Sorry, folks, but the rumor has been confirmed. Tom Cruise will play Jack Reacher in the film, One Shot, based on Lee Child’s novel, according to Deadline.

Shooting will begin this fall.

As dozens of you have pointed out, the role will be a stretch for Cruise; Reacher is described in the novels as 6’5″ and 250 pounds. Child himself has endorsed Cruise, however, saying, “Reacher’s size in the books is a metaphor for an unstoppable force, which Cruise portrays in his own way.”

One Shot is the ninth novel in the  Reacher series. Coming this fall is #17, The Affair, (Delacorte, 9/27).

Even if you’ve read Sex on the Moon (Doubleday, 7/12), you still don’t know what motivated aspiring astronaut Thad Roberts to throw everything he achieved away on a crazy scheme to steal and sell moon rocks, a scheme that landed him in jail for six years.

Unfortunately, Mo Rocca’s interview with him on CBS Sunday Morning doesn’t add much insight. Also interviewed is the book’s author, Ben Mezrich, who admits that he still doesn’t understand it either and that Roberts is “the most complicated person I’ve ever written about and…I’ve written about Mark Zuckerberg [in Accidental Billionaires, the basis for the movie The Social Network].

Next week brings various views of the post-9/11 world, including a book that examines ten years worth of evidence about the attacks (The Eleventh Day) and another that looks at upheavals in the Middle East after bin Laden’s death (Rock the Casbah). In fiction, publishers continue to fill the beach reading pipeline.

Watch List

Pigeon English by Stephen Kelman (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt) follows 11-year-old Harri Opuku, a recent Ghanaian immigrant in London’s housing projects, as he investigates the apparent murder of one of his classmates. LJ says, “If your patrons liked Roddy Doyle’s Paddy Clarke Ha Ha Ha and if they rooted for Jamal Malik in Slumdog Millionaire, they will love Harri Opuku.”

Rising Star

Killed at the Whim of a Hat by Colin Cotterill (Minotaur Books) launches a new mystery series featuring one of Thailand’s hottest crime reporters, who’s roped into running a down-at-the-heels resort purchased by her possibly senile mother and stumbles into murder. It has THREE starred reviews, from LJ, PW and Booklist, which says “Cotterill combines plenty of humor with fascinating and unusual characters, a solid mystery, and the relatively unfamiliar setting of southern Thailand to launch what may be the best new international mystery series since the No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency.” Librarians on GalleyChat agree that it’s a fun read.

Usual Suspects

Burnt Mountain by Anne Rivers Siddons (Grand Central) explores a disintegrating marriage and familial betrayal in rural North Carolina. Kirkus says, “Siddons is at her usual incisive best at skewering the mores of socially pretentious Southerners, and her prose is limpid and mesmerizing, but the Grand Guignol denouement beggars belief.”

Happy Birthday by Danielle Steel (Delacorte) follows a mother-daughter duo—one a Martha Stewart-style lifestyle guru, the other a shy, gifted chef—both facing turning points, and each about to find love when she least expects it.

Justice by Karen Robards (Gallery Press) is the latest adventure featuring criminal attorney Jessica Ford, as she defends the victim of a rape case involving a sentor’s son.

Split Second by Catherine Coulter (Putnam) continues the FBI Thriller series with agents Dillon Savich and Lacey Sherlock, this time locking horns with a serial killer who has ties to Ted Bundy. Booklist says, “Told from several points of view, including the serial killer’s, the novel moves quickly, thanks to short chapters and numerous plot twists. One plot element, the appearance of a magic ring, requires significant suspension of disbelief and proves jarring in this otherwise realistic and, in the main, riveting story.”

Portrait of a Spy by Daniel Silva (Harper) is an espionage thriller whose protagonist is both an art enthusiast and secret agent.

Robert Ludlum’s The Bourne Dominian by Eric Van Lustbader (Grand Central Publishing) continues Robert Ludlum’s story of Jason Bourne, a rogue secret agent who has lost his memory. Publishers Weekly says, “it’s a testament to Lustbader’s skills that he can keep everyone in place and blazing away without losing track of the ongoing plot. While one needn’t have read the earlier volumes, knowledge of the last two or three would help keep things straight.” This is the fourth in the Bourne series written by Lustbader. Of course, Ludlum’s Bourne titles have been made into successful movies, starring Matt Damon. The first of the series to be written by Lustbader, The Bourne Legacy, is currently in pre-production as a movie, but this time without Damon. The planned release date is Aug. 3, 2012.

