Top Five: Romance Paperbacks

We're winding up the end of our fiscal year around the office, which means Wendy has been ordering an obscene amount of books in order to spend every last penny. I've also been trying to pre-order as much as possible since it looks like next fiscal year is going to suck hardcore. Best to pre-order as much as I can now while I still have a few farthings to spend. Anywho, since I've been on a bit of a paperback spending spree, I thought now would be a good time to highlight the Top 5 Romance Paperback Originals in my library system according to the length of the wait list. Here they are:


Savor the Moment by Nora Roberts - Seriously, this shocks no one with two brain cells to rub together. It's Nora, it's the third book in a series, these books have been breathlessly beautiful to gaze upon, and did I mention it's Nora?








Married By Morning by Lisa Kleypas - The sad truth is that I don't order nearly as many paperbacks as a library system my size should be ordering. However, what kills me, is that prior to my tenure, not even a thimble-full of titles were getting in system, and those that were added came via donations. It especially kills me for authors like Kleypas, who always has a strong showing for us. Seriously, only Nora is standing in her way of the top spot.





Darkness Within by Kinley MacGregor/Sherrilyn Kenyon - I actually ordered this one ages ago, and turns out the publication date got pushed back to October 26, 2010. Which means I just fired off an e-mail to our acquisitions department to make sure this order doesn't get canceled. Little known library factoid: if you preorder too far in advance, your order tends to get canceled. Which is why I try to adhere to the 1-3 month advance. Saves me and those in purchasing quite a bit of aggravation, although I'm sure library patrons would love to put their name on a wait list some 9 months out for certain titles.



Blood Born by Linda Howard & Linda Jones - You know, I've seen a few, but given the sheer volume of Linda Howard fangirls floating around the Interwebs, I'm surprised I haven't seen a bazillion reviews for this one. Are some of you jumping off the bandwagon? Or are you just "over" paranormal? And seriously, how much body oil did they rub that cover model down with?






Rule's Bride by Kat Martin - This is the final book in Martin's Bride trilogy, a series that has gained momentum for us with each release. I do recall the first book generated a modest waiting list, but I suspect more readers got snagged as they stumbled across the first two books sitting on new book shelves. Martin's been around forever, but I'd be lying if I didn't say the strong showing for this trilogy even surprises me just a tinch. But only a tinch....

Top Five: Paperback Romance

I haven't done a Top 5 post in ages, mostly because the same five books seem to be sitting on top of our holds queue here at work. I think The Help by Kathryn Stockett was published for the sole reason of making me crazy. I'm convinced that book is never going to die. Of course I said this about The Da Vinci Code too, and it eventually did - it's just going to take time.

So since I don't want to talk about Kathryn Stockett, Nicholas Sparks, Alice Sebold, Steig Larsson or Lisa See - we're going to talk paperback romance. Cuz that's how we roll here in the Bat Cave. Behold! The Top 5 paperback romances currently in demand for my library system.


Archangel's Kiss by Nalini Singh - When you spend a lot of time online, it's easy to think that the romance genre revolves around Romance Bloglandia. News flash: It doesn't. There are scads of people out there who read their romances in a vacuum and have no clue that people actually blog about romance novels. For that matter, what's a blog? Case in point, while many bloggers were raving about Singh starting with her first non-category novel, my romance reading patrons are just now starting to catch on. This one currently has the highest request to copy ratio in system among paperbacks. Three requests for every one book.


McKettrick's Of Texas: Tate by Linda Lael Miller - This is not a surprise at all. LLM has been writing and publishing for a long time, is a regular fixture on various bestseller lists and this one is the first book in a new trilogy. Naturally, people want to read it.







Ravishing In Red by Madeline Hunter - Hunter isn't the most popular historical author among our library patrons, but she routinely puts up very respectable numbers. I've seen very positive reviews for this one all over the darn place, and frankly that cover is all sorts of eye-catching. Once the wait list is satisfied, I think this one is going to see very steady circulation numbers.






The Elusive Bride by Stephanie Laurens - The Avon historical contingent tends to do very well here at work, and our two-headed monster is Stephanie Laurens and Julia Quinn. I know hard core romance readers tend to scoff at hard cover books, but I honestly feel that Laurens' foray into hard cover helped her mass market sales overall. That's my theory anyway, assuming library stats count for anything.





Street Game by Christine Feehan - Looking at demand and request numbers, aside from the blockbuster hard cover authors (Nora, JAK, SEP etc.) Christine Feehan is probably our most popular romance author. Doesn't matter what series we're talking either - I always get a nice healthy wait list for her latest. At one point this one was my most requested, in-demand romance title regardless of format. It was out-pacing the hard cover releases. Seriously. My library patrons love them some Feehan. Or else they can't seem to quit her. Either way, she's a rock star.

