October 2010

Book Buzz, Books, Civil Rights, Collection Development, HarperCollins Publishers, Libraries, Marshalling Justice, NAACP, Supreme Court, Supreme Court Justice, Thurgood Marshall

Marshalling Justice

Marshallustice hc cI just finished a book entitled Marshalling Justice: The Early Civil Rights Letters of Thurgood Marshall, by Michael G. Long.  Marshalling Justice will be on sale in January 2011. The year 2011 marks the 75th anniversary of Marshall's arrival at the NAACP offices in New York and the 50th anniversary of his move to the Federal bench, and with that we are proud to publish this book.  Many may think that this is just a collection of letters, but I can truly attest to the fact that it is much more than that.  Marshalling Justice really taps into who Thurgood Marshall was how he managed to stay active in the cause of civil rights. 

Marshalling Justice also shows what motivated him to champion certain cases, and what we discover is that it was not always for the greater good.  In some instances, it was personal.  Thurgood Marshall, being a native of Maryland always wanted to attend the University of Maryland Law School.  Unfortunately at the time he wanted to attend, blacks were not allowed admission.  After he graduated from Howard University School of Law, he had the opportunity to take on the case of another young black man craving admission to the University of Maryland Law School.  When the case was won, Marshall took it a step further.  He made it his business to ensure the young man succeeded in every aspect of his studies.  Whether the young man needed a tutor, a mentor and just a shoulder to lean on, Thurgood Marshall was there, so that he could show just how successful this young man could be.

I am SO excited about this book and would love to hear your comments.  I will send free advance reader copies of Marshalling Justice to the 15 lucky people who send us a comment or an email at librarylovefest at harpercollins dot com.  If you would be so kind as to send a brief review of the book after you read it, I would greatly appreciate it!

Marshalling Justice shines a light on an unsung hero in the area of civil and human rights.  I truly hope you enjoy it as much as I have.

Enjoy!

-Bobby

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Guest Review: Russian Winter

Is there anything better than recommending a book you adore, and finding out you've made a great match? Doubtful! This year, I've been book-talking Daphne Kalotay's luminous debut Russian Winter, and nothing makes me happier than hearing back from excited librarians afterwards.  Check out this guest blog from Juliann M. Janovicz, Head of Adult Services at the Winnetka-Northfield Public Library District.  Juli writes:

9780061962165_0_Cover I managed to miss the prepublication publicity for this novel and the advanced reading copy from Baker & Taylor.  I was unaware of the book until the @harperlibrary reps talked about the title at an Early Word galley chat (*ewgc) on Twitter.  I’m happy I stopped in to chat because they sent me a copy of Russian Winter and tipped me off to a great title to recommend for the fall.  I couldn’t put it down.

Russian Winter provides a view of the life of the intellectual elite in the Soviet Union under Stalin.  Focusing on the life of a prima ballerina in the Bolshoi Ballet, Kalotay offers a glimpse into the privileged world of the dancers, poets and musicians who created art within the Soviet regime despite fear of punishment for straying outside of the prescribed code of political behavior.  The author makes this historical period come alive by weaving this past into the present.

Kalotay’s main character is retired ballerina Nina Revskaya who fled Soviet Russia and settled in the United States. Nearing eighty and living in Boston, Nina has decided to auction her substantial jewelry collection with the proceeds benefiting the Boston Ballet Foundation. The auction catalog descriptions for each piece of jewelry set off chapters in the book. The catalog descriptions are catalysts, taking the reader and Nina further into the past. As the auction date nears, Nina is forced to confront memories and secrets that are intertwined with the jewels.

Russian Winter defies categorization.  It is a literary novel that is part mystery and part historical.  It has the ingredients that pull readers in: love, passion, betrayal, jealousy, loss and redemption. Daphne Kalotay has written a book that I look forward to recommending for a long time to come.

Juli Janovicz is the Head of Adult Services at Winnetka–Northfield Public Library District in Winnetka, IL. She is also the Coordinator of One Book Two Villages www.onebooktwovillages.org.  She can be reached at julij@winnetkalibrary.org or www.twitter.com/@libraryj

-Kayleigh

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LGBT History Month

9780061780196
You might have noticed that here in the Library Marketing department, LGBT issues are very important to us.  It took me a little while to pull these together, but here are some reads in honor of October, which is LGBT History month.  Download LGBT Titles

