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 For those of you wondering what's good coming from beyond the borders, the Three Percent blog has supplied their list of the best translations of 2007. Naturally, the list is heavy with Spanish titles, and not surprisingly Robert Belano's THE SAVAGE DETECTIVES (Farrar, Straus, Giroux) translated by Natasha Wimmer makes the list. But other Spanish titles such as Enrique Vila-Matas' MONTANO'S MALADY (New Directions Publishing Corporation) translated by Jonathan Dunne are refreshing additions. Michael Kern Johnson at Words Without Borders says of MONTANO'S MALADY:
...José and his son suffer from a form of “literature-sickness;” in the case of Montano, the malady is writer’s block. For José it's an inability to think of the world in any terms other than literary...our hero, or a version of him, sets out on a quixotic search for meaning in a world with or without literature... MONTANO'S MALADY is a touching and perhaps hopeful inquiry into what it means to be a reader, or writer, in an increasingly unliterary world.
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 It's about that time of the year again when major magazines and newspapers come out with their best books of the year lists. While some of these lists do include some surprising and interesting choices, we thought over the course of the next few weeks we'd bring to you some best books of '07 lists that have a more multicultural slant. Which is how we found the first of these lists - that of the syndicated book and film critic Kam Williams.
Williams prefaces his 10 Best Books by African-Americans list by saying, Looking back on the best books I read this past year by African Americans, the only thing they seem to have in common is their daring in terms of a willingness to tackle material from an unorthodox point of view. This refreshing inclination reflects the fact that Black thinking has become less and less a predictable, monolithic mindset and is increasingly represented by a variety of novel perspectives.
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 I got the opportunity to talk with several buyers at major chains and independent stores about trends in African American publishing for a Publishers Weekly feature. I'm sure you can imagine that it was definitely insightful and eye-opening. But while I also find it a little discouraging at times as an author, I also found it somewhat hopeful. Or is that just me being optimistic? Writers, authors, I want to hear what you think!
Oh and PW compiled a nice list of new and upcoming books of African American interest. Check it out here.
Buyers Aware: Inside the Black Book Market
by Felicia Pride - Publishers Weekly, 12/10/2007 In conversations with buyers for the African-American category from major chains, independent bookstores and online retailers, there was some consensus (urban fiction keeps selling), at least one new trend (the growth of YA fiction for boys) and a few surprises (flat overall '07 sales at B&N) as well as a strong sense among them all that African-American publishing continues to be a dynamic segment in the industry.
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 The world rights to debut author V.T. Simon Bond's YA trilogy - the first project ever endorsed by the Zora Neal Hurston Trust - was preempted by Mary Lee Donovan at Candlewick.
Set in turn-of-the-century Eatonville, Florida, Hurston's physical birthplace as well as the home of her imagination, the trilogy conjures Hurston's early years from the perspective of best friend and partner-in-crime Carrie. The first book, titled ZORA AND ME: THE SONG OF IVORY (scheduled for release fall 2009), finds Zora and Carrie trying to grow up and hold onto their innocence at the same time as the integrity of their Edenic hometown (one of the few virtually autonomous all-Black American towns at the turn of the century) is threatened when the corpse of a young man is discovered at the railroad.
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 By Felicia Pride
Pulitzer Prize-winning author Edward P. Jones lives a simple life. He rides the bus even though he can afford a car. He doesn't venture out of his Washington apartment much to find his subjectmatter.
Instead, his books come from an immense imagination, life experiences and observations.
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