Recordpub.com - One for the Books: Summer Camp

I have fond memories of my days at summer camp, and reading these three books took me right back to the days of comic books, mosquito bites and soggy swim towels.

The fiction entry is the wonderful "Dogface" by Jeff Garigliano, in which we meet an unforgettable 14-year-old boy named Loren. The teen is fascinated with military operations and has taken to using them to gain attention -- illegally. Feeling at her wits' end because he has become a discipline problem, his mother tricks him into going to a military camp for teenagers called Camp Ascend! that turns out to be quite different from what she expected. Mom was promised a great camp for her son, filled with wholesome activities and healthy food in nicely landscaped grounds, wherein Loren would be molded into a young man she could be proud of. Well ... not so much. When she leaves her son at the camp and he starts to look around, "already Loren has figured out that the place is not what it seems, that there's something not quite right about Camp Ascend!. Like the fact that there's zero maintenance done -- the buildings are basically falling down around them." There are six boys and three girls whose parents have been conned into sending their teens "in trouble" to the camp for six weeks of rehabilitation, but it turns out the place is run as an easy money-maker by a fake retired Marine "colonel," his high-maintenance wife, and her not-too-bright but oh-so-sadistic brother, who picks out Loren for extra punishment and calls him "Dogface."

This is a really fun book. Frankly, it took me a couple of chapters before I got into it, but then I couldn't put it down! The characters just come to life, reminding me of the zany inhabitants of a Carl Hiassen novel. Loren is clever and likable, the humor is subtle with a touch of sarcasm, and the plot twists like a Twizzler pretzel. For even more comedy, the author throws in a couple of hilarious "transcripts" of TV news-magazine segments. I was appalled, however, by one unnecessary scene of animal abuse. I'd give it a mild "R" rating, so it definitely isn't just for kids.

I loved "Dogface," but I don't want to give too much away. Pick it up. This is a great summer read!

So much for fiction. Now we have two memoirs from girls who remember being 13 at summer camp.

The first is my favorite -- "Not a Happy Camper" by Mindy Schneider. It's 1974, and New Jersey girl Mindy has chosen to go to Camp Kin-A-Hurra in Maine for the summer. The camp's promotional brochure promises a "beautifully maintained wooded paradise blessed with endless golden sunshine ... the kind of camp Walt Disney or the residents of Oz might have sent their kids to." But once she gets there, she realizes, "We'd been duped." For one thing, "Apparently, summer was the official rainy season in this part of Maine." For another, the bathrooms don't work. And there are no scheduled activities; everybody pretty much sits around eating stale food, reading comic books and telling scary stories. They all think of the camp's owner as a "con man, the lying, scheming owner of a broken-down, worthless, mosquito-infested camp who cheated unwitting parents out of their money." Says Mindy, "In my search to find the perfect camp, I had landed instead at the anti-camp." But somehow, everybody has a good time.

Mindy's mind is only on one track: finding a boyfriend. "That was really what this summer was about, getting that first kiss by the last night of camp," says Mindy. And conveniently, on the other side of Lake Wallanatchee is the boys' camp. There's plenty of sneaking back and forth between the camps and rowing across the lake at night. The kids have pranks, competitions, mid-summer visits from parents -- oh, and crushes ... lots and lots of crushes: she likes him, but he likes the prettier girl, who likes the older boy, who ...

There are funny anecdotes about keeping kosher -- or not -- at the mostly Jewish camp. This didn't parallel my summer camp experiences, but because her writing is so good, I felt I lived through Mindy's right along with her. I completely identified with young Mindy, her stumbling innocence and how she thinks she'll never "fit in." Will she survive her soggy adventures and get that all-important first kiss before the end of summer? This book is an absolute delight, and it's well written, too. It's just a great read.

"Moose: A Memoir of Fat Camp" by Stephanie Klein is also a memoir, but it has a totally different feeling. The coming-of-age story is getting rave reviews, so people seem to relate to it, but it isn't a happy book at all. Klein says she's had a weight problem all her life. She has felt "rotund" since the age of 8, and the mean boys in her Long Island school pick on her and call her "Moose." Her mother sends her to an amateur weight counselor who tells her, "This problem will never go away ... you will struggle with this for the rest of your life." Nice. Her Spanish teacher even forces her to describe herself as fat in two languages. To help her battle the bulge, her parents send her to Camp Yanisin in Massachusetts, but the camp is demeaning to the spirit. All the campers are overweight, and while they're supposed to be taught how to manage food, they aren't given the proper skills to learn how to deal with it on their own. Most of the summer is spent trying to hide food, sneak food, or just talk about food; some of the girls even read restaurant menus aloud and make up fantasy meals. But they need to find out who they are besides being chubby. The author describes the book: "It's about what we all go through, learning who we want to be and what kind of friends we want, eventually coming to terms with who we actually are, and realizing that who we are has nothing -- okay, maybe a little -- to do with our thighs."

The author often strikes me as cynical, and her bitter humor is often not so funny as it is sarcastic. But then again, sometimes I like her -- she shows how she's been the victim of bullying and personal betrayal by would-be friends, how she's suffered humiliation, "rejection and loneliness" and how she's developed her defense mechanisms -- the main one of which, of course, is her extreme obsession with food. And she has a confusing relationship with her parents; her background has some borderline abuse/neglect. Some of the book, quite frankly, made me uncomfortable. There are disturbing images of her food cravings and her sexually "advanced" interest in pornography. With adult language and situations, this one is definitely not for kiddies, but it is for any adult who had a weight problem as a child.

