This is our last issue of 2005, number 117 (the automatic numbering system up above is off because of a one-time editorial malfunction in June). It's been a fast, happy, demanding ride, but we've been very gratified by your support and many comments. Please keep them coming!

In the new year, we'll be adding some features and tinkering with the newsletter and Web site, all with the goal of helping booksellers, librarians and others who deal with books to do their jobs better--and have a little fun at the same time.

For all our retail readers, best of luck during the next few days. Please do let us know how the season winds up--via e-mail is best.

All of us here at Shelf Awareness wish everyone Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah, Happy Kwanzaa and a very special Winter Solstice.

See you on January 3!

After the Senate voted on Wednesday to extend the Patriot Act six months, the House countered with a five-week extension. Last night the Senate approved the shorter extension, which President Bush has said he will sign.

As matters stand now, the Patriot Act will run in its current form until February 3. Expect more furious Congressional debate in January over whether or not to make changes in the Act to protect civil liberties.

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William C. Rodgers, who had been arrested earlier this month in a federal ecoterrorism case involving the Earth Liberation Front (Shelf Awareness, December 12), has committed suicide in jail. Owner of the Catalyst InfoShop bookstore in Prescott, Ariz., Rodgers was charged with being part of several arson cases in Vail, Colo., that caused $12 million of damage.

A statement issued yesterday by "the Friends of Catalyst" reads:

"We mourn the passing of our dear friend and community member, Bill Rodgers, who worked tirelessly for the causes of social justice and environmental sustainability. We ask that he be remembered as the gentle, kind, and compassionate person we all knew and loved here in Prescott. We remain committed to continuing the work of community building and ecological awareness, through the Catalyst Infoshop, as part of the legacy Bill helped to create. We wish our friend the peace and serenity that he strived so hard to create in this world. This is a great loss for our community. We love you, Bill."

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The Tattered Cover, Denver, Colo., has joined the podcast people, launching a free, weekly podcast called Authors on Tour--Live, according to Bookselling This Week. The podcasts feature author events at the three Tattered Cover stores and run 30-45 minutes.

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Brenda Marsh has been named v-p of author relations, a new position, at Barnes & Noble, and will be responsible for "creating new author programs and initiatives" and "representing" the company to authors.

A sales and marketing veteran of HarperCollins, Viking Penguin and St. Martin's, Marsh has worked at B&N.com since 1998, first as v-p of merchandising and then as v-p of content and merchandising. Among other things, she launched the "Meet the Writers" feature that profiles more than 600 authors; the online reading group program; and "What America's Reading," which provides updates on bestselling books.

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Today's Wall Street Journal profiles Stuart Montaldo, who has developed the award-winning, science-oriented Cogno series of board games. This year he's sold some 6,000 games in about 600 stores, mainly "small independent stores specializing in educational toys and classroom supplies." Borders has also gotten into the game this season, "stocking them in about 60 of its top toy-selling stores."

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A new children's audio tour guide developed by the Carlsbad Caverns Guadalupe Mountains Association for Carlsbad Caverns National Park in New Mexico also seems to guide people to the Park Service bookstore, according to the Carlsbad Current-Argus.

"When visitors use the audio guide, we find that many stop by the bookstore afterwards and ask for books on specific topics," T.K. Kajiki, executive director of the association, told the paper. "I think the audio guides really stimulate their interest and they want to find out more about the park."

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The San Diego Tribune celebrates the new 8,000-sq.-ft. Bonita-Sunnyside branch of the San Diego County Library system, which has a gas fireplace, wi-fi and three self-checkout stations. The library is in a 14,400-sq.-ft. complex that includes a Friends of the Library bookstore, office space for the Bonita Business and Professional Association, a community meeting space, the Bonita Historical Museum and the Bonita Public Safety Center.

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Some 260 booksellers from 170 stores have registered for the ABA's first Winter Institute, to be held in Long Beach, Calif., January 26-27. The two days of programming feature 22 education sessions similar to what the association puts on at BEA as well as an author reception, a "what are you reading" breakfast and a luncheon discussion of what independent retailers in other industries are doing to stay competitive. For more information, see Bookselling This Week.

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The 31 Collins Booksellers franchisees who banded together and bought Collins's franchise agreements, brand names, IT and other assets when the Australian bookseller went under earlier this year (they did not buy Collins's 23 company-owned stores) are faring well, according to the Age of Melbourne.  There are now 33 franchise stores, with another set to open in January. The company aims to have 50 by the end of 2008.

The "new" Collins has a much smaller headquarters and is seeking sites in suburban strip centers and "great location in regional centres" rather than shopping center spots. Noting that Collins stores can't compete with mass merchandisers on price, Diana Johnston, a franchisee and in charge of Collins's book buying committee, told the paper: "Our market is more literary, with an emphasis on books for children and young adults, which make up 30% of our sales."

