Connections Bookstore in Fort Worth, Tex., one of the last independents in the Dallas-Fort Worth area, is "flourishing and just moved around the corner to a new location," according to the Dallas Morning News.

In the paper, Judy Alter, director of TCU Press, provides a history of the store, which was founded in 1978 by Bertha Heinrichs, "one free-spirited, imaginative lady who loves books." Owned now by Peggy Turner, Connections specializes in "poetry and literature, children's books, family life and the problems of dysfunctional families, death and dying, eastern religions and other faiths, meditation and relaxation and self-help."

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Fred Mustard Stewart, who wrote such bestselling novels as The Mephisto Waltz, Six Weeks and Ellis Island, all of which became movies or TV miniseries, died last Wednesday at age 74.

A New York Times obit today quoted him saying, "I love to do saga books because I love to write about families. I think it's the best genre to write in because it's the least restricting. You don't have to depend on one plot device to hold it together. The family holds it together."

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Cool idea of the day. As part of Summit County's annual Day of Reading, during which residents are encouraged to read anything--a book, a magazine, a newspaper--for half an hour this Wednesday, the Learned Owl Bookstore, Hudson, Ohio, will offer "free pancakes and muffins to those who stop in and read for a half hour," the Akron Beacon Journal reported. For more information about the campaign, read thiscityreads.org.

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One Oprah step forward.

The March issue of Oprah Magazine contains this note: "Or go to booksense.com, a remarkably thorough clearinghouse of independent bookstores, key in your zip code to find out where you can buy the book in your neighborhood, and support a mom-and-pop shop in the process."

Perhaps Margaret Osondu's campaign to get Oprah to visit Osondu Booksellers, Waynesville, N.C., and learn the value of independents has had an effect (Shelf Awareness, July 24, 2006). 

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Two longtime employees of Hastings Entertainment have been promoted. Most recently v-p of technology and distribution, Alan Van Ongevalle has been named senior v-p of merchandising. He joined the company in 1992 as an intern and has held a variety of positions involving, among other things, managing stores, opening stores, marketing and advertising. He replaces Michael Rigby, who has left the company.

John Hintz has been named v-p of information technology. Formerly senior director of IT applications, he has held a variety of IT and systems positions. He joined the company in 1987 as a sales associate and was part of the group that installed the original Hastings point of sale system in 1988.

Today the AMS bankruptcy court judge may decide on the competing offers by Perseus and NBN for the 150 PGW publishers whose futures were thrown into jeopardy when AMS declared bankruptcy December 29. Both sides in the drama said they are confident of support. Significant numbers of publishers have apparently signed with both distribution companies.

David Steinberger, CEO of Perseus Books Group, said that after "an extraordinary weekend," the company has signed up PGW publishers representing about 85% of PGW revenue, well above the 65% threshold level set when it made the initial offer a month ago. He noted, too, that Perseus had changed the offer slightly, "introducing an early exit option" that will be applicable to all publishers that have signed with Perseus regardless of when they signed.

"We are ready to write checks to publishers and to begin paying for PGW expenses under our transition services agreement immediately upon getting the O.K. from the court to move forward," he indicated. "We feel that any further delay in the process would be very unfair to the PGW publishers and PGW staff who have suffered enough."

For his part, NBN president Jed Lyons told Shelf Awareness that the distributor has contracts with more than 70 PGW publishers. "We're very pleased considering we've only being doing this three days. It's extraordinary." He noted that because Perseus is buying Avalon and because Grove/Atlantic is a strong Perseus supporter, "probably a third of PGW revenues has been off limits for us."

Lyons said that NBN's addition of a clause that allows distributed publishers to opt out of their contracts within 90 days (after paying back on a prorated basis NBN's payment of 85% of fourth quarter revenues withheld by AMS) had proven popular. In anticipation of a positive response from the judge, NBN is sending several people to Indianapolis "to being looking at the [AMS] facility and formulate plans" for a transition.