For a list of best-sellers and other book news, go to www.recordpub.com, click on "Lifetimes," and check out "One for the Books" online. Send news to Books@recordpub.com.

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BOOK NOTES,
One for the Books Extra Online Exclusives:

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The Book Discussion Group of the Randolph Library will meet at 6:30 p.m. July 7 to discuss "A Year by the Sea: Thoughts of an Unfinished Woman" by Joan Anderson. The group will meet at the Randollph Senior Center. Call 330-325-7003.

The Pierce-Streetsboro Library's Book Discussion Group will meet at 6:45 p.m. July 14 in the library's meeting room to discuss "The Age of Turbulence" by Alan Greenspan. Call 330-626-4458.

The Reed Memorial Library book discussion for July will feature "Daughter of Fortune" by Isabel Allende at 6:30 p.m. July 9 at the library in Ravenna.

The Reel Readers group at the Reed Memorial Library will watch the movie and discuss the book "I, Robot" by Isaac Asimov at 5:30 p.m. July 16. Call 330-296-2827, ext. 202.

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Local author Elizabeth Becka will visit Aurora at 7 p.m. July 9. She will appear at the Aurora Community Theatre, located in the Aurora Memorial Library, 115 E. Pioneer Trail.

Becka, author of the crime mysteries "Trace Evidence" and "Unknown Means," both featuring Cleveland's fictional forensic scientist Evelyn James, will share experiences of working in the field of forensic science and how they have affected her writing.

The program is free and open to the public. Registration in advance is required. To register, visit the library online at www.portagelibrary.org. For more information, call 330-562-6502.
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Here's a wonderful story about saving library books from the floods in Iowa.

http://www.desmoinesregister.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080614/NEWS/806140327/1001/NEWS

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Children's illustrator Tasha Tudor has died at the age of 92. Two of her books were named Caldecott Honor Books.

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/06/20/books/20tudor.html?_r=2&oref=slogin&oref=slogin

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According to The Guardian, a rare first edition of Jane Austen's "Emma" has sold for a record-breaking 180,000 pounds at auction, "the highest price ever paid for an Austen novel, and comfortably ahead of the 114,000 pounds fetched by a first edition of Wuthering Heights last November."

http://books.guardian.co.uk/news/articles/0,,2287307,00.html

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Yahoo! reports that a first edition of the Nicolaus Copernicus "De revolutionibus orbium coelestium" from 1543 has sold at auction for more than $2.2 million. Other rare books were in the auction, as well:

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080618/ap_on_re_us/scientific_books_auction;_ylt=AiHU668o.tiK4TyjL3NQxqNREhkF

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Here's a funny blog about "How to Read a Book."

http://weblogs.variety.com/thompsononhollywood/2008/06/how-to-read-a-b.html

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An inn in Vermont is planning a series of Jane Austen-themed weekends.

http://www.upi.com/Entertainment_News/2008/06/17/Vermont_inn_planning_Jane_Austen_weekends/UPI-13281213724905/

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Margaret Atwood has been awarded Spain's Prince of Asturias literary prize.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080625/ap_en_ot/spain_atwood

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Sales of Harry Potter books have now gone over the $400 million mark. The books have been translated into 67 languages.
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Interesting question: In her blog, Alison Morris asks, "If there was a direct correlation between quality of writing and sex appeal, what authors (male or female) would you want to sleep with?"

http://www.publishersweekly.com/blog/660000266/post/1470028347.html

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Author Salman Rushdie has received his knighthood.

http://www.thestar.com/News/World/article/449512

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Wired.com asked science fiction fans to name the best sci-fi movies, TV shows and books of all time.

Their top 10 books:

1. 1982 by George Orwell
2. The War of the Worlds by H.G. Wells
3. Dune by Frank Herbert
4. The Time Machine by H.G. Wells
5. I, Robot by Isaac Asimov
6. The Stand by Stephen King
7. Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury
8. 2001: A Space Odyssey by Arthur C. Clarke
9. Brave New World by Aldous Huxley
10. The Andromeda Strain by Michael Crichton

They also asked for the top 10 suggestions for saving the world. Number 1 on the list: Read!
For the complete lists, go to

http://blog.wired.com/underwire/2008/06/firefly-the-sho.html

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The London Telegraph reports that online retailer Play.com held a poll of 2,000 readers to select the "greatest novel of all time." The best? "To Kill a Mockingbird," with "Lord of the Rings" in second place. OK. But "The Da Vinci Code" is fifth. Fifth? All right, so I really enjoyed it; it was a great ride. But fifth best novel of ALL TIME? No. And where is my absolute favorite, "The Good Earth"? Not on the list of the top 50. NOT ON THE LIST! Ha. Check it out:

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2138827/To-Kill-a-Mockingbird-voted-Greatest-Novel-Of-All-Time.html

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Or, how about the 50 best-ever summer holiday books?

