A couple of weeks ago, we mentioned Homer’s Odyssey, a book about a blind cat and his effect on his owner, Gwen Cooper’s life.

Happily Jen Childs, from the wonderful library marketing team at Random House, is making galleys available for EarlyWord readers.

To enter to win a copy, just send an email to EarlyWord, with “I Want Homer” in the subject line, by 11:59 p.m, this Friday, July 3rd. Don’t forget to include your UPS shipping address (no P.O. box numbers), so Jen will know where to send your galley.

If you’re not one to leave things to chance and if you’re going to ALA, Random House will be giving away Homer galleys at their booth — #1834.

Homer’s Odyssey Gwen Cooper Retail Price: $20.00 Hardcover: 304 pages Publisher: Delacorte Press – (2009-08-25) ISBN / EAN: 038534385X / 9780385343855

Here’s Homer in action:

Many of you may know that there is at least one blind library cat. It happens she also has a Greek name, Nyx. She doesn’t have a book, but she does have a Web site; Nyx the Library Cat. One of her human companions, Ann Chambers Theis runs the Web site Overbooked.

NYT daily reviewer Dwight Garner (who recently moved over from the NYT BR) today writes what will the second entry in the EarlyWord 2009 “Review That Most Makes You Want to Read the Book” award (including, not only the honor, but a HUGE prize, yet to be determined). The first entry was also by Garner.

In his review, Garner sums up Last Journey by Darrell Griffin this way,

…the most honest and gripping accounts of the Iraq war have come from low-ranking soldiers, not from generals. Last Journey joins that small shelf of serious books, thanks to a father with a native gift for the English language, one who gave his son the greatest gift a father can give: his avid and appreciative attention.

Libraries have ordered in small quantities. The PW review was largely positive, but said,

Darrell Sr. overquotes his son’s grandiose and not always cogent ideas about religion, philosophy and politics. But when the book sticks to Skip’s everyday impressions of the conflict, it presents a harrowing, unsanitized vision of the war and the toll it takes on our soldiers

Last Journey: A Father and Son in Wartime Darrell Griffin Sr., Darrell “Skip” Griffin Jr. Retail Price: $25.00 Hardcover: 304 pages Publisher: Atlas – (2009-06-29) ISBN / EAN: 193463316X / 9781934633168

Two glowing early reviews have rolled in for How Shall I Tell the Dog: And Other Final Musings, the memoir in letters by Miles Kington, one of Britain’s most popular newspaper columnists. It’s good to see that several libraries have ordered it since we mentioned it last week as a possible sleeper.

Publishers Weekly gives it a starred review, praising the book as “a witty, bittersweet slice of meta-nonfiction” about Kington’s struggle with pancreatic cancer, “or, more precisely, his struggle to write a book about it: ‘phrases like ‘cashing in on cancer’ give quite the wrong impression. What I mean is, ‘making cancer work for its living.’” 

The bookseller newsletter Shelf Awareness declares that Kington “effortlessly takes the reader from sadness to laughter” and relishes the part where Kington thinks  

he might make a good assassin, offering his services as his last useful act on earth: “People who look at my hangdog expression and my air of lingering malady would never dream that underneath it all simmers a potential killer.” And he’s after big game, too–Robert Mugabe or a”‘public nuisance’ like Jeffrey Archer or Victorla Beckham.”

How Shall I Tell the Dog?: And Other Final Musings Miles Kington Retail Price: $19.95 Hardcover: 208 pages Publisher: Newmarket Press – (2009-07-07) ISBN / EAN: 155704841X / 9781557048417

Beacon Books has signed a deal with Dexter King, Martin Luther King Jr.’s son and chief executive officer of King, Inc., to release new editions of four King books in 2010, according to an AP story that appeared in USA Today:

• Stride Toward Freedom: The Montgomery Story – The story of the 1955-56 bus boycott organized by King
• Where Do We Go From Here: Chaos or Community? – King’s penultimate book, written in 1967, on combatting poverty and responding to the Black Power movement
• Trumpet of Conscience: A collection of speeches King delivered in November and December 1967
• Strength to Love: A collection of King’s sermons

Under the agreement, Beacon will also compile King’s writings, sermons, lectures and prayers into new editions with introductions by leading scholars.

So far, it’s unclear whether this deal will reignite the objections of siblings Bernice King and Martin Luther King III, who have not settled three lawsuits related to their brother Dexter’s management of the King estate, and the control of their mother Coretta Scott King’s personal items, which caused a $1.4 million book deal to fall through last year, according to a previous AP story.

