Indie Bestsellers

You’ve probably not yet tried our secure, private, online purchasing tools at
http://www.destinationsbooksellers.com/.

We’re making it easy to try. If you’re a Patron Passport Rewards program member, we’ll rebate you 20% of the book purchase price on any of these Indie Bestsellers. And if you’re not, call the store and find out how to become a member.

Bestseller List for August 14, 2008
Based on sales for the week ending Sunday, August 10, 2008.
Click on any title to buy it now. We’ll rebate you 20% of the book’s price.

Hardcover Nonfiction

1. Last Lecture – Randy Pausch, Hyperion, $21.95, 9781401323257

2. When You Are Engulfed in Flames – David Sedaris, Little Brown, $25.99, 9780316143479

3. Goodnight Bush – Erich Origen & Gan Golan, Little Brown, $14.99, 9780316040419

4. Way of the World – Ron Suskind, Harper, $27.95, 9780061430626

5. Dark Side – Jane Meyer, Doubleday, $27.50, 9780385526395

6. Obama Nation – Jerome R. Corsi, Threshold, $28, 9781416598060

7. Just Who Will You Be – Maria Shriver, Hyperion, $14.95, 9781401323189

8. What I Talk About When I Talk About Running – Haruki Murakami, Knopf, $21, 9780307269195

9. In Defense of Food – Michael Pollan, Penguin Press, $21.95, 9781594201455

10. Secret – Rhonda Byrne, Atria/Beyond Words, $23.95, 9781582701707

11. My Stroke of Insight – Jill Bolte Taylor, Viking, $24.95, 9780670020744

12. You: Staying Young – Michael F.Roizen, M.D., Mehmet C.Oz, M.D., Free Press, $26, 9780743292566

13. Wrecking Crew – Thomas Frank, Metropolitan, $25, 9780805079883

14. Are You There, Vodka? It’s Me, Chelsea – Chelsea Handler, Simon Spotlight, $24.95, 9781416954125

15. Prosecution of George W. Bush for Murder – Vincent Bugliosi, Vanguard, $26.95, 9781593154813

On the Rise
20. Traffic – Tom Vanderbilt, Knopf, $24.95, 9780307264787

Hardcover Fiction

1. Story of Edgar Sawtelle – David Wroblewski, Ecco, $25.95, 9780061374227

2. Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society – Mary Ann Shaffer & Annie Barrows, Dial, $22, 9780385340991
3. Lace Reader – Brunonia Barry, Morrow, $24.95, 9780061624766

4. Moscow Rules –Daniel Silva, Putnam, $26.95, 9780399155017

5. Art of Racing in the Rain – Garth Stein, Harper, $23.95, 9780061537936

6. Host – Stephenie Meyer, Little Brown, $25.99, 9780316068048

7. Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao – Junot Diaz, Riverhead, $24.95, 9781594489587

8. Unaccustomed Earth – Jhumpa Lahiri, Knopf, $25, 9780307265739

9. Enchantress of Florence – Salman Rushdie, Random House, $26, 9780375504334

10. Rules of Deception – Christopher Reich, Doubleday, $24.95, 9780385524063

11. Beach House – Jane Green, Viking, $24.95, 9780670018857

12. Off Season – Anne Rivers Siddons, Grand Central, $24.99, 9780446527873

13. Thousand Splendid Suns – Khaled Hosseini, Riverhead, $25.95, 9781594489501

14. Robert Ludlum’s The Bourne Sanction – Eric Van Lustbader, Grand Central, $25.99, 9780446539869

15. Swan Peak – James Lee Burke, S&S, $25.95, 9781416548522

On the Rise:

16. 19th Wife – David Ebershoff, Random House, $26, 9781400063970
The new novel by the author of The Danish Girl is an August Indie Next List selection.

Trade Paperback Nonfiction

1. Three Cups of Tea – Greg Mortenson & David Oliver Relin, Penguin, $15, 9780143038252

2. Animal, Vegetable, Miracle – Barbara/Camille Kingsolver & Steven Hopp, Harper Perennial, $14.95, 9780660852566

3. Eat, Pray, Love – Elizabeth Gilbert, Penguin, $15, 9780143038412

4. New Earth – Eckhart Tolle, Plume, $14, 9780452289963

5. Big Russ and Me – Tim Russert, Miramax, $13.95, 9781404359652

6. Omnivore’s Dilemma – Michael Pollan, Penguin, $16, 9780143038580

7. Long Way Gone – Ishmael Beah, FSG, $12, 9780374531263

8. Dreams From My Father – Barack Obama, Three Rivers, $14.95, 9781400082773

9. Audacity of Hope – Barack Obama, Three Rivers, $14.95, 9780307237705

10. Plato and a Platypus Walk Into a Bar – Thomas Cathcart, Daniel Klein, Penguin, $12, 9780143113874

11. Power of Now – Eckhart Tolle, New World, $14, 9781577314806

12. World Without Us – Alan Weisman, Picador, $15, 9780312427900

13. Marley & Me – John Grogan, Harper, $13.95, 9780060817091

14. Stuff White People Like: A Definitive Guide to the Unique Taste of Millions – Christian Lander, Random House, $14, 9780812979916

