American History Book Prize

Drew Gilpin Faust has won the New York Historical Society's fourth annual American History Book Prize for This Republic of Suffering: Death and the American Civil War. In a departure from other books on the topic, Faust focuses on the aftermath of the Civil War rather than the battle. This Republic of Suffering was a finalist for the 2008 National Book Award.

New York Times book review of This Republic of Suffering.
Author interview

This Republic of Suffering is available at PCLS.

Little Bee

Little Bee by Chris Cleave is poised to become the sleeper sensation of the year. Little Bee is the haunting story of an unlikely friendship that forms between two people from completely different worlds--a Nigerian orphan and a British widow. Library Journal says "Book clubs in search of the next Kite Runner need look no further than this astonishing, flawless novel." For more information about the book, click here.

Little Bee is available at PCLS.

Indie Next List

Check out some of the recommendations from independent booksellers in the March Indie Next List.

New Mark Twain!

A collection of 24 previously unpublished Mark Twain stories and essays will be made available to the public this April. The new book, Who Is Mark Twain?, was compiled by the general editor of the Mark Twain Project at the University of California. The Mark Twain Project "offers unfettered, intuitive access to reliable texts, accurate and exhaustive notes, and the most recently discovered letters and documents" from the master storyteller.

The Story Prize

Tobias Wolff's 2008 collection of short stories, Our Story Begins, won the Story Prize for short fiction. The two other finalists for the prize were Jhumpa Lahiri for Unaccustomed Earth and Joe Meno for Demons in the Spring. For a list of previous winners and finalists click here.

Our Story Begins and Unaccustomed Earth are both available at PCLS.

Discover Great New Writers

Barnes & Noble's 16th Annual Discover Awards, honoring the best new literary talent of the year, have been announced. Throughout the year, the Discover Great New Writers series highlights both fiction and nonfiction from up-and-coming authors. For the Spring 2009 selections, click here.

April Releases

Place your holds on these upcoming April releases:

A Fortunate Age by Joanna Smith Rakoff (4/1)
Might As Well Laugh About It Now by Marie Osmond (4/7)
Cursed by Carol Higgins Clark (4/7)
Fatally Flaky by Diane Mott Davidson (4/7)
Turn Coat by Jim Butcher (4/7)
In Praise of Stay at Home Moms by Laura C. Schlessinger (4/7)
Always Looking Up: The Adventures of an Incurable Optimist by Michael J. Fox (4/7)
Vanished Smile by R. A. Scotti (4/7)
Deen Family Cookbook by Paula Deen (4/7)
A Little Bit Wicked by Kristin Chenoweth (4/14)
Horse Boy: A Father's Quest to Heal His Son by Rupert Isaacson (4/14)
First Family by David Baldacci (4/21)
Tea Time for the Traditionally Built by Alexander McCall Smith (4/21)
Mr. and Miss Anonymous by Fern Michaels (4/28)