Publishers Weekly articles from January 2007

Publishers Weekly archives from January 2007

Merger market vibrant in 2006: factors that drove deals continue in '07.(Foreword)(includes "Selected Publishing Acquisitions, 2006" statistical table)
January 1, 2007... An influx of financial buyers, motivated buyers and sellers, and the need to expand into new markets were some of the reasons behind the strongest mergers and acquisitions year in the publishing industry in some time. Four deals announced...

Second quarter up at Scholastic.(book publishing)(Brief article)
January 1, 2007... Scholastic had a stronger than expected second quarter, with revenue up 6%, to $735.5 million, and net income ahead 12%, to $75.1 million. Sales in its largest group, the children's book publishing and distribution division, increased 4%, to...

Elsevier buys Syngress.(book publishing)(Brief article)
January 1, 2007... Elsevier has acquired Syngress Publishing, which does books about computer security. The Rockland, Mass.-based Syngress published 40 titles in 2006 and plans to do more than 50 in 2007.

Make a hope.(Foreword)(publishing industry wishes)(Column)
January 1, 2007... I guess much of the rest of the population--at least that portion that's under the age of, say, 12--ask for their wishes to be fulfilled on those famous gift-giving occasions that occur in mid-to late December. Me, I know that...

Ingram buys Coutts.(Coutts Information Services Ltd.)(Brief article)
January 1, 2007... Ingram has purchased Coutts Information Services. The U.K. based Coutts-- which also has offices in the U.S., Canada and Holland--delivers content to academic, public and other libraries. Under the deal Coutts will remain under the same...

Cenvo buys Cadmus.(Cadmus Communications Corp.)(Brief article)
January 1, 2007... After being rebuffed in its bid to acquire Banta, Cenvo, Inc. has reached an agreement to acquire Cadmus Communications Corp. in a deal worth $430 million. Cadmus, which had sales of more than $450 million in fiscal 2006, is a major provider of...

Potter #7 named.("Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows" by J.K. Rowling)(Brief article)
January 1, 2007... The name of the seventh and final book in J.K. Rowling's Harry Potter series has been revealed on the author's Web site. The book, now officially called Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, still has no set release date.

Sterling to do sexy line.(Sterling Publishing deal with Hollan Publishing)(Ravenous imprint)(Brief article)
January 1, 2007... Sterling Publishing has inked a deal with Massachusetts-based packager Hollan Publishing to do a line it describes as "illustrated romantic lifestyle" books. Under the deal, Hollan will release 25 titles annually through its Ravenous imprint,...

AMS files for bankruptcy; exploring strategic options.(Money Matters)(Advanced Marketing Services Inc.)
January 1, 2007... Advanced Marketing Services announced Friday that it had filed for Chapter 11 Bankruptcy in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware. The company said it took the action after its bank, Wells Fargo, refused to extend its loan...

Drugan memorial.(Rusty Drugan, Executive Director, New England Independent Booksellers Association)(Brief article)
January 1, 2007... A memorial has been set for Rusty Drugan, the former executive director of the New England Independent Booksellers Association. Drugan, who died at his home in Cambridge, Mass., on December 7, led the organization from 1992 until his...

Campaign trail?("It Takes a Village" by Senator Hillary Clinton)(Brief article)
January 1, 2007... Senator and possible presidential candidate Hillary Clinton was at Borders in White Plains, N.Y., signing copies of the justreleased 10th-anniversary edition of her book, It Takes a Village (S&S). Clinton is pictured here with the staff of...

Weldon Owen tapping overseas connections.(Moving Forward)(Company overview)
January 1, 2007... More than six months after it was acquired by the Swedish-based Bonnier media group, the Weldon Owen Group has added a total of 25 people to its staff in San Francisco, Australia and New Zealand, and is looking to expand its product line and...

Weber to Harmony.(Deals)("Temper" and "Symptoms of Fiction" by Katharine Weber/"The Conviction of Richard Nixon: The Untold Story of the Frost/Nixon Interviews" by James Reston Jr.)(Harmony/Shaye Areheart)(Brief article)
January 1, 2007... * Weber to Harmony John Glusman has acquired two new books by author Katharine Weber (The Music Lesson; Triangle) for Harmony/Shaye Areheart; Gloria Loomis at Watkins/Loomis sold world rights. The first book will be Temper, a...

