Indie Bestsellers

You've probably not yet tried our secure, private, online purchasing tools at
http://www.destinationsbooksellers.com/.

We're making it easy to try. If you're a Patron Passport Rewards member, we'll rebate you 20% of the book purchase price on any of these Indie Bestsellers. And if you're not, call the store and find out how to become a member.

Bestseller List for December 4th, 2008
Based on sales for the week ending Sunday, November 30th, 2008.
Click on any title to buy it now. We'll rebate you 20% of the book's price.

HARDCOVER FICTION

1. Private Patient - P.D. James, Knopf, $25.95, 9780307270771
2. Story of Edgar Sawtelle - David Wroblewski, Ecco, $25.95, 9780061374227
3. Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society - Mary Ann Shaffer, Annie Barrows, Dial, $22, 9780385340991
4. Hour I First Believed - Wally Lamb, Harper, $29.95, 9780060393496
5. A Mercy - Toni Morrison, Knopf, $23.95, 9780307264237
6. The Christmas Sweater - Glenn Beck, Threshold Editions, $19.99, 9781416594857
7. Gate House - Nelson DeMille, Grand Central, $27.99, 978044653342
8. Cross Country - James Patterson, Little Brown, $27.99, 9780316018722
9. Arctic Drift - Clive Cussler, Dirk Cussler, Putnam, $27.95, 9780399155291
10. Just After Sunset - Stephen King, Scribner, $28, 9781416584087
11. The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo - Stieg Larsson, Knopf, $24.95, 9780307269751
12. Divine Justice- David Baldacci, Grand Central, $27.99, 9780446195508
13. A Lion Among Men: Volume Three in the Wicked Years- Gregory Maguire, Morrow, $26.95, 9780060548926
14. Host - Stephenie Meyer, Little Brown, $25.99, 9780316068048
15. Most Wanted Man- John Le Carre, Scribner, $28, 9781416594888

On the Rise:

17. Ender in Exile - Orson Scott Card, Tor, $25.95, 9780765304964
The latest in the Ender series by the bestselling author of Ender's Game and Speaker for the Dead.

HARDCOVER NONFICTION

1. Outliers: The Story of Success - Malcolm Gladwell, Little Brown, $27.99, 9780316017923
2. Dewey - Vicki Myron, Grand Central, $19.99, 9780446407410
3. Hot, Flat, and Crowded - Thomas L. Friedman, FSG, $27.95, 9780374166854
4. American Lion: Andrew Jackson in the White House - Jon Meacham, Random House, $30, 9781400063253
5. Holidays on Ice - David Sedaris, Little Brown, $16.99, 9780316035903
6. Barefoot Contessa Back to Basics - Ina Garten, Clarkson Potter, $35, 9781400054350
7. Last Lecture - Randy Pausch, Hyperion, $21.95, 9781401323257
8. Goodnight Bush - Erich Origen, Gan Golan, Little Brown, $14.99, 9780316040419
9. Letter to My Daughter - Maya Angelou, Random House, $25, 9781400066124
10. Annie Leibovitz at Work - Annie Leibovitz, Random House, $40, 9780375505102
11. When You Are Engulfed in Flames - David Sedaris, Little Brown, $25.99, 9780316143479
12. Wordy Shipmates Sarah Vowell, Riverhead, $25.95, 9781594489990
13. Panic: The Story of Modern Financial Insanity - Michael Lewis, Norton, $27.95, 9780393065145
14. Alex & Me - Irene M. Pepperberg, Collins, $23.95, 9780061672477
15. Snowball: Warren Buffett and the Business of Life – Alice Schroeder, Bantam, $35, 9780553805093

On the Rise:

19. The Return of Depression Economics and the Crisis of 2008 - Paul Krugman, Norton, $24.95, 9780393071016
A look at the global economic crisis by the winner of the Nobel Prize in Economics.

