Get Ready: Tip of the Tongue Titles, Week of May 12
New books from several big names arrive next week. Jeffery Deaver’s creepily-titled thriller, The Skin Collector, (the follow up to The Bone Collector, but somehow, “skin” is more creepy) leads with the most copies ordered by libraries. The winner for the most sinister cover is Jo Nesbo’s next, The Son, a standalone that is being positioned as a break out.
Readers advisors will want to have three LibraryReads titles on the tips of their tongues next week. Bittersweet is a hit with LibraryReads as well as both People and Entertainment Weekly. LibraryReads continues to bring YA titles with crossover appeal to adult readers’ attention, with the #1 pick for May, E. Lockhart’s We Were Liars. Also be sure to tell your horror readers about the debut novel, Bird Box.
These titles listed here, and highlights of others coming next week, with ordering information and alternate formats, are on our downloadable spreadsheet, New Title Radar, Week of May 12, 2014
Big Names
Jeffery Deaver, The Skin Collector (Hachette/Grand Central; Hachette Audio)
James Rollins, The Kill Switch (HarperCollins/Morrow; HarperLuxe; HarperAudio) — listen to an excerpt of the audio
here Douglas Preston, The Kraken Project (Macmillan/Forge Books; Macmillan Audio) — the author’s first solo outing
Breakout Candidate
Jo Nesbo, The Son (RH/Knopf; RH Audio; RH/BOT; RH/Large Print)
One of the leaders of the Scandinavian crime wave, Nesbo has had strong sales but hasn’t reached Steig Larsson status (who could?). This standalone has the hallmarks of taking him to a new level. It is getting a wide range of advance attention, from a long profile of the author in the New Yorker to a Parade Magazine “Sneak Peek” excerpt. On Monday, he is scheduled to appear on Charlie Rose’s PBS show.
The author’s fame is also rising in Hollywood. Martin Scorsese is producing a movie based on the seventh in his Harry Hole series, The Snowman (called his “masterpiece” in the New Yorker profile), set to be directed by Tomas Alfredson, (Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy and Let the Right One In). In addition, in March, Warner Bros acquired a forthcoming Nesbo book, Blood on Snow (no publication information yet), the first in a new series written under the pseudonym Tom Johansen, to star Leonardo.DiCaprio.
Anticipated
Miranda Beverly-Whittemore, Bittersweet (RH/Crown)
This LibraryReads pick for May is inspiring passion among reviewers as well. It gets the lead review in People, with 3.5 of 4 stars; “a mesmerizing gothic thriller … worth savoring — it unfolds like a long summer day, leisurely revealing the dark.” It is pick #3 on Entertainment Weekly‘s ‘Must List’ (a high position for this list, which is usually dominated by movies and TV); “In the stay-up-all-night page-turner, a scholarship student from an East Coast college spends the summer at her WASPy roommate’s family compound and uncovers some seriously nasty secrets. Occasionally over-the-top, but always riveting.” That is followed by strong review in the magazine’s book section. The LibraryReads annotation, below:
As unlikely a pair of roommates as you’re ever likely to meet: plain, working class Mabel Dagmar and beautiful, privileged Genevra Winslow. Mabel spends the summer in the Winslows’ idyllic lakefront property in Vermont, dreaming of being one of them–only to discover that being a Winslow is not all sunshine, yachts, and ease. Being a Winslow means keeping very disturbing family secrets.” — Nancy Russell, Columbus Metropolitan Library, Columbus, OH
Joshua Ferris, To Rise Again at a Decent Hour (Hachette/Little, Brown; Hachette Audio)
Ferris’s debut was the darkly humorous novel about modern day office life, And Then We Came to the End,. His second book, The Unnamed, was quite different, prompting Jay McInerney to comment in his NYT BR review, “As a fan of Then We Came to the End I can admire Ferris’s earnest attempt to reinvent himself, but I can’t wait for him to return to the kind of thing at which he excels.” Other reviewers must feel the same, since this one was highly anticipated in season previews and is now getting advance attention:
L.A. Times advance review Author interview in Entertainment Weekly‘s Book Review section Slate Magazine: Author and editor (Reagan Arthur) interviewed together (how they cut 200 pages from the original Daily Beast~ Joshua Ferris’s New Novel Chronicles an Existential Dentist in Despair
More LibraryReads Picks
E. Lockhart, We Were Liars (Penguin YR/Delacorte Press; Listening Library)
Listen to the audio clip for the book’s dramatic opening scene. LibraryReads again gives attention to the crossover appeal of a YA title by making this the #1 pick for May (Rainbow Rowell’s Fangirl topped the very first list in September).
“This brilliant and heartbreaking novel tells the story of a prestigious family living on a private island off the coast of Massachusetts. Full of love, lies, secrets, no shortage of family dysfunction, and a shocking twist that you won’t see coming. Though this book is written for teens, it shouldn’t be overlooked by anyone looking for a fantastic read.” — Susan Balla, Fairfield Public Library, Fairfield, CT
Josh Malerman, Bird Box (HarperCollins/Ecco)
“Close your eyes! Don’t look! Something is out there that will drive you mad if you see it. Is it an alien invasion? An environmental toxin? Two sisters, Malorie and Shannon, embark on a journey seeking safety and other survivors. I was unable to put this book down. Horror at its best, not graphic, but truly creepy and scary. Highly recommended for fans of psychological suspense” — Mary Vernau, Tyler Public Library, Tyler, TX
Malerman wrote the book in what he calls a “26-day word flurry.” A musician in a Detroit rock band, he talks about that, reads from the book and explains why he finds horror “liberating’ in a “Beyond the Book” audio from HarperCollins which features author/musicians. Listen to it here.
Media Attention
Timothy F. Geithner, Stress Test (RH/Crown) — EMBARGOED
The media is anticipating whether former Treasury secretary Geithner spill an beans about the efforts to save the U.S. economy (Politico is dubious and suggests you read “Elizabeth Warren’s take [A Fighting Chance] on all the people he left behind”). The author is interviewed in the cover story of this Sunday’s NYT Magazine. He also appears on CBS Sunday Morning this week.
Glenn Greenwald, No Place to Hide, (Macmillan/Metropolitan)
By the reporter who won a Pulitzer Prize for breaking the story about the NSA, it’s a shoe-in for media attention.