New novels.(Deals)(book publishing)("Waking with Enemies" by Eric Jerome Dickey/"Lottery" by Patricia Wood/"Vivaldi's Girls" by Laurel Corona/"Still Life with Elephant" by Judy Reene Singer)(Brief article)
January 1, 2007... Dutton's Brian Tart has acquired the next novel from bestselling author Eric Jerome Dickey, to be a sequel to next spring's forthcoming Sleeping with Strangers, titled Waking with Enemies and slated for publication a mere four months later in...

Calendar.(Calendar)
January 1, 2007... Jan 7-12 1/7 Henry VIII's first wife, Katharine, died on this date in 1536 (of natural causes). Jean Plaidy's three novels about her are collected in Katharine of Aragon (Three Rivers Press). 1/8 Dave Eggars turns 37. PW's...

New cookbooks.(Deals)("Carmine's Family Style" by Michael Ronis and Mary Goodbody/"Bobby Flay's Mesa Grill Cookbook" and "Grill It!" by Bobby Flay/"Orangette: The Stories My Kitchen Tells Me" by Molly Wizenberg)(Brief article)
January 1, 2007... Elizabeth Beier at St. Martin's bested four other bidders for world rights to Carmine's Family Style, which will share the recipes of this popular family-style Italian restaurant. Founding chef Michael Ronis will write the book with Mary...

The briefing.(Deals)("The Kazdin Method for Parenting Defiant Children" by Alan Kazdin to be published by Houghton Mifflin Co.)(Brief article)
January 1, 2007... Houghton's Deanne Urmy bought world rights to child psychologist Dr. Alan Kazdin's The Kazdin Method for Parenting Defiant Children; agent Susan Rabiner made the deal. Kazdin, head of the Yale Parenting Center and Child Conduct Clinic, will...

Lawyers: Regan in good position.(Judging Judy)(Judith Regan)(The News Corporation Ltd.)(Brief article)
January 1, 2007... Judith Regan's threatened lawsuit against News Corp. for wrongful termination has brought the issue of employment and contract law to the forefront. Publishing lawyers contacted by PW about Regan's possible case believed that Regan would have a...

'Orphans' worry European houses.(Copyright)(guidelines to prevent copyright infringement lawsuits for unpublished works)(International Association of Scientific, Technical and Medical Publishers)(Brief article)
January 1, 2007... Like its American counterparts, the International Association of Scientific, Technical & Medical Publishers is concerned about orphan works--copyrighted works whose owners cannot be located and has issued a position paper addressing the issues...

Barbara Hoffman, owner, Bohannos' Books Georgetown, Ky.(Galley Talk)("Mississippi Sissy" by Kevin Sessums)(Brief article)(Book review)
January 1, 2007... * Barbara Hoffman, owner, Bohannons' Books, Georgetown, Ky. I heard Kevin Sessums read from his forthcoming memoir, Mississippi Sissy (St. Martin's, Mar. 6), at SIBA, and he was so dynamic that I got the galley and read it on the way home....

Chronicle promos two.(People)(Liza Algar and Sarah Williams promoted at Chronicle Publishing Co. Chronicle Books)(Brief article)
January 1, 2007... Liza Algar and Sarah Williams have been promoted at Chronicle Books. Algar, previously director of marketing for the adult trade and gift divisions, is now executive director of marketing. Williams, who was director of international sales,...

Graywolf hits fundraising target.($1-Million Baby)(Company overview)(Financial report)
January 1, 2007... Six months after opening its ambitious Advance Fund campaign to the public, Graywolf Press, the St. Paul, Minn., literary nonprofit publisher, announced late last month that it has reached its goal of raising $1 million, with 80% of that amount...

HC hire, promo.(People)(Jennifer Barth appointed HarperCollins Publishers Inc.)(Ben Bruton appointed William Morrow and Company Inc.)(Brief article)
January 1, 2007... Jennifer Barth has been named v-p, executive editor of HarperCollins's flagship imprint. Barth, who will start January 15, arrives from Henry Holt, where she was editor-in-chief. Also at HarperCollins, Ben Bruton has been promoted to director...

