"Oh my God. It is the stereotypical thing that I can't keep it on my shelf. I get a huge stack in and it goes away."--Nick Petrulakis, manager of the Books Inc. branch in Alameda, Calif., quoted in a San Mateo County Times story about the wild success of The Secret.

The Seattle Post-Intelligencer has a cheery article whose headline and deck sum it up: "Teens buying books at fastest rate in decades. New 'golden age of young adult literature' declared."

"Kids are buying books in quantities we've never seen before," Booklist magazine critic Michael Cart told the paper. "And publishers are courting young adults in ways we haven't seen since the 1940s."

Popular categories include graphic novels, adventure, romance, humor and "gritty coming-of-age tales. . . . More notably, though, there's a new strain of sophistication and literary heft as publishers cater to the older end of the spectrum with books that straddle teen and adult markets."

One aspect helping the boom: "Teens are actively shaping the literary scene, as more libraries--including the Seattle Public Library--form teen advisory groups to attract young readers and help influence collections. Publishers sometimes use them as focus groups, and the American Library Association solicits teen input before it votes on its annual list of Best Books for Young Adults."

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February general retail sales were almost as cool as the weather in much of country. A Lazard Capital Markets survey quoted in the Wall Street Journal found sales at stores open at least a year rose 1.9% in February compared to a gain of 3% in January. Several observers had expected a soft month and were pleased that sales weren't lower than they were.

Wal-Mart had a comp-store sales gain of 0.9%, below its expectations. At the other end of the economic scale, Saks had a comp-store gain of 24.7%, "evidence that well-heeled shoppers continue to spend freely," as the Journal put it.

In part because the economy appears to be slowing, Michael Niemira, chief economist at the International Council of Shopping Centers, has lowered his forecast for same-store sales in 2007 to 3% from 3.7%.

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The often ornery Joe Morgenstern, film critic for the Wall Street Journal, has this to say about The Namesake, which opens today and is based on the Jhumpa Lahiri novel: "This immensely pleasurable film is . . . a saga of the immigrant experience that captures the snap, crackle and pop of American life, along with the pounding pulse, emotional reticence, volcanic colors and cherished rituals of Indian culture."

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Amber-Allen Publishing, which publishes titles by Don Miguel Louis and Deepak Chopra, among others, is now being distributed by Hay House. Amber-Allen had been one of PGW's larger publishers. Hay House called the addition of Amber-Allen authors "a natural flow to the already existing books, CDs, card decks and kits that Hay House supplies" by the same authors.

And Dark Horse Books, another PGW publisher that didn't go with Perseus, has landed with Diamond Book Distributors, according to Calvin Reid at PW.  

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Yesterday Barnes & Noble closed at $37.86, up 3%. The company, which suffered an 11.4% drop on Monday after divulging several bits of bad news, was aided yesterday by a Stifel Nicolaus upgrade to "buy" from "hold." An analyst at the firm wrote that B&N has solid cash flow, real estate value and store productivity and suggested that B&N should go private. "Specifically, good real estate, entrepreneurial culture at Barnes & Noble, and vagaries of book business relative to public companies make 'go-private' transaction look good, in our view," David Schick wrote. 

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Changing Hands Bookstore in Tempe, Ariz., has won the Publishers Weekly Bookseller of the Year Award, and Kate McCune, a HarperCollins rep, has won PW's Sales Rep of the Year Award.

Congratulations to McCune and the entire staff of Changing Hands, including owners Gayle Shanks, ABA's vice president, Bob Sommer and Susie Brazil, all of whom are known for their energy, innovation, knowledge and hard work.

See the Bookselling This Week story online.

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Other stories in BTW include:

• With the enthusiastic support of her colleagues, Ellen Baker, a part-time bookseller at J. W. Beecroft Books & Coffee, Superior, Wis., wrote a novel and sold it as part of a two-book deal to Random House. Called Keeping the House, the novel is set in 1950s Wisconsin and arrives this summer.
• Last month, Joel and Christy Harris opened Clayton Books in Clayton, Calif., in a spot where Bonanza Street Books closed its Clayton branch. The 2,400-sq.-ft. store stocks two-thirds used books but sales are evenly split between new and used.
• The Book Bin in Northbook, Ill., owned by Janis and Lex Irvine, is 35 years old and continues to sell a lot of children's books and hardcover fiction.