Star Wars: Choices of One by Timothy Zahn (LucasBooks) is a new adventure for Luke Skywalker and friends set during the original trilogy.

Nonfiction

The Triple Agent: The al-Qaeda Mole who Infiltrated the CIA by Joby Warrick (Doubleday) is a Pulitzer Prize–winning Washington Post intelligence reporter’s investigation of the intelligence failures that allowed a suicide bomber to kill seven CIA agents in Afghanistan. LJ says, “Warrick’s straight journalistic report, without editorializing, is highly recommended both to those who follow the U.S. war on terror and to all readers of spy and espionage thrillers.”

The Eleventh Day: The Full Story of 9/11 and Osama bin Laden by Anthony Summers and Robbyn Swan (Ballantine) uses a decade of new information to analyze the 9/11 attacks.

Rock the Casbah: Rage and Rebellion Across the Islamic World by Robin Wright (Simon & Schuster) is look at the upheaval in the Middle East following Osama bin Laden’s death and the recent uprisings that delivers the stirring news that jihadism is fading, and Arab nations are finally entering the modern world. Kirkus ays that it is “more journalism than deep analysis, [and] paints a vivid portrait of dramatic changes in the Islamic world.”

Swing Your Sword: Leading the Charge in Football and Life by Mike Leach (Diversion) is a look at the unorthodox career path and coaching techniques that helped Leach take the Texas Tech Red Raiders to numerous bowl games, achieving the #2 slot in national rankings and being voted 2008 Coach of the Year before being unceremoniously fired at the end of the 2009 season.

The title of Brian Selznick’s book, The Invention of Hugo Cabret has been reduced to simply Hugo for the Martin Scorsese adaptation (that’s right, the director of Taxi Driver, Goodfellas and Gangs of New York, goes family-friendly and 3-D this time).

It arrives in theaters this Thanksgiving. The first trailer has just appeared on the Web (watch the HD version here).

This Fall, Scholastic will publish The Hugo Movie Companion (Oct), and the Hugo Cabret Notebook (Nov), a facsimile of the notebook that Cabret uses in the movie. Both are by Brian Selznick.

Libraries reported unexpectedly heavy holds on several titles during this week’s GalleyChat. The following list is in order by the largest holds ratios in the libraries we checked.

Once Upon a River, Bonnie Jo Campbell, Norton, 7/5; Holds over 10:1

The author’s collection of short stories, American Salvage, was a surprise finalist for the 2009 National Book Award. After the NBA put the book on the map, it appeared on most of the end-of-the year best books lists. With one exception, the consumer reviews for Campbell’s new book have been very strong, with Ron Charles in the Washington Post describing the book’s appeal most clearly. Curiously, neither the daily NYT nor the Sunday NYT Book Review have covered it.

Sister, Rosamund Lupton, Crown, 6/7; Holds 8:1 where buying is light

A debut novel that the NYT BR describes as a “taut, hold-your-breath-and-your-handkerchief thriller,” which was a big success in the UK last year.

 
The Watery Part of the World, Michael Parker, Algonquin, 4/26; Holds 8:1 where buying is light

Prepub reviews for this historical novel set on the Outer Banks of North Carolina were very strong, with Kirkus giving it a star (“A vividly imagined historical tale”). Nancy Pearl calls it “transporting” and included it in her “10 Terrific Summer Reads” on NPR’s Morning Edition.

Iron House, John Hart, St. Martins, 7/12; Holds 3:1
Audio, Macmillan audio; Large print, Thorndike

Three to one holds may not be impressive, but this is likely to be just the start for two-time Edgar winner John Hart. This is his fourth book since 2006, giving him name recognition and a growing fan base. More attention will arrive soon; it is the #1 title on the August Indie Next List. Hart  writes mysteries that are both plot- and character-driven, as he describes in the following interview:

They must be high-fiving over at Knopf. Their big front-list title of the summer, The Last Werewolf, by Glen Duncan (Knopf, 7/12) gets the love from the Washington Post‘s Ron Charles, in a review studded with praise, for the language, chacterizations, plot and even the “hot werewolf sex scenes (which will tempt readers “to wander out under the full moon [themselves] next month.”)