Jesus-Forero to Bookworld.(People)(Maria De JesusForero appointed)(Brief article)
January 1, 2007... Maria De JesusForero has joined Bookworld as Spanish national accounts manager. Jesus-Forero arrives from Random House, where she was manager of national accounts.

Rados up at Sterling.(People)(Kate Rados appointed Sterling Publishing)(Brief article)
January 1, 2007... Kate Rados has been promoted from publicity manager to manager of publicity and online marketing at Sterling Publishing.

Hardcover bestsellers/fiction.(book listings and publishing news)(Bibliography)(Table)
January 1, 2007... For One More Day was the book to beat during the frenzied girl-buying weeks before Christmas. For the week ending December 23, it was the bestselling book--more than 108,000 combined at just Barnes & Noble, Borders and Walden. Albom's mammoth...

Hardcover bestsellers/nonfiction.(book listings and publishing news)(Bibliography)(Table)
January 1, 2007... In The Audacity of Hope, according to latimes.com, iBarack Obama tells of "being on the state Senate floor, sitting with a white colleague, when an African American senator, whom Obama refers to as John Doe, gave a lengthy, passionate speech in...

Paperback bestsellers/mass market.(book listings and publishing news)(Bibliography)(Table)
January 1, 2007... Foxworthy has scored in comic recordings, TV, radio (his weekly radio show, The Foxworthy Countdown, airs in about 220 markets nationwide) and has written 11 books. Here are two Redneck definitions from his latest bestseller: (1) as-pect, n....

Paperback bestsellers/trade.(book listings and publishing news)(Bibliography)(Table)
January 1, 2007... What have the editors of The World Almanac selected for their 2006 time capsule? Here are a few of the 12 picks: Receipt for a $50 tank of gas. A collection of toiletries left behind at airport security in August when rules were tightened to...

Bookselling coast-to-coast.(Retailing)(includes statistical tables)(Industry overview)
January 1, 2007... It will come as no great surprise to learn that California leads the country as the state with the most bookstores and the most bookselling stores, but it is a bit counterintuitive to find that Vermont has the most bookstores per capita--1...

Alabama.(United States of Bookselling)(Industry overview)
January 1, 2007... Over the past 18 years as a held sales rep for Random House, Steven Wallace has witnessed a lot, of changes in Alabama bookselling. Homegrown chain Books-A-Million, headquartered in Birmingham, has grown from a regional operation into the...

Feiwel flies: scholastic veteran to launch two new imprints at new home.(Children's Books)(Holtzbrinck introduces Square Fish and Feiwel & Friends)
January 1, 2007... Within hours of hearing that can Feiwel would be acating her post as senior v-p of Scholastic's trade division, Holtzbrinck CEO John Sargent picked up the phone. For a few years he had been looking for the right executive to oversee a unified...

Looking at prospects for 2007.(Outlook 2007)(Industry overview)
January 1, 2007... Challenges and opportunity often go hand-in-hand, and that will certainly be the case again in the book industry in 2007. Every problem created by the rise in the use digital technology, for example, provides the chance to find a solution that...

Susan Isaacs works it: champion of wise and witty women.(Author Profile)
January 1, 2007... Katie Schottland, the protagonist in Susan Isaacs's new book, Past Perfect (Scribner, Feb. 13), calls herself a "Total Manhattan Sushi Woman." She grew up on New York City's Upper East Side, is Jewish, married to a WASP and, as the novel opens,...

The 2006 listen-up awards: looking back on the best audiobooks of 2006.(Best Audios 2006)(Bibliography)
January 1, 2007... FICTION Firefly Cloak by Sheri Reynolds, read by Jenna Lamia (HighBridge) Gentlemen & Players by Joanne Harris, read by Steven Pacey (HarperAudio) The Girls by Lori Lansen, read by Stephanie Zimbalist and Lolita Davidovich...

Scott Brick: Narrator of the Year.(Q&A)(how to be an audiobook reader)(Interview)
January 1, 2007... Since 1999, Scott Brick has recorded nearly 300 audiobooks. This tireless reader worked for virtually every audio publisher in 2006. PW's review of his 2006 reading of Truman Capote's In Cold Blood said, "Brick's surefooted performance is...

Tim Curry: children's narrator of the year.(Q&A)(actor and audiobook reader)(Interview)
January 1, 2007... In 2006, British actor Tim Curry performed a hat trick of children's audiobook narration, as the voice of A Series of Unfortunate Events #13: The End by Lemony Snicker (HarperChildren's Audio), the series finale, as well as of Peter Pan in...

