In his review of Louis Bayard’s The Black Tower in today’s Wall Street Journal, Robert Hughes says the author “has emerged as a writer of historical thrillers in the vein of Caleb Carr.”

The current Entertainment Weekly calls it “delicious.” Set in Paris in 1818, the book concerns a “sad-sack hero” whose life is changed by a flamboyant figure,  based on the legendary French detective Eugène François Vidocq. Marilyn Stasio, in her 8/22 NYT review says,

The real-life Vidocq was unmatched as a figure of romantic legend. On the run as a thief, he offered his services to the law, becoming so adept at catching criminals that in 1811 he was named the first chief of the Sûreté, whose detective ranks he filled with former miscreants like himself.

Vidocq is determined to figure out if Marie Antoinette’s son really died in prison, or if he can still find him alive.

There are few holds showing in libraries I checked, so readers advisory librarians may actually have an opportunity to put the book into customer’s hands.

• Hardcover: $24.95
• Publisher: William Morrow (August 26, 2008)
• ISBN-10: 0061173509
• ISBN-13: 978-0061173509

You may not have heard of the 2006 title Plum Wine, but many people in North Carolina have, because of one enthusiastic bookseller.  The book might have been lucky to sell out its 1,000 copy print run, says the author Angela Davis-Gardner. Instead, it went through seven printings, selling a total of 57,000, thanks to the efforts of Nancy Olson, owner of Quail Ridge Book in Raleigh, N.C., as reported in a story in the Charlotte News & Observer.

This is the kind of story that makes my day (one of the many reasons to read Shelf Awareness, which features it today). To make it even better, an anonymous librarian also plays a role in the story. When author Davis-Gardner was unsuccessfully trying to sell the book, she left part of the manuscript on an airplane. The librarian found it and wrote to Davis-Gardner to tell her how much she liked it. This ray of hope gave the author the needed inspiration to renew her efforts to get it published.

As a result of this success, Plum Wine, originally published by the U. of Wisconsin Press, was picked up for publication in trade paperback by the Dial Press (a division of Random House). Davis-Gardner now has a contract for her next book and can finally take the time off to write it.

The book, as described by the Charlotte News & Observer, sounds like a perfect book club selection (in fact, Cuyahoga County has included it in its collection of bookable discussion sets);

[the book] focuses on an American woman, Barbara Jefferson, living in Tokyo in the 1960s. Jefferson’s surrogate mother Michi dies, leaving her a collection of plum wine bottles wrapped in rice paper covered with calligraphy that details Michi’s life from the early 20th century through World War II. Barbara works with a translator to unravel the plum wine writings, and so reveal a story of human relationships and the horrors of war.

It was starred in PW and reviewed in the Baltimore Sun and the Charlotte Observer (of course).

Plum Wine

Angela Davis-Gardner

• Paperback: $13.00; 352 pages
• Publisher: Dial Press Trade Paperback (March 27, 2007)
• ISBN-10: 0385340834
• ISBN-13: 978-0385340830

There are reviews that declare a book good, even a masterpiece and then there are reviews that make you actually want to read the book.

Telex from Cuba had received several good reviews, but Carolyn See’s review in today’s Washington Post makes you want to read it. She describes it as,

a pure treat from the cover to the very last page. It’s the kind of thing you should stock up on to give sick friends as presents; they’ll forget their arthritis and pneumonia, I promise, once they walk into a land that’s gone now, but not yet quite forgotten: Cuba in the last few years before Fidel Castro took over.

Telex from Cuba 

Rachel Kushner

• Hardcover: $25.00
• Publisher: Scribner (July 1, 2008)
• ISBN-10: 141656103X
• ISBN-13: 978-1416561033

• Abridged CD (10): Tantor Media, Inc.
• Pub. Date: August 11, 2008
• ISBN-13: 9781400108343

Brad Meltzer’s over-the-top rave about an out-of print 1987 cult title, Replay by Ken Grimwood, sent it to #5 on the Amazon bestseller list (it’s now down to a still astonishingly high #16).

Meltzer talked about Replay on NPR’s “All Things Considered,” as part of their “You Must Read This” series, on Thursday (July 10). He loved the book so much that when he was in his early twenties, he tried to buy the film rights, despite having no money (unfortunately, they were already sold. No word on what’s happened; perhaps this attention will bring the project back to life).

Harper is reprinting the book.

