January 6, 2009 We're going to start out the new year with an exclusive Weekly Top 2 interview with none other than The Year 2009 herself! KB: Well, Happy New Year! The Year 2009: Happy New Year to you Kenny. KB: There's been more than a fair amount of upheaval in the publishing world, and in the economy generally, how is it all going to pan out? The Year 2009: Things will be difficult, of course, but they will be fine in the end. The difficulties will make people pull together and reflect on the importance of community, on supporting the institutions, and businesses, who really care about books and the unique role of literature in the community at large. KB: I'm not surprised, those concerns were really on the minds of our customers this holiday season, and their support meant a lot. Turning our thoughts to books, what can people expect in 2009? The Year 2009: First of all, follow ups from some surprise 2008 hits are going to be even bigger successes on my watch. For example the sequel to Suzanne Collins' Hunger Games, Catching Fire, will be a serious chart topper, plus Stieg Larsson's second Blomkvist/Salander novel, The Girl Who Played With Fire is even better than The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo and will thrill his growing readership. KB: What about some surprises, big hits by first time, or relatively unknown, authors and so forth? The Year 2009: Well, Gayle Forman's YA tearjerker, If I Stay, is going to be a big hit. What a fantastic read! Also Karen Howe's The Physik Book of Delivery Dane will be a real sleeper. Howe is actually a descendant of Salem Witch trial victims, and her book reinvents the story behind the trials in a really arresting manner. KB: Awesome, I can't wait. What about President Elect Obama? He's been following the career of Abraham Lincoln closely. Will he publish a book of bad poetry like Lincoln did? The Year 2009: Not in 2009. That's all I can say! KB: Got it! Are there any hot tips you can share? Who is going to win this year's Pulitzer Prize, anything like that. The Year 2009: Well I can't share any of my own year's prize winner's, but I can tell you that Pam Kaufman, your Random House Sales Representative, will buy a pet iguana on June 17th, and that the author she names the iguana after will end up being the 2015 Nobel Prize winner for Literature. KB: Incredible! I'll have to keep tabs on that situation, thanks! And thank you for agreeing to do this exclusive interview with The Weekly Top 2. The Year 2009: Not at all. It was a pleasure. Here they are! Our weekly picks for the two best: two hardcover, two paperback, and two children's books. The very best new arrivals to leap out of the box and onto our shelves this week. Call or email us if you want more information on any of these titles, or to have us hold you a copy. Or stop in and check them out in person. We'd love to see you. Thanks as always for sharing your reading with us!

In the Shadow of the Master: Classic Tales by Edgar Allan Poe and Essays by Jeffery Deaver, Nelson DeMille, Tess Gerritsen, Sue Grafton, Stephen Ki By Connelly, Michael Poe, Edgar Allan 2009/01 - William Morrow & Company 9780061690396 - Hardcover List Price $25.95 - Your Price: $20.76 Availability: Available   Preorder Title Back Order Rather than starting out the new year by stressing out over the nation's economy being in the toilet, a better idea would be to take a moment to commemorate it being the 200th anniversary of Edgar Allen Poe's birthday this January 19th. The Mystery of Writer's of America have this situation handled. In the Shadow of the Master features twenty of Poe's greatest tales, each accompanied by a brief essay from a modern author, such as Nelson DeMille, Tess Gerritsen and Stephen King, discussing Poe's influence on their lives and work. ...More   Plum Spooky By Evanovich, Janet 2009/01 - St. Martin's Press 9780312383329 - Hardcover  See Other Formats List Price $27.95 - Your Price: $22.36 Availability: Available   Preorder Title Back Order Janet Evanovich has taken to putting out what she calls Stephanie Plum Between-the-Numbers Novels of which Plum Spooky is the fourth. As Evanovich's legion of fans knows, the core Plum novels are all numbered, One For the Money, High Five, Twelve Sharp and so forth. I know what your thinking. If these really are Stephanie Plum Between-the-Numbers Novels why aren't they in fractions, why isn't Plum Spooky called 14.5 Spooky. Though Evanovich, for some reason, hasn't addressed this problem here, she has addressed another criticism of the Between-the-Numbers Novels, namely that they were too short, more of an hors dourve than a book. Plum Spooky is a full length novel dealing with the Jersey Devil, the Pine Barrens, and a boy genius targeted for murder. By all appearances Evanovich really has made the wait for book 15 a lot more rewarding this time around....More   This Republic of Suffering: Death and the American Civil War By Faust, Drew Gilpin 2009/01 - Vintage Books USA 9780375703836 - Trade Paper  See Other Formats List Price $15.95 - Your Price: $12.76 Availability: Available   Preorder Title Back Order A superb professional historian, (Though she is now slumming it as President of Harvard) and an excellent writer, Drew Gilpin Faust's account of the impact of the Civil War's staggeringly high death toll on the American consciousness is a must read in paperback for anyone who let This Republic of Suffering go in hardcover....More   The Enchantress of Florence By Rushdie, Salman 2009/01 - Random House Trade 9780679640516 - Trade Paper  See Other Formats List Price $14.00 - Your Price: $11.20 Availability: Available   Preorder Title Back Order Rushdie has composed a sort of tale of two cities here, an historical novel which moves between the cultural epicenters of Renaissance Italy and The Mughal Empire of India. Reviews have fluctuated wildly, some describing the pen Rushdie's employs in The Enchantress of Florence as "a magician's wand" and it's prose as "sumptuous," while others have characterized the prose as the product of "automatic scribbling," and the effect being akin to "a veritable verbal diarrhea meaning nothing." Is The Enchantress of Florence a "baroque whirlwind of a narrative" or is it a monument to "flaccid artificiality?" Let me know!...More   Clementine's Letter By Pennypacker, Sara Frazee, Marla 2009/04 - Hyperion 9780786838851 - Trade Paper  See Other Formats List Price $4.99 - Your Price: $3.99 Availability: Available   Preorder Title Back Order Sara Pennypacker's Clementine books are simply superb novels for 7-10 year olds. Narrated by their charming heroine, these books provide the sort of fun, humor, and elementary school age angst that young readers love. They are also adorned by Marla Frazee's exceptional line drawings. The second book in the series, Clementine's letter is out in paperback today....More   Chicken Cheeks By Black, Michael Ian Hawkes, Kevin 2009/01 - Simon & Schuster Children's Publishing 9781416948643 - Hardcover List Price $15.99 - Your Price: $12.79 Availability: Available   Preorder Title Back Order Chicken Cheeks is as good a book about the subject of animal behinds as it would be possible to make. Where does this leave us standing? Well, Chicken Cheeks really does provide good spirited entertainment for 3-5 year olds. This is partly because the always superb Kevin Hawkes' illustrations are so winning, and in part because the book is cleverly, though simply, structured. What we have is a large ladder of animals standing on top of each other, with each page giving the term or art for a particular animal, such as "Kangaroo Keister, Toucan Can, or Guinea Pig Buns." It turns out the animals are collaborating on getting at the honey in a bee hive at the top of a tall branchless tree. Will kids laugh when the bees come out, the pile falls and scatters, and the narrator announces that it is "The Ends" of the story? Of course they will!...More