Aria.(book)(Brief article)(Book review)
January 1, 2007... Aria NASSIM ASSEFI. Harcourt, $23 (272p) ISBN 978-0-15-101293-0 Devastated by the accidental death of her five-year-old daughter, Aria, and still mourning for Aria's father, Justin, who died months before Aria's birth, Iranian-American...

Hick.(book)(Brief article)(Book review)
January 1, 2007... Hick ANDREA PORTES. Unbridled, $14.95 paper (256p) ISBN 978-1-932961-32-4 Portes's chilling debut tracks a 13-year-old Nebraska girl's hard-going life on the road. Young Luli knows losers--her "aging Brigitte Bardot" mother, Tammy, and her...

Landing.(book)(Brief article)(Book review)
January 1, 2007... EMMA DONOGHUE. Harcourt, $25 (336p) ISBN 978-0-15-101297-8 In her affecting fifth novel, Donoghue (Slammerkin) explores the idea that true love can conquer all. Jude Turner is a 25-year-old androgynous Luddite who's rooted to her small...

To My Dearest Friends.(book)(Brief article)(Book review)
January 1, 2007... To My Dearest Friends PATRICIA VOLK. Knopf, $23 (208p) ISBN 978-0-307-26360-5 Fans of Volk's critically acclaimed memoir, Stuffed: Adventures of a Restaurant Family, will be pleased to find her effortlessly amusing and wise voice behind...

Kalooki Nights.(book)(Brief article)(Book review)
January 1, 2007... Kalooki Nights HOWARD JACOBSON. Simon & Schuster, $25 (480p) ISBN 978-1-4165-4342-8 British comic author Jacobson unfolds his mordantly unsettling but hilarious ninth novel in retrospect. Cartoonist Max Glickman has built an uncertain...

Momzillas.(book)(Brief article)(Book review)
January 1, 2007... Momzillas JILL KARGMAN. Broadway, $22.95 (304p) ISBN 978-0-7679-2478-8 Kargman is no worse off without writing partner Carrie Karasyov The Right Address; Wolves in Chic Clothing) in her first solo novel, a breezy jaunt through the...

PW talks to Oakley Hall love, war, rock and roll: a veteran author assesses a reissue, his latest novel and the namesake band.([Q&A])("Love and War in California")(Interview)
January 1, 2007... Your novel, Love & War in California (Reviews, Oct. 30), is due out in April, and your classic western, named for a California town, Warlock, was recently bought back into print to acclaim (Reviews, Oct. 10, 2005). What other books of yours...

The Sun Over Breda.(book)(Brief article)(Book review)
January 1, 2007... The Sun Over Breda ARTURO PEREZ-REVERTE, TRANS.FROM THE SPANISH BY MARGARET SAYERS PEDEN. Putnam, $24.95 (204p) ISBN 978-0-399-15383-9 A former war correspondent, Spanish novelist Perez-Reverte continues his internationally acclaimed...

Summer People.(book)(Brief article)(Book review)
January 1, 2007... Summer People BRIAN GROH. Ecco, $24.95 (320p) ISBN 978-0-06-121001-3 Groh's debut, a fish-out-of-water story about a Cleveland college dropout who spends.a summer caring for an elderly woman in a tony Maine beach town, is neither inspiring...

The Next Thing on My List.(book)(Brief article)(Book review)
January 1, 2007... The Next Thing on My List JILL SMOLINSKI. Crown/Shaye Areheart, $23 (288p) ISBN 978-0-307-35124-1 Smolinski follows up her debut, Flip-Flopped, with an airy, hit and mostly miss novel about one rudderless woman's accidental journey of...

Sparkles.(book)(Brief article)(Book review)
January 1, 2007... Sparkles LOUISE BAGSHAWE. Plume, $14 (512p) ISBN 978-0-452-28814-0 British novelist-screenwriter Bagshawe (The Go-To Girl) updates '70s mega-business romance Scruples with this internationally flavored fantasia on love, lies and shopping....

