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May 22, 2008
TO: Penguin Group (USA) Colleagues FROM: Marilyn Ducksworth, Dave Zimmer, Kristin Ilardi, Stephany Perez RE:
MAC users visit http://www.penguin.com/spotlightusa to read Spotlight on the web.
Penguin Group (USA) Authors Headline Events and Command the Spotlight at This Year's BEA in Los Angeles (to top)
Lewis Black, author of Me of Little Faith (Riverhead), will headline the BEA Saturday Night benefit event in front of an audience of 2,000 book expo attendees at the Orpheum Theatre. John Hodgman, author of More Information Than You Require (Dutton) will serve as the Master of Ceremonies of the Sunday morning Book & Author Breakfast. Markos Moulitsas Zuniga, author of Taking on the System: Rules for Radical Change in a Digital Era (Celebra) will speak at the Saturday Book & Author Luncheon, which focuses on political and social issues. And Riverhead's Khaled Hosseini will be honored at the Book Sense Celebration of Bookselling Reception, as he accepts the award for A Thousand Splendid Suns winning Book Sense Book of the Year. In addition, Hosseini will participate at the Book Sense Author Luncheon, which will also be attended by young readers authors Anna Dewdney, winner of the "Book Sense Honor" selection for Llama Llama Mad at Mama, Steve Kluger and Michael Reisman. Nami Mun will participate in the popular "Emerging Voices" panel, where she will read from her upcoming Riverhead title Miles from Nowhere. And Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen will host a private event for booksellers, in celebration of their upcoming Razorbill book, Influence. In addition, several people from Penguin Group (USA) will participate in various panel discussions over the course of the weekend. Megan Lynch, Senior Editor at Riverhead, will participate in the popular BEA Editors Buzz Forum, offering insights into Nami Mun's debut novel, Miles from Nowhere (Riverhead). Geoff Kloske, Vice President and Publisher, Riverhead Books, will be a featured speaker at BEA's Librarian Book Buzz "Meet the Publisher" Reception. Jeff Gomez, Senior Director, Online Consumer Sales and Marketing will moderate "Scaling the New Economies: In Search of Book Publishing's 2.0 Business Model," and Jo Lusby, General Manager of Penguin China will be included in a panel discussion on "Chinese Reading." Other highlights at this year's BEA include a presentation by Penguin Press' Clay Shirky, author of Here Comes Everybody; a keynote address for the African American Book Industry Professionals by Viking/Penguin's Terry McMillan, introductory remarks at the CBC Breakfast by Young Readers author Jon Scieszka, Putnam/Berkley's Kate Jacobs, featured at the AAP Librarian's Dinner, and James St. James, who will be honored at the 20th Annual LAMBDA Awards Ceremony when his book Freak Show is recognized as a finalist for the Young Adult and Debut Fiction award. Various other authors from Penguin Group (USA) will do book signings and appearances both in autographing areas and in the Penguin Group (USA) booth all weekend long.
Author John Lanchester Wins E.M. Forster Award (to top)
The American Academy of Arts and Letters was established in 1898 to "foster, assist, and sustain an interest in literature, music, and the fine arts." The literature prizes, over $200,000, honor both established and emerging writers of fiction, nonfiction, and poetry. The Academy's 250 members nominate candidates, and a rotating committee of writers selects winners. The E.M Forster Award, juried by Alison Lurie, J. D. McClatchy, Ian McEwan, provides $20,000 to a young writer from the United Kingdom or Ireland for a stay in the United States.
Dutton Children's Books Acquires Two Novels by Gayle Forman (to top) Julie Strauss-Gabel, Associate Editorial Director of Dutton Children's Books, has acquired If I Stay and a second novel by Gayle Forman in a hotly contested auction conducted by Sarah Burnes at The Gernert Company. A heart-achingly beautiful book that follows 17-year-old Mia in the twenty-four hours after a catastrophic accident, If I Stay will be Dutton and Penguin Young Readers Group's lead novel for Spring 2009. The Gernert Company reports that foreign rights have already been sold in five countries and deals are pending in three others. Gayle Forman is an award-winning author and journalist whose articles have appeared in many publications. She lives in Brooklyn with her family.