 

This morning the Early Show features lifestyle improvement techniques from South Beach Diet Dr. Arthur Agatston.

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Today the Oprah Winfrey Show re-airs an episode with Denzel Washington, actor and author of A Hand to Guide Me (Meredith Books, $24.95, 9780696230493/0696230496), a collection of more than 70 stories from well-known figures who were influenced by a mentor. A portion of the book's proceeds benefits the Boys & Girls Clubs of America.

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Tonight on Real Time with Bill Maher, Deepak Chopra explores Life After Death: The Burden of Proof (Crown, $24, 9780307345783/0307345785).  

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Tonight the Late Show with David Letterman laughs it up with Ricky Gervais, author of the children's book Flanimals (Putnam, $14.99, 978-0399243974/0399243976).

The National Book Critics Circle awards go to:

• Fiction: The Inheritance of Loss by Kiran Desai (Atlantic Monthly Press)
• Nonfiction: Rough Crossings: Britain, the Slaves and the American Revolution by Simon Schama (Ecco)
• Biography: James Tiptree, Jr.: The Double Life of Alice B. Sheldon by Julie Phillips (St. Martin's)
• Memoir/Autobiography: The Lost: A Search for Six of Six Million by Daniel Mendelsohn (HarperCollins)
• Poetry: Tom Thomson in Purgatory by Troy Jollimore (Margie/Intuit House)
• Criticism: Everything That Rises: A Book of Convergences by Lawrence Weschler (McSweeney's)
• The Nona Balakian Citation for Excellence in Reviewing: Steven Kellman
• The Sandrof Award for Lifetime Achievement: John Leonard

The recently-published book Anatomy of Deceit: How the Bush Administration Used the Media to Sell the War and Out a Spy by journalist Marcy Wheeler has an endorsement from one of the major figures in the Valerie Plame case. Plame's husband and former ambassador Joseph Wilson called the book "the definitive study." He lauded Wheeler as having "the deepest understanding of the betrayal of Valerie Plame Wilson's CIA affiliation of anyone I know, myself included."

Based on Wheeler's extensive blog coverage of the case, Anatomy of Deceit deciphers the spin and provides a detailed account--including a timeline and source notes--of the players involved, the legal issues and what it all means in a broader political context. Wheeler blogs under the name Emptywheel on TheNextHurrah.com.

A paperback original, Anatomy of Deceit is the first title from Vaster Books. Launched by bloggers Jane Hamsher, host of Firedoglake.com and a former film producer whose credits include Natural Born Killers, and Markos Moulitsas, co-author of Crashing the Gate and founder of DailyKos.com, Vaster Books' mission is to produce "book and other media on politics, culture, and technology that will influence debate and promote progressive values." Hamsher and Moulitsas will use their respective online platforms, which attract nearly 1 million unique daily visitors, to promote Vaster Books titles.--Shannon McKenna

The following were the bestselling titles during the week ended Sunday, March 4, at member bookstores of the Great Lakes Booksellers Association and the Midwest Booksellers Association, as reported to Book Sense:

Hardcover Fiction

1. Shopaholic & Baby by Sophie Kinsella (Dial, $24, 9780385338707)
2. The Watchman by Robert Crais (S&S, $25.95, 9780743281638)
3. What Is the What by Dave Eggers (McSweeney's, $26, 9781932416640)
4. Step on a Crack by James Patterson and Michael Ledwidge (Little, Brown, $27.99, 9780316013949)
5. Plum Lovin' by Janet Evanovich (St. Martin's, $16.95, 9780312306342)
6. Suite Francaise by Irene Nemirovsky (Knopf, $25, 9781400044733)
7. Ten Days in the Hills by Jane Smiley (Knopf, $26, 9781400040612)
8. High Profile by Robert B. Parker (Putnam, $24.95, 9780399154041)
9. The Double Bind by Chris Bohjalian (Shaye Areheart, $25, 9781400047468)
10. For One More Day by Mitch Albom (Hyperion, $21.95, 9781401303273)
11. Heart-Shaped Box by Joe Hill (Morrow, $24.95, 9780061147937)
12. Returning to Earth by Jim Harrison (Grove, $24, 9780802118387)
13. The Boleyn Inheritance by Philippa Gregory (Touchstone, $25.95, 9780743272506)
14. Sisters by Danielle Steel (Delacorte, $27, 9780385340229)
15. The Thirteenth Tale by Diane Setterfield (Atria, $26, 9780743298025)

Hardcover Nonfiction

1. The Secret edited by Rhonda Byrne (Atria/Beyond Words, $23.95, 9781582701707)
2. In an Instant by Lee Woodruff and Bob Woodruff (Random House, $25.95, 9781400066674)
3. The Audacity of Hope by Barack Obama (Crown, $25, 9780307237699)
4. Women & Money by Suze Orman (Spiegel & Grau, $24.95, 9780385519311)
5. Marley & Me by John Grogan (Morrow, $21.95, 9780060817084)
6. Infidel by Ayaan Hirsi Ali (Free Press, $26, 9780743289689)
7. Train Your Mind, Change Your Brain by Sharon Begley (Ballantine, $24.95, 9781400063901)
8. A Long Way Gone by Ishmael Beah (Sarah Crichton/FSG, $22, 9780374105235)
9. I Feel Bad About My Neck by Nora Ephron (Knopf, $19.95, 9780307264558)
10. About Alice by Calvin Trillin, Random House ($14.95, 9781400066155)
11. The Intellectual Devotional by David S. Kidder and Noah D. Oppenheim (Rodale, $22.50, 9781594865138)
12. The Best Life Diet by Bob Greene (S&S, $26, 9781416540663)
13. Nemesis by Chalmers Johnson (Metropolitan, $26, 9780805079111)
14. You: On a Diet by Michael F. Roizen, M.D., and Mehmet C. Oz, M.D. (Free Press, $25, 9780743292542)
15. I Like You by Amy Sedaris (Warner, $27.99, 9780446578844)

Trade Paperback Fiction

1. The Memory Keeper's Daughter by Kim Edwards (Penguin, $14, 9780143037149)
2. March by Geraldine Brooks (Penguin, $14, 9780143036661)
3. Snow Flower and the Secret Fan by Lisa See (Random House, $13.95, 9780812968064)
4. Astrid and Veronika by Linda Olsson (Penguin, $14, 9780143038078)
5. Labyrinth by Kate Mosse (Berkley, $15, 9780425213971)
6. The Inheritance of Loss by Kiran Desai (Grove, $14, 9780802142818)
7. In the Company of the Courtesan by Sarah Dunant (Random House, $13.95, 9780812974041)
8. The History of Love by Nicole Krauss (Norton, $13.95, 9780393328622)
9. The Namesake by Jhumpa Lahiri (Mariner, $14, 9780618485222)
10. My Sister's Keeper by Jodi Picoult (Washington Square, $14, 9780743454537)
11. The Sunday List of Dreams by Kris Radish (Bantam, $11, 9780553383980)
12. The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho (HarperSanFrancisco, $13.95, 9780061122415)
13. The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini (Riverhead, $14, 9781594480003)
14. Case Histories by Kate Atkinson (Back Bay, $13.99, 9780316010702)
15. One Thousand White Women by Jim Fergus (St. Martin's, $14.95, 9780312199432)

