Publishers Weekly articles from November 2008

Publishers Weekly archives from November 2008

Publishers, authors prepare to live happily ever after: Google agreement ends litigation, accelerates cooperation.(settlement between the Authors Guild, the AAP and Google on copyrights)
November 3, 2008... The $125 million preliminary settlement between the Authors Guild, the AAP and Google is viewed as not only the end of three years of litigation but also as providing the broad framework for how books--and their content--will be sold in the...

Time frame.(Foreword)(Calendar)
November 3, 2008... Within weeks * Preliminary approval of the settlement expected. JAN 5 * Start date of notification period to inform authors and publishers of the terms of the settlement. MAY 5 * Deadline for publishers and authors to opt...

Indigo results down.(Brief article)
November 3, 2008... Indigo Books & Music revenue for the second quarter fell to C$205.3 million ($169 million), down from C$209.2 million last year, while net earnings fell to C$3.2 million (C$3.3 million the previous year). Indigo attributed the difficulty in...

New hybrid from BD&L.(Brief article)
November 3, 2008... The New York Times: The Complete Front Pages 1851-2008, coming from Black Dog & Leventhal this month, is BD&L's latest hybrid work, combining DVD and database technology and online access to supplement the 456-page reference project. The...

Book abuse.(Foreword)
November 3, 2008... Last week, amid disturbing news of layoffs and contractions at all kinds of media businesses--Reader s Digest, the Los Angeles Times and our own beloved Doubleday, among many, many others--the story that struck me was the one about the little...

Online catalogues from ATL.(Above the Tree Line)(Brief article)
November 3, 2008... Above the Tree line has begun a beta test for a new interactive online catalogue, in collaboration with eight houses and with the endorsement of the American Booksellers Association. The online catalogue, called Edelweiss, is designed to cut...

Giroux, Harvey memorials set.
November 3, 2008... Memorials for both Dan Harvey and Robert Giroux have been set. Giroux's service, which will feature speeches and readings by various colleagues and friends, is set for Wednesday, December 10, at St. Paul's Chapel at Columbia University. Contact...

Action masters.(Deals)(Putnam acquires Frederick Forsyth's new novel; Macmillan buys two new novels)(Brief article)
November 3, 2008... Putnam editor-in-chief Neil Nyren has acquired a new novel by Frederick Forsyth, tentatively titled The Cobra, in a North American rights deal with Ed Victor. Forsyth's 13th novel, The Afghan, was published by Putnam in 2006; they expect to...

Hessler's third to Harper.(Deals)(Brief article)
November 3, 2008... Harper executive editor Tim Duggan has acquired North American rights to Peter Hessler's Country Driving via William Clark. This is a narrative journey through contemporary China, seen through the eyes of ordinary people as the country...

Viking wins debut.(Deals)(Brief article)
November 3, 2008... Viking publisher Paul Slovak outlasted five other editors in an auction for Drew Perry's first novel, This Is Just Exactly Like You; Peter Steinberg sold North American rights. The book is about the dysfunctional relationship between two...

De Sa to Algonquin.(Deals)(Anthony De Sa's Barnacle Love)(Brief article)
November 3, 2008... In her first purchase since moving to Algonquin Books, Jane Rosenman has picked up U.S. rights to Anthony De Sa's Barnacle Love in a two-book deal with Denise Bukowski. This novel--about the forces that tear a Portuguese immigrant family...

Pondering God's Pottery.(Deals)(Brief article)
November 3, 2008... Carrie Thornton at Three Rivers Press won an auction for What Would God's Pottery Do? by the comedy duo God's Pottery via Peter McGuigan at Foundry, who sold North American rights. The book is modeled after the teen manuals intended to guide...

Out of the gate.(Foreword)('The Gate House' book launching)(Brief article)
November 3, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Grand Central Publishing held a launch party last week at N.Y.C.'s Union League Club for Nelson DeMille's Gold Coast sequel, The Gate House. From left are Emi Battaglia, associate publisher, Grand Central; DeMille;...