Perfection, which has been on several summer reading lists and gotten strong consumer reviews (but quite a different reception prepub), nearly hits the main 6/28 NYT Nonfiction list. It goes on at #16, putting it on the extended list. Judging from library reserves and the Amazon list, it is likely to climb higher next week.

Perfection: A Memoir of Betrayal and Renewal Julie Metz Retail Price: $23.99 Hardcover: 352 pages Publisher: Voice – (2009-06-09) ISBN / EAN: 1401322557 / 9781401322557

Melissa Gilbert’s memoir, Prairie Tale, goes on at #5.

Soul Survivor arrives at #11; libraries own modest quantities, with equally modest reserves.

How Shall I Tell the Dog: And Other Final Musings by Miles Kington, a wry memoir in letters by a British newspaper columnist about his last six months of battling pancreatic cancer, is starting to find fans on the book media circuit. USA Today gave it a mention in it’s “Book Buzz” column, and the Daily Beast’s Sara Nelson mentions a recent media luncheon she attended with the author’s agent standing in for the author, who died in 2008 at age 66. It has also become Newmarket Press’s very first IndieNext pick by independent booksellers, on the list for July, 2009. Most libraries we checked don’t have any copies.

How Shall I Tell the Dog was also one of the few galleys I took home from Book Expo, after the Newmarket Press publisher pressed it into my hands, saying it was a big UK bestseller and the only book her husband would take to his chemotherapy appointments. I was immediately absorbed by it on the way home (it starts with a witty riff on how annoying the author found Patricia Shultz’s fat book 1000 Places to See Before You Die after his cancer diagnosis). That night, I mentioned it to my partner, who immediately started reading it and wouldn’t give it back. I still want to finish it, even though I  know how it ends!

How Shall I Tell the Dog?: And Other Final Musings Miles Kington Retail Price: $19.95 Hardcover: 208 pages Publisher: Newmarket Press – (2009-07-07) ISBN / EAN: 155704841X / 9781557048417

One of People magazine’s summer book picks is a memoir, Perfection by Julie Metz, that’s picking up speed. It has a killer cover; the author was once a book jacket designer (she wrote about working on Perfection’s cover in Publishers Weekly). Libraries are showing heavy reserves (126 on 3 copies in one case).

And, no wonder. Who can resist a book that USA Today describes this way,

Julie Metz’s fortysomething husband drops dead on the kitchen floor, leaving her shocked and grieving. Then she discovers he had numerous affairs, including a longtime relationship with one of her friends. Readers will be mesmerized as Metz seeks out his consorts and confronts them — sometimes with curiosity and sometimes with venom. 

On the other hand, prepub reviewers found the book difficult to take, which may account for light library orders. Kirkus called it a “vapid, mean-spirited record.” PW called it “cautionary and trying.”

Others are praising the author for her honesty. On Monday,  Shelf Awareness called Perfection ”remarkably candid.” At the Huffington Post,  Jesse Kornbluth can’t stop thinking about it and USA Today recommends it as “a delectable summer read.”

Perfection: A Memoir of Betrayal and Renewal Julie Metz Retail Price: $23.99 Hardcover: 352 pages Publisher: Voice – (2009-06-09) ISBN / EAN: 1401322557 / 9781401322557

Child star Melissa Gilbert, best known for playing Laura Ingalls Wilder in the Little House on the Prairie TV series in the 1970s, is returning to the airwaves this week to promote her new memoir, A Prairie Tale. The book is now #28 on Amazon [UPDATE: it's continuing to move up -- it's at #18 as of June 10 at 8 a.m. ET]; none of the libraries we checked shows it on their catalog.

In her Today Show interview this morning, Gilbert talked about how she was a “dork” as a teen, her admiration for Michael Landon (who played her father on the show), her breakup with actor Rob Lowe and her experiences in Alcoholics Anonymous, as well as the happiness she has found with her current husband and four children.

Gilbert will also appear tomorrow night on Access Hollywood, and on Thursday on The View and CNN Showbiz Tonight. People magazine is also running a book excerpt this week, and Newsweek is doing a Q & A. Gilbert will sign books in New York on June 9 (at the Borders store in Columbus Circle) and in Los Angeles on June 15th (at Barnes & Noble in The Grove at Farmer’s Market), according to the publisher.

Prairie Tale: A Memoir Melissa Gilbert Retail Price: $26.00 Hardcover: 384 pages Publisher: Simon Spotlight Entertainment – (2009-06-09) ISBN / EAN: 1416599142 / 9781416599142

USA Today interviews Dean Koontz, who talks about his abusive childhood, saying that is featured in  his forthcoming memoir, A Big Little Life.

