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

Legendary illustrator dies at 92

Jun 20 2008: Legendary author and illustrator Tasha Tudor died June 18 at her Vermont home. She was 92. A family statement on her website said, "We thank you for supporting Tasha Tudor's lifestyle and artwork during her long career. We hope that Tasha's message of 'taking joy' ...

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Man Booker author on hunger strike over Bhopal

Jun 19 2008: Indra Sinha, whose novel Animal's People was shortlisted for last year's Booker Prize, is currently on a week long fast in support of a group of victims of the Bhopal chemical disaster who began a hunger strike themselves in Delhi on 12 June. Sinha's novel is based on...

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Publishers rush to reprint Tim Russert's books

Jun 19 2008: Publishers Random House and Hyperion are rushing both Tim Russert's books, Big Russ and Me: Father and Son: Lessons of Life and Wisdom of Our Fathers: Lessons and Letters from Daughters and Sons to reprint due to high demand for both books triggered by his death last ...

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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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