TRADE PAPERBACK FICTION



1.Shack – William P. Young, Windblown, $14.99, 9780964729230

2. Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao - Junot Diaz, Riverhead, $14, 9781594483295

3. White Tiger – Aravind Adiga, Free Press, $14, 9781416562603

4. Thousand Splendid Suns - Khaled Hosseini, Riverhead, $16, 9781594483851

5. Out Stealing Horses – Per Petterson, Picador, $14, 9780312427085

6. Elegance of the Hedgehog– Muriel Barbery, Europa Editions, $15, 9781933372600

7. Loving Frank - Nancy Horan, Ballantine, $14, 9780345495006

8. Run – Ann Patchett, Harper Perennial, $14.95, 9780061340642

9. Water for Elephants – Sara Gruen, Algonquin, $13.95, 9781565125605

10. Secret Life of Bees – Sue Monk Kidd, Penguin, $14, 9780142001745

11. World Without End - Ken Follett, NAL, $22, 9780451224996

12. In the Woods - Tana French, Penguin, $14, 9780143113492

13. Hearts of Horses - Molly Gloss, Mariner, $13.95, 9780547085753

14. Road - Cormac McCarthy, Vintage, $14.95, 9780307387899

15. Bridge of Sighs – Richard Russo, Vintage, $14.95, 9781400030903

On the Rise:
21. An Incomplete Revenge – Jacqueline Winspear, Picador, $14, 9780312428181
The fifth novel in the popular Maisie Dobbs series is now available in paperback.

TRADE PAPERBACK NONFICTION

1. Dreams From My Father - Barack Obama, Three Rivers, $14.95, 9781400082773

2. Audacity of Hope - Barack Obama, Three Rivers, $14.95, 9780307237705

3. Three Cups of Tea – Greg Mortenson & David Oliver Relin, Penguin, $15, 9780143038252

4. Marley & Me-John Grogan, Harper, $13.95, 9780060817091
5. Musicophilia - Oliver Sacks, Vintage, $14.95, 9781400033539

6. Zookeeper's Wife - Diane Ackerman, Norton, $14.95, 978039333060

7. Omnivore’s Dilemma - Michael Pollan, Penguin, $16, 9780143038580
8. Animal, Vegetable, Miracle - Barbara/Camille Kingsolver & Steven Hopp, Harper Perennial, $14.95, 9780660852566

9. The Nine – Jeffrey Toobin, Anchor, $15.95, 9781400096794
10. Our Dumb World: Atlas of the Planet Earth- The Onion, Little Brown, $17.99, 9780316018432
11. Eat, Pray, Love – Elizabeth Gilbert, Penguin, $15, 9780143038412

12. Old Farmer's Almanac 2009 - Old Farmer's Almanac, $6.95, 9781571984531
13. New Earth – Eckhart Tolle, Plume, $14, 9780452289963
14. World Almanac and Book of Facts 2009 - World Almanac, $12.99, 9781600571053
15. Listening Is an Act of Love - Dave Isay (Ed.), Penguin, $15, 9780143114345

CHILDREN'S INTEREST

1. Diary of a Wimpy Kid Do-It-Yourself Book - Jeff Kinney, Amulet, $10.95, 9780810979772

2. Tale of Despereaux – Kate DiCamillo, Candlewick, $7.99, 9780763625290

3. Lump of Coal - Lemony Snicket, Brett Helquist (Illus.), HarperCollins, $12.99, 9780061574283

4. Book Thief – Markus Zusak, Knopf, $11.99, 9780375842207

5. Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Rodrick Rules - Jeff Kinney, Amulet, $12.95, 9780810994737

6. Diary of a Wimpy Kid - Jeff Kinney, Amulet, $12.95, 9780810993136

7.Mysterious Benedict Society – Trenton Lee Stewart, Little Brown, $6.99, 9780316003957

8.Hunger Games - Suzanne Collins, Scholastic, $17.99, 9780439023481

9.Boy in the Striped Pajamas - John Boyne, David Fickling, $8.99, 9780385751537

10. Inkdeath - Cornelia Funke, Chicken House, $24.99, 9780439866286

11. Graveyard Book - Neil Gaiman, Dave McKean (Illus.), Harper, $17.99, 9780060530921

12. Slam - Nick Hornby, Riverhead, $14, 9781594483455

13.Inkheart -
Cornelia Funke, Chicken House, $9.99, 9780439709101
14.Barack Obama: Son of Promise, Child of Hope - Nikki Grimes, Bryan Collier (Illus.), S&S, $16.99, 9781416971443

