Publishers Weekly articles from January 2009

Publishers Weekly archives from January 2009

Sowing Crisis: The Cold War and American Dominance in the Middle East.(Pick of the week: The Roots of War)(Brief article)(Book review)
January 5, 2009... * Sowing Crisis: The Cold War and American Dominance in the Middle East Rashid Khalidi. Beacon, $24.95 (320p) ISBN 978-0-8070-0310-7 Khalidi (Resurrecting Empire) provides a compelling history of modern conflict in the Middle East,...

It could have been worse: late rally softens recession's blow for many indie booksellers.(Foreword)
January 5, 2009... Bad weather in much of the northern U.S. combined with the recession to make for a difficult holiday season for many independent booksellers. "We were doing pretty well until it started snowing," said Claire Benedict, co-owner of Bear Pond...

More iPhone e-books.(ScrollMotion)(Brief article)
January 5, 2009... ScrollMotion, a two-year-old iPhone application development company, has launched the Iceberg e-book reader for the iPhone with titles from six publishers: Random House, Hachette, Penguin, Counterpoint, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt and Simon &...

A local touch.(Brief article)
January 5, 2009... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Oblong Books & Music is halfway through its year-long Artists' Window Project, in which local children's authors and illustrators design the Rhinebeck, N. Y., store's windows. Its December, Jennifer Berne took a turn...

Not again! Can BookLand afford another hoax?(Foreword)
January 5, 2009... It is a truism about holidays that they can be hell on families: those crazy relatives whose peccadilloes you can defend from a distance all year long are suddenly in your face, and harder to take. So it was for me last week when I heard the...

Borders gets more time.(Borders Group Inc.)(Brief article)
January 5, 2009... Borders Group has reached an agreement with Pershing Square Capital Management, its largest shareholder, to extend the expiration date of Borders's option to sell its U.K.-based Paperchase gifts and stationery business to Pershing for $65...

Amazon starts Author Stores.(Amazon.com Inc.)(Brief article)
January 5, 2009... Amazon.com has launched Author Stores, a new feature on its site--single pages that list all books from a particular author, plus an author photo and some related content, such as a biography, message board and streaming video. Author Stores...

Soft Skull to publish 'Taqwacores'.(Indie Publishing)(Soft Skull Media )(Brief article)
January 5, 2009... Looking to find a larger audience for Taqwacores, a cult novel by Michael Muhammad Knight about a fictional American Muslim punk rock scene, Brooklyn publisher Soft Skull Media is rushing a new edition of the novel into print. ...

Stocks plunged in 2008.(Wipe Out)
January 5, 2009... The stocks on the Publishers Weekly Stock Index lost nearly half their value in 2008, tumbling 46.6% for the year, a steeper drop than the 33.8% decline posted by the Dow Jones Industrial Average. Only one of the 16 stocks on the PWSI had an...

Correction.(Correction notice)
January 5, 2009... In the People section of the Dec. 22 issue, AI Silverman was cited as the editor of The Time of Their Lives. Silverman is the author of that book, which was edited by Truman Talley.

The Bookazine view.(Foreword)(Brief article)
January 5, 2009... Rich Kallman, executive v-p of New Jersey--based wholesaler Bookazine, substantiated several of the holiday trends mentioned by booksellers. "Price point was a factor, as many higher-priced books that we usually sell well never did take off,"...

Raab gets life lessons.(Deals)(Jamie Raab, God Never Blinks: 50 Lessons for Life's Little Detours)(Brief article)
January 5, 2009... Jamie Raab at Grand Central preempted Regina Brett's God Never Blinks: 50 Lessons for Life's Little Detours via Linda Loewenthal at David Black, who had two previous preemptive offers from other publishers. Brett is a Pulitzer finalist for...

Religion and baseball from Chris Park.(Deals)(How to Be Like God: One Church's Experiment with Living the Old Testament Book of Leviticus)(High Heat: The Search for the Fastest Pitcher of All Time)(Brief article)
January 5, 2009... Joey Paul at Hachette's FaithWords acquired world English rights to Daniel Harrell's How to Be Like God: One Church's Experiment with Living the Old Testament Book of Leviticus via Chris Park at Foundry, who had significant interest from New...

