Book Sense

This week Book Sense announces the 2004 Valentine's Day Top Ten. The list is produced in conjunction with the Association of American Publishers' (AAP) Get Caught Reading initiative. This is the first in a series of seasonal Top Ten lists that Book Sense and AAP will be creating this year based on the nominations of independent booksellers nationwide.

Book Sense sends many thanks to all the booksellers who took the time to send in nominations for the upcoming Reading Group 76, which is now in production. It's a fascinating list and would not have been possible without the widespread involvement of independent booksellers from coast to coast.

There are several key deadlines in January for upcoming lists.

Two deadlines are for Top Ten lists -- The Poetry Top Ten and The Spring History Top Ten, which will be compiled by Book Sense in association with The History Channel.

2004, the Year of Book Sense at Five, kicks off with a White Box brimming with useful point-of-purchase materials and lots of great reading for you to share with store staff from our ever-generous Publisher Partners. Here are some of the highlights:

Galleys, ARCs, and Finished Books:

Sara Nelson considers herself a maniacal reader -- you know, the sort of person who reads two to three books at once, thinks about books countless times each day, and is always being asked by friends and associates to recommend something good to read.

Many booksellers serve as patron saints of favorite authors, but Susan Wasson of Bookworks in Albuquerque, New Mexico, went beyond typical high-volume handselling with Kris Radish's Elegant Gathering of White Snows, a 2002 November/December Book Sense 76 pick.

To some, "stage magic" means a man in a sequined vest doing a series of cheap tricks one after another, to the accompaniment of fast and repetitive music.

There will be no issue of Bookselling This Week during the week of December 22; however, the Book Sense Bestseller List will be compiled and e-mailed to booksellers as usual on Tuesday, December 23. In addition, the list in PDF format will be posted to the Web at www.bookweb.org/booksense/bestsellers/ either late Tuesday or early Wednesday, December 24. Booksellers will receive an e-mail from ABA when posting of the Bestseller List to BookWeb is complete.

The electronic Book Sense Gift Card Program continues to get the thumbs up from booksellers, who reported high gift card sales and easy processing when they recently spoke to Bookselling This Week. Booksellers' experiences reflect a consumer trend reported in a recent National Retail Federation "Gift Card Survey," which found that the majority (69.9 percent) of consumers plan to buy gift cards this holiday, spending an average of $34.24 per card.

The following newspapers, magazines, and Web sites recently began featuring a national or regional Book Sense Bestseller List.

NEWSPAPERS

Tulsa World -- Tulsa, OK (Mid-South list)
The Buzz Arts and Music Guide -- Brownfield, ME (Northeast list)
The Islands' Weekly Newspaper -- Lopez Island, WA (Pacific Northwest list)
Salt Lake City Tribune -- Salt Lake City, UT (National list)

MAGAZINES

Open Spaces (Pacific Northwest list)

WEB