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Tried by War Is Named Co-Winner of 2009 Lincoln Prize
Tried by War: Abraham Lincoln as Commander in Chief by James M. McPherson (The Penguin Press) has been named a co-winner for this year’s Lincoln Prize. The announcement of the Lincoln Prize winners for the year’s best books on Abraham Lincoln and the Civil War was made by the Lincoln & Soldiers Institute at Gettysburg College, which administers the awards.
The judging committee commented: “The two books honored with this year’s Lincoln Prize not only recount these important American stories with style and authority; they offer what should stand as the final words on the subject of Lincoln as commander-in-chief of the army and navy—a fighting force that not only won a war, but preserved the Union, and helped restore it without the stain of slavery.”
McPherson who previously earned the Lincoln Prize in 1998, will receive this year’s Lincoln Prize at a formal awards dinner at the Union League of New York on Tuesday, April 7. Each of the two winners will receive a $25,000 cash award along with a bronze cast of Augustus St. Gaudens’ portrait sculpture of Abraham Lincoln. "
Two Audio Books from Penguin Group (USA) Are Nominated for 2009 Audie Awards
Two Penguin Audio titles have been named nominees for the 2009 Audies competition, announced by the The Audio Publishers Association (APA). Me of Little Faith by Lewis Black, Narrated by Lewis Black is a finalist in the Humor category; and Armageddon in Retrospect, by Kurt Vonnegut, Narrated by Rip Torn and Michael Vonnegut is a finalist in the Short Stories/Collections category.
The Audies are the only awards program in the United States devoted entirely to honoring spoken word entertainment drew in a record 1,000 entries from audio publishers this year, reflecting the health of the audio industry.
The winners will be announced at the Audies gala on May 29, 2009 at the New York Historical Society in New York City.
Penguin Enriched eBook Classics Celebrates Black History Month with Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, An American Slave
This week, Penguin released another enriched eBook classic: Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave. Just in time for Black History month and the bicentennial year of Abraham Lincoln’s birth, the enriched classic will feature, among other things, added materials including a chronology; nineteenth-century book reviews and responses; further reading; sorrow songs and sheet music; Douglass sites to visit; portraits and illustrations.
Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass powerfully details the life of the famous abolitionist and orator Frederick Douglass from his birth into slavery in 1818 to his escape to the North in 1838. It is generally held to be the most famous of a number of slave narratives written during that same period and credited with being one of the most influential pieces of literature to fuel the abolitionist movement of the early nineteenth century in the United States. In eleven chapters Douglass recounts his life as a slave and his ambition to become a free man. Originally published in 1845, within four months of publication, five thousand copies were sold and by 1860, almost thirty thousand copies were sold.
For more Enriched eBooks Classics, click here.
Steve Lopez’ The Soloist Selected for First Year Experience/ Community Read in Three Cities
The Soloist by Steve Lopez (Berkley) has been selected for Montana State University’s common reading program for Fall 2009. The book will also be used as the surrounding town’s “community read” title, to be read in conjunction with the university’s program. Last year this school chose Three Cups of Tea.
California State University Northridge has also selected The Soloist as their Freshmen read for 2009. The school requires the entire Freshmen class to purchase the book as a required text, and staff and administrators are also encouraged to read the book. You can check out the website devoted to their Common Read here.
Finally, the Los Angeles City College Book Program sponsors a one college/one book program each academic year and it has chosen The Soloist as the selection for 2009-2010. The LACC Book Program started in 2002 to promote a campus-wide discussion of selected readings that would explore social and cultural issues.
The film adaptation of The Soloist, starring Robert Downey, Jr. and Jamie Foxx, will debut in theatres nationwide in April.
Watch a trailer for The Soloist here.
Elizabeth Gilbert Speaks at the Annual TED Conference
Penguin’s Elizabeth Gilbert, author of the #1 New York Times bestseller, Eat, Pray, Love which is currently in its 107th week on the list, spoke at the TED conference last week, TED, which stands for Technology, Entertainment, Design, is an annual conference that brings together the world's most fascinating thinkers and doers, who are challenged to give the “talk of their lives” in 18 minutes. After the event, Bill Gates told Arianna Huffington that Liz’s talk was his favorite of the entire conference. Read more here.