Top Five: Romance Paperbacks

When I took my current job buying adult fiction I was coming from one of our smaller libraries, with practically zero budget. Two things that really bothered me while I was "out there" working with the public? We never got new Large Print and I was the sole supplier for my branch's romance paperback section. So when I took this job? Yeah, I was determined to order both using our central budget funds.

It's been a long, slow, slog but our patrons are now starting to discover that, "Hey, the library seems to be buying romance novels in paperback!" After years of not doing so, I'm sure we chased many of these readers off, thereby effectively hurting our circulation. But now....I'm in charge. And while I'm not ordering nearly the amount of titles and copies that I should be (despite some complaints my boss received about me early on), the waiting lists are starting to get healthy on paperbacks. Here are the Top 5 Romance Novels, Paperback Originals currently for my library system.


What Happens In London by Julia Quinn, wait list = 21 - Quinn is probably our most popular author of historical romance when it comes to paperback format. Given that she's a usual fixture on the various bestseller lists, this doesn't exactly come as much of a shock.








Mastered By Love by Stephanie Laurens, wait list = 20 - Circulates well regardless of series and what format she's publishing in. Her hard covers do just as well as the paperbacks. Again, she's a usual suspect on the bestseller lists, so this is no surprise.








Hidden Currents by Christine Feehan, wait list = 15 - All of her series do well, and I fully expect her next hard cover, Dark Slayer, to be off the charts for us. This is the 7th book in the Drake Sisters series.









92 Pacific Boulevard by Debbie Macomber, wait list = 14 - Harlequin has really been giving Macomber the full court press the last couple of years, and it's really starting to show. She was popular to begin with, but now I think she's starting to enter that realm of "household name." This is the 9th book in the popular Cedar Cover series and doesn't come out for a couple more weeks. I suspect my waiting list will climb some more once people start seeing the book in stores.





Bending The Rules by Susan Andersen, wait list = 11 - I'll be honest, this is the only book that kind of surprises me, even though Andersen has been a bestseller. My theory? I know several of our librarians who are fans, and I suspect they're hand-selling to patrons. Which I think is grand.

Top Five: Mystery And Suspense

Things have been fairly quiet around the office of late because we're in our annual "slow down." This basically means I don't order books for a couple of weeks while the new budget is hammered out. Which this year involves a lot of blood, sweat, tears, praying and general hysterics. But just because the budget is hovering around catastrophic doesn't mean our library patrons have suddenly stopped "wanting" stuff. On that front, here are the Top Five hot and in demand mystery/suspense titles of the moment:

The Scarecrow by Michael Connelly - OK Connelly is pretty much popular everywhere, but here in Southern California he's a rock star. Every time he has a new book out, our demand for it is unreal. As in Harry Potter and Twilight-mania unreal. I suspect part of this is because So. Cal. readers feel like they "discovered" Connelly first. While he's a Florida boy, he covered the crime beat for the L.A. Times for several years. This latest features characters first introduced in The Poet.





Gone Tomorrow by Lee Child - Child writes good, old-fashioned thrillers. Fast-paced adventures featuring Jack Reacher, a morally ambiguous character. I think a big reason for Child's success (besides the page-turning "thing") is that he's been able to cultivate a female readership. Women read and buy more books then men. They just do. And I know more than a few women who are hopelessly hooked on Reacher.






The Associate by John Grisham - This book came out in late January, my library has a ton of copies of it, and it's still our third most requested mystery/suspense title of the moment. Whether or not you think his recent stuff is up to par with his earlier work is besides the point. Grisham has still got legs.







Wicked Prey by John Sandford - Ahh, the latest Lucas Davenport novel. This one actually sounds kind of intriguing. The Republican National Convention is rolling into town, and it's Davenport's job to make sure the grand ol' party runs smoothly. Which, of course, it doesn't.








Alex Cross's Trial by James Patterson & The Latest Co-Writer He Picked Up Off The Street - A new month must mean a new "James Patterson" novel. This is the latest in the Alex Cross saga, and is due out in late August. I don't read this series, although going by what Lil' Sis tells me, the last several have been um....not so good. Although she still says that Kiss The Girls is one of the creepiest damn books she's ever read. I'm thinking other readers must feel the same way - hence why his books still seem to do well even though he's gone down the co-writers rabbit hole.

