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So Many Awards, So Little Time

RibbonThat's a riff on a shirt I used to own, So Many Books, So Little Time…middle school me (in addition to being cool) was a bit omniscient.  Anywho…Welcome Back!  In all the madness that goes along with ALA Midwinter,  we haven't properly hung out in a while.  For those of you at ALA, how was it?  What were some highlights?  Our Title Presentation was a success (I'm modest), and you can see all the books we presented, and more, on Earlyword's site.  You can also check out our pictures on Flickr. 

Ok, onto the point of this post – Congratulations to some excellent award winning books!!

 

The Edgar Allan Poe Awards:

Best Paperback Original
Death of the Mantis
by Michael Stanley

Best Fact Crime
The Savage City: Race, Murder, and a Generation on the Edge
by T.J. English

Best Critical/Biographical
Agatha Christie: Murder in the Making
by John Curran

The Simon & Schuster – Mary Higgins Clark Award
Come and Find Me
by Hallie Ephron

RUSA Reading List Awards:

Adrenaline
Winner: Before I Go To Sleep, by S. J. Watson
Shortlist: The Woodcutter, by Reginald Hill

Horror
Shortlist: The White Devil, by Justin Evans

Romance
Winner: Silk is for Seduction, by Loretta Chase,
Shortlist: When Beauty Tamed the Beast, by Eloisa James

RUSA Notable Books for Adults Awards:

Lost Memory of Skin, by Russell Banks
The Sisters Brothers, by Patrick deWitt

Go check 'em out (of your library – BOOM!)

– Annie

BEST PAPERBACK ORIGINAL

 

Death of the Mantis

by Michael Stanley

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Booklist Interviews Erin Duffy

9780062065896_0_CoverHello friends,  please forgive the periods of silence.  We are busy, busy preparing everything for ALA midwinter next week and getting super excited! Speaking of…Erin Duffy, author of Bond Girl, will be signing at the conference on Monday, January 23rd.  Her book is an entertaining insight into Wall Street, in the vein of The Devil Wears Prada.  Here are some excerpts from her Booklist interview, but check out the whole thing on their site.

Booklist: What inspired you to write a novel?

Duffy: It was always what I dreamed of doing. But, then, like I said, I decided to accept the job in finance so I could enjoy my senior year without stressing over having to move home to my parents’ basement after graduation. All of a sudden, the writing dream was gone. Plus, I wasn’t someone who thought, “Of course I can write a book, and one day I will end up speaking to the American Library Association!” So, I let it go and focused on the real career I had. In a strange twist of fate, I lost my job in 2008 and figured if I didn’t try to write a novel then, I never would. So, I started writing, and Bond Girl was the result. It’s still hard to believe I did it!

Booklist: How similar is Alex’s experience to yours—and how similar is Alex to you?

Duffy: Alex is a compilation of a lot of different people. The Street is full of young, fun girls with drive, humor, and more than a few flaws. The ones who seem normal are just better at faking it. Alex and I definitely share some qualities, but she is a lot more vocal and, in some ways, a lot more fearless than I am. My experience of life on a trading floor mirrors Alex’s, but mine was a bit more subdued. 

– Annie

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Can’t Get Enough of Patrick deWitt!

9780062041265_0_CoverMore worthy praise and congratulations are due to Mr. Patrick deWitt, author of beloved/acclaimed novel, The Sisters Brothers. He has just won the 2012 Pacific Northwest Book Award! The committee considered nearly 300 nominated titles written by Northwest authors and published in 2011, but narrowed it down to this "gorgeous, wise, riveting work of, among other things, cowboy noir" —David Wroblewski, New York Times bestselling author of The Story of Edgar Sawtelle.

For information on Patrick and other contestants, head over to the PNBA site.

– Annie

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Happy New Year!

Screen shot 2012-01-04 at 9.31.26 AM
Welcome back LLF fans!  It has been a relaxing and eventful break, full of good books, but now it is full steam ahead to ALA Midwinter 2012!  We are super busy here, planning what awesome titles to present to you guys (RSVP if you haven't already), what fun outfits to wear, and where to eat in Dallas.  Anyone have suggestions?  Who's going to be there and how are you getting ready?  T minus 16 days!  

– Annie

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We Interrupt this Holiday Season….