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/arts/main.jhtml?xml=/arts/2008/06/21/nosplit/bohols.xml

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Entertainment Weekly has just come out with its own lists, of top movies, TV, music, books and more. The books list picks "the 100 best reads from 1983 to 2008." I think many of the picks don't belong on the list. Do you agree?

http://www.ew.com/ew/article/0,,20207076_20207387_20207349,00.html

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So, where do you stand on all these lists? Have some suggestions of your own? Let me know!
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Oprah Winfrey spoke to graduating students at Stanford University and gave each of the 4,666 graduates copies of Eckhart Tolle's "A New Earth" and Daniel Pink's "A Whole New Mind: Why Right-Brainers Will Rule the Future." Right brain? Well, she IS left-handed.
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from Shelf Awareness: "The 2008 Boston Globe-Horn Book Awards honor, as the sponsors put it, "tales of restless spirits -- a fledgling artist behind the Iron Curtain, a teen on a Spokane Indian reservation, a little girl on a big-city night, and a stranger in the strangest land." Established in 1967, the Boston Globe-Horn Book Awards are customarily given in three categories: fiction and poetry, picture book and nonfiction. This year the judges also awarded a special citation. The 2008 winners:

Nonfiction: The Wall by Peter Ss (FSG/Foster)
Fiction and Poetry: The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie, illustrated by Ellen Forney (Little, Brown)
Picture Book: At Night by Jonathan Bean (FSG)
Special Citation: The Arrival by Shaun Tan (Scholastic/Levine)

The judges selected two honor books in each category:
Nonfiction: Frogs by Nic Bishop (Scholastic) and What to Do About Alice? by Barbara Kerley, illustrated by Edwin Fotheringham (Scholastic)
Fiction and Poetry: Shooting the Moon by Frances O'Roark Dowell (S&S/Atheneum) and Savvy by Ingrid Law (Walden/Dial)
Picture Book: Fred Stays with Me! by Nancy Coffelt, illustrated by Tricia Tusa (Little, Brown) and A Couple of Boys Have the Best Week Ever by Marla Frazee (Harcourt)"
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from Barnes and Noble:

Suggested Audiobooks for Your Summer Road Trip

I Am America (And So Can You) by Stephen Colbert
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows by J.K. Rowling
Diary of a Wimpy Kid by Jeff Kinney
Tweak: Growing up on Methamphetamines by Nic Sheff
Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull by James Rollins
Prince Caspian (The Chronicles of Narnia Series #4) by C.S. Lewis
Horton Hears a Who by Dr. Seuss
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from Publishers Weekly -- On-Sale Calendar

JUNE 24

Rogue by Danielle Steel
Tailspin: An FBI Thriller by Catherine Coulter
The Last Oracle by James Rollins
[c] The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants 2: Movie Tie-In by Ann Brashares
End of Days: Predictions and Prophecies About the End of the World by Sylvia Browne with Lindsay Harrison
Fleeced: How Washington Insiders, Foreign Lobbyists, Subprime Lenders, Credit Card Companies, Iraq Reconstruction Contractors, and Clinton Cronies Are Picking Our Pockets...AND WHAT TO DO ABOUT IT by Dick Morris and Eileen McGann
[c] The Magician: The Secrets of the Immortal Nicholas Flamel by Michael Scott
[c] Warriors: Cats of the Clans by Erin Hunter, illus. by Wayne McLoughlin
[c] Mickey Mouse Clubhouse Preschool Numbers and Shapes
[c] Handy Manny Nuts & Bolts
[c] Gone by Michael Grant
This Land is Their Land by Barbara Ehrenreich
Hit and Run by Lawrence Block
Queen of Babble Gets Hitched by Meg Cabot
Letter to a New President: Essential Lessons for Our Next Leader by Sen. Robert C. Byrd with Steve Kettmann
My Sister, My Love: The Intimate Story of Skyler Rampike by Joyce Carol Oates
America, America by Ethan Canin
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Publishers Weekly On-Sale Calendar for Comics, Graphic Novels
June 24, 2008
Umbrella Academy Apocalypse Suite (Dark Horse)
All Star Batman and Robin the Boy Wonder Vol. 1 (DC)
Gimoles: Secrets of the Seasons (Image)
Captain America: The Chosen (Marvel)
Good Bye (Drawn & Quarterly)
Chiggers (Simon & Schuster)
Gantz Vol. 1 (Dark Horse)
Dororo Vol. 2 (Vertical)
Cat Eyed Boy Vol. 2 (Viz Media)
Kamichama Karin-Chu Vol. 1 (Del Ray Manga)
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If you have a lot of time and want a good laugh, check out this blog. It's a boring rant by a British idiot who doesn't like second-hand books because they're dirty, or whatever. BUT read the comments -- they're precious. Keep in mind that most of the writers are probably British and have their keyboards dipped in pointed sarcasm.

http://blogs.guardian.co.uk/books/2008/06/why_i_hate_secondhand_books.html

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A new idea: a Progressive Book Club

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/06/16/books/16club.html?ref=books

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from Publishers Weekly:

The 2008 CILIP Carnegie Medal was awarded to Philip Reeve for Here Lies Arthur (Scholastic), a retelling of the Arthurian legend. It is Reeve's first Carnegie Medal; previously he has won the Nestl Gold Award for Mortal Engines and the Guardian Children's Book Prize for A Darkling Plain.

A second Greenaway medal was awarded to illustrator Emily Gravett, who won the 2008 CILIP Kate Greenaway Medal for Little Mouse's Big Book of Fears (Macmillan). Gravett also won the Greenaway Medal in 2005 for her first book, Wolves.

Francesca Lia Block, author of Weetzie Bat (HarperCollins), has won the 1989/2009 Phoenix Award from the Children's Literature Association. The prize goes to the author of a book for children published originally in English that did not win a major award at the time of its publication 20 years earlier.

