The movies based on Dan Brown’s series featuring symbolist Robert Langdon do not follow the sequence of the books. The first to be filmed was The Da Vinci Code (RH/Doubleday, 2003), based on the second in the series. The second movie was based on the first book, Angels & Demons (2000). Skipping ahead to the fourth in the series,  the release date for the adaptations of  Inferno (2013), starring Tom Hanks and directed by Ron Howard, was just announced  for Dec. 18, 2015, according to Deadline.

A film of the third book in the series, The Lost Symbol (2009) is now officially in limbo.

The movie based on the 1853 memoir by Solomon Northup, a free black man who was sold into slavery, winning his freedom 12 years later, was recently moved from a Dec. release date to Oct 18 (regarded as a more advantageous time for attracting Oscar attention).

The trailer was released late yesterday:

Official Movie Site: 12YearsASlave.com

Tie-in:
Twelve Years a Slave: (Movie Tie-In), Solomon Northup
Penguin
On Sale Date: September 4, 2013
9780143125419, 0143125419
Trade paperback $16.00 US / $17.00 Can.

– See more at: http://www.earlyword.com/#sthash.thmcet9A.dpuf

EarlyWord Kids Correspondent, Lisa Von Drasek, writes in response to the news of the death last week of children’s book author Barbara Robinson:

Barbara Robinson died. Here’s the thing — if I share what she meant to me, its definitely too much information. But if I don’t then how will you know so… here it goes. We were the Herdmans (featured in The Best Christmas Pageant Ever, HarperCollins, 1972 and other titles). The kids who were running wild, the kids who were not “maybe going to get in trouble,” we were trouble. So when I say to another children’s book person, we were the Herdmans, I don’t have to get into the “we were raised by wolves” thing. They get it and I don’t have to say another word. Barbara Robinson did that for me. Thank you just doesn’t say enough but thank you.

The story was covered by several sources, including School Library Journal and The New York Times.

A biopic about Nelson Mandela, based on his 1994  memoir, Long Walk to Freedom
will debut in an Oscar-qualifying limited release in the U.S. on November 29.

The first UK teaser trailer is below (it lists UK release date of January).

Idris Elba plays Mandela and Naomie Harris his former wife, Winnie.

Tie-ins:

Long Walk to Freedom : The Autobiography of Nelson Mandela
Nelson Mandela
Hachette/Back Bay
On Sale Date: October 8, 2013
9780316323543, 0316323543
Trade Paperback; $18.00 US / $20.00 Can.
Hachette Audio
$30.00 US / $33.00 Can.

Chronicle is also releasing a book about the film:
Mandela: The Long Walk to Freedo : The Book of the Film
Nelson Mandela, Keith Bernstein
Chronicle Books
On Sale Date: November 26, 2013
9781452128412, 1452128413
Hardback; $35.00 US

The Sunday Times of London revealed this weekend that the true author of the supposed “debut” detective novel by “Robert Galbraith,” The Cuckoo’s Calling is actually J. K Rowling.

The Telegraph followed up by quoting a brave U.K. editor who admitted to rejecting the book, “I thought it was perfectly good – it was certainly well written – but it didn’t stand out. Strange as it might seem, that’s not quite enough. Editors have to fall in love with debuts. It’s very hard to launch new authors and crime is a very crowded market.”

Proving that comment, the Telegraph reports that before the true author’s name was revealed, the book may have sold fewer than 500 copies through British retailers.

Released in the U.S. on April 30 by Hachette’s mystery imprint, Mulholland Books, it received strong reviews from prepub sources; Publishers Weekly said, “In a rare feat, the pseudonymous Galbraith combines a complex and compelling sleuth and an equally well-formed and unlikely assistant with a baffling crime in his stellar debut.”

Holds are now skyrocketing in libraries; one large system now shows 450 holds on 6 copies. Another has already increased their order of 12 copies by 90 more. Those copies are likely to carry J.K. Rowling’s name; the NYT reports that the publisher has a reprint in the works with a revised author bio, “Robert Galbraith is a pseudonym for J. K. Rowling” and that a second book is coming next summer.

