It’s out, the 100 Notable Books of 2009 as selected by the New York Times Book Review.  I loved looking at where Politics & Prose and The New York Times were, to use an appropriate metaphor, on the same page.  Of our selection of the 12 Politics & Prose favorites for 2009, 9 were on The New York Times list.  The three not included were A.S. Byatt’s The Children’s Book (which was shortlisted for the Man Booker Prize, but I found rather odd for a historical novel of such majestic proportions), Nicholas Thompson's The Hawk and the Dove (for which we hosted an event in September), and Joshua Ramo’s The Age of the Unthinkable (which I think should not have been overlooked). 

While I was counting, I also totaled up the number of authors on the Times list who have been to Politics & Prose in 2009 and found, actually to my surprise, that over 40 of them have been featured speakers during the past year.  Beyond so many interesting talks (which we make available on CD), a further bonus is the number of signed first editions we offer our customers. Right now we are directing a lot of energies towards being able to offer a wide selection of books by Washington authors signed for the holidays.  Among our Washington authors are Haynes Johnson, Wil Haygood, Taylor Branch, Elaine Showalter, David Wessel, Richard Wolffe, Kay Redfield Jamison, Jane Stanton Hitchcock, and many others.  We’ll try to keep them busy signing to make your holidays brighter.

Politics & Prose supplies books to the following book signing events.
Reservations and tickets should be acquired from the hosting organization.
If you can’t attend a talk, but would like to purchase a signed book, call
202-364-1919 or 1-800-722-0790 or click the title links below.
Click here for detailed information about these offsite events.

Thursday, December 3, 7:30 p.m.

National Geographic Society
1600 M Street, NW
MARTIN SCHOELLER
For the December 2009 issue of National Geographic, Martin Schoeller traveled to Tanzania to document the Hadza, hunter-gatherers believed to be heirs to one of the world’s oldest continuous cultures. He will share compelling images of individuals whose way of life could soon disappear.  Click here for $15/$18 tickets.

Friday, December 4, 7:30 p.m.

Folger Shakespeare Library
201 East Capitol Street SE
PEN/Malamud Award Memorial Reading
AMY HEMPEL AND ALISTAIR MACLEOD
In 2006, The Collected Stories of Amy Hempel was named one of The New York Times 10 best books of the year. In 2000, Alistair MacLeod's two books, along with new work, were combined in Island: The Complete Stories. Purchase $15 tickets from Pen/Faulkner online or call 202-544-7077.  

Wednesday, December 9, 12:30 p.m.

Congregation Har Shalom
11510 Falls Road
Potomac, Md.
ARIEL SABAR
MY FATHER'S PARADISE: A Son's Search for His Family's Past (Algonquin, $14.95)
Sabar once looked at his immigrant father with shame, scornful of the alien who still bore scars on his back from childhood bloodlettings. This book, he writes, is a chance to make amends.

Thursday, December 10, 2 p.m.

National Geographic Society
1600 M Street, N.W.
PETER H. RAVEN and CATHERINE HERBERT HOWELL
FLORA MIRABILIS (National Geographic, $35)
A collaboration between National Geographic and the Missouri Botanical Garden, Flora Mirabilis offers a fascinating look at how plant explorations and botanical passions have shaped human history and culture. Click here for more information about this FREE event.

Thursday, December 10, 7 p.m.

Sixth & I Historic Synagogue
600 I Street, N.W.
Metro: Gallery Place/Chinatown
STEVEN KARRAS
THE ENEMY I KNEW (Zenith Press, $28)
Karras's book presents twenty-seven, first-person narratives of German- and Austrian-born Jews who fled the Nazis and, not long after finding safety in the U.S. and Great Britain, were inducted into the Allied Armed Forces to fight the countries of their birth. Questions? Call 202.408.3100. Click here for $6 tickets or to receive two free tickets with purchase of the book.

Wednesday, December 16, 7 p.m.

The White Oak Library
11701 New Hampshire Avenue
Silver Spring, MD
MICHAEL DIRDA
CLASSICS FOR PLEASURE (Mariner Books, $15)
Michael Dirda, Pulitzer Prize-winning critic for The Washington Post, will appear at White Oak Library to discuss his latest book and his work as a literary critic. No registration is needed for this free event.

