Colleen Preston's Blog

Posted by Colleen Preston

Political network pioneer C-SPAN has taken to the highways and byways of America with a humongous 45-foot long mobile television production studio. This nationwide tour, C-SPAN's first traveling road show, was cooked up to tout Book TV's all-weekend, every-weekend non-fiction programming marathon.

The bus, decorated in an eye-catching orange with big, bold graphics, visits local libraries, bookstores, media events and book festivals. The public is invited on board for an interactive demonstration and the chance to see how the production of a TV show, in this case a Book TV offering, comes together.

Starting at 8:00 every Saturday morning and running round the clock until 8:00 on Monday morning, Book TV devotes itself to non-stop programs dealing with all aspects of the non-fiction book world. Coverage includes segments on history, politics, biographies, author interviews, the media, readings, discussion groups and just about anything you can think of in the book world that isn't fiction.

Organizations interested in hosting the bus for a special event can contact Book TV for details.

The next scheduled stops on the bus tour are:

• 09/27/06 Historic downtown Winchester, VA. 12:00pm - 3:00pm.
• 09/28/06 Borders, Silver Spring MD 12:00pm - 2:00pm
• 09/29/06 National Mall, Washington DC, 10:00am - 5:00pm

For a complete schedule, go to Book TV Bus Tour

Posted by Colleen Preston

The folks at Bargain Book News, a newsletter serving the wholesale remainder book industry, have compiled a great list of church bulletin bloopers submitted by their readers. Says the Bargain Books editor: "Thank God for church ladies with typewriters".

A Sampling:

• The Fasting & Prayer Conference includes meals.
• The sermon this morning: "Jesus Walks on the Water." The sermon tonight: "Searching for Jesus."
• The peacemaking meeting scheduled for today has been canceled due to a conflict.
• Don't let worry kill you off -- let the Church help.
• For those of you who have children and don't know it, we have a nursery downstairs.
• Scouts are saving aluminum cans, bottles and other items to be recycled. Proceeds will be used to cripple children.
• Low Self Esteem Support Group will meet Thursday at 7 PM. Please use the back door.
• The ladies of the Church have cast off clothing of every kind. They may be seen in the basement on Friday afternoon.

Posted by Colleen Preston

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If you don't mind slogging through some ads, you can start saving big money on textbooks with a new and unique program at Freeload Press.

While still in beta testing and still offering only a limited inventory, the program is generating buzz on college campuses and in publishing circles. With a tagline that reads Liberating the Textbook, Freeload allows students to download free e-books, which are delivered as PDF's, from their distribution site at www.FreeloadPress.com.

If Freeload succeeds and the program catches on, there will be some noticable ripples in the six billion dollar textbook industry. With the typical student plunking down $900 a year in the college bookstore, interest is running high.

So what's the catch? Well, there really isn't one if Freeload can entice enough colleges and publishers to get on board. According to a company press release, about 100 colleges have decided to use texts published by Freeload Press and several more are considering the program.

Current offerings include a smattering of accounting, finance, computer, psychology and mathematics texts. The company hopes to significantly expand the number of titles available over the next year.

The program is largly funded by advertising and corporate sponsorships.

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Posted by Colleen Preston

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If you haven't heard of Moleskine notebooks yet, you just aren't keeping up. The correct pronounciation, which you hardly ever hear, is Mol-a-skeen-a, and it refers to a little pocket notebook originally produced by bookbinders in France and peddled to the artsy Parisian crowd.

They say Vincent Van Gogh used one and you can see the purported real thing in the Van Gogh museum in Amsterdam. Henri Matisse was a user too, along with Pablo Picasso.

On the literary side, Ernest Hemingway was said to have one always in his pocket as he wandered the streets of Paris and writer-traveler Bruce Chatwin kept many on hand as he travelled the world. On hearing the company might be going out of business, Chatwin panicked and ordered 100 of them.

A Legend Returns

Eventually, the company actually did succumb to financial woes and went bankrupt in 1986. It was bought out by an Italian company in Milan called Modo & Modo. With an updated look and an upscaled price tag, Moleskines were re-introduced to the world stage in 1998.

This time, with some clever marketing and an understated elegance, the little notebooks caught on and now they are becoming a true necessity among those who care about such things.