CoverSo you could maybe accuse me of being strange because it was Christmas and I'm on vacation and technically this is work, but I read the entire 400 pages of Into the Darkest Corner by Elizabeth Haynes in a day and it. was. Amazing!! It is chilling and immediately impossible to put down ("unputdownable" as S.J. Watson said)…additionally, the format cleverly flips from 3 pages of modern day to 3 pages of the past in a way that actually makes it hard to find a good stopping point because you just have to find out what happens next. The story is heartbreaking and scary and hopeful and intense, and you desperately want Cathy to succeed. I dont want to give anything away, but this is a book I am going to be strongly supporting, and I have got impressive company; Karin Slaughter and S.J. Watson both love it, and I think we can all agree that we love them. So enough for now, I am going to get back to my family (although after years of me putting off chores because my nose was in a book, this should not be a big surprise to them), but watch this space for much more on this fabulous, thrilling book!

– Annie

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May Your Days Be Merry and Bright!

TreeYou guys, I am so overdosing on Christmas carols today!  The office is basically deserted, so Virginia and I just had some chips and salsa and I'm rocking out to "We Need a Little Christmas" from Mame (love!).  Very easy to get in the holiday spirit with such conditions.

We wish all of you celebrating, a Very Merry Christmas! Hope Santa is generous and includes lots of great books in your stockings.  Please let us know what awesome reads you get.

Also, a happy and safe New Year to all!  I am out of the office all next week (vacation!), so have fun you crazy LLF fans.  Look forward to working with you all in 2012! 

– Annie

(In re-reading this, I realized there are a lot of ! but they stay – I'm in a good mood.)

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Gregory Maguire Interviews Madeline Miller!

Gregory_maguire_author_photoAround these parts, we are huge fans of both Gregory Maguire and Madeline Miller (check out Kayleigh's interview with her).  So when this transcript landed in our inbox, well, let's just say we were excited.  In case you're joining us late, Gregory Maguire is the author of the Wicked series (the latest, and final entry is Out of Oz) and Madeline's magnificent novel The Song of Achilles hits shelves next year. The Song of Achilles is a lyrical, moving retelling of Homer's The Iliad and happens to be one of the most satisfying love stories to grace our desks in ages. Take it away, Gregory!

1.  Ms. Miller, you write with the confidence of the zealously inspired, taking as your material one of the great foundation texts of world literature. In three millennia or so, The Iliad has garnered somewhat wider attention than The Wizard of Oz, with which I have played, so I have to ask in admiration and in real curiosity: where do you get the noive? I would almost be tempted to bandy about the word “hubris,” just to prove some point about not having lost my notes from tenth grade World Civ, but really, you handle the material so alertly, so respectfully, that hubris doesn’t enter into it. But nerve does. How did you come to dare to take on such a daunting task, and for your first book? And without training wheels?

A little knowledge is a dangerous thing, and in my case it was just dangerous enough to get me started writing.  If I had stopped to ponder, I think I might have been too intimidated.  But I had a few things working for me, which included the fact that Patroclus is such an underdog.  Giving him voice felt a little like standing up for him, like some kind of Lorax of ancient Greek mythology. I had been intensely frustrated by a number of articles I had read that kept side-stepping the love between him and Achilles, which to me felt so obviously at the story’s heart.  There was even one article—I’ve repressed who wrote it—that kept commenting that Achilles’ grief and anger at Patroclus’ death was out of character, and they couldn’t understand why he was so upset.  So partially I was propelled by a desire to set the record straight, as I saw it.

The other thing that helped me, I think, was the fact that I never imagined the book as re-writing Homer.  Instead, I made the Iliad a fixed point on the horizon and wrote towards it.  I knew what Achilles and Patroclus became; I wanted to describe how they got there, and what went on between them in the scenes that Homer doesn’t show.  I will say that at some point a friend of mine—let’s be honest, an ex-boyfriend—referred to the story as “Homeric fan fiction.”  That was fairly dampening.  But I decided: so be it.  If it’s fan fiction, it’s fan fiction.  I’m still going to write it. 

…

Gregory Maguire Interviews Madeline Miller!Read More »

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That’s All, Folks

I leave you with one final trailer for All the Flowers in Shanghai by Duncan Jepson. This sweeping historical debut novel follows Feng as she reconciles her desire for independence with the structure and tradition of society. 

 

 

Ok, the end.  Thank you for indulging me. If you haven't had enough, be sure to check out William Morrow's YouTube channel for more exciting book trailers.

Happy Holidays!

