'Hobbit' Coins Thrill J.R.R. Tolkien Enthusiasts

New Zealand just keeps on giving. It was enough that it brought us Flight of the Conchords. But now Hobbit coins? That can be used as legal tender? Stop it!

A spoof of Lord of the Rings in an episode of Flight of the Conchords.
Brett McKenzie (left) actually appeared as the elf Figwit in the LOTR films.

A set of coins featuring Bilbo Baggins, Gandalf, and other characters from The Hobbit, the 1937 fantasy novel by J.R.R. Tolkien, are now on sale in New Zealand. More than collector's items, the coins are real currency, although their face value is only a fraction of what Tolkien enthusiasts will pay to possess them. According to ChannelNews Asia, the coins range in price from NZ$3,695 ($3,020) for one that's pure gold to NZ$29.90 ($24.68) for one that's made of aluminum and zinc.

A set of coins featuring characters from The Hobbit.
Image source: http://www.channelnewsasia.com

The coins have been released to coincide with this month's premier of The Hobbit film series, directed by Peter Jackson. Part 1 of the series will open in Wellington, New Zealand's capital, on November 28. (It will hit theaters in the United States on December 14.) International orders for the coins can be made through the website of the New Zealand Post, which "has worldwide exclusive rights to issue official legal tender commemorative coins celebrating Sir Peter Jackson's trilogy of films based on 'The Hobbit,'" according to its home page.

To read more about The Hobbit coins, go HERE. To order the coins, go HERE.

So Guilty of This

How a Bookstore Selects the Books It Sells

I think anyone who's ever browsed a bookstore has wondered why certain books were on store shelves and others weren't. As Sam Sacks, a book clerk for Housing Works Bookstore Cafe, explains it in the New Yorker, it all comes down to the personal bias of those who run the bookstore. "Bookstores are human places," Sacks says. "They are extensions of the personalities of the men and women who operate them." What about the customers? A longtime bookseller confided to Sacks: "We do this for the books, not for the customers."

The interior of Housing Works Bookstore Cafe.
Image via e.j.i./flickr

If you've been a customer at Housing Works Bookstore Cafe, located at 126 Crosby Street in New York's SoHo neighborhood, you were undoubtedly surrounded by its sizable and eclectic selection of books. Where did they come from? According to Sacks, they're "from publishers or magazines getting rid of their overflow, from the apartments of lifelong readers who have died, or simply from the shelves of New Yorkers who need to clear the space." So, how do certain titles reach store shelves? There is a method, despite the personal bias that's inherent in picking inventory. Sacks illustrates this in his New Yorker piece.

At Housing Works, Sacks sifts through all the boxes and bags of donated books and selects what the store will sell, both at its brick-and-mortar location and on its website. He admits to a preference for certain genres: "I have always thought that the backbone of a good used-book store is formed by its fiction and history sections, so whenever possible I separated these books for the floor. Naturally, there were exceptions," he says. "Specialized histories with a narrowly scholarly focus are better sold online - so a history of the Punic Wars makes it to the store; a study of urinals during the reign of Hadrian doesn't."

Just as Sacks has a propensity for particular genres, affecting what is sold at Housing Works, he also has a fierce aversion to certain book forms, like the hardcover. "I do not like hardcover books," he discloses. "They are needlessly bulky and cumbersome, far less attractive or readable than their svelte paperback siblings. Unless the hardcover was of a perennial seller (your Doris Kearns Goodwins or John Irvings), I didn't allow them to eat up the limited shelf space."

It's interesting to read about what goes on behind the scenes at Housing Works Bookstore Cafe and the other bookstores where Sacks has worked, including The Strand and Barnes & Noble, the latter of which he says is "unjustly maligned. It's true that the mind governing these stores is corporate, but the staff tends to be far better read and more informed than detractors allow, and the selection is large and egalitarian." For more insider information on the bookstores whose selections are not as large as Barnes & Noble's and are much more curated, see Sam Sacks' article for the New Yorker, "The Bookstore Brain: How Bookstores Choose Their Books," at THIS LINK.

NPR Librarian Talks Radio, New Book

I think working as a librarian at a radio station is one of the coolest jobs a person could have. Kee Malesky has that job. For more than 20 years, she's worked as a librarian at National Public Radio (NPR), headquartered in Washington, DC. 