15. Into the Wild – Jon Krakauer, Anchor, $13.95, 9780307387172

Trade Paperback Fiction

1. Shack – William P. Young, Windblown, $14.99, 9780964729230

2. Out Stealing Horses – Per Petterson, Picador, $14, 9780312427085

3. Loving Frank – Nancy Horan, Ballatine, $14, 9780345495006

4. Run – Ann Patchett, Harper Perennial, $14.95, 9780061340642

5. Water for Elephants – Sara Gruen, Algonquin, $13.95, 9781565125605

6. In the Woods – Tana French, Penguin, $14, 9780143113492

7. Away – Amy Bloom, Random House, $14, 9780812977790

8. Road – Cormac McCarthy, Vintage, $14.95, 9780307387899

9. On Chesil Beach – Ian McEwan, Anchor, $13.95, 9780307386175

10. Yiddish Policemen’s Union – Michael Chabon, Harper Perennial, $15.95, 9780007149834

11. Friday Night Knitting Club – Kate Jacobs, Berkley, $14, 9780425219096

12. Alchemist – Paulo Coelho, HarperOne, $13.95, 9780061122415

13. Songs Without Words – Ann Packer, Vintage, $14.95, 9780375727177

14. Maytrees – Annie Dillard, Harper Perennial, $13.95, 9780061239540

15. Nineteen Minutes – Jodi Picoult, Washington Square, $15, 9780743496735

Children’s Interest

1. Book Thief – Markus Zusak, Knopf, $11.99, 9780375842207

2. Mysterious Benedict Society – Trenton Lee Stewart, Little Brown, $6.99, 9780316003957

3. Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Rodrick Rules – Jeff Kinney, Amulet, $12.95, 9780810994737

4. Tale of Despereaux – Kate DiCamillo, Candlewick, $7.99, 9780763625290

5. Star Wars: The Clone Wars – Tracey West, Grosset & Dunlap, $6.99, 9780448449920

6. Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian – Sherman Alexie, Little Brown, $16.99, 9780316013680

7. Just Listen – Sarah Dessen, Puffin, $8.99, 9780142410974

8. Invention of Hugo Cabret – Brian Selznick, Scholastic, $22.99, 9780439813785

9. Battle at Teth (Star Wars) – Kirsten Mayer, Grosset & Dunlap, $3.99, 9780448449937

10. New Padawan (Star Wars) – Eric Stevens, Grosset & Dunlap, $3.99, 9780448449944

11. Seekers: The Quest Begins – Erin Hunter, Harper, $16.99, 9780060871222

12. Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane – Kate DiCamillo, Candlewick, $9.99, 9780763639877