– Annie

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Book Trailer Numero Tres

Following on from yesterday's teaser trailers, here's a look at one of our most beloved books of the season, A Land More Kind Than Home by Wiley Cash.  Gail Godwin, author of Evensong, said it best: "This novel has great cumulative power. Before I knew it I was grabbed by the ankle and pulled down into a full-blown Greek tragedy."

 

Ok, one more to go…then I'll leave you be. But I love book trailers and I am exerting my blog control mwahahah

– Annie

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Book Trailers, con’t

Next in the series is No Mark Upon Her by Deborah Crombie. Scotland Yard detectives Duncan Kincaid and Gemma James come together again to solve a dark mystery surrounding the murder of an Olympic rowing hopeful. Will they be able to catch the killer before the killer catches them??

 

– Annie

P.S. I'll be back tomorrow with some more teasers

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For Your Viewing Pleasure…

It's movie time!  Well, it's 2 minute clip time, anyway. The people at William Morrow put together some pretty rad book trailers to introduce you to forthcoming titles, so I thought I'd share their hard work with you guys.

Bond Girl by Erin Duffy: Life on Wall Street is harrowing, especially if you are a 23 year old female.  Erin Duffy worked on "The Street" for 10 years, and has now written a fun, insider, based-on-truth tale of what the reality is like.

 

Up next….No Mark Upon Her (dun dun dun!)

– Annie

 

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Gift Ideas Part Deux

PresentsLast week I gave you a list of some big 2011 titles, but I was overwhelmed by the holiday spirit (it IS the first night of Hanukkah hint, hint), so compiled more Best of 2011 books for your holiday gift giving pleasure…

Ok, in the true spirit of giving….the first TWO people (*WHO HAVE NEVER COMMENTED BEFORE*) to tell me what they hope to find wrapped up this season, will get a book from this list.  Enjoy!

– Annie

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Happy Holidays!

We take the holiday season very seriously around the HC offices.  What's that, you say? Proof? Let's go to the tape.

Here's hoping for a seriously merry holiday season!

Love,

Annie, Virginia, and Kayleigh 

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Search No Further…

9780062012326…Emily Arsenault's In Search of the Rose Notes just made The Wall Street Journal's Best Mystery Novels of 2011.  "The genre, of course, may well spill into literature, exploring the violent mysteries of human life. Emily Arsenault's absorbing second book, "In Search of the Rose Notes," is at least as much a novel as a detective story, flashing back and forth in time as two young women in 2006 seek answers to the 1990 disappearance of their teenage babysitter. As in her idiosyncratic debut, "The Broken Teaglass," Ms. Arsenault here reveals strange truths beneath everyday surfaces and shows that truth sometimes isn't all that strange." For more on the book Meg Cabot and Publishers Weekly are wild about, browse inside.    

-Kayleigh 

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Happy Friday!

Photo-0171On the way to work this morning I came across this bit of graffiti that made me laugh and brightened my day, so I thought I'd share.  I love that some nerdy person is making chemistry jokes in the subway. Pardon the poor photo quality, I am one of the few people in New York without a smart phone.

Duck: What do you do with a dead chemist?
(Demonic looking) Pig: You Barium!

ha!

-Annie

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Gift Ideas

PresentsI don't know if you are aware, but the time for giving gifts is nigh upon us!  If you are like me, every year without fail, you are left scratching your head the week before wondering what to get and not understanding how the holidays snuck up on you. Again.  Well, here is a helpful list of literary lovelies for your purchasing pleasure.  All the books on the following list have been chosen as "best books" of 2011 by assorted, respected institutions.  Happy Shopping!

– Annie

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Ann Patchett, Martha Stewart and Kevin Wilson Walk Into a Bar…

FamilyFang hc cOk, you got me, they didn't really…and I'll probably get in trouble for insinuating such things!  However, there is some exciting (legit) news regarding said superstars.  Ann Patchett will appear on The Martha Stewart show, this Friday, December 16, where she will discuss her favorite books for holiday gifts. Now using your impressive powers of elimination, you can guess what's on her list, can't you?  Kevin Wilson's The Family Fang!

Much like many others (i.e. anyone at LLF and any librarians we have strongly encouraged, read: manhandled, into reading this book), Ann Patchett loves it:

“The Family Fang is a comedy, a tragedy, and a tour-de-force examination of what it means to make art and survive your family….The best single word description would be brilliant.”

