New and Noteworthy
It was a fun couple of days at the trade show, aside from my feet.... my left big toe is still numb. Never, ever wear spike heeled boots to do a show, even if you don't have a booth. Stupid. Stupid. Stupid.
I didn't score a whole lot of books this year. First off, I'm not a bookseller and most of the freebies are for them, and rightly so. Also, today is scrounge and scavenger day, where exhibitors make deals with each other to swap the books they don't want to schlepp home for the ones they do. I'm not at the show today, and not even the promise of all the free books I can carry was enough to drag me down there. Your first year or so, it's all about the freebie, but now I'm a lot more selective and only came home with three books yesterday. Besides, being one of the scavengers is never attractive.
Here are some of the highlights from the show--the titles I got, the titles I noted, and some of the trends. In no particular order:
Still big for spring, novels set in India, Pakistan, and the Middle East. Saw tons of them but nothing grabbed my attention. After Kite Runner, The Rug Merchant, and The Space Between Us, I feel like I read some of the top in this genre last year.
Pirates and vampires remain strong topics in nonfiction. Also, there is tons of political nonfiction. Everywhere. Everyone's got a title criticizing the right, the left, or both.
The big book I was looking for is New York Times columnist Frank Rich's forthcoming The Greatest Story Ever Sold: Bush's America from Mission Accomplished to Heckuva Job, Brownie. I looked for this one at the Penguin booth at BookExpo in the spring and there was hardly a mention of it. So, I went by the Penguin booth yesterday and asked the rep working, since the street date is supposed to be Tuesday. She laughed and told me that Penguin is releasing nothing on this title--no advance readers' editions, nothing--because Rich is such a lighting rod and they don't want anything leaking about this book before its release. Guess we'll have to go to the bookstore, like everyone else.
The one I did get to see (but I don't have a copy--yet) is Lewis Lapham's Pretensions to Empire: Notes on the Criminal Folly of the Bush Administration. Lampham is the longtime editor of Harper's magazine and an excellent, articulate writer.
Along similar lines is the George W. Bush 2007 Out of Office Countdown Calendar. While a magnificent idea, my only issue with this is that you have to look at GW's mug every month. Perhaps we'll get it and place pictures of the cat over him?
Moving away from politics, there were all sorts of great things.
Hachette is releasing last year's The Sisters Mortland in paperback. This was one of my favorite novels from last fall, and while a bit on the predictable side, it was dark and compelling, nonetheless. If you liked Virgin Suicides, you'll probably like this.
In other fiction treats, I picked up a copy of the terribly-named and terribly-jacketed Sparkles by Louise Bagshawe. The cover you see on this link is not the US cover. It is really awful and I wouldn't carry this book on an airplane or in a cafe. So what made me pick up this book? The sales rep. A good sales rep and a good bookseller are worth their weight in gold when it comes to making top recommendations. My friend Eric, one of our Penguin reps, thrust this book into my hands and said, "Read it." I gave him a raised eyebrow and he said, "Trust me." And I do. I don't think I've ever been burned by one of his suggestions in the nearly 20 years I've known him. So Sparkles is now in my reading pile.
Another one I'm hoping to get soon (the exhibit hall was closed when the publisher and I went back to pick up a copy), is Small Acts of Sex and Electricity by Lise Haines. Unbridled Books is known for publishing "good reads" and they've never let me down yet. Small Acts is getting great critical reviews and I can't wait to read it. Unbridled is one of my favorite indie houses and they are known for their strong and consistent literary works.
A most prized treat of the weekend is the copy of The Zero that I picked up. This is a new novel--a "novel of September 12." There is no specific mention to 9/11 or to the World Trade Center, but they are everywhere within these covers. I've been wanting to read this, and when I was able to grab a copy, I was thrilled. Walter was at the show Friday night, and John, our local HarperCollins rep, told me he wanted to introduce us, but alas, I couldn't find them again.
Walter has been compared to Heller, Vonnegut, and Kafka. I can see all of these comparisons, but just 119 pages in to the book this morning, I'm also getting glimpses of Auster and Orwell. This is a dark novel, and not a happy one--but that's my favorite kind of fiction. There is a great New York Times review here and in this week's "Entertainment Weekly", The Zero made their "Must List". Trusted reader Carl Lennertz is loving it, too. Read this one; I don't think you (or I) will be sorry.