Indie booksellers prepare for a challenging season.(Hunkering Down)
November 3, 2008... The tanking economy is on everyone's mind--from Wall Street to Main Street. So how are independent booksellers faring? Indies across the country talked to PW about business and the results point up two things: the backlist is the first to go,...

New logo for expansive Hachette.(Brands)(Hachette Livre)
November 3, 2008... In building Hachette Livre into one of the world's largest publishers, CEO Arnaud Nourry has acquired a number of companies from different corners of the globe. To help give a more unified look to the various subsidiaries of the Paris-based...

Calendar: Nov. 9-15.(Foreword)(Brief article)(Calendar)
November 3, 2008... 11/9 Out this week: Wally Lamb's first novel in a decade, The Hour I First Believed (HarperCollins). If Oprah chooses it, he'll be three for three. On Tuesday, he begins a 15-city tour for the book. 11/10 Out today, entrepreneur...

Jobs eliminated, forecasts cut.(sales, forecasts and job cuts of The McGraw-Hill Companies Inc., Simon & Schuster Inc., and Harlequin Mills & Boon Ltd.)
November 3, 2008... Although Simon & Schuster and Harlequin posted reasonably good third quarters (see Scorecard), there wasn't much other good news in the industry last week. With a disappointing third quarter, McGraw-Hill Education announced that it was rolling...

Cirobe bullish, despite bear market.(Chicago International Remainder and Overstock Book Exposition)
November 3, 2008... It was the best of times, it was the worst of times at the Cirobe (Chicago International Remainder and Overstock Book Exposition) October 24-26. While books are still the main draw, the buzz at the show wasn't about the product filling the...

Schluter to Macmillan.(Michael Schluter of Macmillan Publishers Ltd.)(Brief article)
November 3, 2008... Michael Schluter has been named director of sales at Palgrave Macmillan US. Schluter was director of library sales at Sage. In his new position, he manages sales for all print and online products in North America, as well as overseeing the...

Bill Lewis, Northshire Books, Manchester Center, Vt.(Blindspot)(Brief article)(Book review)
November 3, 2008... David McCullough once told me that he was both annoyed and mystified about why history wasn't enjoyed by more people. "I don't understand," he said. "It's just stories about people." Jane Kamensky and Jill Lepore's wondrous new period novel,...

Callahan up at Harper.(Kevin Callahan of HarperCollins)(Brief article)
November 3, 2008... Kevin Callahan has been promoted to associate director of marketing at HarperCollins. Callahan joined Harper in 2007 and has worked on campaigns for such books as Jennifer Haigh's The Condition and Tom Piazza's City of Refuge.

Corrections.(People)(Correction notice)
November 3, 2008... Regarding promotions in Crown's publicity department (People, Oct. 27): Sarah Breivogel has been named publicity manager for Shaye Areheart Books and Selina Cicogna has been named publicity manager for Clarkson Potter.

Comics bestsellers.
November 3, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Welcome to the Jungle is an original comics adaptation set in novelist Jim Butcher's bestselling Fantasy/mystery series and Follows Chicago private eve and wizard Harry Dresden as he solves supernatural crimes....

Hardcover bestsellers/fiction.
November 3, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] When John McCain reaches across the aisle, it may be to pass a copy of a Vince Flynn book to Barack Obama. Flynn told Dr: Blogstein's Radio Happy Hour that Sen. Obama's favorite Flynn book is Term Limits, a novel...

Hardcover bestsellers/nonfiction.
November 3, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] "I'm seventeen years old and lying like a pathetic, helpless lump in the backseat of our family car, being transported to a place that treats crazy people. This is an exceptional event, even for me. I know that my...

Paperback bestsellers/mass market.
November 3, 2008... Dean Koontz has sold 375 million books worldwide, and his fan base continues to grow. When The Darkest Evening of the Year was published in hardcover last year, it was his fastest bestselling book to date, and spent nine weeks on PW's hardcover...

