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Hot off the presses - new collectible posters (14 x 22.5) featuring our most popular jacket art available are for sale now in the Holiday Store. Also, Penguin shirts, hats, ornaments, and much more - make it a Penguin holiday! Get 15% off everything on our site by using the code Holiday09 at checkout! (offer ends on December 31, 2009)

The posters:

(left) Jacket art from the Graphic Classics 25th Anniversary Edition of White Noise by Don DeLillo designed by Michael Cho

(right) Jacket art from the Graphic Classic Edition of Moby Dick by Herman Melville designed by Tony Millionaire.

More Penguin Holiday Store goodies include tote bags, ornaments, water bottles and umbrellas.

And, watch Penguin employees share the books they'll be giving this holiday season.

Happy Thanksgiving! 

- From all of us at Penguin Online (and Penguin Group (USA) too!)

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Penguin Young Readers Group Partners with Ogmento to Launch Augmented Reality Application for Vampire Academy Signature Edition on November 25th 

New York, NY - November 24, 2009 - Richelle Mead's novel Vampire Academy will become the first U.S. book to incorporate new Augmented Reality technology into the reading experience. On November 25th, Razorbill, an imprint of Penguin Young Readers Group, will publish an Augmented Reality (AR) limited edition, signature hard cover of the first book in the New York Times bestselling series, which currently has more than 2.25 million copies in print. Using advanced Augmented Reality technology, the book cover will layer text, images and video to give fans of the paranormal series a unique virtual experience. Penguin Young Readers Group is the first U.S. publisher to use this technology in conjunction with a published book.

Unlike other recent Augmented Reality campaigns which require black and white geometric markers to trigger the virtual experience, Penguin's campaign will feature a new "image tracking" technology. When fans visit vampireacademybooks.com and hold the cover of the Vampire Academy signature hardcover up to their webcams, the cover will come to life and share a special message from the author. Most notably, this application will have a viral component, as fans will be able to transfer their own photo onto the cover of the book and share that image with friends via email, social networks, and mobile devices. As an added bonus, a secret gesture will reveal the cover image of Spirit Bound, the fifth book in the series, which is due out in May 2010.

Penguin partnered with Ogmento, a company that creates and publishes Augmented Reality games, to create the interactive experience. To promote the campaign, Penguin will run a full-page ad in People Magazine in the December 7th issue which will also activate the Vampire Academy AR experience.

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Putnam Launches Major Publicity Campaign for Sue Grafton’s U is for Undertow

Putnam will launch one of the biggest publicity campaigns Sue Grafton has ever had for her latest book, U is for Undertow, due out on December 1st. National media includes features in USA Today, Los Angeles Times, Readers Digest, Time.com, AARP Magazine and Costco Connection. Coverage is also confirmed in People, Washington Post, Portland Oregonian, Tampa Tribune, Southern Living Magazine, Kansas City Star, Louisville Courier-Journal, and the Richmond Times Dispatch.

Sue will be on the road the first two weeks of December doing major talks and book signings in eight cities, including New York, Louisville, Atlanta, Kansas City, Houston, Phoenix, Los Angeles and Santa Barbara, with radio and print interviews in every market.

Grafton has been interviewed for Barnes & Noble's prestigious video series “Tagged!” She has also been interviewed as part of Borders author feature series, Borders Presents.

Over the past 25 years Sue Grafton, one of the most popular and highly-acclaimed mystery writers of the 21st Century and #1 New York Times bestselling alphabet mystery series, has become iconic…notably, her one-of-a-kind female private investigator Kinsey Millhone has become a cultural phenomenon. Grafton’s novels have earned her numerous awards, critical raves, and editions in twenty-six languages and twenty-eight countries. This year, Sue was also named Grand Master by the Mystery Writers of America.

In U is for Undertow, Kinsey investigates the disappearance of a little girl in the California coastal town of Santa Teresa. When a fragile young man shows up at Kinsey’s door in 1988, claiming that he saw two men burying a suspicious bundle twenty-one years earlier, she doesn’t know whether to believe him or not. Using multiple points of view, shifting between the booming ’80s and the freewheeling ’60s, Grafton has crafted an adult boy-who-cried-wolf story that is guaranteed to keep readers up late.
 

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Portfolio/ Sentinel Lands a Record Three Titles on The New York Times Bestseller Lists in the Same Week

For the first time in its seven year history, Portfolio / Sentinel achieves three New York Times bestsellers in the same week. A Simple Christmas by Mike Huckabee is #3 on the hardcover nonfiction list; Do The Right Thing, also by Mike Huckabee, is #18 on the paperback nonfiction list; and The Dollar Meltdown by Charles Goyette is #10 on the hardcover advice, how-to and miscellaneous list.