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Our top twelve hardcover FICTION and NON-FICTION bestsellers are always 20% off for P&P members. To see our complete bestseller lists, click on the titles below.

#1 FICTION:  WOLF HALL  by Hilary Mantel

#1 NONFICTION: THE AUDACITY TO WIN by David Plouffe

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Click FICTION or NON-FICTION  to browse a complete list of recent paperback releases.

Let the Great World Spin by Colum McCann

 Hot, Flat, and Crowded 2.0 by Thomas L. Friedman

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BOOK OF THE WEEK
(20% off for everyone through 12/9; 20% off for members until 12/31))
Newbery award-winning author Richard Peck called Grandma Dowdel an "American tall tale in a Lane Bryant dress." In 1958, as A SEASON OF GIFTS (Dial, $16.99) begins, Bob Barnhart and his family move next door to Mrs. Dowdel, and quickly learn that she “doesn’t neighbor.” The shotgun-wielding octogenarian is always ready with a hilarious solution for any problem, especially for a preacher’s kid in a town swarming with bullies. Bob’s family learns there are many ways of giving gifts. An excellent audio version (Listening Library, $25), read by Ron McLarty, is also available. Ages 10-14. – Jewell Stoddard

If you are having trouble making a gift choice, think about giving our unique BOOK-A-MONTH PROGRAM.  Each month, our staff will handpick, wrap, and send a book anywhere in the country to the person of your choice. To give a gift to a child, contact Jory Hearst, jhearst@politics-prose.com. For an adult, contact Caroline Ketcham, cketcham@politics-prose.com.  You can also pick up an application at the information desk or click here to register through our website.

ADOPT-A-BOOK FOR HOPE HOUSE
Join Politics & Prose in supporting Hope House, an organization - founded by Carol Fennelly - which connects imprisoned fathers from Washington, D.C. with their children. One of the most popular Hope House programs is The Father to Child Reading Program, which provides children’s books for inmates to audio or video record.   The book and the recording are mailed home to the inmate’s child. For many fathers, these are the first stories they have ever read to their children. So far, Hope House has paired fathers and their children with more than more than 12,000 books and tapes.

Between now and January 1, with each book you buy for Hope House, you’ll get a beautiful card decorated with an illustration by a child and his or her father. For a week in the summer, Hope House brings children to camps near the prisons, as most D.C. prisons are located in Ohio or North Carolina. As an activity, the children and their dads make life size murals of their ideal day together. These cards are photo reproductions of the murals. You can give the card as a gift to let your friends and family know that you are supporting Hope House in their names.

We offer our customers a 20% discount on books purchased either in the store or online for donation to Hope House.  If you order over the web, simply note in the checkout comments field that you wish to donate the book. To learn more about Hope House, visit their website at www.hopehousedc.org. 

We have several recommendations posted online. You may also call the Children's Department for more help choosing a book to donate, or give one of your own favorites. Thank you for supporting this worthwhile program.

Monday morning storytime is on hiatus during the holiday season and will resume January 11.

The December 9 author event with Tom Paxton has been canceled.

For more gift suggestions from the Children and Teens' Department, click here.

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This week, we can be thankful for some new arrivals from the Library of America. These handsome, black-bound volumes (with sewn-in bookmarks) showcase the best of the best of American writers. Among the titles on hand are: Edmund Wilson’s LITERARY ESSAYS AND REVIEWS OF THE 1930S AND ‘40S. This collection includes the complete texts of The Triple Thinkers (both the 1938 and revised 1948 editions)and The Wound and the Bow along with Wilson’s own selection of the best of his reviews from the 1940s, Classics and Commercials. Wilson could and did write about almost everything literary, and his essays blend acute social and psychological insights with a mastery of biography and history, making his work still a pleasure to read. Available in hardcover, $19.98. 

One of the few living writers to garner a berth in the Library of America series is Philip Roth. NOVELS AND OTHER NARRATIVES, 1986-1991 includes The Counterlife, The Facts, Deception, and Patrimony. Together, these short novels show Roth’s inventiveness with character and self, as fiction and autobiography mingle and change places. Available  in hardcover, $16.98.

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Best of 2009 & Holiday Lists
New: Rolf Lislevand, In C Remixed, David Rawlings, Meredith Monk
Box Sets III: Barbara Cook, Carl Reiner & Mel Brooks

Click here for András’s reviews and Music News

• András Goldinger