Be sure to tune in and see what other recommendations the talented Ms. Patchett has.

In other exciting, related news, The Family Fang was also just named a Top Ten Book of the Year by TIME Magazine…BOOM, mind blown!

Me thinks all signs point to you procuring this for a loved one this holiday season.

– Annie

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We Need to Talk About This Book

KevinWe Need to Talk About Kevin, an intense and moving book by Lionel Shriver, has been made into a film starring the incredibly talented Tilda Swinton (who recently received the Best Actress award from the National Board of Review for her portrayal). It is playing in NYC and LA for the next week only, so if you are in either city, I suggest getting yourself to a house de cinema (that's French).

The New York Times proclaimed that  We Need to Talk About Kevin "saturates the senses. . . . It is beautiful and demonic, like Kevin himself, and the bad feelings it induces are likely to be accompanied by helpless and stricken admiration. You may well need to talk about it afterward, but then again, you may be left speechless.”

And the L.A. Times  believes that "what holds us in the film, besides Ramsay's skill, is Swinton's fearless, ferocious performance as someone not only trying to come to terms with an endless nightmare but also agonizing over what part she might have had in its creation. The Oscar-winning Swinton's gifts are, of course, no secret, but this is a special performance, even for her.”

What is your favorite movie tie-in book? Did the movie hold up to the book?  FIrst 10 readers to comment get a copy of this Orange Prize winner!

– Annie

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It’s Friday, Friday

Anyone seen that (really bad) Kohl's commercial where they have reworded that (really really bad) YouTube sensation?  Unfortunately, it is stuck in my head, and now I have passed that gift to you.  You're welcome. However, the message is still enjoyable…it's the weekend!  What plans have you all got, library friends?

* PublishersWkly   At close of day: the library alternative « PWxyz bit.ly/uuiVK5

* earlyword  New blog post: New Best Childrens Books Spreadsheet earlyword.com/2011/12/05/new…

* whorebrarian For all the library fans out there, I have this to offer – librarycartoons.wordpress.com thanks @beautyquean !

* HarperCollins Conversation Starters: 2011's Top 5 Book Club Picks @nprbooks ow.ly/7RCLW

* librarianbyday ALA Happy Mutants rejoice – Library Boing Boing is coming! bit.ly/vcrWEJ

* LibraryJournal  Best Databases 2011: Librarians Decide Which Databases Make the Grade ow.ly/7S9Pl

* PublishersWkly Renting out the library « PWxyz bit.ly/tARpaw

* ALALibrary Public libraries explore new ways to raise revenue – News ow.ly/7Uex5 For more on coffee shops see ow.ly/7UeMp

* JustinLibrarian Are Maker Spaces the Future of Public Libraries? (I hope so!) shareable.net/blog/the-futur…

 - Annie

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War Horse is a Big Win Out of the Gate!

War horse
If you know anything about theatre, then you must be aware that War Horse has garnered insane praise and is a hot ticket item on Broadway (side note: anyone in the NYC area between 21-35 years old, sign up at LincTix for economically friendly tickets!  I'll pause while you do it….)

Ok, we're back. 

You might also be aware that Steven Spielberg harnessed (see what I did there?) his sizable talents to bring us War Horse the movie, opening December 25th.  The trailer looks beautiful, as does the moviebook we are proudly recommending you get toot sweet.  HarperCollins recently acquired the powerhouse that is Newmarket Press, the industry’s leading publisher of film-related books, and this is the first collaboration.  Say it with me….Holiday wish list!

– Annie

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Everything’s bigger in Texas—and we’re fixin’ to bring you some big Summer books.   

So hold on to your hats and mosey on down to

The HarperCollins Library Marketing Team’s Midwinter Book Buzz

at

 The American Library Association's Midwinter Conference

 Dallas Convention Center, Room C156

 Saturday, January 21st

 10:00-11:15 am

 
Get the inside track on your favorite authors and discover a few new ones along the way! Light refreshments will be served.

Seating is limited, so RSVP to librarylovefest@harpercollins.com,
subject: RSVP Title Presentation.

Hope to see you there!

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Hey, Boo

Scout, BooIf you were at the ALA conference in 2010 you may have caught this great interview with Nancy Pearl and Mary Murphy, filmmaker and the author of SCOUT, ATTICUS & BOO.  For an hour we were treated to clips from Ms. Murhpy’s documentary, HEY, BOO. It was one of the highlights of the conference.

