According to a New York Times article, DC Comics will soon be publishing a series called “American Vampire,” which, illustrated by Rafael Albuquerque, will concern itself with “a new breed of vampire through the lens of different eras in American history. The second 16-page portion of the story will be done by none other than Stephen King! His story will be about Skinner Sweet, the first vampire to not fear the sun (see above illustration).

The article also describes a story by Scott Snyder of a fame-hungry woman in the Jazz Age–which actually sounds even more interesting. Overall, the series seems like it’ll be very cool, even if it is a little bandwagon-ish.

The National Ledger, in their article about the comic, seems to be obliquely accusing Mr. King of condemning the Twilight series while also capitalizing on its popularity. But really, I don’t think he has to prove anything at this point, and he certainly doesn’t need any more money, right? Anyone think this is a bad idea?

My absolute favorite thing about working in publishing is meeting the authors.  And yesterday, we got to meet Kris Radish! She was just as fabulous as I had imagined and sent us away with goodies to raffle off to libraries!

Share with us your favorite novel from Radish and we’ll pick one lucky librarian to receive a signed copy of The Shortest Distance Between Two Women, a Radish women’s visor, and more!

And keep an eye on your holds lists and get those preorders ready! Kris’s lastest novel, Hearts on a String, will be out in May!

-Erica

Yesterday I had the great pleasure of meeting debut author Carolina de Robertis who was in house signing copies of her novel, The Invisible Mountain. With my extensive heralding of this beautiful narrative, it surely comes as no surprise to you that I was tickled pink to meet her and have her autograph a copy for me. Really, this is one of the best perks of the job! It should also not come as a surprise that I didn’t forget you, my blog friends. Ms. de Robertis was happy to sign a copy for you as well.

If you’d like to be entered to win the autographed copy please comment and answer the following:

This novel takes place in Uruguay and is rich in language and culture. Please tell us about a favorite book you have read lately that is set outside of the United States.*

-Marie 

*I am currently reading a Penguin book that I’d picked up at ALA called The Book of Night Women. Set in eighteenth-century Kingston, Jamaica, it is narrated entirely in slave dialect. I’m loving it so far!

I’d like to thank the many librarians who were able to join us for the first AAP Librarian Book Buzz Presentation last week! It was exciting to have so many publishers in one room, dedicated to the library marketplace.

Just because you’re not local to NYC doesn’t mean that you should be left out!  Below are the titles I presented and buzzed about – staff favorites, book you MUST have and the important mid-list books you don’t want to miss!  With only 12 minutes to present, I could only touch upon some highlights.  There are many more where these came from, so be on the lookout for more from our department.

THE SWIMMING POOL by Holly LeCraw 

UNION ATLANTIC by Adam Haslett

THE HANDBOOK FOR LIGHTNING STRIKE SURVIVORS by Michele Young-Stone  *Marie’s latest staff pick!

LETTER TO MY DAUGHTER by George Bishop

THE THINGS THAT KEEP US HERE by Carla Buckley

WISH HER SAFE AT HOME by Stephen Benatar

ALICE I HAVE BEEN by Melanie Benjamin  *Jen’s latest staff pick!

WOLF AMONG WOLVES by Han Fallada

THE MANY DEATHS OF THE FIREFLY BROTHERS by Thomas Mullen

THE AMERICAN GIRL by Monika Fagerholm  *for fans of Steig Larsson!

THE MAN FROM BEIJING by Henning Mankell  *more for fans of Steig Larsson!

WALKING TO GATLINBURG by Howard Frank Mosher

PARROT & OLIVIER IN AMERICA by Peter Carey

CLAUDE AND CAMILLE: A NOVEL OF CLAUDE MONET by Stephanie Cowell

ANCESTOR by Scott Sigler

I don’t know if I’ve ever looked forward so much to something so bleak and horrifying. On November 6, a movie called “Precious” comes out, based on a novel we publish called PUSH by Sapphire. (For the movie-tie-in editon, they’ve changed the title to fit the movie)

The film, according to the article in The NYTimes Magazine, received a 15-minute standing ovation at the Cannes film festival, and it also won a Grand Jury prize at Sundance several months ago. The piece in the magazine is an interesting read, and features a cool interview with the director about who has inspired him over the years. Share it with your friends and patrons to generate interest!