Paperback bestsellers/trade.
November 3, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] The original edition of 90 Minutes in Heaven has more than 3.5 million copies in print, with trade paper, Spanish, hardcover, audio and large print editions all continuing to sell strongly, as does as a gift edition...

Caitlin Friedman: a busy schedule keeps this entrepreneur/author happy.(50 under 40)(Biography)
November 3, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] You know what they say about rolling stones? It's safe to say Caitlin Friedman has gathered no moss. The Massachusetts native began networking in her first job out of college, when she was at Lisa Ekus Public...

No to kindle, yes to object status: two small presses argue for books as art.(Independent Publishing)
November 3, 2008... Mainstream publishers are hastening to join the digital revolution, with many formatting their digital book content to make it conform to Kindle specifications. Some houses are even making digital book content accessible via Web-enabled...

PW's best books of the year.(Publisher's Weekly)(Cover story)
November 3, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] "May you live in interesting times" is a quote commonly attributed to Confucius, probably erroneously, but Robert E Kennedy did use it in a speech in 1966, adding a rueful twist: "Like it or not, we live in...

On sale in December.(books)
November 3, 2008... In an uncertain retail season, the December lineup, led by Patricia Cornwell and Ann Coulter, is pretty predictable. Though Olympic gold medalist Michael Phelps's memoir and Harry S. Dent's hard-times financial guide could surge, it won't be a...

Waveland.(Brief article)(Book review)
November 3, 2008... Waveland Frederick Barthelme. Doubleday, $24.95 (240p) ISBN 978-0-385-52729-3 In his first novel since PEN/Faulkner finalist Elroy Nights, Barthelme offers a strangely detached exploration of the post-Katrina Mississippi Gulf...

Love or Something Like It.(Brief article)(Book review)
November 3, 2008... Love or Something Like It Deirdre Shaw. Random, $25 (256p) ISBN 978-1-4000-6770-1 In Shaw's bright and promising first novel, love lures Lacey Brennan from New York to Hollywood, where she and Toby, a TV writer, shack up in a...

Serendipity.(Brief article)(Book review)
November 3, 2008... Serendipity Louise Shaffer. Ballantine, $14 paper (336p) ISBN 978-0-345-50209-4 Shaffer's ho-hum latest (after Family Acts) chronicles a neurotic New Yorker's quest to learn more about her recently deceased and famous mother....

The Tricking of Freya.(Brief article)(Book review)
November 3, 2008... * The Tricking of Freya Christina Sunley. St. Martin's, $25.95 (352p) ISBN 978-0-312-37877-6 Sunley's debut novel is an intricate family travelogue, based in the present of Icelandic-Canadian life and the half-mythical world of...

Sleepwalking in Daylight.(Brief article)(Book review)
November 3, 2008... Sleepwalking in Daylight Elizabeth Flock. Mira, $21.95 (352p) ISBN 978-0-7783-2513-0 Bestseller Flock's downer latest takes a glimpse inside a dysfunctional and affluent Chicago family. Samantha Friedman is an unhappy stay-at-home...

Callisto.(Brief article)(Book review)
November 3, 2008... Callisto Torsten Krol. Harper Perennial, $14.95 paper (464p) ISBN 978-0-06-167294-1 Krol's bizarre novel mires a "big dumb hick" in a small town, where he is targeted for aiding and abetting terrorists. Gentle giant Odell Deefus...

Very Valentine.(Brief article)(Book review)
November 3, 2008... Very Valentine Adriana Trigiani. Harper, $25.95 (384p) ISBN 978-0-06-125705-6 This first-in-a-trilogy is a frilly valentine to Manhattan's picturesque West Village, starring a boisterous and charmingly contentious Italian-American...

Nuclear Jellyfish.(Brief article)(Book review)
November 3, 2008... Nuclear Jellyfish Tim Dorsey. Morrow, $24.95 (320p) ISBN 978-0-06-143266-8 Fasten your seatbelts: Serge A. Storms, Florida's manic tour and history guide as well as its most inventive and prolific serial killer, cruises at...