In addition, Lyons said he had sent PGW publishers a statement from Fortress Investment Group, whose Drawbridge Long Dated Value Advisors of New York is providing financing for the deal. The statement expressed support "for book publishing in general and looks forward to a long relationship with our industry," as Lyons put it. "What other major financial institution is saying that at this time?"

Incidentally Fortress, a $30 billion manager of hedge and private equity funds, went public last Friday in an IPO that raised $630 million for the company. On the first day of trading, Fortress shares rose 68% to $31.

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Vicki Lansky, founder and head of Book Peddlers and Practical Parenting, distributed by PGW, as quoted on RadioFreePGW, provided some perspective on the situation, saying, "I'm going to let the court make the best guess it can. Too many unknowns. (My guess is that neither would be perfect.) Having a distributor is better than not having one, that is all I know. I think we're lucky that two companies are willing to slug this out over us. We could have no one interested in bailing PGW (and in effect, us) out. I hope however this works out, it works for you."

Some observers of the battle for PGW have remarked on the absence of any bid from Independent Publishers Group (one that might have given the industry a new acronym, IPGW.) In a letter to the company's publishers last week, IPG president Mark Suchomel explained the distributor's position.

Despite being "initially intrigued by the prospects," IPG has not joined the bidding "first and foremost" because an absorption of many PGW publishers into IPG would be disruptive to staff and cause "a slippage of service to our existing clients and customers. We feel that the way to grow a distributor is not to see how many clients we can sign up but to offer a tremendous value for an important service, to continue to help grow the business of our client publishers, and to be selective with whom we work." The company accepts only 2% of publishers who approach it seeking distribution, he said.

Strategically there is no "compelling reason" to merge the two companies, he continued. He contrasted the situation with that of Trafalgar Square Publishing, which IPG bought last fall, a distributor of titles that "complemented rather than duplicated our existing titles and will help us continue to open new specialty accounts and achieve economies for our trade accounts and greater sales for all of our publishers. It broadens our already long reach into specialty stores and helps us open many more accounts in the gift market." Although he said he believed the company could help PGW in some markets and in service, PGW would mainly bring IPG "additional titles." (He did note, "We have already signed up a few publishers that were with or were considering PGW and we are declining to work with others.")

Suchomel also called Perseus's offer of 70 cents and NBN's of 85 cents per dollar of fourth quarter income owed the PGW publishers by AMS "expensive" and "a bad investment for the purpose of growing so quickly. It might take three or four years to begin to break even and we feel that a move such as this combined with an unexpected downturn in business could put substantial pressure on the company and that it would not be responsible to our client publishers." He added that IPG has no plans to go public and that the company will "not be at a disadvantage" if it is smaller than Perseus or NBN.

Suchomel proudly stated that IPG's merger of Trafalgar Square occurred "without even a minor interruption in the selling and shipping of IPG titles," helped because the two companies used the same inventory software. "As far as I know, PGW does not use the same software as NBN and Perseus," he wrote. "The complexity of this type of project can be easily underestimated by upper level executives such as me, yet the stakes are high. Also, we had space in our distribution center to handle the added inventory."

IPG has no outside debt, has no interest in adding outside investors and wants to continue its "strong record of attracting smart publishers and of steady growth," Suchomel continued. "We're happy to remain third largest and the healthiest financially."

This morning the Today Show commits to an appearance with Elina Furman, author of Kiss and Run: The Single, Picky, and Indecisive Girl's Guide to Overcoming Her Fear of Commitment (Fireside, $13, 9780743285131/0743285131).

Also in the Today Show's line-up: Jennifer Elison and Chris McGonigle, authors of Liberating Losses: When Death Brings Relief (Da Capo, $16.95, 9780738209487/0738209481).

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Today on NPR's Morning Edition, Edward Humes discusses Monkey Girl: Evolution, Education, Religion, and the Battle for America's Soul (Ecco, $25.95, 9780060885489/0060885483).

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Today on the Diane Rehm Show: David Corn, Washington editor of the Nation, a Fox News Channel contributor and co-author of Hubris: The Inside Story of Spin, Scandal, and the Selling of the Iraq War (Crown, $25.95, 9780307346810/0307346811).