Bitch is the New Black, Helen Andrews (9780061778827)
Confessions of a Prairie Bitch, Alison Arngrim (9780061962141)
Dancing with Mr. Darcy, Sarah Waters (9780061999062)
How Beautiful the Ordinary, Michael Cart (9780061154980)
I Shudder, Paul Rudnick (9780061780196)
If You Follow Me, Malena Watrous (9780061732850)
Just Kids, Patti Smith (9780060936228)
Lake Overturn, Vestal McIntyre (9780061671166)
Mad World: Evelyn Waugh and the Secrets of Brideshead, Paula Byrne (9780060881313)
Mary Ann in Autumn, Armistead Maupin (9780062008497)
More of this World or Maybe Another, Barb Johnson (9780061732270)
Mornings with Mailer, Dwayne Raymond (9780061733598)
Pride/Prejudice, Ann Herendeen (9780061863134)
Sick City, Tony O'Neill (9780061789748)
The Bucolic Plague, Josh Kilmer-Purcell (9780061336980)
The Collected Plays of Paul Rudnick, Paul Rudnick (9780061780202)
The Good Daughters, Joyce Maynard (9780061994319)
The Great Lover, Jill Dawson (9780061924361)
The Lunatic, the Lover, and the Poet, Myrlin A. Hermes (9780061805196)
The Professor and Other Writings, Terry Castle (9780061670909)
Ugly Man, Dennis Cooper (9780061715440)
Workin' It!, RuPaul (9780061985836)

If you've read any of these titles, drop us a line–we'd love to hear your thoughts!

-Kayleigh

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The Word Made Flesh: Follow Up

Last week we got a stellar assortment of librarian tattoos, from old and new friends alike.  Why all the interest in your tats? We're a curious bunch, but more importantly, we're celebrating the release of The Word Made Flesh: Literary Tattoos from Bookworms Worldwide.   Enough talk: on to the tattoos.  Here's the second batch!

First up: S. Brady Shuman, of Buswell Library in Saint Louis.

Brady tat

Sweet Briar College Library's Julie Kane has this one.

Tattoo

And last, but not least, Amelia Klem Osterud, academic librarian (and author) from Wisconsin.

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Thanks to everyone who sent in pictures!

-Kayleigh

Books, Breaking Night, Liz Murray

Bookreporter.com

Th_a2948c4fc82083353093e0133d3393f1_1284676716_magicfields_HB__BOOK_COVERIMAGE_1_1 You may already have this fabulous site on your radar (or, better yet, on your ‘bookmarked favorites’) but in case you don’t, do check it out. Chock full of information about books from ALL publishers (click here for the latest Bookreporter newsletter).  Today’s post includes a follow-up piece on a Hyperion book just out called BREAKING NIGHT, about a woman who went from being homeless to graduating from Harvard.  It’s a story that you read while shaking your head in utter disbelief.

-Virginia

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The Word Made Flesh: Your Submissions

Wow, in less than a day, we got a fabulous batch of tattoos from our librarian pals, particularly those on Twitter.  We're still taking your photos in exchange for copies of The Word Made Flesh, so keep 'em coming! To kick us off, we've got a tattoo that was featured in the book itself, from one of our all-time favorite Library Marketers, Ben Rubinstein (@benrubinstein).  Seriously, Ben is the coolest and kind of has the best taste in genre fiction, poetry, and music.  Just sayin'.  Here's his tat:

Ben Rubinstein
 
 Next up, we've got Kristi (@booksnyarn)…

Autumnlady
 
Reference Librarian Carol (@Oleanpublibrary) sent us this one, inked in honor of her late Father…

PA150030
 Holly's most recent tat (@hollychrome)…

Photo
And two tats from Reference Librarian Jen, also from the Olean PL!

Phoenix
 
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Lastly (for now), JustinLibrarian sent us a link to his website's Flickr page, which has several photos of "branded" librarians.  Librarians, I salute you.  You are bad-ass and erudite: a lethal combination. 

Cheers,

Kayleigh  
 
 

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Fair Trade: A book for a tattoo!

9780062042538 Librarians are no strangers to tattoos, so with that in mind, here’s a book you might want to know about.  The Word Made Flesh: Literary Tattoos from Bookworms Worldwide is a full-color, beautifully packaged collection of literary tattoos and short personal essays in the vein of confessional books such as PostSecret and Not Quite What I Was Planning.

Got a tattoo you’d like to show us?  Send a picture of your permanent ink (which we’ll post here) and we’ll send copy of THE WORD MADE FLESH to you!  Deal?

-Virginia
Librarylovefest AT harpercollins DOT com 

Lionel Shriver, So Much for That

The National Book Award nominations are in!

9780061458583 The NBA finalists have been announced and we’re thrilled that Lionel Shriver’s book, So Much for That has made the list.   This is a deeply humane novel about the pitfalls of our healthcare system and one family’s struggle to come to terms with disease, dying, and the obscene cost of medical care in modern America

"Shriver writes in precise, dynamic prose.. If anyone's going to perk up the often-limp niceness of the women's novel it's Shriver, who has no use for earth mothers or noble victims…The climax offers more fun, vengeful satisfaction and pure tenderness than any treatise on the future of healthcare."
– Ella Taylor, Los Angeles Times

On the non-fiction front, we are absolutely giddy that Patti Smith's incredible memoir, Just Kids, received a nomination.  The New York Times Book Review wrote: "“Terrifically evocative…the most spellbinding and diverting portrait of funky-but-chic New York in the late ’60s and early ’70s that any alumnus has committed to print…This enchanting book is a reminder that not all youthful vainglory is silly; sometimes it’s preparation. Few artists ever proved it like these two.”

Send an email to me (librarylovefest AT harpercollins DOT com) and I’ll send you a copy of So Much for That or Just Kids.