13. Daring Books for Girls – Andrea Buchanan & Miriam Peskowitz, Collins, $26.95, 9780061472572

14. Math Doesn’t Suck – Danica McKellar, Plume, $15, 9780452283499

15. Eldest – Christopher Paolini, Knopf, $12.99, 9780375840401

Children’s Illustrated

1. Gallop! – Rufus Butler Seder, Workman, $12.95, 9780761147633

2. Goodnight Moon – Margaret Wise Brown – Clement Hurd (Illus.), Harper, $8.99, 9780694003617

3. Where the Wild Things Are – Maurice Sendak, Harper, $17.95, 9780060254926

4. Fancy Nancy and the Boy From Paris – Jane O’Connor & Robin Preiss Glasser (Illus.), Harper, $3.99, 9780061236099

5. Fancy Nancy Bonjour, Butterfly – Jane O’Connor & Robin Preiss Glasser (Illus.), Harper, $16.99, 9780061235887

6. Fancy Nancy – Jane O’Connor & Robin Preiss Glasser (Illus.), Harper, $16.99, 9780060542092

7. Fancy Nancy’s Favorite Fancy Words – Jane O’Connor & Robin Preiss Glasser (Illus.), Harper, $12.99, 9780061549236

8. Good Night Gorilla – Peggy Rathmann, Putnam, $7.99, 9780399230035

10. Fancy Nancy at the Museum – Jane O’Connor, Robin Preiss Glasser (Illus.), Harper, $3.99, 9780061236075

9. Bats at the Library – Brian Lies, Houghton Mifflin, $16, 9780618999231

11. Very Hungry Caterpillar – Eric Carle, Putnam, $10.99, 9780399226908

12. Alphabet – Matthew Van Fleet, S&S, $19.99, 9781416955658

13. Pat the Bunny – Dorothy Kunhardt, Golden, $9.99, 9780307120007

14. Fancy Nancy Loves! Loves!! Loves!!! – Jane O’Connor & Robin Preiss Glasser (Illus.), Harper, $6.99, 9780061235993

15. Make Way for Ducklings – Robert McCloskey, Puffin, $7.99, 9780140564341

These are the comments of Randy Smith, proprietor of Destinations Booksellers in New Albany, Indiana.

Ohio River Bridges: Who’s the Fool?

We have a heavy schedule of programming in the next two weeks, starting with a special Sunday night show. The esteemed co-editor of NA Confidential, bluegill, aka Jeff Gillenwater, will join us as our special guest, to discuss the Ohio River Bridges project.

For the remaining schedule, please visit the show profile to see what’s on tap.

We’re lining up guest callers for Sunday night and we invite your questions. The show kicks off at 8 p.m.

www.blogtalkradio.com/Randy-Smith

Council in the Mirror

“When people are made to be self-aware, they are likelier to stop and think about what they are doing,” Dr. [Galen V.} Bodenhausen said. “A byproduct of that awareness may be a shift away from acting on autopilot toward more desirable ways of behaving.” as quoted in today’s New York Times.

That’s precisely what I hope to accomplish with our public affairs programming, including rebroadcasts of New Albany City Council meetings. In knowing that every person in the city (and beyond) can hear and interpret every word they say, every vote they cast, one would hope that “more desirable ways of behaving” will ensue. Stay tuned.

www.blogtalkradio.com/Randy-Smith

Resources and Results in the NA-FC Schools

At 6 p.m. we’ll be discussing the state of our public schools system. Demographers say that the population of school-age children is shifting. Is that true? The NA-FC Consolidated School Corp. says they aren’t prepared to deal with that unless they make dramatic changes, possibly closing one or more primary schools. We’ll discuss the situation with our callers and welcome back the stakeholders from Friends of Silver Street Elementary (FOSSE).

www.blogtalkradio.com/Randy-Smith

Commentary: A Diversion and a Digression

I don’t intend for this to be either a partisan blog nor an “attack” blog. At root, it is a billboard for the radio show. In the past, I have been boisterous and opinionated and have often, by my vitriol, caused even friends to recoil. You can search around to find my mothballed blog to verify that for yourself.

Nowadays, I take keyboard in hand to comment on the blog postings of others with discretion, contributing to other blogs only when I feel it is truly needed.

That does not mean that I have retired from the field, though. On occasion, though, something demonstrably egregious arises, and this blog will not erect any fences prohibiting frank commentary. New Albany Now is and will continue to be a bright light shining on the issues in this city. That is our purpose. That does not mean i will arbitrarily muzzle myself when an injustice is done.

I posted an historic broadcast last evening. For the first time in many, many months, the deliberations and debate of the New Albany City Council were made available to the public. And for the first time ever, that record is continously and forever available ON-DEMAND. If you need to refer to it, it will always be there.

With that in mind, I’d like to point out that Thursday night’s meeting was (as usual) degraded and tarnished by yet another vicious, venal, and veracity-challenged circus of horrors, orchestrated awkwardly by Dan Coffey, the embarrassment of a human being who reigns over the seat intended to represent the interests of constituents in the 1st District of New Albany on the City Council.

I imagine that Coffey once found himself bed-ridden and without batteries and thereby forced to watch a one-hour documentary on Wisconsin senator Joseph McCarthy. Apparently, he saw that as a “good thing,” and decided that would be his model.

Late in Thursday’s meeting (segment 6 – slide the show slider to the last 20 or so minutes), Mr. Coffey put on an abysmal dramatic performance. Co-star Diane McCartin Benedetti (D?-D5)played foil to Coffey in a feeble attempt to slime at-large council member John Gonder.

Simulating a great concern for “comity” and decorum, Mr. Coffey practically soiled himself while presenting a sham concern for an individual who was “concerned” about a “fax” that had been circulated declaring the “news” that Mr. Gonder had been one of the original people who believed that New Albany shouldn’t be unique in the state of Indiana, unique in the roster of municipalities across this great land of ours, and that its legislative (city council) districts should be drawn to offer equal representation as guaranteed under The Constitution of the United States.