Among some authors making media appearances next week:

On Wednesday on Good Morning America: Anna Wallner, author of Shopping Bag Tips, Tricks, and Inside Information to Make You a Savvy Shopper (Dutton, $19.95, 0525948872).

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Thursday the Early Show sports Gert Boyle, chair of Columbia Sportswear, star of the company's advertising and author of One Tough Mother (WestWinds Press, $19.95, 1558689087).

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Also on Thursday, KCRW's Bookworm features Robert Pinsky, author of The Life of David (Schocken). As the show describes it: "Robert Pinsky, a former poet-laureate, writes a biography-tribute to the Biblical King David, the poet warrior. Our conversation circles the subject of heroism as it is manifested in the contradictory character of King David--the most paradoxical figure in the Old Testament."

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On New Year's Eve Day, All Things Considered gets into the spirit of the evening by speaking with Don Kladstrup, author of Champagne: How the World's Most Glamorous Wine Triumphed Over War and Hard Times (Morrow, $23.95, 0060737921). We'll drink to that!

The following were the bestselling titles at Southeast Booksellers Association member stores during the week ended Sunday, December 18, as reported to Book Sense:

Hardcover Fiction

1. Light From Heaven by Jan Karon (Viking, $26.95, 0670034533)
2. S Is for Silence by Sue Grafton (Putnam, $26.95, 0399152970)
3. The Lighthouse by P.D. James (Knopf, $25.95, 030726291X)
4. The Camel Club by David Baldacci (Warner, $26.95, 0446577383)
5. Amazing Peace by Maya Angelou (Random House, $9.95, 1400065585)
6. The March by E.L. Doctorow (Random House, $25.95, 0375506713)
7. Christ the Lord by Anne Rice (Knopf, $25.95, 0375412018)
8. Mary, Mary by James Patterson (Little, Brown, $27.95, 031615976X)
9. The Widow of the South by Robert Hicks (Warner, $24.95, 0446500127)
10. At First Sight by Nicholas Sparks (Warner, $24.95, 0446532428)
11. The Constant Princess by Philippa Gregory (Touchstone, $24.95, 074327248X)
12. Predator by Patricia Cornwell (Putnam, $26.95, 0399152830)
13. Golfing With God by Roland Merullo (Algonquin, $23.95, 1565125010)
14. On Beauty by Zadie Smith (Penguin, $25.95, 1594200637)
15. Ordinary Heroes by Scott Turow (FSG, $25, 0374184216)

Hardcover Nonfiction

1. Our Endangered Values by Jimmy Carter (S&S, $25, 0743284577)
2. 1776 by David McCullough (S&S, $32, 0743226712)
3. The World Is Flat by Thomas L. Friedman (FSG, $27.50, 0374292884)
4. Team of Rivals by Doris Kearns Goodwin (S&S, $35, 0684824906)
5. Teacher Man by Frank McCourt (Scribner, $26, 0743243773)
6. Marley & Me by John Grogan (Morrow, $21.95, 0060817089)
7. The Year of Magical Thinking by Joan Didion (Knopf, $23.95, 140004314X)
8. Being Dead Is No Excuse by Gayden Metcalfe and Charlotte Hays (Hyperion, $19.95, 1401359345)
9. The Elements of Style Illustrated by William Strunk et al. (Penguin Press, $24.95, 1594200696)
10. Freakonomics by Steven D. Levitt and Stephen J. Dubner (Morrow, $25.95, 006073132X)
11. Jeff Foxworthy's Redneck Dictionary by Jeff Foxworthy (Villard, $16.95, 1400064651)
12. The Official Guide to Christmas in the South by David C. Barnette (Morrow, $14.95, 0060850531)
13. The City of Falling Angels by John Berendt (Penguin, $25.95, 1594200580)
14. Paula Deen & Friends by Paula H. Deen and Martha Nesbit (S&S, $25, 0743267222)
15. The Lost Painting by Jonathan Harr (Random House, $24.95, 0375508015)

Trade Paperback Fiction

1. The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini (Riverhead, $14, 1594480001)
2. Memoirs of a Geisha by Arthur Golden (Vintage, $14.95, 0307275167)
3. Wicked by Gregory Maguire (Regan Books, $15, 0060987103)
4. Prep by Curtis Sittenfeld (Random House, $13.95, 081297235X)
5. The Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd (Penguin, $14, 0142001740)
6. Light on Snow by Anita Shreve (Back Bay, $14.95, 0316010677)
7. The Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafon (Penguin, $15, 0143034901)
8. The Plot Against America by Philip Roth (Vintage, $14.95, 1400079497)
9. The Time Traveler's Wife by Audrey Niffenegger (Harvest, $14, 015602943X)
10. The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time by Mark Haddon (Vintage, $12.95, 1400032717)
11. The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency by Alexander McCall Smith (Anchor, $12.95, 1400034779)
12. The Known World by Edward P. Jones (Amistad, $13.95, 0060557559)
13. Runaway by Alice Munro (Vintage, $14.95, 1400077915)
14. Case Histories by Kate Atkinson (Back Bay, $13.95, 0316010707)
15. The Other Boleyn Girl by Philippa Gregory (Touchstone, $16, 0743227441)