Six Tarcher/Penguin Titles Named Finalists for the 2008 COVR Awards (to top) Author David Cay Johnston Appears on "The View" (to top)
Penguin Book Giveaway: In The Woods (to top)
Be one of the first 10 people to contact kate.lloyd@us.penguingroup.com to receive your own copy.
Penguin Book Giveaway: God Is Dead (to top)
Be one of the first 10 people to email Shannon.twomey@us.penguingroup.com and win a free copy of God Is Dead.
New On The Penguin Website (to top)
Read the introduction to The Talk: What Your Kids Need to Hear From YOU About Sex, in our Parenting feature.
Next week, Gloria Copeland discusses her book, God's Master Plan for Your Life.
The New York Times Bestseller Highlights for the Week of June 1st (to top)
Here are more New York Times bestseller highlights for the week of June 1st: On the hardcover fiction list, Phantom Prey by John Sandford (G. P. Putnam's Sons) is #4 in its second week, while From Dead to Worse by Charlaine Harris (Ace) is #13 in its second week; and Hold Tight by Harlan Coben (Dutton) is at #16 in its fifth week. On the hardcover nonfiction list, The Chris Farley Show by Tom Farley Jr. and Tanner Colby (Viking) moves up to #14 in its second week. On the trade paperback fiction list, The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini (Riverhead) is #2 in its 167th week; The Friday Night Knitting Club by Kate Jacobs (Berkley) is #3 in its twentieth week; The Memory Keeper's Daughter by Kim Edwards (Penguin) is #7 in its 100th week; The Last Summer (Of You and Me) by Ann Brashares (Riverhead) rises to #10 in its second week; The Pillars of the Earth by Ken Follett (NAL) is #14 in its 27th week; and Love Walked In by Marisa de los Santos (Plume) is #19 in its twelfth week. On the mass market paperback fiction list, Invisible Prey by John Sandford (Berkley) is #3 in its fourth week; Shoot Him if He Runs by Stuart Woods (Signet) is #5 in its second week; The Woods by Harlan Coben (Signet) is #11 in its seventh week; Playing with Fire by Katie MacAlister (Signet) is #13 in its second week; The Double Agents by W.E.B. Griffin and William E. Butterworth IV (Jove) is #19 in its third week; and The Harlequin by Laurell K. Hamilton (Jove) is #20, also in its third week. On the paperback nonfiction list, Eat, Pray, Love by Elizabeth Gilbert (Penguin) is #2 in its 69th week; The Omnivore's Dilemma by Michael Pollan (Penguin) is #10 in its 38th week; Such a Pretty Fat by Jen Lancaster (NAL) moves up to #14 in its second week; and I Was Told There'd Be Cake by Sloane Crosley (Riverhead) returns to the list at #20 in its sixth week. On the paperback advice, how-to and miscellaneous list, Getting Things Done by David Allen (Penguin) is #7 in its 26th week. In the young readers sector, Ladybug Girl is #6 on the children's picture book list in its ninth week and on the children's paperback list, Just Listen by Sarah Dessen (Speak) is #8 in its twelfth week. On the children's chapter books list, Lock and Key by Sarah Dessen (Viking) holds at #3 in its fourth week, while Ranger's Apprentice by John Flanagan (Philomel, hardcover and paperback) is #7 in its 21st week on the children's series list.
