Penguin Group (USA) Weekly Update - 6/16:

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Penguin Group (USA) Achieves Industry-Best 17th #1 New York Times Bestseller with Signet's Lover Enshrined by J.R. Ward, Her First #1 New York Times Bestseller, One of Six House Debuts on This Week's NYT Bestseller Lists

J.R. Ward's first-ever #1 New York Times bestseller, the new mass market Signet title, Lover Enshrined, represents Penguin Group (USA)'s industry-leading 17th #1 New York Times bestseller in 2008 - one more than our 2007 full-year total of 16 #1 New York Times bestsellers.

Ward's Black Dagger Brotherhood books have quickly become national bestsellers and reader favorites across genres, appealing to fans of both romance and urban fantasy. The first book in the series, Dark Lover, was published by Signet in 2005. The following year, Lover Awakened, the third book in the series, marked Ward's first appearance on The New York Times bestseller list. Books four and five both debuted at #2 on the list. Now, the latest Black Dagger Brotherhood installment, Lover Enshrined hits the top of the mass market fiction list. Congratulations to everyone who has contributed to this great success story!

Five other Penguin Group (USA) titles debuted on The New York Times bestseller lists for the week of June 22nd: Plague Ship by Clive Cussler (G. P. Putnam's Sons) at #3 on the hardcover fiction list and Death and Honor by W.E.B. Griffin and William E. Butterworth IV (G. P. Putnam's Sons) at #9 on the same list. On the hardcover nonfiction list, Me of Little Faith by Lewis Black (Riverhead) come in at # 9. On the mass market fiction list, Spare Change by Robert B. Parker (G.P. Putnam's Sons) entered at #20. On the hardcover advice, how-to and miscellaneous list, Letters to a Young Sister by Hill Harper (Gotham) debuted at #5.

Perigee and Riverhead Authors Win 2008 James Beard Awards

The warm weather has done nothing to water down the veritable cocktail of good news for Perigee's Imbibe: From Absinthe Cocktail to Whiskey Smash, A Salute in Stories and Drinks to "Professor" Jerry Thomas, Pioneer of the American Bar, by David Wondrich. At this past weekend's 2008 James Beard Awards ceremony, Wondrich's instant-classic drinks tome took home the prize for best book in the Wine & Spirits category - the first Perigee title to claim the culinary world's highest honor. To add to this accolade, Imbibe's exquisite cover art and designer Ben Gibson will also be featured in Print Magazine's upcoming 2008 design annual. Hear hear!

Another winner for the night was Pulitzer Prize-winning Riverhead author Junot Díaz (The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao), who won the M.F.K. Fisher Distinguished Writing Award for his essay "He'll Take El Alto," featured in the September 2007 issue of Gourmet magazine.

Viking/ Penguin Author Wins 2008 Daniel M. & Marilyn W. Laney Book Prize

Nelson D. Lankford has won the Thirteenth Annual Daniel M. & Marilyn W. Laney Book Prize for his important new work, Cry Havoc! The Crooked Road to Civil War, 1861, published by Viking/Penguin.

The Daniel M. & Marilyn W. Laney Prize is presented each year by the Austin Civil War Round Table, Inc. to the author of the book that best advances the knowledge of the Civil War's military or political events and the Americans who took part in those events. The award has a cash prize of $2,000.

When not writing books or picking up awards, Lankford is the editor of the Virginia Magazine of History and Biography, a publication of the Virginia Historical Society.

The New York Times Bestseller Highlights for the Week of June 22nd

Penguin Group (USA) has six new debuts on The New York Times bestseller list for the week of June 22nd: Plague Ship by Clive Cussler (G. P. Putnam's Sons) debuts at #3 on the hardcover fiction list and Death and Honor by W.E.B. Griffin and William E. Butterworth IV (G. P. Putnam's Sons) debuts at #9 on the same list. On the hardcover nonfiction list, Me Of Little Faith by Lewis Black (Riverhead) debuts at # 9. Lover Enshrined by J.R. Ward (Signet) debuts at #1 on the mass-market fiction list; and Spare Change by Robert B. Parker (G.P. Putnam's Sons) debuts at #20 on the same list. On the hardcover advice, how-to and miscellaneous list, Letters to a Young Sister by Hill Harper (Gotham) debuts at #5.

Here are more New York Times bestseller highlights for the week of June 22nd:

On the hardcover fiction list, Blood Noir by Laurell K. Hamilton (Berkley) is #5 in its second week; Phantom Prey by John Sandford (G. P. Putnam's Sons) is #12 in its fifth week; and The Front by Patricia Cornwell (G. P. Putnam's Sons) is #14 in its third week.

On the hardcover nonfiction list, Always by My Side by Jim Nantz (Gotham) is #7 in its third week, while My Stroke of Insight by Jill Bolte Taylor (Viking) is #14 in its third week.

On the trade paperback fiction list, The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini (Riverhead) is #3 in its 170th week; The Friday Night Knitting Club by Kate Jacobs (Berkley) is #4 in its 23rd week; The Pillars of the Earth by Ken Follett (NAL) is #5 in its 30th week; The Memory Keeper's Daughter by Kim Edwards (Penguin) stays at #7 in its 103rd week; In the Woods by Tana French (Penguin) climbs to # 8 in its second week; The Last Summer (Of You and Me) by Ann Brashares (Riverhead) is #13 in its fifth week; Second Chance by Jane Green (Plume) comes in at #17 in its second week; and Love Walked In by Marisa de los Santos (Plume) is #19 in its sixteenth week.

On the mass market paperback fiction list, High Noon by Nora Roberts (Jove) stays at #3 in its second week, The Hollow by Nora Roberts (Jove) is #5 in its fifth week; Invisible Prey by John Sandford (Berkley) rises to #13 in its seventh week; and Shoot Him If He Runs returns to the list at #18 in its fourth week.

On the paperback nonfiction list, Three Cups of Tea by Greg Mortenson and David Oliver Relin (Penguin) holds at #1 on the paperback nonfiction list in its 71st week; Eat, Pray, Love by Elizabeth Gilbert (Penguin) is #3 in its 72nd week; The Omnivore's Dilemma by Michael Pollan (Penguin) is #12 in its 41st week; I Was Told There'd Be Cake by Sloane Crosley (Riverhead) is #14 in its ninth week; A Whole New Mind by Daniel Pink (Riverhead) is #18 in its eighteenth week; and Such a Pretty Fat by Jen Lancaster (NAL) is #20 in its fifth week.

On the paperback advice, how-to and miscellaneous list, A New Earth by Eckhart Tolle (Plume) maintains its #1 position for its nineteenth consecutive weeks.

In the young readers sector, Ladybug Girl is #9 on the children's picture book list in its twelfth week. On the children's chapter books list, Lock and Key by Sarah Dessen (Viking) stays at #4 in its seventh week and on the children's series list, Ranger's Apprentice by John Flanagan (Philomel) returns to the list at #10 in its twenty-third week.

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