The First of Many Things to Say About Little Bee

A year and a half ago I read an advanced copy of a book for which I had boundless enthusiasm. It sure was an uphill battle getting reads, and in the end, our hardcover sales were disappointing. The book was The White Tiger. It turned out to be a pretty good book after all--it was awarded the Man Booker Prize.

If at first you don't succeed, try again. In fact, I'm trying even harder. In the past I shunned manuscripts. I just didn't think I got the best reading experience I could out of the book. There were several times I read a book very early on, and there were pages missing, or I later learned that entire swaths of plot were changed.

The rules keep changing. With web 2.0 and electronic distribution, independent bookstores need to be further out in front of the pack, chiming in when we think a book is great, and perhaps sometimes even offering criticism. I still believe I enjoy the experience of the finished book or reader's copy more; that's why when I read pages on a book that blow me away, I'm even more impressed.

Last fall I read just such a book that had me gushing. It's called Little Bee, and it's finally published. Simon and Schuster used some of my bookseller feedback when they did a galley mailing to member stores in the American Booksellers Association. At least one bookseller went to the marketing person and accused her of bribing me. She did not. And I stand by my gush.

One of my sales reps took my advice, read it, and was so over-the-top excited by this book, she called me from the road at night and left me a message that I wish I knew how to save. Alas, it's gone forever. Then Jason our buyer (he's following me to Boswell Book Company) read it. Then Lanora, our Mequon manager (the new proprietor of Next Chapter Bookshop). Both loved it.

By the time I got to Winter Institute, that bookseller education conference, the book made the Indie Next top 20 for February, recommended by the esteemed bookseller Valerie Koehler of Blue Willow Bookshop in Houston. The reads had been plentiful, and were about seven to one enthusiastically postive. Still, there were some naysayers--see my post on Cutting for Stone for why that happens. Oh, and if you read that post, you know I'm eating a bit of paper.

I said that Little Bee was the kind of book that could be a Man Booker shortlist, and guess what? It was nominated for the other big British prize, the Costa award, formerly the Whitbread. I have so much to say about this book that I'm saving it for other postings. For goodness sake, I haven't even mentioned what it is about.

The author is coming to our Downer Avenue shop to discuss his novel on Monday, March 2nd, at 7 PM. It's not a large tour, and this is his only stop in this area--no Chicago or Madison. Much like Linda Olsson's tour (hey, she's coming again for her new book, to Mequon on March 27th), this is pretty amazing. And we haven't even sold 2000 books yet.

More posts to come. Meanwhile, read Chris Cleave's blog. And show your support for Schwartz and the future Boswell Book Company by taking a chance on this book. This is what independent booksellers are for, helping you find a book that will rock your world.

Just an aside. Though it's hardly a copy, I think the cover treatment, which by the way I think is beautiful, is referencing What is the What. Hey, if Cleave could pick up just a fraction of Eggers' sales, he'd have quite the hit.

Where are the Major Awards on our Trade Paperback Fiction Bestsellers list?

Here's what we've been selling in trade paperback fiction for the last month (mid-November to mid-December):

1. The Elegance of the Hedgehog, by Muriel Barbery

2. Sarah's Key, by Tatiana de Rosnay

3. The Shack, by William Paul Young

(There are lots of interesting stories on the phenomenon of this Christian fiction bestseller that doesn't always sit well with Christians, but I am probably not the person to write that story!)
4. Loving Frank, by Nancy Horan

5. Out Stealing Horses, by Per Petterson

(Our owner Carol just finished this and was over the moon...she's not the first).

6. Best American Short Stories 2008, edited by Salman Rushdie

(I'm reading a collection coming out after Christmas by Daniyal Mueenuddin that is fabulous; his story "Nawabdin Electrician" is featured this year).

7. A Thousand Splendid Suns, by Khaled Hosseini

8. The Brief and Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao, by Junot Diaz

9. Run, by Ann Patchett

10. Fault Lines, by Nancy Huston

What's missing?

a. The National Book Award winner. Rushed into paperback, Peter Matthiesen's Shadow Country should be at the top of our lists, but it's #21. Sometimes you find that some sales lag on award winners as book groups wait a few months to fit the book in their reading schedule. Book clubs, however, may be put off by the book's length and I think readers are confused by the award. This is three old books, rewritten? This is better than anything else published this year? We're confused. I'd love to see the definitive explanation, longer than a sentence, on why this book was chosen. Please link in the comments if you know of one.

b. The Man Booker winner. White Tiger, by Aravind Adiga, is ranked at #22 on our bestseller list. Sales seem a bit below the last two winners. I really liked this book, and early feedback from customers has also generally been very positive. Perhaps it's the book club lag (see above) but it also might be the satire effect. Americans go with satire the way apple pie goes with mayonaisse. We're a serious bunch, and when we laugh, we like the laughs obvious.

Do me proud and try it. This is a worthwhile book, clever and thought provoking, with a good story too. Best, of all, I love the revised paperback jacket. The new purple color really ties in with men's fashion trends. Matching scarf and book--what could be a better gift? (If you read this post in the spring, also goes good with purple tie or casual shirt).

c. The Nobel prize winner. Where is Jean-Marie Gustave Le Clezio?

Regarding the ups and downs of the post-Nobel sales pop, there seems to be more momentum when readers gravitate towards an individual title. Doris Lessing? Read The Golden Notebook. Gunter Grass? It's The Tin Drum all the way. Sometimes everything comes together. Jose Saramago's Nobel announcement came with the publication of Blindness, perhaps his most lauded novel and certainly his best known in the United States.

But Jean-Marie Gusave Le Clezio? With books being mostly from small presses and lots out of print, it's been hard to get momentum going. I'm just going to mention one author and all booksellers will shake their heads in confusion--Dario Fo.

In this case, the critics have not definitively rallied around one particular book, and that hurts sales. I think many critics haven't read enough Le Clezio to know what his best book is. One article I read suggested we're all supposed to read his first novel, The Interrogation, which is now available!

Many of our shops have award winners on display. Check out the certified blue-ribbon picks.