Two films based on books will be opening earlier than originally planned. Both changes are are regarded as bids for Oscar nominations.

The Book Thief  based on the  2007 Printz Honor novel  by Markus Zusak, originally scheduled for January, will debut in a limited run on Nov. 15, According to Entertainment Weekly, “the earlier date suggests studio confidence and a possible awards-season bid.” In it, French-Canadian actress Sophie Nelisse makes her English-language film debut as Liesel, a young girl growing up in Nazi Germany. Geoffrey Rush and Emily Watson  play her foster parents. The film is directed by Brian Percival, who directed Downton Abbey‘s series pilot, and several episodes.

Tie-in:
The Book Thief , Markus Zusak
Knopf Books for Young Readers
On Sale Date: October 22, 2013
9780385754729, 0385754728
Paperback, $12.99 US / $14.99 Can.

Twelve Years a Slave based on Solomon Northup’s 1853 memoir, moves from Dec. 27 to Oct. 18, “putting it smack in the middle of the best time to release movies into the Oscar race,” notes Awards Daily. Directed by Steve McQueen, it stars Chiwetel Ejiofor  as Solomon Northup, Michael Fassbender as a cruel slave owner, with Brad Pitt as a Canadian abolitionist. Also starring are Paul Giamatti, Benedict Cumberbatch, Kenneth Williams and the youngest actress to ever receive an Oscar nomination, Quvenzhané Wallis (Beasts of the Southern Wild).

USA Today offers a “First Look” at  stills from the movie.

Tie-in:
Twelve Years a Slave: (Movie Tie-In), Solomon Northup
Penguin
On Sale Date: September 4, 2013
9780143125419, 0143125419
Trade paperback $16.00 US / $17.00 Can.

The burning question, “Was Sigmund Freud a Ladies’ Man?” was explored today on CBS This Morning with the authors of the novel Freud’s Mistress, Karen Mack and Jennifer Kaufman, (Penguin/Amy Einhorn; Thorndike Large Print).

The book has another CBS connection, a cover blurb from Katie Couric, “If you liked Loving Frank and The Paris Wife, you’ll love Freud’s Mistress.”

It received a starred review from LJ — “Historical romance fans will speed through the pages and find fodder for book club discussions.” Booklist called it, “A thrilling story of seduction, betrayal, and loss, Freud’s Mistress will titillate fans of Memoirs of a Geisha (1997) and The Other Boleyn Girl (2002),” but Kirkus was not won over, “Freud’s theories about human sexuality and behavior may be considered pretty wild, but his own sex life comes across as dull.”

As you may have guessed, co-author Mack has media connections; she is a TV producer. This is the two authors third collaboration (Literacy and Longing in L.A. and A Version of the Truth). Both were L.A. Times best sellers.

Among the titles destined for bestsellerdom arriving next week are new books by Daniel Silva (The English Girl, Harper), Danielle Steel (First Sight; RH/Delacorte), Alex Kava (Stranded; RH/Doubleday) and Jeff Abbott (Downfall; Hachette/Grand Central).At least one new author is  waiting in the wings; Koethi Zan‘s debut is building buzz.

All the titles listed here, and more, are listed with full ordering information and alternative formats on our downloadable spreadsheet, New Title Radar, Week of 7.15.13.

Watch List

The Never List, Koethi Zan, (Penguin/Pamela Dorman)

GalleyChat has been abuzz for months over this title, calling it “disturbing and well thought out” and “very creepy but not exploitative,” although a few felt the ending was rushed. Independent booksellers are proponents, making it an IndieNext selection for August: “Zan’s debut is a doozy! Part thriller, part mystery, and all spellbinding, The Never List leads the reader into a world of kidnapping, hostages, dank cellars, BDSM, and many wicked characters. Set in the present day, The Never List chronicles Sarah’s attempt to locate Jennifer, who disappeared shortly after their abduction and three-year captivity in a cellar of torture and abuse. Zan keeps the narrative lively with terse dialog, top-notch character development, an occasional red herring, and edge-of-your-seat confrontations. This engrossing book has Hollywood movie written all over it. Treat yourself and read this book!” —Nancy Simpson-Brice, Book Vault, Oskaloosa, IA