-David

Good news came last week with LJ’s posting of the top 20 NYPL holds; turns out we had 8 of the 20 this time! We’d like to congratulate the authors and publishers that made the list, but we’d also like to know what’s being held at YOUR library! Anything drastically different?? Demand can vary so greatly by region. And we’re very curious people.

-David

Booklist has announced its “Top 10 First Novels of 2009″ and I’m pleased to say that one of my faves (and a past Random Revelations Staff Pick) has made the cut along with two other Random House titles. Here’s what they had to say:

The Invisible Mountain by Carolina de Robertis: “Words, so beautifully employed by this author, seem inadequate to convey the essence of this twentieth-century Uruguayan woman-centered family saga.”

Lime Tree Can’t Bear Orange by Amanda Smyth: “In lithe, lyrical prose, the author evokes the lush language of the West Indies and the modest lives lived at the mercy of fate.”

Precious by Sandra Novack: “Trouble simmers beneath the surface of a bucolic Pennsylvania town in Novack’s dramatic, elegantly rendered debut.”

Check out the full list of Top 10 First Novels here. Also, be sure to take a peek at the list of “Top 10 First Novels for Youth” featuring  some titles by our friends at Random House Children’s and Egmont.

-Marie

I wrote a post last week about starting off your library’s Manga collection with a few key series. And this week, I’d like to address those who might have read that and said, “Pssh, I started my Manga collection 3 years ago. This guy’s behind the times.” by giving everyone a few NEW titles to check out.

These are a few new series coming in November and December. Check them out for some Manga-shelf augmentation!

Tadayasu is a new, fresh-faced university student hiding a bizarre secret: He can see germs with the naked eye. Between the machinations of an eccentric professor and the doomed agricultural experiments of his fellow students, will Tadayasu ever find the cool college atmosphere he so desires?

The world is a lonely place for Naoto and Naoya, brothers with amazing psychic powers that set them apart from humanity. Their parents cast them out and had them imprisoned in an exploitative research center. But after they make a daring escape from the institution, Naoya has a psychic vision of an even greater threat: a deadly plague that threatens the entire world!

It’s easy: Just send a text to a certain address and a dark angel will appear to grant you a wish–but only one! You can wish for your crush to fall in love with you, for revenge against those who have wronged you, or even for the dead to be brought back to life. But choose your wish carefully–sometimes a dream come true can be a nightmare!

-Dave

National Geographic, in my opinion, features some of the best journalistic photography in the world. This fall, they’ve published a landmark , 512-page collection, called National Geographic Image Collection, of the highlights from the last 120 years. Below are two videos, one a montage of the collected photos and the other including highlights and interviews with some of the photographers.

I think I like the one of the shepards in the big fur coats best… Anyone else have a favorite?

Montage:

Highlights and interviews:

-David

There’s been a lot of talk, both online and off, about Teen Read Week lately. Right on its heels, and in light of a conversation Dave and I had the other day, I give you Exhibits A, B, and C. These are obviously three different covers by three different publishers for the infamous classic, Wuthering Heights.

Our friends at HarperCollins have springboarded off the successful look of a recent smash-hit series for their new edition of “Bella and Edward’s Favorite Book.” Look familiar? Then there are our Penguin pals who have opted for something more gothic and Tim Burton-esque. Finally, Random House Inc.’s Vintage imprint has come up with a “Classic” approach that still has a hint of the abstract.

Each publisher has made it perfectly clear that while newly discovered books and anticipated blockbusters are all well and good, classics and the importance of reading them are also high in the priority list. Gone are the cloth and dust covered tomes of yesteryear; instead these gussied up editions are likely aimed at a new generation of teen readers, all vying for equal shelf space and due consideration. While I’m not quite sure which I’d go for I wonder how would these pretty new paperbacks fare on your shelves? Given teens, trends, and the classically inclined, what do you look for in hopes of racking up the date stamps upon checkout?

-Marie