Shelf Awareness for Wednesday, November 1, 2006


Groundwood Books: Skating Wild on an Inland Sea by Jean E Pendziwol, illustrated by Todd Stewart

St. Martin's Press: The Cut by CJ Dotson

Random House Books for Young Readers: Mr. Lemoncello's Fantabulous Finale (Mr. Lemoncello's Library) by Chris Grabenstein

Yale University Press: Tattoos: The Untold History of a Modern Art by Matt Lodder

Quotation of the Day

Where to Shelve I Like You?

"I forgot people might actually buy the book. I never thought about where it might go in the bookstore or anything like that. "--Amy Sedaris speaking with the Oregonian about her new book, I Like You: Hospitality Under the Influence (Warner, $27.99, 0446578843). By the way, she said she doesn't want the book in the humor section "because people won't take it seriously" or in cooking "next to Martha Stewart and the Flatfoot Contessa and those other people."


G.P. Putnam's Sons: Kate & Frida: A Novel of Friendship, Food, and Books by Kim Fay


News

Notes: Berean's Growth; Peppertree Delay; Aragorn's Press

Berean Christian Stores will "probably" change the names of the four Provident Bookstores it is buying from Mennonite Publishing (Shelf Awareness, October 24, 2006) and will make some cosmetic changes, Berean's president and CEO Les Dietzman told the Lancaster New Era. The stores "will evolve with the times, as retailers must," he continued. "Our job is not to sell what we want to sell but to meet our customers' needs for Christian products. We take our cue from them. We're very much in the service business." Dietzman is a former Wal-Mart v-p.

Three of the four Provident stores are in Pennsylvania--Lancaster, New Holland and Souderton--and the other is in Wooster, Ohio.

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The Peppertree Bookstore, Palm Springs, Calif., which is opening a second store in Old Town La Quinta, Calif. (Shelf Awareness, June 11, 2006), has not been able to get into the new space because the development's expansion has suffered "utility and permit delays," according to the Desert Sun. The store had originally hoped to open in September.

The bookstore has dealt with the delay by renting a temporary space for speaker events. "It's important for us . . . to let the residents at this side of the valley know that Peppertree is coming here," bookstore manager Chris Johnson told the paper.

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Tomorrow Greg Anastas will join the Perseus Books Group as v-p, sales operations. He has more than 12 years of experience at publishers such as HarperCollins and Hearst Book Group and was most recently director of customer operations at Simon & Schuster.

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Today's New York Times spotlights Perceval Press, Santa Monica, Calif., and its owner--although not necessarily in that order. The owner, who has lent the endeavor the kind of magic every small press can use, is Viggo Mortensen, who founded Perceval in 2002, soon after he finished playing Aragorn in the Lord of the Rings trilogy. Actor Mortensen is also the author of "art books that combine painting, photography, poetry, journal entries and whatever else he cares to include, with interests that also extend to fervently antiwar politics and music."

The press publishes about eight titles a year, has "no real advertising" and sells primarily from its Web site (which lists several stores in the Los Angeles area that stock its titles).


BINC: Donate now and an anonymous comic retailer will match donations up to a total of $10,000.


Talking Up Buybacks: Used Textbooks Association Formed

The Used Textbook Association, formed in August, aims to "to advocate the role and value of used textbooks in the marketplace and in turn, increase the supply of used textbooks available to students."

The Association was founded by BUDGEText, MBS Textbook Exchange, Nebraska Book Company, New Jersey Books, Southeastern Book Company, Texas Book Company and Tichenor College Textbook Company. Barry Major, COO of Nebraska Book Company, is president of the association. The association said it is "currently in the initial membership recruitment phase with close to 50 members."

The association intends "to provide students and faculty members information on the buyback process, improve the rate of early adoptions by faculty members, and ensure textbook merchandise practices are appropriate and meeting the goals of higher learning."

The association said widespread problems it will address include "the increased frequency of new editions, unexpected bundling of course materials and less timely faculty adoption rates [that] continue to drive up the cost of textbooks." In addition, "the value of used textbooks is often lost in the discussion of what can be done to address the issue of rising prices because there has been a lack of a unified industry voice. This association creates that unified voice for the industry and is working to lower the cost of education through promoting affordable textbooks."