Brilliance, Marcus Sakey, (Amazon/Thomas & Mercer; Amazon/Brilliance Audio)

Prepub reviews for this book are over the top. It’s starred by Booklist and PW and called by LJ “one of the more surprising thrillers of the year,” noting it will appeal to both sf and mystery lovers, because the author sets this thriller in a dystopian future. True to that form, it is the first of a projected series and a film is already in the works. That is not unusual for the author, however. The rights to all four of his previous titles have been purchased and filming has begun in London on an adaptation of Good People, (Penguin/Onyx, 2009) with Kate Hudson and James Franco.

Blood & Beauty: The Borgias; A Novel, (Random House; RH Audio)

A librarians’ pick at the BEA Shout ‘n’ Share panel, this title was heralded nearly two weeks before publication, in the Sunday NYT Book Review, with a compelling comparison,

In Blood and Beauty, Dunant follows the path set by Hilary Mantel with Wolf Hall and Bring Up the Bodies. Just as Mantel humanized and, to an extent, rehabilitated the brilliant, villainous Thomas Cromwell and the court of Henry VIII, Dunant transforms the blackhearted Borgias and the conniving courtiers and cardinals of Renaissance Europe into fully rounded characters.

Media Magnets

This Town: Two Parties and a Funeral-Plus, Plenty of Valet Parking!-In America’s Gilded Capital, Mark Leibovich, (Penguin/Blue Rider)

The embargo has already been broken on this takedown of D.C. insiders, as we wrote earlier. Leibovich, the chief national correspondent for The New York Times Magazine is an insider himself, guaranteeing him a spot on the political talk shows.

Zealot: The Life and Times of Jesus of Nazareth, Reza Aslan, (Random House)

That title, paired with the subtitle, by an Iranian-American scholar is enough to get attention. No stranger to media (he’s appeared on The Daily Show with Jon Stewart), the author is scheduled for appearances on NPR’s Weekend Edition Saturday , Fresh Air , Comedy Central’s The Daily Show and HBO’s Real Time with Bill Mahr.

TV Tie-ins

See our earlier story on this BBC/STARZ series, which debuts August 10. Trade paperback tie-ins are published by S&S.

The White Queen,9781476735481

The Red Queen, 9781476746302

Lady of the Rivers, 9781476746319

The Kingmaker’s Daughter, 9781476746326

After the onslaught of new kids titles that arrived at the the beginning of the season, next week is much lighter. In addition to the titles highlighted below, note the three new DK Readers for their high-interest, engaging format especially the LEGO Hero Factory tie-in; a brand that is a sure hit with kids.

All the titles mentioned here and more, are listed on our downloadable spreadsheet, Kids New Title Radar, Week of July 15.

Bully, Laura Vaccaro Seeger, (Macmillan/Roaring Brook)

Caldecott honor winner Seeger (Green) never ceases to enthrall. The bull in this new story IS a bully. Name-calling makes him feel big but there is a twist. This one deserves all three of its starred reviews (PW, Booklist and SLJ).

Some Monsters Are Different, David Milgrim, (Macmillan/Holt)

We fell in love with David Milgrim with his outstanding pre-level one Otto and Pip early readers, (beginning with See Otto, Atheneum, 2002), Some Monsters displays the same the same delightful quirkiness and humor sure to delight the preschool set.

The Garfield Show #1: Unfair Weather, Jim Davis, Cedric Michiels, illus. by Ellipsanime, (Macmillan/Papercutz; also in trade pbk)

That pizza-loving fat cat, Garfield, appears in a new graphic novel fthat will fly off the shelves.  Papercutz, the publisher of the graphic Geronimo Stilton, Hardy Boys and Nancy Drew as well as the Garfield & Co. series, scores with this new full-color comic.