Billed as "The Legendary Notebook Used By European Artists and Thinkers for the Past Two Centuries", the books have been selling like hotcakes for the past couple of years. Originally hard to find, other than on the web, huge demand has vastly increased the distribution channels so you can now pick them up easily. Most big box book stores like Barnes & Noble or Borders have them permanently in stock now.

So Who Are These Moleskiners?

Oddly enough, some of the most rabid users of Moleskines are computer geeks who are setting aside their PDA's for the moment and reverting to analog means to keep track of their complex lives or record their innermost thoughts. In true geek fashion, they are coming up with Moleskine "hacks", retrofitting or re-purposing or cleverly improving on what is really nothing more than a simple little notebook.

To keep the movement alive, there are countless blogs that discuss the pros and cons of the Moleskine and they can, on occasion, get a bit vitriolic when various factions clash. Most notable are the times when a mouthy non-user stumbles in and says something like "Hey...it's only a notebook". There is a lot of conversation of the "you show me yours..." variety and tons of photos of the little notebooks decked out with quirky little indicators of their owners' personalities or professions.

Lots of Choices

The original Moleskine, and still the most popular, was just a little black book measuring 3.5" x 5.5". It is very sturdy, well-made and with a smooth, oilcloth type binding. There is a built in elastic to hold your place or to add odds and ends. There is usually a handy little pocket at the end and the whole thing makes a neat and useful package you can stick in your pocket or purse.

The new line of Moleskines has far more variety than the old one and there are some interesting new designs.

A sampling:

• Traditional Pocket Notebook
• Story Board Notebook
• Music Notebook
• Sketchbook - pocket or desk
• Address Book
• Japanese Pocket Book - Unique folded design made from one sheet and very hard to describe
• Memo Pocket Book - Accordian File
• Reporter Notebooks - several sizes, flip-top
• Watercolor Notebooks
• Calendars and Planners

Prices range from $10 for pocket-sized to $18 or so for larger ones.

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Posted by Colleen Preston

If you see some suspicious looking paperbacks spilling out of your teenager's backpack, don't jump the gun. You might just be seeing the new face of Freshman English.

Penguin has come out with a new line called Penguin Graphic Classics that has a lot of book lovers drooling. Not your ordinary paperback, these volumes speak volumes before you even get to page one. The covers are new and edgy, designed by today's top graphic artists. The bindings have "French flaps"- a sort of self-contained dust jacket construction - and some of the letter graphics are subtly raised and dimensional. Each of the books released to date is customized - the special touches are geared uniquely towards the individual title and the results are pretty spectacular. There are great illustrations, fonts, cutouts within the text itself, and the paper is...well...it's just plain sensual.

There have been six titles released to date:

• Candide by Francois Voltaire
• The Jungle by Upton Sinclair
• The Portable Dorothy Parker by Dorothy Parker
• Cold Comfort Farm by Stella Gibbons
• Fairy Tales by Hans Christian Anderson
• The New York Trilogy by Paul Auster

Penguin has another batch of titles due out in the fall, including Lady Chatterly's Lover and The Dharma Bums, both of which hold out some tantalizing graphic design possibilities. The books released to date are in the $12 to $18 price range.

Posted by Colleen Preston

According to the latest issue of the Library Journal, the following are currently the books most often borrowed from your friendly neighborhood library:

FICTION

1. The 5th Horseman by James Patterson & Maxine Paetro
2. "S" is for Silence by Sue Grafton
3. Mary, Mary by James Patterson
4. At First Sight by Nicholas Sparks
5. Predator by Patricia Cornwell

NON-FICTION

1. The World Is Flat: A Brief History of the Twenty-first Century by Thomas Friedman
2. Teacher Man by Frank McCourt
3. Freakonomics: A Rogue Economist Explores the Hidden Side of Everything by Stephen J. Dubner
4. Marley and Me by John Grogan
5. Confessions of a Video Vixen by Karrine Steffans

Posted by Colleen Preston

A copy of the First Folio of William Shakespeare's plays, a significant book indeed, sold at a Sotheby's auction this week for a whopping $5.2 million.

The book is thought by scholars to be the most important book in English literature.

