Genre Fiction

I spent my entire day today at the American Vegan Society’s Garden Party. There was veg food, live music, new friends - and a few old ones too, speakers, coupons, and the part that took up the most of my time: a book room.

The Vegan Society’s book room is just a rinky dink, narrow building with two rooms lined with tall metal shelves, each filled with vegan health, nutrition, animal rights, poem, and recipe books, and much more too. But it was heaven to me! With a copy of the New York Times’ best-selling book When Elephants Weep by Jeffrey Moussaieff Masson already on route to me from Paperback Swap I passed that one by. But I still had another three dozen books that I wanted to buy! Making a decision was hard, but I narrowed it down to three (plus a dozen old Vegetarian Times and Natural Health magazines and a few other free pamphlets):

* Raw Food Made Easy for 1 or 2 People by Jennifer Cornbleet, a beginner raw foods prep book that gives a lot of very basic ideas and concepts as well as some more creative creations using the basics.

* The Tofu Cookbook by Leah Leneman, a collection of over 150 meals, desserts, drinks, and more that you can make using the soy veg staple.

* Quantum Wellness: A Practical and Spiritual Guide to Health and Happiness by Kathy Freston, the highly talked and raved about health guide that was featured on both Oprah Winfrey’s and Ellen DeGeneres’ daytime talk show.

It’s been awhile since we’ve heard anything from the Sookie Stackhouse True Blood novel and television empire. So lest we forget about the popular books by Charlaine Harris turned HBO series starring Anna Paquin, Borders is hyping up the May 5 release of the newest book in the series, Dead and Gone, and the May 19 release of True Blood on DVD and Blu-ray.

Starting today, May 4, exclusively at Borders True Blood site, in collaboration with Penguin Publishing, Sookie’s fans - both readers and viewers - can get their fix online by enjoying video and author content including:

* Behind-the-scenes footage: A sneak peek at the making of the TV series, including interviews with the director and actors.

* Character pieces: Video vignettes on characters including Sookie, Bill, Sam, Tara, Jason, and Lafayette.

* Series trailer: Exciting highlights of scenes from the first season.

* Chapter excerpt: An excerpt of Harris’ highly anticipated new release, chosen by the author.

* Q&A with Harris

* Author essay: “Sookie and Me and HBO,” an essay exploring Harris’ thoughts on HBO’s adaptation of her books.

* Not-yet-published book covers: An advance look at yet-to-be released book covers for Harris’ other Sookie Stackhouse novels: Living Dead in Dallas, Club Dead, Dead to the World, Dead as a Doornail, and All Together Dead.

Chicago fans will get an extra special True Blood fix when Harris stops by the Chicagoland market at Borders in Oak Brook, Illinois, on July 13 to greet her fans and sign copies of Dead and Gone.

Season two of True Blood premieres on HBO on June 14.

Michael Turner, librarian and head of conservation at Oxford’s Bodleian Library, was sorting through the archives of book-trade ephemera that had been bought by the Bodleian in 1892 when he came across an huge discovery: He found the book jacket shown here, which is the oldest known book dust jacket, dating from 1830.

In the 19th century, book jackets were more wrapper like than today’s versions. This was wrapped around a book, Friendship’s Offering, which has been separated from the jacket, to protect its silk binding. The two red stains that you can see in this picture are from a wax seal that was used to hold the wrapper around the book in a classy gift wrapping manner.

“These books were like gift books, often bound very nicely and probably in silk,” Clive Hurst, the Bodleian’s head of rare books and printed ephemera, told the UK’s Guardian. “Silk bindings are very vulnerable to wear and tear and handling so bookselllers would keep them in these wrappers to protect the silk binding underneath. When you bought the book you would take the wrapper off and put it on your shelves, which is presumably why so few of these covers have survived.”

Later in the 1800s, bookbinding became more durable. Publishers also began to realize that the outside cover was the ideal time to capture the consumer’s attention. They began using more vibrant colors and images, and started including more detailed descriptions, full titles, and the author’s information.

Friendship’s Offering was published annually for many years in the 1800s as an anthology of work by famous writers of the time.

To celebrate the June 23 release of Finger Lickin’ Fifteen, Janet Evanovich’s newest Stephanie Plum novel, Borders is asking fans to get creative in honor of their favorite lingerie-buyer-turned-bail-bondsman character by creating a short, homemade movie based on the book series and sharing it on YouTube. Interview one of the characters, reenact one of your favorite scenes, write a new scene for what should happen next, or anything you can think to do that relates to Plum’s stories.

