wanted earlier in the year, or working on a combination with rival Borders Group, about which there has been much speculation lately," today's Wall Street Journal wrote. "Either move would be expected to light a fire under the shares, but any chairman accumulating stock ahead of such a deal could go from insider buyer to insider trader. And that certainly wouldn't be a very storybook ending." 

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If we sold it.

Four weeks after its controversial publication, O.J. Simpson's If I Did It: Confessions of the Killer seems to be a success. According to the Los Angeles Times, Nielsen Bookscan reports that 68,000 have been sold, though "Beaufort Books President Eric Kampmann, who published the title, suggests that the actual sales figure may be a lot higher, more in the range of 100,000 to 120,000 copies, based on his firm's internal data."

The article noted that the book "went as high as No. 2 on the New York Times list until falling this week to the 13th spot. It is No. 7 on the Los Angeles Times bestseller list this week, and hit No. 4 on the Washington Post list soon after publication. Booksellers around the country report modest but continuing sales: Vroman's Bookstore in Pasadena has sold 18 copies so far, according to promotional director Jennifer Ramos."

Cathy Langer, lead buyer for the Tattered Cover Book Store, Denver, Colo., said, "It turned out to be the kind of book where people respond to a lot of media attention, and then it sells, until interest wanes."

And Beaufort's Kampmann added that "there really wasn't a groundswell of revulsion we might have expected."

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Historian Saul Friedlander was awarded the 2007 Peace Prize of the Boersenverein, the German publishers, wholesalers and booksellers association, at the Frankfurt Book Fair. The AP (via the Washington Post) reported that the association honored Friedlander, a professor at UCLA whose works include his two-volume collection, The Third Reich and the Jews, for being "one of the last historiographers to have witnessed and experienced the Holocaust--a genocide that was announced early on, planned openly and carried out with machinelike precision. Friedlander rejects the distanced approach often associated with the writing of history: He creates a space for incomprehensibility--the only possible reaction to such an unfathomable crime."

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Kelly Anderson, who has a blog called Where There's a Will, is a long-time champion of people with Down's Syndrome, which her young son has. She has created a contest both to familiarize entrants with their local independent bookstores and "show people that an extra chromosome is not a barrier to reading." She is asking for e-mail photo submissions of a reader or readers with Down's Syndrome as well as favorite book titles. The drawing is November 19; the prize is a $25 Book Sense gift card.

Anderson modeled the contest after the Get Caught Reading contest run by the Learned Owl Book Shop, Hudson, Ohio, which was her local--and favorite--bookstore before she moved to Colorado.

On the blog, she wrote in part about the store: "Walking into the Learned Owl, you felt as though you could absorb some wisdom from its ancient walls, that time had stood still there, save for the new releases on the front table. It was a place of little nooks you could tuck yourself into while you perused the shop's offerings. I usually ended up there with a stroller that contained Will. Will, from his first few weeks of life, has had the chance to feel the coziness of being enveloped by tall shelves of books and that unmistakable new book smell. I don't think I ever left that store empty handed."

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Subterranean Books has won Best Book Store in St. Louis in the Riverfront Times's Best of St. Louis listings. This marks the sixth time the store has won the award in its seven years in business.

The Times wrote in part: "The shelves hold the best new titles culled from the reams of publishing dreck, the older titles you must read before you die, used books (not as many as it used to, but still enough to allow for the more-than-occasional serendipitous find) and stuff from the counterculture, subculture and high culture you won't find anywhere else. And now that Subterranean has opened a mezzanine on either side of the store, it's supporting local artists and artisans."

Owner Kelly von Plonski said, "We are absolutely thrilled to be crowned best bookstore once more. I cried the year we lost."
 

This morning on the Today Show: James Lipton, host of Inside the Actor's Studio and author of Inside Inside (Dutton, $27.95, 9780525950356/0525950354). He will also appear tonight on Late Night with Conan O'Brien.

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This morning on Good Morning America: Carolyn Jessop, author of Escape (Broadway, $24.95, 9780767927567/0767927567). She will also appear tonight on CNN's Anderson Cooper 360.

