Well, it’s been a great year full of many wonderful memories.  One of the nice perks of working at Random House, Inc (besides getting to mingle with authors, librarians, booksellers, and other book lovers) is that our offices are closed from Christmas through New Year’s.  We’ll be taking a brief hiatus from the blog and just didn’t want you to worry about us.  We’ll be back on January 5th with new posts daily.  Best wishes for a Happy New Year and we’ll see you in 2009!

The Random House Library Marketing Staff

Marcia, Jen, Erica, Dave and Marie

Get those Health & Wellness displays ready for your patrons’ New Year’s resolutions with these inspiring & motivating new titles.

-Erica

We received word a few days ago that the film rights for Nancy Horan’s 2007 historical novel, Loving Frank , have been sold to Lionsgate! Congratulations Nancy! See the report from Variety, below. Many of us read the book and are excited to see what they’ll make of it.

Lionsgate has acquired screen rights to “Loving Frank,” a historical novel about architect Frank Lloyd Wright by Nancy Horan.

John Burnham Schwartz (“Reservation Road”) has been set to write the script.

Escape Artists partners Todd Black, Jason Blumenthal and Steve Tisch will produce with Stuart Parr and Allison Sarofilm.

“Frank” tells the pre-WWI story of the affair between Wright and Chicago society matron Mamah Borthwick Cheney.

“ ‘Loving Frank’ unfolds in a unique historical milieu, yet it speaks to a fundamental aspect of human nature, that you can’t help who you fall in love with,” said Lionsgate production president Alli Shearmur.

-David

We decided to go digital in our Holiday card this year, so here it is, below, for everyone. Now you can know what we look like, for better or for worse.

Happy Holidays!

-David

With so many libraries seeing a dramatic increase in traffic and circulation, I’m sure many patrons are utilizing the Job Information Collections in particular, more than ever.  A sample of the reference resources from Random House, Inc. to help your collection meet the needs of your patrons.

Best Careers 2009: LIBRARIAN!!

-Erica

Add some history to your graphic novels collection with this newly-announced drop in:

08: A Graphic Diary of the Campaign Trail

Michael Crowley and Dan Goldman

Three Rivers Press

978-0-307-40511-1

$17.95/$19.95C

On sale: 1/27/09

From the same authors who made the graphic adaptation of The 9/11 Report a bestseller, this newest campaign trail memoir embraces the popular 08 them of “change”  in its very format. It is perfect for political enthusiasts and reluctant readers alike.

-Marie

Our colleagues in the Random House Inc. Academic Department have put together a listing on their site of books of particular interest during these challenging economic times.  The new and classic books featured on their page offer expert histories on previous economic collapses, critical analyses of the policies leading to the current economic downturn, and insightful perspectives on the potential impact of this tumultuous period.   While created with college professors in mind, we thought this listing would be helpful to collection development librarians as well, especially now that circulation is rising during the economic downturn.  To visit RH Academic’s site, please click HERE.

-Jen

Great news for Random House’s movie-tie ins as Revolutionary Road, The Reader, The Duchess and TV’s Dexter received hearty nods at this year’s Golden Globe Nominee ceremony. Congrats to all!

Best Picture (Drama) - Revolutionary Road and The Reader

Best Actress in a Motion Picture (Drama) - Kate Winslet (Revolutionary Road)

Best Actor in a Motion Picture (Drama)  – Leonardo DiCaprio (Revolutionary Road)

Best Supporting Actress in a Motion Picture (Drama) - Kate Winslet (The Reader)

Best Supporting Actor in a Motion Picture (Drama) - Ralph Fiennes (The Duchess)

Best Television Series (Drama) - Dexter

Best Actor in a Television Series (Drama) - Michael C. Hall (Dexter)

We all know that praise for movies creates demand for their parent books so make sure you have these four on your shelves! Of course, be sure to check out our movie tie-in page for trailers and book information.

-Marie

In case you haven’t seen it, NBC Nightly News recently did a segment on how the recession is affecting library traffic! They report that, with people hesitant to buy books, many are turning to the library for reading and research, and the library numbers are higher than ever. But, concurrently and for the same economic reasons, budgets are being cut at many libraries, and some branches are closing. Check out the video (you might have to watch some commercial first, but then it’ll start). It may not be news to you, but it’s nice to see it on national TV.

Has anyone felt the pull of this double-strain? Or perhaps a better question is: has anyone been able to escape it?   

-David

On the heels of the latest issue of our Random Revelations newsletter, I feel I must strongly echo Dave in praise and promotion of Abraham Verghese’s new novel, CUTTING FOR STONE, out in February from Knopf.

Think Grey’s Anatomy meets the Kite Runner…at least those are the loose comparisons I draw. There really is no way to describe this wonderful novel so I’ll give you the basics and let you discover the rest for yourself: a set of twins, borne out of a forbidden union, grow up at a mission hospital in Ethiopa where they navigate childhood, medicine, and their country’s political change. Certainly epic in story and size (500+ pages, but it is worth it!), Cutting for Stone is one for the “all-time favorite” bookshelf.

Also, the author will be in attendance at ALA-Midwinter. If you have the conference on your itinerary, make sure to keep this is mind. He will be  speaking at the author’s breakfast on Sunday, January 25 with a booth signing immediately following.

-Marie