Our #FridayReads: Women in Disguise

Our #FridayReads: Women in Disguise

Talia and I realized we're reading around the same theme this week: incognito women wreaking havoc on cities and men.

Talia's reading:

THE IMPOSTER BRIDE by Nancy Richler in which Lily, a mysterious mail-order bride, arrives in post-WWII Montreal only to disappear again leaving behind a new husband, a baby daughter, a diary, and a diamond.

Ali's reading:

BABAYAGA by Toby Barlow in which two ever-youthful witches, Zoya and Elga, arrive in 1950s Paris and encounter Will, a good-hearted Detroit ad man who might be working with the C.I.A., and Inspector Vidot who has the misfortune of being turned into a flea.

Today is also the last day to enter last week's #FridayReads sweepstakes for a signed copy of LOVE IS A CANOE! Details here.

[...]

Know More...

Finalists for the 2013 Audie Awards

Finalists for the 2013 Audie Awards

Great news from Macmillan Audio: The Audio Publishers Association has announced this year’s list of Audie finalists and we have eight Adult audiobooks on their list!

Business/Educational:

SPY THE LIE
Narrated by Fred Berman 

Humor:

THE CURSING MOMMY’S BOOK OF DAYS
Narrated by Cynthia Nixon

Inspirational Faith Fiction:

THE GOOD DREAM
Narrated by Donna VanLiere

Literary Fiction:

BRING UP THE BODIES
Narrated by Simon Vance

Multi-Voiced Performance:

SUDDENLY, A KNOCK ON THE DOOR
Narrated by Ira Glass, Willem Dafoe, Ben Marcus, Garry Shteyngart, Michael Chabon, Neal Stephenson, Stanley Tucci etc.

Mystery:

THE BEAUTIFUL MYSTERY
Narrated by Ralph Cosham

THE NIGHTMARE
Narrated by Mark Bramhall

Narration by Author:

MOST TALKATIVE
Narrated by Andy Cohen

See the full list of Audie nominees here (PDF). 

Winners will be announced in May at the Audies Gala in New York. [...]

Know More...

The 2012 Nebula Award Finalists

The 2012 Nebula Award Finalists

The Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America revealed their finalists for the 2012 Nebula Awards and I am geeking out over here, people!

Macmillan has two finalists up for Best Novel and I love that they're both fantasies based on two most excellent Janes (Austen and Eyre, respectively):

nebula logo

GLAMOUR IN GLASS by Mary Robinette Kowal

IRONSKIN by Tina Connolly

See the full list of finalists on Tor.com!

The winners will be announced in May during the Nebula Awards Weekend in San Jose, California. 

[...]

Know More...

Watch #BookBattle III Now!

Watch #BookBattle III Now!

Misfit library marketers Talia Sherer and Chris Vaccari (Sterling) duked it out in the third episode of their highly acclaimed Book Battle series in the Book Buzz Theater at the ALA Midwinter Meeting in January! If you missed their buzz or need a refresher see below.

The full program was recorded and is available here now:

book battle video

[...]

Know More...

Tuesday Fun Day! (2/19/2013 Edition)

Tuesday Fun Day! (2/19/2013 Edition)

Happy Tuesday, library buds! I hope you all had a relaxing Presidents Day.

- YA librarians, join us on Twitter today at 4p.m. Eastern to chat about forthcoming young adult titles during EarlyWord's YA GalleyChat. Hashtag: #ewyagc

 

 

- Our post-Valentine's Day hangover sweepstakes is still running! Enter here to win a signed copy of LOVE IS A CANOE by Ben Schrank before Friday, February 22nd. Get in there!

- To celebrate the publication of Dana Stabenow's BAD BLOOD, Minotaur is giving away five hundred (!!!) "Friends of Mutt" stickers to Dana's Facebook fans. This promotion does require a temporary switch of your Facebook profile. Details here

 

 

[...]

Know More...

A #FridayReads/Post-Valentine’s Hangover Giveaway!

A #FridayReads/Post-Valentine’s Hangover Giveaway!

We've got the cure for your post-Valentine's Day love hangover (which we've heard can be fatal if left untreated): a sweepstakes! 

We have one signed copy of Ben Schrank's adult debut, LOVE IS A CANOE, a novel full of both wise and unwise love advice. Here's a quick summary:

Peter Herman is something of a folk hero. MARRIAGE IS A CANOE, his decades-old book on love and relationships, has won the hearts of hopeful romantics and desperate cynics alike. When Peter's wife dies and he passes the time with a woman he admires but doesn’t love, he begins to question the advice he’s famously doled out for decades.

Then he receives a call from an ambitious young editor who wants to celebrate the 50th anniversary of MARRIAGE IS A CANOE with a contest for struggling couples. The prize? An afternoon with Peter and a chance to save their relationship.

Love is a Canoe Valentine

And speaking of prizes...

Enter to win LOVE IS A CANOE:

Enter to win the author-signed copy of LOVE IS A CANOE by sending an e-mail with 1. your full name, 2. your mailing address, and 3. the library you work for to library-at-macmillanusa.com (subject: Love is a Canoe) by Friday, February 22nd!

ben schrank sig

This sweepstakes is open to librarians in the United States. More eligibility details below.

[...]

Know More...

The 2013 Longlist for the Andrew Carnegie Medals for Excellence

The 2013 Longlist for the Andrew Carnegie Medals for Excellence

 

The 2013 longlist for the second annual Andrew Carnegie Medals for Excellence in Fiction and Nonfiction has been announced!