New Next Week (to top) Blood Noir by Laurell K. Hamilton (Berkley, 5/27)
Fateful Choices by Ian Kershaw (Penguin, 5/27)
Kershaw tells the connected stories of these decisions from the shifting perspective of the protagonists to remind us that the course of the war was not predetermined: things could have turned out very differently if Great Britain decided to negotiate with Hitler in June 1940 or if Japan had not made the momentous decision to attack the United States. Exploring the distinct personalities at play, the climate in which each decision was made, what intelligence (right and wrong) the nations possessed, and what options the leaders faced from their own point of view, Fateful Choices casts a brilliant new light on the lasting consequences of command decisions made during wartime. Rich with fascinating details and fresh analysis, Fateful Choices is not only an important addition to the historical record but one that has haunting contemporary relevance. Great Books for Boys (Penguin, 5/27)
Adventure stimulates the mind and soul; inspiring us to take chances in life that we never dreamed possible. It brings out that side of us we never knew we had but always secretly wished was there. In Penguin's most thrilling series yet to go on-sale this week, Great Books for Boys, the collected books capture the fantasies of extraordinary adventure and epic bravery that will titillate the imaginations of all, perhaps offering a little nudge into an unexpected escapade. The six titles in the Penguin Great Books for Boys collection celebrate the adventurer within every boy. From the travel lust conjured by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle in The Lost World and H. Rider Haggard in She to the danger and suspense invoked by G. K. Chesterton's The Man Who Was Thursday and Erskine Childers' The Riddle of the Sands, these books satiate every adventurous whim. Even the politics of war and power are seen through the dramatic lens of the daring books The Thirty-Nine Steps by John Buchan and The Prisoner of Zenda by Anthony Hope. Great Books for Boys hold within their vintage, nostalgic covers, timeless stories of excitement and fantasy. This series is sure to nurture the adventurous spirit in everyone with tales of shipwreck, murder, espionage, and survival. We hope this Penguin Originals series will entice the adventurous appetites of readers of all ages. This Night's Foul Work by Fred Vargas (Penguin, 5/27)
Body of Work by Christine Montross (Penguin, 5/27)
Church of the Dog by Kaya McLaren (Penguin, 5/27)
The First Word by Christine Kenneally (Penguin, 5/27)
Author Kenneally will be getting the word out by doing interviews on a podcast with Scientific American.com, Talk Radio Network's "Science Fanatic," and on a radio satellite tour on June 5 that includes WDIS-AM in Boston, WLRN-AM in Miami, WEOL-AM in Cleveland, and WBEM-FM in Minneapolis.
We welcome your comments, ideas and contributions! Please email Corporate Communications at spotlight@us.penguingroup.com
© 2008 Penguin Group (USA)
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BookExpo America 2008, which takes place next weekend (May 29 — June 1) in Los Angeles, once again features a number of Penguin Group (USA) authors and executives in major events and headline performances.
Marian Wood/Putnam author John Lanchester accepted the E.M. Forster Award from the American Academy of Arts and Letters, on Wednesday, May 21st. John Lanchester, author of Family Romance, Fragrant Harbor, and Mr. Phillips, is one of Britain's most inventive and intelligent writers, a master of both comedy and tragedy.
Published to great fanfare last year by Viking, In The Woods by Tana French — a New York Times bestseller and winner of the Edgar Award for Best First Novel — is a gorgeously written book that marks the debut of a gripping new voice in psychological suspense and is sure to enthrall fans of forensic police procedural thrillers. Now Penguin has published it in paperback — just in time for summer and perfect for beach reading, the book goes on-sale May 27th. In the words of Marilyn Stasio, "Tana French promises two whodunits for the price of one in her harrowing first novel. Drawn by the grim nature of her plot and the lyrical ferocity of her writing, even smart people who should know better will be able to lose themselves in these dark woods." In conjunction with Viking's publication of The Likeness — the follow-up to In the Woods — Tana French will be touring this summer to eleven cities.
Last month, Ron Currie Jr. was honored with the New York Public Library Young Lions Award for fiction for his debut novel, God Is Dead. Out in paperback next week, God Is Dead was one of last year's most well reviewed books, even garnering a "Notable Book of 2007" from The San Francisco Chronicle. The Believer says of God Is Dead, "although there's genuine sadness throughout, God Is Dead is very likely the most entertaining book ever written on the subject of deicide." In his searing, critically acclaimed debut novel, Ron Currie Jr. explores the social and cultural ramifications of the world as civilization learns that not only did God most certainly exist, but he has died in the desert of Darfur. Faced with the hard proof that there is no longer a supreme being, society falls into a tailspin: Clergymen throw themselves off of bridges; high school buddies forge a suicide pact; parents turn to worshipping their children as a replacement for God, and parents, for the "lack of anything to do on Sundays," worship their own children. And all this is before the war starts. With each page of this remarkable book, Ron Currie Jr. reveals another facet of his skewed but oddly recognizable world, presenting thought-provoking ideas with a light touch and an accessible voice, striking a careful balance between humor, outlandishness and a serious look at the big questions of morality, ethics and human weakness. Dark, edgy, riveting, God Is Dead is a unique and brilliant debut.
