Bestseller Stat Shot
Ian K. Smith’s Super Shred (St. Martin’s) tops our Hardcover Nonfiction bestseller list this week—perhaps not surprisingly, considering it’s the season of resolutions, diets, and self-improvement in general. But while the book was the #1 nonfiction title across most of the country, it didn’t take top honors everywhere. Here’s a region-by-region breakdown of unit sales, along with the book’s regional nonfiction bestseller ranking.
From the Newsletters
Adrian Bonenberger, author of the new memoir Afghan Post (The Head & the Hand Press), picks the 10 best contemporary war novels.
How Random House used Tumblr to build a buzz around We Were Liars, a book for which it helps to know some of the plot in advance, but not too much.
The most-read review on publishersweekly.com last week was Young Money: Inside the Hidden World of Wall Street’s Post-Crash Recruits by Kevin Roose (Grand Central).
Blogs
The secret mathematical life of the Simpsons? Yes, there’s a book for that.
One bookseller’s list of ways publishers’ marketing departments can help independent bookstores in 2014.
Barbara visits the new public library in Fort Myers, Fla.
Podcasts
A conversation with husband-and-wife team Wendy Mass and Michael Brawer about their first collaboration, Space Taxi: Archie Takes Flight (Little, Brown).
The Week Ahead
PW senior writer Andrew Albanese discusses the results of a new Pew Research Survey that shows how the rising digital tide is lifting all boats—even print and audio.
Authors
Ruth Feldstein, author of How It Feels to Be Free (Oxford Univ.), talks about Nina Simone, the crossroads where popular culture and the civil rights movement met, and the role art can play in politics.
Events
If you’re going to Philadelphia for ALA Midwinter, or to Seattle for the ABA Winter Institute, come see us! At ALA, we’ll be at booth #818, where you can meet with PW senior writer Andrew Albanese and reviews editor Annie Coreno, along with contributing editors Peter Brantley, Brian Kenney (The P&L Sheet), and Michael Kelley (Check It Out!), as well as Margaux DelGiudice and Rose Luna (Cut to the Core). At ABA, PW senior bookselling editor Judith Rosen, West Coast correspondent Wendy Werris, and sales rep Ted Olczak will be making the rounds.
Hosts Rose Fox and Mark Rotella talk with Alison Levine about her new book, On the Edge: The Art of High-Impact Leadership (Grand Central/Business Plus). Plus, PW senior news editor Calvin Reid recaps the highlights of Digital Book World 2014.