While My Sister Sleeps.(Brief article)(Book review)
November 3, 2008... While My Sister Sleeps Barbara Delinsky. Doubleday, $25.95 (368p) ISBN 978-0-385-52492-6 Delinsky flounders on her latest, a chronicle of how a family deals with a tragedy that befalls its favorite daughter. An Olympic marathon...

Above the Law.(Brief article)(Book review)
November 3, 2008... Above the Law Tim Green. Grand Central, $24.99 (304p) ISBN 978-0-446-40150-0 Last seen in bestseller Green's The Letter of the Law (2000), feisty Dallas lawyer Casey Jordan must contend with illegal immigrants, abuse of power and...

Sum: Forty Tales from the Afterlives.(Brief article)(Book review)
November 3, 2008... * Sum: Forty Tales from the Afterlives David Eagleman. Pantheon, $20 (128p) ISBN 978-0-307-37734-0 A clever little book by a neuroscientist translates lofty concepts of infinity and death into accessible human terms. What happens...

1942.(Brief article)(Book review)
November 3, 2008... 1942 Robert Conroy. Ballantine, $15 paper (368p) ISBN 978-0-345-50607-8 U.S. Army captain and intelligence officer Jake Novacek leads the charge against Japanese forces in the latest historical thriller from Conroy (1945), a...

PW talks with Tiffany Baker: a behemoth at center stage.(Q&A)(Interview)
November 3, 2008... A massive woman with massive problems anchors Tiffany Baker's first novel, The Little Giant of Aberdeen County (Reviews, Sept. 8). The story is told from the viewpoint of Truly Plaice, whose large stature is the result of a glandular...

Critical Mass.(Brief article)(Book review)
November 3, 2008... Critical Mass Whitley Strieber. Forge, $24.95 (304p) ISBN 978-0-7653-2253-1 In this overheated thriller about nuclear terrorism from bestseller Strieber (2012: The War for Souls), Jim Deutsch, a CIA contract employee whose...

Never Tell a Lie.(Brief article)(Book review)
November 3, 2008... * Never Tell a Lie Halite Ephron. Morrow, $24.95 (288p) ISBN 978-0-06-156715-5 An innocent yard sale jump-starts this stunning stand-alone thriller from Ephron, author of Amnesia and four other mysteries written with Donald...

The Fire Gospel.(Brief article)(Book review)
November 3, 2008... The Fire Gospel Michel Faber. Canongate, $18.95 (224p) ISBN 978-1-84767-183-7 The author of The Crimson Petal and the White sends up the publishing industry in this stillborn satire. Visiting an Iraqi museum in the present-day,...

The Strip.(Brief article)(Book review)
November 3, 2008... The Strip E. Duke Vincent. Bloomsbury, $25 (336p) ISBN 978-1-59691-615-9 Clunky pacing and cartoonish characters weigh down Vincent's third crime thriller, set in Las Vegas in 1980. Amid efforts by Nick Conti, the producer and...

The Plunder Room.(Brief article)(Book review)
November 3, 2008... The Plunder Room John Jeter. St. Martin's/Dunne, $24.95 (288p) ISBN 978-0-312-38065-6 War, secrets and father-son dynamics haunt a South Carolina family estate in Jeter's middling debut. The novel's wheelchair-bound narrator,...

Basketball Jones.(Brief article)(Book review)
November 3, 2008... Basketball Jones E. Lynn Harris. Doubleday, $22.95 (256p) ISBN 978-0-7679-2627-0 AJ Richardson, the hero of Harris's raucous latest, has been the secret boyfriend of NBA star Drayton Jones for seven years. AJ is only too happy to...

Random Acts of Heroic Love.(Brief article)(Book review)
November 3, 2008... Random Acts of Heroic Love Danny Scheinmann. St. Martin's/Dunne, $24.95 (400p) ISBN 978-0-312-53833-0 Young Leo Deakin wakes in a hospital in Ecuador in 1992 to discover that his girlfriend, Eleni, has died in a bus crash. Overwhelmed...

