It's official: the jury in the suit filed by a film company to recoup film rights granted by Laura Albert for Sarah by JT Leroy found Leroy to be "not just a fictional creation, but a fraud," according to the New York Times. For all the facts, click here.

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Besides being a Midwest Booksellers Association Midwest Connections Pick for this summer, Whistling in the Dark by Lesley Kagen (NAL Accent), the subject of a story here last Friday, has been on the Heartland Independent Bestseller List since the week ending May 13. The book was published May 1.

MBA executive director Susan Walker, who brought the book's bestselling status to our attention, wrote: "We love this book and Lesley. It's really exciting to see a first novel do so very well so quickly!!"

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Borders's first entry in its new proprietary and exclusive publishing program, part of its new strategic plan, has landed on the Wall Street Journal's bestseller list. Slip & Fall, a thriller by screenwriter Nick Santora published under the State Street Press imprint, was No. 15 on the Journal's fiction list after its first week of sales. The company proudly said that the title is one of the top 10 bestselling books at Borders.

CEO George Jones indicated that future State Street Press titles will include a 50th Anniversary of the Grammy Awards book and a John Legend Tour book.

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Following up on a Friday Wall Street Journal story about the popularity of anti-religion titles like Christopher Hitchens's God Is Not Great, several readers mentioned similar titles:

God Laughs and Plays: Churchless Sermons in Response to the Preachments of the Fundamentalist Right by David James Duncan (Triad Books, $15.95, 9780977717019/0977717011), which won a 2007 PNBA Book Award and has been on the Pacific Northwest Booksellers Association bestseller list in both hardcover and paperback. [Thanks be to Brian Juenemann, PNBA's marketing director for pointing this out.]

The Atheist's Bible: An Illustrated Collection of Irreverent Thoughts edited by Joan Konner (Ecco, $16.95, 9780061349157/0061349151), a collection of quotations from philosophers, political thinkers, writers, scientists and humorists who have questioned the wisdom of organized religion and belief in God. The book was released June 12. Konner is former dean of the Columbia School of Journalism and a print and TV journalist whose most recent TV production was The Mystery of Love, which aired on public television last December.

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The Espresso Book Machine, the POD gadget from On Demand Books, co-owned by Jason Epstein, former editorial director of Random House, will begin operating at the New York Public Library next week. The Machine offers more than 200,000 public domain titles; On Demand is working with publishers to copy copyrighted books. To scan a digital copy of a story by Bloomberg about the Machine, click here.

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Voices & Visions: Books, Arts, Community, Philadelphia, Pa., which closed earlier this month, has Stickley furniture, bookcases and fixtures for sale. (Robin's Bookstore of Philadelphia has purchased the store's inventory.) For more information, contact Charles Evans at 215-634-8590.

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Blair Tom, manager of customer service and public relations for the Muskingum County Library System, Zanesville, Ohio, has won the first annual Spotlight Award for Public Librarians, sponsored by BookPage to "honor librarians for their quiet efforts to make life better for their patrons and communities--librarians who never seek the spotlight but certainly deserve it." Tom was among the nearly 2,000 librarians nominated by patrons. He receives $2,500; Alice Graham, who nominated him, wins $100. The award was announced on Saturday at the ALA conference in Washington, D.C.

In her nomination, Graham wrote: "Quietly and tactfully, [Tom] models exquisite customer service and coaches and encourages his employees to reach their full potential." She also cited, among other projects, his development of summer reading programs, the creation of a Learning Center with the Rotary Club, launch of a Friends of the Library bookstore and development of a Passport Program with the Chamber of Commerce that encourages people to visit various places in the county.

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For the third year in a row, Running Press has awarded a grant to use towards "an adventure that represents the essence" of Delaying the Real World: A Twentysomething's Guide to Seeking Adventure by Colleen Kinder ($12.95, 9780762421893/0762421894). The winner of this year's $3,500 grant is Andrew Morgan, 25, who currently teaches English in Japan and plans in September to travel parts of the globe on a bicycle with trailer.

While teaching English during his trip, Morgan intends to film children at each of his stops and then show the video to children at stops after that, hoping, for example, to demonstrate to children in Brazil what life is like for children in the U.S. and children in Egypt about children in Brazil. Like previous winners Alex Katona and Daniela Papi, he will update his travels on the website.

Colleen Kinder, who will meet Morgan in August, said of his proposal: "It's daring, it's challenging, it's fun, and it could even change some lives for the better." Running Press received more than 500 applications for the grant. The book, Perseus CEO David Steinberger said, continues to sell well three years after its original publication.