Find inspiration by checking out Borders’ own Plum-inspired movie - complete with exploding cars. The example movie also includes an exclusive message from Evanovich and stars Borders employees that are also Stephanie Plum fans.

Once you plan, film, and post your own fan movie, send the link to evanovich@borders.com and Borders might share your with millions of other fans online!

It’s time for your young ones to party it up and have a Spring Fling - Borders and Waldenbooks style.

The two book store chains, both of which are owned by Borders Group, will host “Spring Fling” parties for kids and their families April 11 at 2 p.m. in stores nationwide. Kids of all ages are invited to come decked out in their Easter finest to enjoy arts and crafts, storytime, singing and dancing, and a parade. During the events, Seattle’s Best Coffee cafes - located in most Borders superstores - will be offering free samples of beverages and baked goods including handmade soda, hot chocolate, and blackberry creme latte.

After the event, parents are encourage to upload any photos taken during the “Spring Fling” to Borders’ Facebook page.

Click on the invite image to find a store party near you.

This morning I arrived at the train station about ten minutes before my train was scheduled to leave. Unfortunately, Philly rarely seems to actually follow a schedule, especially on weekends. And so I found myself with half an hour to waste in 30th Street Station.

After grabbing some freshly squeezed juice, I decided to walk around the over-priced book store. I browsed the classics, Oprah’s Book Club, and quickly darted past the erotica and gay erotica sections. Then I checked out the new releases and best sellers, and found one that has really captured my interest: The Forgery of Venus by Michael Gruber.

Gruber is the best-selling author of The Book of Air and Shadows, and this is his sixth novel. According to Publishers Weekly, this book follows “Chaz Wilmot, who makes a modest living as a commercial artist in New York City, … [as he] gets sucked into an increasingly bizarre world where his own identity is confused and the art he produces may be a forgery but is genuinely magnificent. Is Wilmot crazy or is he being manipulated in a grandiose scheme linked to unrecovered art stolen by the Nazis?”

It sounds to me like Sarah Dunant’s historical fiction meets Dan Brown’s Da Vinci Code’s artistic mystery. It sound to me like just my type of story!

Today I stopped in two different Borders stores - one was a large, three-story store, and the other was a Borders Express mini store. Both had weekend specials to help clear out some of their already marked down books. The full store was offering a “buy two, get one free.” The Express store, “buy four, get one free.” Both good deals when you take into consideration the prices of these sale books: from $2.99 to $7.99.

I can’t guarantee what your local Borders book store while be offering, but I am sure it will be a good deal! In-store deals are not mentioned online, as they vary by location, so you’ll have to call or stop by. And even if there isn’t a bargain book “get one free” deal going on you still win: a trip to a bookstore is never a bad trip!

I spy with my reading eye a copycat book cover.

As seen on Totally Looks Like, a picture-based site in the I Can Has Cheezburger network that allows users to visually point out look-a-like celebrities, animals, products, and more, the recognizable apple-in-the-hands Twilight cover art is suspiciously similar to that of Words to Live By: A Guide for the Merely Christian by C. S. Lewis.

On the left is Lewis’s book, which was published in 2007. Stephenie Meyer’s book, on the right, was published in 2006. So who copied whom? With such close publication dates, it is very likely that neither saw the other until after the fact. But if it weren’t for Meyer’s coming out first, I’d blame Twilight for being a copy as the series’s creative doesn’t have the best track record for being original: designer Nina Ricci sued Twilight for duplicating her perfume bottle design.

I decided to have some fun playing around with Amazon.com’s recommendation function to find some new books to read today. Whenever you look up a book on the site, they tell you what else people who have bought that book were interested in. The first book I looked up was one of my all-time favorites, The Time Traveler’s Wife (for which the movie still does not have a release date, although screen shots have been appearing such as the one shown here). It appears as if Amazon’s suggestions are pretty spot on because the first few it named were ones I have also read and loved: Water for Elephants, The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time, and The Secret Life of Bees.

