Book Sense

As the all-important holiday gift-giving season approaches (Thanksgiving is just six weeks away), Book Sense reminds booksellers participating in the gift card program to stock up on cards and presenters to ensure they can meet the growing demand: Last year, sales of Book Sense gift cards in November and December totaled over $3 million, an increase of more than 38 percent over the same period in 2004.

New bookseller Stephanie Griffin had spent the majority of her working life as the bookkeeper for a lumber company. This past April, she left her career of 25 years to become the new owner of Twenty-Third Avenue Books, a 2,500-square foot general bookstore in the Nob Hill neighborhood of Portland, Oregon, just four blocks from her home.

Orinda Books, which was founded by five partners in 1976, is today a 4,500-square-foot general bookstore owned by Janet Boreta, one of the original founders. Located in the close-knit community of Orinda, California, in a semi-rural valley on the east side of the Oakland/Berkeley hills, the store features popular fiction, children's books, and a wide selection of music CDs.

For the eight-week period ending October 8, 2006, and based on reporting from hundreds of independent bookstores with Book Sense nationwide.

Past Category Bestseller lists are available on ABA's trade website, BookWeb.org.

Attention Media: Contact Meg Smith at [email protected] for reprint guidelines for your newspaper or magazine.

A Tale of 12 Kitchens: Family Cooking in Four Countries, the colorful cookbook memoir by British artist Jake Tilson, a longtime advocate of "shopping local," lauds local fresh foods and flavors in various areas of England, Italy, France, Scotland, and the U.S.

Here is the full listing of November Book Sense Picks, with booksellers' comments, as well as a preview of the month's Notables. Independent booksellers in the Book Sense program will be receiving their November Picks fliers in the October Red Box. (The flier includes jacket images, bibliographic information, and bookseller quotes.)

Booksellers should report their sales for next week's Book Sense Bestseller List as they usually do; there will be no extension of the deadline for the Columbus Day holiday.

As usual, the Book Sense Bestseller Lists will be e-mailed on Tuesday, October 10, and the printable PDF will be posted on ABA's trade website, BookWeb.org, on Wednesday afternoon.