Now Ms. Murphy’s documentary is airing in its entirety on PBS.  Mark your calendars! Friday, April 2nd at 10:00pm. The documentary explores Lee's life and unravels some of the mysteries surrounding her, including why she never published again. Containing never-before-seen photos and letters and an exclusive interview with Lee’s sister, Alice Finch Lee, the film also brings to light the context and history of the novel's Deep South setting and the social changes it inspired after publication.

If you’re not going to be home, DVR this.  You won’t want to miss it!

– Virginia

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Librarian Review: Before the Poison Edition

Before poisonWe love getting librarian feedback on upcoming titles (duh!), so when Eleanor Bukowsky of Brooklyn Public Library showed us her Amazon review of Before the Poison, we were stoked. 

***

Before the Poison, by Peter Robinson, begins in October 2010. British-born Chris Lowndes is an accomplished musician whose film scores have earned him a bit of fame, a sizeable nest egg, and even an Academy Award. He is a recent widower who is struggling to adjust to the death of his beloved wife, Laura. After living in California for thirty-five years, Lowndes purchases an isolated and rambling old mansion in Yorkshire, England, where he plans to regroup emotionally and write a sonata that will secure him recognition as a serious composer. Although he begins work on his new composition, Chris is quickly sidetracked by a deeply intriguing puzzle concerning Grace Fox, who lived with her husband and son in Kilnsgate House (Chris's new home), until her death in 1953 at age forty.

Grace was the sensitive and talented wife of a prominent and much older man. She volunteered to nurse wounded soldiers overseas during the Second World War, and was deeply traumatized by the horrible suffering and atrocities that she witnessed. Grace returned from the war transformed, no longer content to be a passive observer, and her subsequent actions would help determine her fate. Chris becomes obsessed with Grace, and he spares no expense in tracking down everyone who knew her. He has decided, for a variety of reasons (some of them personal), to set the record straight concerning this beautiful, courageous and, he believes, honorable woman.

What Peter Robinson has done is what all great mystery writers try to do–elevate a genre that is sometimes dismissed as light and insubstantial into an art form. Before the Poison is creatively structured: The author's decision to move back and forth between Grace's journal entries, passages from a book written almost sixty years earlier, and Chris's present life works superbly. Robinson's ingenious plot is breathtakingly suspenseful and the novel is enhanced by its richly developed cast of characters, evocative descriptive writing, and intense atmosphere. The author explores such thought-provoking themes as prejudice against women, the horrible consequences of war, and the injustices that tarnish even supposedly enlightened legal systems.

Robinson analyzes constructive and destructive relationships in all of their variations–between parents and children, lovers, extended family, friends, and acquaintances. In addition, the author draws on the twin motifs of film and music brilliantly, contrasting quiet scenes with passages of high drama, using foreshadowing to good effect, and wrapping up the proceedings with a stunning climax that few will see coming. Before the Poison deserves to be ranked among Peter Robinson's most satisfying and provocative works of fiction.

***

Thank you for sharing, Eleanor!

– Annie

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Top Tweets of the Week

I love this time of year.  It's impossible to not smile when walking down 5th Ave and seeing all the stores lit up, window displays with their animated figures, the massive tree at Rockefeller Center.  It's a moment of surreality when I realize that yes, I am in the middle of New York City (even though I'm a native)…it's nice to still be able to experience that. Well, enough sentimentality.  How are you guys spending your holiday season?  Do you have a million parties to attend?  I feel like there is something everyday…but bring it on!  Happy Weekend…

* LibraryJournal Tiny Public Library in Kansas Uses Digital Projects to Stay Relevant — The Digital Shift ow.ly/7H8F9

* DispatchAlerts Libraries borrowing marketing ideas from bookstores bit.ly/rF7Jyn

* redpunker This Huff Post interview with ALA pres Molly Raphael features photos from @kclibrary: ow.ly/7Hisq

* ALALibrary Trendy and valued? Try the library | TriCities.com ow.ly/7IB44 #Libraries "speak volumes about the quality of life."

* PublishersWkly NY Times announces its 10 Best Books of 2011 nyti.ms/rNutzJ

* BarbaraAGenco How #Libraries Are About More Than Books ow.ly/7MLBu

* ALALibrary The First Banned Books Video Calendar is Ready! | IFLA ow.ly/7MS9M

– Annie

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