The trailer for the movie Philomena, based on The Lost Child of Philomena Lee, by UK journalist Martin Sixsmith (Macmillan U.K., 2009), was  just  released online and it is already engendering Oscar buzz for its star, Judi Dench.

The book recounts Sixsmith’s efforts to help a woman find her son, whom she had been forced to give up for adoption fifty years earlier.

The movie is directed by Stephen Frears (The Queen). Dench plays the mother, Philomena Lee and Steve Coogan plays Sixsmith. It is scheduled for release on Nov. 1 in the UK; no US release date has been announced. To qualify for the Oscars, it has to be released by the end of the year.

The book will be published here in September as a trade paperback tie-in, titled Philomena: A Mother, Her Son, and a Fifty-Year Search  (Penguin), with a foreword by Dench.

Juliette Lewis is set to co-star with Matt Dillon in a Fox series, Wayward Pines, directed by M. Night Shyamalan, to debut in the fall of 2014. Also in the cast are Melissa Leo, Toby Jones and Carla Guigino.

It is based on  Pines, by Blake Crouch, published under the Amazon mystery imprint, Thomas & Mercer (also in audio by Brilliance). It was a finalist for 2013 Thriller Awards‘ Best Paperback Original Novel. While described in news reports as a “best seller,” it did not appear on any lists we can identify; it may have appeared on Amazon sales rankings. It is not owned by libraries, according to WorldCat [Update: We stand corrected — see comment below].

Crouch published several titles with imprints of Macmillan, before turning to self-publishing and then signing with Amazon’s Thomas & Mercer.

As we predicted, Emily Oster’s claims in her forthcoming book,  Expecting Better: Why the Conventional Pregnancy Wisdom Is Wrong – and What You Really Need to Know (Penguin Press, 8/20; Blackstone Audio) is drawing controversy.

This morning, the book was featured on ABC’s Good Morning America. Senior Medical contributor, Jennifer Ashton, attacked Oster’s reasoning. She said “obstetricians and midwives all over the place are going to be doing damage control” over the assertion that a pregnant woman can have up to one drink a day. In fact, says, Ashton, one drink a day is “a lot for any woman, pregnant or not.”

The New York Post also weighs in on the subject.

More is coming. A live interview with the author is scheduled for Fox & Friends tomorrow.

NPR’s Morning Edition today reports on the role libraries play during natural disasters, as part of their series on public libraries.

The story  features the many ways  NYPL helped residents during Hurricane Sandy.

The story notes a service that will be familiar to everyone in the profession. Librarians not only helped with practical issues, like handing out coats and showing people how to fill out emergency forms, but they also acted as “defacto therapists,” to those who need a sympathetic ear.

Holds are growing in several libraries for Scott Anderson’s Lawrence in Arabia, (RH/Doubleday; Blackstone Audio), which receives a mixed review in this week’s NYT Sunday Book Review, with the dismissive comment that books keep being written about T.E. Lawrence because, “After all, somebody keeps buying the stuff.”

USA Today, on the other hand, is completely positive, giving it 4 of 4 stars, saying that, in over 500 pages,  Anderson “thrillingly” illuminates “the bureaucratic fumblings, the myriad spies, heroes and villains, the dense fugue of humanity at its best and worst operating in the Mideast war theater of 1914-17.”

Already receiving media attention ahead of its release next week, Marisha Pessl’s novel, Night Film (Random House/; RH Audio) got a powerful additional push from yesterday’s CBS Sunday Morning.

As a result, the book broke into the Amazon 100 (now at #95 from #701 and rising) and library holds are increasing.

When you want to pull out the big guns for a newsstand cover, you can’t do much better than Princess Diana (according to “Stolley’s Laws” about which covers sell best, by the legendary founding editor of People Magazine, Dick Stolley, “Nothing is better than the celebrity dead.”)

Vanity Fair plays that card for their big September issue, featuring a cover story poignantly titled in the online edition, “The Grandmother Prince George Never Knew” but with the more sensational “Diana’s True Love” on the print cover.

It’s not about Dodi Fayed, the lover with whom she died, but about Diana’s relationship with Pakistani heart surgeon Hasnat Khan, which ended just before she began seeing Fayed (in a bid to make Khan jealous, according to the story).

As the story notes, a movie titled simply Diana, starring Naomi Watts, also covers the relationship and is based on Diana; Her Lost Love, by Kate Snell, originally published in the UK in 2000 and being released here as a tie-in edition on Dec. 1, (IPG/Andre Deutsch). Below is the UK trailer. The film premieres in London on Sept 5; it is not clear  when it will be released in the U.S.; some sources say it will have an “Oscar season” release, others list the date as Dec. 6. [UPDATE: US release is now set for Nov. 1, 2013]

Remember when the Wall Street Journal caused and uproar by publishing a “Saturday Essay” that began the Tiger Mom controversy and launched a best seller?