Top Five: In Demand Romance

I haven't done one of these round-up posts in forever, and for that I apologize. Every Monday when I roll into the office, I get to look forward to a spreadsheet that lays out the "in demand" titles amongst our library patrons. Those books with large waiting lists. I got out of the habit of doing my Top Five feature because frankly? It was like the same five books for the last several months. The Reader, The Story Of Edgar Sawtelle, White Tiger, The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society, blah blah blah. For the love of God people - discover some other books will ya! I'm getting bored! Now that most of the demand for these is settling down to the dull roar, I thought I'd relaunch my Top Five segment by talking about the Top 5 Most Requested Romance Titles for the Week of May 11.


Lover Avenged by J.R. Ward - I had mentioned in a previous post that the request list for this was pretty stagnant. Well that changed the minute the book was actually released, because my holds queue jumped up to the next level. Not quite as off the charts as I was originally expecting (seems like plenty of readers are still willing to buy their own copies), but very respectable.






Vision In White by Nora Roberts - Yes it's trade paperback, but the discount retailers are selling this at an extremely reasonable price (I think I saw $9 and change at Costco) so I wasn't sure how high library demand would be for this title. Also, it's Roberts' first straight-up contemporary romance title in a long while - so I thought that might drive retail sales more so than library lending. Not quite as off the charts as her J.D. Robb series, but still a very nice holds list, plus my first go-around of ordering this title was pretty significant, so that's been keeping the list down to a manageable level.



Black Hills by Nora Roberts - A romantic suspense title that's not due out until July, but I already (naturally, it's Nora) have it on order. People are already staking out their spot on the waiting list.









Crouching Vampire, Hidden Fang by Katie MacAlister - Yes, it's true. Good librarians do purchase titles for the library that they would rather be skinned alive than read. Case in point? This book. I'm burnt out on paranormals anyway, but even when I wasn't? Yeah, I don't "do" Funny Ha Ha Paranormals. To be fair? I don't "do" most Funny Ha Ha novels. Just ain't my thing. But, we have some libraries where they can't keep books like this on the shelf. That's how popular they are. So I ordered this latest from MacAlister, and now we have a waiting list.



Malice by Lisa Jackson - All of Jackson's titles circulate well for us, but it's the hard covers that get the most mileage. I explain this with the reasoning that while there are readers who will buy her in paperback, maybe they just haven't made that jump to laying down hard cover prices for her books yet. Or it could just be the simple fact that this particular book has been getting some PR attention and new readers have been intrigued enough to add their names to the waiting list.

Top Five: Picking Up Steam

Yeah, so I dropped out of blogosphere over the weekend. I don't know about you all, but I have a damn hard time blogging on weekends. Too much real life "stuff" vying for my time. So to kick my butt into gear I thought I'd do another Top Five feature (it's been a while). These are currently the books gaining some ground, and popularity, among our library patrons. It's full steam ahead!


Dark Curse by Christine Feehan - OK, I'm going to be blunt here. This one kind of surprises me. Mostly because I know several readers who started out gangbusters for the Carpathians and over the years their interest has waned. My theory on why this book is currently near the top of our holds queue? Feehan might be to romance readers what Patricia Cornwell is for me. She ain't an autobuy anymore, but they just can't cut the cord completely. Which means they don't want to pay hard cover price for it, but they still want to read it because they just can't help themselves. So it's onward and upward to the local library.




Supreme Courtship by Christopher Buckley - Buckley traditionally does fairly well amongst the library reading crowd but I think interest has jumped for his latest for two reasons. 1) The movie version of Thank You For Smoking was well-received and in my opinion, very good and 2) Buckley was recently profiled on CBS Sunday Morning.









The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larsson - Traditional rule of thumb in the library world: Translations Don't Move. They tend to be shelf-sitters. I don't know why, they just are. This book is proving to be the exception to the rule. Translated from the original Swedish, it received smashing reviews across the board. Also, the author is dead. Same phenomenon that applies to the art world. Artist becomes a big hit after they die - which frankly I think is depressing as hell, but it does give the publisher another promotional "angle."





All Things Charlaine Harris - I tried to tell them. Really I did. Over a year ago I told staff that Harris could pick up steam once the HBO series based on her Sookie Stackhouse series hits the airwaves. I find this particularly interesting because while the buzz on the TV show has been decidedly very mixed, it's still enough to generate interest in the books among our library patrons. Go figure.








Just Breathe by Susan Wiggs - I tend to whine a lot about Wiggs because damn, I love her historicals and she left me! She left me for the Big Bad World Of Contemporary Women's Fiction! But you know what? It's working out extremely well for her, at least in terms in library statistics. I really started noticing a jump in circulation with her Lakeshore Chronicles series. Demand for Just Breathe now finds her at an "all-time high" for us. So go on with your bad self Susan!

