Book Sense

With BookExpo America (BEA) about three weeks away, here is a look at a few BookSense.com-related happenings scheduled for the trade show -- as well as one BookSense.com housekeeping item.

As has become tradition at BEA, BookSense.com is holding a BookSense.com Users Group Meeting on the opening morning of the trade show. The session is scheduled for Friday, May 19, from 9:00 a.m. to 10:00 a.m. in Room 150B at the Convention Center.

St. Simons Island, Georgia, is known as "Atlanta's Beach." Situated some 300 miles from Georgia's capitol, St. Simons has a year-round population of 16,000 that burgeons during summer, Christmas, and spring break. It's also home of the 11-year-old G.J. Ford Bookshop -- a popular island destination for tourists and residents alike.

To help booksellers promote sales of this year's four Book Sense Book of the Year winners, and the four Honor Books in each category, ABA has created shelf-talkers and stickers.

It's been quite a year so far, in terms of authors and honesty. From the James Frey firestorm to this week's news about teen author Kaavya Viswanathan's apparent penchant for plagiarism, the nature of truth, memory, and artistic license repeatedly have been called into question.

The Summer 2006 Book Sense Children's Picks can now be previewed online. Independent bookstores with Book Sense will begin receiving the Children's Picks fliers, which are being mailed directly from the printer, on, or around the week of, May 8. Additional copies may be requested by sending an e-mail to [email protected].

Sara Gruen, author of Water for Elephants, the number-one selection on the June Book Sense Picks list, was just a day away from starting a different novel, when an article about a photographer named Edward J. Kelty caught her eye -- and then her undivided attention.

In 1989, the Russo family -- Kathleen and Tony and their children Michael, Anna-Marie, Patricia, and John -- started their bookselling careers by buying the Book Mark, a Bakersfield used-book store, which they discovered through a classified ad. "I don't want to say it was a lark, but we thought we'd enjoy it. And we've had a good time ever since," Michael Russo said recently.

For the eight-week period ending April 16, 2006, and based on reporting from hundreds of independent bookstores with Book Sense nationwide.

Past Category Bestseller lists are available at www.bookweb.org/read/5677.

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

Independent stores with Book Sense will be receiving the 2006 - 2007 Reading Group Picks list in the May Red Box. The full list, with bookseller quotes, can be previewed online now.

There are two remaining opportunities this month to nominate titles for upcoming Book Sense Picks lists:

• Friday, April 14 is the deadline for the Audiobooks Top Ten, and
• Friday April 21 is the deadline for the Summer Paperback Picks list.

Mrs. Nelson's Toy & Book Shop in La Verne, California, is the winner of the Book Sense Curious George contest, sponsored by George's publisher, Houghton Mifflin. Booksellers who participated in the promotion, which ran from mid-December to March 1, 2006, were eligible for the random drawing for the prize. Using the Curious George-wrapped disposable camera, which was sent to booksellers in a special Yellow Box mailing in early December, Mrs. Nelson's captured scenes at the 21-year-old store during its special George-driven events.

Tomorrow, Friday, April 7, is the deadline for nominations for the June Book Sense Picks list.

And there are two additional nomination deadlines this month:

Keri Holmes moved from Winterset, Iowa, and opened The Kaleidoscope in Hampton on March 1, 2006, for a number of good reasons: She thought that residents having to drive over two hours for a good selection of books was unfair; she had observed what a successful independent bookstore entailed, as well as what it meant to the citizens of Winterset; and her sister and niece, business owners in Hampton, were nagging her to join them.

For the eight-week period ending April 2, 2006, and based on reporting from hundreds of independent bookstores with Book Sense nationwide.

Past Category Bestseller lists are available at www.bookweb.org/read/5677.

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

Here is the full listing of the May 2006 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 May Picks fliers in the April Red Box. (The flier includes jacket images, bibliographic information, and bookseller quotes.)