One Phoenix Honor winner: Sylvia Cassedy, for Lucie Babbidge's House (Crowell).

Author and illustrator Vera B. Williams has been awarded the 2009 NSK Neustadt Prize for Children's Literature, a $25,000 award sponsored by the University of Oklahoma and World Literature Today. The prize honors an accomplished contemporary writer or illustrator of children's literature.
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from Shelf Awareness:

New Books Out June 24:

TailSpin by Catherine Coulter
Brida: A Novel by Paulo Coelho
Undead and Unworthy by MaryJanice Davidson
America America: A Novel by Ethan Canin
The Last Oracle: A Novel by James Rollins
Rogue by Danielle Steel
Moving Forward: Taking the Lead in Your Life by Dave Pelzer

Now in paperback:

The Navigator by Clive Cussler and Paul Kemprecos
Double Take: An FBI Thriller by Catherine Coulter
The Secret Servant by Daniel Silva
Fast Track by Fern Michaels

New Books Out July 1:

Rome 1960: The Olympics That Changed the World by David Maraniss
Death Angel: A Novel by Linda Howard
The Last Patriot: A Thriller by Brad Thor
A Summer Affair: A Novel by Elin Hilderbrand
Chasing Darkness by Robert Crais

Now in paperback:

Math Doesn't Suck: How to Survive Middle School Math Without Losing Your Mind or Breaking a Nail by Danica McKellar
Walking Ollie: Or, Winning the Love of a Difficult Dog by Stephen Foster
4th of July by James Patterson and Maxine Paetro
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Publishers Weekly On-Sale Calendar for Comics, Graphic Novels:

June 18 2008

Y the Last Man Vol. 10: Whys and Wherefores (DC/ Vertigo)
Killing Girl Vol. 1: A Sisters Love (Image)
Pocket Full of Rain (Fantagraphics)
Safest Place (Image)
Iron Man: Haunted (Marvel)
Blues Man (NBM)
Cat Eyed Boy Vol. 1 (Viz Media)
Shin Megumi Tensei Kahn Vol. 2 (Tokyopop)
Yggdrasil Vol. 1 (Go! Comics)
Gakuen Alice Vol. 3 (Tokyopop)
Venus Versus Virus Vol. 4 (Seven Seas Entertainment)
Turning Points: Sons of Liberty (Simon & Schuster)
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According to Shelf Awareness, "The Last Fish Tale: The Fate of the Atlantic and Survival in Gloucester, America's Oldest Fishing Port and Most Original Town" by Mark Kurlansky is filled with "rich material about rugged individualim, the accidents of geography, the ecology of the sea and the fishing industry." It sounds like readers who liked "The Perfect Storm" will probably enjoy this one.
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PUBLISHERS WEEKLY BEST-SELLERS

HARDCOVER FICTION
1. "Fearless Fourteen" by Janet Evanovich (St. Martin's Press)(F-H)
2. "Sail" by James Patterson and Howard Roughan, (Little, Brown) (F-H)
3. "The Host" by Stephenie Meyer (Little, Brown)
4. "Chasing Harry Winston" by Lauren Weisberger (Simon & Schuster)
5. "Love the One You're With" by Emily Giffin (St. Martin's Press)
6. "Nothing to Lose" by Lee Child (Delacorte)
7. "Plague Ship" by Clive Cussler with Jack Du Brul (Putnam)
8. "The Broken Window" by Jeffery Deaver (Simon & Schuster)
9. "No Choice But Seduction: A Malory Novel" by Johanna Lindsey (Pocket)
10. "Odd Hours" by Dean Koontz (Bantam)
11. "Blood Noir" by Laurell K. Hamilton (Berkley)
12. "The Story of Edgar Sawtelle" by David Wroblewski (Ecco)
13. "The Beach House" by Jane Green (Viking)
14. "Married Lovers" by Jackie Collins (St. Martin's Press)
15. "Sundays at Tiffany's" by James Patterson, Gabrielle Charbonnet (Little, Brown)

NONFICTION/GENERAL
1. "The Last Lecture" by Randy Pausch, Jeffrey Zaslow (Hyperion)
2. "When You Are Engulfed in Flames" by David Sedaris (Little, Brown)
3. "What Happened: Inside the Bush White House and Washington's Culture of Deception" by Scott McClellan (PublicAffairs)
4. "The Secret" by Rhonda Byrne (Atria Books/Beyond Words)
5. "Are You There, Vodka? It's Me, Chelsea" by Chelsea Handler (Simon Spotlight Entertainment)
6. "The Monster of Florence" by Douglas Preston with Mario Spezi (Grand Central)
7. "Audition" by Barbara Walters (Knopf)
8. "The Post-American World" by Fareed Zakaria (W.W. Norton)
9. "The Downhill Lie: A Hacker's Return to a Ruinous Sport" by Carl Hiaasen (Knopf)
10. "The South Beach Diet Supercharged: Faster Weight Loss and Better Health for Life" by Arthur Agatston and Joseph Signorile (Rodale Books)
11. "Quantum Wellness: A Practical and Spiritual Guide to Health and Happiness" by Kathy Freston (Weinstein Books)
12. "Me of Little Faith" by Lewis Black (Riverhead)
13. "The Prosecution of George W. Bush for Murder" by Vincent Bugliosi (Vanguard Press)
14. "Always By My Side: A Father's Grace and a Sports Journey Unlike Any Other" by Jim Nantz (Gotham)
15. "Just Who Will You Be? Big Question. Little Book. Answer Within." by Maria Shriver (Hyperion)