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Today on the Martha Stewart Show: 13-year-old Nancy Yi Fan, who has written the YA book Snowbird (HarperCollins, $15.99, 9780061130991/0061130990). Incidentally for Fan fans, Carl Lennertz is offering reading copies of this title: contact him at carl.lennertz@harpercollins.com.

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Tonight on the Daily Show with Jon Stewart: Jeffrey Rosen, author of The Supreme Court: The Personalities and Rivalries That Defined America (Times Books, $25, 9780805081824/0805081828). 

 

In a rare tie, Jimmy Carter shared a best spoken word album Grammy last night with Ruby Dee and the late Ossie Davis. The second president after Bill Clinton to win a best spoken word Grammy, Carter won for Our Endangered Values: America's Moral Crisis (S&S Audio). He was not at the ceremony in Los Angeles.

Davis and Dee won for With Ossie and Ruby: In This Life Together (Time Warner). Ruby Dee reportedly said, "I feel like a rock star or something," and said of her husband, "I truly believe he is present today."

The other nominees were:

• I Shouldn't Even Be Doing This! by Bob Newhart (Hyperion Audiobooks)
• New Rules--Polite Musings From a Timid Observer by Bill Maher (Phoenix Audio)
• The Truth (With Jokes) by Al Franken (Brilliance Audio)

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

Hardcover

Flower Confidential: The Good, the Bad, and the Beautiful in the Business of Flowers by Amy Stewart (Algonquin, $23.95, 9781565124387/1565124383). "Amy Stewart's great new book recounts the often amazing and fascinating story of the cut flower industry. It's wonderfully readable, and you will never look at a gerbera daisy with the same eyes again!"--Lyn Dulkinys, Anderson's Bookshop, Naperville, Ill.

Lost City Radio by Daniel Alarcón (HarperCollins, $24.95, 9780060594794/0060594799). "It is never pleasant to read about war, but this story set in a South American country torn by civil war is a beautifully written debut novel. Norma hosts a radio program called 'Lost City Radio,' and each week she reads the names of missing people, including her husband, in hopes the families can be reunited. Outstanding."--Susan Wasson, Bookworks, Albuquerque, N.M.

Paperback

The Buzzword Dictionary: 1,000 Phrases Translated from Pompous to English by John Walston (Marion Street Press, $12.95, 9781933338071/1933338075). "This is an outrageously funny book overflowing with useful phrases that will make a great gift for the uninformed and out-of-touch."--Joyce DeBroux, Reader's Book Emporium, Rocky Mount, N.C.

For Ages 9 to 12

Mom and Dad Are Palindromes: A Dilemma for Words . . . and Backwards by Adam McCauley and Mark Shulman (Chronicle, $15.95, 0811843289). "Everyone who has looked at this book has loved it. I'll be recommending this one to teachers, home schoolers, and grandparents."--Keri Holmes, The Kaleidoscope: Our Focus Is You, Hampton, Iowa

[Many thanks to Book Sense and the ABA!]

Somalia is the subject of the latest scholarly bibliography from the Association of American University Presses. The country has been in a state of war for 16 years and was recently in the news yet again, when Ethiopian soldiers helped the government retake the capital, Mogadishu, and the U.S. made strikes at suspected Al Qaeda members.

Books for Understanding offers essential scholarly resources on Somalia's history, in particular the record of international intervention in the country's conflicts. Examples of books included on the list:

• A Modern History of the Somali: Nation and State in the Horn of Africa by I. M. Lewis (Ohio University Press, 2002)
• 'Here is Hell': Canada's Engagement in Somalia by Grant Dawson (University of British Columbia Press, 2006)
• The Horn of Africa as Common Homeland by Leenco Lata (Wilfrid Laurier University Press, 2004)
• Unraveling Somalia: Race, Class, and the Legacy of Slavery by Catherine Besteman (University of Pennsylvania Press, 1999)