Shelf Awareness for Monday, June 26, 2006


Del Rey Books: The Seventh Veil of Salome by Silvia Moreno-Garcia

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

Overlook Press: How It Works Out by Myriam LaCroix

Charlesbridge Publishing: If Lin Can: How Jeremy Lin Inspired Asian Americans to Shoot for the Stars by Richard Ho, illustrated by Huynh Kim Liên and Phùng Nguyên Quang

Shadow Mountain: The Orchids of Ashthorne Hall (Proper Romance Victorian) by Rebecca Anderson

News

Tattered Cover Makes Its Move

In a few hours, the Tattered Cover officially opens in its new quarters in the Lowenstein Theater on East Colfax in Denver, Colo., after spending the last day and a half moving from its flagship store that had been in Cherry Creek for many years. Kalen Landow, executive director of the Publishers Association of the West, took photos yesterday as the new store was slowly being filled.

Landow reports that the many volunteers who helped the Tattered Cover move included, like her, "so many former employees. It was Old Home Week--and I haven't been an employee since 1994." Although she said that the old store "will always have a special place in my heart . . . I'm so excited for this move and the potential for the store, the Lowenstein Theater, and the Colfax area." She called the new space "fantastic. Blown-away would be an understatement."

Photos show (top) the exterior; (middle) the view from the stage out to where rows of seats used to be; and (bottom) the future newsstand. Thank you, Kalen!




HarperOne: Amphibious Soul: Finding the Wild in a Tame World by Craig Foster


In Memoriam: Lyle Stuart

Lyle Stuart, one of those delightful, outsized people in the book world, died on Saturday at 83 of a heart attack.

Famous for publishing The Anarchist's Cookbook, Jackie Oh!, Naked Came the Stranger, The Turner Diaries and other controversial titles and for engaging in long-running legal and rhetorical battles with Walter Winchell, Stephen Wynn, Scientology and others, Stuart headed his eponymous publishing house for years. After selling it in 1990, he founded Barricade Books, which he headed until his death. He was always a scrappy publisher who loved muckraking and free speech. He had a flair for self-promotion, and occasionally e-mailed us with tips about his titles.

Stuart was also a journalist, who edited a monthly tabloid originally named Exposé, then the Independent. He also wrote a regular newsletter in which he commented on events in the industry and titles he was excited about as well as described his trips and kept everyone updated on his friends and family. (The only odd aspect involved tales of his own gambling prowess. Taking his winnings at face value, it seemed he should have died richer than Bill Gates.) As ever, in his writing he could be as wonderfully acerbic as kind.


Park Street Press: An Autobiography of Trauma: A Healing Journey by Peter A Levine


Benefactors Buy and Buoy Brazos Bookstore

In a move reminiscent of the community support that brought Kepler's back to life last fall, a group of 14 residents, each of whom has contributed a minimum of $10,000, is buying the Brazos Bookstore, Houston, Tex., whose longtime owner, Karl Kilian, is taking a job as director of programs for the Menil Collection, the Houston Chronicle reported. If he wasn't able to sell the 3,000-sq.-ft. store, Kilian would have closed it.

The group expects any profits from the venture to be reinvested in the store or put into "other literary enterprises in Houston." The group has hired Jane Moser, former owner of the Stop, Look & Learn children's bookstore, to manage Brazos. The paper added that "longtime staffers Paul Forsythe and Sally Woods, as well as Kilian's wife, Kathy, will remain."

The store may expand hours, begin a delivery service for books ordered online from Brazos and be more involved in selling books offsite.


G.P. Putnam's Sons: Take Me Home by Melanie Sweeney


Notes: Harry Returns; Indiana Store Adds Art

Summer magic returns.

The film version of Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix will appear in theaters and on IMAX screens on Thursday, July 13, the New York Times reported. Daniel Radcliffe again plays Harry. Emma Watson, Rupert Grint and Ralph Fiennes return as Hermione, Ron and Lord Voldemort, respectively.