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This morning on the Early Show: Stephen Colbert, host of the Colbert Report and author of I Am America (And So Can You!) (Grand Central, $26.99, 9780446580502/0446580503).

Joel Osteen, author of Become a Better You (Free Press, $25, 9780743296885/0743296885), will also appear on the Early Show.

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Today on KCRW's Bookworm: Alice Sebold, author of The Almost Moon (Little, Brown, $24.99, 9780316677462/0316677469). As the show put it: "Alice Sebold wrote The Lovely Bones, one of the most beloved and lovable books in recent years. How did she prepare herself for the onslaught she'll face with The Almost Moon, a book which, for all its quality, is resolutely in the realm of unlovability. Alice Sebold, on the writer's obligation to surprise, to grow and to change."

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Today on the Diane Rehm Show: Larry Sabato, author of A More Perfect Constitution: 23 Proposals to Revitalize Our Constitution and Make America a Fairer Country (Walker, $25.95, 9780802716217/0802716210).

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Today on the View: Senator Christopher Dodd, presidential aspirant and author of Letters from Nuremberg: My Father's Narrative of a Quest for Justice (Crown, $25.95, 9780307381163/0307381161).

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Today on NPR's Fresh Air: Junot Diaz, author of The Brief Wonderful Life Oscar Wao (Riverhead, $24.95, 9781594489587/1594489580).

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Today on NPR's All Things Considered: Garry Trudeau talks about the stories of real soldiers as collected in Doonesbury.com's The Sandbox: Dispatches from Troops in Iraq and Afghanistan (Andrews McMeel, $16.95, 9780740769450/0740769456).

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Today on Oprah: Suze Orman, author of Women & Money: Owning the Power to Control Your Destiny (Spiegel & Grau, $24.95, 9780385519311/0385519311).

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Tonight on Larry King Live: Bill Cosby discusses his new book, Come On People: On the Path from Victims to Victors (Thomas Nelson, $25.99, 9781595550927/1595550925).

 

Book TV airs on C-Span 2 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, October 20

6 p.m. Encore Booknotes. In a segment first aired in 1996, Monica Crowley, author of Nixon Off the Record: His Candid Commentary on People and Politics, discussed her depiction of Nixon's intense political life after he left the presidency. Crowley served as Nixon's foreign-policy assistant and political confidante during his final years.    

7 p.m. Public Lives. Vicente Fox, author of Revolution of Hope: The Life, Faith, and Dreams of a Mexican President (Viking, $27.95, 9780670018390/0670018392), recounts his notable life, from his grandfather's immigration to Mexico from Ohio to his successful corporate and political careers. (Re-airs Sunday at 1:45 a.m.)
     
9 p.m. After Words. Viet Dinh, the former Assistant Attorney General who assisted in the development of the USA Patriot Act, interviews Naomi Wolf, author of The End of America: Letter of Warning to a Young Patriot (Chelsea Green, $13.95, 9781933392790/1933392797). Wolf has compiled a case against the Bush administration and Congress for what she believes are actions to reduce the civil liberties of the American populace. (Re-airs Sunday at 6 p.m. and 9 p.m., and Monday at 12 a.m.)
     
10 p.m. History on Book TV. Egil Krogh, author of Integrity: Good People, Bad Choices and Life Lessons from the White House (PublicAffairs, $25, 9781586484675/1586484672), chronicles his time as co-director of the Nixon Adminstration’s Special Investigations Unit, aka the "Plumbers," and his role in the Watergate break-in. (Re-airs Sunday at 7:30 a.m.)

 

Eat, read and be merry is an apt motto for several bookstores that have found appetizing ways to pair books and food.

Partnering with a local cooking school has proven profitable for TurnRow Book Co., Greenwood, Miss. The general interest bookstore regularly hosts events with cookbook scribes, many of whom teach workshops at the Viking Cooking School. "When we're dealing with publishers, not only can we say we'll have a book signing but that we also have this cooking school in town," said TurnRow owner Jamie Kornegay. "It's a good place for authors to do their demonstrations, and it helps us with book sales."