Research librarian Kee Malesky finds the answers for NPR hosts, editors, and reporters.
Image via http://www.npr.org

Malesky recently came to New York to promote her new book at an event hosted by METRO, a nonprofit organization that works to develop and maintain essential library services in New York City and Westchester County, New York. When not discussing Learn Something New Every Day: 365 Facts to Fulfill Your Life, which hit bookstores earlier this month, Malesky delivered tidbits about being a research librarian at NPR to an eager and inquisitive audience.

Image via https://twitter.com/nprlibrary

Since 1984, Malesky has been on staff at NPR, which actually doesn't have a centralized library. She and her colleagues - 14 full-time librarians in all - are embedded in various bureaus throughout the media organization, such as the News and Science desks. There, they field questions from NPR hosts, editors, and reporters. Some of the questions that she and the other librarians are asked have to do with proper pronunciation, while others concern statistics and research. Together, they answer more than 11,000 reference questions a year. Although NPR staffers can be demanding, Malesky said that "for the most part, they're very appreciative of our efforts."

On being a librarian, Malesky said, "We read all the time. We're constantly looking at new sources, at websites, at all kinds of things that are happening in the world. We're all very proactive. It's really a part of the proper job of a librarian."

In July, Kee Malesky was named the 2012 recipient of the Dow Jones Leadership Award, which "recognizes exemplary leadership as an information professional through personal and professional achievements," according the SLA Blog. Congratulations, Kee!

Cleveland Public Library Honors Harvey Pekar

I first heard of Harvey Pekar in 2003, thanks to the publicity surrounding American Splendor, a film based in part on Pekar's graphic novel series of the same name. Intrigued, I went to the local movie theater and, for a little more than an hour and a half, sat absorbed in the story of the Cleveland, Ohio, native. Despite his dark outlook on life, Harvey Pekar shone brightly as a star of the underground comic scene and as an accidental celebrity in the entertainment industry, first as a repeat guest on David Letterman's late-night talk show, then as the subject of a successful comedy-drama loosely based on his life.

A clip from the credit sequence of the 2003 film American Splendor.
Image from http://www.brooklynvegan.com

In 2010, Pekar passed away at the age of 70 from what was later determined to be an accidental overdose from a combination of antidepressants. A year later, in 2011, his widow Joyce Brabner spearheaded a Kickstarter campaign to fund the "Harvey Pekar Library Statue: Comics as Art & Literature Desk." The online campaign was a huge success, raising more than $38,000 for the memorial to the late graphic novelist. This month, the memorial was unveiled on the second floor of the Lee Road Branch of the Cleveland Heights-University Heights Public Library, which Harvey Pekar often visited.

On October 14, nearly 200 fans, friends, and family of Pekar attended the unveiling, which was part of a program titled "Harvey Pekar: A Literary, Library Life." Among those present was Joyce Brabner, who gazed at the 2 1/2-foot bronze likeness of her late husband emerging, palms turned upward, from a fiberglass replica of a page from one of his graphic novels. Sculptor Justin Coultor created the statue, which he based on drawings by J.T. Waldman, an illustrator who collaborated with Pekar on the book Not the Israel My Parents Promised Me, which was published this year by Hill & Wang's Novel Graphics imprint.

The limited-editon library card featuring a likeness of Pekar.
Image via http://comicsbeat.com

In addition to the dedication of the statue, Cleveland Public Library issued a limited-edition library card that depicts Pekar entering its main branch. The illustration on the card is based on a drawing from Harvey Pekar's Cleveland, a collaboration between Pekar and artist Joe Remnant that was released this year by Zip Comics/Top Shelf. It's the first in a series of library cards bearing the likenesses of famous people from Cleveland. Explaining why he chose Pekar to be the first Clevelander celebrated in this way, Felton Thomas, director of Cleveland Public Library, said, "He brought Cleveland to life through his work and was a loyal patron of CPL. It's our pleasure to offer this card to our patrons in his honor."

For library patrons in Cleveland, Ohio, who want to get their hands on the limited-edition card featuring Harvey Pekar, all that's necessary is to go to a local branch and ask for it - the usual $1 replacement fee will be waived.