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The Indiana Authors Bookstore, Indianapolis, which opened in December (Shelf Awareness, April 3), is launching an art gallery in its store in conjunction with the Hoosier Salon, a local arts organization. A subsidiary of New Century Publishing, the store will now feature work by Indiana artists as well as authors. Proceeds from the sale of artwork will be used to support the New Century Campaign for Literacy.

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Hearts & Stars Book Shop, Canton, Mass., is closing at the end of July after four years in business, according to the Canton Journal. Owners Deb and Michael Sundan said that such services as a rewards program, events featuring local authors and a mystery writers club were not enough to drum up sufficient business.

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In response to the impending closings of several Bay Area bookstores, the Danville Weekly of Danville, Calif., offered an editorial supporting "the inviting one-of-a-kind shops [downtown] that cannot be found elsewhere."

The paper singled out bookstores for special attention, writing, "With online shopping, we don't have to go out to stores at all. Amazon.com and Costco offer great deals on books, but what a loss it would be if our area's independent bookstores were to close. The cost of shopping in independent stores might seem high. But look what's at stake--it's too costly to even think about."


Media and Movies

Media Heat: Margulies on Guantanamo

This morning on the Today Show, Nieca Golberg, M.D., discusses her new book, The Women's Healthy Heart Program: Lifesaving Strategies for Preventing and Healing Heart Disease (Ballantine, $15.95, 0345492285).

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Today on NPR's Fresh Air, Joseph Margulies talks about his new book, Guantanamo and the Abuse of Presidential Power (S&S, $25, 0743286855).

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Today Oprah has a conversation with Shmuel Boteach, author of 10 Conversations You Need to Have With Your Children (Regan Books, $21.95, 0061134813).

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Today on WAMU's Diane Rehm Show: Ron Suskind, author of The One Percent Doctrine: Deep Inside America's Pursuit of Its Enemies Since 9/11 (S&S, $27, 0743271092).


The Devil Wears Prada: What Outfit for Friday's Premiere?

The Devil Wears Prada, starring Anne Hathaway and Meryl Streep, opens this coming Friday. Directed by David Frankel and written by Aline Brosh McKenna and Don Roos, Lauren Weisberger's story is about a young woman (Hathaway) who becomes employed by a tyrannical magazine editor (Streep). A movie tie-in edition (Broadway, $13.95, 0767925955) is out and has been showing up on a variety of bestseller lists.


Books & Authors

Book Sense: May We Recommend

From last week's Book Sense bestseller lists, available at booksense.com, here are the recommended titles, which are also Book Sense Picks:

Hardcover

An Infinity of Little Hours: Five Young Men and Their Trial of Faith in the Western World's Most Austere Monastic Order by Nancy Klein Maguire (PublicAffairs, $26, 1586483277). "I have read fiction and nonfiction books about the enclosed orders, and I found this book quite fascinating. Maguire writes clearly, and the details of the monastic life are delightful."--Syrinda Sharpe, University Book Store, Seattle, Wash.

Don't I Know You?
by Karen Shepard (Morrow, $23.95, 0060782374). "This spare telling of a murder and the people directly, and indirectly, involved really hooked me. As the author dropped each chilling clue into the story, I became more and more anxious to solve the brutal crime. A good read!"--Susie Fruncillo, Lake Country Booksellers, White Bear Lake, Minn.

Paperback

Broken for You by Stephanie Kallos (Grove, $13, 0802142109). "Mesmerized by the first page, I read this book in one sitting, and it has been a favorite of the 40 book clubs registered at our store. There's plenty to discuss in this amazing novel of hope and transformation. Kallos' humor, wit, and beautiful plotting are amazing and a joy to read."--Sally Brewster, Park Road Books, Charlotte, N.C.

Children to Age 8

The Sound of Colors: A Journey of the Imagination by Jimmy Liao (Little, Brown, $16.99, 0316939927). "A hopeful, empowering story about a young girl who has lost her vision. One day, when she ventures into the subway, she takes us on her quest to explore some difficult questions: What do we find beneath the surface? Where is home? When does my journey end? This story reminds us to appreciate our senses, those we depend on and those we've forgotten to use."--Jessica Deutsch, Wild Rumpus, Minneapolis, Minn.

