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April 20, 2007

Are We Moving Now!

Remember how you felt when you were little and received a package? Okay, let's be honest...you know how you feel now, when you receive a package in the mail?! Today, we received the first set of galleys through the generosity of Tina at Holtzbrinck Publishers and what a great selection it has turned out to be. We've been pressuring you to join our Advance Readers Club - if you do, you can have a sneak peek at Jennifer Crusie's new book coming out the end of August or maybe Stuart MacBride's new mystery. There are five patrons already signed up, but we could certainly use a few more!

Posted by SallyT at 04:20 PM

April 18, 2007

That Was Quick!

Blink and you'll miss it. The lovely, new Jodi Picoult titles all just flew out the door, leaving our display looking pretty sad. It occurred to us that our over-size ('Q') books are rarely showcased and they are truly a beautiful set of books. Did you know that they aren't just art books? There are titles on travel, gardens, cooking, even Barbie Dolls!
Take a look next time you drop in.

Posted by SallyT at 09:34 AM

April 16, 2007

The First Review!

‘Gigi,’ our first Advance Reader, gave Margaret Maron’s Hard Row a definite thumb’s up. For lovers of the Deborah Knott series, this will be a satisfying read when it is published in August. 'Gigi' found reading the galley a fascinating experience – she could really see where the book needed tightening up. She is eagerly anticipating her next Advance Read – Pete Hamill’s North River, so look for her mini-review in a week or so. ‘Gigi’ is a voracious reader – if you have an interest in participating in our Advance Readers Club, you might want to sign up soon before she takes all our galleys!

Margaret Maron

We want to thank all those who checked out every single copy of Jodi Picoult’s oeuvre, because it brought the deplorable state of many of the copies to our attention. For those who missed their opportunity, look at all the pristine, new copies available for checkout on the display table!

Masha Hamilton’s new novel, The Camel Bookmobile, is a priceless little story of naiveté, cultural preservation, and (close to the librarian’s heart) the distribution of books where they have never been distributed before. It is a great read, with ‘take you to Africa’ descriptions, well-developed characters, and an absolutely believable ending. If you want something off the beaten path, give it a try….

Posted by SallyT at 02:57 PM

April 09, 2007

Word of the Day

Galley proof (n.): Printing A proof taken from composed type before page composition to allow for the detection and correction of errors. (The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition. Copyright © 2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by the Houghton Mifflin Company.)

So, why do we care about this phrase? The Director’s Blog mentioned Nora Rawlinson from Hachette Publishing giving staff some very valuable tips on buying material. She was extremely generous in giving us many galley proofs (familiarly called ‘galleys’). These are basically unedited, advance copies that publishers distribute ahead of the publishing date. Nora also let us in on the secrets of obtaining these galleys from other publishers.

So, again, why do we care? Well, how would you like to read James Patterson’s newest title (The 6th Target) before it hits the stands next month? Or maybe David Baldacci’s Simple Genius? We would like to start an Advance Readers Club of people who would read these galleys and then submit a brief review. Nora said that word of mouth is the strongest advertisement the publishers have – think of the power of submitting your review to the Darien Library patrons before the New York Times does! Give us a call if you are interested (655-1234 x128) and either speak with Sally or leave her a message.

Our Technical Services department has been working incredibly hard and we have a huge assortment of new books available. There are so many, we decided to showcase them on the display table, so make sure you stop by and check out the wide variety of books, both fiction and non-fiction. We have gardening books, parenting books, mysteries, literature – pretty much a bit of everything.

Posted by SallyT at 03:23 PM