Celebrated author (and fervent library supporter) Ray Bradbury helps raise funds for the Ventura County Public Library System. Check it out now!
-Virginia
Check out my interview on Authors on Air with New York Times bestselling author Mary Kay Andrews. Mary Kay hit the ground running with her breezy Southern romantic fiction back in 2002 with Savannah Blues. She followed it up with Little Bitty Lies, Hissy Fit, Savannah Breeze, Blue Christmas, and Deep Dish. Her latest novel, The Fixer Upper, is another sure-fire hit. It goes on sale June 23rd. Listen to Mary Kay as she talks to fellow readers and myself about her books, the art of junking, and the state of libraries today. Be sure to send us a comment–we’ll sendyou a book! Quantities limited to the first 25 comments we receive. Enjoy the chat–she’s a lot of fun!
Earlier this year, Mary Kay Andrews stopped by the HarperCollins studio to make this promotional video for The Fixer Upper. We hope these interviews provide some insight into the colorful cast of characters you’ll find in The Fixer Upper. Pre-order a copy today (so you don’t have to stand in line), and remember, for every Fixer Upper you purchase, Mary Kay Andrews will buy you a pony.*
-Virginia
*Mary Kay Andrews had her fingers crossed when she made that promise. But we still luv huh.
When you discover the life you were living was all a lie, how do you start over? Graphic designer Julie Metz had to figure that all out when she was faced not only with the sudden death of her young husband but the discovery that he had been unfaithful to her during their marriage.
Perfection is a deeply honest and intelligent memoir that deals with the complexities of forgiveness and betrayal when a young widow discovers her husband's infidelities after his death.
Elizabeth Gilbert wrote this: "It's wonderful–clean, clear, honest, heartbreaking, lucid, fair and thoughtful. And it will help women whose husbands have convinced them that they're frigid or crazy or manic…it is another brick laid on the roadway toward truthfulness."
-Virginia
We’re thrilled to have two of our titles on Oprah’s summer reading list of ‘The 25 Books You Can’t Put Down’
http://www.oprah.com/slidepopup/omagazine/200907-omag-summer-reading-list/1
They are:
EYE OF MY HEART by Barbara Graham – a compilation of 28 original essays by noted journalists, novelists, and essayists, each one a grandmother, that delves into the cracks as well as the wonder of grandmotherhood today. The contributors are a stellar group of gifted and well known writers representing a wide range of voices and experiences. The list of luminaries includes: Elizabeth Berg, Judith Viorst, Jill Nelson, Anne Roiphe, Judith Guest, Beverly Lowry, Carolyn See and Ellen Gilchrist.
A PEARL IN THE STORM by Tori Murden McClure is a riveting memoir by the first woman to row solo across the Atlantic Ocean. This is an unforgettable story of an explorer who maps her own world with rare emotional honesty. A story of high adventure, hurricanes, and finding love.
Happy Reading!
- Virginia
Yesterday morning (June 11th) the Today Show ran a segment on the important role libraries play during the recession, using data and resources provided by the ALA and public libraries.
Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy
The ALA Public Information Office worked with the Today Show on this segment and has followed up to encourage NBC affiliates to take up the story locally. But you can help extend the reach of this positive story in several ways:
1) Include the Today Show link on your library Web site
2) Reach out to your local media this week with your local story (particularly NBC affiliates), complemented by national data from the ALA. Two key data points from the Today Show were: 73% of public libraries report they provide the only free access to the Internet in their communities. This rises to 83 percent for rural libraries: http://tinyurl.com/mupmzd and www.ala.org/plinternetfunding . Also, 68 percent of Americans have a library card: http://tinyurl.com/9ewpcc.
3) Take advantage of free ALA resources to help tell your story to media, elected officials and funders.
And here's some more information of interest:
Job-Seeking in U.S. Public Libraries
Using data from the Public Library Funding & Technology Access Study, the issues brief discusses the range of library resources available to job seekers and the challenges to maintaining these services. Additional briefing reports are at the following link. Get a free copy of the PDF by emailing Larra Clark at lclark@ala.org.