You can still tune into 
For the week of June 1st, Comanche Moon by Catherine Anderson debuts at #16 on the mass-market fiction list. In addition, Penguin Group (USA) has three titles in #1 positions: The Hollow by Nora Roberts (Jove) holds at #1 in its second week on the mass-market list; Three Cups of Tea by Greg Mortenson and David Oliver Relin (Penguin) returns to #1 on the paperback nonfiction list in its 68th week; and A New Earth by Eckhart Tolle (Plume) maintains its #1 position on the paperback advice, how-to and miscellaneous list for sixteen consecutive weeks.
#1 New York Times bestselling author Laurell K. Hamilton returns next week with Blood Noir, the sixteenth installment in her Anita Blake, Vampire Hunter series. Jason, Anita's good friend and sometimes lover, asks her to help him say goodbye to his dying father, but Marmee Noir, the ancient mother of all vampires, decides to attack Anita that same weekend. Now, Anita will have to summon all of her powers to survive the weekend. Laurell K. Hamilton will be promoting Blood Noir at signings in St. Louis, Ann Arbor, and Phoenix.
World War II recast the 20th century in ways that are still felt today. Amazingly, as distinguished historian Ian Kershaw puts forth in his fascinating latest book, the course and outcome of the war was shaped largely by a number of decisions made within a mere nineteen months. Now available for the first time in paperback, Fateful Choices: Ten Decisions that Changed the World, 1940 — 1941 examines the series of related decisions made by leaders of the world's major powers — Hitler, Churchill, Roosevelt, Stalin, Mussolini, and Tojo — that transformed two wars on separate continents into one truly global conflagration, costs the lives of millions, and reshaped the course of human destiny from that point forward.
Boys are mysterious creatures, with rich imaginations and inner lives at which most can only guess...
Fred Vargas has been called "the supreme exponent" of modern French crime fiction (The Independent of London). A phenomenal #1 bestselling author in France, she was twice awarded the International Dagger by the Crime Writers' Association. Vargas' latest mystery, This Night's Foul Work, is another gripping installment in the internationally acclaimed Commissaire Adamsberg series that Marilyn Stasio of the New York Times Book Review called "insanely imaginative."
Now available in paperback, Body of Work: Meditations on Mortality From the Human Anatomy Lab by Christine Montross is the story of Montross and Eve, the student and the subject, and the surprising relationship that grew between them as their year together progressed. The New York Times Book Review calls it a "gleaming, humane" look at the day-to-day life of a medical student. Body of Work provides a captivating blend of beautifully expressed narrative, the intriguing historical background of cadaver dissection, and the science of a medical education. Christine Montross — a published poet — accomplishes something one would never expect from someone standing in a room full of cadavers. She renders these bodies and her experience with them eerily beautiful.
Church of the Dog is set deep in Oregon farm country over the course of a year full of change and growth for one family. Edith and Earl McRae are looking down the barrel of yet another golden anniversary with none of the joy such a milestone should hold. Instead, they are stuck in a past that holds them to heartbreak and tragedies and keeps them from cherishing their wonderful lives together. Kaya McLaren lives and teaches elementary school art on the east slope of Snoqualmie Pass in Washington State. She will be heading out on tour starting June 23rd in Dayton followed by events in Milwaukee, Oconomowoc, Wayzata, San Francisco, Houston, Seattle and Portland.
In The First Word: The Search for the Origins of Language, author Christine Kenneally asks the question, why does language evolution matter and what does it tell us about ourselves? This still mysterious phenomenon, the natural history of language, had only begun to be tackled by a few brave linguists within the past 15 years. This is the first popular book on a compelling, controversial, and relatively new area of science, and Penguin is pleased to announce its trade paperback debut in June.