It was “brought to” his “attention” by this “fax” that Mr. Gonder was once a plaintiff seeking the deserved assistance of the U.S. Federal District Court to enforce the law.

Please show me ONE person who believes that a “fax” caused Mr. Coffey and Ms. McCartin Benedetti to become aware of Mr. Gonder’s past status as an advocate for the law and The Constitution.

Over the previous 10, or 110 days, Coffey had plotted his ambush, his blatant attempt to smear Mr. Gonder with fecal matter and to attempt to intimidate him from casting a considered vote on whether the city should continue to be a rogue city or whether this city, New Albany on the Ohio, should conform to the requirements of the 14th Amendment.

During a serious, substantive portion of the council meeting, Coffey and city council attorney Jerry Ulrich conducted their own meeting, and Mr. Ulrich, knowing that Coffey stand fully prepared to lever him back into fully private practice, signed on to the smear attempt.

Ulrich, Coffey, and McCartin Benedetti struggled to appear sincere in their faux concern that, somehow, having stood up for the law, Mr. Gonder was thus unqualified to vote on G-08-05, the ordinance to, at long last, draw lawful districts for the first time since at least 1992. Ulrich went over the line in his attack by saying to Mr. Gonder that if his “conscience” were clear, he couldn’t see why Mr. Gonder should recuse himself from voting.

I, for one, looked around to see if Karl Rove had entered the room, for this was a classic Swift-boat attack. That Gonder stood up for the law before he was elected and continues to stand up for the law now that he is in office became, with the full complicity of a majority of the City Council, a declared black mark on Gonder’s reputation.

Without any fear of being disputed, I’ll tell you that Coffey manufactured, fomented, and stoked a fake popular uprising, including a disingenuous “fax,” to smear his colleague.

As would be expected by anyone who knows John Gonder, the enormously popular at-large council member handled the kneecapping with inordinate grace, willingly identifying himself as the member who Mr. Coffey pretended to be so concerned for, for whom Mr. Coffey shed crocodile tears over the fact that he simply had to step forward and pour a bucket of excrement on.

What has New Albany come to that an entire council (well, a majority of the council) would be complicit in trying to eviscerate a man who stands up for following the law?

What is, indubitably, a virtue, was treated as something to be ashamed of by the city council and its attorney. They, individually, and as a body, owe Mr. Gonder an abject apology.

I urge you, if you are reading this, to demand it. Write to your newspapers, call your council members, and tell all your neighbors about the atrocity that was committed at Thursday’s meeting.

John Gonder is a ray of sunshine on this council. We couldn’t do better to have eight more of him serving this city. Don’t let this political crime go unpunished.

Coffey, who like a majority of his colleagues believes he “owns” his district, needs to realize that constituents pick their representatives, and not the other way around. Mr. Gonder, who received more votes in the last election than all but one other candidate, has more credibility in a single eyelash than the combined integrity of Gahan/Coffey/McLaughlin/Price/McCartinBenedetti.

www.blogtalkradio.com/Randy-Smith

Historic Broadcast of New Albany City Council

The link below contains all of the substantive session of the New Albany City Council meeting for July 17, 2008. It is my intention to make these meetings available as downloadable mp3 podcasts for the forseeable future, subject to obtaining appropriate commercial sponsorship to underwrite the costs.

If you listen to the show and find it useful, but unsatisfactory auditorily, please join us in urging the city to cooperate in making these broadcasts available at higher broadcast quality.

http://www.blogtalkradio.com/randy-smith/2008/07/20/new-albany-city-council-recorded-71708

www.blogtalkradio.com/Randy-Smith

Thursday Show Rescheduled for Friday Night

The segment of New Albany Now scheduled for this evening has been postponed. Server problems at blogtalkradio prevented us from airing the show, but we’ll be back on Friday night with commentary on Thursday night’s meeting of the New Albany City Council.

Our apologies to listeners and callers. Please e-mail us at newalbanynow@gmail.com with your contributions and plan to join us for a 90-minute segment beginning at 11 p.m. on Friday.

For our scheduled guests, we invite you to join us then, too.

I’ll do some limited blog commentary during the morning, but we’ll try to supplement the coverage from the other media with everyone having 12-24 hours to cogitate on matters.

I will leave you with this. The City Council voted to reject the redistricting plan handed up by the special committee on legislative districts. But there was plenty more news from tonight’s session, and we’ll cover it all Friday night.

