Yesterday we hosted a fantastic interview with Lizzie Skurnick and Nancy Pearl on our Blog Talk Radio show (you might have read about it here and here). Nancy and Lizzie dished on both popular and underrated YA classics, and there was certainly plenty to talk about. If you didn't get a chance to tune in, the show is now archived for your listening pleasure. Enjoy!
We've already gotten some fabulous reader reviews for Jane Stanton Hitchcock's Mortal Friends. Diane LaRue calls it a "clever, seductive society story," on her blog bookchickdi, and Lauren Gibaldi blogs, "Mortal Friends is an incredibly fun book, that's as juicy as tabloid columns." Nancy Viens writes: "I read the book Mortal Friends,and found it chatty and fun. Very hip and good strong characterization. I liked it so much I loaned it to a friend!" And Karina Worlton sent us a very thoughtful review, all of which is included after the jump. If you'd like to review Mortal Friends, please email us at librarylovefest@harpercollins.com. We'd love to hear from you!
And here's Karina's review:
I enjoyed Mortal Friends! It was a good murder mystery, although it certainly wasn't a whodunnit. There was no way to figure out who had done the murders. Indeed, every time I thought I knew who was the murderer, some other secret came out! It was such an adventure to see what happened next.
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If you're a fan of our blog, you might have noticed a few posts on Twitter Wit (9780061897276): the first book about Twitter to be officially approved by the site's creators. Twitter Wit includes some amazing celebrity tweets, from the likes of Ashton Kutcher, Jimmy Fallon, Stephen Colbert, Margaret Cho, Stephen Fry, Rainn Wilson, Diablo Cody, Neil Gaiman, Michael Ian Black, Paula Poundstone, Russell Brand, Lisa Lampanelli, and more. To help celebrate the launch, we're holding a Twitter Wit video contest with a grand prize of an iPod touch. Learn more about the contest here, browse inside the book, or follow us, @harperlibrary!
The Roaring 20s has a new look, and a new post! Now that ALA 2009 is behind us, I will be posting regularly again on Roaring, so be sure to send me some feedback on the new design! And while you're checking out the page, take a peek at my Fall/Winter picks from our Title Presentation. Trust me, you don't need to be a 20something to enjoy these books.
-Kayleigh
Here in the Library Marketing department, we're gearing up for ALA 2009. But there's another important event that takes place first: Independence Day. Check out some fun facts about the 4th from Ken Davis' blog— I guarantee you'll learn something new!
-Kayleigh
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
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"?
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!
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.
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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
My mother is an avid reader. Always has been. Late at night, when all the other houses on our block were dark, there’d be a light on in ours – and next to it would be my mother and her latest ‘find’ from the library. She worked in a school library from the time I was 6 years old. She turned me on to the best books and authors (The Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler, all those great Betsy books by Carolyn Haywood, the Bobbsey Twins, Encyclopedia Brown, Little Women (which she read to me and my sister at night) I had my own personal readers’ advisory guru who told me what to read and when to go to bed (she still does both even though I’m 47 and haven’t lived home for 25 years.) So with that DNA, it made sense that I ended up in the business of books. Now I’m the one giving her the heads up on the next ‘sure-fire bestseller’ and she loves giving the latest galley a thumbs up or a thumbs down!
I thought it’d be fun to get her ‘take’ on some of the books she’s been reading lately. She’s pretty much a non-fiction chick. Loves a good memoir. Here’s what she has to say about In The Sanctuary of Outcasts by Neil White. This is the first of hopefully many reviews from my mother, Virginia Stanley, Sr.
-Virginia
Our friends at Harper Academic have just written a fabulous post about the recent pirate standoff on the USS Bainbridge, as it relates to an article by Edith Gelles, author of Abigail & John: Portrait of a Marriage. Browse inside, check out this video of Edith Gelles, and let us know what you think!
-Kayleigh
Well folks, we’re officially up to 500 followers on Twitter, which makes this post fitting! If you’re a tweeting librarian, you can win a chance to be published in the first official Twitter book coming in Fall 2009. Twitter Wit: Brilliance in 140 characters or less will bring together the most poetic, funny and entertaining tweets from the land of Twitter. And our newest imprint, It Books, wants you to be part of it! How do you enter?
1) Visit www.Twitter.com/YourItList to start following It Books on Twitter.