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Books & Books has re-opened its Café in the Coral Gables, Fla., store, adding more items to the menu. The chef is Bernie Matz, who specializes in New South Florida cuisine. 

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Mentioned here on Friday, Krista Hunter, who is leaving Village Books, Bellingham, Wash., at the end of the summer, has worked at the store longer than 24 hours. In fact, she has been there 24 years. Pardon us and apologies to Jack Bauer!

 

Carl Lennertz, v-p of independent retailing at HarperCollins, offers the following report on the New Atlantic Independent Booksellers Association trunk show held in Syracuse, N.Y., last week. Many thanks!

 

I hit I-81 to Syracuse, N.Y., on a 91-degree day armed with iced coffee and Santana on CD (I know; I'm hopeless), on my way to fill in for beloved, PW rep-of-the-year-nominated telesales rep Kim Gombar. Kim had a scheduling conflict, so off I went with her list of fall picks and holiday catalog titles; boxes of ARE's were sent ahead to the lovely Holiday Inn. (Ah, the smell of chlorine; flashback to my days as a Midwest Random House rep and the hell of Holidomes.) But I digress.

Central Upstate New York is home to the Mohawk settings for Richard Russo's early novels; hundreds of town and lakes with Indian names; beautiful dairy farms; the gorgeous Finger Lakes; legendary colleges; brutal winters and lovely summer resort towns; and a wonderful group of bookstores that NAIBA has dubbed "The Other New York."  

I've been to three of the stores, and all the visits made me yearn to live in those towns (ok, except in winter): the spacious Creekside Books & Coffee in the resort town of Skaneateles (I checked the speling); Oswego's downtown gem River's End Bookstore, near the banks of Lake Erie (the E in HOMES); and Colgate Bookstore, a glorious three-story building in Hamilton. I hope to get to some of the other nearby stores next time, especially Syracuse University Bookstore, Talking Leaves Books in Buffalo and Lift Bridge Book Shop in Brockport. It's always good to see Elena, Lucy and Pat, respectively, from those stores, and Pat took the opportunity to applaud our children's group for the wonderful Fancy Nancy event kit.

The Trunk Show itself was short and sweet. A table, a stack of ARE's and a rep picks session. NAIBA's Eileen Dengler hatched up this idea with Rob Stahl of Colgate with the goal of getting some extra attention to these geographically removed but vital stores. I finished early so my group of booksellers had a discussion about the digital future. We agreed that it's a matter of when not if, and that we all need to be ready to give customers what they want in the format they want it in.

Lastly I spent time talking with Jack Herr and Carolyn Bennett of Bookstream. (Carolyn is the sister of my assistant Whitney and daughter of the Bookselling Bennetts of New Jersey, not to be confused with the Lighthouse Stevensons of Jersey.) Anyway, they just had Tommie de Paolo up to sign stock, which went back out the door right away. We should all get some authors up there to sign stock and stop at the Hudson Valley's wonderful Merritt Books, Oblong Books, Spotty Dog and Inquiring Minds, too. A new B&N in booming Newburgh, too. (Future home of New York metro's fourth major airport? Hmmm, we'll see. Newburgh does have the best Hudson Riverside dining anywhere. Oh, Gulf Coast Bar on the West Side H'way, we miss you.)  Anyway, email Carolyn.bennett@bookstream.com.

Five hours and more iced coffee and the occasional view of the Erie Canal and I was back in bustling Manhattan, better off thanks to the time to think in the car and talk with some very savvy booksellers.
   

Alex Green, owner of Back Pages Books in Waltham, Mass., has launched The 1001 Book Project. His goal is to sell 1,001 copies (one more than the initial print run from Canadian press Exile Editions) of Jon Papernick's Who by Fire, Who by Blood before the novel is published September 30.

The Boston Globe reported Green "has begun a campaign challenging the idea that a book needs a recommendation from Oprah Winfrey and a display at Barnes & Noble to be successful," adding that Back Pages, which has sold more than 230 copies since May 21, "has the exclusive right to sell Papernick's book in the United States--until, at least, the project succeeds in attracting an American publisher."

"If I can prove to a publisher that a 1,000-square-foot bookstore in a suburb of Boston can pre-sell an entire print run before it's released, then maybe American publishers will take a second look," said Green. "Maybe they look at it and say that maybe if 1,000 people want [a book] from this small bookstore, then maybe thousands of people across the country will buy it."