The surprise bestseller is The Dollar Meltdown, which explains why too much government spending is going to cause extreme inflation, and what investors should do about it. It has been embraced by conservative radio hosts and bloggers, as well as Congressman Ron Paul. Glenn Beck had Goyette on his Fox News show twice, and the book has quickly grown from 12,000 in print to about 35,000. "I can't say we predicted that the dollar would plunge and gold would spike just when we reached pub date," says Portfolio President and Publisher Adrian Zackheim. "If I were THAT smart about finance, I'd be telecommuting from my private island in the Caribbean."

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Walter Bagdzinski Wins 2009 Rainbow Award at Penguin Group (USA) Sales Conference Awards Dinner and Wendy Pearl, Lee Swenka, Todd Jones and Bob DeMarco Named PGI Sales Reps of the Year

Walter Bagdzinski, Director of Inventory Management for Penguin Group (USA), received the 2009 Rainbow Award at this week’s Penguin Group Sales Conference Awards & Celebration Dinner at the Hyatt Regency in Old Greenwich, Connecticut. Every year at this time, the Penguin Group (USA) hardcover, paperback and young readers sales teams collectively present the Rainbow Award to an individual outside of sales they feel contributed the most during the year to the teams’ success.

Norman Lidofsky and Dick Heffernan acknowledged that Walter Bagdzinski “figures out solutions to everything you ask him,” created, among many other processes, the Early Ship Program, “makes it work,” and expertly keeps track of release dates, itineraries and the “back-end of our business that is so important to the success of all of our books.” Walter received loud cheers as he came to the podium and was congratulated by Norman and Dick (pictured above).
 

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

Penguin Group (USA) has ten debuts on the New York Times bestseller list for the week of November 22nd: Kindred in Death by J.D. Robb (Putnam) is #3 on the hardcover fiction list; The Audacity to Win by David Plouffe (Viking) is #6 on the hardcover nonfiction list; and Knit Two by Kate Jacobs (Berkley) hits at #20 on the trade paperback fiction list. On the mass market fiction list, Blaze of Memory by Nalini Singh (Berkley) is #8; Me and My Shadow by Katie MacAlister (Signet) is #9; Tom Clancy’s Splinter Cell: Conviction by David Michaels (Berkley) is #13; and Bookplate Special by Lorna Barrett (Berkley) is #20. Why We Suck by Denis Leary (Plume) hits at #17 on the trade paperback nonfiction list; while Million-Dollar Throw by Mike Lupica (Philomel) is #4 on the children’s chapter books list; and The Omnivore’s Dilemma for Kids by Michael Pollan (Dial) is #8 on the children’s paperback books list.

Here are more New York Times bestseller highlights:

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Patricia Cornwell, Elizabeth Gilbert, Sue Grafton, John Sandford, Jan Karon, Kathryn Stockett, Jan Brett and Mike Lupica Are Among the Bestselling and Critically-Acclaimed Authors Sharing the Books that Top Their Personal Holiday "Wish Lists"

New York, New York, November 16, 2009... Penguin Group (USA) has launched the second annual "What to Give & What to Get," an opportunity for readers to find out what books are on their favorite writers' holiday gift lists this year—both to give and to receive. Over forty beloved Penguin Group (USA) authors have shared the books that rank at the top of their lists for the 2009 gift-giving season, ranging from classic to current, fiction to nonfiction, adult to children's, and from any publisher, to help spread the word that books make the perfect gift.

The "What to Give & What to Get" program includes many anecdotes from authors who have shared the books that have personal meaning to them and their loved ones: Elizabeth Gilbert comments that she is planning a "19th-century literature bender" in 2010, with books by George Eliot and Anthony Trollope topping her wish-list. Patricia Cornwell plans to give Last Train to Memphis: The Rise of Elvis Presley by Peter Guralnick, the book that inspired her visit to Graceland, and thinks Mike Lupica's Million Dollar Throw "would be a great gift for a young person." Sue Grafton will be giving Malcolm Gladwell's Blink and The Outliers. Sue Monk Kidd would like to receive The Help by Kathryn Stockett—who in turn wants to give David Benioff's City of Thieves. Jan Karon will give Brenda Ueland's If You Want to Write to the aspiring writers on her gift-list. Jan Brett plans to give Born to Run by Christopher McDougall to family members that share her love for long-distance running. Geraldine Brooks will be sharing Jerry Pinkney's The Lion and the Mouse with the young children on her list. Robert Crais will channel his "foodie" side and Southern background by giving My New Orleans by John Besh to his friends and loved ones. Mike Lupica hopes to get Spooner by Pete Dexter, who, in his opinion, "is always worth the wait."