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Speaking of textbooks, the State Public Interest Research Groups has issued another report, "largely a summary of previous findings," that "accuses publishers of undermining the used book market and unnecessarily inflating prices." Inside Higher Ed has a text about the report and its recommendations.


Media and Movies

Media Heat: More Sagesse from Mireille Guiliano

This morning on the Today Show: Mireille Guiliano, author of French Women Don't Get Fat whose new book is French Women for All Seasons: A Year of Secrets, Recipes, and Pleasure (Knopf, $24.95, 0307265234).

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Today on the Early Show: Neal Gabler, author of Walt Disney: The Triumph of the American Imagination (Knopf, $35, 067943822X).

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Today on Good Morning America: Elizabeth Dugan talks about The Driving Dilemma: The Complete Resource Guide for Older Drivers and Their Families (Collins, $14.95, 0061142182).

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The Book Report, the weekly AM radio book-related show organized by Windows a bookshop, Monroe, La., will feature two author interviews on today's show, which has the theme "silly and serious":

  • Alan Katz, author of Are You Quite Polite?: Silly Dilly Manners Songs illustrated by David Catrow (Margaret K. McElderry/S&S, $15.95, 0689869703)
  • Kathi Appelt, author of Merry Christmas Merry Crow illustrated by Jon Goodell (Harcourt, $16, 0152026517)

The show airs at 8 a.m. Central Time and can be heard live at thebookreport.net; the archived edition will be posted this afternoon.

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Today the View turns the spotlight on actress Joan Collins, author of The Art of Living Well: Looking Good, Feeling Great (Sourcebooks, $24.95, 1402209428).

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Today on WAMU's Diane Rehm Show: etiquette expert Peggy Post, author of "Excuse Me, but I Was Next. . . ": How to Handle the Top 100 Manners Dilemmas (Collins, $19.95, 0060889160).

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Today on Fox News's Hannity and Colmes: David Limbaugh, author of Bankrupt: The Intellectual and Moral Bankruptcy of Today's Democratic Party (Regnery, $27.95, 1596980176).

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Today on the Tavis Smiley Show: 2004 Nobel Peace Prize-winner Wangari Maathai, author of Unbowed: A Memoir (Knopf, $24.95, 0307263487).

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Tonight on the Charlie Rose Show: Margaret Atwood, whose new fictional foray is Moral Disorder (Nan A. Talese, $23.95, 0385503849), a series of interconnected stories.


Attainment: New Books Next Week, Vol. 2

The following titles have laydown dates of next Tuesday, November 7: 

There's Nothing in this Book That I Meant to Say by Paula Poundstone (Harmony, $24, 0609603167). Comedian Poundstone writes about a range of historical figures--and herself, particularly her life following her DWI conviction.

The House of Hilton: From Conrad to Paris: A Drama of Wealth, Power, and Privilege by Jerry Oppenheimer (Crown, $24.95, 0307337227). Easy pickings for the celebrity biographer.

The Mystical Life of Jesus: An Uncommon Perspective on the Life of Christ
by Sylvia Browne (Dutton, $23.95, 052595001X). The psychic tunes into Jesus.

The Shepherd, the Angel, and Walter the Christmas Miracle Dog
by Dave Barry (Putnam, $15.95, 0399154132). A touching serious Christmas tale from the humorist.

Too Soon to Say Goodbye by Art Buchwald (Random House, $17.95, 1400066271). Another humorist looks death in the face and laughs.

Point to Point Navigation: A Memoir by Gore Vidal (Doubleday, $26, 0385517211). A followup of sorts to the writer's first memoir, Palimpsest.

And in paperback:

Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell: Checkmate by David Michaels (Berkley, $9.99, 0425212785). Game over.

Rachael Ray 2,4,6,8 by Rachael Ray (Crown, $19.95, 1400082560). This latest title from the Food Network star focuses on recipes for different numbers of eaters.



Books & Authors

Awards: Dylan Thomas Winner

In an nice home country twist, Welsh writer Rachel Trezise has won the first EDS Dylan Thomas Prize for her collection of short stories, Fresh Apples (Parthian, $18.95, 1902638573), which the judges described as dealing "with the troubled times for the once vibrant coal valleys of South Wales and for the area's youngsters." The $100,000 prize is awarded biennially to writers in English under 30.