Trade Paperback Nonfiction

1. The Year of Magical Thinking by Joan Didion (Vintage, $13.95, 9781400078431)
2. The Measure of a Man by Sidney Poitier (HarperSanFrancisco, $14.95, 9780061357909)
3. Eat, Pray, Love by Elizabeth Gilbert (Penguin, $15, 9780143038412)
4. Three Cups of Tea by Greg Mortenson and David Oliver Relin (Penguin, $15, 9780143038252)
5. The Worst Hard Time by Timothy Egan (Mariner, $14.95, 9780618773473)
6. Dreams From My Father by Barack Obama (Three Rivers, $14.95, 9781400082773)
7. The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls (Scribner, $14, 9780743247542)
8. The River of Doubt by Candice Millard (Broadway, $14.95, 9780767913737)
9. An Inconvenient Truth by Al Gore (Rodale, $21.95, 9781594865671)
10. Misquoting Jesus by Bart D. Ehrman (HarperSanFrancisco, $14.95, 9780060859510)
11. The Devil in the White City by Erik Larson (Vintage, $14.95, 9780375725609)
12. The Four Agreements by Don Miguel Ruiz (Amber-Allen, $12.95, 9781878424310)
13. 90 Minutes in Heaven by Don Piper (Revell, $12.99, 9780800759490)
14. The Freedom Writers Diary by Erin Gruwell and the Freedom Writers (Broadway, $13.95, 9780767924900)
15. The Five Love Languages by Gary Chapman (Moody, $14.99, 9781881273158)

Mass Market

1. Exile by Aaron Allston (Del Rey, $7.99, 9780345477538)
2. To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee (Warner, $6.99, 9780446310789)
3. Honeymoon by James Patterson and Howard Roughan (Warner, $7.99, 9780446613378)
4. Sour Puss by Rita Mae Brown and Sneaky Pie Brown (Bantam, $7.50, 9780553586817)
5. Sweetwater Creek by Anne Rivers Siddons (HarperCollins, $9.99, 9780060837013)
6. The Divide by Nicholas Evans (Signet, $9.99, 9780451219299)
7. Deadly Game by Christine Feehan (Jove, $7.99, 9780515142617)
8. Dirty Blonde by Lisa Scottoline (HarperCollins, $7.99, 9780060742911)
9. The Last Templar by Raymond Khoury (Signet, $9.99, 9780451219954)
10. The Fountainhead by Ayn Rand (NAL, $8.99, 9780451191151)

Children's Titles

1. Dragon of the Red Dawn (Magic Tree House #37) by Mary Pope Osborne, illustrated by Salvatore Murdocca (Random House, $11.99, 9780375837272)
2. Bridge to Terabithia by Katherine Paterson (HarperEntertainment, $6.99, 9780061227288)
3. Junie B., First Grader: Dumb Bunny by Barbara Park, illustrated by Denise Brunkus (Random House, $11.99, 9780375838095)
4. It's Not Easy Being Mean (A Clique Novel) by Lisi Harrison (Little, Brown, $9.99, 9780316115056)
5. The Higher Power of Lucky by Susan Patron (Atheneum, $16.95, 9781416901945)
6. The Invention of Hugo Cabret by Brian Selznick (Scholastic, $22.99, 9780439813785)
7. Goodnight Moon by Margaret Wise Brown, illustrated by Clement Hurd (HarperCollins, $7.99, 9780694003617)
8. Forever in Blue (The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants, #4) by Ann Brashares (Delacorte, $18.99, 9780385729369)
9. Flotsam by David Wiesner (Clarion, $17, 9780618194575)
10. The Cat in the Hat by Dr. Seuss (Random House, $8.99, 9780394800011)
11. Where the Wild Things Are by Maurice Sendak (HarperCollins, $16.95, 9780060254926)
12. Charlotte's Web by E.B. White (HarperEntertainment, $7.99, 9780061120268)
13. On the Night You Were Born by Nancy Tillman (Feiwel & Friends, $16.95, 9780312346065)
14. Love You Forever by Robert Munsch, illustrated by Sheila McGraw (Firefly, $4.95, 9780920668375)
15. Eragon by Christopher Paolini (Laurel-Leaf, $6.99, 9780440238485)

[Many thanks to Book Sense, GLBA and MBA!]