Heavy Holds Alerts

In addition to discussing dozens of forthcoming books, librarians on this week’s GalleyChat also talked about titles that are getting unexpectedly heavy holds.

State of WonderAnn Patchett, Harper. 6/6; Recorded BooksHarperLuxeHarperAudio;  ebook from OverDrive

Like her blockbuster Bel Canto, this one has been a hit with most reviewers. It debuted on the NYT Print list at #3, and has slid down since, but is still at #8 as of 8/7. Holds continue to be very heavy on all formats.

 

 Before I Go To Sleep, S. J. Watson, (Harper, 6/14; Recorded Books; HarperLuxe; Audio and eBook from OverDrive)

Hey, people, we’ve been talking about this book ever since galleys first began arriving in December.Check those holds; time to get on the band wagon before it’s too late.

 

What Alice Forgot, Liane Moriarty, Amy Einhorn/Putnam, 6/2

It’s no surprise that people are fascinated with memory loss these days. Even so, three popular novels featuring it  in a single season may be a bit much. This book is about a 39 year-old woman who wakes up from a head injury, thinking she is still 29 and in love with her husband. Both are untrue. In Before I Got to Sleep (above), a woman tries to pieee together who she can and cannot trust after losing her memory. In Turn of Mind,  (Atlantic Monthly, 7/5; Audio, Brilliance; Large Print, Thorndike) a woman in the early stages of alzheimer’s fears she may have killed her best friend. All are showing holds. This one, the more light-hearted of the three, hasn’t received as much attention as the others, but it is on People‘s Great Summer Reads list. Warning; it could be dangerous to read all of them together.
 

Sister, Rosamund Lupton, Crown, 6/7; Recorded Books; ebook from OverDrive

Libraries say that holds began growing after the author appeared on the Diane Rehm Show in early June. One of last year’s biggest sellers in the UK, it hasn’t enjoyed quite that level of success here. It hit the NYT Extended list the second week of publication and slid down to #35 last week, but holds are still heavy in libraries.The author’s second novel, Afterwards, just published in the UK, went on the Times of London’s top ten in its first full week of sales; no word on when it will be released here.
 

This Beautiful Life, Helen Schulman, Harper, 8/2; Blackstone Audio; audio and ebook from OverDrive

Just out Tuesday and already showing heavy holds, this is another title that taps into current fears. It is about a teenager whose life becomes a nightmare after a sexting incident. Janet Maslin took a NYC-centric view of it in her NYT review, “Ms. Schulman holds a mirror up to the lives of moneyed, elite New York private-school families and invites such people to nod in recognition. In terms of a less provincial audience This Beautiful Life should please anyone who enjoys seeing the destruction of a happy family framed as a self-fulfilling prophecy.” The Washington Post was less condescending in Monday’s review, calling it a  “modern-day viral nightmare [made] all the more chilling because it is so easy. Because it can happen to anyone. The wrong moment, the impulsive message, one quick touch of a key — and even the most accomplished lives can come tumbling down.” It was also the cover of 7/31 NYT BR.

Summer Rental, Mary Kay Andrews, St. Martin’s; Macmillan AudioThorndike LT

Andrews, of course, is a perennial favorite, but librarians report holds are higher than usual on this one.

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