Staff Picked

At the risk of having my mandatory bookstore cardigan taken away, I have to confess that I don't always read a lot of novels. I'm more likely to settle down with a history of Jacobean religious policy (God's Secretaries should be your first choice on the subject) or a good bit of reportage (I loved John Vaillant's book The Tiger). But I do love a good crime novel, and easily my favorite series has been the John Rebus novels by Scotland's most famous author who doesn't write about wizards, Ian Rankin.

Rankin pulled the plug on the Rebus books a few years ago--his protagonist had reached the mandatory retirement age for Scottish policemen, and so was retired. Happily, Rankin is back with a new hero in his latest book The Complaints. Malcolm Fox (and yes, he's wily) stalks Edinborough's finest, and he finds them at their worst. Fox, you see, is a cop who investigates other cops.

It feels disloyal to say so, but I think I prefer Fox over John Rebus. Rankin's new book is great.

You can read a lot more--including a teaser about a possible return for Rebus--in this recent interview from NPR's Morning Edition. There's also an excerpt from The Complaints.

Please check it out. If you like a good, foggy police story, you won't be disappointed by The Complaints.--David E

Yellow Tiger

Covers often vary widely in the US and UK markets. What works in one country doesn't always work in the other. But the two covers for The Tiger's Wife could hardly be more different. While the US cover is dark and dare I say moody, the UK model is bright and sunny. Same book inside. Go figure.--David E

Author Geography

Tea Obreht talked to The Book Page about her peripatetic childhood (Yugoslavia, Egypt, Atlanta), her life in Ithaca, New York, and why she hasn't moved to the Big Apple. Obreht also discusses her writing process--and how TC Boyle helped her overcome writer's block.

The interview is here. The Tiger's Wife will be published March 8. Obreht will read from the book at M&Q on March 14.--David E

A New Book from Roberto Bolano

The Paris Review has announced that they will publish The Third Reich, a new novel from Roberto Bolano, in its next four issues. Even better, Bolano's translator Natasha Wimmer told Granta that the new work is "a buoyant novel, ominous at moments but mostly just funny." Judge for yourself: the Wall Street Journal has published a brief excerpt here.

Many thanks to Slate.com's Brow Beat blog for the catch and for the links.--David E

Sneak Preview

Bink and Gollie is just about the cutest kids book of the year. Library Journal loved it: "My suggestion is that you create a Bink and Gollie section in your library. Clear a whole shelf off in your room and display your copies of this book proudly." It made the New York Times' list of Best Illustrated Children's Books of 2010.

If you're still not convinced, check out this preview video and see what we mean:



You can meet author Alison McGhee--and get a copy of the book inscribed to your own Bink or Gollie--Saturday, December 11, from 1:00pm to 2:00pm. She'll be joined by Steve Brezenoff, author of the young adult novel The Absolute Value of -1. Steve's book is a fantastic choice for older readers on your list.

Details are here.--David E

Best Pictures

Bink and Gollie is a powerhouse of a kid's book. It was written by Alison McGhee and Kate DiCamillo and illustrated by Tony Fucile. The stories and the language are charming, and the pictures are as quirky and energetic as the title characters. All that star power has paid off: Bink and Gollie is on the New York Times' list of the ten Best Illustrated Children’s Books of 2010.

Bink and Gollie is available now. And author Alison McGhee will be at Magers & Quinn on Saturday, December 11, at 1:00pm to personalize your copy. Signed books make great gifts, too, so get two. Details are here.--David E

Whodunnit?

India's Environment Minister Jairam Ramesh blamed the country's illegal trade in owls on the usual suspects--blackmarket medicinal and religious uses--and on one very unusual suspect: a fictional boy wizard.

"Following Harry Potter, there seems to be a strange fascination even among the urban middle classes for presenting their children with owls," Mr Ramesh said. His remarks came on the release of a government report entitled Imperilled Custodians of the Night. Details are here. (Thanks to Shelf Awareness for the tip.)--David E

Surprise!

Longshot contender Howard Jacobson today won the £50,000 Man Booker Prize for Fiction for his novel The Finkler Question.

Details are here.--David E

Looking Ahead

William Gibson has a pretty good track record predicting the future. After all, this is the man who coined the word cyberspace and wrote about an all-encompassing global computer network years before it reached its tentacles into your home and pocket. So it's heartening to hear that he's not as doom-and-gloom about the future of ink on paper as some. He actually thinks books will be with us for a long time more.

"My dream scenario would be that you could go into a bookshop, examine copies of every book in print that they’re able to offer, then for a fee have them produce in a minute or two a beautiful finished copy in a dust jacket that you would pay for and take home."

You can read the rest of Gibson's interview with the Wall Street Journal's Speakeasy blog here. Then you can meet him and ask him your own questions when William Gibson reads from his new novel Zero History at the Minneapolis Public Library, Thursday, September 16, at 7:30pm. Tickets are available at Magers & Quinn right now. Stop in for yours while they last.--David E

Talking Monkeys

Sara Gruen was on MPR's Midmorning show today, discussing her new novel Ape House. Gruen spent time at Des Moines' Great Ape Trust, working with their bonobos. The Trust has taught the little monkeys to speak, using pictorial cards. Gruen incorporated talking apes into her new novel, which the New York Times called "an incisive piece of social commentary." You can hear the whole interview here.