Replay (Paperback Reprint)
Ken Grimwood

• Paperback: $13.95
• Publisher: Harper Paperbacks; (July 22, 1998)
• ISBN-10: 068816112X
• ISBN-13: 978-0688161125

On NPR’s “Morning Edition” today, librarian Nancy Pearl had an interesting take on a Summer Reading conundrum; what books will keep you entertained on a long flight. Nancy, who travels a lot, has it down to a science. The ideal book needs to be “complex enough to smother your annoyance when the guy in the row ahead reclines his seat into your lap, but not so intellectually challenging that it demands a dictionary.”

The nine titles she’s chosen are all older and now available in paperback. Listen to the podcast; each description is a model of booktalking. How DOES she make me want to read every one of the books?

Although People gives primary placement to Stephen Carter’s Palace Council in this issue (July 14; on newsstands now), they give it just three stars. The book that receives a complete set of stars (four) is the American trade paperback edition of a UK original, What Was Lost by Catherine O’Flynn. People calls it a “ghost story and satire of consumer culture… at once moving and wickedly funny, it’s one dazzling debut.”

Originally pubbed in the UK, it was the winner of the British Costa Award for best first novel. The Library Journal review said; This seamlessly written, character-driven novel offers up well-appreciated humor along with its darker material, and readers who enjoy sideswiping surprises will not be disappointed.”

It received starred reviews in PW and School Library Journal; some libraries have it on order for YA only.

In consumer reviews, it was reviewed in the LA Times earlier this month, by Jane Smiley;

This is a novel that should have no jacket copy, no advance notices. It should come into your hands unheralded, because if you simply open to the first page and begin reading, you’ll proceed in a state of innocent pleasure.

The 6/29 Dallas Morning News called the author the “British book trade’s ‘Newcomer of the Year’” and describes the book’s appeal;

Just when you think you are settling into a quirky English mystery in the tradition of The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time, Ms. O’Flynn reveals she has bigger and broader ambitions. Just when you think the mood is becoming a little too somber, she unleashes a comic riff that nicely skewers consumer culture without getting preachy. Just when you think you have the crime solved, she raises new possibilities.

The book ranks at #1,343 in sales on Amazon, which is high for the trade paperback of a book originally published in the UK. Libraries I checked also show a surprising number of holds.

• Paperback: $14.00
• Publisher: Holt Paperbacks; June 24, 2008
• ISBN-10: 0805088334
• ISBN-13: 978-0805088335

• Unabridged Audio: $79.95
• Publisher: BBC Audio
• Narrator: Catherine Skinner
• CD: 9780792754954

The current issue of USA Today features The Monster of Florence by Douglas Preston. Preston’s mystery series with Lincoln Child, as well has his solo titles, recently broke onto the bestseller lists. This is his first nonfiction title (Correction: as noted below, Preston has written nonfiction before).

The book has been getting attention (excerpted in The Atlantic Monthly, a strong review from Entertainment Weekly).

From a readers advisory standpoint, the most interesting is Sarah Weinman’s article on true crime in last Sunday’s LA Times. Working in a bookstore, Weinman began to realize that “crime fiction readers and crime nonfiction readers are two distinct camps.” Why?

Crime fiction readers and writers express frustration about the lack of motivation and satisfying resolution of real cases, and prefer fictive escapism to reality’s lack of order; true crime enthusiasts wish fiction purveyors would pay more attention to the facts and appreciate the messiness and viscera of real murder.

She then suggests titles that will appeal to both camps; true crime novels with strong narratives. Monster of Florence leads the list.

Looks like she’s right; the book now ranks #6 in nonfiction sales on Amazon. Expect to see it on upcoming print bestseller lists.

Libraries bought this one conservatively; reserves are heavy in most areas.

The Monster of Florence
Douglas Preston

• Hardcover: $25.99
• Publisher: Grand Central Publishing (June 10, 2008)
• ISBN-10: 0446581194
• ISBN-13: 978-0446581196

• Audio CD: Unabridged edition, $39.98
• Publisher: Hachette Audio; (June 10, 2008)
• Reader: Dennis Boutsikaris
• ISBN-10: 160024209X
• ISBN-13: 978-1600242090

• Large Print, Hardcover: $27.99
• Publisher: Grand Central Publishing (June 10, 2008)
• ISBN-10: 044650534X
• ISBN-13: 978-0446505345

NPR news show, “The Bryant Park Project” was launched Oct ‘07. The goal of the daily two-hour show is to “combine the authority and intelligence of NPR with the tone and sensibility the next generation of Public Radio listeners demand.”

Since they’re trying to appeal to the younger portion of their audience, as are many libraries (Maricopa County PL just completed a marketing study of 24 to 40 year olds), it’s worth a look at the books they cover.

