Self-Published Trader Joe's Book Inspires Sequel and Imitator

In the department of unlikely books becoming hits are often those that relate somehow to a subject that has a cult following of sorts. Take Trader Joe’s, the chain of grocery stores with low prices, exotic treats and friendly employees. The store has inspired numerous fan clubs and online community pages. So is it any wonder that a self-published book on all the dishes you can make using Trader Joe’s products has sold 70,000 copies, spawned imitators, and inspired a sequel?

Cooking the Books with Ree Drummond, aka The Pioneer Woman

Morrow will release The Pioneer Woman Cooks by Ree Drummond, who writes the blogs Confessions of a Pioneer Woman and Pioneer Woman Cooks. Drummond’s loyal fans—her site registers two million visitors a month—helped make The Pioneer Woman Cooks the #1 pre-ordered hardcover on Amazon recently. The author talked to PW from her Oklahoma ranch about her writing, from blog to cookbook to a forthcoming narrative nonfiction book.

Cookbook Publishing in Brazil, Eating in Ipanema

Tall and tan and young and... hungry? I recently spent a week in Brazil, attending a book fair in Rio de Janeiro and meeting with book publishers in São Paulo. Although the purpose of the trip was for me to get an overview of Brazil’s publishing industry, I also got a fantastic impression of Brazil’s food culture. Here’s a look at what I ate in Brazil, how cookbooks are marketed there, and how well one cookbook publisher is doing.

Children's Book Reviews: 9/28/2009

This week's reviews include new picture books from Peter Yarrow, Satoshi Kitamura, Patricia Polacco and Lois Lowry, as well as fiction from Sharon Creech, Nancy Farmer, Cinda Williams Chima, Julia Donaldson and Siobhan Dowd.

Fiction Book Reviews: 9/28/2009

Reviewed this week, new novels from Patricia Cornwell, Joseph Wambaugh, Alexander McCall Smith, Jonathan Dee and Tracy Chevalier. Plus, the 34th Pushcart Prize anthology, Javier
Marías concludes his disquieting Your Face Tomorrow trilogy and Zachary Mason reinterprets the Odyssey.

Tokyopop, Harper Team To Release ‘Shutter Island’ Graphic Novel

Graphic novel publisher Tokyopop is working in conjunction with HarperCollins to release a comics adaptation of bestselling novelist Dennis Lehane’s psychological thriller Shutter Island in January 2010 in time for the February release of a new Martin Scorsese film based on the novel.

Web Exclusive Children's Book Reviews: 9/24/2009

This selection of web-exclusive children's book reviews includes new books from Rachel Isadora, Peter Yarrow and Amber Kizer, as well as debut work from Jan Bozarth, Carolyn Q. Ebbitt and Donny Bailey Seagraves.

Recipe Report: September 28

Q & A with Richard Peck

Q: When you wrote the short story 'Shotgun Cheatham’s Last Night Above Ground' years ago, did you have any inkling that it would grow into three entire novels?

A: No, I didn’t. I was asked by Harry Mazer to contribute something to a collection of stories about guns and I thought, "He’s going to get too many guy stories, so I’m going to think up a female character." That’s how Grandma Dowdel was born.

Toon Treasury: Open Sesame

With The Toon Treasury of Classic Children’s Comics, published this month by Abrams, Art Spiegelman and his wife, Françoise Mouly, are bringing comics classics to kids of a new generation. “Comic books were considered the most disposable ephemera, yet clearly those who grew up with them cherished them,” Spiegelman says. “It seems like some of the most important literature for children in the middle of the 20th century is in these comic books.”

An Anime Canon for All

In June, the Penguin Group released The Rough Guide to Anime by Simon Richmond. The book establishes a canon of 50 must-see films and TV anime series, as well as reviews of 150 notable titles, and a brief history of anime.

Conspiracy, Comics and a ‘Red Herring’

Written by David Tischman and drawn by Philip Bond, Wildstorm’s new six-issue mini-series, Red Herring, concentrates on an intriguing and complex tale of conspiracy, betrayal and murder.

Religion in Review
You Saw It Here First: Original Religion BookLine Reviews

Exclusively online: reviews of What I Believe by Tariq Ramadan (with a star); Counterfeit Gods: The Empty Promises of Money, Sex and Power, and the Only Hope That Matters by Timothy Keller; The Science of Happiness: 10 Principles for Manifesting Your Divine Nature by Ryuho Okawa and more; and a Sneak Peek at religion reviews coming in the October 12 PW: the starred Original Sinners: A New Interpretation of Genesis by John R. Coats, and more.

Comics Briefly

Capstone to Add Kids' Nonfiction Graphic Novel Line

Capstone Press, a nonfiction imprint of Capstone Publishers, plans to add a new line of kids' nonfiction graphic novels to its fast growing comics and graphic novel publishing program. This fall the house is launching Graphic Expeditions, a nonfiction line of graphic novels that will debut with six titles that aim to introduce young readers to social studies, history and world cultures. The new line will feature the archaeologist Dr. Isabel “Izzy” Soto...

Children's Book Reviews: 9/21/2009

This week's children's book reviews include new picture books from Ursula K. Le Guin, Jeff Smith and NBA-er Chris Paul; fiction from Jutta Richter, Laini Taylor, Gordan Korman and Joanne Dahme; and a collection of Thanksgiving books (none of them turkeys).

Fiction Book Reviews: 9/21/2009

Reviewed this week, new fiction from Michael Connelly, David Baldacci, Anne Tyler, Al Roker, J.A. Jance, Steve Berry, Ha Jin and Elizabeth Noble. Plus, Ann Herendeen gives Pride and Prejudice a bi-sexual reboot, Matt Beaumont sends up a British ad agency in his e-epistolary, Brian Hart debuts with a stellar novel set in starkest Idaho and Jeff Shaara concludes his WWII trilogy.

Panel Mania: Refresh, Refresh

In Refresh, Refresh three teenage boys come to age in a small Oregon town where all the men, including their fathers, are away fighting in Iraq. While waiting for their fathers—and hitting the refresh button on their email—the boys fight, drink and discover that the world is not as simple as they thought. Refresh, Refresh by Danica Novgorodoff will be released by First Second in October.

DC Comics Reorganizes as DC Entertainment

The winds of change once again blew over the comics industry last week, as Warner Bros. announced a major restructuring and executive changes at DC Comics. The home of Superman and Batman will become part of a larger division called DC Entertainment, to be run by WB branding veteran Diane Nelson.

Ed Brubaker: Crime, Superheroes and Comic Book History

Comics writer Ed Brubaker's body of work stretches beyond the superhero genre and into gritty crime dramas and dark espionage tales. This November, two of his series, Criminal and Incognito, will ship new book collections—a debut trade paperback for Incognito and an oversized hardcover omnibus for Criminal, which will feature a new story arc called "The Sinners."