Thanks for your patience.

www.blogtalkradio.com/Randy-Smith

Council preview now, recap at 11 p.m.

Wednesday’s discussion of the ongoing refusal of New Albany’s City Council should be a good preview of Thursday’s meeting. After the meeting, we’ll go live at 11 p.m. to report the events of the evening and take your calls and comments.

Did you know you can rate the show? Look low on the player page. There you can chat with other listeners or just leave a comment. And you can always e-mail us at newalbanynow @ gmail.com.

And you can call free from your computer by clicking to talk. You do need to spend about 60 seconds registering and you really ought to have a headphone/mic if you want to participate as a caller, so as to avoid a feedback loop. Or just call (347) 539-5928 to listen and/or participate.

And you can listen to any of our past shows by subscribing directly or through iTunes(get your own .mp3 of the show), or just clicking “Play” in our archives on the main page. That’s where you’ll see our entire schedule of upcoming and past shows.

www.blogtalkradio.com/Randy-Smith

Clarity of Thought

I’m partial to shadow5’s “Twelve Questions,” but there’s more to be said, and we’ll say it today at 2 p.m. We’re calling the show The Truth About Equal Representation, and we welcome callers with opposing viewpoints…although who in their right mind would be opposed to equal representation in this day and age?

Discredited and outmoded ideas from the 1950s are no substitute for established law and it’s an embarrassment that the blatant contempt for the law shown by New Albany’s powers has gone on for as long as it has.

It has to be nothing more than inattention, the congenital forgetfulness of Indianapolis that “Southern Indiana” doesn’t begin and end at the Columbus exit on I-65. Steve Carter is seemingly unaware of the failure of New Albany to redraw districts after the 2000 Census. Mitch Daniels is seemingly unaware, too, despite the fact that his wife hails from good ol’ N.A. And they’re Republicans. What incentive do they have to protect a corrupt Democratic regime?

Did you know that Indiana has one of the highest standards for equal representation for city legislative districts? That’s right. The U.S. Supreme Court gives some leeway to the states – “as equal as practicable” and “substantially equal.” But Hoosier lawmakers imposed a much higher standard – “as equal as possible,” a standard applied nationwide to Congressional districts.

Connie Sipes, New Albany’s senator, and Bill Cochran, New Albany’s state representative, know the situation, but they seem to be participating in the coverup instead of stepping up and demanding that New Albany follow the law.

There seems to be a meme, on the Internet and elsewhere, that the idea of equal representation is some kind of “furrin’” idea. I likened the redistricting conversation hereabouts to another likely one between Bert and Gertie.

“Cain’t believe they let that guy off. Whoever heard of needing probable cause, a search warrant, Miranda rights, and due process. They wuz guilty. ‘Nuff sed.”

Ayuuhh. That kind of stuff did go on, and still goes on, and cave-dwellers still say such things. They use words like “uppity” and “outsider” and appeal to “the way we’ve always done things.”

Fortunately, we live in a nation of laws and not a city of lies.

Perhaps the most disappointing aspect of my time observing city government has been watching Jeff Gahan deteriorate before my eyes from a voice of reason to a champion of corruption. It is entirely fair to say that Jeff Gahan represents complete unaccountability to the law. And his ignorance and animus is so far gone that it’s clear he is the definitive exhibition of a politician who believes his position grants him immunity from being responsible. I’ve said it before: there are only two choices – he’s either totally corrupt or totally ignorant.

Pick ‘em.

www.blogtalkradio.com/Randy-Smith

On the Schedule This Week

As of Saturday morning, we have a light schedule of programming for the coming week. Again, the schedule is heavy with public affairs programming, but with no pre-arranged guests.

Wednesday’s show is an afternoon segment at 3 p.m. We invite people who have questions about the imminent redrawing of city council district boundaries to call in. Apparently, a great number of people don’t understand why this has become an issue and don’t know what some citizens are demanding be done. We will discuss it, and if anyone wishes to debate it or discuss “concerns” and other aspects of the situation, we’ll be happy to talk about the law or the politics. Fair warning: our view is that the council must redraw the boundaries and they must redraw them lawfully and promptly

Thursday should be more relaxed and without a predesigned format. At this moment, the agenda hasn’t been published, although it will have been made available to the council in hardcopy. Rumor has it that the ineffective ordinance that endured a first reading on 7/7 will not be placed on the agenda for additional readings. That remains to be seen.

We’ll concentrate on the debate, the actions, and the inactions of the council that night, with the added bonus of attention to the contributions from non-elected petitioners.

www.blogtalkradio.com/Randy-Smith