Speaking earlier at the statue dedication ceremony, Brabner said, "Ours was a family that believed a library card was a lot more important than a charge card," a statement that drew the day's greatest applause.

Twenty-Seven Small Presses to Follow on Twitter

I've a confession to make: I am not on Twitter. My reluctance to becoming too "plugged in" has kept me from joining the popular microblogging service. But learning that so many of my favorite small publishers have a presence on Twitter has me seriously reconsidering my stance. How could I not, after poring over these captivating tweets from The Overlook Press?

New York City-based Overlook Press is not the only indie publisher worth following on Twitter. Poets & Writers, a nonprofit literary organization, points to twenty-six more, including Akashic Books, Beacon Press, The Feminist Press, Grove/Atlantic, McSweeney's Books, YesYes Books, and Melville House. Who knew that these small literary establishments were among the Twitterati?

To see the twenty-seven that have succinctly melded book culture with social media, see Poets & Writers' post HERE.

Excitement Gathers for Grace Coddington's Memoir

Ever since I saw The September Issue, the 2009 documentary on the making of the 2007 fall-fashion issue of Vogue, I've had a soft spot for Grace Coddington, who is the magazine's flame-haired and refreshingly down-to-earth creative director.

Vogue magazine's Grace Coddington (in the center) is at last releasing a memoir.
Image from http://nymag.com

Watching her fearlessly go toe-to-toe with Vogue's steely eyed editor-in-chief Anna Wintour, warmly comfort those on the receiving end of Wintour's wrath, and superbly weave together fantastical fashion sets and ensembles endeared her to me. The segment of the documentary where Coddington reflects on her earlier years as a successful model in Swinging London intrigued me so much that I swore if she ever wrote a memoir of those years, I'd snatch it up. Those in the publishing world must have realized that such a book would be a hit because, barely a year after the theatrical release of The September Issue, Coddington was "approached by agents and publishers looking to translate her September Issue fame into a bestseller," reported WWD.com on August 22, 2010. According to WWD.com, the book would cover "her modeling days in Sixties London, the car accident that changed her career path, and her ascendancy through fashion's ranks as a stylist and editor at British Vogue and, later, its American counterpart." It would be cowritten with Jay Fielden, the former editor-in-chief of Men's Vogue, and published by Random House. Fast-forward to two years later, and Fielden has been replaced by Vogue writer Michael Roberts and the book is given a release date.

Image from http://www.amazon.com

Grace: A Memoir will at last be released by Random House on November 20, 2012. The 416-page memoir promises to "introduce readers to the colorful designers, hairstylists, makeup artists, photographers, models, and celebrities with whom Grace has created her signature images," according to the book's description on Amazon.com. The memoir also "reveals her private world with equal candor - the car accident that almost derailed her modeling career, her two marriages, the untimely death of her sister, Rosemary, her friendship with Harper's Bazaar editor-in-chief Liz Tilberis, and her thirty-year romance with Didier Malige. Finally, Grace describes her abiding relationship with Anna Wintour, and the evolving mastery by which she has come to define the height of fashion."

Vogue.com posted an excerpt from Grace: A Memoir. Here is a snippet:

My contemporaries were girls like Bronwen Pugh; Sandra Paul, a classic English beauty who married a politician; and Enid Boulting, whose daughter, Ingrid, also became a famous model and went on to marry John Barry, a composer of much of the music for the James Bond films. Another contemporary, Tania Mallet, was cast in a Bond movie herself (only to be killed off after a fleeting appearance), and many of the other girls ended up marrying lords. There was a kind of "Upstairs, Downstairs" feeling to things at the time. I suppose that's why my mother didn't object to my going to modeling school. But the models-pursued-by-aristocrats phenomenon was not destined to last. The Profumo affair, a sex scandal that hit the British headlines in 1963, was a sordid sensation involving government ministers, aristocrats, Soviet spies, and two good-time girls, Christine Keeler and Mandy Rice-Davies. They were referred to in the popular press as "models" - which gave our profession a terrible name because, to the British public, the word "model" became pretty much synonymous with "prostitute."

To read much more of the excerpt from Grace: A Memoir, go HERE.