Koontz’s childhood is just part of A Big Little Life, whose subtitle is A Memoir of a Joyful Dog. It’s mainly about the relationship he had with his late beloved golden retriever, Trixie, who died in 2007 and whom he credits with changing his life.

Big Little Life, A: A Memoir of a Joyful Dog Dean Koontz Retail Price: $24.99 Hardcover: 288 pages Publisher: Hyperion – (2009-08-25) ISBN / EAN: 1401323529 / 9781401323523

Koontz has two other books releasing this summer:

Relentless — “a thrill-a-minute nail-biter about a sociopathic book critic who’s trying to kill a best-selling author ”

Relentless: A Novel Dean Koontz Retail Price: $27.00 Hardcover: 368 pages Publisher: Bantam – (2009-06-09) ISBN / EAN: 0553807145 / 9780553807141

Dead and Alive, “the third book in his series that re-imagines the Frankenstein myth.”

Dean Koontz’s Frankenstein: Dead and Alive: A Novel Dean Koontz Retail Price: $9.99 Mass Market Paperback: 384 pages Publisher: Bantam – (2009-07-28) ISBN / EAN: 0553587900 / 9780553587906

Koontz has written about Trixie before, in a series of books “channeled from Trixie from the other side.”  The third book came out last year, following Life Is Good! and  Christmas Is Good! , both published by Yorkville Press.

Bliss to You: Trixie’s Guide to a Happy Life Trixie Koontz, Dean Koontz Retail Price: $16.95 Hardcover: 160 pages Publisher: Hyperion – (2008-09-16) ISBN / EAN: 1401323006 / 9781401323004

Also available in audio from Brilliance:

• Unabridged CD: (September 16, 2008); $14.95
• ISBN-10: 1423375068
• ISBN-13: 978-1423375067

As we noted earlier, Stitches by David Small, was such a hit at BEA (see our post, THE Book of BEA) that some of us were unable to get ARC’s (including me). 

Well, good news, Golda Rademacher, Library Marketing Manager at W.W. Norton is making a limited number of ARC’s available for EarlyWord readers. To enter to win a copy, just send an email to EarlyWord, with “Stitches, Please!” in the subject line, by 11:59 p.m, Monday, June 8 (only available to librarians residing within the 50 United States).

Don’t forget to include your mailing address, so Golda knows where to send your copy!

If your need for gratification is more immediate, you can view an excerpt of Stitches at Scirbd.com.

For those going to ALA, David Small is making two appearances. Put them on your calendar NOW:

Sunday, July 12th, 2:00-3:00 pm
Norton booth, #1616
ARC signing

Monday, July 13th, 10:30 am-12:00 pm
McCormick Place West, room W-194a
Small appears on the ALTAFF, ”Reflecting on the Past: Literary Memoirs” panel. Author signing will follow in the same room

Stitches: A Memoir David Small Price: $23.95 Hardcover: 320 pages Publisher: W.W. Norton & Co. – (2009-09-08) ISBN-10: 0393068579 ISBN-13: 9780393068573

Given the number of books published each season, it’s rare that a single book emerges as THE book of a particular show. This year’s BEA is the exception. Although the show had a particularly strong lineup of new offerings,  a single title was on everyone’s lips; Stitches, the graphic memoir by David Small. This might also be considered a watershed for the acceptance of the graphic format.

Barbara Hoffert, Book Review Editor for Library Journal, was one of the first to highlight it, as one of her “Six Must-Get BEA Giveaways.” It was the top pick by librarians at Saturday’s “Shout and Share” program (this new event brought libraians together to share their favorites from the show; we will have a complete roundup of the titles from the program, along with a spreadsheet you can use for ordering, on Wednesday).

By the time I made it to the Norton booth to try to snare a copy, they were long gone, so I have to rely on what others were saying about the book. RA maven, Kaite Stover, (Kansas City PL. She also writes for NoveList and Booklist and does frequent workshops on RA and book groups) could not stop talking about it. Caldecott medalist David Small writes about his own childhood in this book for adults, and what a childhood it was. His father, a radiologist, literally experimented on him. As a result, he contracted throat cancer. Surgery to remove the cancer resulted in his being unable to speak. Small left home at sixteen to escape his uncaring parents and to pursue his dreams of becoming an artist.

UPDATE: A preview of Stitches is available at Scirbd.com. Thanks, Steve, for pointing it out; now I see why people are raving about it and now I WANT THE WHOLE BOOK!