Top Five: While Wendy's Away

Part of my job is monitoring "the holds list." Those books that are popular enough to generate a waiting list amongst our library patrons. Now that most library catalogs are on computers, keeping up with "the holds list," is a lot easier than it used to be. Basically, we run a report, and the computer spits out what we need to know. I then look over the list and make the executive decision on whether or not to order more copies. Since I was gone all last week at RWA, I missed a "holds list." Looking over this week's list, I noticed several titles that jumped up in demand while I was away. Here they are:

In Bed With The Devil by Lorraine Heath - I hate to shatter the Super Librarian myth, but I do not order every single brand new romance title that is out every single month. I just don't have the budget for it. So I tend to pick and choose, then wait for any patron requests to roll in to mop up my slack. One trend I've noticed? Despite my whining about their No American Historicals policy, Avon's historicals are insanely popular among our patrons - with Eloisa James and Julia Quinn being the front runners. Now it looks like Heath is gaining some ground. Intriguing. I would have thought it would be Loretta Chase, but so far she's still in "modest" territory for us. Go figure.


Rules of Deception by Christopher Reich - Man's wife, who apparently had oodles of secrets, dies and thrusts him into the path of an assassin and international manhunt. This is a thriller, so naturally there is also a global conspiracy involved. I knew this would do well for us, and I ordered several copies of it right out of the gate. Still, I didn't expect it to take off like a rocket.






Treasures by Nora Roberts - This is a reprint featuring the stories Secret Star and Treasures Lost, Treasures Found. This came in as a patron donation at some of our branches. Yes, yes - I always order Nora. I'd lose my job pretty quickly if I didn't buy Nora's books. But I passed by this reprint because we already own the two featured stories in different anthologies. I'm chalking this up to our library patrons not realizing the stories are available elsewhere. Oh well. It happens to the best of us.




The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Society by Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows - Otherwise known as The Little Book That Could. It's 1946 and an author finds inspiration for her next book in her pen-pal correspondence with a native of the island of Guernsey, who tells her the story of how a book club proved to be an alibi during the German occupation. I've seen and heard buzz already on this book, and given that the story is told in the form of letters - well no shock that it's starting to pick up steam. Also, it has The Book Club Stink. This one is going to have legs folks. Take my word for it.



The Last Lecture by Randy Pausch, Large Print Edition - Suffering from terminal cancer, professor Randy Pausch passed away while I was on vacation. His "last lecture" already an Internet sensation, this book has quickly become the new Tuesdays With Morrie among our library patrons. Demand for the regular print has stayed steady, but news of his passing saw holds jump for the Large Print edition.

Top Five: Wendy's Problem Children

Some of you seemed to like my inaugural Top Five post, so I'm thinking I'll keep it up for a while. This time out I want to talk about my problem child books. These are the books that are currently in hot demand, and that, for the most part, blindsided me.

I'm not going to lie to you - adult fiction is generally pretty easy. But every once in a while a book comes out of nowhere and gob-smacks you. These are currently the ones where I'm beginning to think I'll never have enough copies to satisfy our waiting lists.


The Shack by William P. Young

Description: Four years after his daughter is abducted and evidence of her murder is found in an abandoned shack, Mackenzie Allen Philips returns to the shack in response to a note claiming to be from God, and has a life-changing experience.

Wendy Says: This originally came in as a patron request. I bought a few copies, as while inspirational fiction circulates nicely for us, I wouldn't call it a blockbuster genre. Then this book started showing up everywhere. Lots of media rounds, and a crap-load of word of mouth. Now everybody and their dead grandmother wants to read it.



Love the One You're With by Emily Giffin

Description: Believing her marriage to Andy to be perfect in every way, Ellen runs into former flame Leo and wonders why she has been unable to forget him even though they brought out the worst in each other.

Wendy Says: OK, I've at least heard of Emily Giffin, but I foolishly thought this book would follow the same pattern as her other titles. It would be mildly popular and generate a modest holds list. How wrong I was. This book has been off the charts for us, again thanks to media attention and it being touted as a "summer read."



The Host by Stephenie Meyer

Description: A member of a species that takes over the minds of human bodies, Wanderer is unable to disregard his host's love for a man in hiding, a situation that forces both possessor and host to become unwilling allies.

Wendy Says: OK people. I really am not a moron. I knew this book was going to be popular. But, I thought it was going to be popular with teen readers crossing over into the adult fiction stacks, and our library patrons who fit this mold? Generally do not place their names on a waiting list. They grab the book when they happen to see it on the shelf. Nope, not this time. Waiting list ahoy!