Here are some suggestions from Amazon that I haven’t read yet. So, if you like this, Amazon thinks you will also like this:

* The Time Traveler’s Wife by Audrey Niffenegger … The Thirteenth Tale by Diane Setterfield and The Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafón

* Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen … Addition by Toni Jordan and March by Geraldine Brooks

* Snow Flower and the Secret Fan by Lisa See … Loving Frank by Nancy Horan and The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Ann Shaffer

* Running with Scissors by Augusten Burroughs … I Was Told There’d Be Cake by Sloane Crosley and The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls

* The Memory Keeper’s Daughter by Kim Edwards … The Year of Fog by Michelle Richmond and Suite Francaise by Irene Nemirovsky

* Burning Bright by Tracy Chevalier … Body Surfing by Anita Shreve and Luncheon of the Boating Party by Susan Vreeland

Several of these suggestions appeared with multiple ones that I looked up. Have you read any of them? Would you recommend them?

I have certainly cut back on my spending on books, only buying used ones or trading them online. It seems lots of people are cutting back on book shopping in this down turned economy: Borders is “consolidating.”

Six vice president and ten director positions were eliminated this week from corporate Borders. Most of the positions were based out of the company’s headquarters in Ann Arbor, Michigan. Those cut were newer hires, joining the Borders’ team in 2007. While those that will sticking around and doubling up on responsibility have been with the book store company for upwards of 15 years.

“As we address the immediate priority of getting our company’s financial house in order, one of our goals is to more aggressively reduce annual expenses,” said Borders Group Chief Executive Officer Ron Marshall. “It is difficult to make the decision to eliminate jobs, especially those of talented and dedicated leaders who have significantly contributed to our organization, yet streamlining our leadership and eliminating management layers will help us be more agile and at the same time advance us toward our expense reduction goals.”

On the Borders’ Web site, there is a feature called Guest Shortlist where a famous author or artist - essentially, someone who has work for sale at Borders - selects five items. Their list can include movies, books, music, and more. Here are some of the fiction novels that people have mentioned in their top five picks:

* President Barack Obama, who, in addition to writing his own inaugural speech, wrote The Audacity of Hope: Thoughts on Reclaiming the American Dream, chose Gilead by Marilynne Robinson at one of his picks.

* Author Stephen King selected novels for all five of his suggestions. He likes Angelica by Arthur Phillips, Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen, The Yiddish Policemen’s Union by Michael Chabon, The Store by Bentley Little, and The Poet by Michael Connelly.

* Singer, musician, and occasional actress Norah Jones is a fan of The Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingsolver.

* Writer Nick Hornby said that The Giant’s House by Elizabeth McCracken is “one of the sweetest, saddest and most beautiful debut novels ever written.”

* Maeve Binchy, author of Whitethorn Woods, highlighted Girl With a Pearl Earring by Tracy Chevalier, saying that readers will “think about it months and years after you read it.”

* The Last Lecture’s Randy Pausch related to Flowers for Algernon by Daniel Keyes when he was diagnosed with terminal pancreatic cancer.

* The War Within: A Secret White House History 2006-2008 writer Bob Woodward enjoys Middlemarch by George Eliot and Crossing to Safety by Wallace Stegner.

* Curtis Sittenfeld, author of American Wife: A Novel, recommends Truth & Beauty by Ann Patchett and When We Get There by Shauna Seliy.

Authors were hard at work pumping out new fiction last year, but some of them held their new releases just one more day to make their read a 2009 book. Strategy? Perhaps.

On January 1, 2009, these were some of the new books that hit shelves:

* Glitter Baby by Susan Elizabeth Phillips.

* The Middle Place, a memoir by Kelly Corrigan.

* A double love story by the writing machine Debbie Macomber titled Married In Seattle: First Comes Marriage\Wanted: Perfect Partner.

* Secret Fantasy by Carly Phillips.

* At Grave’s End, book three in the Night Huntress series by Jeaniene Frost.

* Final Justice: Sisterhood Series number five (The Sisterhood: Rules of the Game) by Fern Michaels.

* Agincourt: A Novel by Bernard Cornwell.

* The Witch’s Grave, number five in the Ophelia & Abby Mysteries by Shirley Damsgaard.

Other authors have books scheduled and ready to go later in the month of January, including:

* The Associate by John Grisham is set to come out on January 27.

* Also due out on the 27th is Mistress of the Monarchy: The Life of Katherine Swynford, Duchess of Lancaster, an historical biography by Alison Weir.

* On the 6th, Plum Spooky (A Between-the-Numbers Novel) by Janet Evanovich.

* Yet another teen vampire novel - Lord of Misrule, book five in the Morganville Vampires series by Rachel Caine - is scheduled for January 6.