Double dealing.(Deals)(Brief article)
January 5, 2009... Katie Gilligan at Thomas Dunne Books just concluded negotiations for two separate two-book deals with Ryan Fischer Harbage. In the first, Gilligan bought North American rights to Susan Shapiro's first novel, Speed Shrinking, about a self-help...

The briefing.(Deals)(Brief article)
January 5, 2009... Harper assistant editor Michael Signorelli has signed up a new novel by Charlie Smith called Three Delays; PJ Mark at McCormick & Williams sold North American rights. Smith's first novel in 12 years is the story of a reporter-turned-junkie who...

Calendar: Jan. 11-17.(Foreword)(Calendar)
January 5, 2009... 1/11 Honor the 45th anniversary of the U.S. Surgeon General's declaration that smoking may be hazardous to your health by reading Christopher Buckley's Thank You for Smoking. 1/13 In Stuart Woods's Mounting Fear (Putnam), rogue...

Nancy Quinn, Harry W. Schwartz bookshops, Milwaukee, Wis.(Galley Talk)(Sonata for Miriam)(Brief article)(Book review)
January 5, 2009... Linda Olsson's Astrid and Veronika was my favorite book of 2006. My enthusiasm spread to other Schwartz booksellers who became fans, and we sold over 2,400 copies the first year it was released. I was excited and nervous when I heard Olsson had...

German Book Office marks 10 years in N.Y.C.(Outpost)
January 5, 2009... December was a busy month for the German Book Office in New York. First, the organization celebrated its 10th anniversary with a lunch on December 5--unfortunately timed for Black Wednesday; guest of honor Random House CEO Markus Dohle sent...

Schwartz buyer retires.(People)(Eleanor Gore, Harry W. Schwartz Bookshops)(Brief article)
January 5, 2009... Eleanor Gore, long-time children's buyer at Harry W. Schwartz Bookshops in Milwaukee, retired at the end of 2008. She had been with Schwartz since the early 1970s and helped make the children's department one of the most important in the...

Hardcover bestsellers/fiction.
January 5, 2009... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] James Dobson's Focus on the Family pulled an article on Glenn Beck's The Christmas Sweater off its Web site after receiving complaints about Beck's Mormon beliefs. On December 29, Beck responded on his own Web site...

Hardcover bestsellers/nonfiction.
January 5, 2009... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] When Dewey the cat died in 2006, his obituary ran in more than 250 newspapers. A year later, Grand Central paid $1.2 million to Spencer Public Library director Vicki Myron, who adopted the abandoned cat in 1988, and...

Comics bestsellers.
January 5, 2009... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Aspen's A Tribute to Michael Turner was created as a memorial to acclaimed comics artist Michael Turner (1971-2008) and features more than 80 pages of original work by more than 75 writers and artists. ...

Paperback bestsellers/mass market.
January 5, 2009... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] John Grogan's 2008 Christmas was very good. Tile mass market edition of Marley & Me outsold all other books, taking the lead spot, and the Marley & Me movie was the #1 movie hit over the long holiday weekend, taking...

Paperback bestsellers/trade.
January 5, 2009... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] While the nation eagerly awaits the presidency of Barack Obama to begin, one publisher has already benefited from the extraordinary interest. Three Rivers Press racked up 74 weeks on the trade paperback charts in...

Richard Sarnoff: forward-looking publishing lifer helped craft the Google settlement.(CHANGE MAKERS)(Biography)
January 5, 2009... When the Association of American Publishers followed the Authors Guild in filing a copyright infringement lawsuit against Google in fall 2005, many in publishing and legal circles predicted a drawn-out battle headed for a courtroom fight. So it...

Green and off the grid.(Independent Publishing)
January 5, 2009... Everyone's talking about "going green" and "sustainable living," and there's certainly been an upsurge in titles published about "RE"--renewable energy. But PW found two independent publishers nestled on the same mountain in the Colorado...