Gilbert also made an appearance at the Portland Arts & Lectures series this past Tuesday, where she spoke to a sellout crowd with fellow author Ann Patchett about Eat, Pray, Love. To read more about the event, click here.
New York Times Bestselling Viking Author Appears on Fox News
Ken Robinson, author of The Element: How Finding Your Passion Changes Everything (Viking) appeared on the “Mike Huckabee Show” on Fox News last week. Governor Huckabee gave the book an extremely strong endorsement and sales have leaped this week in response. This week, The Element debuts at #7 on The New York Times hardcover advice, how-to and miscellaneous list.
The New York Times Bestseller Highlights for the Week of February 22nd
Seven new debuts for Penguin Group (USA) on The New York Times bestseller list for the week of February 22nd: Bone Crossed by Patricia Briggs (Ace) is #3 on the hardcover fiction list; on the mass market fiction list, The Inaugural Address 2009 by Barack Obama (Penguin) is #15 on the hardcover nonfiction list; Coyote's Mate by Lora Leigh (Berkley Sensation) is #3, Stranger in Paradise by Robert B. Parker (Berkley) is #18 and Shattered by JoAnn Ross (Signet) is #19; Gang Leader for a Day by Sudhir Venkatesh (Penguin) is #20 on the paperback nonfiction list; and The Element by Ken Robinson with Lou Aronica (Viking) is #7 on the hardcover advice, how-to, and miscellaneous list.
Here are more New York Times bestseller highlights:
On the hardcover fiction list, Black Ops by W.E.B. Griffin (G. P. Putnam’s Sons) is #12 in its sixth week; A Darker Place by Jack Higgins (G. P. Putnam's Sons) is #13 in its second week; and Scarpetta by Patricia Cornwell (G. P. Putnam’s Sons) is #14 in its tenth week.
On the hardcover nonfiction list, The Big Rich by Bryan Burrough (The Penguin Press) is #10 in its second week; and Why We Suck by Denis Leary (Viking) is #11 in its twelfth week.
On the trade paperback fiction list, A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini (Riverhead) is #6 in its eleventh week; People of the Book by Geraldine Brooks (Penguin) is #8 in its sixth week; The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao by Junot Díaz (Riverhead) is #10 in its 23rd week; The Friday Night Knitting Club by Kate Jacobs (Berkley) is #14 in its 51st week; and The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini (Riverhead) is #19 in its 203rd week.
On the mass market fiction list, The Ghost War by Alex Berenson (Jove) is #9; Sizzle and Burn by Jayne Ann Krentz (Jove) is #12; and My Man, Michael by Lori Foster (Berkley) is #15, all in their second weeks.
On the paperback nonfiction list, Three Cups of Tea by Greg Mortenson and David Oliver Relin (Penguin) is #2 in its 106th week; Eat, Pray, Love by Elizabeth Gilbert (Penguin) is #9 in its 107th week; and The Omnivore’s Dilemma by Michael Pollan (Penguin) is #14 in its 73rd week.
In the young readers sector, Listen to the Wind by Greg Mortenson and Susan L. Roth (Dial) is #1 on the children's picture book list in its third week; while on the children's chapter books list, Thirteen Reasons Why by Jay Asher (Razorbill) is #7 in its sixteenth week. On the children's paperback books list, Three Cups of Tea: Young Readers Edition by Greg Mortenson and David Oliver Relin (Puffin) is #1 in its third week; Barack Obama: United States President by Roberta Edwards, illustrated by Ken Call (Grosset & Dunlap) is #7 in its fifth week; and Slam by Nick Hornby (Riverhead) is #10 in its seventeenth week.