* The 6th is also bringing one that caught my eye based solely on the number of authors: Mean Streets by Jim Butcher, Kat Richardson, Simon R. Green, and Thomas E. Sniegoski.

Find out more January releases and follow book releases month-by-month at the Amazon-affiliated New Release Books.

For Christmas, my mom gave me a bookstore experience: lunch and $20 to spend at my favorite used book store, downtown Newark, Delaware. I only spent $12, but I got four books that I am excited to read.

1. The Secrets of a Fire King by Kim Edwards. I’ve already read and loved the author’s other book - The Memory Keeper’s Daughter- which became a New York Times bestseller and a made-for-TV, Lifetime Original movie. This one is a collection of short, related stories about society’s misfits that she published in 1997, nine years before Memory Keeper.

2. A Spot of Bother by Mark Haddon. Likewise, Haddon is an author that I am familiar with. He’s written several children’s books, and one poetry collection - none of which I’ve read - but in 2003 he broke into adult fiction with The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time. His second novel came out in 2006 and is similar to Curious Incident in that both are written from the point of view of a person dealing with mental illness.

3. Riding Lessons by Sara Gruen. Again, Gruen previously caught my attention with Water for Elephants, her third novel about animals. Riding Lessons was Gruen’s first book and was followed by a sequel, Flying Changes.

4. Wickett’s Remedy by Myla Goldberg. For this selection, I broke the trend and picked out a new author to taste. Goldberg wrote Bee Season, which was made into a big-screen film, but I haven’t read it. The novel - being a historic fiction story, with a beautiful cover on a hardback in perfect condition - naturally sparked my interest.

Now I just have to finish reading Sarah Dunant’s In the Company of the Courtesan so I can start one of my new books!

I had fun, but very different and interesting, trip to Barnes & Noble this weekend.

As I entered, I was greeted by a friendly mutt with the face of a Greyhound and the tail end of a collie. Frankie turned out to be an incredibly friendly - and well-behaved - rescue dog who was at the store supporting his shy friend Violet. Violet was a young beagle who had just been released from an animal testing facility. Violet had been destined to have a kidney removed and numerous experiments performed on her to study how she survived with only one kidney. However, Vi got a skin rash and was disqualified from the study. The lucky dog’s rash cleared up after she was rescued, and has never returned.

The dogs were at the bookstore representing two local beagle rescue groups - B.R.E.W. and Cascade. Reps from the groups were offering free gift wrapping, and seemed to be receiving a substantial amount of donations.

Next to the pups was Joe Kulka, a local children’s book author and illustrator. I stopped to say hello and look at his books. I picked up Wolf’s Coming!, despite the mean-looking wolf on the cover. I began reading. The first several pages feature all kinds of animals shouting “run,” “hide,” “Wolf’s coming!” I was prepared to lecture Mr. Kulka … until I turned another page: the animals were running and hiding because they had a surprise party planned for Wolf.

The book is wonderful. Buy it for all the kids in your life … and do it at Barnes & Noble, because you never know what you might see while you’re there!

The holiday season is upon us: Christmas tree lots have sprung up around every corner. Radio stations have begun playing Christmas music non-stop. Elf, How the Grinch Stole Christmas, and The Santa Clause are showing on at least one TV channel at any given moment. And bookstore windows are donning themed children’s reads such as Olive, the Other Reindeer, The Night Before Christmas, and A Very Marley Christmas, featuring Marley the dog of Marley and Me fame.

But how about the adult readers? And, yes, I do slightly mean that in the sleazy “adult” way.

Harlequin romance novel fans can enjoy a 40 percent discount on all holiday-themed books at eHarlequin.com. For most, this means a $2 or $3 price tag instead of the hefty $4 to $5.

Interest not sparked by titles such as Do Not Disturb Until Christmas, Wanted: Christmas Mommy, and Who Needs Mistletoe? You’re in luck - the selection of books goes beyond romance novels, as well, covering all aspects of stereotypical guilty pleasures for women. There are a few Christmas ones by Debbie Macomber and Nora Roberts hiding in there, and the site also sells Red Dress Ink books, which are my guilty chick lit favorites.

eHarlequin is also celebrating the season with its annual 12 Deals of Christmas. Each day, from December 1 through 12, the Web site will offer a different discount code for a different sale, good for only 24 hours. The deal for today, December 3, is 50 percent off all ebooks by entering “HALFOFF” at checkout, valid until midnight Eastern time.

Happy holiday reading … and saving!