Advocating in a Tough Economy Toolkit
Get tips, tools and messages that work.
Get the word out!
For questions or support around media outreach, please contact Macey Morales, mmorales@ala.org, or Jennifer Petersen, jpetersen@ala.org, in the ALA Public Information Office.
For questions or support around advocacy tools, please contact Marci Merola, mmerola@ala.org, or Jaclyn Finneke, jfinneke@ala.org.
For questions or support around statistics and research, please contact Denise Davis, dmdavis@ala.org, or Larra Clark at lclark@ala.org.
In case you missed it, we've got a brand-new collection development tool on our blog called Shelf-Help, which is located in the top of the right sidebar on our homepage.
Everyone loves a short cut. We know librarians have a bazillion titles to wade through so we thought it might be helpful if we provided you with a short list of our books which are due out in the next few months. We’ve provided the basics: pub date, price, ISBN, genre as well as a link to the book’s page on our site. We’ll update this information regularly. Let us know if you find this helpful or if you’d like to see additional information on the grid. Check it out now!
As we've mentioned, Ken Davis has a feature on his blog called "This Day in History." Here's a quote from today's post, as well as some exciting information on the forthcoming Anne Frank by Francine Prose.
"Anne Frank would have been eighty years old today. This anniversary of her birthday seems especially poignant in light of the deadly shooting of a security guard at the Holocaust Museum in Washington, D.C. on June 10, 2009."
Here you'll read in Anne Frank's words her feeling about her writing ability:
“I know I can write. A few of my stories are good, my descriptions of the Secret Annex are humorous, much of my diary is vivid and alive, but… it remains to be seen whether I really have talent.” (April 5, 1945)
This September HarperCollins will publish Anne Frank: The Book, the Life, the Afterlife by Francine Prose. The diary of Anne Frank, argues Francine Prose, is as much a work of art as an historical record. Through close reading, she marvels at the teenaged Frank’s skillfully natural narrative voice, at her finely tuned dialogue and ability to turn living people into characters. And Prose addresses what few of the diary’s millions of readers may know: this book is a deliberate work of art. During her last months in hiding, Anne Frank furiously revised and edited her work, crafting a piece of literature that she hoped would be read by the public after the war. The book unravels the complex, fascinating story of the diary, its composition and revisions, and effectively makes the case for it being a work of art-and the teenaged Anne Frank, a precociously gifted writer.
The book includes the historical background and context necessary to understand the importance of the diary, and is the only volume that offers such a rich and well-researched account of this enormously influential memoir.
Francine Prose has secured the approval and support of the Anne Frank House Foundation in Amsterdam for Anne Frank: The Book, the Life, the Afterlife.
-Virginia
In his blog today, Ken Davis, author of the informative and fun Don't Know Much About series presents a list of some of his favorite history books with a common theme–they all take you down to the water. Dip into any one of these and bathe yourself in information! And for more of our posts on Ken, click here.
-Virginia
Do yourself a favor and check out one of the most ‘buzzed about’ books this season. The Physick Book of Deliverance Dane by Katherine Howe is an incredible first novel about a young woman who finds out that she is related to a "witch" who was condemned in the 1692 Salem trials — and who discovers that she, too, has special powers.
This book is blowing everyone away. Booklist has given it a starred review, USA Today included it in a Book Buzz post, it’s the #1 pick for the June Indie Next list and it was included in the aforementioned ‘Shout and Share’ at BEA.
The author will appear on Good Morning America this Wednesday, June 10. This is a compelling novel with powerful historic insight and detail. It’ll be everywhere when it goes on sale June 9th. Send a comment and we’ll send a copy to you. We will randomly select 25 winners from the entries received. No purchase necessary. The last entry will be accepted 2 days after this posting. Approximate retail value of each prize: $25.99. Estimated total prize value: $649.75. View rules here: Download Librarylovefest-blog-sweepstakes Leave a comment below for your chance to win!
