ISBN-13 countdown: in seven weeks, the International Standard Book Number becomes a 13-digit number. For more information about the change, go to the Book Industry Study Group's Web site. 

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Aviel and Shawna Alkon have opened BookDabbler, a used bookstore, in Durham, N.C., according to the Durham News. The store carries cards and gifts, has free wi-fi, a seating area and will open a coffee bar soon. The owners aim to "focus on books that are more popular and in good condition," Aviel Alkon said.

Book Expo America, which will meet in New York in 2007, Los Angeles the following year and New York in 2009, will be held in 2010 in Las Vegas, Nev., BEA said on Friday. BEA has been in Las Vegas once, in 1990, when it was the ABA show.

"I view this return to Las Vegas in the same way that I view getting a new book in the hands of a reader," Lance Fensterman, show director, said in a statement. "It's a fresh experience that will be entertaining and rewarding. When the show hasn't been in a city for a long time, as was the case last year with Washington, D.C., I think it brings a sense of newness, excitement and energy to the convention experience." Another factor in the decision to go to Las Vegas: BEA wanted to hold the show somewhere west of the Mississippi in addition to Los Angeles. Fentsterman added that "support for Vegas has been high across the show's constituency" and that the city is "affordable for air fare and hotels" and "knows how to do a convention."

Through 2020, BEA will be in New York City "on a regular basis," Fensterman said. "I hope to create a three- to four-year rotation in New York with the Midwest and the West represented in between."

The 1990 ABA show in Las Vegas caused much consternation beforehand because of the city's reputation. But some argued that the book industry needed to sample parts of popular culture that it likely would not see otherwise. In the end, many attendees enjoyed the kitsch, admired the smooth-running convention and hotel operation and wanted to go back.

But already at least one bookseller has expressed the feelings of some who recoil at holding a book show in Vegas. In an open letter, Carla Cohen, co-owner of Politics and Prose, Washington, D.C., said she "strongly disapproves" of holding BEA in Las Vegas because the gesture gives "our tacit support to an industry that is corrupt and corrupting. I know that Las Vegas is bigger than gambling now, but gambling is what the hotel and restaurant industry is about and depends on." She added that having a convention "in a place like Las Vegas is inappropriate for an industry that depends on print, books, editorial judgment."

 

Carl Lennertz points out that readers of Fast Food Nation: The Dark Side of the All-American Meal by Eric Schlosser now have a choice in cover art. They can devour the original trade paperback (0060838582), which features french fries on the cover, or they can grab the tie-in edition (006116139X), which serves up a burger (with flag). Both fries and burgers are available for $14.95. (There is no pickle or soft drink cover yet.) As noted here on Friday, the movie, a fictional thriller, opens this coming Friday.

 

Starting tonight at 10 p.m. Eastern time, a show debuts in which "masters of the American crime novel" like Lisa Scottoline, Michael Connelly, Jonathan Kellerman and Faye Kellerman explore the real-life crimes that inspired them to write. Called Murder by the Book, the show airs on Court TV. Tonight's inaugural episode features James Ellroy discussing the murder of his mother, a tragedy he wrote about directly in My Dark Places.

This morning on the Today Show, Roxanne Coady, owner of R.J. Julia Booksellers in Madison, Conn., talks about The Book that Changed My Life: 71 Remarkable Writers Celebrate the Books that Matter Most to Them (Gotham, $17.50, 1592402100), which she edited with Joy Johannessen. Proceeds from the book benefit the Room to Grow Foundation, which Coady founded.

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Today on the Oprah Winfrey Show, Annie Leibovitz offers a snapshot of A Photographer's Life: 1990-2005 (Random House, $75, 0375505091).

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Today on CNN's Paula Zahn Show: John Mueller, author of Overblown: How Politicians and the Terrorism Industry Inflate National Security Threats, and Why We Believe Them (Free Press, $25, 1416541713).

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Today on the Ellen Degeneres Show: Martha Stewart cleans up with Martha Stewart's Homekeeping Handbook: The Essential Guide to Caring for Everything in Your Home (Crown, $45, 0517577003).

