Book Sales Increase at Year’s End

Book sales tracked by the Association of American Publishers (AAP) for the month of December saw a slight decrease of 1.8 percent for the month; however yearly sales were up with an increase of 7.4 percent.

The Adult Hardcover category was down by 19.5 percent in December with sales of $128.1 million; year-to-date sales were up by 7.8 percent. Adult Paperback sales rose 10.1 percent for the month ($116.1 million); sales were up by 0.2 percent for the year. The Adult Mass Market category rose by 46.8 percent for December with sales totaling $81.2 million; sales were down by 2.0 percent year-to-date. The Children’s/YA Hardcover category saw an increase of 16.7 percent for the month with sales of $52.6 million; sales year-to-date were also up by 46.4 percent. The Children’s/YA Paperback category was up by 10.0 percent in December with sales totaling $39.6 million; sales were up by 6.5 percent for the year.

Audio Book sales posted a decrease of 13.1 percent for December compared to last year’s figures, with sales totaling $11.9 million; sales for the whole year were up by 19.8 percent. E-books sales rose by 2.4 percent for the month ($3.0 million); the category also posted an increase of 23.6 percent for the year. Religious Books saw a decrease of 7.5 percent for the month with sales of $45.8 million; sales were up by 5.2 percent for the year.

Source: American Association of Publishers

2007 was Tenth Warmest for U.S., Fifth Warmest Worldwide

The average temperature for the contiguous U.S. in 2007 is officially the tenth warmest on record, according to data from scientists at NOAA’s National Climatic Data Center in Asheville, N.C. The agency also determined the global surface temperature last year was the fifth warmest on record.

Source: NOAA

Globility Global Traveler
The Best in Travel

This year’s survey of Global Traveler readers was conducted from Feb. 1 to Aug. 31, 2007. The open-ended questionnaires appeared in subscriber copies of the magazine and online at www.globaltravelerusa.com/survey, and were also distributed by direct mail and email to GT readers. Counting only those questionnaires in which more than 50 percent of the questions were answered, we received a record 15,828 individual questionnaires. The tabulated results of those questionnaires determined the rankings in each category.

Categories include:
+ Best Aircraft Type
+ Best Frequent Flyer Program
+ Best International Hotel Chain
+ Best Hotel Chain in Asia
+ Best Domestic Business City
+ Best International Golf Resort
+ Best Transatlantic Airline
+ Best Airline in North America
+ Best Airline for Business Class
and MANY more categories.

Source: Global Traveler
+

Source: GT

Lists and Rankings: Hoover’s IPO Scorecard Reveals Only Slight Growth in 2007
From the news release and summary:
Two hundred and nine companies went public on the major U.S. stock exchanges in 2007, a 2% increase in the number of IPOs over 2006, as reported today by Hoover’s IPO Scorecard (www.hoovers.com/ipo/scorecard). The 209 IPOs offered on the NYSE, NASDAQ and AMEX in 2006 raised $48.6 billion, compared to 205 IPOs in 2006, which raised $41.1 billion.

+ Direct to Scorecard

Source: Hoover’s

Fast Facts: 2007 Year in Review from Infoplease

We’ve posted a number of year end lists and rankings on ResourceShelf. You can find them listed here.

Source: Infoplease.com

+ World: Significant Climate Anomalies and Events in 2007
1 page; PDF; Color.
Source: NOAA

Lake Superior State University 2008 List of Banished Words

The wordsmiths at Lake Superior State University are giving back to English speakers everywhere with their 33rd annual List of Words Banished from the Queen’s English for Misuse, Overuse and General Uselessness.

On Dec. 31, 1975, former LSSU Public Relations Director Bill Rabe and his colleagues cooked up an idea to banish overused words and phrases and issue a list on New Year’s Day. Much to the delight of language enthusiasts everywhere, the list has stayed the course into a fourth decade.

This year’s list derives from more than 2,000 nominations received through the university’s website, www.lssu.edu/banished. Word-watchers target pet peeves from everyday speech, as well as from the news, education, technology, advertising, politics, sports and more. A committee makes a final cut in late December. The list is released on New Year’s Day.