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Fifteen Books from Penguin Group (USA) Are Amazon's Editors Picks for 2009 

Penguin Group (USA) books are prominently featured on Amazon's annual list of Editors Picks for 2009, securing fifteen titles on the Top 100. In addition to the Editors Picks, Amazon also ranked the Top 100 Customer Favorites (according to customer orders through October); twelve books from Penguin Group (USA) were included on this list.

The Penguin Group (USA) titles among the Top 100 Amazon Editors Picks are:

• #11 The Gamble by Thomas Rick (The Penguin Press)
• #14 This Is Where I Leave You by Jonathon Tropper (Dutton)
• #19 The Help by Kathryn Stockett (Amy Einhorn/Putnam)
• #24 Both Ways Is The Only Way I Like It by Maile Meloy (Riverhead)
• #28 Born Round by Frank Bruni (The Penguin Press)
• #39 The Defector by Daniel Silva (Putnam)
• #40 The Informers by Juan Gabriel Vasquez (Riverhead)
• #43 Lords of Finance by Liaquat Ahamed (The Penguin Press)
• #52 The Magicians by Lev Grossman (Viking)
• #63 Everything Matters by Ron Currie (Viking)
• #71 Green Metropolis by David Owen (Riverhead)
• #74 Juliet, Naked by Nick Hornby (Riverhead)
• #86 Rapt by Winifred Gallagher (The Penguin Press)
• #90 D-Day by Antony Beevor (Viking)
• #94 Inherent Vice by Thoman Pynchon (The Penguin Press)
• #97 Imperial by William T. Vollmann (Viking)

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Penguin Young Readers Group Lands a Record-Breaking Eleven Titles on The New York Times Bestseller Lists

Penguin Young Readers Group scores eleven titles on the New York Times bestseller lists, a record-breaking performance, for the week of November 15th. For the previous two weeks, the Group dominated the New York Times children's bestseller lists, landing ten titles each week, and has managed to top its own record this week. Congratulations to all involved in this impressive accomplishment.

For the week of November 15th, on the children’s picture books list, Skippyjon Jones, Lost in Spice by Judy Schachner (Dutton) is #6 in its seventh week; Otis, written and illustrated by Loren Long (Philomel) is #8 in its sixth week; Strega Nona’s Harvest, written and illustrated by Tomie dePaola (Putnam), is #9 in its seventh week; and Miss Smith and the Haunted Library by Michael Garland (Dutton) is #10 in its third week. On the children’s chapter books list, Thirteen Reasons Why by Jay Asher (Razorbill) is #6 in its 52nd week; Fire by Kristin Cashore (Dial) is #7 in its fourth week; and Return to the Hundred Acre Wood by David Benedictus (Dutton) is #9 in its fourth week. On the children's paperback books list, Three Cups of Tea: Young Readers Edition by Greg Mortenson and David Oliver Relin (Puffin) is #2 in its 41st week; and Impossible by Nancy Werlin (Speak) is #10 in its fifth week. Vampire Academy by Richelle Mead (Razorbill) is #10 on the children’s series list in its fifteenth week. In addition, DK’s Lego Star Wars by Simon Beecroft (DK) is #2 on the picture books list in its fourth week.

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The French anthropologist Claude Levi-Strauss, who introduced a structuralist and universalist approach to the study of anthropology has died, a month before he would have turned 101.

Levi-Strauss was born in 1908 in Belgium and grew up in France, in a French-Jewish family long involved in the arts. He began field work and teaching in the 1930s, primarily in Brazil. He was a visiting professor at the New School in New York in the 1940s and then returned to Paris, where he received his doctorate.

In 1955, Levi-Strauss published what many see as his most influential work, Tristes Tropiques. Levi-Strauss began the story of his anthropological work in Brazil and elsewhere by declaring: "I hate traveling and explorers." And indeed, many of his critics' largest problems with his structuralist approach to anthropology, which sought universal ideas in so-called primitive societies to show human commonalities, was that Levi-Strauss was not an explorer. He preferred study to fieldwork. Levi-Strauss searched for an underlying universal structure to humanity and believed that humans relied on opposites, such as cold vs. hot, to understand the world.

Tristes Tropiques was one man's look at humanity, his attempts and work to understand it. Much of anthropology has changed since the book was published 55 years ago and Levi-Strauss himself rejected the idea that he was the "father of structuralism". But regardless of labels, his influence on anthropology is undeniable and his works will continue to be read by those still trying to make sense of how people explain the world around them.