Book News

Book Sense's hot streak continues. Remarkably, six Book Sense 76 picks constitute the entire shortlist for the U.K.'s Man Booker Prize for Fiction 2002. This news comes in the wake of the continuing streak of network morning shows featuring Book Sense titles.

Bo Caldwell has written fiction for years, publishing about a dozen short stories in Ploughshares and other literary magazines.

But she's also written an equal amount of nonfiction, in the form of personal essays for the Washington Post's Post Magazine and other publications.

The pad is on press now and will be in the October white box mailing. You can also click here for the list in PDF format. Thanks!

Carl
[email protected]

By Carl Lennertz

Reminder: Bring photos of your 76 display to the Regional Shows!

This is so you can have a chance to win a color printer ... AND ... have your photo considered for a portfolio to be shown to publishers over the next year. So, spiff up your display, take a snapshot (or several), and bring it to the ABA booth at each show.

We're up over 350 reporting stores for several weeks now, and another regional list is imminent ... maybe? Hopefully!

Following in a noble tradition, in the past few years, some independent booksellers have begun publishing or writing their own books. These booksellers noted that -- despite experiencing many challenges along the way -- publishing or authoring books has given them a sense of accomplishment and has allowed them to bring to light important books or ideas that otherwise might never have been published.

By Daniel Halpern

The bond between a writer and an editor is complex and essential. Daniel Halpern, editorial director of Ecco, an imprint of HarperCollins, remembers the writer F.X. Toole, an "unusually unyielding author and friend," whose collection of short stories, Rope Burns: Stories from the Corner, became one of those books that can justify a life in publishing.

Author Monica Wood of Portland, Maine, is a good exemplar of the apt phrase "Those who can, teach."

The "teach" part is demonstrated by the adult education and other workshops in fiction-writing technique that Wood's led for years -- and by her new book, The Pocket Muse: Ideas & Inspirations for Writing (Writer's Digest Books), a September/October Book Sense 76 pick.

By Carl Lennertz

BIG!!! -- Bring photos of your 76 display to the Regional Shows!

This is so you can have a chance to win a color printer ... AND ... to have your photo considered for a portfolio to be shown to publishers over the next year.

When Tony Horwitz stepped off the plane to Savage Island, he knew almost nothing about the place.

He'd done this on purpose. As part of a year and a half-long journey throughout the Pacific following in the wake of 18th century explorer James Cook, Horwitz wanted at least one blank spot on the map -- a place that was truly terra incognita for a 21st century American author.

The Science Fiction Achievements, more popularly known as the Hugo Awards, were recently announced. Among the winners were:

While baseball's Oakland A's shoot for 21 in a row, Book Sense has its own literary streak going: For the seventh straight time, one of the network morning shows has selected a Book Sense 76 title as its book club feature.

By Carl Lennertz

Sales news from data gathered this week from 350 indies.

Hardcover fiction:

To watch:

NBC's The Today Show has announced that the latest selection of its book club is A Girl Named Zippy by Haven Kimmel (Broadway Books). In its Doubleday hardcover edition, Kimmel's memoir of small town life was a Book Sense 76 Top Ten selection for the March/April 2001 list.

The winners of the 2002 Great Lakes Book Awards were recently announced. They are:

Fiction: The Dive from Clausen's Pier by Ann Packer (Knopf)

General: Lake Effect by Rich Cohen (Knopf)

Children's Medal Winner: Fair Weather by Richard Peck (Dial Press)

Children's Honor Book: The Shoe Tree of Chagrin by J. Patrick Lewis, illustrated by Chris Sheban (Creative Editions)