A long winter: lower sales, surging returns, and pricing pressures are some of the unpleasant trends that could make 2009 a year to forget.(Cover story)
January 5, 2009... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] While 2008 ended on a disappointing and even discouraging note for many in the book industry, the outlook for the new year is even bleaker. One-time adjustments by retailers and underlying shifts in the structure of...

Predictable: while the industry had a difficult 2008, consultant Mike Shatzkin called many of the major trends.
January 5, 2009... Last December, PW asked me for predictions for the year 2008. I agreed, but stipulated that it was "no fair" keeping score on how I did. But apparently my editors have decided that all is fair in love, war and publishing predictions so, here it...

Looking back at 2008: PW staff picks.(Staff Picks)
January 5, 2009... In all likelihood, posterity will view 2008 as an iconic American year--not unlike, say, 1929 or 1968, for which the numbers themselves convey a deeply complex national experience. At year's end, we asked PW staffers to choose one book they...

The Listen Up Awards: The Best Audios of 2008: during 2008, PW reviewed 462 audiobooks (up from 325 in 2007).(Awards list)
January 5, 2009... This year's new-kid-on-the-block was Galaxy Audio, which began releasing its ambitious series of Stories from the Golden Age audiobooks in July. These full-cast recordings (with music and sound effects) brought a number of L. Ron Hubbard...

The Bellini Madonna.(Brief article)(Book review)
January 5, 2009... The Bellini Madonna Elizabeth Lowry. Farrar, Straus & Giroux, $25 (352p) ISBN 978-0-374-11038-3 In Lowry's wildly imaginative debut, Irish-born art historian Thomas Lynch is a "disappointed pilgrim scholar" with a brutish obsession...

Home Repair.(Brief article)(Book review)
January 5, 2009... Home Repair Liz Rosenberg. Avon A, $13.99 paper (336p) ISBN 978-0-06-173456-4 Rosenberg, a poet and children's book author, makes a clean break into adult fiction with the story of a middle-aged woman whose journey to independence...

The Collector of Worlds.(Brief article)(Book review)
January 5, 2009... * The Collector of Worlds Iliya Troyanov, trans, from the German by Will Hobson. Ecco, $24.95 (464p) ISBN 978-0-06-135193-8 Troyanov recounts with gusto the three big adventures in Sir Richard Francis Burton's oversized life: his...

Everything Hurts.(Brief article)(Book review)
January 5, 2009... Everything Hurts Bill Scheft. Simon & Schuster, $24 (288p) ISBN 978-1-4165-9934-0 Letterman writer Scheft skewers physical and emotional pain with a mercilessly comic touch and a bit of poignancy. Phil Camp is an accidental guru who...

We Are Rich.(Brief article)(Book review)
January 5, 2009... We Are Rich Dori Carter. Other Press, $22.95 (208p) ISBN 978-1-59051-307-1 The leading lady of these 12 interconnected old money/new money tales by the author of Beautiful Wasps Having Sex is the tiny California town of Rancho...

Up at the College.(Brief article)(Book review)
January 5, 2009... Up at the College Michele Andrea Bowen. Grand Central, $23.99 (292p) ISBN 978-0-446-57775-5 Yvonne Fountain Copeland, the heroine of Bowen's lamentable faithy novel, finds strength in the Lord when her husband leaves her. Back in...

The Shanghai Gesture.(Brief article)(Book review)
January 5, 2009... The Shanghai Gesture Gary Indiana. Two Dollar Radio (Consortium, dist.), $15.50 paper (232p) ISBN 978-09820151-0-0 In Indiana's ambitious but flawed latest (after Do Everything in the Dark), unconvincing characters adventure to save...

PW Talks with Olen Steinhauer a 21st-century spy.(Q&A)(Interview)
January 5, 2009... After five crime novels set in a fictional Eastern European country during the Cold War, Olen Steinhauer examines the toll working for the CIA takes on one agent in a contemporary spy thriller, The Tourist (Reviews, Dec. 15). What drew...