The following titles published and distributed by Macmillan were in good company on this incredibly fine list of literature:

FICTION:

HALF-BLOOD BLUES by Esi Edugyan

BRING UP THE BODIES by Hilary Mantel

NONFICTION:

JAMES JOYCE: A New Biography by Gordon Bowker

LEONARDO AND THE LAST SUPPER by Ross King

See the full long list here: http://www.ala.org/awardsgrants/carnegieadult/longlists

According to the ALA website "The Andrew Carnegie Medals for Excellence in Fiction and Nonfiction were established in 2012 to recognize the best fiction and nonfiction books for adult readers published in the U.S. the previous year." Read more about this award in American Libraries Magazine.

The short list (only six titles) will be released in April and the two winners will be announced on June 30th at the ALA Annual Conference in Chicago. We can't wait!

[...]

Know More...

Maximum Shelf: A Novel of Zelda Fitzgerald

Maximum Shelf: A Novel of Zelda Fitzgerald

"Therese Anne Fowler has written a heartfelt novel about a woman out of her time, a woman whose talents were unsung, and she has brought a new understanding to a story we thought we knew." -Shelf Awareness

I've already mentioned how excited I am for Z: A Novel of Zelda Fitzgerald by Therese Anne Fowler to hit your shelves in March just before Baz Luhrmann's film adaptation of "The Great Gatsby" hits the big screen in May. Well today's Maximum Shelf features Z, the semi-fictional, semi-biographical account of the fabulous adventures of Zelda Sayre.

During the interview Fowler says,

"Zelda was a product of all that she had learned and internalized. Being brought up as a wealthy and beautiful Southern belle was hardly the road to making a stand for herself. She didn't know the depth of her interest in the arts--writing, dance and fine art--until she became involved in each of them. She has been badly misrepresented as a person. I wanted to get her story straight."

Vik from Shelf AwarenessRead the full novel summary, review, and interview with Therese Anne Fowler on ShelfAwareness.com.

And take a look at reading guru Vik all dolled up in flapper-wear (right)!

Also, see this note from Janet Lockhart from Readers Services at Wake County Public Library on the holds in her library:

 

She previously said,

 

[...]

Know More...

Starred Reviews for Flora

Starred Reviews for Flora

Book clubs, take note! Reviewers are giving Gail Godwin's latest, FLORA, high praise. Here's a quick summary to get you familiar:

Ten-year-old Helen and her summer guardian, Flora, are isolated together in Helen's decaying family house while her father is doing secret war work during the final months of World War II. At three, Helen lost her mother, and the beloved grandmother who raised her has just died. Flora, who cries at the drop of a hat, is ardently determined to do her best for Helen. Their relationship and its fallout will haunt Helen for the rest of her life.

"Unsparing yet compassioante; a fine addition to Godwin's long list of first-rate faction bringing 19th-century richness of detail and characterization to the ambiguities of modern life." —Kirkus Reviews (starred review)

"[A] stirring and wondrous novel from Godwin…. [her] thoughtful portrayal of their boredom, desires, and the eventual heartbreak of their summer underscores the impossible position of children, who are powerless against the world and yet inherit responsibility for its agonies." —Publishers Weekly (starred review)

"Godwin’s under-your-skin characters are perfectly realized, and the held-breath plot is consummately choreographed. But the wonder of this incisive novel of the endless repercussions of loss and remorse at the dawn of the atomic age is how subtly Godwin laces it with exquisite insights into secret family traumas, unspoken sexuality, class and racial divides,indie next and the fallout of war while unveiling the incubating mind of a future writer." —Booklist (starred review)

FLORA was also on the May 2013 Indie Next List!

 

 

[...]

Know More...

Monday Fun Day! (2/11/2013 Edition)

Monday Fun Day! (2/11/2013 Edition)

Happy Monday, librarians!

Apologies for the unexpected radio silence after Wednesday of last week; I fell victim to the seasonal cold monster. I've triumphantly defeated the beast and returned only slightly sniffly to kick off the week with some great news.

- Continuing the exciting award nomination news from last week, we got the list of Macmillan books nominated for the 2012 Agatha Awards:

Nominated for the Agatha Award for Best Novel of 2012:

THE BEAUTIFUL MYSTERY
by Louise Penny

A FATAL WINTER
by G.M. Malliet

THE OTHER WOMAN
by Hank Phillippi Ryan

Nominated for the Agatha Award for Best Historical Novel of 2012:

DANDY GILVER AND AN UNSUITABLE DAY FOR A MURDER
by Catriona McPherson

Winners will be announced at the 2012 Agatha Awards banquet on May 4th, 2013, during Malice Domestic 25. See the full list of Agatha nominees here.

- A delightful review of THE MARLOW PAPERS is currently traveling all across the U.S. in American Airline's American Way magazine!

"With the screw-tightening verve of a great thriller and the romantic pull of Renaissance poetry, the novel—which purports that Marlowe is the true author of William Shakespeare’s legendary oeuvre—is a gripping, lyrical, most unlikely page-turner."

Read the super quick review here.

- Flavorwire suckered us in with another one of their bookish listicles, "The Best Fictional Libraries in Pop Culture." 

- And finally, a couple of snuggly red pandas romping around in the snow!!

red pandas video

[...]

Know More...

css.php