They’re at it again. This week’s “Saturday Essay” is titled “Take Back Your Pregnancy.” The author, economist Emily Oster, uses her background to analyze the data behind the list of rules pregnant women are given. As a result, she decided to continue to drink coffee and an occasional glass of wine during her own pregnancy. She also became less obsessed with weight gain.

Her book, Expecting Better: Why the Conventional Pregnancy Wisdom Is Wrong – and What You Really Need to Know (Penguin Press; Blackstone Audio) will be released on August 20.

Expect to see more from the media-savvy Oster (she’s known for her TED talk in which she used her background to debunk accepted knowledge about AIDS in Africa).

Among the books arriving next week with waiting holds queues, is Debbie Macomber’s next, Rose Harbor in Bloom, (RH/Ballantine; RH & BOT Audio; RH Large Print), released in time to take advantage of the Hallmark series based on Macomber’s earlier books, starring Andie MacDowell.

Those who enjoy a bit of torture with their serial killers, will be looking forward to the next Chelsea Cain title featuring the ultimate mean girl, Gretchen Lowell in Let Me Go (Macmillan/Minotaur; Thorndike) as well as Swedish author Arne Dahl’s Bad Blood, (RH/Pantheon; BOT Audio), about a literary critic  whose tortured dead body is found in Newark airport (is this an author’s revenge fantasy?). It’s starred by Booklist: “Dahl has established himself as one of the leading voices in Scandinavian crime fiction.”

Titles highlighted here are also listed on our downloadable spreadsheet, New Title Radar, Week of Aug 12

Watch List

Women of a Dangerous Age, Fanny Blake, (Macmillan/Thomas Dunne)

Former British publisher Fanny Blake’s second novel about two women who meet on a trip to India, each of them pondering major shifts in their romantic lives, got just one prepub review, from Booklist, which deems it merely a “pleasantly diverting read” for fans of JoJo Meyers. Wendy Bartlett at Cuyahoga P.L. is buying more than that review would warrant. She sees it this way, “Think Susan Sarandon and Geena Davis hit The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel. Library’s power customers are women between 45-70. I am always on the lookout for books that target this audience. It’s chic lit for cynical older women like me who know shopping actually doesn’t solve anything, but leaving your husband may. I’m betting they’ll grab this one.”

Awards Contender 

The People in the Trees, Hanya Yanagihara, (RH/Doubleday; Dreamscape Audio)

In a starred review, Kirkus calls this title part of  “that rare subgenre of literature, the anthropological novel, ” (drawing comparisons to Ann Patchett’s State of Wonder, Barbara Kingsolver’s The Poisonwood Bible, and Peter Matthiessen’s At Play in the Fields of the Lord). PW also stars it; “Driven by Yanagihara’s gorgeously complete imaginary ethnography on the one hand and, on the other, by her brilliantly detestable narrator, this debut novel is compelling on every level—morally, aesthetically, and narratively.”

Librarian Favorite

The Color Master: Stories, Aimee Bender, (RH/Doubleday)

Libraries are credited with making Bender’s novel, The Particular Sadness of Lemon Cake, a best seller (former RH library marketer, Marcie Purcell was a major and effective proponent). Fans of that book, about a girl who tastes the emotions of the person who created the food she eats, will recognize similar elements in the title story about an apprentice who learns how to create clothing that looks like natural objects, a feat she can only achieve this when she allows her emotions free reign. Entertainment Weekly aptly says that reading Bender is “like having a very clever, very melancholy friend describe their dreams to you in vivid, fantastical detail. ”

Timely Topics

The Big Disconnect: Protecting Childhood and Family Relationships in the Digital Age, Catherine Steiner-Adair, Teresa H.  Barker,  (Harper)

Author Steiner-Adair was  quoted recently in a USA Today story about Anthony Weiner’s sexting behavior. Given the media’s fascinated with the shifts brought about by the digital revolution, we can expect attention for this book that uses cautionary real-life tales to show that today’s families “are embracing technology at the expense of face-to-face engagement.” PW prescribes it as “required reading for all parents.”

The Smartest Kids in the World, Amanda Ripley, (Simon & Schuster)

Here’s a clue: the smartest kids aren’t Americans. Parents will be clamoring to read this examination of how other countries educate better. Kirkus calls it, “A compelling, instructive account regarding education in America, where the arguments have become ‘so nasty, provincial, and redundant that they no longer lead anywhere worth going” and PW says,  ‘This timely and inspiring book offers many insights into how to improve America’s mediocre school system.”  Media attention is beginning; the Daily Beast covers it today and the Wall Street Journal published a story by the author last week.

Unbeatable: Notre Dame’s 1988 Championship and the Last Great College Football Season St. Martin’s Press

We may not know much about football, but we do know that Notre Dame fans give new meaning to the word, so we’ll go out on a limb  and suggest you increase your order for this book that details the team’s stellar 1988 comeback year. PW notes it is,  “A mostly pedestrian sports book that will appeal to Notre Dame’s legions of fans.”  The emphasis needs to be on the latter point.