Turning Japanese.(Brief article)(Book review)
January 5, 2009... Turning Japanese Cathy Yardley. St. Martin's/Dunne, $13.95 paper (320p) ISBN 978-0-312-37880-6 An unexpected win in a comic-book competition sends half-Japanese Lisa Falloya to Tokyo for a yearlong manga publishing internship in...

West of Washoe.(Brief article)(Book review)
January 5, 2009... West of Washoe Tim Champlin. Five Star, $25.95 (220p) ISBN 978-1-59414-630-5 Western veteran Champlin's well-plotted, rousing yarn features Gil Ross, a government mine inspector who faces some stiff, deadly interference. Tasked with...

The Long Fall.(Brief article)(Book review)
January 5, 2009... The Long Fall Walter Mosley. Riverhead, $25.95 (320p) ISBN 978-1-59448-858-0 Mosley leaves behind the Los Angeles setting of his Easy Rawlins and Fearless Jones series (Devil in a Blue Dress, etc.) to introduce Leonid McGill, a New...

Grave Goods.(Brief article)(Book review)
January 5, 2009... * Grave Goods Ariana Franklin. Putnam, $25.95 (352p) ISBN 978-0-399-15544-4 Set in 1176, Franklin's excellent third Mistress of the Art of Death novel (after The Serpent's Tale) finds Adelia Aguilar, a "qualified doctor from the School...

No Survivors.(Brief article)(Book review)
January 5, 2009... No Survivors Tom Cain. Viking, $25.95 (352p) ISBN 978-0-670-02049-2 Set in 1998, Cain's solid sequel to his debut, The Accident Man (2008), finds assassin Samuel Carver recovering in a private Swiss hospital from being brutally...

Shatter.(Brief article)(Book review)
January 5, 2009... Shatter Michael Robotham. Doubleday, $24.95 (448p) ISBN 978-0-385-51791-1 Winner of Australia's Ned Kelly Award for Best Novel, Robotham's compelling fourth thriller (after The Night Ferry) finds clinical psychologist Joe O'Loughlin...

Bleeding Heart Square.(Brief article)(Book review)
January 5, 2009... Bleeding Heart Square Andrew Taylor. Hyperion, $25.95 (448p) ISBN 978-1-4013-0286-3 British author Taylor (An Unpardonable Crime) springs a number of well-timed and well-planned surprises in this briskly paced thriller set in November...

Nothing but a Smile.(Brief article)(Book review)
January 5, 2009... * Nothing but a Smile Steve Amick. Pantheon, $24.95 (336p) ISBN 978-0-307-37736-4 [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Amick's solid follow-up to The Lake, the River & the Other Lake gives the reader a remarkable portrait of postwar America....

Paths of Glory.(Brief article)(Book review)
January 5, 2009... Paths of Glory Jeffrey Archer. St. Martin's, $27.95 (420p) ISBN 978-0-312-53951-1 A real-life mountaineering mystery serves as the springboard for bestseller Archer's abysmal latest. The plot begins promisingly with the body of...

The Contractor.(Brief article)(Book review)
January 5, 2009... The Contractor Colin MacKinnon. St. Martin's, $24.95 (320p) ISBN 978-0-312-35578-4 Middle East expert MacKinnon (Morning Spy, Evening Spy) puts a fresh twist on the stolen suitcase-nuke plot in this smart thriller. Rick Behringer runs...

A Quiet Flame: A Bernie Gunther Novel.(Brief article)(Book review)
January 5, 2009... * A Quiet Flame: A Bernie Gunther Novel Philip Kerr. Putnam/Marion Wood, $26.95 (400p) ISBN 978-0-399-15530-7 At the start of Kerr's stellar fifth Bernie Gunther novel (after The One from the Other), the former Berlin homicide...

Let Me In.(Brief article)(Book review)
January 5, 2009... Let Me In Donna Kauffman. Kensington/Brava, $14 paper (384p) ISBN 978-0-7582-3129-1 In this clunky romantic thriller from RITA-finalist Kauffman (The Great Scot), Tate Winslow, a former operative for a covert U.S. government agency,...

