Last night I saw the trailer for the new Julie & Julia movie, starring Meryl Streep and Amy Adams. We’d previously posted about a movie tie-in edition of Julia Child’s My Life in France that will be released to coincide with the movie release. Also, be sure you have other Julia Child books in stock as the movie will most likely spawn a new generation of “Julies”. I must say this movie looks like a delight! See for yourself by watching the trailer!

-Marie

After enjoying, yes, actually enjoying President Obama’s press conference last night (with special thanks for ending just in time for LOST),  I was thrilled to learn this morning that he is currently reading NETHERLAND by Joseph O’Neill.

From David Leonhardt’s exclusive interview with President Obama in this Sunday’s New York Times Magazine: “At the end of our conversation, when I asked him if he was reading anything good, he said he had become sick enough of briefing books to begin reading a novel in the evenings —Netherland, by Joseph O’Neill.”

CNN’s blog Political Ticker, CBS News Political Hotsheet, Huffington Post, PW, Amazon’s blog Omnivoracious, NYT’s blog Papercuts, all covered the story.

http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2009/04/29/what-is-president-obama-reading/

http://www.cbsnews.com/blogs/2009/04/29/politics/politicalhotsheet/entry4978632.shtml

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/04/29/obamas-reading-netherland_n_193317.html

http://www.publishersweekly.com/article/CA6655052.html?nid=2286&source=title&rid=1243224719

http://www.omnivoracious.com/2009/04/obamas-book-club-is-back-netherland.html

http://papercuts.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/04/29/obama-reading-watch-100-days-edition/ 

http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2009/04/29/what-is-president-obama-reading/

-Erica

Are you a closeted book reviewer? If so, we’re opening a contest to all our loyal readers!

Be a guest book reviewer on our blog! If you’ve read a good Random House, Inc. book lately (or, well…. ever) submit a review to us at library@randomhouse.com. Please also include your first name, location, and library name. We will choose five and post one each day for a full week on our blog. Deadline for submission is 5/8.

So show us your stuff and remember to keep it on the shorter side. This is a blog after all.

-Marie

Earlier this month we blogged about a FREE BOOK pdf giveaway of Firoozeh Dumas’ hilarious and ever-reaching memoir, Funny in Farsi. Firoozeh has just written an opinion piece for NPR on the First Amendment, available on their website now. As librarians, the topics of the First Amendment and Censorship are surely near and dear to all your hearts. Be sure to check out Firoozeh’s piece.

There is also still time to download a free copy of her book! Click here to do so.

Her newest memoir, Laughing Without an Accent, is also available in hardcover.

This guy wrote a mystery novel.

So I’m sitting here this morning putting together the upcoming Library Bulletin for Fall and in the Mystery/Suspense/Thriller section I notice that one of our authors’ names is Al Roker. And I immediately think, wow, we have an author named Al Roker. That’s funny; he must get all kinds of…

And at this point I notice the title: The Morning Show Murders.

Okay, so the Al Roker has written a mystery novel? And we’re publishing it? And I guess I’m the last one around here to know about it? Why didn’t anyone tell me? I need to know these things! You do too. That’s why I’m writing about it. Can’t wait to read it. And looking forward to Larry Bird’s paranormal romance next year.

Look for this one in November.

-David

One of the most fun things about my job is getting to embrace my inner book reviewer for our Random Revelations newsletter. My most recent staff pick, The Invisible Mountain, appealed to me especially because it is right up my alley. I have loved books steeped in rich oral tradition and Latin American culture since first reading Isabel Allende’s The House of the Spirits in high school. To this day, it is still my all-time favorite book. Of course, then came Gabriel Garcia Marquez and any time I see something in a similar “magical realism” vein, I jump on it.

Be sure to check out our Library Marketing Team’s Staff Picks if you haven’t already and as a special bonus, I will send my ARC of Invisible Mountain to one lucky commentor who answers this question:

What is your all-time favorite book?

Happy Friday!

Marie

After long deliberation, Virginia Tech has selected their Freshman Year Experience program book: Daniel Goleman’s Ecological Intelligence. Goleman’s books are always popular for use in the classroom, especially Emotional Intelligence and Social Intelligence, which explain why sometimes one’s ability to deal with life events and people can be more important than having a high IQ.

Ecological Intelligence is all about intelligent consumption–how, even when we’re trying to be conscientious, we are often unaware of the consequences of our buying habits. We buy the organic cotton t-shirts not knowing that its dyes may put factory workers at risk for leukemia or we buy “herbal” shampoos that contain industrial chemicals that can threaten our health or contaminate the environment. Who knew? It’s good to know that at least a few thousand people this year will be learning to buy better. Take a look at an excerpt!

Random House Info Group has several drop-ins for the Fall 2009 season! 

Whether your patrons are new to the U.S., learning English as a second language or just building their English skills, Living Language offers a wide variety of in-demand ESL books and materials for the over 50 million non-native English language speakers in the U.S.

-Erica

Tomorrow is Earth Day and ABC News Now will have Sara Snow on hand to discuss tips on how to save money but going green. Check your local listings for times.

Also check out her book, SARA SNOW’S FRESH LIVING: The Essential Room-By-Room Guide to a Greener, Healthier Family and Home.

Our exciting week here at Random House just keeps getting better!!

Wonderful news this afternoon from the Pulitzer Prize Board:  Random House, Inc. books were awarded 2009 Pulitzers in three of the five Letter categories.

Fiction

OLIVE KITTERIDGE by Elizabeth Strout (Random House)

Biography

AMERICAN LION: Andrew Jackson in the White House by Jon Meacham (Random House)

General Nonfiction

SLAVERY BY ANOTHER NAME: The Re-Enslavement of Black Americans from the Civil War to World War II by Douglas A. Blackmon (Doubleday)

Congratulations to our authors and to their publishers and editors, whose pride and accomplishment we all can share.

In the eleven years since Random House, Inc. came together as a merged company eighteen of our books have won Pulitzers–a feat unmatched by another trade-book publishing company.

-Erica