TODAY'S NEWS

Free Speech Groups Criticize Dismissal of Wisconsin Library Board Members
By Lynn Andriani
Four members of a library board in West Bend, Wis., were dismissed last week for refusing to remove controversial books from the library’s young adult section—and yesterday, the American Booksellers Foundation for Free Expression, the National Coalition Against Censorship, the Association of American Publishers and PEN American Center criticized the firings.

The groups sent a letter to the West Bend Common Council stating that the dismissals threatened free speech in two ways: punishing the board members for attempting to apply objective criteria in the selection of books, and pressuring the library to remove the controversial books. The letter said, “The role of a public library and its board members is to serve the entire community and to evaluate books and other library materials on the basis of objective criteria. By removing half the members of the library board, the Common Council is imposing its opinions on the rest of the community.” Read on »

Could O'Neill Benefit from 'Obama Effect'?
By Rachel Deahl
He's been called the "literary president" and the "new Oprah," unintentionally shooting books to the top of the bestseller lists by mentioning them in interviews or simply receiving them as gifts. Now it looks like yet another title may get a boost from President Obama. In an interview running in Saturday's New York Times Magazine, by David Leonhardt, Obama answers a question about whether he's "reading anything good" by saying he's "sick enough of briefing books" and has started Joseph O'Neill's novel, Netherland. Now Random House, which publishes the title, is headed back to press. Read on »

Chuck Klosterman to Interview Steven Tyler and Clarence Clemons at BEA
By Lynn Andriani
Aerosmith’s Steven Tyler and the E Street Band’s Clarence Clemons will appear together as part of BEA’s opening night keynote, where they will be interviewed live on stage by author Chuck Klosterman. The event marks the debut of BEA’s Author Stage program, which features groupings of authors interviewed by journalists or other authors on one of two new stages on the show floor. The Author Stage interviews, many of which have already been scheduled, will take place throughout the day on Friday, May 29 and Saturday, May 30.Read on »

NEIBA 2009 Award Winners Announced
By Judith Rosen
The New England Independent Booksellers Association named this year’s winners of the New England Book Awards. The 2009 recipients include the Pulitzer Prize-winning author of March for Fiction, Geraldine Brooks. Naturalist and radio commentator Sy Montgomery, whose Walking With the Great Apes will be reissued by Chelsea Green in August, received the award for Nonfiction, while Christopher and Edgar Award-winner Andrew Clements, known for Frindle among others, received the Children’s award. Read on »

PW Interviews Heidi Murkoff
by Dick Donahue
This week's interview is with Heidi Murkoff, whose What to Expect Before You’re Expecting will be published by Workman next month.

PW: What has accounted for the phenomenal popularity of the original What to Expect?

HM: I didn’t expect the popularity, and of course that’s not why I wrote it. As a first-time expectant mom, I wasn’t able to find the support I needed in the stack of pregnancy books I’d run out to buy. I was determined to write a book that would help expectant parents sleep better at night than I and my husband had—I was a mom on a mission, not a mom with a business plan. And maybe that’s one of the reasons for What to Expect’s popularity. It was the first book written by moms for moms (and dads), and let’s face it: nobody gets it like a mom. Every parent wants to know what to expect—they want answers to their questions, and What to Expect is about getting those answers in a fun-to-read, reader-friendly format. But at its heart, the book is about an emotional bond that all moms-to-be and moms (and dads) share—that feeling of “I know what you’re going through, because I’ve been there, I’ve done that. Read on »

Blogs

MORE STORIES

Deahl to Take Over PW's Deals Coverage
Rachel Deahl is now overseeing the deals column in the magazine. Please send information about deals to her at rachel.deahl@reedbusiness.com, instead of the old pwdeals@yahoo.com address. Matt Thornton, who had been handling this coverage, will continue to freelance for PW.

The PW Morning Report
Justice Dept. Probes Google Settlement; U.K. Publishers Urged to Claim Google-Scanned Titles; The Lovely Bones: The Movie; No Harr-E Potter; Apple’s Kindle Killer? Read on »

AUTHORS ON THE AIR

Authors on the Air: Ruth Reichl; Colson Whitehead; Bill Gates Sr.
Today, Leonard Lopate talked with Ruth Reichl, whose new book is Not Becoming My Mother: and Other Things She Taught Me Along the Way (Penguin, 978-1594202162, $19.95; Penguin Audio unabridged CD, $24.95). Read on »

PICTURE OF THE DAY

Trigiani Hosts Hundreds at Book Lunch
On Saturday, April 25, Adriana Trigiani, bestselling author of Very Valentine (Harper), hosted an event she dubbed the “World’s Biggest Book Club Luncheon” at the Convent of the Scared Heart School in Manhattan. At the event, which drew some 300 of Trigiani’s fans from across the country, the author spoke and signed copies of all of her books.
Submit your pictures here

JOB OF THE DAY

PW VIRTUAL EDITION

To access the latest issue of Publishers Weekly no matter where you are, be sure to take a look at PW's Virtual Edition -- available online anytime. If you're not already a subscriber, take a look at a sample issue here.