15.Way We Work -
David Macaulay, Houghton Mifflin, $35, 9780618233786

CHILDREN'S ILLUSTRATED



1.Swing! -Rufus Butler Seder, Workman, $12.95, 9780761151272

2.Gallop! - Rufus Butler Seder, Workman, $12.95, 9780761147633

3.Goodnight Moon - Margaret Wise Brown - Clement Hurd (Illus.), Harper, $8.99, 9780694003617

4.Gingerbread Friends - Jan Brett, Putnam, $17.99, 9780399251610

5.Fancy Nancy: Let's Get Fancy Together! - Jane O'Connor, Robin Preiss Glasser (Illus.), HarperCollins, $17.99, 9780061576713

6.If You Give a Cat a Cupcake - Laura Joffe Numeroff, Felicia Bond (Illus.), Laura Geringer, $16.99, 9780060283247

7. A Very Marley Christmas - John Grogan, Richard Cowdrey (Illus.), HarperCollins, $17.99, 9780061372926

8.Where the Wild Things Are - Maurice Sendak, Harper, $17.95, 9780060254926

9.Twilight: The Complete Illustrated Movie Companion - Mark Cotta Vaz, Little Brown, $16.99, 9780316043137
10. How the Grinch Stole Christmas - Dr. Seuss, Random House, $14, 9780394800790

11.Brava, Strega Nona! - Tomie dePaola, Putnam, $29.99, 9780399244537

12. Story of Christmas - Carolyn Croll (Illus.), Workman, $15.95, 9780761152507

13.Fifteen Animals! - Sandra Boynton, Workman, $6.95, 9780761130666
14.Fancy Nancy Sees Stars - Jane O'Connor, Ted Enik (Illus.), HarperTrophy, $3.99, 9780061236112
15. ABC3D - Marion Bataille, Roaring Brook, $19.95, 9781596434257

A funny guy

It can be hard for an author to stand out in a flood of new releases. I received this charming missive from an author this morning, and I enjoyed it so much, I thought you might want to read it, too.

Hello my very good friend (your name here)!

This isn't a full-blown newsletter. It's a half-blown newsletter to say I'm having a contest to give away some free books.

The free books in question are hardcover and trade paperback copies of AFRAID by Jack Kilborn.

Jack Kilborn is JA Konrath, and JA Konrath is me.

AFRAID is being released on November 13 in the UK. It's a very scary book. The US version is coming out in paperback in April. It's also a scary book. In fact, it's the exact same book, except in England they use single quotes rather than double quotes for dialog, and they spell words funny like 'realise' and 'centre' and 'colour.' Also, if you ask for a fag in Britain you get a cigarette, and in the US you get something else entirely.

For info about AFRAID, an excerpt, and the infamous AFRAID flash game, visit http://www.JackKilborn.com.

For info about how to win free books in the Official Jack Kilborn Halloween UK Afraid Contest, visit my blog at http://jakonrath.blogspot.com.

Now for the remainder of this mini-newsletter, here's a bunch of praise from famous authors that you're going to skim over or ignore completely...

"AFRAID is a masterpiece of unrelenting horror. And I'm not exaggerating. Masterpiece. It's the best piece of fiction I've read in several years. It simply NEVER lets up."
— James Rollins, NYT bestselling author of Black Order and The Judas Strain

"AFRAID stands shoulder to shoulder with the very best of Harris, Koontz, and King. A classic horror novel."
— Blake Crouch, author of Abandon

"The moment I heard about this book, I couldn't wait to get my hands on it."
— David Morrell, NYT bestselling author of Creepers and First Blood

"AFRAID is one of the most intense books I've ever read. This one takes no prisoners."
— Marcus Sakey, author of The Blade Itself

"An absolutely relentless nightmare, with some of the most deliciously nasty villains I've ever encountered in a book. Horror fans will be wiping blood out of their eyes with glee."
— Jeff Strand, author of Pressure

“Like the evil so rife in this book, Kilborn kicks down your psyche’s front door, barges into the middle of your spirit, and RAISES HOLY EVER-LIVING HELL. Never have I read a novel so gruesome and simultaneously relentless. This book throbs with unmitigated, inexorable. sheer friggin’ TERROR. You’ll probably need a shrink when you’re done.”
— Edward Lee, author of Brides of the Impaler

