"Any number of publishers . . . are ready and waiting to fill the void left by Harry Potter. If I had a nickel for every book that has been marketed to me as 'this will fill the bill,' I would be drinking in St. Tropez."--Danielle Marshall, Powell's Books, Portland, Ore., quoted by USA Today in a piece about summer reading.

A New York City tip from someone who would know!

Concerning Frommers's advice for getting into Manhattan from JFK and LaGuardia airports yesterday, Jane Kunstler, manager of Branch Libraries Information Systems at the New York Public Library, says there are "better ways to get into Manhattan from the airports via van. Both of the following carriers take you right to your hotel, with no extra taxi fare":

• Super Shuttle
• Airlink Shuttle

 

Congratulations! The winners of this year's Lucile Micheels Pannell Award, sponsored by the Women's National Book Association and given to a general bookstore and a children's-only bookstore "that excel at inspiring the interest of young people in books and reading," are:

Books & Books of Coral Gables, Fla., in the general bookstore category. According to Mary Grey James, the WNBA Pannell chair, Books & Books "was commended, in particular, for reaching out to the growing young adult market," with its High School Photography Exhibit, a rock concert tie-in to Laurie Halse Anderson's Twisted (Penguin/Viking) and fencing/ballet/drumming/yoga workshops.

Wonderland Books of Rockford, Ill., in the children's bookstore category. Wonderland Books was cited for its "overall commitment to community outreach," such as the bookstore's work with Head Start and programs aimed at developmentally delayed children.

The awards will be presented at ABA's Annual Celebration of Bookselling on Thursday night, May 31, at the Hotel ABA (Marriott Hotel) in Brooklyn. Each winner will receive a check for $1,000 and a framed piece of original art. This year's artwork was contributed by Wendell Minor and by Belle Yang. For the first time, the Penguin Young Readers Group will be underwriting the award.

Protesters disrupted a reading by Margaret Ajemian Ahnert, author of The Knock at the Door: A Journey Through the Darkness of the Armenian Genocide, at a Barnes & Noble on the Upper East Side in New York City. According to the New York Times, Erdem Sahin, a Turkish native, was arrested after "a group of four or five men in the audience stood and started passing out literature denying that Turks committed the mass destruction of Armenians in and around 1915."

Ahnert, whose Armenian parents immigrated to the U.S., was reading to an audience that included Manhattan district attorney Robert M. Morgenthau and Hugh L. Carey, former governor of New York. The event resumed after a 20-minute delay. "It was the first time I had that ugliness," Ahnert said. "It's not pleasant, but this is America. Everyone has free speech."

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Book Sense and Houghton Mifflin are holding a Define-a-Thon at BEA, in the Book Sense Lounge on Saturday, June 2, at 4 p.m. All booksellers are invited to participate, and Book Sense will open the Lounge (normally for ABA members only) for all convention attendees to stop by and watch. Houghton is giving an iPod to the winner. (To Define-a-Thon, see yesterday's issue.)

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Borders is opening a 24,000-sq.-ft. store in Gig Harbor, Wash., near Tacoma, in September. The store will be at Point Fosdick Drive N.W. and 48th Avenue.

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Barnes & Noble is planning yet another opening-and-closing switcheroo, this one in Ocala, Fla. When a new B&N opens in March 28 in Market Street at Heath Brook at 4814 Southwest College Rod. The day before the B&N at 3500 Southwest College Road will close.

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Gold St. Press, a new imprint of San Francisco packager Weldon Owen, will be distributed by Ingram Publisher Services. This fall Gold St. Press will publish its first list; the company will be directed by Weldon Owen's v-p of sales and new business Amy Kaneko.

In a statement, Terry Newell, president and CEO of Weldon Owen, which specializes in creating books and other products for such retailers as Williams-Sonoma, Pottery Barn, the Body Shop and Gymboree, said, "Building on our more than 20 years of providing quality illustrated books to publishers and brands, adding a select line of self-published books was a natural next step for us as we look to the future of our company."

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In a moving tribute to the service industry (moving at least to those of us who've toiled in its vineyards), the Fairfax County Times in Virginia offered a litany of "some of the most patient, calm people in the workforce today," including "the truly noble bookstore employee, who turns a blind eye to public couch potatoes who leisurely leaf through no-intention-of-buying magazines while sipping, and spilling, soy lattes."

Amazon.com ranked ninth on USA Today's "Top 25 Things that Changed the Internet," nestled between eighth-place eBay and wi-fi at number 10. The online bookseller was "the second most-visited online retailer in December, after eBay."

Cape Cod Today listed "65 Reasons to Love Cape Cod." At number 62: "Enjoying the charm of the Brewster Bookstore--perfect spot on a rainy day."

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The Corvallis Gazette-Times visited Browser's Bookstore and the Book Bin. With tongue planted firmly in cheek, the writer described Corvallis, Ore., as "an extremely well-educated town, and if we forget, there's usually at least a few pretentious, overly educated people around to remind us."