One of only 40 complete copies known to exist, the book was reported to be in outstanding condition. It actually sold for less than the high end of Sotheby's pre-auction estimate of $6.5 million. At a US auction in 2001, Microsoft billionaire Paul Allen paid $6.2 million for a similar copy.

The buyer this time around was London dealer Simon Finch Rare Books.

The importance of this book in the history of literature is significant. Usually referred to as the First Folio, it is technically titled Mr. William Shakespeare's Comedies, Histories & Tragedies. It was published in 1623.

The book contains 36 plays, including 18 that had never been published before. Among those making their first appearance were Macbeth and Twelfth Night. According to scholars, those two plays might have been lost forever had the First Folio not been published.

Posted by Colleen Preston

If you're in the mood for thrills and chills and scaring the daylights out of yourself, head for the book store today and pick up the new release Thriller: Stories to Keep You Up All Night, edited by James Patterson.

This looks to be a very promising collection of 32 brand new offerings by the best in the business. Publisher Mira Books says it is the first true collection of "thrillers" ever produced. It's a blend of two blurred-boundary genres - crime fiction and action-packed adventure tales. The contributor list includes many top-notch, award-winning authors and a handful of talented newcomers getting a truly big boost by the company they keep.

Author Sampling:

• David Morrell
• James Grippando
• Chris Mooney
• Grant Blackwood
• Eric Van Lustbader
• Heather Graham
• Lee Child

Ca-Ching...Big Sales Expected

Holding everything together is superstar James Patterson. Writer of an average of four blockbusters a year, Patterson has added some good commentary in his introductions to each story, offering intriguing insight into the research and techniques the authors inject into the creative process.

Having Patterson's name in lights on the front cover of the book should push sales up fast. He is one of the most successful producers of popular fiction around today. According to a recent profile in Time Magazine, Patterson earned an estimated $40 million last year alone. He has written 34 books, 18 of which have gone to the top of the New York Times bestseller list.

Posted by Colleen Preston

Did Dad read The Velveteen Rabbit to you every night for three months even though you had the all words memorized? Did he know Where the Wild Things Are by heart? Did Pop really like Green Eggs and Ham? If so, here's a chance to show him a little appreciation. Go to Bookreporter Contest and tell the folks there about a favorite book you remember your father reading to you and they will enter you into a drawing for a duffle bag full of books and other goodies.

Bookreporter.com is a good, content-rich site with a nice mix of reviews, news items, in-depth author interviews, literary games and contests, and blogs. It's a a fun site to wander through now and then to see what's hot, what's not, and what all the chatter is about.

This week's contest runs through June 9 and will award a duffle bag full of prizes to the winner's father. Books included are:

• KILLER INSTINCT by Joseph Finder
• MATCH MADE IN HEAVEN by Bob Mitchell
• THE MILLIONAIRES' UNIT by Marc Wortman
• POP CULTURE by Christopher Healy
• THE RABBIT FACTORY by Marshall Karp

Also included in the bag are a 12-can cooler, a thermos, playing cards, a zip drive, a divet tool and a picture frame.

Posted by Colleen Preston

Nobody does ugly quite like Stephen King and if you've caught any of the promo trailers for tonight's airing of Desperation, you know what I mean. Ron Perlman's portrayal of Collie Entragian is a study in revulsion.

King wrote the screenplay for his 1996 novel of a disgustingly evil self-proclaimed sheriff of small town Desperation, Nevada. The plot revolves around innocent travellers who wander into Collie's jurisdiction and fall into horrors beyond their wildest imaginings. The book oozes nastiness and, judging by the trailers, it is safe to assume the miniseries will also.

King was an unknown, struggling writer working in a laundry to pay the rent when he published the blockbuster novel Carrie in 1973. His commercial success has been phenomenal. He has become, over the course of his career, the best-selling writer in the world. After a horrific car accident in 2002 left him severely injured and emotionally shaken, he said he was retiring from writing. Time, however, healed and he is now back on his game, although he says he has slowed down considerably.