Yesterday, Robert Powers, the author of You Are a Miserable Excuse for a Hero talked about his book, the first in the “Just Make a Choice! Series”. Powers uses humor to illustrate his theory that most people avoid making decisions, and thus, fail to become heroes because they prefer to keep their options open.

The book is owned by just a few libraries; it looks like it wasn’t reviewed prepublication.

You Are a Miserable Excuse for a Hero

Book One in the Just Make a Choice! Series

• Paperback: $13.95
• Publisher: St. Martin’s Griffin (May 27, 2008)
• ISBN-10: 0312377347
• ISBN-13: 978-0312377342

The show also features a monthly book club with regular online discussions. The titles that have been covered so far are:

Petropolis, Anya Ulinich, Viking — current selection

Anansi Boys, Neil Gaiman, Morrow– May

The God of Animals, Aryn Kyle, Scribner — April

In The Country of Men, Hisham Matar, Dial — March (first selection)

“The Bryant Park Project’” is currently carried by a limited number of stations (you can check here to see if it’s in your area. You can also listen to it online).

Salon’s summer reading recommendations are coming in parts. On Monday, June 2nd, the Salon staff picked four chick lit titles. Most summer roundups focus on titles published during the season, but the Salon staff doesn’t confine itself to pub date or format.

Louis Bayard selects a UK title, This Is How It Happened, pubbed here in trade paperback, calling it “a black-humored romp.” Reading a man write about chick lit is a bit like watching a guy hold his girlfriend’s purse. He’s agreed to do it, but he has to make sure you know he’s not comfortable with it. The main character describes how hard she works to appeal to her man. Says Bayard;

she’s shaving and plucking like a maniac and wearing makeup on Saturday mornings and getting a bikini wax every other week. On and on it goes, a litany of biological self-denial, to which a stupefied male reader can only respond: We are so not worth it.

This is How it Happened (Not a Love Story)

by Jo Barrett

• Paperback: $13.95
• Publisher: Avon A (January 22, 2008)
• ISBN-10: 0061241105
• ISBN-13: 978-0061241109

———————————

Rebecca Traister loses her heart to Anne Rivers Siddons:

Off Season

Anne Rivers Siddons

• Hardcover: $24.99
• Publisher: Grand Central Publishing (August 13, 2008)
• ISBN-10: 0446527874
• ISBN-13: 978-0446527873

———————————

Sara Hepola chooses a debut novel by Liz Tuccillo, the co-author of a little piece of nonfiction, He’s Just Not That Into You. The movie version hits theaters Oct. 24, starring nearly everybody (for a little guilty pleasure, check the trailer under our “Books to Movies” listing).

Tuccillo was also head writer for Sex and the City. Hepola sees a similarity “her dialogue bears some of the show’s hallmarks — tart and briskly paced and occasionally sappy.”

How to Be Single: A Novel

by Liz Tuccillo

• Hardcover: $24.95
• Publisher: Atria (June 10, 2008)
• ISBN-10: 1416534121
• ISBN-13: 978-1416590149

• Audio CD: Abridged, $29.95
  
• Publisher: Simon & Schuster Audio; (June 10, 2008)
• ISBN-10: 0743569679
• ISBN-13: 978-0743569675

———————————

Joy Press chooses April pub Certain Girls by Jennifer Weiner (covered here earlier), saying “Weiner has chosen smartass amusement over depth every time — but that’s what makes Certain Girls an imperfectly perfect summer read.”

Certain Girls

by Jennifer Weiner

• Hardcover: $26.95
• Publisher: Atria; (April 8, 2008)
• ISBN-10: 0743294254
• ISBN-13: 978-0743294256

• Audio CD: Abridged; 29.95
• Publisher: Simon & Schuster Audio; (April 8, 2008)
• Readers: Michele Pawk, Zoe Kazan
  
• ISBN-10: 0743569865
• ISBN-13: 978-0743569866

———————————

Last week, Salon chose thrillers. Four of the five, all pubbed in April, are already well-known:

• Hold Tight by Harlan Coben (Dutton)
• Child 44 by Tom Rob Smith (Grand Central)
• Losing You by Nicci French (St. Martin’s Minotaur)
• The Forgery of Venus by Michael Gruber (Morrow)

The less predictable choice is a debut title from February, selected by Laura Miller. It’s difficult to condense Miller’s review but a quote from PW gets at the strangeness Miller describes — “a thriller that will strike some as a mix of John Fowles’s The Magus and Stephen King’s The Shining.”

