USA Today's Top 150 Bestselling Books as of 04.17.2011

Thursday, April 21, 2011: According to USA TODAY, the following list contains the top 25 best selling books (out of 150) - based on sales through Sunday, 04/17/2011.  For the complete list of 150 books for the week or just to check out more information - plus reviews, book news and a searchable archive of USA TODAY's Best-Selling Books list - visit their website.
Note of the week:  YA is on the upswing, covering 20% of the top 25 titles on the list. New this week, Stephenie Meyer's Illustrated guide of the Twilight Saga makes it's debut in slot #4, while Ms. Clare's new addition to the Mortal Instruments series, City of Fallen Angels, lands in the #9 position. I'm actually reading City of Fallen Angels right now - and so far, so good! 

Legend:

Position This Week, Last Week, Title, Author (Publisher), Price

1 3 Water for Elephants, Sara Gruen (Algonquin), $7.99

2 1 Heaven Is for Real, Todd Burpo with Lynn Vincent (Thomas Nelson), $16.99

3 0 Chasing Fire, Nora Roberts (Putnam Adult), $27.95

4 0 The Twilight Saga: The Official Illustrated Guide, Stephenie Meyer (Little, Brown), $24.99

5 5 Bossypants, Tina Fey (Reagan Arthur), $26.99

Versatile Blogger Award

Ah, gee shucks...would you look at that? Fellow writer pal, Huntress, just honored me with the prestigious Versatile Blogger Award!

Huntress runs a fan-tab-u-lous blog, Spirit Called, which is chock-full with not only great writerly advice - but some serious side-splitting humor to boot!

If you don't believe me, the woman who grew up wanting to be Laura Ingalls Wilder, just posted a ha-larious blog on Jokes Only Writers Can Appreciate - which includes the following:

Rules to Write By:

Avoid alliteration. Always.
Never use a long word when a diminutive one will do.
Be more or less specific.
Analogies in writing are like feathers on a snake.
Proofread carefully to see if you words out.
If you reread your work, you can find on rereading a great deal of repetition can be avoid by rereading and editing.
A writer must not shift your point of view.
Don't overuse exclamation marks!!
Take the bull by the hand and avoid mixing metaphors.
Last but not least, avoid cliches like the plague; They're old hat; seek viable alternatives.

_______________________________

As the recipient of this lovely award, I believe I am to share seven things about myself. So let's see...

1. To help pay my way through college, I taught scuba and snorkel lessons off the beaches of Waikiki, Hawaii.
2. Because of the above mentioned job, I was attacked by a moray eel while diving one morning, and have a nasty scar on the bridge of my nose. Had I caught him, he would've made a great pair of shoes. :)
3.  I love, love, love to gamble - and my husband and I go to Vegas several times a year.
4.  I have a bad habit of leaving pens uncapped and lights all over the house turned on - both drive my husband batty.
5. I love to cook - and one of these days I'll go to culinary school.
6. I absolutely d.e.t.e.s.t. cockaroaches. Just the thought of them, makes my skin crawl. Eek!
7.  I played the violin for for over 14 years - at first because my mom made me (I was 5), but then because I liked it (geek, I know).

Now, to pass this lovely award on - of course, I would've picked Huntress to receive this...but I have to pass it on to some new folks:

Bridgid Gallagher: Inky Fresh Press

Jess Lawson: Falling Leaflets

Rebekah L. Purdy

J. A. Souders: Angles and Demons and Portels. Oh My!

C. J. Redwine: The Last Word

Miss Snark's First Victim

Chick Lit Teens

Adventures In Children's Publishing

All of the above are great sites - be them personal writer friends of mine or great writing resources! Either way, they all should be shared with the masses, in my humble opinion.

Thanks again, Huntress, for the great award!

 

And The Winners Are...

And the lucky winners random.org selected are...

Kathryn Roberts and Jess Lawson

Yea!!! Each of you have won a $15 Barnes & Noble e-gift card!

Kathryn - please reach out to me with a valid email address on where you'd like your e-gift card sent - you can leave a comment here or email me directly. My email address is elschneider@hotmail.com

And Jess, let me know if you just want me to use the email I already have for you?

Congratulations, Ladies - and thanks so much for joining me in my new home!