Last year David Pasternack, co-author of The Young Man & the Sea, educated workshop participants on preparing various types of sea bounty before attending a signing at TurnRow. Last weekend Nancie McDermott taught a Viking class based on her new book, Southern Cakes, followed by an afternoon appearance at the store, where Red Velvet Cake was one of the confections served. Customers could attend one or both events.

"There's a cooperative spirit here in Greenwood," said Kornegay, which was evident when Jill Conner Browne came to promote The Sweet Potato Queens' 1st Big-Ass Novel: Stuff We Didn't Actually Do, but Could Have, and May Yet. Viking's retail store offered customers sweet potato ice cream, while a bakery served sweet potato soup as part of its lunch special.

Later this month TurnRow will host Alice Waters, whose new book is The Art of Simple Food: Notes, Lessons, and Recipes from a Delicious Revolution, in conjunction with the Southern Foodways Symposium held annually in nearby Oxford. Also appearing this month is Molly O'Neill, editor of American Food Writing: An Anthology with Classic Recipes. O'Neill will be fêted with a potluck event at TurnRow on October 23. Customers are invited to bring their tastiest covered dish for evaluation by O'Neill, who is searching for recipes for the next volume in the series. In addition to food-focused gatherings, TurnRow offers gourmands "A Chef's Library," a signed first editions club of cookbooks and culinary narratives.

An easy way to enliven author events, noted Kornegay, is to serve cocktails that tie in with a book's theme. At a gathering for The Lee Bros. Southern Cooking, customers nibbled on boiled peanuts and sipped mint juleps. They quaffed mojitos in honor of Ace Atkins' novel White Shadow, set in Tampa and Havana. T.R. Pearson, author of Seaworthy: Adrift with William Willis in the Golden Age of Rafting, was toasted with Salty Dogs.

At Chester County Book and Music Company in West Chester, Pa., food is often incorporated into events--and sometimes is the main focus. One of the store's most successful programs is a "Buy Fresh, Buy Local" campaign to support area farms. "The whole idea is not only to be aware of an independent bookstore but of other independent merchants to keep dollars locally in the community," said Chester County bookseller and current NAIBA president Joe Drabyak.

An in-store display features a map highlighting local farms that sell produce directly to consumers, along with a selection of titles such as raw food cookbooks. As part of the initiative, the store hosts covered dish gatherings. One such get-together included a discussion of The Omnivore's Dilemma, and an upcoming appearance by Christina Pirello, author of Cooking the Whole Foods Way, is timed to coincide with fall harvest.

"Food can be used to enhance a theme or set a specific tone for a gathering," said Drabyak, who personally prepared 16 pounds of nuts for a presentation of Party Nuts! and baked 14 cakes for a tasting demonstration of The Cake Mix Doctor. Victuals can also lend flair to general events, Drabyak added. Readers who turned out for an appearance by historical novelist Philippa Gregory were treated to high tea, which "spoke to both her British heritage and the courtly and formal nature of her writings," said Drabyak. For an event promoting summer beach reads, Chester County enlisted the aid of two cookbook authors to prepare a tasting of grilled and barbecue foods. Added Drabyak, "There is something very communal about food."

Food regularly brings together customers at Joseph-Beth Booksellers in Pittsburgh, Pa., and at Bookin' It in Little Falls, Minn., where ardent amateur chefs convene monthly as part of cooking book clubs.

At Joseph-Beth's Pittsburgh outpost, even those who aren't part of the Cookbook Pot-Luck Club often get to sample fare made by members. "We like to get other customers involved and have them try the food," said bookseller Anna Wolak, who leads the year-old club. Club members try their hand at making dishes from a different cookbook each month and decide after sampling the results if they want to buy the book. That way, explained Wolak, "they do not have to pay $20 or more for a cookbook they might not enjoy. However, after the meeting members normally purchase the book."

The Wagamama Cookbook with recipes from the noodle restaurant chain was a hit with Potluck participants (and other store customers)--particularly the pineapple yakitori and a green tea sponge cake made by Wolak, who cited the popularity of the Food Network as one of the reasons for the launch of the club. The club focuses solely on cooking and pastry books, and choices have included The Breakaway Cook: Recipes that Break Away from the Ordinary. This month's selection is 5 Spices, 50 Dishes: Simple Indian Recipes Using Five Common Spices, which will be followed by Sweet Spot: Asian-Inspired Desserts.