Duncan was interviewed yesterday on Minnesota Public Radio. Interviewer Kerri Miller admits that she was wary of a book featuring a werewolf, but ended up loving it so much that she keeps pressing it on others. She was tipped off by Justin Cronin (author of The Passage), who says he is reviewing it for a “major daily.”

Unsurprisingly, given the enthusiastic coverage on Minnesota Public Radio, holds are building fast in Minnesota libraries. Libraries in other parts of the country are showing modest holds on light ordering (single copies for the larger branches). Time to order more; this kind of enthusiasm indicates word of mouth should be taking off soon.

Available in audio from RHAudio and as downloadable audiobook and eBook from OverDrive.

In yesterday’s post about the upcoming Sherlock Holmes movie, we said that Noomi Rapace, who will stars as Lisbeth Salander in the English-language version of The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, also appears in Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows. A comment pointed out that Rooney Mara is actually in the English-language version. Thinking we had the wrong actress, we made a correction.

Turns out we had the right girl, but the wrong movie. Rapace, starred in the Danish -Swedish language adaptations of Stieg Larsson’s Millennium trilogy, and is also in Sherlock Holmes movie.

We’ve also learned that Penguin will release an anthology of Sherlock Holmes stories in September that includes The Final Problem, which Holmes 2 is loosely based on. A burst on the cover reads, “Inspiration for the Major Motion Picture.”

The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes Arthur Conan Conan Doyle Retail Price: $14.00 Paperback: 272 pages Publisher: Penguin (Non-Classics) – (2011-09-27) ISBN / EAN: 0143120158 / 9780143120155

NYT reviewer Janet Maslin is not amused by Ben Mezrich’s new book Sex On the Moon (Doubleday, 7/12; Large Type, Thorndike; Audio, RH Audio), calling the author a “…baloney artist whose highly speculative, Peeping Tom version of the Facebook story (The Accidental Billionaires) became, through no apparent fault of Mr. Mezrich’s, the basis for a brilliant, razor-edged movie (The Social Network).” Throughout the rest of the review, Maslin is unequivocal in her dislike of both the author and his dozen books.

In The Miami Herald, reviewer Larry Lebowitz notes that other critics have raised serious questions about the Mezrich’s approach, saying he takes “…too many dramatic liberties, blending factual events and creating composite characters for the convenience of narrative flow and storytelling simplicity. Mezrich hasn’t helped his own cause, arguing in some interviews that he’s an entertainer creating a new genre of fact-based popular nonfiction.”

But, says Lebowitz, “If you’re willing to cast aside such questions and simply want to enjoy a rollicking summertime page-turner crackling with sex, astronauts, stolen dinosaur bones and international cyber-intrigue, then Sex on the Moon is your book.”

It is also one of five titles recommended as “Summer’s Biggest, Juiciest Nonfiction Adventures” on the NPR Web site.

What will Harry Potter fans do now that, as the posters for the movie starkly proclaim, “It all ends July 15”?

NPR asked one of their interns, who was 7 when HP began, to recommend books for others who grew up with Harry and are now ready for some adult titles.

Her top pick is The Magicians by Lev Grossman (Viking, 2009), “a heartrending, cathartic examination of the nature of magic and our relationship to the stories we wanted to live in as kids — required reading for anyone trying to recover from a lifelong love affair with a fictional world.”

That struck a chord; the book rose to #144 on Amazon’s sales rankings from #1,320 the day before.

For those who have already read that book, a sequel arrives next month.

The Magician King: A Novel Lev Grossman Retail Price: $26.95 Hardcover: 416 pages Publisher: Viking Adult – (2011-08-09) ISBN / EAN: 0670022314 / 9780670022311

Warning: don’t watch this first thing in the morning or if you are at all jumpy.

The premiere of the film adaptation of Tatiana de Rosnay’s novel Sarah’s Key at the MOMA in NYC has brought renewed attention to book, causing both the tie-in, released last week, and the original trade paperback to rise on Amazon’s sales rankings. The author is pictured at the left, with Diane von Furstenberg, who hosted the event.

The movie stars Kristin Scott Thomas and opens July 22.

