Which of these statements is true? 1. Memoirs are popular. 2. New memoirs are popular. I suspect the latter. As I weeded my library’s biography section last summer, I found many memoirs and other autobiographical writings in nearly pristine condition; most of them had not been borrowed since the year of their publication. Sadly, I also found highly regarded memoirs that had not moved in years. These books had been selected initially to meet current demand, and some had, like the Mars rovers Spirit and Opportunity, performed beyond expectations, but our readers had lost interest in or awareness of all of them. For a small library needing room for new, in-demand memoirs, it was time to part with the old.

Near the end of each year, I have the pleasure of meeting with lots of university press reps so they can show me their Spring catalogs for the next year, indicating their forthcoming lead trade titles as well as some mid-list treats they feel sure LJ’s readers will find compelling. There’s a lot of exciting stuff coming in Spring 2013 from these publishers. Here are pairs and threesomes that seemed to form themselves from the academic Spring 2013 catalogs that came to me via press appointments.