Wiley Cash debut chosen as June Costco pick

     Shelf Awareness reports that Wiley Cash’s “A Land More Kind Than Home: A Novel” has been chosen as pick of the month for June for Costco.
Cash received his PhD from the University of Louisiana-Lafayette. When he penned this his debut novel, Ernest Gaines stated, “I think this could be the beginning of a long, fruitful career.” His second novel, “The Dark Road to Mercy,” was released in early 2014, an impressive tale of the unending yearning for familial bonds coupled with the joy of baseball. You can read more about Cash in an earlier blog post here and read the review of his second novel here.

     "Told in three distinct voices, ‘A Land More Kind Than Home’ blends suspense, family drama and small-town dynamics into an example of powerful storytelling at its finest," wrote Pennie Clark Ianniciello, Costco's book buyer, inn Costco Connection.

     Read more in Shelf Awareness’s newsletter.

     "A Land More King Than Home" has won the following: New York Times Bestseller - New York Times Notable Book of 2012 - Southern Independent Booksellers Alliance's Best Fiction of 2012 - Appalachian Writers' Association's Book of the Year - Crime Writers' Associations' Debut Novel of 2012 - Maine Readers' Choice Award - Thomas Wolfe Memorial Book Prize - Crook's Corner Book Prize for Debut Southern Novel - PEN Robert W. Bingham Award Finalist - Strand Magazine Critics Award Finalist for Debut of 2012 - Indies Choice Finalist for Debut of 2012 - Library Journal Top Ten Book of 2012 - Kirkus Reviews Best of 2012 - Indie Next Pick - SIBA Okra Pick - Barnes and Noble Discover Great New Writers Selection.

Cheré Coen is the author of “Forest Hill, Louisiana: A Bloom Town History,” “Haunted Lafayette, Louisiana” and “ExploringCajun Country: A Historic Guide to Acadiana” and co-author of “Magic’s in the Bag: Creating Spellbinding Gris Gris Bags and Sachets.” Write her at cherecoen@gmail.com.

New Orleans librarian wins Lemony Snicket award

            I'm a writer so I'm a stickler for not stealing other people's work. But Shelf Awareness reported on the American Library Association today and mentioned that Laurence Copel (shown here seated on the right) won the inaugural Lemony Snicket Prize for Noble Librarians Faced with Adversity. She received $3,000, $1,000 in travel expenses, a certificate and "an odd object from Handlers's private collection" designed by New Orleans' own Mo Willems. (The Lemony Snicket books are written by Snicket which is actually author Daniel Handler.)

            Copel won the honors at the recent ALA’s Newbery Caldecott Banquet.

            Copel owns Jude Grove's Free Library in the Ninth Ward of New Orleans. According to Shelf Awareness, "Copel moved from New York City to New Orleans in 2010 and opened a library in her home using her own money and some small donations." 

            Here’s where I do the stealing. I’m borrowing their photo (although I doubt they will mind since I'm linking them throughout). From left are Dora Ho, Los Angeles Public Library; Snicket; Nanette Perez, ALA's Intellectual Freedom office; Eric Suess, chair of the committee and director at Marshall Public Library in Pocatello, Idaho; Copel's son Kazumi Yamazoli; Copel; Julius C. Jefferson Jr., Library of Congress; and Barbara Jones,ALA's Intellectual Freedom office.

            If you’re not familiar with Shelf Awareness, it’s a great web site and newsletter spotlighting independent bookstores, authors and books.