-Virginia

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Free copies of STILTSVILLE!

9780062005489 Send your email to me (librarylovefest AT harpercollins DOT com) and while supplies last, I’ll send a copy of Stiltsville to you.  Here’s a recent review from Andrea Lapsley, Director of Development of University Libraries at Colorado State University.

“Somewhere early on, I forgot that this was a novel.  The characters were so true, so real that I was in the room with them, on the boat fishing and they were talking to me. These wonderful people couldn’t be fiction.  They were so real with experiences and emotions so true and pure.  I loved going on the journey with them for 30 years of marriage, friendships, parenting and so much more.  The author has told a story of life’s problems and ordinary joys in beautiful prose.    The story is a loving portrait of a family, friends and marriage as they all grow old together facing life’s many challenges.  And, I can’t forget to add Florida as a character and integral part of the story.  It is beautifully written and an extraordinary book for one to savor individually or as a fantastic choice for book clubs.”

-Virginia

Ebooks, Librarians, Libraries, Library Journal

Library Journal’s Ebook Summit: What I Learned

LJI am the resident 20something, and coincidentally, the youngest member of the Library Marketing team here at Harper.  I worked in a library in high school, and from youth, I’ve been a devotee of stacks, musty books, microfiche, book carts…the classic trappings of the library world.  But there’s so much more to it nowadays.  I’ve been back to my old hometown library, Patchogue Medford Library, and after a mere 7 years, it’s barely recognizable.   

With the increasing digitization of our world, the way we read is changing on a fundamental level.  And it’s left many of us—myself included—with mixed feelings. Kevin Kelly, of Wired Magazine, spoke glowingly of a shift from ownership to access, of sharing increasing the value of the books we love.  Eli Neiburger put a different spin on it, succinctly stating, “Libraries are screwed.”
 
It’s overwhelming sometimes, trying to gain perspective on concrete things, as well as the more ephemeral implications of ebooks, like the way a “read” changes when the format is electronic.   In a wonderful panel on Readers Advisory, Neal Wyatt, Duncan Smith, and Katie Dunneback discussed the changing “appeal” of a book in digital form.  The perks to reading on an ereader  are, when reversed, also its detractions.  For instance, if you interrupt your reading to click on a live link in the text, aren’t you disrupting a pace that was previously determined by the author? Does the experience become less “private,” less “personal,” as it becomes more interactive?  I have a lot of questions, and I know you do too. 

My biggest question: what can we, as publishers, do better when it comes to ebooks and libraries? Where do you stand in the digital divide?

At the end of the day, information matters—in any form, whether it’s an ebook or print.  Suffice it to say, Library Journal’s Ebook Summit was helpful on many levels.  We’d love to hear what you think in the comments.

-Kayleigh

Books

National Bullying Prevention Awareness Week

Tyler-clementi_370x278 October 3-9 is National Bullying Prevention Awareness Week.  It has now been extended through the month of October.  I think it should have no end date. 

The topic of bullying has become a national dialogue, sparked by the suicide of Tyler Clementi. He was the 18 year old Rutgers student who jumped off the George Washington Bridge after learning his roommate had secretly posted a live videostream of him being intimate with another man.

You don’t have to look very hard to find another horrific story about someone being bullied.

Here are two I read just today.  Both are from the perspective of the fathers of bullied children. These stories will put a lump in your throat – and make you mad as hell.
http://today.msnbc.msn.com/id/39497339/ns/today-parenting/

http://www.cnn.com/2010/LIVING/10/04/bullying.causes.suicide/index.html?hpt=C1

What can you do? Check out this link.  As I’d mentioned in Friday’s post, we have a few books that might help.  I also asked readers to write in if they know of any good books, videos or other resources that address ANY kind of bullying.  In no time at all I heard from BriMeetsBooks who suggests Dan Savage's Youtube channel against gay teen suicide.

These are videos from gay and lesbian folks from all walks of life telling gay teens that despite the bullying and harassment they may face, it does get better.   Thank you, Bri.

I hope I hear from more readers.  If you don’t know of any resources but just want to write something about the topic of bullying, please do.  Share what you know. 

Thanks so much.
-Virginia

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Bullied to Death

EllenLogo  
Like most people, I was sickened when I heard the story about Tyler Clementi, the 18 year old college student who killed himself after learning his roommate had secretly taped him being intimate with another man. The roomate posted the live videostream on Twitter, urging people to watch.

I’m struggling with words right now.  Sputtering, really.  I’m disgusted, I’m furious and I’m sad. Tyler Clementi was gay. Apparently he was in the closet, too.  But his secret was revealed -  in the most horrific, cruel and nightmarish way.  By a bully.  A coward at a keyboard.

Ellen DeGeneres posted a video today about this.  She offers some resources on her site that might help.  We’ve also got a few books that might help.

In the end what will really help?  We need to keep our eyes and ears open – to the taunts and the teasing.  And cyberbullying?  How do we police that?  It’s daunting.   If you know of any good books or videos or any other resources that you feel address the issue at hand, tell me about them.  I’ll  post them on this blog. 

-Virginia

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