Secrets to Happiness.(Brief article)(Book review)
January 5, 2009... Secrets to Happiness Sarah Dunn. Little, Brown, $23.99 (288p) ISBN 978-0-316-01358-1 Dunn charts several New Yorkers' lives in this snappy novel. The spotlight most often falls on Holly Frick, a 35-year-old divorcee whose egg walls...

Deadlock.(Brief article)(Book review)
January 5, 2009... Deadlock Robert Liparulo. Thomas Nelson, $24.99 (464p) ISBN 978-1-59554-166-6 The violent duel between idealistic journalist John Hutchinson and insane, megalomaniacal military industrialist Brendan Page continues in Liparulo's...

The Expediter.(Brief article)(Book review)
January 5, 2009... The Expediter David Hagberg. Forge, $24.95 (352p) ISBN 978-0-7653-1111-5 When two people in North Korean police uniform gun down Gen. Ho Chang Li, an important Chinese intelligence official, in Pyongyang, the prospect of nuclear war...

Ablutions.(Brief article)(Book review)
January 5, 2009... Ablutions Patrick deWitt. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, $23 (224p) ISBN 978-0-15-101498-9 Charles Bukowski's ghost hovers over deWitt's grim first novel about a bartender at a Hollywood watering hole and its down-and-out regulars. The...

Dare to Die: A Death on Demand Mystery.(Brief article)(Book review)
January 5, 2009... Dare to Die: A Death on Demand Mystery Carolyn Hart. Morrow, $23.95 (304p) ISBN 978-0-06-145303-8 In Agatha-winner Hart's winning 19th Death on Demand mystery set in Broward's Rock, S.C. (after 2008's Death Walked In), Annie Darling...

Feelers.(Brief article)(Book review)
January 5, 2009... * Feelers Brian M. Wiprud. Minotaur, $24.95 (320p) ISBN 978-0-312-38861-4 Officially, Morry Martinez cleans out the houses of dead people in this highly amusing mystery from Lefry Award--winner Wiprud (Pipsqueak). Actually, as Morty...

Bruno, Chief of Police.(Brief article)(Book review)
January 5, 2009... Bruno, Chief of Police Martin Walker. Knopf, $23.95 (288p) ISBN 978-0-307-27017-7 Policing in Chief Bruno Courreges's sun-dappled patch of Perigord involves protecting local fromages from E.U. hygiene inspectors, orchestrating village...

Murder in the Dark: A Phryne Fisher Mystery.(Brief article)(Book review)
January 5, 2009... Murder in the Dark: A Phryne Fisher Mystery Kerry Greenwood. Poisoned Pen, $24.95 (278p) ISBN 978-1-59058-439-2 Australian author Greenwood's fine Phryne Fisher mystery combines suspense and humor with a taut race to unmask a master...

A Date You Can't Refuse.(Brief article)(Book review)
January 5, 2009... A Date You Can't Refuse Harley Jane Kozak. Broadway, $24.95 (336p) ISBN 978-0-385-51803-1 Wollie Shelley--reluctant dating expert, graphic artist and fledgling spy--goes undercover for the FBI to investigate MediasRex, a California...

In a Gilded Cage: A Molly Murphy Mystery.(Brief article)(Book review)
January 5, 2009... In a Gilded Cage: A Molly Murphy Mystery Rhys Bowen. Minotaur, $24.95 (320p) ISBN 978-0-312-38534-7 Near the start of Anthony-winner Bowen's delightful eighth Molly Murphy mystery (after 2008's Tell Me, Pretty Maiden), two Vasser alum...

A Not So Perfect Crime.(Brief article)(Book review)
January 5, 2009... A Not So Perfect Crime Teresa Solana, trans, from the Catalan by Peter Bush. Bitter Lemon, $14.95 paper (288p) ISBN 978-1-904738-34-3 Solana's sparkling debut pokes sharp fun at Catalan politics, society and pretensions. Despite...