What were they reading in Corvallis? The answers ranged from Umberto Eco to Raymond Carver to Leon Trotsky to Thomas Pynchon. As a palette cleanser, a few alternatives were offered, including Lose Weight Through Great Sex With Celebrities (The Elvis Way) by Colin McEnroe and Crap Vacations: 50 Tales of Hell on Earth by Dan Kieran.

Book TV airs on C-Span 2 from 8 a.m. Saturday to 8 a.m. Monday and focuses on political and historical books as well as the book industry. The following are highlights for this coming weekend. For more information, go to Book TV's website.

Saturday, May 5

6 p.m. Encore Booknotes. In a segment that first aired in 2000, bestselling suspense novelist Walter Mosley discussed his nonfiction book, Workin’ on the Chain Gang: Shaking Off the Dead Hand of History (Ballantine, $16.95, 9780345430694/0345430697).

7 p.m. History on Book TV. Bob Deans, author of The River Where America Began: A Journey Along the James (Rowman & Littlefield, $24.95, 9780742551725/0742551725), explores the important historical role of the James River, which runs through the state of Virginia. Deans is a national correspondent for Cox Newspapers. (Re-airs Sunday, May 6 at 10 p.m.)

9 p.m. After Words. Bakari Katwana interviews Jabari Asim, author of The N Word: who can say it, who shouldn't, and why (Houghton Mifflin, $26, 9780618197170/0618197176). Asim describes the historical underpinnings of the racial epithet, from its first usage to its current, controversial status in popular culture. He argues that the word should not be used in casual conversation, but can be engaged by a select group of artists and public figures, and redefined in the context of African American identity and culture. (Re-airs Sunday, May 6 at 6 p.m. and 9 p.m.)

Sunday, May 6

12 p.m. In Depth. Marvin Olasky, editor-in-chief of World magazine and a professor of journalism at the University of Texas, joins Book TV for a live interview. Olasky is the author of more than a dozen books, including Compassionate Conservatism: What it is, What it Does, and How it Can Transform America (Free Press, $25, 9780743201315 /0743201310). You can join the discussion by calling in during the program or by emailing your question to booktv@c-span.org. (Re-airs Monday, May 7 at 12 a.m.)

 

This morning on the Today Show: Conn Iggulden, co-author of The Dangerous Book for Boys (Collins, $24.95, 9780061243585/0061243582). He'll also be on the Colbert Report tonight.

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Today on Regis and Kelly: Mackie Shilstone, author of Lean and Hard: The Body You've Always Wanted in Just 24 Workouts (Wiley, $24.95, 9780470037638/0470037636).

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Today on the Diane Rehm Show: Kim Carlos and Jennifer Johnson, two of the four authors of Nordie's at Noon: The Personal Stories of Four Women 'Too Young' for Breast Cancer (DaCapo Lifelong, $20, 9780738210865/0738210862).

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Today the View welcomes guest co-host Jenny McCarthy, whose most recent book is Life Laughs: The Naked Truth about Motherhood, Marriage, and Moving On (Plume, $13.95, 9780452288294/0452288290).

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Today on CBS' Up to the Minute: Jessika Auerbach, author of And Nanny Makes Three: Mothers and Nannies Tell the Truth about Work, Love, Money, and Each Other (St. Martin's, $23.95, 9780312355982/031235598X).

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Today on KCRW's Bookworm: Howard Norman, author of Devotion (Houghton Mifflin, $24, 9780618735419/0618735410). As the show put it: "Betrayal and forgiveness are subjects here. Howard Norman's signature melancholy pervades this exploration of romance, and he shows us how even people who are perfect for one another have a need to betray and forgive--but not forget, never forget."

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Tonight on the Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson: rock icon Alice Cooper, who shares an obsession in Alice Cooper, Golf Monster: A Rock 'n' Roller's 12 Steps to Becoming a Golf Addict (Crown, $24.95, 9780307382658/0307382656).

Parents do not come off well in Gary Schmidt's books, whether they are absent physically (as in First Boy) or emotionally (Lizzie Bright and the Buckminster Boy). But that makes Schmidt's young heroes even more admirable for the challenges they overcome. Holling Hoodhood is neither Jewish nor Catholic, so when everyone else leaves his Long Island classroom on Wednesday afternoons in 1967 for their religious instruction, he remains behind with his seventh-grade teacher, Mrs. Baker. Thus begin the "wars" of the title. On those afternoons, he cleans erasers and rat cages, each chore precipitating disasters of varying degrees, often with a large dose of humor. One day Mrs. Baker decides they should read Shakespeare together, which leads to unexpected epiphanies for both student and teacher. The events play out against the backdrop of a much larger war--in Vietnam. No one remains untouched. Teachers' spouses are MIA, Holling's flower child sister defies their conservative architect father, classmate Mai Thi gets the brunt of smoldering anger and resentment, and, in the course of the novel, both Martin Luther King Jr. and Bobby Kennedy are murdered. Adults will recognize the parallels between that era and this one, but Schmidt's emphasis is on healing. This 12-year-old grows up in front of readers' eyes. Holling may be living through a defining period in history, but he also realizes, with the help of the Bard and Mrs. Baker, that he can act, with a conscience, in the moment. He even realizes, in one highly moving scene, that such moments have always defined both countries and their citizens: His own townspeople, he discovers, contributed to the beginning of a nation and the end of slavery. This is a book readers must stick with; it begins slowly and deliberately. But the payoff is greater than one can foresee. Like Holling, who says, "I saw my town as if I had just arrived," readers will come away with a reverence for the people and places they have always taken for granted.--Jennifer M. Brown