2) Email your favorite tweet to ItBooks@harpercollins.com. Please include your name and your library’s name and address for verification.
3) Entries must be received by APRIL 30, 2009! Those selected will appear in Twitter Wit this October (with your Twitter user name).
Not on Twitter? Click HERE for an easy guide to setting up an account for your library. And if you’re not following us already, head over to our page—we just might hit 600!
-Kayleigh
We've exceeded 400 followers on Twitter! Check out our word cloud, and be sure to follow us.
Have an awesome weekend!
-Kayleigh
Over on The Roaring 20s, I'm asking readers for their craziest library story. I was inspired by this news article, about a 26 year old who was locked in his local library. The best 5 stories will receive a complete set of Harper Perennial’s Olive Editions: Michael Chabon’s The Mysteries of Pittsburgh, Milan Kundera’s The Unbearable Lightness of Being, and Jonathan Safran Foer’s Everything is Illuminated. Email your best story to roaring20s@harpercollins.com or leave one in the comments of the post. Happy writing!
-Kayleigh
We're halfway through the week and ready to celebrate! Over at The Roaring 20s, I'm giving away 25 copies of G. Xavier Robillard's Captain Freedom, a satirical novel about a disgraced superhero’s search for a new career, his true archenemy… and a girlfriend.
Packed with pop culture references, Robillard goes non-stop from page one, racing through the twisted story of Captain Freedom. The action starts with Freedom’s fall from grace on the world stage, a disastrous dinner party and his search for a sidekick to his flagging comic book sales, a stint in rehab, his disastrous children’s book, a run for political office and finally, his true calling. This wild ride of a satire sends up celebrity, politics, Hollywood, the fashion world, upper management, current events and much more, including the beloved world of comic books. High-tail it to Roaring for your chance to win!
-Kayleigh
We started the week with Michael Chabon, and we're ending it that way. Thanks so much for all your wonderful feedback–we're so excited to reach out to all of you. Keep checking in, as we'll be hosting more book giveaways in the coming weeks. We'd like to end this week with a giveaway of Michael Chabon's knock-out classic, The Mysteries of Pittsburgh.
Set in industrial Pittsburgh in the mid-eighties, Michael Chabon's coming-of-age debut is a mythic look at the last summer of Art Bechstein’s youth. Art is aimless, going through the motions, until he meets Arthur Lecomte. Arthur is witty, charismatic, and hedonistic, and he ushers Art into a complex social circle where loyalties are blurred by incestuous friendships. In the course of one summer, Art discovers himself—his sexuality, ambitions, desires—and learns the heartbreak of leaving childhood behind for good.
Post a comment on The Roaring 20s for your chance to win! Have a wonderful weekend, and happy reading.
-Virginia, Bobby, and Kayleigh
Gripping…edgy…heartbreaking…shocking…amazing…
These are just a few words to describe Thrity Umrigar's forthcoming novel, The Weight of Heaven, an emotionally charged story about unexpected death, unhealed wounds, and the price one father will pay to protect himself from pain and loss.
Umrigar's previous novel, The Space Between Us, told of the social struggles in modern day India. The book took the literary world by storm and went on to become an international bestseller. It is truly an amazing piece of literature. If you haven't already read it, I strongly recommend it.
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We’re excited to bring the very latest news to you about our books and authors. Among other things, we’ll bring authors (and quite possibly ourselves) to you via video, tell you about the latest books we’re reading and invite you to take advantage of our weekly book giveaways. If there’s late-breaking news about a Pulitzer winner (please let it be a Harper book!) or an Oprah appearance (please let it be a Harper author!) you’ll know it when we know it.
We know there’s not enough time to read everything that’s out there. We promise to keep this fun, light and informative.
To celebrate the launch of our blog, LibraryLoveFest, we’re going to give away the thing we love most: BOOKS! During our inaugural week (March 9th-13th) we will give away 25 copies of a different title each day. Check back every day to enter for your chance to win!
Today’s featured title is Michael Chabon’s Maps and Legends, a collection of 16 sparkling essays—the perfect book for any aspiring writer. Maps and Legends is a celebration of literature as entertainment.
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: $14.99. Estimated total prize value: $374.75. View rules here: Download Librarylovefest-blog-sweepstakes. Leave a comment below for your chance to win!
We hope you enjoy our musings and we’d love to hear your feedback!
All the best,
Virginia, Bobby and Kayleigh