"AFRAID is the most cringe-inducing thriller I've read. Twisted, frightening, and definitely not for the fainthearted. I loved every terrifying page."
— Henry Perez, author of Killing Red

"AFRAID never lets the reader rest. Kilborn's debut will have you cheering for the underdog while checking your doors to make sure they're locked."
— Crimespree Magazine

"A startling novel, from its thrilling onset to horrific closing pages. Hands down, AFRAID by Jack Kilborn is perhaps the best psychological horror to come along since Silence of the Lambs."
— Michael Laimo, author of Dead Souls

"A bloody, terrifying, hurtling assault across a landscape of non-stop mayhem. A guilty, guilty pleasure."
— F. Paul Wilson, creator of Repairman Jack

"An amazing debut. I wish I'd written it."
— JA Konrath, author of Fuzzy Navel

Okay, the newsletter is over. Go back to doing whatever you were doing. And remember... I love you.

http://www.JAKonrath.com

The Year We Disappeared: A Father-Daughter Memoir

There's little doubt that this blog is read by adults - readers perhaps, parents perhaps - but few if any teens. Yet, I think there is value in talking to you about a singular memoir that, for whatever reason, has been parked in the young adult market by Bloomsbury.

The Year We Disappeared

Cylin Busby's life was changed in an instant at the age of nine. She loved the Muppets and her pet box turtle. But when her police officer father (and co-author) John was the victim of an attempted assassination, everything changed.

The Year We Disappeared: A Father-Daughter Memoir is their story of a life on the run, hiding out from the criminals who wanted John Busby dead.

I mention the book simply because you won't hear about it otherwise - and then you will. So very many books come out each year that it's hard for us, much less you, to know when a good one arrives unless the mass media (or Oprah) tell you to buy a book. Frankly, I resent that, but since our Web sites will never be mass media, I hope the discerning among you will investigate further (click on the image for more details or to buy it from us online).

Our Sophie has read the book and warns that it is not for the youngest - it's a little too scary and the injuries to John Busby are described quite graphically. But for a mature teen 14 and up, it's a gripping story. In fact, it offers the best of what books can do - it gives a life lesson in bravery that few will ever have to experience. It's important to know these things, but not quite necessary to live them.

For true crime aficionados or anyone looking for a remarkable memoir that will give you a great story to tell at your next watercooler stop, I invite you to check it out.

John Dominic Crossan

The noted theologian John Dominic Crossan will be a guest on New Albany Now in the coming weeks to discuss his recent book, God and Empire: Jesus Against Rome, Then and Now. Read more on our New Albanist blog.

Spelling snob

I confess. I'm a spelling snob.

I've been thinking about this lately while reading David Wolman's Righting the Mother Tongue: From Olde English to Email, the Tangled Story of English Spelling. Click on the cover photo for more information.

Wolman "suffered" the tyranny of difficulty with spelling as a child, and still carries scars from a quizmistress mother and spelling-segregated classrooms.

During the writing of this book, Wolman visited with a diagnostician, Dr. Uta Frith, who appraised him, tentatively, as a classic case of compensated dyslexia. Frith is the opposite of a bad speller, but "[s]he's adamant that spelling skill has nothing to do with being gifted. 'It's a waste of [mental] resources to learn all that spelling if you don't need it,' she said. 'The fact is you can't help being good or bad at this.'"

According to the author, "The evolution of written symbols, words, and prose is far too recent in human history to be coded into our genes. Instead, the brain has retooled itself for reading and writing, applying, for instance, visual processing powers that evolved for other tasks...the reading system is more tenuous than many of us realize...Reading may be a favorite form of leisure, but for the brain it's no walk in the park."

And yet, society as a whole uses the ability to spell as a shorthand for intellect, or at least for education. Wolman tells the story of an 18th-century "man of quality, who never recovered from the ridicule of having spelled wholesome without the w."

"Spelling as a measure of manners, we know. Spelling as a sign of intelligence, we infer. Think about the last time you read a formal letter with misspellings in it and the unfavorable impression it left behind, not just of carelessness, but also lack of smarts. 'Spelling,' David Crystal told [the author], 'has become the main diagnostic feature for determining whether someone has been educated in English.'"