MASS MARKET PAPERBACKS
1. "Lean Mean Thirteen" by Janet Evanovich (St. Martin's Press)
2. "Step on a Crack" by James Patterson and Michael Ledwidge (Vison)
3. "High Noon" by Nora Roberts (Jove)
4. "The Judas Strain" by James Rollins (Harper)
5. "Return to Summerhouse" by Jude Deveraux (Pocket Star)
6. "The Hollow" by Nora Roberts (Jove)
7. "Lover Enshrined" by J.R. Ward (Signet)
8. "The Good Guy" by Dean Koontz (Bantam)
9. "Hide" by Lisa Gardner (Bantam)
10. "The Tin Roof Blowdown" by James Lee Burke (Pocket)
11. "The Lost Duke of Wyndham" by Julia Quinn (Avon)
12. "Simple Genius" by David Baldacci (Warner Books)
13. "The Darkest Pleasure" by Gena Showalter (HQN)
14. "Not Another Bad Date" by Rachel Gibson (Avon)
15. "Waiting for Nick/Considering Kate" by Nora Roberts (Silhouette)

TRADE PAPERBACKS
1. "The Shack" by William P. Young (Windblown Media)
2. "A New Earth: Awakening to Your Life's Purpose" by Eckhart Tolle (Plume)
3. "Three Cups of Tea: One Man's Mission to Promote Peace ... One School at a Time" by Greg Mortenson and David Oliver Relin (Penguin)
4. "Eat, Pray, Love: One Woman's Search for Everything Across Italy, India and Indonesia" by Elizabeth Gilbert (Penguin)
5. "The Kite Runner" by Khaled Hosseini (Riverhead)
6. "The Audacity of Hope: Thoughts on Reclaiming the American Dream" by Barack Obama (Three Rivers Press)
7. "Water for Elephants" by Sara Gruen (Algonquin)
8. "The Power of Now: A Guide to Spiritual Enlightenment" by Eckhart Tolle (New World Library)
9. "Skinny B----" by Rory Freedman and Kim Barnouin (Running Press)
10. "The Friday Night Knitting Club" by Kate Jacobs (Berkley)
11. "Dreams from my Father: A Story of Race and Inheritance" by Barack Obama (Three Rivers Press)
12. "Nineteen Minutes" by Jodi Picoult (Washington Square Press)
13. "Wisdom of Our Fathers: Lessons and Letters from Daughters and Sons" by Tim Russert (Random House)
14. "Marley & Me: Life and Love with the World's Worst Dog " by John Grogan (Harper)
15. "The Alchemist" by Paulo Coelho (Harper)
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USA TODAY BEST-SELLERS