Notting Hell.(book)(Brief article)(Book review)
January 1, 2007... Notting Hell RACHEL JOHNSON. Touchstone, $25 (352p) ISBN 978-1-4165-3176-0 This veddy droll through-the-key-hole debut from British columnist Johnson is drenched in the mores and manners of London's West Village equivalent--plus or minus a...

The King of Colored Town.(Brief article)(Book review)
January 1, 2007... The King of Colored Town DARRYL WIMBERLEY. Toby, $24.95 (380p) ISBN 978-1-59264-181-9 Wimberley revisits the rural north Florida featured in A Tinker's Damn (2000) in this powerful portrayal of a segregated community at the height of the...

Nineteen Minutes.(Brief article)(Book review)
January 1, 2007... * Nineteen Minutes JODI PICOULT. Atria, $26 (352p) ISBN 978-0-7434-9672-8 Bestseller Picoult (My Sister's Keeper) takes on another contemporary hot-button issue in her brilliantly told new thriller, about a high school shooting. Peter...

The Spellman Files.(Brief article)(Book review)
January 1, 2007... The Spellman Files LISA LUTZ. Simon & Schuster, $25 (352p) ISBN 978-1-4165-3239-2 Cracking the case can get complicated and outrageously wacky when a family of detectives is involved, but Lutz has a blast doing it in her delicious debut....

The Last Empress.(book)(Brief article)(Book review)
January 1, 2007... The Last Empress ANCHEE MIN. Houghton Mifflin, $25 (352p) ISBN 978-0-618-53146-2 Min's Empress Orchid tracked the concubine Orchid's path to becoming Empress Dowager Tzu Hsi; this revisionist look at her long years behind her son Tung...

Sister Mine.(book)(Brief article)(Book review)
January 1, 2007... * Sister Mine TAWNI O'DELL. Crown/Shaye Areheart, $23 (416p) ISBN 978-0-307-35126-5 O'Dell, whose debut, Back Roads (2000), was an Oprah pick, returns with a terrific third novel set in a Pennsylvania coal country of broken families,...

Canaan.(book)(Brief article)(Book review)
January 1, 2007... Canaan DONALD McCAIG. Norton, $24.95 (480p) ISBN 978-0-393-06246-5 This well-wrought sequel to McCaig's Civil War novel Jacob's Ladder (2003) covers the fractious years between Lee's surrender at Appomattox and Custer's defeat at Little Big...

Eddie Krumble Is the Clapper.(book)(Brief article)(Book review)
January 1, 2007... Eddie Krumble Is the Clapper DITO MONTIEL. Thunder's Mouth, $14.95 paper (224p) ISBN 978-1-56025-963-3 The widely acclaimed author and director of A Guide to Recognizing Your Saints shifts from memoir to high-energy satire in his fiction...

The Bloomsday Dead.(book)(Brief article)(Book review)
January 1, 2007... * The Bloomsday Dead ADRIAN McKINTY. Scribner, $24 (304p) ISBN 978-0-7432-6644-4 McKinty finishes up his knockout trilogy featuring Irish mercenary Michael Forsythe with his most visceral, satisfying effort yet (after 2006's The Dead...

Blind Spot.(book)(Brief article)(Book review)
January 1, 2007... Blind Spot TERRI PERSONS. Doubleday, $23.95 (352p) ISBN 978-0-385-51869-7 In this humdrum thriller with ghostly undercurrents, the first of a new series, Persons uses an old plot idea: endowing her female FBI agent with the power to see...

What the Thunder Said.(Brief article)(Book review)
January 1, 2007... What the Thunder Said JANET PEERY. St. Martin's, $24.95 (288p) ISBN 978-0-312-25263-2 The powers of nature drive a permanent wedge between two teenage sisters in the uneven second novel by National Book Award finalist (for The River Beyond...

An Accidental American.(Brief article)(Book review)
January 1, 2007... An Accidental American ALEX CARR. Random, $9.95 paper (240p) ISBN 978-0-8129-7708-0 This thought-provoking thriller from the pseudonymous Cart features a heroine with an unusual background. Nicole Blake, the daughter of a Lebanese violin...

Hades.(Brief article)(Book review)
January 1, 2007... Hades RUSSELL ANDREWS. Warner, $24.99 (384p) ISBN 978-0-89296-021-7 At the start of the pseudonymous Andrews's intelligent page-turner, his third Justin Westwood thriller (after Midas), Westwood, the police chief of the quiet Long Island...

