Breaking news on authors, publishers, and book-related topics

Rare scientific books sold for $11 million

Jun 18 2008: Christie's auction of rare scientific books in New York on Tuesday raised far more than anticipated - $11 million versus the catalog estimate of $6 million. A copy of Nicolaus Copernicus's De revolutionibus orbium coelestium (On the Revolutions of the Heavenly Spheres) ...

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Kids and reading - by the numbers

Jun 17 2008: Publishers Weekly provides topline stats from the Scholastic/Yankelovich 2008 Kids and Family Reading Report including:

• 90: % of children ages 5–17 who believe they "need to be a strong reader to get into a good college"
• 80: % of children ages 5–8 who believe ...

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Heroic story of books

Jun 16 2008: In all the statewide stories of heroism coming out of Iowa during the recent floods, it would be hard to find more passion than in the snaking line going up the steps of the Main Library at the University of Iowa on the banks of the flooding Iowa River. Hand over hand...

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The daytime TV phenomenon that has killed the literary snob

Jun 16 2008: The London Times reports on the daytime TV phenomenon that has killed the literary snob. The Richard & Judy Book Club accounts for 26% of the sales of the top 100 books in the U.K., making Amanda Ross, the club's creator and book selector, the most powerful player in ...

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Book sales up year on year, but down in March

Jun 12 2008: According to the Association of American Publishers, sales for 2008 are up 1.3% year on year to $1.71 billion but sales in March declined 11%. Growth came from categories including ebooks, children's and adult paperbacks and children's hardcovers. Losses were recorded...

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DeNiro's Game wins IMPAC award

Jun 12 2008: DeNiro's Game by Rawi Hage is this year's winner of the International IMPAC Dublin Literary Award. The International IMPAC Dublin Literary Award is the largest and most international prize of its kind. It involves libraries from all corners of the globe, and is open ...

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Eliot Asinof obituary

Jun 12 2008: Eliot Asinof, best known as the author of Eight Men Out, about the 1919 Chicago "Black Sox" cheating scandal, died on Tuesday at the age of 88.

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J.K. Rowling's storycard prequel to Harry Potter

Jun 12 2008: J.K. Rowling's "storycard" prequel to the Harry Potter series (written purely for the fundraiser and not planned to be a book), which sold for £25,000 (~US$49,000) at a charity auction this week, is now available at Waterstone's website, along with contributions by 12 ...

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