Key: F-Fiction; NF-Nonfiction; H-Hardcover; P-Paperback
1. "Fearless Fourteen" by Janet Evanovich (St. Martin's Press)(F-H)
2. "Sail" by James Patterson and Howard Roughan, (Little, Brown) (F-H)
3. "Twilight" by Stephenie Meyer (Little, Brown) (F-P)
4. "New Moon" by Stephenie Meyer (Little Brown for Young Readers) (F-H)
5. "The Last Lecture" by Randy Pausch, Jeffrey Zaslow (Hyperion) (NF-H)
6. "Lean Mean Thirteen" by Janet Evanovich (St. Martin's Press) (F-H)
7. "When You Are Engulfed in Flames" by David Sedaris (Little, Brown) (NF-H)
8. "Eclipse" by Stephenie Meyer (Little, Brown) (F-H)
9. "The Shack" by William P. Young (Windblown Media) (F-P)
10. "A New Earth: Awakening to Your Life's Purpose" by Eckhart Tolle (Plume) (NF-P)
11. "High Noon" by Nora Roberts (Jove) (F-P)
12. "Step on a Crack" by James Patterson and Michael Ledwidge (Vison) (F-P)
13. "The Host" by Stephenie Meyer (Little, Brown) (F-H)
14. "The Secret" by Rhonda Byrne (Atria Books/Beyond Words) (NF-H)
15. "What Happened: Inside the Bush White House and Washington's Culture of Deception" by Scott McClellan (PublicAffairs) (NF-H)
16. "Hide" by Lisa Gardner (Bantam) (F-P)
17. "The Judas Strain" by James Rollins (Harper) (F-P)
18. "Chasing Harry Winston" by Lauren Weisberger (Simon & Schuster) (F-H)
19. "The Good Guy" by Dean Koontz (Bantam) (F-P)
20. "Three Cups Of Tea: One Man's Mission to Promote Peace ... One School at a Time" by Greg Mortenson and David Oliver Relin (Penguin) (NF-P)
21. "Diary of a Wimpy Kid" by Jeff Kinney (Amulet) (F-H)
22. "The Hollow" by Nora Roberts (Jove) (F-P)
23. "Love the One You're With" by Emily Giffin (St. Martin's Press) (F-H)
24. "Waiting for Nick/Considering Kate" by Nora Roberts (Silhouette) (F-P)
25. "Alicia: Clique Summer Collection 3" by Lisi Harrison (Poppy) (F-P)
26. "Eat, Pray, Love: One Woman's Search for Everything Across Italy, India and Indonesia" by Elizabeth Gilbert (Penguin) (NF-P)
27. "No Choice But Seduction: A Malory Novel" by Johanna Lindsey (Pocket) (F-H)
28. "Bungalow 2" by Danielle Steel (Dell) (F-P)
29. "The Lost Duke of Wyndham" by Julia Quinn (Avon) (F-P)
30. "The Kite Runner" by Khaled Hosseini (Riverhead) (F-P)
31. "The Audacity of Hope: Thoughts on Reclaiming the American Dream" by Barack Obama (Three Rivers Press) (NF-P)
32. "Always Dakota" by Debbie Macomber (Mira) (F-P)
33. "Plague Ship" by Clive Cussler with Jack Du Brul (Putnam) (F-H)
34. "The Power of Now: A Guide to Spiritual Enlightenment" by Eckhart Tolle (New World Library) (NF-P)
35. "Nothing to Lose" by Lee Child (Delacorte) (F-H)
36. "The Friday Night Knitting Club" by Kate Jacobs (Berkley) (F-P)
37. "The Battle of the Labyrinth: Percy Jackson and the Olympians, Book 4" by Rick Riordan (Hyperion) (F-H)
38. "Water for Elephants" by Sara Gruen (Algonquin) (F-P)
39. "Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Rodrick Rules" by Jeff Kinney (Amulet) (F-H)
40. "Odd Hours" by Dean Koontz (Bantam) (F-H)
41. "To Kill a Mockingbird" by Harper Lee (Grand Central Publishing) (F-P)
42. "Skinny B----" by Rory Freedman and Kim Barnouin (Running Press)
43. "Nineteen Minutes" by Jodi Picoult (Washington Square Press) (NF-P)
44. "Are You There, Vodka? It's Me, Chelsea" by Chelsea Handler (Simon Spotlight Entertainment) (NF-H)
45. "The Broken Window" by Jeffery Deaver (Simon & Schuster) (F-H)
46. "Married Lovers" by Jackie Collins (St. Martin's Press) (F-H)
47. "The Pillars of the Earth" by Ken Follett (NAL) (F-P)
48. "The Beach House" by Jane Green (Viking) (F-H)
49. "The Last Summer (of You & Me)" by Ann Brashares (Riverhead) (F-P)
50. "Dreams from my Father: A Story of Race and Inheritance" by Barack Obama (Three Rivers Press)
Reporting stores include: Amazon.com, B. Dalton Bookseller, Barnes & Noble.com, Barnes & Noble Inc., Books-A-Million and Bookland, Booksamillion.com, Borders Books & Music, Bookstar, Bookstop, Brentano's, Davis Kidd Booksellers in Nashville, Jackson, Memphis, Tenn., Doubleday Book Shops, Hudson Booksellers, Joseph-Beth Booksellers (Lexington, Ky.; Cincinnati, Cleveland), Powell's Books (Portland, Ore.), Powells.com, R.J. Julia Booksellers (Madison, Conn.), Schuler.
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WALL STREET JOURNAL BEST-SELLERS

FICTION
1. "Fearless Fourteen" by Janet Evanovich (St. Martin's Press)(F-H)
2. "Sail" by James Patterson and Howard Roughan, (Little, Brown) (F-H)
3. "The Host" by Stephenie Meyer (Little, Brown)
4. "Chasing Harry Winston" by Lauren Weisberger (Simon & Schuster)
5. "Love the One You're With" by Emily Giffin (St. Martin's Press)
6. "Nothing to Lose" by Lee Child (Delacorte)
7. "Plague Ship" by Clive Cussler with Jack Du Brul (Putnam)
8. "Eclipse" by Stephenie Meyer (Little, Brown)
9. "The Story of Edgar Sawtelle" by David Wroblewski (Ecco)
10. "The Broken Window" by Jeffery Deaver (Simon & Schuster)
11. "The Beach House" by Jane Green (Viking)
12. "No Choice But Seduction: A Malory Novel" by Johanna Lindsey (Pocket)
13. "Odd Hours" by Dean Koontz (Bantam)
14. "Twilight" by Stephenie Meyer (Little, Brown)
15. "Blood Noir" by Laurell K. Hamilton (Berkley)

NONFICTION
1. "When You Are Engulfed in Flames" by David Sedaris (Little, Brown)
2. "The Last Lecture" by Randy Pausch, Jeffrey Zaslow (Hyperion)
3. "What Happened: Inside the Bush White House and Washington's Culture of Deception" by Scott McClellan (PublicAffairs)
4. "The Secret" by Rhonda Byrne (Atria Books/Beyond Words)
5. "The Monster of Florence" by Douglas Preston with Mario Spezi (Grand Central)
6. "Big Russ and Me: Father and Son: Lessons of Life" by Tim Russert (Miramax Books)
7. "Are You There, Vodka? It's Me, Chelsea" by Chelsea Handler (Simon Spotlight Entertainment)
8. "StrengthsFinder 2.0" by Tom Rath (Gallup Press)
9. "Audition" by Barbara Walters (Knopf)
10. "Wisdom of Our Fathers: Lessons and Letters from Daughters and Sons" by Tim Russert (Random House)
11. "The Post-American World" by Fareed Zakaria (W.W. Norton)
12. "The Downhill Lie: A Hacker's Return to a Ruinous Sport" by Carl Hiaasen (Knopf)
13. "Good to Great" by Jim Collins (Collins)
14. "Dungeons & Dragons Dungeon Master's Guide: Roleplaying Game Core Rules, 4th Edition" by Wizards RPG Team (Random House)
15. "Quantum Wellness: A Practical and Spiritual Guide to Health and Happiness" by Kathy Freston (Weinstein Books)
The Wall Street Journal's list reflects nationwide sales of hardcover books during the week ended last Saturday at more than 2,500 Barnes & Noble, B. Dalton, Bookland, Books-a-Million, Books & Co., Bookstar, Bookstop, Borders, Brentano's, Coles, Coopersmith, Doubleday, Scribners and Waldenbooks stores, as well as sales from online retailers Amazon.com and barnesandnoble.com.

