Malcolm Brooks’ debut novel Painted Horses — a spring/summer Publishers Lunch Buzz Books title — tops the ABA’s Indie Next List for August. Two more books from our newest (still available to read now for free) fall/winter Buzz Books sampler also make the list, The Magician’s Land by Lev Grossman and The Book of Life by Deborah Harkness. The rest of the list features: Lucky Us, by Amy Bloom Small Blessings, by Martha Woodroof A Man Called Ove, by Fredrik Backman In the Kingdom of Ice, by Hampton Sides The Home Place, by Carrie La Seur Life Drawing, by Robin Black A Colder War, by […]
Awards
Amazon Picks Lepucki For July But Still Isn’t Selling It Yet
Amazon’s “best books of the month” list for July once again selects a forthcoming Hachette Book Group title that they are not willing to sell on a pre-order basis — in this case, Edan Lepucki’s CALIFORNIA, the title that Stephen Colbert urged his fans to pre-order from independent stores as part of his “ongoing war with Amazon.” (Little, Brown will publish on July 8.) The Spotlight title for the month is War of the Whales: A True Story, by Joshua Horwitz, and the featured debut is Everything I Never Told You, by Celeste Ng. The other highlighted titles are: High as the […]
People, Awards, Etc.
Barbara Kline Pope has been appointed director of the Association of American University Presses, succeeding Philip Cercone. Pope is director of the National Academies Press and will serve a one-year term as AAUP director. Costco’s July Pennie’s Pick is THE GIVER by Lois Lowry. Donna Tartt’s THE GOLDFINCH and Doris Kearns Goodwin’s THE BULLY PULPIT won the Carnegie Medals for fiction and nonfiction, respectively. Start Publishing is in the process of acquiring Whiskey Creek Press, as covered in two posts at Writer Beware. Poet and novelist Dermot Healy, 66, died over the weekend in County Sligo, Ireland. He was the author […]
People, Etc.
At Penguin Random House in the US, Tom Cox has been promoted to vp, adult mass merchandise and distributor sales, the company’s newly formed cross-company division, reporting to Jaci Updike. In addition, Penguin vp, director of distributor sales Ken Kaye will retire at the end of 2014 after more than 45 years in the industry. International sales director Simon Littlewood is leaving Random House UK, where he has worked since 1997, by “mutual agreement.” Deputy ceo of Penguin Random House UK said Ian Hudson said, “Sadly, after much discussion we have been unable to find a mutually suitable role for Simon within Penguin […]
People, Etc.
Arabella Stein is stepping down as co-director of Abner Stein after a leave of absence to “pursue a new direction”, the Bookseller reports. Stein began at Abner Stein in 2002 and moved up to co-director in 2011 after the death of her father (and the agency’s founder & namesake). Sandy Violette and Caspian Dennis will remain as co-directors, and said in a statement: “We would also like to thank Arabella wholeheartedly for her contribution to the agency. We will of course miss Arabella but fully support her decision, and wish her every happiness and success in the next stage of […]
Awards: Amazon’s Best Books So Far; Beevor Wins Pritzker
Amazon announced its multiple Best Books of 2014 So Far lists. Their overall No. 1 pick is Adam Begley’s biography UPDIKE and the rest of the top 10 includes Lily King’s PL Spring/Summer Buzz Book: 2. The Book of Unknown Americans, Cristina Henríquez: 3. Redeployment, Phil Klay 4. Euphoria, Lily King 5. No Place to Hide, Glenn Greenwald 6. In Paradise, Peter Matthiessen 7. The Invention of Wings, Sue Monk Kidd 8. Red Rising by Pierce Brown 9. Savage Harvest, by Carl Hoffman 10. Hollow City: The Second Novel of Miss Peregrine’s Peculiar Children, Ransom Riggs Rounding out their Top 20 is: To […]