Current list:

• Perfect storm
• Webinar
• Waterboarding
• Organic
• Wordsmith/Wordsmithing
• Author/Authored
• Post 9/11
• Surge
• Give Back
• ‘BLANK’ is the new ‘BLANK’ or ‘X’ is the new ‘Y’
• Black Friday
• Back in the day
• Random
• Sweet
• Decimate
• Emotional
• Pop
• It is what it is
• Under the bus

Source: Lake Superior State University

Top Ten Ethics Scandals of 2007

There is no ranking of these egregious activities, rather the following list outlines CREW’s new annual study on the past year’s on-going scandals:

• No new enforcement mechanisms for congressional ethics;
• Ted Stevens still sitting on Senate Appropriations;
• Senate Ethics Committee looking into Sen. Craig, but not Sen. Vitter;
• Millions of missing White House emails still unaccounted for;
• Rep. Murtha’s abuse of the earmarking process remains unchecked;
• Lurita Doan remains chief of GSA despite illegal conduct;
• White House covering up its role in the firings of the U.S. Attorneys;
• No Child Left Behind funds directed to Bush fundraisers who provide inadequate reading materials for kids;
• Court decision regarding search of Jefferson’s office limits ability of DOJ to investigate other corrupt lawmakers; and
• FEMA knowingly let Katrina victims live in hazardous trailers

Source: Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW)

FBI’s Year in Review: Top News Stories of 2007
From e-mail:

Read our top 52 weekly stories of the year, chronicling the major cases and events of 2007, including the Minneapolis bridge collapse and the Fort Dix terrorism plot.

Source: Federal Bureau of Investigation

Lists & Rankings: Top Celebrity Paydays, 2007

Slide Show Tour

Source: Forbes

Statistics: NOAA: 2007 a Top Ten Warm Year for U.S. and Globe
Fast Facts and Maps.

he year 2007 is on pace to become one of the 10 warmest years for the contiguous U.S., since national records began in 1895, according to preliminary data from NOAA’s National Climatic Data Center in Asheville, N.C. The year was marked by exceptional drought in the U.S. Southeast and the West, which helped fuel another extremely active wildfire season. The year also brought outbreaks of cold air, and killer heat waves and floods. Meanwhile, the global surface temperature for 2007 is expected to be fifth warmest since records began in 1880. Preliminary data will be updated in early January to reflect the final three weeks of December and is not considered final until a full analysis is complete next spring.

Source: NOAA

The Top 10 New Organisms of 2007

Genetic engineering isn’t just for scientists in ivory towers or corporate R&D labs anymore. Researchers are still creating new mice and crops every week, but the tools and knowledge necessary to create organisms never before seen on Earth have pushed out to pet breeders, artists and college kids.

A Wired News first, here we count down the top 10 organisms that didn’t exist on Dec. 31, 2006.

Source: Wired News

Lists: UK: Top Baby Names 2007
Complete News Release (4 pages; PDF)

From the report:

Boys
Once again, there is no change at the top, with Jack the number one boys’ name. Thomas also retains his second place slot with 5803 boys sharing the name in 2007. The only movement in the top five is the exchange of places between Joshua and Oliver to third and fourth respectively, with Harry remaining fifth.

Girls
Grace, who only joined the top five last year, is now the most popular name for girls. Ruby has also increased in popularity and, with 4355 girls sharing the name, is the second choice for girls in 2007. Last year’s most popular girls’ name, Olivia, is third. Emily has risen one place to fourth and Jessica has fallen two places to fifth.

Source: National Statistics Office

Lists: Top 25 Science Stories of 2007

See Also: Scientific American Expert Directory

Source: Scientific American

The Police Lock Top 2007 Tours Spot

Concert tours by The Police, Kenny Chesney, Justin Timberlake, Celine Dion and Van Halen lead the list of the 20 top-grossing tours in North America in 2007, according to Pollstar’s official year-end data.
The long-awaited reunion of Sting, Andy Summers and Stewart Copeland earned the trio $131.9 million over 54 shows with an average ticket price of $114.32.

Source: Pollstar