Bookin' It's Good Living Cookbook Club has been meeting for nearly a decade. "We don't discuss, we cook," said store owner Laura Hansen, although members are required to reveal if they made ingredient substitutions or had difficulties preparing a recipe. The club, which Hansen founded at the request of a customer, gathers in the store with an annual holiday soirée held at a restaurant or a member's home.

The club's participants make recipes from the same volume over a three-month span. "It didn't seem realistic that most people, even the most avid cooks, would buy 12 cookbooks a year," commented Hansen. This in-depth approach also gives members the opportunity "to try as many recipes from each book as possible," Hansen said. Award-winning titles are popular club picks, and there is an emphasis on maintaining "a mix of ethnic or specialty books alongside more general books," said Hansen. Selections must contain enough content to last three months, she added, "and have a range of recipes from appetizers through main courses, sides and desserts." The club's October-December pick is The Silver Palette Cookbook 25th Anniversary Edition.

And for anyone who may have worked up an appetite reading this article, Hansen recommends the Tomato Tart from Southern Living: 40 Years of Our Best Recipes.--Shannon McKenna Schmidt

The newest Books for Understanding online bibliography from the Association of American University Presses focuses on civil infrastructure. Think this is boring? As the AAUP notes, "The bridge collapse in Minneapolis in August 2007 was a horrifying reminder of the importance of infrastructure planning and maintenance to the public weal. Setbacks on major public works projects, overstrained power grids, the privatization of state turnpikes, and the danger posed by both natural disasters and terrorism to cities and transportation hubs are related issues facing communities around the world."

Among the more than 70 titles in the bibliography:

• Broken Buildings, Busted Budgets: How to Fix America's Trillion-Dollar Construction Industry by Barry B. LePatner (University of Chicago Press, 2007)
• Taking the High Road: A Metropolitan Agenda for Transportation Reform edited by Bruce Katz and Robert Puentes (Brookings Institution Press, 2005)
• The Culture of Flushing: A Social and Legal History of Sewage by Jamie Benidickson (University of British Columbia Press, 2007)
• New Departures: Rethinking Rail Passenger Policy in the Twenty-First Century by Anthony Perl (University Press of Kentucky, 2002)

In his latest riveting novel, Bloor (Tangerine) imagines a world less than 30 years in the future, in which the economic divide has grown so deep that families who can afford to, live in walled, high-security communities to thwart the many kidnappers who take children for ransom. People watch programs via vidscreen (a combination TV and computer), rich parents implant in their children a GTD (a microchip Global Tracking Device) and only the privileged and their servants, who work for the RDS (Royal Domestic Service), can gain access to healthcare. As the book opens, 13-year-old narrator Charity Meyers has been "taken." Her father, a successful dermatologist, is going through a messy divorce from his high-profile second wife, famous for her reality vidscreen programs. (Charity's mother died when she was seven years old.) Charity's real guardian has been Victoria, their RDS maid from Mexico City, and also their RDS butler, Albert. Through Charity's internal monologue, readers quickly learn that kidnapping is a common means of trade and that teachers prepare their students on what to do in that circumstance. Charity engages one of her captors in conversation, and, through their discourse, Bloor raises provocative questions about race, entitlement and fairness. In an attempt to keep herself distracted, the heroine reflects back on the days leading up to her kidnapping on New Year's Eve 2035. Questions arise: How did the "poser" doctors get past the guards at the Highlands? Normally, the process of kidnapping, to delivery of the ransom, to freeing the victim took 24 hours--why was Charity's taking so much longer? Bloor's twist ending, with a hair-raising scene involving a helicopter in an electrical storm, will likely surprise even the most avid of mystery/suspense readers. Charity must make a choice, and though her decision takes place mostly offstage, it feels authentic to the strong character Bloor has created. This one may well inspire heated debate among teens about the tradeoffs between wealth and freedom.--Jennifer M. Brown