King and his wife Tabitha, also a novelist, have lived a normal and non-scary life in his home state of Maine for many years. Passersby are often surprised at their comparatively modest old Victorian house just a couple of blocks outside of Bangor's downtown area. The only nod to the horror that lives in King's head is the iron fence that parallels the street and is adorned with unobtrusive little bats. King and his wife have been very involved in community affairs in Bangor, where they raised their three children. A famously rabid Red Sox fan, King has written often on his beloved sport of baseball, including the 1999 Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon. In 1992, the city of Bangor celebrated the opening of Mansfield Stadium, a Little League park funded largely by the Kings.

Given the normal and seemingly well-adjusted life King leads, the things that flow from his mind seem a bit shocking but he explains it well and with great glee:

People want to know why I do this, why I write such gross stuff. I like to tell them I have the heart of a small boy... and I keep it in a jar on my desk.

Posted by Colleen Preston

It has been raining here in this part of the New England area like you wouldn't believe. Day in and day out. Relentlessly. Rivers are flooding the streets, gushing into places they have never gushed before. Weather records are being shattered. Meteorologists are uniformly out-of-breath and hyperactive. There are school closings, ruined cars, flooded homes, and serious cabin fever. Grim bad humor abounds.

So, what better time to retreat into the warm, sappy, happy world of A.A. Milne, creator of Winnie-the-Pooh, and whimsical poet laureate of so many childhoods? Here, from Milne's 1924 "When We Were Very Young, is an uplifting little ditty for all you sad and sodden New Englanders:

WAITING AT THE WINDOW

by A.A. Milne

These are my two drops of rain

Look! I told you! Here's the sun!

Posted by Colleen Preston

Stanley Kunitz, who was appointed the 10th Poet Laureate of the United States in 2000 at the age of 95, died yesterday at his home in Manhattan.

Born in Massachusetts, Kunitz graduated from Harvard University and began his career as a journalist in his native Worcester. Always a poet, however, he published his first book Intellectual Things in 1930 at the age of 25.

Kunitz had a difficult childhood: his father committed suicide shortly before Stanley was born and his immigrant mother struggled to raise her family. His sisters died young, as did a stepfather, so much of his poetry deals with loss, particularly that of a father. In "Journal For a Daughter" he writes:

You say you had a father once:

He left, but did not let you go.

Despite being a conscientious objector, Kunitz was drafted during World War II but remained a pacifist for the rest of his life. He was a vocal anti-war critic from the Vietnam conflict right up through the current war in Iraq.

Kunitz won the Pulitzer Prize in 1959 for the book Selected Poems 1928-1958. Another book of selected poems, Passing Through, won the National Book Award in 1995, when the poet was 90 years old.

In later life he spent much of his time at his second home in Provincetown, Mass. where he passed the summer days in his beloved garden. He was also instrumental in forming the Fine Arts Work Center in Provincetown where he remained active until the very end of his life. He also co-founded The Poets House in New York. His final book, The Wild Braid was published when he was 99 and is a collection of poetry and photographs of his garden. His third wife, painter Elise Asher, died in 2004.

Posted by Colleen Preston

John Updike's long and illustrious career continues with the upcoming publication of "Terrorist", his 22nd novel. The story centers on a New Jersey teenager, the son of an Egyptian father and an Irish American mother who becomes obsessed with the Islamic faith and gradually turns against the American culture that surrounds him.

Updike happened to be in New York on September 11, 2001 and witnessed the collapse of the World Trade Center. "It was about the worst thing I'd ever seen," he later reported. He wrote a short story based on the experience called "Varieties of Religious Experience" which was published in Atlantic Magazine in 2002.

Posted by Colleen Preston

Tickets went on sale today for a literary superstar performance at Radio City Music Hall in New York City on August 1st and 2nd. In an event titled AN EVENING WITH HARRY, CARRIE AND GARP", bestselling authors J.K. Rowling, Stephen King and John Irving will read from their works in two benefit performances.

All three will read from their own works and participate in question and answer sessions on two consecutive evenings expected to raise a bundle for the two charities they are supporting.

King came up with the idea and is very enthusiastic about it. In a press release, he said "This is like a dream come true for me. It's a chance for me to read with two great authors while while supporting two very deserving organizations."

For Rowling, author of the blockbuster Harry Potter series, this will mark her first visit to the United States since 2000. King's invitation, Rowling said "was easily one of the most enticing propositions ever put to me in an envelope."

