Book Sense

There are two very important Book Sense Picks deadlines on Friday, April 11:

Here is the full listing of May Book Sense Picks, with booksellers' comments, as well as a preview of the month's Notables. Independent booksellers in the Book Sense program will be receiving their May Picks fliers in the April Red Box.

The on-sale date for the April Notable title The Only 127 Things You Need: A Guide to Life's Essentials -- According to the Experts by Donna Wilkinson (Jeremy P. Tarcher/Penguin) has been moved to May 15.

For the eight-week period ending April 1, 2008, and based on sales at independent bookstores throughout the U.S. 1. Black Hole Charles Burns, Pantheon, $17.95, 9780375714726 2.

Stores participating in the Book Sense Gift Card Program can request two new card designs sponsored by Random House Children's Books and Listening Library. The free, limited edition gift cards, which are ready to ship to eligible booksellers, feature artwork from the Dr. Seuss classics Horton Hears a Who! and Oh, the Places You'll Go!

The April 2008 Book Sense Notables flier is now available in a downloadable PDF on BookWeb.org. The flier includes jacket images, bibliographic information, and bookseller quotes. In addition, all 20 Notables titles are also featured in an electronic file of shelf-talkers for in-store use.

For the eight-week period ending March 25, 2008, and based on sales at independent bookstores throughout the U.S. 1. 7th Heaven James Patterson, Maxine Paetro, Little Brown, $27.99, 9780316017701 2.

Brad Jones and spouse, Cinda Meister, left longtime careers in the restaurant business for bookselling. "We thought that after 25 years in the restaurant business we'd do something we thought was exciting and still in the field of enjoyment," said Jones. "We had retail but not bookselling experience.

Eleven years ago, Jamie Robinson, a third-generation retailer, and her husband, Scott, an experienced retailer himself, launched the 800-square-foot Bestsellers Bookstore & Coffee Co. in Mason, Michigan. Since then, the business has more than tripled in size, with further expansions in the works.

This week, Book Sense releases the 2008 Poetry Top Ten. The list is compiled from titles nominated by independent booksellers nationwide, and is available as full-color, downloadable PDF file at BookWeb.org.