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You might have heard a little something in print, or cyberspace, about the New York Times' list of the 10 Best Books of 2009. Here at Harper, it was a major thrill to see that Mary Karr's white-hot memoir, Lit, made the list. The New York Times writes:
This sequel to “The Liars’ Club” and “Cherry” is also a master class on the art of the memoir. Mordantly funny, free of both self-pity and sentimentality, Karr describes her attempts to untether herself from her troubled family in rural Texas, her development as a poet and writer, and her struggles to navigate marriage and young motherhood even as she descends into alcoholism.
We received a great review from Zandra Blake, Teen and Public Services Librarian for the Capital Area District Library. Here is the link.
Many thanks to Zandra and everyone at the Capital Area District Library for featuring That Bird Has My Wingson your blog! I hope you add That Bird Has My Wings to your reading list.
We at HarperCollins were thrilled to publish The Legs Are The Last to Go: Aging, Acting, Marrying and Other Things I Learned the Hard Way by the legendary Diahann Carroll. Some of you may have had the opportunity to see her at the Closing Session of the 2008 ALA Annual Conference in Anaheim, California. In her book, she gives us a candid look at her life and everything she has had to overcome to be the success that she still remains today…a true inspiration for us all! The buzz on Ms. Carroll (what I like to call her) continues! Make sure you tune in tomorrow (November 13) to The Wendy Williams Show for Wendy's interview with Diahann Carroll. Please check your local listings for time and channel. This is definitely something you will not want to miss!
A couple of weeks ago, I was determined to see Michael Chabon during the New York leg of his book tour for Manhood for Amateurs. (As you can see here and here, I'm a huge fan of The Mysteries of Pittsburgh.) So it wasn't a big deal for me to hop on the 2/3 and make the hour-long trek into the deep reaches of Brooklyn. Chabon gave a wonderful talk on non-fiction writing, reading a few essays from Manhood for Amateurs, which manages to be insightful, wonderfully written, and truly poignant. He took questions from the audience at the tail-end of the event, and even mentioned an idea he has for a book based on the life of Queen's Freddie Mercury. (Fingers crossed!)
The talk is part of a Brooklyn Public Library series curated by editor Matt Weiland on the Art of Non-Fiction. The next event, this Thursday night, features Padgett Powell, author of The Interrogative Mood. For more info on the series, click here. And while you're at it, be sure to browse insideManhood for Amateurs. You can also read one of the essays here courtesy of the New York Review of Books.
By now just about everyone has seen the surreal footage of the US Airways plane that glided into the icy waters of the Hudson River in New York City last January in an emergency landing. We saw the passengers standing on the wings of the plane – knee deep in water – waiting to be pulled into the boats that immediately converged on the scene. It’s hard not to imagine what it must’ve been like for the passengers on that plane. Harder still would be to imagine what it was like to be the man at the controls of that plane.
In his new book Highest Duty, Chesley ‘Sully’ Sullenberger, the pilot of US Airways flight 1549, details not only the events of that unforgettable day, but he also reveals the inner workings of his life: where he comes from, his military background, and the important people, places, and events that have shaped him. Sully has a very strong work ethic and has always pushed himself to achieve excellence in every endeavor.
FYI…a few weeks after the crash, Sully discovered that he’d lost a library book about professional ethics, Just Culture: Balancing Safety and Accountability, in the downed plane’s cargo hold. When he called the library to notify them, they waived the usual fees. Mayor Michael Bloomberg replaced the book when he gave Sully the Key to the City in a New York ceremony. Check out this great video and fasten your seatbelts. This is quite the story…
We’ve been talking about The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind for months – telling everyone who’d listen how inspiring and downright unbelievable this story is. A boy from a village in Africa – too poor to attend school - is inspired by a librarian to read. He picks up a book on windmills and figures out how to build one out of scraps found in a junkheap. He generates electricity and changes the trajectory of his life and the lives of his community. From Malawi to the Daily Show with Jon Stewart. What a difference a windmill makes. Here's a link to our previous posts. Take a look…
Librarians, we want to hear from you! As you can see here, here, and here, we're wild about this book and we hope you will be, too. Send an email to librarylovefest at harpercollins.com. We'll send a copy of The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind to you with our compliments. The only thing ask for in return is a review of the book which we would then post on our blog. We know how busy everyone is these days so don't get hung up on the length of the review. We just want to get the word out to readers about a book that has everyone buzzing in house. Now we want the buzz to be outside the house! Thanks so much.
Now send us an email! (Please note, this particular offer is for librarians only.) Thanks!
Virginia Stanley Director Library Marketing HarperCollinsPublishers (212) 207-7592 virginia.stanley at harpercollins.com www.librarylovefest.com
We send you a book and you send us your review. Sometimes this offer will be open to the general readership and other times it will be open to librarians only. Either way, we’ll keep your name on our list for future reviews! We’d like to kick this off with a book we’re extremely excited about. The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind by William Kamkwamba is a terrific book about a young boy in South Africa who discovers a book in the library and learns how to build a windmill and generates electricity. We hope you enjoy this book as much as we do. Check out Marketing Director Tavia Kowalchuk's guest blog on the book, as well as our original post. Let us know if you’d like to review it on our blog by emailing your name, mailing address and library affiliation to librarylovefest@harpercollins.com. Again, this one’s for librarians only. Thanks!
Everyone is buzzing about Long Past Stopping(9780061450754), Oran Canfield's hotly anticipated memoir, on sale everywhere! Oran is the son of Jack Canfield, creator of the phenomenal bestselling self-help series Chicken Soup for the Soul. His memoir is hilarious and wry, loaded with oddball characters and stories that have to be read to be believed. Check out the e-card, browse inside the book, or order a copy.
