Book News
Obama book-orama.
Book publishers are set to publish at least 24 books connected to President-elect Barack Obama, literary officials say.
Political literary agent Gail Ross said the increase in Obama books likely comes from society’s love of stories involving a gallant hero who saves the day — or a menacing villain.
Bush books worked when he became a villain, Ross said of President George W. Bush, adding that Obama appears to currently wear the mantle of potential hero.
For HarperCollins executive editor Tim Duggan, the interest in books about Obama has more to do with race than hero-villain clashes.
No matter what the state of the book industry, or the state of the economy, the idea of the new African-American president coming into office is exciting, Duggan said.
Ross said that no matter what a publisher’s motivation for backing each book may be, every release encapsulates the hope that Obama detailed in his electoral platform.
“Every time an editor picks a book, they are making a bet,” she told . “Instead of hope we can believe in, it’s hope we can bet on.”
United Press International
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First Lines
Heat Lightning, by John Sandford
The midnight shift: the shooter was going to work.
He jogged thrugh the night in a charcoal-colored nylon rain suit and black New Balance running shoes, with a briliant reflective green strap over his shoulders, like a bandolier. With the strap, he jumped out at passing cars; nothing furtive here, nobody trying to hide anything.
He ran carefully, taking his time. The old sidewalk, probably laid down in the first decades of the twentieth century, was cracked and shifting underfoot. A wrong step could leave him with a sprain, or worse. Not good for a man with a silenced pistol in his pocket.
The night was hot, cloudy, humid. Lightning flickered way off to the north, a thunderstorm passing by. The tempest would miss by ten miles: no relief from the heat, not yet. He ran through the odor of summer flowers, unseen in the darkness — nice houses here, well-maintained, flourishes of Victorian gingerbread, fences with gardens, flower heads pale in the dim ambient light.
Trade paperback best sellers
1. The Shack, by William P. Young
2. The Audacity of Hope, by Barack Obama
3. Dreams From My Father, by Barack Obama
4. The Secret Life of Bees, by Sue Monk Kidd
5. The Love Dare, by Stephen Kendrick and Alex Kendrick
6. Change We Can Believe In, by Barack Obama
7. Three Cups of Tea, by Greg Mortenson and David Oliver Relin
8. Rachel Ray’s Big Orange Book, by Rachel Ray
9. World Without End, by Ken Follett
10. What to Expect When You’re Expecting, by Heidi Murkoff and Sharon Mazel
Publishers Weekly