Obedience

Will Lavender

• Hardcover: $24.00
• Publisher: Shaye Areheart Books (February 19, 2008)
• ISBN-10: 030739610X
• ISBN-13: 978-0307396105

• Audio CD: Unabridged, 7 CD’s $90
  
• Publisher: Books On Tape
• ISBN: 9781415946442

Next week, Salon will do memoirs. The finl list will be historical fiction.

Hurrah! USA Today’s Summer Books preview is up, listing 130+ of the season’s top books, with cover images and annotations for each and every one. It even has excerpts for some of the titles. Set up in a fun, interactive format (watch out, it’s addictive), it’s a great tool for readers advisory training.

Good as it is, it doesn’t take chances. The list is dominated by expected hits from authors with track records (no mention of The Art of Racing in the Rain, which just appeared on their Top 150 list at #129, after a few days on sale).

From that large crop, USA Today’s editors choose “The Authors of Summer,” with quick info. on each of the six, including why they’re hot.

James Bond is back in book form with the ‘Devil’
Devil May Care
By Sebastian Faulks

“Why it’s hot: It will be released on what would have been Fleming’s 100th birthday as part of a centennial celebration. Faulks is an acclaimed literary novelist, unlike Fleming, who was known more for his plots than style.”

• Hardcover: $24.95
• Publisher: Doubleday (May 28, 2008)
• ISBN-10: 0385524285
• ISBN-13: 978-0385524285

• Audio CD: Unabridged
• Publisher: Random House Audio;, $29.95 (May 28, 2008)
• ISBN-10: 0739366211
• ISBN-13: 978-0739366219

• Large Type: $24.95
• Publisher: Random House Large Print; (May 28, 2008)
• ISBN-10: 0739327852
• ISBN-13: 978-0739327852

E. Lynn Harris proves to be quite ‘Good’

Just Too Good to Be True
by E. Lynn Harris
“Why it’s hot: After nine best-selling novels about the lives and loves of black Americans (gay, straight and bisexual), Harris has nailed the winning formula for a sexy, melodramatic beach read.”

• Hardcover: $24.95
• Publisher: Doubleday (July 15, 2008)
• ISBN-10: 0385492723
• ISBN-13: 978-0385492720

Stephanie Klein remembers what it was like to be ‘Moose’
Moose: A Memoir of Fat Camp
by Stephanie Klein
“Why it’s hot: It combines the classic misery-at-summer-camp story with the lengths we’ll go to get thin.”

• Hardcover: $24.95
• Publisher: William Morrow (May 27, 2008)
• ISBN-10: 0060843292
• ISBN-13: 978-0060843298

W. Hodding Carter is holding his breath in the ‘Deep End’
Off the Deep End
By W. Hodding Carter

“Why it’s hot: Aimed at aging baby boomers, it’s dedicated ‘To all those aged athletes out there with a burning desire to kick some young butt.’ Publisher is touting it as Father’s Day gift.”

• Hardcover: 209 pages
• Publisher: Algonquin Books (June 10, 2008)
• ISBN-10: 1565125649
• ISBN-13: 978-1565125643

The matchless David Sedaris quits smoking in ‘Flames’
When You Are Engulfed in Flames
By David Sedaris
(Little, Brown, $25.99)

“Why it’s hot: Sedaris is on a roll after his wildly popular best-sellers Me Talk Pretty One Day and Dress Your Family in Corduroy and Denim.”

• Hardcover: $25.99
• Publisher: Little, Brown, (June 3, 2008)
• ISBN-10: 0316143472
• ISBN-13: 978-0316143479

• Audio CD: Unabridged, $34.98
  
• Publisher: Hachette Audio; (June 3, 2008)
• Reader: David Sedaris
• ISBN-10: 1600241824
• ISBN-13: 978-1600241826

• Audio Cassette: Unabridged, $34.98
  
• Publisher: Hachette Audio (June 3, 2008)
• Reader: David Sedaris
• ISBN-10: 1600242316
• ISBN-13: 978-1600242311

• Large Type: $25.99
• Publisher: Little, Brown. (June 3, 2008)
• ISBN-10: 0316024597
• ISBN-13: 978-0316024594

Emily Giffin is in top chick-lit form
Love the One You’re With

“Why it’s hot: The best-selling chick-lit author (Something Borrowed, Baby Proof) makes her highest debut on USA TODAY’s Best-Selling Books list at No. 8 today with her latest novel.”

• Hardcover: $24.95
• Publisher: St. Martin’s Press (May 13, 2008)
• ISBN-10: 0312348673
• ISBN-13: 978-0312348670

• Audio CD: Abridged, $24.95
• Publisher: Macmillan Audio; (May 13, 2008)
• ISBN-10: 1427204217
• ISBN-13: 978-1427204219