BTW News Briefs

2007 Great Lakes Book Award Winners

The Great Lakes Booksellers Association has announced the winners of its 2007 Great Lakes Book Awards.

This year's winners are:

• Fiction: Water for Elephants, Sara Gruen, Algonquin Books of Chapel Hill
• General: The Great Lakes Water Wars, Peter Annin, Island Press
• Children's: Dairy Queen, Catherine Gilbert Murdock, Houghton Mifflin Co.

The awards will be presented at a luncheon on Friday, September 28, during the Great Lakes Booksellers Association Fall Trade Show in Schaumburg, Illinois. Winners will receive $500 and an award designed and produced by Pewabic Pottery, a historic maker of art tiles, ceramics, and glazes, based in Detroit. Winning titles are also featured in the GLBA's holiday catalog, From Our Shelves to Yours: Books for Giving.

Readers' Books Named 2007 Sonoma Business of the Year

The Sonoma Valley Chamber of Commerce has named Readers' Books, owned by Lilla and Andy Weinberger, the 2007 Sonoma Business of the Year. Readers' Books was recognized for its "continued commitment to serve as a role model of business excellence... thoughtful support of many local non-profit organizations... [and for being an] invaluable resource for local schools, bringing authors to read for students and personally serving as judges for students' writing contests."

The letter of commendation from the chamber of commerce noted, "Readers' Books is not only an exceptional independent bookstore, it is a gathering place that celebrates intellect, diversity, and discussion."

Quail Ridge's Nancy Olson to Be Inducted Into Hall of Fame

Nancy Olson of Quail Ridge Books & Music in Raleigh, North Carolina, is being inducted into the Raleigh Hall of Fame "for her advocacy of locally owned businesses, her commitment to literacy programs and for putting Raleigh on the nation's literary map." The ceremony will be held September 13 at the Progress Energy Center for the Performing Arts, Meymandi Concert Hall. The event begins at 6:30 p.m. with a reception, followed by the induction ceremony at 7:30 p.m.

Olson will also be featured, with the three other 2007 Raleigh Hall of Fame inductees, on Raleigh Television Network. Two 30-minute segments, produced by the City's Public Affairs Department, are scheduled to air on Raleigh Television Network, Cable Channel 11, in the weeks leading up to the September 13 event. Segment one includes Olson.