Stitches: A Memoir David Small Price: $23.95 Hardcover: 320 pages Publisher: W.W. Norton & Co. – (2009-09-08) ISBN-10: 0393068579 ISBN-13: 9780393068573

Reviews for Elizabeth Edwards’ Resilience: Reflections on the Burdens and Gifts of Facing Life’s Adversities are trickling in. Entertainment Weekly gave the book an A-, saying

It isn’t an angry book, or a bitter one. But make no mistake about it, as she talks about the crises of her life and how she has tried to get past them, she disembowels her Ken doll of a husband with steely Southern precision…Revenge is sweet, especially when you’ve got 241,000 copies of your book in print.”

The book has been rising on both Amazon (currently at #18) and BarnesandNoble.com (currently #10). Libraries show heavy reserving, 15 to 1 in several cases.

Resilience: Reflections on the Burdens and Gifts of Facing Life’s Adversities Elizabeth Edwards Price: $22.95 Hardcover: 224 pages Publisher: Broadway – (2009-05-08) ISBN-10: 076793136X ISBN-13: 9780767931366

Also in audio from Random House:

• ISBN-10: 0307577198
• ISBN-13: 978-0307577191

Elizabeth Edwards’s recent appearances on Oprah and the Today Show have made her the author of the moment. But the media speculation about her motives for writing Resilience: Reflections on the Burdens and Gifts of Facing Life’s Adversities has largely obscured the question of whether her memoir is actually a good read.

Now, a book review from the Los Angeles Times says the strength of her memoir about facing the loss of her 16-old son, resurgent cancer and marital betrayal by former Democratic Presidential candidate John Edwards lies in “how little of it actually has to do with John Edwards’ caddish behavior.” Noting that Edwards emerged from her husband’s shadow in the 2004 and 2008 presidential campaigns “on the power of her personality” and her willingness to take her own positions, such as her support of gay marriage, the review calls Resilience ”short but surprisingly deep… And when you finish it you have not just a deeper understanding of Elizabeth Edwards but also a better appreciation for the strength of will it can take to survive.”

For those who missed it, here’s a quick recap of the previous coverage. Edwards began her tour with an appearance Oprah, in which she said her feelings for her husband were “complicated,” and later appeared on the Today Show, where Matt Lauer quoted criticism of her book by Maureen Dowd in the New York Times (“it’s just a gratuitous peek into their lives, and one that exposes her kids”) and Sally Quinn in the Washington Post  (who suggests Edwards enabled her husband to cheat).  Tina Brown in The Daily Beast also weighed in; “If she had stuck with her health and her loss, Edwards might have held on to our sympathy. But her insistence on belittling to Oprah the dreaded ‘other woman,’ Rielle Hunter…was so embarrassingly self-righteous it almost made me feel sorry for the Democratic twinkie John.”

The book has been rising on both Amazon (currently at #12) and B&N.com (currently at #12). Libraries show heavy reserving, 15 to 1 in several cases.

Resilience: Reflections on the Burdens and Gifts of Facing Life’s Adversities Elizabeth Edwards Price: $22.95 Hardcover: 224 pages Publisher: Broadway – (2009-05-08) ISBN-10: 076793136X ISBN-13: 9780767931366

Also in audio from Random House:

• ISBN-10: 0307577198
• ISBN-13: 978-0307577191

Reserves are piling up on Elizabeth Edwards’s book Resilience, on the heels of her publicity tour. She appeared on Oprah on Thursday and NPR’s All Things Considered last night. An excerpt of the book appears in the new issue of Time. In addition, countless print and online sources have covered the Oprah appearance; on Salon, Rebecca Traister noted that John Edwards, who was also on the show,

…looked about as excited to have Oprah Winfrey arrive at his house to discuss his betrayal of wife and party as anyone would. That is to say, he looked like a man who was about to be dragged backward by his pinky toes through a field of soft horseshit.

The book has been rising on both Amazon (currently at #11) and B&N.com (currently at #4). Libraries show heavy reserving, 10 to 1 in several cases.

Resilience: Reflections on the Burdens and Gifts of Facing Life’s Adversities Elizabeth Edwards Price: $22.95 Hardcover: 224 pages Publisher: Broadway – (2009-05-08) ISBN-10: 076793136X ISBN-13: 9780767931366

Also in audio from Random House:

• ISBN-10: 0307577198
• ISBN-13: 978-0307577191

Jon Stewart interviews many authors on The Daily Show, but when he says, “You’ve got to read this book,” it constitutes a “heavy reserve alert.”

Getting the magic last week was the President of Liberia and her memoir, This Child Will Be Great.

Watch the video, if only to see her make Jon a chief.

Libraries are showing heavy reserves on very light ordering.
 

This Child Will Be Great: Memoir of a Remarkable Life by Africa’s First Woman President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf Price: $26.99 Hardcover: 368 pages Publisher: Harper – (2009-04-01) ISBN-10: 0061353477 ISBN-13: 9780061353475