Irving, author of The World According to Garp and Cider House Rules, along with many other bestselling novels, says he has been involved in charitable work with King in the past and is looking forward to meeting and working with Rowling.

The events will benefit two non-profit charitable organizations - The Haven Foundation,a fund for ill or injured performing artists who are uninsured and unable to work, and Doctors Without Borders.

Tickets range in price from $12.50 to $100.00 and are available from Ticketmaster.

Posted by Colleen Preston

From The New York Times Best Sellers List: Paperback Fiction.

1. The DaVinci Code by Dan Brown: What else?

2. No Place Like Home by Mary Higgins Clark: A New Jersey thriller about deadly secrets. Vintage Clark.

3. Marriage Most Scandalous by Johanna Lindsey: Love and lust in Regency England.

4. Angels and Demons by Dan Brown: A prequel to you-know-what.

5. Time and Again by Jack Finney: A reprint of Finney's 1970 classic. A story of time travel and love by the author of The Body Snatchers.

6. Full Scoop by Janet Evanovich and Charlotte Hughes: Comedy, romance and the usual cast of quirky characters and non-stop action.

7. Countdown by Iris Johansen: More thrills and chills for Johansen's protagonist Jane Maguire. Mixed reviews but a must for Johansen fans.

8. True Believer by Nicholas Sparks: Science journalist Jeremy, dashing debunker of the supernatural, meets Lexie the Librarian for ghostly pursuits in the graveyard.

9. The Twelfth Card by Jeffrey Deaver: Quadriplegic police detective Lincoln Rhyme and sidekick Amelia Sachs are back with another ingenious plot.

10. The Mermaid Chair by Sue Kidd Monk: Mystical journey of self-discovery by a middle-aged woman on a mythical island off the coast of South Carolina.

Posted by Colleen Preston

Mystery writer Erica Spindler's last novel Killer Takes All is out in paperback this month. The book is a police procedural set in New Orleans, Splindler's home town and where many of her books take place.

Spindler, a former winner of the Daphne DuMaurier Award for Excellence, is donating five percent of the proceeds of this book until September 1, 2006 to the New Orleans Police Department to aid recovery efforts in her beloved city.

See Spindler's website at www.ericaspindler.com for details and to register for her latest giveaway contest.

For more on the mystery/crime genre, read our own Janet Kay Blaylock, a longtime mystery afficianado and freelance writer.

Posted by Colleen Preston

Publisher Little, Brown & Company did the right thing by yanking all copies of How Opal Mehta Got Kissed, Got Wild, and Got a Life from bookshelves last week as the plagiarism charges against author Kaavya Viswanathan escalated.

Viswanathan was accused of lifting passages from the work of Megan McCafferty to produce her own novel, which was part of a $500,000 deal with Little, Brown. The book, a "chick lit" tale for teens, rose quickly on sales lists after the plagiarism charges surfaced last week.

Viswanathan's transgressions, if that is what they prove to be, are nothing new in the literary world. While fiction writers have contributed their fair share to the ranks of plagiarists, some non-fiction writers have caused more of a stir, particularly among the ranks of academics. Some noteworthy alleged plagiarists:

• Most recently, William H. Swanson - Raytheon CEO and author of Swanson's Unwritten Rules of Management, said to be ripped off from The Unwritten Laws of Engineering by W.J. King.
• Doris Kearns Goodwin, whose book The Fitzgeralds and the Kennedys was said to contain passages from another book. Goodwin settled a lawsuit with the author but steadfastly denies that she plagiarized anything.
• Stephen Ambrose, a highly acclaimed historian, was accused of blatant plagiarism. There were numerous instances but they were not discovered until 2002, late in his career. Ambrose died soon after.
• Journalist Jason Blair of the New York Times, who sent that journalistic icon into a tailspin with a whole litany of plagiaristic stories that found their way into print.
• H.G. Wells was accused, in the 1920s, of plagiarizing a Canadian woman named Florence Deeks in his famous Outline of History. Deeks was subsequently ridiculed and her story discounted but more recent scholars have given some credence to her account.

For the lowdown on other famous plagiarists, check out the website of Dr. John P. Lesko, a self-proclaimed "plagiarologist" at www.famousplagiarists.com. Lesko outlines allegations of plagiarism regarding a wide range of authors and political notables - including Senator Joe Biden, Al Gore, Martin Luther King, Jr., and even Osama Bin Laden.