Silence.(Brief article)(Book review)
November 3, 2008... Silence Christopher Brookhouse. Permanent, $26 (152p) ISBN 978-1-57962-179-7 Novelist and poet Brookhouse underwhelmingly examines the repressed desires of the Groh family and its community in Jeffrey, N.H., following the...

Kiss.(Brief article)(Book review)
November 3, 2008... Kiss Ted Dekker and Erin Healy. Thomas Nelson, $24.99 (336p) ISBN 978-1-59554-470-4 Master of evangelical Christian suspense, Dekker (Thr3e; Blink; Skin) joins first-time author Healy in this thriller, no less fast-moving than the...

Only Pleasure.(Brief article)(Book review)
November 3, 2008... Only Pleasure Lora Leigh. St. Martin's Griffin, $14.95 paper (355p) ISBN 978-0-312-36873-9 Chase Falladay returns to initiate Kia Stanton into the Club, where menage trois is the rule, in Leigh's sensual newest book. When Kia's...

The Spy Who Wants Me.(Brief article)(Book review)
November 3, 2008... The Spy Who Wants Me Lucy Monroe. Kensington/Brava, $14 paper (320p) ISBN 978-0-7582-2915-1 Monroe's absurd latest features studly chemist Beau Ruston and sexy spy Elle Gray. When security is compromised in Ruston's lab, the...

The Pushcart Prize XXXIII: Best of the Small Presses.(Brief article)(Book review)
November 3, 2008... * The Pushcart Prize XXXIII: Best of the Small Presses Edited by Bill Henderson with the Pushcart Prize Editors. Pushcart (Norton, dist.), $35 (620p) ISBN 978-1-888889-50-5; $16.95 paper ISBN 978-1-888889-51-2 The 33rd Pushcart...

Pleasing the Dead.(Brief article)(Book review)
November 3, 2008... Pleasing the Dead Deborah Turrell Atkinson. Poisoned Pen, $24.95 (296p) ISBN 978-1-59058-597-9 Rich with Hawaiian folklore, Atkinson's convoluted fourth mystery to feature attorney Storm Kayama (after 2007's Fire Prayer) explores the...

A Matter of Justice.(Brief article)(Book review)
November 3, 2008... * A Matter of Justice Charles Todd. Morrow, $23.95 (336p) ISBN 978-0-06-123359-3 In the stellar 11th Insp. Ian Rutledge mystery (after 2007's A Pale Horse), Todd (the pseudonym of a mother-son writing team) seamlessly combines a...

Living the Vida Lola: A Lola Cruz Mystery.(Brief article)(Book review)
November 3, 2008... Living the Vida Lola: A Lola Cruz Mystery Misa Ramirez. St. Martin's Minotaur, $24.95 (304p) ISBN 978-0-312-38402-9 Ramirez's muy caliente debut introduces Dolores "Lola" Falcon Cruz, a Sacramento, Calif., PI whose kung fu moves...

Leopard's Prey: A Jade del Cameron Mystery.(Brief article)(Book review)
November 3, 2008... Leopard's Prey: A Jade del Cameron Mystery Suzanne Arruda. NAL/Obsidian, $24.95 (384p) ISBN 978-0-451-22586-3 Spunky Jade del Cameron, animal wrangler, photojournalist and neophyte pilot, predictably tames man and beast in Arruda's...

The Last Gig.(Brief article)(Book review)
November 3, 2008... The Last Gig Norman Green. St. Martin's Minotaur, $25.95 (352p) ISBN 978-0-312-38542-2 While there's nothing particularly original about Alessandra "Al" Martillo, Green's new hard-boiled PI, this series debut suggests she may have...