-Virginia
By now you all know how much we <3 Ken Davis, so it's no surprise that we're giving you some info on Ken's latest Twitter adventure. Ken will now start each day will a "This Day in History" tweet that links to a blog on either his website, The Huffington Post or both.
"This Day in History" will alternate with other tweet-a-gories such as "Fun Facts," "Homework Helper," and "History Behind the Headlines." The topics will span history, science, pop culture, literature, current events, etc.
So in conclusion, when you don't know much, follow Ken Davis on Twitter: http://twitter.com/kennethcdavis
And wasn't it Descartes who said. "I tweet, therefore I am"?
…I'm blogging about some big-name, buzz-worthy titles. Check out my posts on:
And for those of you who are coming to ALA, there's a new headshot up, in the hopes that you'll recognize me at our booth. Happy Friday!
-Kayleigh
Book Expo America was held this past weekend in New York. For those of you unfamiliar with BEA, it’s basically a book blitz – an unveiling of titles due out this Fall from publishers. It’s a wonderful opportunity to meet authors and ‘catch the buzz’ about forthcoming titles. Librarians make it their business to get to BEA and we’re all the better for it. They speak on panels, share their wealth of knowledge and offer great opportunities for authors to speak at library events. They also have an uncanny knack for finding books that might otherwise fly a little under the radar. They get behind those books with an inspiring force of energy and enthusiasm and spread the word to colleagues and patrons. I’ve said it before: A librarian is a book’s best friend.
One of the many programs dedicated to librarians at BEA was the “Shout and Share” hosted by the AAP. This was a panel moderated by Barbara Genco, Coordinator, Special Projects and Strategic Planning at Brooklyn Public Library. It featured seven prominent librarians who gave their ‘picks’ for hot books coming out this Fall. The entire list has been posted on www.earlyword.com – a fabulous website for collection development librarians.) Just go to Early Word and scroll down–on the right-hand tab is a list that says "BEA '09–Picks of the Lists."
And here’s an article Library Journal ran about the event. Happy reading!
-Virginia
Remember our last post on Twitter Wit? Here's an update! The on sale date is now September 8, 2009, and we're pleased to give you a quick list of our star-studded contributors, who include:
Ashton Kutcher, Jimmy Fallon, Stephen Colbert, Margaret Cho, Stephen Fry, Rainn Wilson, Penn Jillette, Diablo Cody, Neil Gaiman, Michael Ian Black, Paula Poundstone, Eugene Mirman, Russell Brand, Aziz Ansari, Lisa Lampanelli, John Hodgman, Susan Orlean, Judah Friedlander, Scott Aukerman, Paul Scheer, Graham Linehan, Peter Serafinowicz, Michael Showalter, Kevin Rose,Ana Marie Cox, Doug Benson, Warren Ellis, David Wain, Felicia Day, Joel McHale, Sasha Frere-Jones, Jonathan Coulton, Bill Corbett, James Urbaniak, Leo Laporte, Will Durst.
If you're on Twitter, be sure to become a follower at http://twitter.com/harperlibrary— we're almost up to 700!
This morning I saw this article on male-only book clubs that have been springing up around the country. Here's a fantastic quote from the piece:
"'We used to just sit around and drink beer and read Charles Bukowski, nothing great," says Pride, 51, of Quincy. 'But the other night we were talking about evil. Drinking our red wine and talking about evil. We're moving into a deeper dimension. We don't want to read junk.'"
Groups may focus instead on a shared topic of interest, like history, sports, or even poetry. Other book groups don't read the assigned book at all, but use the time as a chance to catch up with old friends. Whatever the reason, book clubs are a great way for men to build a sense of community and fellowship. Here's a quick little list of titles that might work, depending on the book club.