Hometown favorite Tim Green has garnered an impressive four spots on the bestseller list at Creekside Books & Coffee in Skaneateles, N.Y., for the week ended Saturday, April 28. Nearly 100 people turned out at the store this past week for a signing by the NFL player turned author, leading his latest thriller, American Outrage, to score at #1. Other Green titles appearing on the list are the paperback editions of the novels Exact Revenge and Kingdom Come, and his decade-old memoir, The Dark Side of the Game: My Life in the NFL.

Also making an appearance at Creekside Books & Coffee this past Saturday was Donald R. Williams, who promoted Adirondack Ventures (the #10 bestseller) as part of the store's "New York State History Author Series."

Local connections run strong here in this small town 24 miles south of Syracuse in the Finger Lakes region, and two other bestselling tomes are benefiting from community ties--one by an author who currently lives in Skaneateles (pronounced "skinny atlas") and one who doesn't. Customer interest in fellow resident John Bul Dau's story of his life as a Sudanese refugee has made his memoir, God Grew Tired of Us, Creekside's #4 bestseller.

Although Kim Edwards, author of The Memory Keeper's Daughter, now resides in Kentucky, she hails from Skaneateles and still has family there. "Just about everyone in town has a copy," said Creekside Books owner Erika Davis of the #12 title. In fact, Edwards was signing at the store last year when she learned that the paperback edition of her novel had hit the Book Sense bestseller list.

Featured in the Book Sense bestseller display located at the front of the store is the #7 title, Three Cups of Tea: One Man's Mission to Promote Peace . . . One School at a Time by Greg Mortenson, an account of the author's efforts to build schools in Pakistan and Afghanistan. Creekside does well with nonfiction titles that have an emphasis on global affairs. "Customers are hungry for that kind of information," Davis said, "especially when it has to do with the Middle East."

Also on the Book Sense bestseller display is the recently-released paperback edition of Suite Française by Irène Némirovsky, which has landed in the #11 spot thanks to local book club members. Another favorite with area reading groups is the historical tome Miracles on the Water: The Heroic Survivors of a World War II U-Boat Attack by Tom Nagorski, which ranks at #6.

Although Sara Gruen's Water for Elephants is displayed in two separate locations in the store--among the Book Sense bestsellers as well as in a stand-alone display--the paperback edition of the novel is in the #3 spot due largely to handselling by Davis and her staff. "We all just love it," she said.

The staff will likely do even more handselling in the future. At the ABA's Winter Institute earlier this year, Davis participated in an "energetic and informative" session on the topic. She passed on the techniques she learned to employees, who are already gearing up to handsell a title no doubt destined for the store's bestseller list: A Thousand Splendid Suns. Davis is reading Khaled Hosseini's second novel now. "It's heart wrenching but amazing," she said. "It's even better than The Kite Runner."--Shannon McKenna


Creekside Books bestsellers during the week ended Saturday, April 28:

1. American Outrage by Tim Green (Grand Central, $24.99, 9780446577434/044657743X)
2. Cracking the SAT Biology E/M Subject Test, 2007-2008 Edition (Princeton Review, $19, 9780375765889/0375765883)
3. Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen (Algonquin, $13.95, 9781565125605/1565125606)
4. God Grew Tired of Us: A Memoir by John Bul Dau with Michael Sweeney (National Geographic, $26, 9781426201141/1426201141)
5. Exact Revenge by Tim Green (Grand Central, $6.99, 9780446617161/0446617164)
6. Miracles on the Water: The Heroic Survivors of a World War II U-Boat Attack by Tom Nagorski (Hyperion, $14.95, 9781401308711/1401308716)
7. Three Cups of Tea: One Man's Mission to Promote Peace . . . One School at a Time by Greg Mortenson and David Oliver Relin (Penguin, $15, 9780143038252/0143038257)
8. The Dark Side of the Game: My Life in the NFL by Tim Green (Grand Central, $7.99, 9780446605205/0446605204)
9. Kingdom Come by Tim Green (Grand Central, $7.99, 9780446615716/0446615714)
10. Adirondack Ventures by Donald R. Williams (Arcadia, $19.99, 9780738545608/0738545600)
11. Suite Française by Irène Némirovsky (Vintage, $14.95, 9781400096275/1400096278)
12. The Memory Keeper's Daughter by Kim Edwards (Penguin, $14, 9780143037149/0143037145)