The Wisdom of Father Dowling.(Brief article)(Book review)
November 3, 2008... The Wisdom of Father Dowling Ralph McInerny. Five Star, $25.95 (344p) ISBN 978-1-59414-679-4 Fans of McInerny's Father Dowling novels (Ash Wednesday, etc.) will welcome this collection of 15 short stories featuring the...

Mind over Ship.(Brief article)(Book review)
November 3, 2008... Mind over Ship David Marusek. Tor, $24.95 (320p) ISBN 978-0-7653-1749-0 Marusek's wide-ranging and creative imagination is very much in evidence in this ambitious second novel. In 2007's Counting Heads, a rocket ship crash,...

Nevermore.('In the Shadow of the Master,' 'On a Raven's Wing: New Tales in Honor of Edgar Allan Poe,' and 'Poe: 19 New Tales of Suspense, Dark Fantasy, and Horror')(Book review)
November 3, 2008... With Edgar Allan Poe turning 200 on January 19, 2009, publishers are paying tribute to him with anthologies that recognize his contribution to both the mystery and the horror genres. In the Shadow of the Master Edited by Michael...

Woods and Waters Wild.(Brief article)(Book review)
November 3, 2008... Woods and Waters Wild Charles de Lint. Subterranean (www.subterraneanpress.com), $40 (296p) ISBN 978-1-59606-229-0 Completing Subterranean's series of urban fantasist de Lint's early stories, this collection comprises 17 tales...

The Steel Remains.(Brief article)(Book review)
November 3, 2008... The Steel Remains Richard K. Morgan. Del Rey, $26 (432p) ISBN 978-0-345-49303-3 Noir SF author Morgan (Thirteen) delivers a promising but obscenity-laden epic fantasy trilogy opener. As the Yhelteth Empire recovers from a...

GreensWord: A Tale of Extreme Global Warming.(Brief article)(Book review)
November 3, 2008... GreensWord: A Tale of Extreme Global Warming Donald J. Bingle. Five Star, $25.95 (262p) ISBN 978-1-59414-728-9 This heavy-handed take on environmentalism neither amuses nor provokes. The three core members of an obscure...

The Judging Eye: The Aspect-Emperor, Book One.(Brief article)(Book review)
November 3, 2008... The Judging Eye: The Aspect-Emperor, Book One R. Scott Bakker. Overlook, $26.95 (448p) ISBN 978-1-59020-169-5 Twenty years after the events of 2007's The Thousandfold Thought, nations unite in a holy war to prevent the No-God's...

Die before I Wake.(Brief article)(Book review)
November 3, 2008... * Die Before I Wake Laurie Breton. Mira, $6.99 (384p) ISBN 978-0-7783-2590-1 Breton's high-tension tale follows 30year-old Julie Larkin as she settles into her marriage to heartthrob doctor Tom. In the harsh light of his...

Night of the Loving Dead.(Brief article)(Book review)
November 3, 2008... Night of the Loving Dead Casey Daniels. Berkley Prime Crime, $6.99 (300p) ISBN 978-0-425-22555-4 Sass and the supernatural cross paths in the entertaining fourth Penelope "Pepper" Martin mystery (after 2007's Tombs of Endearment)....

Talk Me Down.(Brief article)(Book review)
November 3, 2008... Talk Me Down Victoria Dahl. HQN, $6.99 (352p) ISBN 978-0-373-77356-5 Historical romance author Dahl (To Tempt a Scotsman) delivers a fun, feisty and relentlessly sexy adventure in her first contemporary. Beautiful Molly Jennings,...

Stolen Fury.(Brief article)(Book review)
November 3, 2008... Stolen Fury Elisabeth Naughton. Dorchester/Love Spell, $6.99 (336p) ISBN 978-0-505-52793-6 In Naughton's rock-solid debut, the first of a trilogy, a duo searching for three magnificent bas-reliefs of the Greek Furies find romance and...

Warrior of the Highlands.(Brief article)(Book review)
November 3, 2008... Warrior of the Highlands Veronica Wolff. Berkley Sensation, $7.99 (336p) ISBN 978-0-425-22675-9 Despite an unoriginal starting point, Wolff's passionate and magical third Highland romance (after 2008's Master of the Highlands)...