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Today on Live with Regis and Kelly: Rachael Ray talks about her new cookbook, Rachael Ray 2, 4, 6, 8: Great Meals for Couples or Crowds (Clarkson Potter, $19.95, 1400082560).

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Tonight on the Charlie Rose Show: Mike Krzyzewski, coach of the Duke Blue Devils, and Jamie K. Spatola, authors of Beyond Basketball: Coach K's Keywords for Success (Warner Business, $17.99, 044658049X).

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

Hardcover

The Ghost at the Table by Suzanne Berne (Algonquin, $23.95, 1565123344). "Buried family history and years of dysfunction and unhappiness are what await Cynthia when she arrives home for a family Thanksgiving, as she and her sister try to unravel the mysterious circumstances of their mother's death, along with reconciling with their absent father. Don't overlook this novelist--she's an Orange Prize winner and a fantastic storyteller."--Sherri Gallentine, Vroman's Bookstore, Pasadena, Calif.

Big-Box Swindle: The True Cost of Mega-Retailers and the Fight for America's Independent Businesses by Stacy Mitchell (Beacon, $25.95, 0807035009). "This definitive study of the consequences of uncontrolled big box development opens our eyes to the myriad ways big box stores affect our lives: creating low-paying jobs, decimating downtowns, degrading our environment, fueling suburban sprawl, and diminishing community life. Mitchell shows us the true cost of the 'bargains' that many still think they are getting, and she also shares stories of communities that have found ways to counter the big box stores and build healthy, sustainable local economies."--Steve Bercu, Book People, Austin, Tex.

Paperback

An Alphabetical Life: Living It Up in the Business of Books by Wendy Werris (Carroll & Graf, $15.95, 078671817X). "Highlights of Wendy Werris' bookselling career: running into Hunter S. Thompson in her office, a wild car ride with Fran Lebowitz, dinner with special guest George Harrison, and stalking Kurt Vonnegut in New York City. Read this fast-paced and engaging memoir and get a glimpse of how books have shaped all of our histories."--Jessilyn Krebs, McLean & Eakin Booksellers, Petoskey, Mich.

For Children

The Looking Glass Wars by Frank Beddor (Dial, $17.99, 0803731531). "Meet Alyss Heart, the young princess who has to find her way back to Wonderland to fight her evil Aunt Redd for her rightful place as Queen of Hearts. Beddor has reinvented all of the well-known Alice in Wonderland characters and places and has created a Wonderland where an epic battle between good and evil rages."--Laura Lucy, White Birch Books, North Conway, N.H.

[Many thanks to Book Sense and the ABA!]

 
One more rainy season and the roof of Lakshmi's house will be gone. Such a simple thing, a simple need, but one that seems impossible for her family. A tin roof would mean that she has a stepfather who doesn't gamble, or a brother who works in the city; a tin roof would mean that when the rains came, the house would stay dry and the baby would stay healthy. None of that will happen because she has no brother and she has a stepfather who sells her carefully-tended cucumbers for cigarettes and rice beer. When a monsoon destroys the roof and washes away the crops, the thirteen-year-old girl is sent to India, ostensibly to work as a maid. When she arrives at Happiness House, her dreams of helping her family turn to horror and despair when she realizes she has been sold into prostitution.
 
Lakshmi tries to resist, but is beaten and starved until she submits: "I know this noise from somewhere./ I work very hard to make it out./  Finally, I congratulate myself for identifying it./ It is the muffled sound of sobbing./ Habib rolls off me./ Then I understand: I was the person crying." She slowly forms friendships with other girls at Happiness House, where the only respite comes from a TV set and daily visits from the tea man. Lakshmi never buys tea--she hopes to save enough rupees to pay Mumtaz, the owner of the brothel. "30 rupees./That is the price of a bottle of Coca-Cola at Bajai Siti's store./ That is what he paid for me." She meticulously keeps a hidden record of transactions, figuring out how much she has to pay for her freedom, but discovers that she will never leave, since Mumtaz charges interest: "I do the calculations./ And realize I am already buried alive."
 
