PW Picks: On Sale the Week of January 23, 2012

In picks: a lady's lit-fic one-two punch, novels from three genre favorites, an Adult-YA face-off, foreign relations, European history, Kennedy nostalgia, and social psychology. Plus: Weetzie Bat! (Gesundheit!)

Art Check: Living Small

Adding to the series that began with 1973’s Shelter, green architecture pioneer Lloyd Kahn presents Tiny Homes, which celebrates (in some 1,300 photos) domeciles measuring fewer than 500 square feet.

PW Tip Sheet: And I Feel Fine

I may get flack for this, but I’m one of the many deluded souls in America who have bought the Mayan Calendar-inspired 2012 apocalypse scenario whole hog. Like I suppose it is for others, this kind of (black) magic thinking provides a measure of comfort and hope when I’m feeling overwhelmed by the major problems facing the world—-like, say, when they're pointed out to me by a slew of this week’s titles.

On-Sale Calendar: Week of January 16, 2012

Your complete list of releases for the third week of 2012, lovingly compiled in the dead of night by off-duty elves hired by the Tip Sheet through a wealthy retired shoe cobbler.

PW Picks: On Sale the Week of January 16, 2012

Michelle Alexander and Deborah Scroggins each examine one of America’s great moral quandaries, Michael Kranish and Scott Helman examine one of America’s great political quandaries, and novelist Jason Heller poses a quandary for America: are you ready for the second administration of William Howard Taft?

Back on a Raft with Taft: A Q&A with Jason Heller

In Jason Heller’s debut novel, Taft 2012, the journalist and author imagines a present-day campaign for William Howard Taft, whose presidential aspirations have reawakened a hundred years after the end of his one and only term.

Questions for a Bookseller: Type Books in Toronto, Ontario

If you've been on the internet this week, chances are you’ve already seen the incredible stop-motion viral video made by animator Sean Ohlenkamp, his wife, and what has to be a large group of improbably patient volunteers, called The Joy of Books. The Tip Sheet spoke to the co-owner of Type Books, where the video was filmed.

Excerpt: Esther Had Changed

In Ben Marcus’s The Flame Alphabet, a terrifying, world-threatening illness has turned the speech of children into deadly poison for adults; the suburban couple at the center of the action, Sam and Claire, have become de facto hostages of their own daughter, Esther, and the rest of the neighborhood kids.

PW Tip Sheet: Everyone Loves a List

Have you, like me, been binging on year-end best-of lists for the past two weeks?

So Much They Can't Share: A Q&A with Jodi Kantor

In The Obamas, journalist Kantor expands on her personal-is-political approach to look at the evolving relationships among the Obama family, the White House, and the Presidency.

Two Questions for a Bookseller: Watermark Returns

The Tip Sheet called up Sarah Bagby, owner of Watermark Books in Wichita, Kan., to find out what’s being exchanged during the annual post-holiday gift-correction season.

Art Check: Timekeeping for Aesthetes

To kick off the new year, Flammarion (and their distributor, Rizzoli) shares some captivating images from the forthcoming volume The Mastery of Time, an illustrated history by Dominique Flechon.

On-Sale Calendar: Week of January 9, 2012

Your complete list of releases for the second week of the new year.

PW Picks: On Sale the Week of January 9, 2012

This week, a fistful of mystery-thrillers bump up against bios of Elizabeth II and the Obamas, as well as a fascinating memoir from the "godfather of rap."

24 Million Secondary Characters: A Q&A with Adam Johnson

The Tip Sheet asked the author of The Orphan Master's Son: A Novel of North Korea what kind of impact the death of “dear leader” Kim Jong-il will have on the nation’s oppressed citizenry.

Excerpt: No Escape for Ivanov

The hero of Matthew Reilly’s military adventure series, codename “Scarecrow,” is back in the bluntly-titled Scarecrow Returns, a star-worthy jaunt to recover a dastardly weapon from a long-forgotten Soviet base in the Arctic circle.

PW Tip Sheet: The Sneaky Season

The end of the year has once again taken me by surprise. The sudden short work week! The encroachment of holiday plans! The final gift-buying bender! The PW Tip Sheet editorial!

And You Keep Your Pants Pulled Up: A Q&A with John Bridges

John Bridges, author of seven titles in Thomas Nelson's GentleManners series, discusses the update to his guide for young men 50 Things Every Young Gentleman Should Know.

Art Check: The Woodman Mystique

Francesca Woodman (1958-1981) stands as one of the most tragic, enigmatic figures in photography, a wunderkind who burst on the scene seemingly fully-formed at age 15, then took her own life just seven years later.

On-Sale Calendar: Weeks of December 26, 2011 and January 2, 2012