Travel.(Brief article)(Book review)
November 3, 2008... * Travel Yuichi Yokoyama. PictureBox (www.pictureboxinc.com), $19.95 paper (202p) ISBN 978-09815622-0-9 One of the weirdest and most startlingly original volumes of manga yet published in America, this wordless graphic novel has no...

Tank Girl: Visions of Booga.(Brief article)(Book review)
November 3, 2008... Tank Girl: Visions of Booga Alan C. Martin and Rufus Dayglo. IDW (Diamond, dist.), $17.99 (104p) ISBN 978-1-60010-280-6 In a perfect world, everybody would be able to live like Tank Girl, even if just for a day. The snarl-lipped,...

Scalped: Dead Mothers.(Brief article)(Book review)
November 3, 2008... * Scalped: Dead Mothers Jason Aaron, R.M. Guera, John Paul Leon and Davide Furno. DC/Vertigo, $17.99 paper (168p) ISBN 978-1-4012-1919-2 A fantastic combination of art and story, this book is a nasty noir story that could exist as...

Che: A Graphic Biography.(Brief article)(Book review)
November 3, 2008... Che: A Graphic Biography Spain Rodriguez. Verso, $16.95 paper (112p) ISBN 978-1-84467-168-7 There are few members of the 1960s underground comics wave whose names inspire more awe and respect than that of Rodriguez (Zap, Nightmare...

Blank Slate.(Brief article)(Book review)
November 3, 2008... Blank Slate Aya Kanno. Viz/Shojo Beat, $8.99 paper (192p) ISBN 978-1-4215-1924-1 Kanno, creator of the popular series Soul Rescue, brings fans a compelling story of identity and intrigue in Blank Slate. Zen is a world-class...

Summer World: A Season of Bounty.(Brief article)(Book review)
November 3, 2008... Summer World: A Season of Bounty Bernd Heinrich. Ecco, $26.95 (272p) ISBN 978-0-06-074217-1 In his pursuit of actively observing his camp in the forests of western Maine and the woods, beaver bog and gardens around his Vermont...

Positivity.(Brief article)(Book review)
November 3, 2008... Positivity Barbara L. Fredrickson. Crown, $24.95 (288p) ISBN 978-0-307-39373-9 Positive psychology pioneer Fredrickson introduces readers to the power of harnessing happiness to transform their lives, backed up by impressive lab...

The Other Side of Desire: Four Journeys into the Far Realms of Lust and Longing.(Brief article)(Book review)
November 3, 2008... The Other Side of Desire: Four Journeys into the Far Realms of Lust and Longing Daniel Bergner. Ecco, $24.95 (224p) ISBN 978-0-06-088556-4 As if it weren't already difficult enough to find a suitable mate, what if a prerequisite...

Madness Under the Royal Palms: Love and Death Behind the Gates of Palm Beach.(Brief article)(Book review)
November 3, 2008... Madness Under the Royal Palms: Love and Death Behind the Gates of Palm Beach Laurence Leamer. Hyperion, $25.95 (368p) ISBN 978-1-4013-2291-5 Leamer (The Kennedy Women) reveals the secrets of the Palm Beach elite who reside behind...

Welcome to the Departure Lounge: Adventures in Mothering Mother.(Brief article)(Book review)
November 3, 2008... * Welcome to the Departure Lounge: Adventures in Mothering Mother Meg Federico. Random, $25 (208p) ISBN 978-1-4000-6795-4 In this frank account, by turns sad and terribly funny, the journalist Federico describes how her distant,...

Try to Tell the Story: A Memoir.(Brief article)(Book review)
November 3, 2008... Try to Tell the Story: A Memoir David Thomson. Knopf, $23.95 (224p) ISBN 978-0-375-41213-4 Film historian and novelist Thomson (The New Biographical Dictionary of Film; Suspects) looks back at his childhood and teen years,...