New This Week
The Gamble by Thomas E. Ricks (The Penguin Press, on sale now)
In The Gamble: General Petraeus and the American Military Adventure in Iraq, 2006-2008, Thomas E. Ricks documents the inside story of the Iraq war since late 2005. Using hundreds of hours of exclusive interviews with top officers in Iraq and extraordinary on-the-ground reporting, Ricks—working in the tradition of his highly lauded bestseller Fiasco—examines the events that took place as the military was forced to reckon with itself, the surge was launched, and a very different war began.
The Gamble offers newsbreaking information, revealing behind-the-scenes disagreements among top commanders. Petraeus gave military expert Ricks extraordinary privileged access to himself and his team during the past two years, and the result is a chronicle of astonishing vividness and analytical depth. For Petraeus, prevailing in Iraq means extending the war. Ricks concludes that the war is likely to last another five to ten years—and that that outcome is a best case scenario. His stunning conclusion, stated in the last line of the book, is that “the events for which the Iraq war will be remembered by us and by the world have not yet happened.”
Tom Ricks will embark on an extensive author tour to NYC, DC, Philadelphia, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Portland, Seattle, Santa Barbara, and Sarasota, Florida. He launched his campaign with a solo interview on NBC’s "Meet the Press" last Sunday and with two front page excerpts in the Washington Post on Sunday and Monday. So far his national media lineup includes: Comedy Central's "The Daily Show," MSNBC's "Countdown with Keith Olbermann" and "Hardball with Chris Matthews," CNN's "American Morning," NPR's "Fresh Air" and "On Point," and an ABC radio satellite tour. Reviews are running in The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, New York Times Book Review, Los Angeles Times, Newsweek, and Time magazine, with much more to come.
Decoding Love by Andrew Trees (Avery, on sale now)
Decoding Love is a smart, entertaining, and eye-opening look at the science of love and attraction – a very helpful tool for this upcoming Valentine’s weekend.
We all grew up with the fairytale romance idea of love, believing Prince Charming is coming to sweep us off our feet on his white horse but now we are old enough to know that only happens in Disney movies and we are left questioning: What is Love?
Andrew Trees PhD, acclaimed author, journalist and social enthusiast, explains that the kind of magical “romantic storyline” has clouded our thinking about love for centuries. Trees reveals that love is actually more of a science than an art. Drawing from the latest studies in economics, neurochemistry, game theory, evolutionary psychology and other fields, Decoding Love is a smart and playful look at our preconceived notions about romance and seduction, and why they fall short in explaining what’s really going on when we fall in love.
Media highlights for the Decoding Love include: “Imus in the Morning,” Playboy Channel Sirius Radio, USA Today, Body & Soul, AOL.com, local radio, and much more.
Author Andrew Trees is this week’s guest Penguin Blogger. Read his posts and discover why there’s more to love than you may think!
New Next Week
The Book of Night Women by Marlon James (Riverhead, 2/19)
Jamaican writer Marlon James ignited buzz in the literary community with his first novel John Crow’s Devil. Publishers Weekly called it “dynamic and exciting,” and The New York Times Book Review called it “Powerful. . . . Writing with assurance and control, James uses his small-town drama to suggest the larger anguish of a postcolonial society struggling for its own identity.” Now James is back with his highly-anticipated new novel, The Book of Night Women, which Riverhead will publish on February 19. Colin Channer wrote that “With The Book of Night Women, Marlon James proves himself to be Jamaica’s answer to Junot Díaz, Edwidge Danticat and Zadie Smith.”
Marlon will launch his tour in New York City with events at the Barnes & Noble in Brooklyn Heights and at Hue-man Bookstore, followed by events in Miami, Washington, DC, Boston and his hometown of Minneapolis. Reviews and features are slated to run in the New York Times Book Review, Washington Post, Miami Herald, St. Paul Pioneer Press, Minneapolis Star Tribune, and Time Out New York, among others. The Penguin HR department also selected The Book of Night Women as its book club pick for February in celebration of Black History Month.
Read an excerpt from The Book of Night Women.