At an awards dinner in Dylan Thomas's hometown of Swansea in Wales, judges chair Andrew Davies commented: "For all the judges, Rachel seemed to be the most original voice. The confidence, coolness and maturity of tone in Fresh Apples is exceptional. In fact, I would go as far as to say that her collection of short stories in Fresh Apples can be easily compared to James Joyce's Dubliners. Rachel is an extremely talented author and we wish her all the best in what we are sure will be a long and successful literary career."

The award was presented by Aeronwy Thomas, Dylan Thomas's daughter.


Dixie Cash on Tour: 'Dear Diary'

Dixie Cash (aka sisters Pam'la Cumbie and Jeffery McClanahan) has written her third Domestic Equalizers novel, I Gave You My Heart, But You Sold It Online (Morrow, $21.95, 0060829710), which is just out. In the book, the Equalizers--Salt Lick, Tex., beauty shop owners Debbie Sue Overstreet and Edwina Perkins-Martin--try to solve a mystery involving a rodeo superstar whose ex-girlfriend is running up a tab on his credit card, a Texas Ranger and "the murky world of Internet dating and mating." Cash has just begun touring and here Pam'la offers the first entries in an ongoing journal:

Friday, October 27

Dear Diary,

The day started with eager anticipation. We were going to be on the road by 10 a.m., arriving in Houston by 2 p.m.
 
As luck would have it, we had none at all. We didn't pull out of Arlington until 11:30 a.m. This would put us arriving in Houston at 3:30 p.m.

There are at least three things you should avoid in life:

1. When someone says, "taste this milk and tell me if it's sour," don't do it.

2. When a tornado is on the ground and coming in your direction, don't step outside to confirm this.

3. Never, but never arrive in Houston, on a Friday after 3 p.m.

I live in a large city, I've been to larger cities, but I was not prepared for the number of cars we encountered. Bumper to bumper; eight lanes, all going in one direction.

We didn't arrive at the hotel until 5 p.m., and we were due at the book signing at 5:30 p.m., clearly we weren't going to make it. We checked in, changed clothes and we were gone again.

After several desperate calls to Murder by the Book, near side swiping lane changes, we pulled up at 6:40 p.m.

That's when our luck changed. A room full of Dixie Cash fans had waited, and the staff couldn't be more understanding and kind.

The evening would have to be called a success and we even got back to the hotel in just under 15 minutes.

Who's put off by driving on Houston's Loop 610? Not I . . . but I'm not doing it again.

Saturday, October 28

Dear Diary;

Saturday morning, like General George Patton calling his troops to march, I called Jeffery at 6 a.m. and asked if she were awake, "I am now" came her sleepy reply.

"Good, get up, get ready, we're kicking this day in the ass."

We left Houston like we owned it and headed for the familiar territory of the Metroplex.

The next signing was at 5:30 p.m. We arrived home in plenty of time to rest, nap and watch movies.

The staff at Borders was so friendly and made us feel right at home. We had at least a dozen readers waiting for us and the end result: we signed lots of books!

Sunday, October 29

Dear Diary,

Today is really busy. We have an appearance at Barnes & Noble in Ft. Worth at 3 p.m. and a TV appearance at 7 p.m. at a Ft. Worth station.

The numbers of readers present was staggering. Clearly the most we had encountered.  

When we finished speaking, a woman approached me whom I hadn't seen since graduating from Snyder High School. Behind her was a woman I hadn't seen since junior high in Andrews.

You just never know who is going to walk up and what surprise they hold.

I'm still wanting for the old boyfriend to step up, presenting himself on one knee, declaring that letting me go was the biggest mistake he ever made.

It'll happen and I'll throw my head back in laughter and say, "Do you have a card you can give me with your phone number?"

I'm supposed to be funny, not smart.

The TV gig was over in two minutes, literally. It took me longer to connect my mike.  But hey, TV is TV, getting your name out there is what matters. Right?

Next week we head out for Oklahoma City and Tulsa. Diary, I'll let you know what happens.


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