Sarah’s Key (Movie Tie-in) Tatiana de Rosnay Retail Price: $13.99 Paperback: 336 pages Publisher: St. Martin’s Griffin – (2011-07-05) ISBN / EAN: 1250004349 / 9781250004345

The author’s book, The House I Loved, is coming from St. Martin’s on Feb. 12, 2012; ISBN 9780312593308.

The sequel to last year’s surprise hit movie, Sherlock Holmes, starring Robert Downey Jr. as the master detective and Jude Law as his sidekick, Dr. Watson, arrives on Dec. 16th. The first movie was “inspired” by Arthur Conan Doyle’s character, but the second, called Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows features Holmes’s nemesis, draws from the story, The Final Problem.

UPDATE:
Penguin will release an anthology of Sherlock Holmes stories in September that includes The Final Problem. A burst on the cover reads, “Inspiration for the Major Motion Picture.”

The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes Arthur Conan Conan Doyle Retail Price: $14.00 Paperback: 272 pages Publisher: Penguin (Non-Classics) – (2011-09-27) ISBN / EAN: 0143120158 / 9780143120155

…….

Last year, Penguin released the following collection of Holmes stories.

The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes Arthur Conan Conan Doyle Retail Price: $14.00 Paperback: 336 pages Publisher: Penguin (Non-Classics) – (2009-09-29) ISBN / EAN: 9780143117025 / 9780143117025

Official Movie Site: SherlockHolmes2.WarnerBros.com

Note: The YouTube version embeded below is supposedly “only” on iTunes trailers, so it may disappear. In that case, link here.

The gypsy Sim, shown in the opening sequence is played by Noomi Repace who starred as Lisbeth Salander in the Swedish-language adaptations of Stieg Larsson’s Millenium trilogy. Rooney Mara will be playing that character in the English-language version of The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, scheduled to open 12/21.

The Guardian examines J.K. Rowling’s history of  hints that she has new books in the works.

Interviewed during the London premiere of the final HP movie last week, Rowling told MTV News that she has been doing “quite a lot” of writing and elaborated to BBC News, “I’ve got a lot of stuff and I suppose it’s a question of deciding which one comes out first. But I will publish again.”

Back in 2009, she talked about writing a political fairy tale for younger children. In 2007, she said she was working on a book for adults and another one for children, but ruled out another fantasy series. She has also said she will not write another HP.

But, at the London premiere, she teased, “Maybe I’ll just write another [Harry Potter].”

No further teases surfaced at  the New York premiere last night, which Rowling did not attend.

The only definite is the launch of the site Pottermore.com in October. A lucky few (just one million) will get early access; information on how to enter for a chance to be one of the million will be announced on the site on July 31st.

The first trailer for Steven Spielberg’s adaptation of The Adventures of Tintin, hit the Web yesterday. The director’s first animated film, it features the voices of Jamie Bell (Billy Elliot, Defiance) as boy reporter Tintin, with Daniel Craig (Quantum of Solace, Defiance) as the pirate, Red Rackham and uses performance-capture technology (the actors’ actual movements are the basis of the computer-generated animation).

The film, the first in a planned trilogy, is based on the first two books in Belgian artist Georges “Hergé” Remi’s Tintin comic series, Secret of the Unicorn and Red Rackham’s Treasure and is a joint project between Spielberg and Peter Jackson, who will direct the second in the series.

It is scheduled for release on Dec. 23.

Official Web site: TinTin.com

For information on Little Brown’s TinTin publishing program, including tie-in and re-releases of the original titles, see our earlier post.

Wendy Bartlett, Collection Development Manager, Cuyahoga P.L. emailed us that libraries may want to check their holds on The Long Drive Home (S&S, 5/17) by Will Allison, a novel about a man who gives in to rare fit of road rage, killing a teenager in the process. His subsequent lies and deceptions eventually tear apart his once perfect family.

It is a People magazine Pick in the 5/30 issue, which describes it as “a gripping morality tale …Allison’s eye for the quiet details of domestic life highlights what’s at stake, and he makes brilliant use of the precocious [six-year-old daughter] Sara…” The 7/4 NYT Book Review attests to the novel’s emotional power, although the reviewer questions the book’s key plot element and is “queasy” about being made to like the main character.

Based on holds, Wendy says she is now placing a 3^rd order and put book on Cuyahoga’s popular  “Coming Soon/Bestsellers” handout.

Tell us what books are taking off in your library ;email us, or leave a comment below.