Ye Olde Partners Page

*News From the Glamorous World of Bookselling*

"In the depth of winter
I finally learned that there was in me an invincible summer . . ."
--Albert Camus

THE STORY OF WONDERFUL AUTHOR

Years from now we will be reminiscencing about where we were and what we were doing during the Snowpocalypse of Naught Eleven. Or if you prefer, the Snowmageddon. Or Mike Heuer's and my personal favourite -- the Snowtorious B.I.G. They will say, "How about you, Mick, where were you?" And I will smile and say, "I was having dinner with Rhoda Wolff and her best friends . . ." Then I will pause for dramatic effect and add, "Oh, and Hachette author Rachel Simon at the Troppo." And my friends will say, "Not bestselling author Rachel Simon, who wrote the blockbuster The Story of Beautiful Girl (9780446574464) 24.99?" And I will reply, "Yup, exactly, that Rachel Simon."

Right now you're probably asking yourself, 'Who in the $%#@%& is Rachel Simon?' Well, she wrote Riding the Bus with My Sister (9780452284555) 15.00, which you may recall was made into a Hallmark Hall of Fame movie. Currently, Rachel resides in Delaware, but she also worked as a bookseller in Princeton and Philadelphia for many years, too. The Story of Beautiful Girl is her sixth title and it will be released in May.

Normally her book wouldn't be something I would read, but I figured I better read the first chapter so I would know the basic plot when I met her on Tuesday night. That was two days ago and now I've almost finished her book. Her easy writing style and her sympathetic characters sucked me into their world and I cannot put it down. I am convinced that this book will be her first major bestseller. Mark my words.

1) THE PETER GUNN THEME . . . Peter's brother is fashionista Tim Gunn of Project Runway fame. Okay, I made that up. However, Mr. Gunn will appear on the Oprah Winfrey Show on February 10. Jennifer Hudson will be featured on the show and Tim will make over several of Hudson's relatives who have lost some serious poundage on the Weight Watchers program. Also, Oprah will hold up a copy of Gunn's Golden Rules (9781439176566) 23.99, look directly into the camera, and then implore her legion of minions to immediately buy his book. This should spur sales on his title, fabulously . . .

Odds & Sods

Once again Kimberla Lawson Roby popped in here and signed copies of her latest book, Love, Honor, and Betray (9780446572453) 24.99. They will be sold on a first come, first served basis . . .
We have been selling Daniel Goldie and Gordon Murrays' The Investment Answer (9781455503308) 18.00 extremely well. This is the investment book that was written for the Average Joe -- not the Wall Street fat cats . . .

Ruth Strother's B is for Blue Planet: An Earth Science Alphabet (9781585364541) 16.95 is the latest alphabet book from Sleeping Bear Press. I'm not sure who Bob Marshall is, but his illustrations are really cool . . .