In nonfiction, I found some fun titles. First was The Daily Cocktail: 365 Intoxicating Drinks and the Outrageous Events that Inspired Them. Fun book, nicely presented. Not only do you get 365 drinks recipes, you get some fun history, too! Yay!
Next up is a book published by one of my dear friends (I'm admitting some possible bias here...) Follies of Science: 20th Century Visions of Our Fantastic Future. Feeling a bit cheated that we still don't have flying cars? This is the book for you. Nigel sat down and read it cover-to-cover this morning. Good stuff.
The only cookbook that grabbed my attention is the new one from my boyfriend Jamie Oliver. It's called Jamie's Italy and it's due out from Hachette soon (I don't know the date, but surely before the holidays). What could be better than Jamie Oliver and Italian food? Why, Jamie Oliver and Italian food together!
And need I say anything else about The Art of Living Well: Looking Good and Feeling Great by Joan Collins? I didn't think so.
I didn't get to see this one, but there's some good buzz about it right now (mostly from Bruce Springsteen's people, but whatever): Greetings from E Street: The Story of Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band. Chronicle always puts out quality books, and this one will be a bargain at $35 with its Griffin & Sabine scrapbook style. Maybe at last my mom will get the answer to her question: How does Silvio Dante have time to travel with Bruce Springsteen when he's got Sopranos episodes to tape?
Finally, we've all seen a gazillion books of pictures of cute puppies and kittens, but why didn't any of us think to do one of monkeys? Yeah, smack yourself in the forehead now--Jill Greenberg gives us Monkey Portraits, perhaps one of the best books ever published. It appears to go with an exhibit at the Paul Kepeikin Gallery, and a lot of the pictures are on the gallery's website. Brilliant!
So, here are some books to keep you reading as the days get shorter and colder this autumn and winter. If you read any of them, please let me know what you think. Bon appetite!
I didn't score a whole lot of books this year. First off, I'm not a bookseller and most of the freebies are for them, and rightly so. Also, today is scrounge and scavenger day, where exhibitors make deals with each other to swap the books they don't want to schlepp home for the ones they do. I'm not at the show today, and not even the promise of all the free books I can carry was enough to drag me down there. Your first year or so, it's all about the freebie, but now I'm a lot more selective and only came home with three books yesterday. Besides, being one of the scavengers is never attractive.
Here are some of the highlights from the show--the titles I got, the titles I noted, and some of the trends. In no particular order:
Still big for spring, novels set in India, Pakistan, and the Middle East. Saw tons of them but nothing grabbed my attention. After Kite Runner, The Rug Merchant, and The Space Between Us, I feel like I read some of the top in this genre last year.
Pirates and vampires remain strong topics in nonfiction. Also, there is tons of political nonfiction. Everywhere. Everyone's got a title criticizing the right, the left, or both.
The big book I was looking for is New York Times columnist Frank Rich's forthcoming The Greatest Story Ever Sold: Bush's America from Mission Accomplished to Heckuva Job, Brownie. I looked for this one at the Penguin booth at BookExpo in the spring and there was hardly a mention of it. So, I went by the Penguin booth yesterday and asked the rep working, since the street date is supposed to be Tuesday. She laughed and told me that Penguin is releasing nothing on this title--no advance readers' editions, nothing--because Rich is such a lighting rod and they don't want anything leaking about this book before its release. Guess we'll have to go to the bookstore, like everyone else.
The one I did get to see (but I don't have a copy--yet) is Lewis Lapham's Pretensions to Empire: Notes on the Criminal Folly of the Bush Administration. Lampham is the longtime editor of Harper's magazine and an excellent, articulate writer.
Along similar lines is the George W. Bush 2007 Out of Office Countdown Calendar. While a magnificent idea, my only issue with this is that you have to look at GW's mug every month. Perhaps we'll get it and place pictures of the cat over him?
Moving away from politics, there were all sorts of great things.
Hachette is releasing last year's The Sisters Mortland in paperback. This was one of my favorite novels from last fall, and while a bit on the predictable side, it was dark and compelling, nonetheless. If you liked Virgin Suicides, you'll probably like this.