Lamb to the Slaughter.(Brief article)(Book review)
January 5, 2009... Lamb to the Slaughter Aline Templeton. Hodder & Stoughton (IPG, dist.), $16.95 paper (416p) ISBN 978-0-340-92229-3 The fourth in Templeton's series to feature Scottish Det. Insp. Marjory Fleming (Cold in the Earth, etc.) finds...

A Fantasy Medley.(Brief article)(Book review)
January 5, 2009... * A Fantasy Medley Edited by Yanni Kuznia. Subterranean (www.subterraneanpress.com), $20 (136p) ISBN 978-1-59606-224-5 Four fantasy heavyweights contribute original tales featuring intriguing female protagonists to this enthralling...

Griffin's Shadow.(Brief article)(Book review)
January 5, 2009... Griffin's Shadow Leslie Ann Moore. Avari (www.avaripress.com), $14.95 paper (352p) ISBN 978-1933770-04-8 This satisfying sequel to 2007's Griffin's Daughter, the coming-of-mage saga of half-elf Cinderella-esque heroine Jelena...

Act of Will.(Brief article)(Book review)
January 5, 2009... * Act of Will A.J. Hartley. Tor, $24.95 (336p) ISBN 978-07653-2124-4 As 18-year-old orphaned actor Will Hawthorne explains early on in this clever page-turner, "I don't want you thinking you're going to get a tale about some blue-eyed...

Imager: The First Book of the Imager Portfolio.(Brief article)(Book review)
January 5, 2009... Imager: The First Book of the Imager Portfolio L.E. Modesitt Jr. Tor, $25.95 (432p) ISBN 978-0-7653-2034-6 Modesitt (The Lord Protector's Daughter) launches a trilogy set in a brand new world with this straightforward, exposition-heavy...

Seven for a Secret.(Brief article)(Book review)
January 5, 2009... Seven for a Secret Elizabeth Bear. Subterranean (www.subterraneanpress.com), $26 (128p) ISBN 978-1-59606-233-7 Hugo-winner Bear's sequel to 2007's New Amsterdam will please fans of the earlier book, a series of alternate history...

Jailbait Zombie.(Brief article)(Book review)
January 5, 2009... Jailbait Zombie Marie Acevedo. Eos, $14.95 paper (368p) ISBN 978-0-06-156714-8 Felix Gomez, vampire PI, tackles his gritty fourth adventure (after 2008's The Undead Kama Sutra), a blend of hardboiled noir and contemporary horror. This...

Elsewhere.(Brief article)(Book review)
January 5, 2009... Elsewhere William Peter Blatty. Cemetery Dance, $25 (220p) ISBN 978-1-58767-083-1 Horror old-timer Blatty (The Exorcist) takes a new route down an old road in this disorienting tale. Realtor Joan Freeboard, trying to dispel the title...

Road Trip of the Living Dead.(Brief article)(Book review)
January 5, 2009... Road Trip of the Living Dead Mark Henry. Kensington, $15 paper (260p) ISBN 978-0-7582-2524-5 Two fashionista zombies on the lam leave a trail of carnage from Seattle to Rapid City, S.D., in this unabashedly raunchy sequel to 2008's...

The Darkness and the Deep.(Brief article)(Book review)
January 5, 2009... * The Darkness and the Deep Aline Templeton. Hodder & Stoughton, $9.95 (400p) ISBN 978-0-340-83857-0 Galloway, Scotland's smashing Det. Insp. Marjory Fleming returns in the terrific second installment (after 2005's Cold in the Earth)...

First Comes Marriage.(Brief article)(Book review)
January 5, 2009... First Comes Marriage Mary Balogh. Dell, $6.99 (416p) ISBN 978-0440-24422-6 Romance queen Balogh (Simply Perfect) delivers a savory and passionate Regency to launch a series featuring three small-town sisters. Handsome Elliot Wallace,...

Heart of Ice.(Brief article)(Book review)
January 5, 2009... Heart of Ice Gregg Olsen. Pinnacle, $6.99 (460p) ISBN 978-0-7860-1831-4 Olsen (A Cold Dark Place) deftly juggles multiple plot lines as Cherrystone, Wash., sheriff Emily Kenyon investigates the murder of a local woman while crazed...