So, I'm a spelling snob. I've always been good at it. I attribute that to the importance I place on being thought of as "smart." I was "rewarded" for being smart, and spelling was where I excelled, so naturally it became important to me. Today, I cringe when I see misspellings and grammatical groaners like "they was." You can imagine my internal pain during a typical city council meeting!

But, I don't consider myself the spelling police. I groan inwardly. When I think it will be both helpful, and taken as helpful, I'll drop a note to a friend to "help" them over a word they've written that is not orthographically correct.

Much of the book is taken up by recitals of the efforts of spelling reformers, those "valiant exterminators of dialectical vermin," from Samuel Johnson to Noah Webster to Melville Dewey (father of the Dewey Decimal System, who went so far as to change his name to Melvil Dui).

As an end note, consider this anecdote that may explain why I was nurtured to be a good speller. My mother was a tremendous speller. For instance, she could throw a newspaper page down on the kitchen table and within seconds spot the typos without consciously reading a word. My father could sit on the front porch and point out four-leaf clovers from 20 and 30 feet away in the midst of a lawn full of thick grass...not just clovers, but four-leaf clovers. But he couldn't spell a lick. And for the most part, never worried too much about it.

As a girl in school, my mom was dismissed from a spelling bee after spelling catalogue. The judges said oh, no. It's catalog. Period. This despite the fact that almost everything my mother had read spelled it with the -ue ending. Know who was responsible for that little change? Mr. Melvil Dui.

Randy has transitioned all of his blogging - show-related, political, books, and other - over to a new site. If you want to, check it out and add it to your favorites and blogrolls.

It is http://newalbanist.wordpress.com/

This blog isn't going away. It's just being joined to a meta-blog.

Victory for Common Sense

This just in...

Judge throws out new Ind. law on explicit material

07/01/2008
By KEN KUSMER / Associated Press

A federal judge threw out a new Indiana law requiring bookstores and other retailers to register with the state and pay a $250 fee if they want to sell sexually explicit material.

U.S. District Judge Sarah Evans Barker, ruling Tuesday on the day the law took effect, found it too broad and said it could be applied against "unquestionably lawful, nonobscene, nonpornographic materials being sold to adults."

"A romance novel sold at a drugstore, a magazine offering sex advice in a grocery store checkout line, an R-rated DVD sold by a video rental shop, a collection of old Playboy magazines sold by a widow at a garage sale ... would appear to necessitate registration under the statute," Barker wrote.

The American Civil Liberties Union took on the case for a team of plaintiffs that included the Indianapolis Museum of Art, bookstores and publishers.

"It's a victory for booksellers and the arts community but most importantly for the First Amendment," said Maxwell Anderson, the art museum's CEO. "I'm concerned as we all should be about restrictions on free expression."

Elizabeth Houghton Barden, owner of Big Hat Books, an independent, general interest store in Indianapolis, said she and her fellow plaintiffs did not want to see lingerie shops opening up next to candy stores, but that was a matter for zoning boards.

"Any time we engage in censorship, we've lost our right to free expression," she said.

Rep. Terry Goodin, D-Crothersville, said he wrote the law to stop companies from deceiving communities with weak zoning laws. He noted one company told the southern Indiana community of Dale it planned to operate a truck stop but instead opened an adult business.

The law required people who planned to sell sexually explicit materials to register with the Indiana secretary of state's office, pay the $250 fee and state the types of materials they intended to sell.

"I don't see this gray area that people are talking about," Goodin said. "To me, it's black and white. If you're selling pornography, you know it. If you're not, you don't have to register."

But Barker found the wording of the state law unconstitutionally vague.

"The statute provides no guidance whatsoever to merchants attempting to comply with the law, and surely creates the danger of self-censorship in an effort to avoid criminal penalties," the judge wrote.

Goodin said he would confer with the state attorney general before decided what to do next, but one option included taking the matter back to lawmakers in the 2009 legislative session.

"I've got pencil in hand," Goodin said. "I'm ready to go. I'm not going to let this sleeping dog lie."
ACLU attorney Ken Falk noted the plaintiffs included the volunteer-run Boxcar Books and Community Center in Bloomington, art galleries, and trade associations representing booksellers, publishers, libraries, video rental stores and music companies.

"They are all legitimate businesses that are far from being the "'dirty bookstore,'" Falk said.
___
Associated Press writer Deanna Martin in Indianapolis contributed to this report.