11/03/2024
Indie Bookstore-Focused Compass Rose Publishing Announces First Three Titles
Compass Rose Publishing, launched in August by a group led by author and former Congressman Robert Mrazek; author, former Congressman, and bookstore owner Steve Israel; and former American Booksellers Association CEO Oren Teicher, has announced its first three titles: The Harvard Murders by Bob Mrazek, which will be published February 4, 2025; The Roast Penguin Chronicles: Hoosh, Scurvy Days, Sleeping with Vegetables, and Other Adventures in Antarctic Cuisine by Jason C. Anthony in March; and Where the Valley Widens: A Teacher's Journey Through the Ages by Lindsey Williams, in April.
Compass Rose describes The Harvard Murders, by one of the company's founders, this way: "Award-winning author Robert J. Mrazek takes us from Harvard Yard to the brothels of South Boston and to the Kennedy mansions in Hyannis Port and Palm Beach in this vivid re-creation of an American landscape on the brink of war.
"It's the fall of 1937, and real-life Harvard roommates Jimmy Rousmaniere and Jack Kennedy have returned to Cambridge for their sophomore year. At 19, Jimmy is a superb athlete who lives for competition and is still innocent in the ways of the world. At 20, JFK is charismatic, funny, intellectually curious, and already a natural leader. Having had the last rites read over him twice in his childhood, he now lives for the moment.
"As the college year unfolds, and a national specter of war looms in the background, an act of hideous cruelty followed by the disappearance of a beautiful young Irish immigrant sets in motion a terrifying nightmare as Jimmy and Jack are forced to confront a predator who might live in their midst."
Compass Rose calls The Roast Penguin Chronicles "a savory, eclectic stew, unlike anything ever written about Antarctica. With echoes of Anthony Bourdain and characters painted with a Monty Pythonesque brush, it explores the author's adventures over the eight seasons living and working there. Part adventure tale, part cookbook, and part engrossing history of doomed expeditions and food-fueled endurance, it is strikingly original and vividly entertaining."
And Where the Valley Widens is about "the life affirming and uplifting journey of an idealistic young music teacher whose heart, passion and persistence endures the challenges of nurturing students from elementary school to high school graduation. Navigating obstacles from the everyday to a catastrophic flood that tests the character and resolve of an entire community, she discovers a joy and hope that transcends teaching. Written with the wholesome flavor of James Herriott's All Creatures Great and Small."
Oren Teicher called The Harvard Murders "interesting, intriguing, and I think that like the other two titles on the list, it will appeal to an indie bookstore audience."
Already 160 indie bookstores have signed on to Compass Rose's unusual Bookstore Staff Appreciation Rewards Program, under which an indie that signs up and makes an effort to sell Compass Rose books gets a stipend that each store can give to an employee of its choice in recognition of their contributions to the success of the store. The first stipend of $50 for each bookstore will go out in January, and the second six months later.