Director David Fincher (The Social Network, Fight Club, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo) is known for getting strong performances out of actors. He will have his work cut out for him if Ben Affleck takes on the lead in his adaptation of Gillian Flynn’s Gone Girl.

Affleck is currently in negotiations for the role, reports Deadline, also noting that, if he takes it, his work on directing the adaptation of Dennis Lehane’s Live by Night will be delayed.

Reese Witherspoon is one of the  producers for Gone Girl, but, says Deadline, she is not expected to star.

Actress Andie MacDowell, whose first hit was Steven Soderbergh’s Sex, Lies and Videotape, transitions to the heartwarming, as Judge Olivia Lockhart in the upcoming Hallmark series, Debbie Macomber’s Cedar Cove, based on the  series of best sellers set in a small town in Washington state. The two-hour premiere airs July 20

Three titles were re-released as tie-ins by Harlequin/MIRA in late May; three more are coming in the next months (for a full list, see our Movie Tie-ins — Upcoming or download our spreadsheet Debbie Macomber’s Cedar Cove — Tie-ins).

Martin Sheen (West Wing) and Rooney Mara (the English-language version of  The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo) are set to star in the adaptation of Andy Mulligan’s 2010 YA novel, Trash (RH/David Fickling).

The book received strong reviews and was on several state awards list that year. Horn Book described it as, “Treasure Island meets Slumdog Millionaire in a rousing and hugely entertaining adventure set in an unnamed third-world country in the not-too-distant future. Fourteen-year-old Raphael Fernandez and his friend Gardo are ‘trash boys’ in rubbish-town, picking through ‘one whole long world of steaming trash,’ never finding anything of interest or value…until one day they do…”

Production is scheduled to begin in Rio de Janeiro early next month, with release scheduled for May next year.

It’s been delayed so many times (from Feb. to Oct. 2013 and then to January next year UPDATE: Delayed again! As of 11/27/13, the new date is 2/6/15 — Variety) that some have wondered if The Seventh Son will ever make it to the theaters, but the release of the first trailer gives new hope.

The movie, based on The Last Apprentice: Revenge of the Witch by Joseph Delaney (HarperCollins/Greenwillow, 2005), stars Julianne Moore as Mother Malkin, “the most evil witch in the world,” Jeff Bridges as the mentor to a young apprentice played by Ben Barnes and is set in the 1700′s.

The next book in the series, the twelfth, The Last Apprentice: I Am Alice, will be released on Sept. 3 of this year.

Series Web site: LastApprenticeBooks.com

True to form, Bridges gets the final, and best, line of the trailer.

Don’t withdraw those copies yet!

As Laura Hillenbrand’s Unbroken (Random House, 2010) continues to be a best seller (on the NYT Nonfiction list at #8 after 135 weeks), it was just announced that the film adaptation, to be directed by Angelina Jolie, will be released 12/25/14. Production is set to begin in late September (the New York Daily News reports Jolie is scouting locations in Hawaii).

In a statement, the director said about the 96 year-old man who is the focus of the book, “I’ve had the privilege of spending a great deal of time with Louie Zamperini, who is a hero of mine, and now—I am proud to say—a dear friend. I am deeply honored to be telling his extraordinary story, and I will do my absolute best to give him the film he deserves.”

A film about Zamperini was the works long before Hillenbrand began working on her book or Jolie thought about adapting it. Universal bought Zamperini’s “life rights” in the 1950′s, with plans to star Tony Curtis, which were never realized.

Scottish actor Sam Heughan has  officially been cast as Jamie Fraser, the male lead in the upcoming Outlander series on cable network STARZ, based on Diana Gabaldon’s novels. The news was leaked via Twitter last week.

Outlander begins shooting this fall in Scotland and is expected to debut on STARZ next spring, according to The Hollywood Reporter.

The next title in the series, Written in My Own Heart’s Blood, has been moved from a December publication date to March 25, 2014, when it will tie in to the publicity for the STARZ series.