In other fiction treats, I picked up a copy of the terribly-named and terribly-jacketed Sparkles by Louise Bagshawe. The cover you see on this link is not the US cover. It is really awful and I wouldn't carry this book on an airplane or in a cafe. So what made me pick up this book? The sales rep. A good sales rep and a good bookseller are worth their weight in gold when it comes to making top recommendations. My friend Eric, one of our Penguin reps, thrust this book into my hands and said, "Read it." I gave him a raised eyebrow and he said, "Trust me." And I do. I don't think I've ever been burned by one of his suggestions in the nearly 20 years I've known him. So Sparkles is now in my reading pile.
Another one I'm hoping to get soon (the exhibit hall was closed when the publisher and I went back to pick up a copy), is Small Acts of Sex and Electricity by Lise Haines. Unbridled Books is known for publishing "good reads" and they've never let me down yet. Small Acts is getting great critical reviews and I can't wait to read it. Unbridled is one of my favorite indie houses and they are known for their strong and consistent literary works.
A most prized treat of the weekend is the copy of The Zero that I picked up. This is a new novel--a "novel of September 12." There is no specific mention to 9/11 or to the World Trade Center, but they are everywhere within these covers. I've been wanting to read this, and when I was able to grab a copy, I was thrilled. Walter was at the show Friday night, and John, our local HarperCollins rep, told me he wanted to introduce us, but alas, I couldn't find them again.
Walter has been compared to Heller, Vonnegut, and Kafka. I can see all of these comparisons, but just 119 pages in to the book this morning, I'm also getting glimpses of Auster and Orwell. This is a dark novel, and not a happy one--but that's my favorite kind of fiction. There is a great New York Times review here and in this week's "Entertainment Weekly", The Zero made their "Must List". Trusted reader Carl Lennertz is loving it, too. Read this one; I don't think you (or I) will be sorry.
In nonfiction, I found some fun titles. First was The Daily Cocktail: 365 Intoxicating Drinks and the Outrageous Events that Inspired Them. Fun book, nicely presented. Not only do you get 365 drinks recipes, you get some fun history, too! Yay!
Next up is a book published by one of my dear friends (I'm admitting some possible bias here...) Follies of Science: 20th Century Visions of Our Fantastic Future. Feeling a bit cheated that we still don't have flying cars? This is the book for you. Nigel sat down and read it cover-to-cover this morning. Good stuff.
The only cookbook that grabbed my attention is the new one from my boyfriend Jamie Oliver. It's called Jamie's Italy and it's due out from Hachette soon (I don't know the date, but surely before the holidays). What could be better than Jamie Oliver and Italian food? Why, Jamie Oliver and Italian food together!
And need I say anything else about The Art of Living Well: Looking Good and Feeling Great by Joan Collins? I didn't think so.
I didn't get to see this one, but there's some good buzz about it right now (mostly from Bruce Springsteen's people, but whatever): Greetings from E Street: The Story of Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band. Chronicle always puts out quality books, and this one will be a bargain at $35 with its Griffin & Sabine scrapbook style. Maybe at last my mom will get the answer to her question: How does Silvio Dante have time to travel with Bruce Springsteen when he's got Sopranos episodes to tape?
Finally, we've all seen a gazillion books of pictures of cute puppies and kittens, but why didn't any of us think to do one of monkeys? Yeah, smack yourself in the forehead now--Jill Greenberg gives us Monkey Portraits, perhaps one of the best books ever published. It appears to go with an exhibit at the Paul Kepeikin Gallery, and a lot of the pictures are on the gallery's website. Brilliant!
So, here are some books to keep you reading as the days get shorter and colder this autumn and winter. If you read any of them, please let me know what you think. Bon appetite!
Labels: Books
posted by Kay at
11:49 AM
2 Comments:
I've read The Kite Runner, The Space Between Us, and The Sisters Mortland and liked all of them very much...actually, in that precise order. Read the last 2 this year and reviewed them in my book blog.
The Zero sounds interesting; I'll watch for this one.
The Zero is available now, Jen.
Sounds like we might have similar taste in books.
Post a Comment
Subscribe to Post Comments [Atom]
<< Home