For new dads, or the agriculturally-inclined:
Coop: A Year of Poultry, Pigs, and Parenting by Mike Perry
For thriller-lovers:
Shadows Still Remain by Peter de Jonge
For memoir-addicts:
In the Sanctuary of Outcasts by Neil White
For vampire fans:
The Strain by Guillermo Del Toro and Chuck Hogan
For outdoorsmen:
The Last of His Kind by David Roberts
For ultimate fighters:
Got Fight? by Forrest Griffin with Erich Krauss
For history buffs:
Masters and Commanders: How Four Titans Won the War in the West, 1941-1945 by Andrew Roberts
-Kayleigh
Library Journal has written a glowing review of Don't Know Much About Literature, the latest book in the Don't Know Much About series. As you might remember from this post, the affection is mutual–Ken is a vocal advocate for libraries. Check out an excerpt from the review below:
In this latest addition to Kenneth Davis’s popular “Don’t Know Much About” series, he and daughter Jenny quiz readers about writers, books, Nobel and Pulitzer Prize winners, famous first and last lines, and other literary trivia. The book’s scope is broad, with selections ranging from “Children’s Classics” to “Beowulf” and “Fictional First Ladies.” The Davises provide questions, answers, and a summary paragraph for each category but don’t order the material in any predictable way, sandwiching Agatha Christie between Kafka and Melville, a technique that forces each entry to stand in isolation. Some of the questions are true or false; others ask readers to identify a character, book, play, poem, or movie. Meant to make learning about literature entertaining, this guide should refresh memories and may entice readers into exploring some of the books they always meant to check out…—Nancy R. Ives, SUNY at Geneseo
Today Charlie Haas, author of The Enthusiast, is guest blogging for us. Here's what he wrote:
"I grew up in a town where a bookish family stuck out like a page-turning thumb. My dad made things worse: he became president of the public library board, and fought the local establishment for money to keep our one-branch library going. My sister worked there through high school and into college. My brother and I hung out there and campaigned for permission slips that would let us take out books that were too “mature” for us.
The head librarian was a world-weary guy with hair flopping over his eyes and a cigarette permanently dangling from his mouth (yes, in the library — I go back a ways). He issued me an adult-book permission slip, but also warned me, as he squinted through his smokescreen, that it was possible for a person to be too smart. It would be a long time before I had any idea what he was talking about.
…
One of my favorite books to come out of HarperCollins this year is Philip Gulley’s memoir, I Love You, Miss Huddleston.
Mr. Gulley is the bestselling author of the Front Porch Tales and the equally charming Harmony series.
In his latest book (which has one of the best jackets EVER) he delights us with tales of growing up in Indiana in the 1970s. Think THE WONDER YEARS. It’s one of the sweetest, funniest books I have read in a long time.
Here’s just one little snippet from the book. Who wouldn’t want to read more?
“My early Halloweens were perilous affairs. I dressed as a ghost, a bed sheet draped over me. We were too poor to waste a sheet, so my mother never cut holes for my eyes. My brother Glenn was supposed to hold my hand and guide me from house to house, but as soon as we turned the corner and were out of my parents’ eyesight, he would launch out on his own and leave me to my own devices. I would stumble from house to house, tripping over curbs, running into cars, and spilling my candy. The other children would swarm over me, like hyenas on a downed gazelle, fighting over my Tootsie Rolls and Smarties.” – From I Love You, Miss Huddleston
Do yourself a favor and check out this book.
In the meantime here’s a great video with a voice-over of the author reading an excerpt from the book:
-Virginia
Want a laugh? Check out the very funny exchange between author Lawrence Block (Step by Step) and late night host (and soon-to-be-published author) Craig Ferguson (American on Purpose)
I wouldn’t have put these two together as a comedy duo. Who knew?
-Virginia
The HarperCollins Library Marketing Team
cordially invites you to attend our
FALL 2009 TITLE PRESENTATION
at
The American Library Association's Annual Conference
Saturday, July 11, 2009
10:30 AM – 12:00 PM
McCormick Place South
Room S101a
Chicago, Illinois
(Please note that we will be presenting adult titles only…no children’s books)
Get the inside track on your favorite authors and discover a few new ones along the way!
