Lost In Translation: The Spanish-language Puzzle

Other highlights included new nonfiction from Jon Krakauer, Malcolm Gladwell, Tracy Kidder and Barack Obama's campaign manager David Plouffe. Novels were expected from Patricia Cornwell, E.L. Doctorow and Jane Smiley, with a posthumous work from Michael Crichton.

Barnes & Noble Inc. fiction buyer Sessalee Hensley had special affection for Audrey Niffenegger's "Her Fearful Symmetry," the follow-up to the million-selling "The Time Traveler's Wife." She also liked Barbara Kingsolver's latest, "The Lacuna," which Hensley read on a recently purchased Sony e-book reader.

Hensley, who said that both she and her husband own electronic book readers, admitted she liked the device for its travel convenience but pointed out its inferior qualities to a book.

"The problem is, I like to flip back and forth in a book, but that's hard to do with the Sony," she said. "Another thing I like about a book is that you can bang it up — and you can't bang up a Sony reader."