Let Freedom Ring: Stanley Tretick’s Iconic Images of the March on Washington, Kitty Kelley, (Macmillan/Thomas Dunne Books)

Known for her muck-raking books on celebrities, Kelley has recently abondoned that to publish books based on the photos left to her by her close friend, Stanley Tretick. Last year, she published Capturing Camelot, a collection of his photos of the Kennedys. This book contains his photos of the March on Washington. The fiftieth anniversary of that historic event  will be commemorated at the end of this month,

When George Clooney calls, they come running. Matt Damon, Bill Murray, John Goodman, Jean Dujardin, Bob Balaban, Hugh Bonneville, and Cate Blanchett all join him in his adaptation of the nonfiction title, The Monuments Men, by Robert Edsel (Hachette/Center Street) about the effort to rescue art from the hands of the Nazis. It debuts in theaters on Dec. 18.

In addition to The Monuments Men, Edsel published another book in May on the subject (Saving Italy: The Race to Rescue a Nation’s Treasures from the Nazis, Norton). Several other books and a documentary have also been released about the story (see our earlier post).

Monuments Men Official Site: MonumentsMen.com

Tie-ins:
The Monuments Men: Allied Heroes, Nazi Thieves, and the Greatest Treasure Hunt in History
Robert M. Edsel, Bret Witter
On Sale Date: October 22, 2013
Trade Pbk: 9780316240055, 0316240052

Mass Mkt: 9780316240079

Audio: 9781427235404 (Macmillan Audio)

The second trailer for Tom Hanks’ next movie, based on Captain Richard Phillips’ memoir, A Captain’s Duty, (Hyperion; Tantor Audio; Thorndike) has debuted online. Phillips became a national hero in 2009 when Somali pirates hijacked his unarmed merchant marine ship and he courageously allowed himself to be taken hostage to save his crew.

Titled Captain Phillips, the movie is directed by Paul Greengrass (The Bourne Ultimatum, The Bourne Supremecy), and is coming to theaters on Oct 11.

For some reason, the tie-in is now showing as “cancelled.”

Official Site: CaptainPhillipsMovie.com

The number one pick on the September IndieNext list is Burial Rites, (Hachette/Little, Brown; Hachette Audio; Hachette Large Print), a debut novel set in Iceland and based on the true story of the last woman executed there 1820’s. It is by Australian writer Hannah Kent, who became obsessed with the story after visiting Iceland as a teenager.

Prepub reviews have been strong, with Kirkus breathlessly applauding it for language that is “flickering, sparkling and flashing like the northern lights.” LJ puts it “In the company of works by Hilary Mantel, Susan Vreeland, and Rose Tremain” and calls it a “compulsively readable novel [that] entertains while illuminating a significant but little-known true story.” Librarians on GalleyChat also say the book had them “mesmerized.”

Libraries are so far showing few holds on minimal ordering.

Digital galleys are available from Edelweiss and NetGalley, until the pub. date of 9/10.

The satiric debut novel Crazy Rich Asians, by Kevin Kwan (RH/Doubleday), published in June, has been acquired for the big screen by the production company behind The Hunger Games.

The book has been particularly successful on the West Coast. It has been on the lower rungs of  the L.A. Times best seller for three weeks and was featured in the newspaper’s “Summer Reading Guide.”

In a statement, producer Nina Jacobson said, “Crazy Rich Asians is that immersive page turner I am constantly searching for but so rarely find. Kevin’s writing took me into a world I’d never seen or imagined and got me so invested in the romance at the heart of it that I could not put the book down until I saw whether or not they made it. This novel represents an enormous opportunity … to tell a universal story to a global audience.” The latter probably refers to the lucrative Chinese market (which, notes the South China Morning Post in reporting the story, is now the second-largest after the U.S.).

The book has very little in common with The Hunger Games.  New York Times reviewer Janet Maslin called it a “a dizzily shopaholic comedy of crass manners,” that “offers refreshing nouveau voyeurism to readers who long ago burned out on American and English aspirational fantasies.”

Check your holds; they are heavy in some libraries.

The author of Tampa, (HarperCollins/Ecco), Alissa Nutting appeared on Inside Edition last night (watch video here).

Told from the point of view of a 26-year-old teacher who seduces her 14-year-old student, Tampa is called a “gender-swapped Lolita,” by the NYT,  noting that the change in gender causes a problem for the novelist, “it’s hard not to be a little happy for the guy. So it’s a much bigger leap to show that this relationship between unequals is every bit as destructive as a man and a girl’s, and Ms. Nutting lands it.”

Expected to be the  hotly controversial book of the summer, it still lags well behind Fifty Shades of Grey in terms of media attention.

Ann Leary’s novel The Good House, (Macmillan/St. Martin’s; Macmillan Audio) is told through the eyes of a woman who is pretending to be sober, although her life is clearly unraveling. Despite the somber material, it still manages to be “wickedly funny” according to People magazine, which made it one of their Picks in January. It is being adapted as a movie,  starring Meryl Streep and  Robert De Niro, according to Deadline.

The Good House was on the extended NYT Hardcover Fiction best seller list for 5 weeks.