Patricia McCormick tells this harrowing story of sexual slavery in spare prose and blank verse. The story is saved from utter bleakness by her luminous writing: "There is a moment, between the light and the dark, when the smell of frying onions blows in through the windows. All over the city, the cooking hour has begun. This is the saddest smell in the world because it means that here at Mumtaz's house the men will start to arrive." In a culture where "a girl is like a goat. Good as long as she gives you milk and butter. But not worth crying over when it's time to make stew," Lakshmi comes to realizes her worth, and courage defeats despair. Sold is an outstanding novel, and while this NBA Finalist was written as a YA, it would be a fine addition to adult bookshelves.--Marilyn Dahl

YouTube.com is in the news for the $1.65 billion Google is paying in stock to buy the free video-sharing Web site as well as for its effectiveness in some campaigns this past election. But at least one author has found the site, one of the most popular on the Web since its founding in February 2005, to be promising for promoting books, too.

The author is Chris Epting, whose Led Zeppelin Crashed Here will be published in the spring by Santa Monica Press. It's a guide to more than 500 "rock and roll landmarks throughout North America," which includes sites where some of the most famous rock album covers were shot.

Months before the book's appearance, Epting has posted several videos on YouTube relating to Led Zeppelin Crashed Here. Already the videos have led, Epting said, to "many thousands of people" becoming aware of the book and "reaching out with opinion and comments," including suggestions of landmarks they want Epting not to miss.

Featuring classic rock soundtracks, the videos last between one and two minutes and are more "a film that's an ad for a book" than a commercial, as Epting put it. "They're a polite invitation to get interested in the book. They're not screaming." (Check out some of the videos on YouTube.)

Epting is posting about a video a week. Closer to publication date, he will make the videos more interactive, perhaps adding a visual trivia game, with the prize of a signed copy of Led Zeppelin Crashed Here. "It becomes almost a little TV series," he noted.

Epting, who has an ad background and put together the first video out of a desire to "apply my marketing knowledge and discipline to books," makes the videos himself. The videos "don't take much time" to create, and music is not a problem. "I have a pretty good royalty-free library," he commented. He has used some of the many pictures and videos he's taken on trips for his books.

The biggest challenge creating the videos is "coming up with something visually compelling the represents the book properly," Epting said. "I like to keep them simple and basic. To me there's something refreshing about simple text and images."

In contrast to some book ads, which he characterized as "musty," the videos "bring the books to life" and "allow people to live and breathe them for a minute. It's one thing to tell people something about a book but another thing to show them. Books are a form of entertainment so why not give them the same royal treatment as movies and other media?"

The postings are free, and Epting categorizes the videos under entertainment and music. He has links on his several Web sites to YouTube and sends them to e-mail lists, too. He's also picked "key radio stations and outlets who took and ran with them."

Epting has nothing but praise for YouTube, which is "fast becoming the TV of the next generation," he said. "And it's so targeted." As with the political videos that have garnered so much attention this election season, videos of all kinds can have a viral life. YouTube users regularly forward favorite videos. "You put something on YouTube and literally the next minute, millions can see it," Epting said.

For those who've followed his book career, it's no surprise that Epting is, as he puts it, "experimenting" with YouTube. Epting has created a kind of book category of its own: the pop cultural landmark title. His titles include The Ruby Slippers, Madonna's Bra, and Einstein's Brain: The Locations of America's Pop Culture Artifacts, Roadside Baseball: A Guide to Baseball Shrines Across America, James Dean Died Here: The Location of America's Pop Culture Landmarks, Marilyn Monroe Dyed Here: More Locations of America's Pop Culture Landmarks and Elvis Presley Passed Here: Even More Locations of America's Pop Culture Landmarks.

To promote these titles, he's done a range of promotions, any one of which would be remarkable for an author. He's become the official spokesperson for Hampton Inns' Hidden Landmarks program and promoted its Save-A-Landmark program. He is travel editor of the Chicken Soup for the Soul magazine, specializing in "it-happened-here" stories. He took a spot in the lineup of Major League Baseball's Radio Web site. He helped get two of his titles to be the focus of annual Phi Beta Kappa Society competitions. (For more details on these and other efforts, see our April 6, 2006 issue.)

Epting likes the response to his video work for Led Zeppelin Crashed Here so much that he's making four spots for his baseball book and is planning to expand the YouTube franchise to the rest of his book franchise.--John Mutter