Lesko is also producing a new online scholarly journal called, you guessed it, Plagiary. This looks to be a serious effort and the description says it will examine "cross disciplinary studies in plagiarism, fabrication, and falsification". The website is still in the works but worth a look at www.plagiary.org.

Posted by Colleen Preston

That famous line spoken by the fictional Atticus Finch has perhaps become one of the most famous quotes in American literature. Today marks author Harper Lee's 80th birthday. It has been 46 years since she published her first and only book, To Kill a Mockingbird.

Lee has not granted an interview since 1964 and was rarely seen in public until she surfaced earlier this year at a University Of Alabama gathering to honor winners of a high school essay contest based on her book. It was revealed at that time that the famously reclusive author has quietly attended these ceremonies for the past five years but this was the first time she spoke, albeit very briefly.

Lee has also gotten a lot of press lately since the release of the movie Capote. Truman Capote and Harper Lee were childhood friends who remained close until his death and she served as his research assistant when he was in the process of writing In Cold Blood.

Although she has written a handful of essays over the years, Lee has never written another novel. To Kill a Mockingbird is a classic portrayal of racial injustice and is considered to be one of the best and most enduring books in American literature. It was the winner of the Pulitzer Prize for Literature in 1961. There have been rumors for years that Lee is writing her memoirs but that has never been verified.

If you consider yourself to be a Mockingbird expert, visit Advanced Book Exchange for a quiz that will surely test your expertise.

Posted by Colleen Preston

The weather in Boston today is, in a word, cold. Bone-chilling cold. The fact that it is nearly May makes the shivering really hard to take so now is probably a good time to lapse into gardening mode and daydream a little. While you are wrapped in flannel by the fire waiting for your toes to thaw, try a new garden book to get the juices flowing.

According to Amazon.com sales records, the five top selling garden books currently are:

1. All New Square Food Gardening by Mel Bartholomew
2. The $64 Tomato: How One Man Nearly Lost His Sanity, Spent a Fortune, and Endured an Existential Crisis in the Quest for a Perfect Garden by William Alexander
3. Western Garden Book by Kathleen Norris Benzel
4. The Organic Gardener's Handbook of Natural Insect and Disease Control edited by Barbara W. Ellis and Fern Marshall Bradley
5. Front Yard and Back Yard Idea Book by Jeni Webber and Lee Ann White

Posted by Colleen Preston

New in book stores this week and on my list of things to read is Politics Lost : How American Democracy Was Trivialized By People Who Think You're Stupid by Joe Klein.

Klein is the author formerly known as "Anonymous" who made millions on his novel Primary Colors a few years back. He picked up a bit of a reputation for smarminess when he steadfastly denied that he wrote that book. Primary Colors was a just-barely-disguised fictional account of the 1992 presidential campaign of Bill Clinton. It was later made into a movie with John Travolta playing the womanizing, donut-guzzling candidate and Emma Thompson as the suffering yet always savvy Hillary.

In this latest book, Klein writes of his experiences during eight presidential campaigns - starting in 1968 and continuing through the 2004 election.

Posted by Colleen Preston

In what may be a first, two unrelated charges of plagiarism made splashy headlines and covered about half of the front page of the Boston Globe today.

In the first, 19 year-old Harvard sophomore Kaavya Viswanathan balked at using the P-word but conceded she "may have internalized" some passages from Megan McCafferty's novel Sloppy Firsts. Viswanathan's book, How Opal Mehta Got Kissed, Got Wild, and Got a Life, was published by Little, Brown & Co. Viswanathan is working on a $500,000 two-book contract. Doing a little internalizing of their own, the publisher released a statement saying the author promised to make the problem go away in future printings.

In the second story, Raytheon Chief Executive Office William H. Swanson admitted to lifting significant chunks of Swanson's Unwritten Rules of Management from a 1944 book by W.J. King called The Unwritten Laws of Engineering. I'm no expert, but it seems to me if you want to get away with this kind of thing you might want to at least disguise the title a little better.

Swanson didn't try to internalize anything. He just told the Globe that writing "is not my profession, and I don't know how to do it."