Trade Paperback Nonfiction

1. A Million Little Pieces by James Frey (Anchor, $14.95, 0307276902)
2. Bad Cat by Jim Edgar (Workman, $9.95, 0761136193)
3. Bad Dog by R.D. Rosen et al. (Workman, $9.95, 0761139834)
4. The World Almanac and Book of Facts 2006 edited by Ken Park (World Almanac, $12.95, 0886879647)
5. 1,000 Places to See Before You Die by Patricia Schultz (Workman, $18.95, 0761104844)
6. Why Do Men Have Nipples? by Mark Leyner and Billy Goldberg M.D. (Three Rivers, $12.95, 1400082315)
7. The Devil in the White City by Erik Larson (Vintage, $14.95, 0375725601)
8. 365: No Repeats by Rachael Ray (Clarkson Potter, $19.95, 1400082544)
9. The Lady & Sons Savannah Country Cookbook by Paula H. Deen (Random House, $15.95, 0375751114)
10. The Tipping Point by Malcolm Gladwell (Back Bay, $14.95, 0316346624)
11. The Old Farmer's Almanac 2006 (Old Farmer's Almanac, $6.95, 1571983678)
12. Holidays on Ice by David Sedaris (Back Bay, $8.95, 0316779237)
13. In Cold Blood by Truman Capote (Vintage, $14, 0679745580)
14. The Lady & Sons Just Desserts by Paula H. Deen (S&S, $16.95, 0743224841)
15. Chronicles by Bob Dylan (S&S, $14, 0743244583)

Mass Market

1. The Broker by John Grisham (Dell, $7.99, 0440241588)
2. Red Lily by Nora Roberts (Jove, $7.99, 0515139408)
3. Angels & Demons by Dan Brown (Pocket, $7.99, 0671027360)
4. Memoirs of a Geisha by Arthur Golden (Vintage, $7.99, 1400096898)
5. A Redbird Christmas by Fannie Flagg (Fawcett, $6.99, 0345480260)
6. Night Fall by Nelson DeMille (Warner, $7.99, 0446616621)
7. State of Fear by Michael Crichton (Avon, $7.99, 0061015733)
8. The Official Scrabble Players Dictionary, 4th Edition (Merriam-Webster, $7.50, 0877799296)
9. Blood Memory by Greg Iles (Pocket, $9.95, 0743454154)
10. Whiteout by Ken Follett (Signet, $7.99, 0451215710)

Children's (Fiction and Illustrated)

1. The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe (children's movie tie-in edition) by C.S. Lewis (HarperCollins, $7.99, 0060765461)
2. A Family of Poems by Caroline Kennedy, illustrated by Jon J. Muth (Hyperion, $19.95, 0786851112)
3. The Polar Express by Chris Van Allsburg (Houghton Mifflin, $18.95, 0395389496)
4. Winter's Tale by Robert Sabuda (Little Simon, $26.95, 0689853637)
5. Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince by J.K. Rowling (Scholastic, $29.99, 0439784549)
6. The O'Reilly Factor for Kids by Bill O'Reilly (HarperCollins, $13.95, 0060544252)
7. Flush by Carl Hiaasen (Knopf, $16.95, 0375821821)
8. Eldest by Christopher Paolini (Knopf, $21, 037582670X)
9. The Penultimate Peril (A Series of Unfortunate Events #12) by Lemony Snicket, illustrated by Brett Helquist (HarperCollins, $11.99, 0064410153)
10. Eragon by Christopher Paolini (Knopf, $9.95, 0375826696)
11. Goodnight Moon by Margaret Wise Brown, illustrated by Clement Hurd (HarperCollins, $7.99, 0694003611)
12. The Gift of Nothing by Patrick McDonnell (Little, Brown, $14.99, 031611488X)
13. Inkheart by Cornelia Funke (Scholastic, $7.99, 0439709105)
14. Junie B., First Grader: Jingle Bells, Batman Smells! (P.S. So Does May) by Barbara Park, illustrated by Denise Brunkus (Random House, $11.95, 0375828087)
15. The Best Christmas Pageant Ever by Barbara Robinson (HarperTrophy, $5.99, 0064402754)

[Many thanks to SEBA and Book Sense!]