You can meet Sara Gruen this Thursday, when she visits Minneapolis. Tickets are available now at Magers & Quinn Bookselers. Details are here.--David E

Lisbeth, We Hardly Know Ye

In July, I wrote about the French covers of Steig Larsson's Millennium trilogy. Now I see that The Caustic Cover Critic has posted images of Spanish-language versions of the same covers. Where the French designer showed Lisbeth Salander as Wednesday Adams, the diseñadores of these editions pictured her as, of all things, a doll.

See the covers here.--David E

Feliz Cumpleaños, Julio

The Argentine writer Julio Cortazar was born on August 26, 1914. Following the rise to power of Juan Peron, Cortazor emigrated to Paris in 1951. There he produced his masterpieces Hopscotch, Blow-up and Other Stories (the titular short story formed the basis for Antonioni's movie of the same name), Around the Day in Eighty Worlds (my personal favorite), and We Loved Glenda So Much. They're hard to find but well worth the search.

Like many Latin American authors of the period, Cortazar's work is surrealist and fabulist. He was also strongly influenced by jazz improvisation. His stories are melancholy and beautiful--I can't recommend him enough.

Julio Cortazar died in 1984.--David E

Mind the Gap

Below is the trailer for Zero History, the latest novel from William Gibson, author of Mona Lisa Overdrive and Neuromancer. Zero History isn't available until September 7, but you can get a sneak peek in the video below. It's narrated by the author himself.





William Gibson will be at Magers & Quinn Booksellers on September 16:

• At 5:00pm, William Gibson will meet fans and sign copies of his new novel in our store
• At 7:30pm, William Gibson will read from Zero History at The Minneapolis Central Library, Pohlad Hall, 300 Nicollet Ave S, Minneapolis. Q&A and signing will follow. Tickets for this reading are available at Magers & Quinn Booksellers (3038 Hennepin Ave S, Minneapolis. Tickets are $5.00 each, redeemable towards the purchase of Zero History.

Details are here.--David E

Bon Voyage

The indefatigable John Jodzio, author of If You Lived Here You'd Already Be Home, is taking his act on the road. He's touring the West Coast. If you'll be out that way, check him out. And please encourage your friends to go to his readings:

• Saturday, 9/4 -- Portland -- Reading Frenzy, 921 SW Oak, 7pm
• Tuesday, 9/7 -- San Francisco -- The Booksmith, 1644 Haight, 7:30pm
• Thursday, 9/9 -- LA -- Mt San Antonio College, 7:00pm
• Sunday, 9/26 -- LA -- Tongue & Groove Reading Series, Hotel Cafe 1623-1/2 N. Cahuenga, 6pm

All Designery

How did Knopf arrive at the now-ubiquitous cover design for Wall Street Journal has a slideshow of rejected cover ideas for the American edition. (I still prefer the French versions.)

See all the covers here.--David E

Author. Reading.

I recently read Nature Noir: A Park Ranger's Patrol in the Sierra. It's a work memoir by Jordan Fisher Smith, about his time working at a park in California--dust, boredom, flood control issues, suicides, doughnuts, campers, cougars, and so on. I recommend it highly.

So I was charmed to find this video of the author reading from the book--literally reading from it--on his deck. It's summer reading at its simple best.--David E

God Bless the Kent District Library

Working as I do in a bookstore, I am several times a day asked imponderable questions such as, "What's the fourth book in the Dragonlance series?" or "What is the latest Sweet Valley High book?"

Until very recently I've used a combination of Google and bluster to answer these queries, but no longer. The invaluable database What's Next? Books in Series allows me to search by author, title, series name, and so on. And all the answers are grouped by series, so I can appear learned and informed and helpful.

This miracle of the internet is here.

Thanks to the Swiss Army Librarian for the catch.--David E

All Over the Radio

The airwaves have been full of people talking about Ander Monson's new book Vanishing Point: Not a Memoir.

Last week, Lucia Silva, the book buyer at Portrait of a Bookstore in Studio City, California, said "Monson's writing makes you realize how very alive thinking and writing can be," on NPR's Bookseller's Picks. Then this week, Jodi Chromey, editor of the fantastic blog Minnesota Reads sang his praises on MPR's Art Hounds.

You won't need batteries to hear Ander Monson. He'll be reading at M&Q at 7:30pm, Tuesday, June 15. Unplug and enjoy. Details are here.--David E

Listen Up

The Bookworm is a long-running program on KCRW, Santa Monica's public radio station. Host Michael Silverblatt interviews the creme de la creme of authors every week.

Tomorrow's show features a forward-looking lineup: Ander Monson (author of Vanishing Point) and David Shields (Reality Hunger) will talk about nothing less than "a new kind of writing." The show's teaser says, "This prose uses fact and randomness rather than story and structure."

The show will be broadcast in California on Thursday and will be archived here. Ander Monson will be reading at Magers & Quinn on Tuesday, June 15, at 7:30pm.--David E

How Do You Like Me Now?

Esquire has published an excerpt from Brett Easton Ellis' new novel Imperial Bedrooms. The new book follows the infamous teenagers from Less Than Zero into desperate middle age.

The excerpt is here. Imperial Bedrooms will be released on June 15.--David E