Never Resist Temptation.(Brief article)(Book review)
January 5, 2009... Never Resist Temptation Miranda Neville. Avon, $6.99 (384p) ISBN 978-0-06-171591-4 The handsome earl of Storrington gambles to win Lord Candover's nubile niece, Jacobin, in Neville's spicy Regency romance debut. Jacobin de Chastelux...

Likewise.(Brief article)(Book review)
January 5, 2009... Likewise Ariel Schrag Touchstone, $16 paper (408p) ISBN 978-1-4165-5237-5 Following Potential, Awkward and Definition, Schrag presents the final chapter of her High School Comic Chronicles. Now entering her senior year, Schrag faces a...

I Saw You...: Comics Inspired by Real-Life Missed Connections.(Brief article)(Book review)
January 5, 2009... I Saw You...: Comics Inspired by Real-Life Missed Connections Edited by Julia Wertz. Three Rivers, $12.95 paper (192 p) ISBN 978-0-307-4-853-2 It seems like a simple enough premise: short comics based on the missed-connections ads...

Powr Mastrs: Volume 2.(Brief article)(Book review)
January 5, 2009... Powr Mastrs: Volume 2 C.E Picturebox (www.picturebox.com), $18 (104p) ISBN 978-0-9815622-1-6 The second installment in a planned six-novel cycle from Providence, R.I.-based artist Chris Forgues (aka C.E, who records music as Kites and...

Petey and Pussy.(Brief article)(Book review)
January 5, 2009... Petey and Pussy John Kerschbaum. Fantagraphics, $19.99 (128p) ISBN 978-1-56097-979-1 Although its protagonists are an anthropomorphic dog and cat with foul mouths and balding human heads, this graphic novel by magazine illustrator...

Creepy Archives Volume 2.(Brief article)(Book review)
January 5, 2009... Creepy Archives Volume 2 Various. Dark Horse, $49.95 (296p) ISBN 978-1-59582-168-3 These reprints of '60s b&w horror comics magazines Creepy #6-10 are aimed at the connoisseur. They're faithful reproductions, to the extent of including...

Diagnosis: Dispatches from the Frontline of Medical Mysteries.(Brief article)(Book review)
January 5, 2009... Diagnosis: Dispatches from the Frontline of Medical Mysteries Lisa Sanders, M.D. Broadway, $24.95 (272p) ISBN 978-0-7679-2246-3 In her first book, internist and New York Times columnist Sanders discusses how doctors deal with...

Why Sh*t Happens: The Science of a Really Bad Day.(Brief article)(Book review)
January 5, 2009... Why Sh*t Happens: The Science of a Really Bad Day Peter J. Bentley. Rodale, $16.95 (304p) ISBN 978-1-59486-956-3 Everyone has one of those days when nothing seems to go right, but why? Unlike others who have broached the question,...

The Beautiful Tree: A Personal Journey into How the World's Poorest People Are Educating Themselves.(Brief article)(Book review)
January 5, 2009... The Beautiful Tree: A Personal Journey into How the World's Poorest People Are Educating Themselves James Tooley. Cato Institute (NBN, dist.), $19.95 (268p) ISBN 978-1-933995-92-2 Tooley (Reclaiming Education) documents his surprising...

The Third Reich at War.(Brief article)(Book review)
January 5, 2009... * The Third Reich at War Richard J. Evans. Penguin Press, $40 (800p) ISBN 978-1-59420-206-3 Describing the Third Reich from the height of its power to its collapse, Evans concludes the masterful trilogy that began with The Coming of...

The Antelope's Strategy: Living in Rwanda After the Genocide.(Brief article)(Book review)
January 5, 2009... The Antelope's Strategy: Living in Rwanda After the Genocide Jean Hatzfeld; trans, from the French by Linda Coverdale. Farrar, Straus & Giroux, $25 (244p) ISBN 978-0-374-27103-9 The horrors of communal violence give way to quieter...