Dropped from Heaven.(Brief article)(Book review)
January 1, 2007... Dropped from Heaven SOPHIE JUDAH. Schocken, $23 (256p) ISBN 978-0-8052-4248-5 The 19 stories in Judah's debut explore the little known Jewish community of Bene Israel in India over the course of more than a century. Though Judah touches on...

Luminous Fish: Tales of Science and Love.(Brief article)(Book review)
January 1, 2007... Luminous Fish: Tales of Science and Love LYNN MARGULIS. Chelsea Green, $21.95 (192p) ISBN 978-1-933392-33-2 A Distinguished University Professor in the department of geo-sciences at the University of Massachusetts, Margulis charts the...

The Lying Tongue.(Brief article)(Book review)
January 1, 2007... * The Lying Tongue ANDREW WILSON. Atria, $24 (320p) ISBN 978-0-7432-9397-6 Patricia Highsmith, the subject of British journalist Wilson's acclaimed biography Beautiful Shadow, would be delighted by this standout debut novel, which heralds a...

Set Sail for Murder.(Brief article)(Book review)
January 1, 2007... Set Sail for Murder CAROLYN HART. Morrow, $23.95 (288p) ISBN 978-0-06-072403-0 In the long-awaited seventh installment of Hart's popular series starring feisty retired journalist Heurie O (after 2001's Resort to Murder), Henrie O's...

Death Comes for the Fat Man.(Brief article)(Book review)
January 1, 2007... * Death Comes for the Fat Man REGINALD HILL. HarperCollins, $24.95 (416p) ISBN 978-0-06-082082-4 Hill, who has created and artfully guided the destinies of Yorkshire policemen Det. Supt. Andy Dalziel (aka "the Fat Man") and his DCI Peter...

Duplicity Dogged the Dachshund: The Second Dixie Hemingway Mystery.(Brief article)(Book review)
January 1, 2007... Duplicity Dogged the Dachshund: The Second Dixie Hemingway Mystery BLAIZE CLEMENT. St. Martin's Minotaur/Dunne, $23.95 (256p) ISBN 978-0-312-34092-6 A former sheriff's deputy in Sarasota, Fla., Dixie Hemingway now earns a living as a pet...

Cat Pay the Devil: A Joe Grey Mystery.(Brief article)(Book review)
January 1, 2007... Cat Pay the Devil: A Joe Grey Mystery SHIRLEY ROUSSEAU MURPHY. Morrow, $24.95 (304p) ISBN 978-0-06-057810-7 Talking tomcat Joe Grey and his fellow feline sleuths, Dulcie and Kit, track an escaped convict in their engaging 12th adventure...

Died in the Wool: A Torie O'Shea Mystery.(Brief article)(Book review)
January 1, 2007... Died in the Wool: A Torie O'Shea Mystery RETT MACPHERSON. St. Martin's Minotaur, $23.95 (240p) ISBN 978-0-312-36221-8 Torie O'Shea, genealogist and president of the New Kassel, Mo., historical society, unearths long-buried family secrets...

Amen Corner.(Brief article)(Book review)
January 1, 2007... Amen Corner RICK SHEFCHIK. Poisoned Pen, $24.95 (332p) ISBN 978-1-59058-411-8 Minneapolis police detective Sam Skarda, on leave after being shot, as been invited to participate as an amateur in the Masters golf tournament in this middling...

Neon Dragon.(Brief article)(Book review)
January 1, 2007... Neon Dragon JOHN F. DOBBYN. Hardscrabble Crime (www.upne.com), $24.95 (304p) ISBN 978-1-58465-614-2 Fans of the film True Believer will best appreciate law professor Dobbyn's debut, a routine legal thriller with a similar plot. Michael...

Sixty Days and Counting.(Brief article)(Book review)
January 1, 2007... Sixty Days and Counting KIM STANLEY ROBINSON. Bantam Spectra, $25 (416p) ISBN 978-0-553-80313-6 Inside-the-Beltway policy wonks and government scientists strive to save the world from environmental collapse in the well-written third...

Fast Forward 1: Future Fiction from the Cutting Edge.(Brief article)(Book review)
January 1, 2007... * Fast Forward 1: Future Fiction from the Cutting Edge EDITED BY LOU ANDERS. Pyr, $15 paper (320p) ISBN 978-1-59102-486-6 The solid, straightforward storytelling of the 19 stories and two poems that Anders (Futureshocks) gathers for this first...