According to the Globe, "Green hopes the innovative effort will also inspire other independent bookstore owners not to give up in the face of Internet retailers such as Amazon.com."

"We've got absolutely nothing to lose," he said.

The Business section in yesterday's New York Times featured the most unusual bookcase. Called the Cave, it was designed by Sakura Adachi, a furniture designer in Milan, and includes a form-fitting seat. The idea "was to make a piece of furniture that replicated the experience of dining al fresco on a busy sidewalk--a pastime, Ms. Adachi said, that makes someone feel simultaneously sheltered and engaged." An English furniture manufacturer is working with the Japanese-born designer. The Caves are made to order out of maple and upholstery and include a reading light. She has sold three so far for a little more than $7,000 each; a children's version would be about $4,830. Delivery takes 8-12 weeks. Cozy up at Sakurah.net/shop.htm.

Today the Martha Stewart Show makes confections with Matt Lewis, a Brooklyn, N.Y., bakery owner and co-author of Chocolate Bar: Recipes and Entertaining Ideas for Living the Sweet Life (Running Press, $24.95, 9780762419210/0762419210).

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Today the Diane Rehm Show talks with Ralph James Savarese about Reasonable People: A Memoir of Autism and Adoption: On the Meaning of Family and the Politics of Neurological Difference (Other Press, $25.95, 9781590511299/1590511298).

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Today on NPR's To the Point: Cynthia Barnett, author of Mirage: Florida and the Vanishing Water of the Eastern U.S. (University of Michigan Press, $24.95, 9780472115631/0472115634).

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Today the View re-airs an episode with guest co-host Suze Orman, whose most recent financial advice tome is Women & Money: Owning the Power to Control Your Destiny (Spiegel & Grau, $24.95, 9780385519311/0385519311).

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Today the Oprah Winfrey Show re-airs an episode featuring Nate Berkus, author of Home Rules: Transform the Place You Live into a Place You'll Love (Hyperion, $27.95, 9781401301378/1401301371).

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Today on NPR's Talk of the Nation, Deirdre Barrett explores Waistland: A (R)evolutionary View of Our Weight and Fitness Crisis (Norton, $24.95, 9780393062168/0393062163).

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Tonight Hannity & Colmes toasts Anna David, author of the novel Party Girl (ReganBooks, $24.95, 9780061198724/0061198722).

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Tonight on the Daily Show with Jon Stewart: Steve Vogel, military reporter for the Washington Post and author of The Pentagon: A History (Random House, $32.95, 9781400063031/1400063035).

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Tonight on the Colbert Report: Vincent Bugliosi, former prosecutor and Warren Commission report defender whose new book is Reclaiming History: The Assassination of President John F. Kennedy (Norton, $49.95, 9780393045253/0393045250).

 

Just as the CIA has decided to release its "family jewels" report, the 1ong-classified 1970s chronicle of 25 years of illegal activity, including assassinations, assassination attempts, domestic spying, infiltration of political groups and other heinous crimes, Doubleday is moving the on-sale date for Legacy of Ashes: The History of the CIA by Tim Weiner (Doubleday, $27.95, 9780385514453/038551445X) to this Thursday, June 28, from August.

Weiner is a two-time Pulitzer Prize-winning New York Times reporter who has covered the CIA for 20 years and written Betrayal: The Story of Aldrich Ames, An American Spy and Blank Check: The Pentagon's Black Budget.

Legacy of Ashes is based, the publisher said, on more than 50,000 documents, most from the archives of the CIA, White House and State Department, many of them declassified in the last five years; on-the-record interviews with 10 directors of the CIA; access to "dozens" of the CIA's own secret histories; more than 2,000 oral histories of U.S. diplomats, spies and presidential aides; transcripts of presidential conversations; and more than 300 on-the-record interviews with CIA officers and veterans since 1987.

The publisher pulls no punches describing the book and its subject: "This book charts the disastrous course of never-revealed secret operations across Europe, the Middle East, Asia, and Africa. It shows that the CIA's vaunted victories in the cold war--coups that overthrew constitutional leaders in Iran and Guatemala--were chaotic fights that succeeded only by deadly force. It exposes the buying and selling of the political leaders of world powers. It details how Presidents from Harry Truman to George W. Bush have abused and misused the CIA. It shows how the CIA deteriorated over the decades into an incapable and incoherent service whose deepest secret was its own weakness and ineptitude."