Book News
Award for Tony Hillerman
Best-selling novelist Tony Hillerman, author of a crtically acclaimed mystery series set on the Navajo Nation, will receive the Owen Wister Award for lifetime contribution to Western literature, the Western Writers of America has announced.
Hillerman will be honored June 14 in Scottsdale, Ariz., during the organization’s annual convention.
Hillerman has won two Spur Awards from the WWA for best Western novel, for “Skinwalkers” in 1987 and “The Shape Shifter” last year. He has also received the Edgar and Grand Master awards from the Mystery Writers of America. The Denver Post
Free virtual books
In an attempt to increase book sales, HarperCollins Publishers is offering free electronic editions of some of its books on its web site, including a novel by Paulo Coelho and a cookbook by the Food Network star Robert Irvine.
The ideas is to give readers the opportunity to sample the books online in the same way that prospective buyers can flip through books in a bookstore.
Brian Murray, president of HarperCollins, said that the free electronic editions will be available only for one month, and readers will not be able to download them to laptops or to an electronic reader. The print function also will be disabled. The New York Times
First Line
Lady Killer by Lisa Scottoline
Mary DiNunzio sat across from the old men, deciding which one to shoot first. Her father, Matty DiNunzio, was the natural choice because he was the most stubborn, but his three friends were tied for second. They sat next to him at the conference table, a trinity of Tonys — Pigeon Tony Lucia, Tony-From-Down-The-Block LoMonaco, and Tony Two Feet Pensiera, who was called Feet, making him the only man in South Philly whose nickname had a nickname.
“Pop, wait, think about this,” Mary said, hiding her exasperation. “You don’t want to sue anybody, not really.” She met her father’s milky brown eyes, magnified by his bifocals, as he sat behind an open box of aromatic pignoli-nut cookies. Her mother wouldn’t have let him visit her, even at work, without bringing saturated fats. Besides the cookies, waiting for her in the office refrigerator was a Pyrex dish of emergency lasagna.
“Yes, we do, honey. The club took a vote. We wanna sue. It’s about honor.”
Children’s series
Bestsellers
1. Twilight Saga, by Stephenie Meyer
2. His Dark Materials, by Philip Pullman
3. Harry Potter, by J.K. Rowling
4. The Spiderwick Chronicles, by Holly Black and Tony DiTerlizzi
5. Magic Tree House, by Mary Pope Osborne, illustrated by Sal Murdocca
Publisher’s Weekly