- Erin

Scholastic Book Talk: April 2011 Best Sellers

Book Talk

For the month of April, 2011, here are Scholastics Best Sellers amongst YA & Children's reads:

Young Adult

1. Anne Frank: The Diary of a Young Girl ($5 in Arrow and TAB)
2. Witch & Wizard by James Patterson ($9 in Arrow andBookBeat: Teens Online)
3. Tears of a Tiger by Sharon M. Draper ($4 in TAB)
4. Words in the Dust by Trent Reedy ($5 in TAB)
5. The Forest of Hands and Teeth by Carrie Ryan ($9 in TAB andBookBeat: Teens Online)

 

 

 

Middle Grade

1. Old Yeller by Fred Gipson ($2 in TAB)
2. Mockingbird by Kathryn Erskine ($4 in Arrow and Spring Gift Books)
3. Notes from the Dog by Gary Paulsen ($3 in Arrow and TAB)
4. The Last Invisible Boy by Evan Kuhlman ($4 in Arrow)
5. Love, Aubrey by Suzanne LaFleur ($3 in Arrow)

 

 

 

Welcome To My New Home, Giveaway!

To officially celebrate my new website getting up and running, I'm giving away TWO Barnes & Noble e-gift cards - each worth $15 USD!

With everyone moving towards digital e-readers, I thought instead of giving away a hard copy book, contestants should have the option on which format they'd prefer! And well, $15 can buy two eBooks - or one hard / soft copy, if you're still into the "old school" way of reading like me!

Easy-peasy Contest Rules:

1. You need to be a follower of my new website (via the Google Friend Connect option on the left side of my page...yep, it's right over there! <-------). +1 entry for new folks, +2 for those that have been around.
2.  Follow me on Twitter (@elschneid)? +1 entry for newbies, +2 for existing tweeps!
3.  Tweet about the giveaway? +2 entries (you'll need to submit your twitter handle in the comments section, so I can take a look!).
4.  Please leave a comment below with your name and total number of entries.
5.  Winners will be selected on Wednesday, April 20th

NYT's Best Sellers: Children's / YA for Week Ending March 26, 2011

For week ending March 26, 2011, here are the New York Times Top Selling YA / Children's Books. For more information and all top 10's that made the NY Times Bestseller lists, check out their site: NYTimes.

In YA chapter books, three new titles make their debut on the list, coveting the #1, 8 & 9 positions - with two new appearances on the paperback list. It's nice to see some fresh content on the lists for a change!

Key:

Position on the list, Title / Author, # of weeks on the list

CHAPTER BOOKS

1   INVINCIBLE (THE CHRONICLES OF NICK), by Sherrilyn Kenyon. (St. Martin's Griffin, $17.99.) Next assignment: raise the dead. (Ages 12 and up) 1
2   A WORLD WITHOUT HEROES, by Brandon Mull. (Aladdin, $19.99.) A young boy is transported to a world ruled by an evil wizard. (Ages 8 to 12) 2
3   THE LOST HERO, by Rick Riordan. (Disney-Hyperion, $18.99.) A return to Camp Half-Blood and semi-divine characters. (Ages 10 and up) 24
4   I AM NUMBER FOUR, by Pittacus Lore. (HarperCollins, $17.99.) Members of another civilization live secretly among Earth-dwellers. (Ages 14 and up) 16
5   THE RED PYRAMID, by Rick Riordan. (Disney-Hyperion, $17.99.) Ancient gods (this time from Egypt) and a mortal family meet. (Ages 10 and up) 47
6   JUSTIN BIEBER, FIRST STEP 2 FOREVER, by Justin Bieber. (HarperCollins, $21.99.) Short takes and photos from the pop star. (Ages 6 to 12) 17
7   TALES FROM A NOT-SO-POPULAR PARTY GIRL, by Rachel Renée Russell. (Aladdin, $12.99.) Further reflections of Nikki Maxwell on enduring middle school; a “Dork Diaries” book. (Ages 9 to 13) 35
8   BETWEEN SHADES OF GRAY, by Ruta Sepetys. (Philomel, $17.99.) A girl, her mother and her brother are deported to Siberia. (Ages 12 and up) 1
9   BEST OF THE BEST, by Tim Green. (Harper/HarperCollins, $16.99.) A Little League player tries to keep his family together. (Ages 8 to 12) 1
10   MOON OVER MANIFEST, by Clare Vanderpool. (Delacorte, $16.99.) Abilene, 12, solves a mystery in Depression-era Kansas. (Ages 9 to 12) 11