BOOK BUZZ FROM USA TODAY
By Press Release - Jun 04 , 2009
McLEAN, VA – Here’s the latest book buzz from USA TODAY with a sneak peek at the highlights of tomorrow’s Best-Selling Books list:
First came Dewey, the hit memoir. Vicki Myron’s tale of an Iowa library cat peaked last December at No. 12 on USA TODAY’s Best-Selling Books list. This September, the story becomes a children’s picture book, Dewey: There’s a Cat in the Library! (Little Brown Books for Young Readers, ages 3-6). It worked for Marley, why not Dewey? John Grogan has written several kids’ books spun from his best-selling canine memoir Marley & Me, and two more Dewey children’s books are in the works. More news for cat lovers: Homer’s Odyssey (Delacorte), Gwen Cooper’s memoir about her blind cat, hits stores Aug. 25. Barnes & Noble’s Bob Wietrak thinks Homer “will be huge, even bigger than Dewey.” One of its advantages? “This cat is alive!,” Wietrak points out.
In The Scarecrow, Michael Connelly’s 21st crime novel — which enters the list at No. 6 — newspaper reporter Jack McEvoy is about to lose his job because of cutbacks. His last assignment is to prove the innocence of a teenager who admits guilt to a murder he didn’t commit. Connelly, an L.A. Times reporter from 1988 to1994, says the novel is partly a torch song to the newspaper industry. “First and foremost I’m an entertainer so my priority is to write a page turner,” he says, “but I am what I am now because I was a reporter. It helped me learn how to write.” This is a busy year for Connelly who will publish 9 Dragons on Oct. 13. It’s his 15th starring LAPD detective Harry Bosch.
For all the news from this week’s Best-Selling Books list, see Thursday’s editions of USA TODAY for the top 50 books or log onto www.top150.usatoday.com for the complete list of 150 best-selling books from last week.
USA TODAY’s list differs from other lists because the rankings are based solely on retail sales data from major chain and independent bookstores across the USA. Included are more than one million volumes from approximately 3,000 large-inventory, diverse-content bookstores. USA TODAY’s list shows readers what is selling across the whole range of books, not just what is selling by category. Hardcover, paperback, fiction and non-fiction are pooled together. USA TODAY’s Best-Selling Books list has been published each Thursday in the newspaper’s Life section since October 28, 1993.
USA TODAY was founded in 1982 with a mission to serve as a forum for better understanding and unity to help make the USA truly one nation. Through its flagship newspaper and popular Web site, USA TODAY engages the national conversation and connects readers online through social media applications. USA TODAY, the nation’s top-selling newspaper with a total average daily circulation of more than 2.1 million, and USATODAY.com, an award-winning newspaper Web site which launched in 1995, reach a combined 5.8 million readers daily. The USA TODAY news and information brand also includes: USA TODAY Education, USA TODAY LIVE, USA TODAY Mobile, Open Air magazine and USA TODAY Sports Weekly. USA TODAY is owned by Gannett Co., Inc. (NYSE: GCI).