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The following authors are making the media rounds, talking about their books:

--Stephanie Klein, author of Moose: A Memoir of Fat Camp
---Sue Halpern, author of Can't Remember What I Forgot: The Good News from the Front Lines of Memory Research
--Linda Mason, author of Eye Candy: 55 Easy Makeup Looks for Glam Lids and Luscious Lashes
--Robert Kagan, author of The Return of History and the End of Dreams
--David Iglesias, In Justice: Inside the Scandal That Rocked the Bush Administration
--Kenneth R. Miller, author of Only a Theory: Evolution and the Battle for America's Soul
--Sophie Uliano, author of Gorgeously Green: 8 Simple Steps to an Earth-Friendly Life
--Douglas Preston, author of The Monster of Florence
--P. M. Forni, author of The Civility Solution: What to Do When People Are Rude
--Barbara Walters, Audition
--Brian L. Weiss, author of Many Lives, Many Masters: The True Story of a Prominent Psychiatrist, His Young Patient, and the Past-Life Therapy That Changed Both Their Lives
--Oscar De La Hoya, author of American Son: My Story
--Darin Strauss, author of More Than It Hurts You
--Rena Fruchter, I'm Chevy Chase...and You're Not: Revised & Updated
--Tina Brown, The Diana Chronicles
--Anthony Lewis, author of Freedom for the Thought That We Hate: A Biography of the First Amendment
--Prioleau Alexander, You Want Fries With That? A White-Collar Burnout Experiences Life At Minimum Wage
--E. Benjamin Skinner, A Crime So Monstrous: Face-to-Face with Modern Day Slavery
--Madeleine Kunin, Pearls, Politics, and Power: How Women Can Win and Lead
--Kenneth Garrett, photographer of Journey Through Hallowed Ground: Birthplace of the American Ideal
--Peter Schweizer, Makers and Takers: Why Conservatives Work Harder, Feel Happier, Have Closer Families, Take Fewer Drugs, Give More Generously, Value Honesty More, Are Less Materialistic and Envious, Whine Less...And Even Hug Their Children More Than Liberals
--David Iglesias, author of In Justice: Inside the Scandal That Rocked the Bush Administration
--Linda Mason, Eye Candy: 55 Easy Makeup Looks for Glam Lids & Luscious Lashes
--Gregory Levey shared his new memoir Shut Up, I'm Talking: And Other Diplomacy Lessons I Learned in the Israeli Government
--Michael Shermer, The Mind of the Market: Compassionate Apes, Competitive Humans, and Other Tales from Evolutionary Economics
--Mary Roach, Bonk: The Curious Coupling of Science and Sex
--Quil Lawrence, Invisible Nation: How the Kurds' Quest for Statehood Is Shaping Iraq and the Middle East
--Kenneth R. Miller, Only a Theory: Evolution and the Battle for America's Soul
--Scott McClellan, What Happened: Inside the Bush White House and Washington's Culture of Deception
--Emma Jackson, author of A Home for Dixie: The True Story of a Rescued Puppy
--Deirdre McNamer, author of Red Rover
--Robert Olmstead, author of Coal Black Horse
--Amanda Ripley, author of The Unthinkable: Who Survives When Disaster Strikes--And Why
--Junot Daz, author of The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao
--Jill Bolte Taylor, author of My Stroke of Insight: A Brain Scientist's Personal Journey
--Sophie Uliano, Gorgeously Green: 8 Simple Steps to an Earth-Friendly Life
--Isabel Allende, The Sum of Our Days
--Michio Kaku, Physics of the Impossible: A Scientific Exploration Into the World of Phasers, Force Fields, Teleportation, and Time Travel
--Stefan Merrill Block, The Story of Forgetting
--Sergio Ramirez , Margarita, How Beautiful the Sea
--Jonathan Zittrain, author of The Future of the Internet--And How to Stop It
--Don Rickles, Rickles' Book
--Robert Bryce, author of Gusher of Lies: The Dangerous Delusions of Energy Independence
--Darin Strauss, More Than It Hurts You
--Dr. Dawn Huebner, What to Do When You Dread Your Bed: A Kid's Guide to Overcoming Problems With Sleep
--Richard Florida, author of Who's Your City?: How the Creative Economy Is Making Where to Live the Most Important Decision of Your Life
--David Guterson, author of The Other
--Zachary Lazar, author of Sway
--N. T. Wright, author of Surprised by Hope
--Joe Nick Patoski, Willie Nelson: An Epic Life
--Tim Green, Football Genius
--Nam Lee, The Boat
--Bill Emmott, Rivals: How the Power Struggle Between China, India and Japan Will Shape Our Next Decade
--Deirdre McNamer, author of Red Rover
--Robert Olmstead, Coal Black Horse
--Amanda Ripley, The Unthinkable: Who Survives When Disaster Strikes--And Why
--Philippe Sands, author Torture Team: Rumsfeld's Memo and the Betrayal of American Values
--Leslie Jordan, author of My Trip Down the Pink Carpet
--Debra Winger, author of Undiscovered
--Richard Roeper, author of Debunked!: Conspiracy Theories, Urban Legends, and Evil Plots of the 21st Century