Every Inch a King.(book)(Brief article)(Book review)
January 1, 2007... Every Inch a King HARRY TURTLEDOVE. Del Rey, $14.95 paper (304p) ISBN 978-0-345-48736-0 Fantastical historian Turtledove (Settling Accounts: The Grapple) puts a merry spin on the true tale of circus clown Otto Witte, who enjoyed a brief...

By Slanderous Tongues.(book)(Brief article)(Book review)
January 1, 2007... By Slanderous Tongues MERCEDES LACKEY AND ROBERTA GELLIS. Baen, $25 (544p) ISBN 978-1-4165-2107-5 Good and evil fairy factions continue to battle over the fate of Elizabeth, daughter of Henry VIII, in this lighthearted, historically...

Hex: A Novel of Love Spells.(book)(Brief article)(Book review)
January 1, 2007... Hex: A Novel of Love Spells DARIECK SCOTT. Carroll & Graf, $15.95 paper (608p) ISBN 978-0-78671-764-4 Scott's ambitious but unwieldy second novel (after 1995's Traitor to the Race) explores black gay identity as it describes the power of...

Dreadful Skin.(book)(Brief article)(Book review)
January 1, 2007... Dreadful Skin CHERIE PRIEST. Subterranean (www.subterraneanpress.com), $25 (232p) ISBN 978-1-59606-080-7 A runaway Irish nun pursues a murderous werewolf across post-Civil War America in this riveting Southern gothic from Priest (Wings to...

Stigma.(book)(Brief article)(Book review)
January 1, 2007... Stigma PHILIP HAWLEY JR. Harper Torch, $7.99 (496p) ISBN 978-0-06-088744-5 In this solid debut thriller, a troubled doctor gets caught up in a global conspiracy after a mysteriously afflicted four-year-old Guatemalan boy dies on his watch....

Prince of Magic.(book)(Brief article)(Book review)
January 1, 2007... Prince of Magic LINDA WINSTEAD JONES. Berkley Sensation, $7.99 (336p) ISBN 978-0-425-21448-0 This next generation follow-up to the Sisters of the Sun trilogy finds the Sun Witch's daughter, Ariana Kane Varden, facing her own epic quest and...

Sweet Home Carolina.(book)(Brief article)(Book review)
January 1, 2007... Sweet Home Carolina PATRICIA RICE. Ballantine, $6.99 (384p) ISBN 978-0-345-48261-7 In her latest contemporary romance, Rice skillfully explores rocky emotional territory with a comforting North Carolina backdrop and a rich cast of...

Aya.(book)(Brief article)(Book review)
January 1, 2007... Aya MARGUERITE ABOUET AND CLEMENT OUBRERIE. Drawn & Quarterly, $19.95 (112p) ISBN 978-1-894937-90-2 Abouet could have just wanted to tell a sweet, simple story of the Ivory Coast of her childhood as a counterpoint to the grim tide of...

DMZ Vol. 2: Body of a Journalist.(book)(Brief article)(Book review)
January 1, 2007... DMZ Vol. 2: Body of a Journalist BRIAN WOOD, RICCARDO BURCHIELLI AND KRISTIAN DONALDSON. DC/Vertigo, $12.99 (168p) ISBN 978-1-4012-1247-6 Readers might assume that they're watching a report from Baghdad as they see a suicide bomber...

Hot Gimmick S.(Young adult review)(Brief article)(Book review)
January 1, 2007... Hot Gimmick S MEGUMI NISHIZAKI. Viz/Shojo Beat, $7.99 paper (150p) ISBN 978-1-4215-1142-9 Teenage drinking, sexual coercion, romance between adopted siblings--all par for the course in this "alternate-ending novel" set in the world of Miki...

Hwy. 115.(Brief article)(Book review)
January 1, 2007... Hwy. 115 MATTHIAS LEHMANN. Fantagraphics, $19.95 (240p) ISBN 978-1-56097-733-7 Like a deadpan killer-on-the-road film painted in chiaroscuro, Lehmann's Hwy. 115 has a pair of none-too-bright amateur detectives, Rene and Agatha, trailing...