[Many thanks to Book Sense and the ABA!]



Deeper Understanding

Little Shop of Stories Has Big Anniversary

Little Shop of Stories, Decatur, Ga., celebrates its first anniversary this coming Friday from 6-9 p.m. in style that's become typical of a little store with flair: it will hold a storytelling session, a bluegrass band will perform and Jake's Ice Cream, which shares space with the store, will unveil a new ice cream flavor created for Little Shop of Stories.

The owners say they have much to celebrate. "We're very excited and passionate about kids' books and putting great books into kids' hands, and the community has responded," Diane Capriola, who owns the store with Dave Shallenberger, told Shelf Awareness. "In one year, we feel we've become a major part of the community."

The 1,500-sq.-ft. store is primarily a children's store but also has a general fiction and nonfiction section "we're very proud of," Capriola added. "It's handpicked and much loved." Sharing space with Jake's Ice Cream has been helpful, especially in warm weather, Capriola said. "They're selling a lot of ice cream, when it's a slow time for books. They're drawing a lot of people."

The store has a staff of six, including manager Terra McVoy, and some parttimers. "We are so very fortunate because we have a great staff," Capriola said. "We found some top-notch people who feel as passionately about books as we do."

Capriola described Decatur, an Atlanta suburb, as "a close-knit, small community with outstanding schools that is the right place to support a small independent store." Little Shop of Stories has been forming relationships with the local schools and hopes to do book fairs with them. It also stages storytelling events at festivals in the area and is deeply involved in organizing the children's programming for the first Decatur Book Festival, a grass-roots effort will take place Labor Day weekend.

In connection with local schools, the store has also established a "student advisory committee," which is not unlike the student summer galley reading program at Liberty Bay Books, Poulsbo, Wash. (Shelf Awareness, June 16). Fourth and fifth graders come to the store regularly and read ARCs of future books, then come back and report on what they've read. Some of the students are allowed to participate only if they improve their grades. "They are so excited about reading books no one else can," Capriola commented. "And it provides us great input about whether to stock up on certain titles."

Little Shop of Stories also sponsors a parent-child book group and a pre-teen book group, both of which have proven so popular that the store will create more groups with the same focuses in the fall.

Both Little Shop of Stories owners are new to bookselling, and Capriola readily admits they've had a lot to learn. She was a school psychologist before deciding to stay home with her three children. The idea of opening a children's store first occurred to her 10 years ago, when her oldest child was born and she began buying children's books. Quickly she realized Decatur "would be a good place for a kids' bookstore." After years of thinking about setting up something, she decided it was time "to do it or move on." But she didn't want to establish a store alone so she looked around for a business partner and eventually found Dave Shallenberger, whom she described as "an attorney, burned out on law and looking to make a change." At first, Shallenberger was "very skeptical," and "we went back and forth for a while."

The turning point came at the 2004 BEA in Chicago, where the pair attended Paz & Associates' bookselling school. "Donna gave a very honest overview of what it's like being an independent bookseller," Capriola said. "She didn't sugarcoat it. We also took away the knowledge that our community was the perfect place for a store like this."

One of the store's coolest ideas involves Capriola's family. As store planning became serious, Capriola's children, all under the age of 10, "struggled with mommy going back to work," as she put it. So Capriola decided to "pull them in and give them a sense of ownership." She had her six-year-old compile a list of "top 10 books for six-year-olds"; the three children write reviews "all the time," many of which become shelf talkers. "Kids love them," she noted. "They come in and say, 'I know Nick.' Hearing about a book from one of their peers is sometimes more effective than from an adult."

Little Shop of Stories is located at 515 N. McDonough St., Decatur, Ga. 30030; 404-373-6300; Atlantacaps@aol.com. A Web site comes online at the end of the summer.


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