--Jim Noles, author of A Pocketful of History: Four Hundred Years of America--One State Quarter at a Time
--Andrei Cherny, author of The Candy Bombers: The Untold Story of the Berlin Airlift and America's Finest Hour
--Timothy Colton, author of Yeltsin: A Life
--Andrew McCarthy, author of Willful Blindness: A Memoir of the Jihad
--Quil Lawrence, author of Invisible Nation: How the Kurds' Quest for Statehood Is Shaping Iraq and the Middle East
--David Guterson, The Other
--Kenneth R. Miller, author of Only a Theory: Evolution and the Battle for America's Soul
--Andrew Yarrow, whose book is Forgive Us Our Debts: The Intergenerational Dangers of Fiscal Irresponsibility
--David Mendell, Obama: From Promise to Power
--N.T. Wright, Surprised By Hope: Rethinking Heaven, the Resurrection, and the Mission of the Church
--Eric Etheridge, Breach of Peace: Portraits of the 1961 Mississippi Freedom Riders
--Lewis Black, author of Me of Little Faith
--Leslie Jordan, My Trip Down the Pink Carpet
--Bob Morris, Assisted Loving: True Tales of Double Dating with My Dad
--Ginger Strand, Inventing Niagara: Beauty, Power, and Lies
--David Ngaruri Kenney and his lawyer Philip Schrag, authors of Asylum Denied: A Refugee's Struggle for Safety in America
--Salman Rushdie, The Enchantress of Florence
--Benjamin Nugent, author of American Nerd: The Story of My People
--Noah Goldstein, Steve Martin, and Robert B. Cialdini, co-authors of Yes! 50 Scientifically Proven Ways to Be Persuasive
--Kevin Nealon, author of Yes, You're Pregnant, But What About Me?
--Jill Bolte Taylor, author of My Stroke of Insight: A Brain Scientist's Personal Journey
--Jesse Ventura, Don't Start the Revolution Without Me!
--Barbara Ehrenreich, author of This Land Is Their Land: Reports from a Divided Nation
--Sam Zien, author of Sam the Cooking Guy: Just a Bunch of Recipes
--Dick Morris, author of Fleeced
--Jeff Sharlet, author of The Family
--Brian L. Weiss, author of Mirrors of Time: Using Regression for Physical, Emotional, and Spiritual Healing
--Thomas Norman DeWolf, author of Inheriting the Trade: A Northern Family Confronts Its Legacy as the Largest Slave-Trading Dynasty in U.S. History
--Lawrence Block, Hit and Run
--Father Thomas D. Williams, Greater Than You Think: A Theologian Answers the Atheists About God
--Kevin Nealon, author of Yes, You're Pregnant, But What about Me?
--Barbara Ehrenreich, This Land Is Their Land: Reports From A Divided Nation
--Richard Clarke, Your Government Failed You: Breaking the Cycle of National Security Disasters
--Dr. Eric Berg, author of The 7 Principles of Fat Burning
--M. Gigi Durham, author of The Lolita Effect: The Media Sexualization of Young Girls and What We Can Do About
--Barbara Bisantz Raymond, author of The Baby Thief: The Untold Story of Georgia Tann, the Baby Seller Who Corrupted Adoption
--Douglas Brown, author of Just Do It
--Dr. Thomas Graboys, Life in the Balance: A Physician's Memoir of Life, Love, and Loss with Parkinson's Disease and Dimentia
--Betsy Burton, The King's English
--Kathi Appelt, The Underneath
--David Wroblewski, The Story of Edgar Sawtelle
--Keith Gessen, All the Sad Young Literary Men
--James Harding, author of Alpha Dogs: The Americans Who Turned Political Spin into a Global Business
--David Wroblewski, The Story of Edgar Sawtelle
--Natan Sharansky, author of Defending Identity: Its Indispensable Role in Defending Democracy
--Paul Roberts, The End of Food
--Evan Handler, It's Only Temporary: The Good News and the Bad News of Being Alive
--Robert Shapiro, author of Futurecast: How Superpowers, Populations, and Globalization Will Change The Way You Live and Work
--Brendan Koerner, author of Now the Hell Will Start: One Soldier's Flight from the Greatest Manhunt of World War II
--Tom Hayden, author of Writings for a Democratic Society: The Tom Hayden Reader
--Roger Lowenstein, author of While America Aged: How Pension Debts Ruined General Motors, Stopped the NYC Subways, Bankrupted San Diego, and Loom As the Next Financial Crisis
--George Daughan, author of If By Sea: The Forging of the American Navy--from the Revolution to the War of 1812
--Charla Muller, author of 365 Nights: A Memoir of Intimacy
--Rhonda Byrne, author of The Secret
--Louise Hay, author of You Can Heal Your Life

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Here are links to other recent One for the Books columns:

Farewell, Harry Potter -- http://www.recordpub.com/news/article/2313851

Armchair Traveling -- http://www.recordpub.com/news/article/1919262

Global Inhumanity -- http://www.recordpub.com/news/article/2253081

Bookmarks -- http://www.recordpub.com/news/article/110723

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