Four Titles to Know, The Week of July 21
The flow of big titles slows down a bit next week. Two of the author’s names may make you feel like you’ve been listening to the 70’s soundtrack for Guardians of the Galaxy. Danielle Steel’s A Perfect Life (RH/Doubeday; RH large print; Brilliance Audio) leads in holds, although many fewer than one would have expected earlier in her career. Even Tom Clancy returns posthumously, in the third in the Campus series with co-author mark Greany, Tom Clancy Support and Defend, (Penguin/Putnam; RH Auido; Thorndike). Also drawing holds is Elizabeth Adler’s suspense novel, Last to Know (Macmillan/Minotaur).
As a result, reviewers have some breathing space to cover earlier releases.The New York Times gave Michael Kortya’s Those Who Wish Me Dead, (Hachette/Little, Brown), published early last month, a stellar review on Thursday (unlike sister publication, the NYT Book Review, the daily NYT generally covers new or forthcoming books).
Below are four other titles to be aware of next week.
NOTE: We’re experiencing technical difficulties in creating our usual downloadable spreadsheet of notable titles arriving next week. We’ll post it as soon as we can work them out.
In the Media
Clinton, Inc: The Audacious Rebuilding of a Political Machine, Daniel Halper, (HarperCollins/Broadside Books)
By the online editor of The Weekly Standard, this is, unsurprisingly, deeply critical of the Clintons. Also unsurprisingly, the book was embargoed and was mysteriously leaked last weekend, which is only adding to the media attention.
Eye On
Prototype, M. D. Waters. (Penguin/Dutton)
Librarians had an early peek at this first title in the two-part series, including a chat with the author, in our Penguin Debut Authors program, It came out in February, setting the stage for fans to eagerly anticipate the quick conclusion. A mashup of recently poplar genres, dystopian science fiction and domestic thriller, it’s received large amount of “much love” on Edelweiss, plus several peer reviews that indicate a passion these books (much stronger than the lackluster pre-pub reviews would indicate).
Travels With Casey, Benoit Denizet-Lewis, (S&S; Thorndike)
Who can resist a dog memoir? Not the L.A. Times, which runs down a brief history of them in their revies this book about the author’s unusual attempt to bond with his dog by taking a road trip across the country with him (it seems his is an unusual dog. The book’s opening line is. “I don’t think my dog likes me very much.”)
Tomlinson Hill: The Remarkable Story of Two Families who Share the Tomlinson Name – One White, One Black, Chris Tomlinson, (Macmillan/St. Martin’s; Tantor Audio)
Tomlinson, an AP foreign correspondent, went back to his home town in Texas and discovered the truth about his slave-owning ancestors. Some PBS stations ran a filmed version of the story earlier this year and others are doing so now. Below is the book trailer.