Amazon and Barnes & Noble both posted their February “books of the month”–and both booksellers agree with the Indie Next list in selecting Herman Koch’s THE DINNER and Karen Russell’s VAMPIRES IN THE LEMON GROVE (as long as you have read her splendid SWAMPLANDIA! first). The WSJ also echoes the positioning of Koch’s book as “the European GONE GIRL” today. Additionally, Amazon picks: Wise Men, Stuart Nadler (their “spotlight” selection) Schroder, Amity Gaige After Visiting Friends: A Son’s Story, Michael Hainey A History of Future Cities, Daniel Brook Autobiography of Us, Aria Beth Sloss How Literature Saved My Life, […]
Awards
People, Etc.: Mantel Wins Overall Costa Prize
Hilary Mantel won the Costa Book of the Year Prize Tuesday afternoon for BRING UP THE BODIES, making her the first author to win the Booker and Costa for the same book. Judging chair Jenni Murray said the unanimous decision took “less than an hour”, telling the Guardian: “One book simply stood head and shoulders, more than head and shoulders … on stilts, above the rest. We had a really good discussion, like being at a high-powered book club, and I said, ‘OK, let’s have a vote on Bring up the Bodies’ and every hand went up.” Accepting the prize, […]
Awards: Applegate Takes Newbery, Klassen Wins Caldecott
The ALA presented their many Youth Media Awards this morning on the closing day of their winter meeting in Seattle (Thanks to the organizers for the live webcast of this year’s presentation.) The Newbery medal went to Katherine Applegate for THE ONE AND ONLY IVAN (HarperCollins Children’s); the Caldecott went to Jon Klassen for THIS IS NOT MY HAT (Candlewick). Among other honorees, TK won the Nick Lake Michael L. Printz Award for IN DARKNESS (Bloomsbury Young Readers) and Tamora Pierce won the Margaret A. Edwards Award for “significant and lasting contribution to young adult literature.” For the complete list of […]
People: Palgon Leaves, Drake Promoted in Crown Realignment; Burch Leaves Touchstone
The Crown Publishing Group has realigned executive responsibilities in some areas, and evp, deputy publisher Michael Palgon will leavinge at the beginning of March as a result, after more than 24 years with the company and nearly five years at his current position. Crown president and publisher Maya Mavjee said in a statement that Palgon was “universally respected and admired throughout Random House, Inc., and the industry, for his publishing expertise and accomplishments, management skills, and financial acumen.” Mavjee also cited Palgon’s “most singular and enduring legacies will be the seminal and astute leadership he has provided in building and […]
Book News: A Lahiri Novel, Algonquin’s Teen Line, Adaptations and ALA Award Candidates
Pulitzer Prize winner for INTERPRETER OF MALADIES Jhumpa Lahiri‘s THE LOWLAND–her second novel after THE NAMESAKE–will be published on September 24 by Knopf (and by Bloomsbury UK). It’s the second book in their deal from 2006, reportedly for $4 million. The Fox Network has ordered a pilot for an adaptation of Lauren Oliver‘s DELIRIUM. Bookseller Mitchell Kaplan’s Mazur/Kaplan Company is executive producing with Chernin Entertainment and 20th Century Fox Television, with the pilot written by executive producer Karyn Usher wrote the pilot which Fox just approved. In the day’s most unusual adaptation news, Hilary Mantel’s Booker-winning duo WOLF HALL and BRING […]
People, Etc.
Grand Central publisher Jamie Raab has been promoted to president (from executive vice president). CEO David Young wrote to staff: “In Jamie’s two and a half decades with the company, she and her team have created a diverse publishing program that spans just about every genre – commercial fiction and literary novels, celebrity bios and serious politics, business, romance, humor, and lifestyle – putting real muscle behind the campaigns and making GCP a fixture on bestseller lists.” He added, “Jamie is a brave and brilliant publisher, a trusted leader in the company, and an impassioned champion of authors. Here superb […]