Carl Safina named finalist for the 2012 Orion Book Award

Finalists were just announced for the 2012 Orion Book Award, and Carl Safina's THE VIEW FROM LAZY POINT is among them!  To view the full announcement, click here.  According to Orion Magazine's website, "The Orion Book Award is given annually to a book that addresses the human relationship with the natural world in a fresh, thought-provoking, and engaging manner."  The winner will be announced in early May.  Fingers crossed for Carl!

THE VIEW FROM LAZY POINT follows Safina, a MacArthur "Genius Grant" fellow, over the course of a year as he tours the natural world from Long Island in New York to the high Arctic, the tropics, and Antarctica, meditating on humanity and its coexistence with the natural world along the way.

The book appeared in hardcover in January 2011 and in a beautiful paperback edition (see cover below) in January 2012.  Incredible reviews began with the 2011 publication and have continued ever since.  We've highlighted some of these below (click on each publication name to read the full review), and you can view more reviews and news about the book by clicking on the "Safina" label on the right.

"Safina's book soars...I had to--and wanted to--read THE VIEW FROM LAZY POINT very slowly, allowing myself to digest its wealth of information, to revel in the beauty of Safina's writing, and to absorb fully the implications of his musings...What a pleasure it is to find such an enlightening, provocative companion for walking and talking--and reading.  We can ask no more from those who warn about dark days ahead than that they also awaken us to the miracle of everyday life as they try to illuminate a better path forward." --The New York Times Book Review, Editors' Choice

"A Thoreau for the 21st century." --New York Post, Required Reading

"Each chapter roils with informed, impassioned descriptions...In this wide-eyed way, Safina's view from Lazy Point encompasses the planet, illuminating our interconnected whole." --National Geographic, Book of the Month

"Striking...It is Safina's meditations...which move this book from a modern WALDEN POND, as great as that would be, to something else.  For, really, this is a book about philosophy...It is about what it means to be human in a world where the rhythms of life have been thrown askew, indeed, burst asunder...Read his book and remember, or learn, what it is to live in the embrace of the seasons and to see in all life oneself." --The Huffington Post

"With his grand sense of adventure, eye for beauty, heart for mercy, and high hopes to shake us from our complacency, Safina seems a godsend among modern-day prophets.  His is a voice worth listening to." --The Oregonian

"Before Carl Safina, environmentalists could often be heard wondering where the next Rachel Carson, Aldo Leopold, or Henry Beston might be hiding...[Safina's] pure sensuous detail, seeing the natural world from a variety of angles, was missing in the generations after Carson and Leopold." --Newsday

 Picador, January 2012

CAPITOL MURDER now a New York Times bestselling title!

The New York Times has just released its bestseller lists reflecting sales ending the week of April 7--or, what we know as the first possible week for Phillip Margolin's CAPITOL MURDER to hit the lists.  And hit the lists it did!  In hardcover fiction, CAPITOL MURDER reached #20, while on the e-book fiction list, it reached #25! 

The book has received fantastic media coverage since its release, including wonderful journal/magazine reviews and a TV interview with AM Northwest, both of which we highlighted in last week's post.  Margolin was also recently interviewed by The Oregonian's book editor, Jeff Baker, regarding the conclusion of the Washington D.C. trilogy (CAPITOL MURDER being the last book in the trilogy, after EXECUTIVE PRIVILEGE and SUPREME JUSTICE).  You can read the full interview at this link, but here's a brief excerpt to whet your appetite:

For [CAPITOL MURDER], Margolin got to hang out in the offices of U.S. Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., an old friend, and pick up some inside knowledge and details.

"Really a lot of fun," the Portland author [Margolin] said [of the experience].  "I worked in the U.S. Senate when I got out of college--as a file clerk, nothing important--and it was neat to go back and see it.  I got to see the room where the Select Committee on Intelligence meets and some other back areas that people don't normally see."

Readers are loving CAPITOL MURDER so far, as evidenced by rave reader reviews on Goodreads.  One reviewer in particular, identified as Barbara Tom, had several glowing comments to make about CAPITOL MURDER, including "The reason Phillip Margolin is a New York Times bestselling author is because he can tell a good story" and "Margolin has one humdinger of a twisty, twisted ending."  To end her review, she concluded, "This is my favorite book by Phillip Margolin so far.  You go, guy!"  We love that ending; indeed, you go, guy!

Be sure to check out Margolin's website at this link for more information about the author and the book!

HarperCollins, April 2012

Phillip Margolin's CAPITOL MURDER out this week

Phillip Margolin has written fifteen New York Times bestselling titles, and his newest just came out this week.  CAPITOL MURDER is the third and last book in Margolin's Washington D.C. trilogy featuring private investigator Dana Cutler and lawyer Brad Miller.

Margolin recently visited the studios of AM Northwest to discuss the book and trilogy.  He also spoke about his fascinating writing process and the cases he conducted as a criminal defense attorney that inspire his plots.  View the full interview below!



Reviews have been fantastic thus far!  View a sampling below:

"A killer follow-up...Margolin's CAPITOL MURDER is like a cold shower--it grabs our attention and gets our adrenaline running." --New York Journal of Books

"International terrorists, a serial killer, and a senator with a taste for kinky sex provide the key ingredients for CAPITOL MURDER...[which] offers its readers an exciting story focused on topical events.  Margolin expertly unravels each of the threads of his complicated plot only to unite them again in a consistently developed conclusion." --Examiner.com

"With politics on everybody's mind, bestselling author Margolin zeroes in on politicians behaving badly...In this riveting page-turner, a serial killer has escaped Death Row to wreak havoc while terrorists plot to blow up an NFL stadium." --National Examiner Magazine

"Another one of Margolin's compulsive page-turners featuring his returning favorites Brad Miller and Dana Cutler.  Prepare yourself for a bumpy ride." --Acadiana Lifestyle Magazine

HarperCollins, April 2012

Ellis Avery in Vogue

Ellis Avery was one of five New York writers featured in Vogue's recent article "Street Style Short Stories: Flash Fiction Takes on Fashion"!  For the article, Avery, along with fellow authors Karen Russell, Alex Gilvarry, Heidi Julavits, and Richard Mason, wrote a flash fiction story based on an alluring fashion photograph taken by Phil Oh.

The photograph Avery uses captures a woman in a unique feathered jacket.  Her story begins vividly: "She crossed the street toward me on that not-yet-spring day, a clarion burst of purple, white, and green, with little trills of marbled ink and wispy plume.  Bird of Paradise, I thought, thank you for braving cold, dirt, and sarcasm to bring a little sparkle to Hudson Street."

View Avery's full story, the gorgeous Phil Oh photograph, and the entire article compiled by Katherine Bernard at this link!

Ellis Avery

Avery's latest novel is THE LAST NUDE, which focuses on Jazz Age artist Tamara de Lempicka and her love affair with the young woman who posed for her most iconic portraits.  The book came out this January from Riverhead.