Dear American Airlines by Jonathan Miles

Description: Traveling to the wedding of his estranged daughter and left stranded in O'Hare Airport when his flight is cancelled, Bennie Ford, a fifty-three-year-old failed poet and translator, begins writing a letter of complaint to the airline that evolves into a painful lament for a life that has gone badly awry.

Wendy Says: Like a lot of things in life, success in publishing is sometimes thanks to excellent timing. I truly believe this debut novel is doing so well because people are currently really pissed off at the airlines. Having The Book Club Stink doesn't hurt matters either.



The Art of Racing in the Rain by Garth Stein

Description: Evaluating his life on the eve of his death, atypical canine Enzo considers the sacrifices his master, Denny Swift, has made in his pursuit of becoming a professional race car driver; the painful custody battle between Denny and his in-laws, and the dog's own efforts to preserve the Swift family.

Wendy Says: I actually bought several copies of this out of the gate because of the dog gimmick. People seem to love dogs in fiction. Then Starbucks decided that this was going to be the latest book to be promoted and sold in their stores. That sealed the deal. Oh, and The Book Club Stink didn't hurt matters either.

And there you have it. The five books with super huge waiting lists driving me slightly insane. I'm going to be honest, none of these sounds remotely tantalizing to me - but I'm Little Miss Finicky Pants. What about you all? Read any of these? Plan to read any? Inquiring minds want to know.

Top Five: In Demand Romance

Longtime readers of this blog will remember that once upon a time I talked about "library stuff" a lot more. Wacky stories. Surreal moments. This blog was a bit of a dumping ground for the variety of frustrations I had back in my middle-management days. Then I got The Dream Job, went into administration, and my library stories dried up.

I'm going to be honest - I think the librarian thing makes me a little unique among the tiny corner of the blogosphere I inhabit, so I want to try to incorporate some of my job back into my hobby. Also, I think libraries and librarians tend to get lost in the mix when publishing, retail, and dollars are discussed. I'm not saying that publishers and authors shouldn't focus on retail, but let this serve as a reminder that libraries buy books to. Some of us buy a lot of books and have large budgets (although they're never large enough). Something to keep in mind.

So I thought it would be fun to start something I'm going to call Top Five. This will be a semi-regular feature where I will discuss five books currently generating demand, and a waiting list, among my library service population. To kick it off? Well of course I'm starting with romance. Like y'all have to ask! Here it goes:

Can't Take My Eyes Off Of You by Judith McNaught - This one is my fault. Totally. Like a moron I ordered copies of this one month before the original laydown date. McNaught doesn't "do" deadlines, naturally this one got pushed back, and the publication date keeps getting further and further away. Latest date I've seen? May 19, 2009. In the meantime, there sits a record on our catalog collecting patron holds. From now on McNaught doesn't get ordered until one week prior to the release date. She's burned me one too many times and I'm bitter. Very, very bitter.

The Hollow by Nora Roberts - Well duh. Second book in a trilogy. Nora. This isn't exactly rocket science.

Death Angel by Linda Howard - I've seen mixed reviews/reactions to Howard's last couple of books, but it hasn't hurt demand for this July 1 release. It's currently my third most requested romance title.

Lost Duke of Wyndham by Julia Quinn - I haven't been entirely pleased with Avon of late, and lord knows I've aired out my issues on this blog a time or two (or three) - but I'm positively giddy to see a historical romance (I don't care who published it!) generating so much interest among our patron population. A hibernating sub genre, maybe - but nowhere near dead.

Lover Enshrined by J.R. Ward - While romance bloggers hit the Ward crack pipe early and often from the very beginning, it took a little bit longer for my library patrons to jump on the bandwagon. It was around the third book in this series that I started to see holds accumulate, circulation numbers jump, and demand increase.

This small representation of our romance circulation probably doesn't shock any romance reader looking at this list. These are all bestselling authors. But I was intrigued by Ward, mainly because I think she's the perfect example of how "word of mouth" can elevate an author to bestseller status. Also of note, the demand for the latest Julia Quinn is higher than for the latest releases by Elizabeth Lowell, Johanna Lindsey and Catherine Coulter. You go girl!

In the "Wendy Is A Bit Surprised" category - demand for Not Another Bad Date by Rachel Gibson is currently sluggish. Up until this point she's always had steady demand, and solid numbers, so I'm wondering if people just don't realize this book is out and that's why they're not requesting it? Or maybe they're all buying it themselves, because she's currently on the NYT Bestsellers List. Although I gotta say, I think Avon needs to put her back on cartoon covers. Her cartoon cover books do very, very well for us.