Seating is limited, so RSVP your attendance to:
Bobby.Brinson@harpercollins.com
Light refreshments will be served. We hope to see you in Chicago!
-Bobby
The Daily Beast gave Binnie Kirshenbaum's latest novel, The Scenic Route, a hefty dose of love today. Taylor Antrim writes: "Divorced, mid-40s New Yorker takes off to Italy, meets dashing stranger in small Tuscan village, embarks on whirlwind romance. You’ve already read this book—Under the Tuscan Sun, Summer in Tuscany, A Thousand Days in Tuscany, etc—and you probably don’t want to read it again. Except Binnie Kirshenbaum’s clever, offbeat novel The Scenic Route is an antidote to all that soft-focus sentiment. This is indeed a woman-has-midlife-crisis-and-finds-romance-in-Italy story, but it is so resolutely unsentimental, even antisentimental, that you won’t be dialing Alitalia anytime soon. Instead of escapist fantasy, narrator Sylvia Landsman offers a reality check, sobering truths about family, regret, loss, history." Browse inside the book and be sure to check out the full review.
-Kayleigh
Ken Davis, author of the hugely popular series, Don't Know Much About…has written a wonderful piece about the importance of libraries and the necessity to keep their doors open – now more than ever. Ken Davis is our hero!
-Virginia
Don't miss the profile of Peter de Jonge in this week's New York Times— it's a fabulous introduction to his latest thriller, Shadows Still Remain. After co-authoring three novels with James Patterson, Peter de Jonge is cultivating his own unique style of writing, which the NY Times quickly noticed. They had this to say: "Shadows Still Remain, published last month by Harper, though also a murder mystery, doesn’t read much like Patterson product except in being wrapped around a couple of startling plot twists. Set on the Lower East Side (the same territory as Richard Price’s recent Lush Life), it’s more in the noirish, character-driven vein of Dennis Lehane or Michael Connelly." High praise, indeed. Check out a video of Peter talking about Shadows Still Remain, read the full profile, or browse inside. Happy Friday!
-Kayleigh
In March, I wrote about the House at the End of the Road, written by W. Ralph Eubanks, Director of Publishing at the Library of Congress and his search to find the truth about his maternal grandparents; Jim Richardson, a white man and Edna Richardson, a light-skinned black woman. W. Ralph Eubanks will be interviewed by NPR’s Talk of the Nation scheduled for Tuesday, May 19th. Listen in as he discusses the House at the End of the Road and the fascinating journey of discovering his unique racial and cultural identity. For more information, visit:
http://www.npr.org/
-Bobby
Today we have a guest blog from Daniel James Brown, author of The Indifferent Stars Above, which just received a great review in the New York Times. Dan writes: "Recently, almost forty years after the fact, I came back to the library that changed my life, perhaps even saved my life, in 1969…"
…
In March, Virginia gave us a preview of Michael J. Fox’s new book, Always Looking Up: The Adventures of an Incurable Optimist. If you want to see just how he remains optimistic in the face of adversity, check out this clip of Michael on Good Morning America, where he discusses his upcoming ABC-TV special with Diane Sawyer. He also mentions his new book, Always Looking Up, on sale now.
On Thursday, May 7th, watch ABC-TV’s The View (check your local listings for times) where Michael will be interviewed about the special and his book, Always Looking Up. Finally, later that evening keep your television on ABC-TV to watch his special, Michael J. Fox: Adventures of an Incurable Optimist. Michael J. Fox hosted and produced the piece.
Watching Michael J. Fox in action gives me motivation and inspiration. If he can stay optimistic no matter the circumstances, so can I…and so can you! Enjoy!
-Bobby
goes on sale June 23rd. Listen to Mary Kay as she talks to fellow readers and myself about her books, the art of junking, and the state of libraries today. Be sure to send us a comment–we’ll sendyou a book! Quantities limited to the first 25 comments we receive. Enjoy the chat–she’s a lot of fun!
