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Going Rogue does not have an index, a fact widely reported in the press. Satirist Christopher Buckley provides one (who knew an index could be funny?) in the Daily Beast.
With all the attention the book has received in the press (try Googling “Tired of Palin”), holds per copy have doubled at the libraries we checked since the book was released.
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HarperAudio; Abridged; 9780061990731; $29.99; 11/24
HarperLuxe; pbk; $28.99; 11/24
It seems a famous name on the cover doesn’t always win over readers.
Al Roker, book lover and Today Show‘s seemingly irrepressible weatherperson, releases his first work of adult fiction today; The Morning Show Murders. Library users are not jumping on it; holds are light. Selectors have also been cautious; the systems we checked ordered just one per large branch, despite strong prepub reviews. PW called it “solid and exciting”; Kirkus, “a crisp puzzler”; Booklist reveals a bit of anti-celebrity prejudice by calling it “surprisingly engaging.”
Of course, Roker can expect to get more publicity than your average first-time mystery author. He is interviewed in USA Today, in a story that gives more ink to how various Today Show staffers feel about the book (even though none of them have read it yet), than the book itself.
He is also featured on the Today Show, but most of the segment is taken up by an odd, not particularly funny, fake book trailer.
Fortunately, mystery maven Sarah Weinman treats Roker like an author in The Daily Beast, delving in to his writing process with coauthor Dick Lochte and the book’s tone (unlike Roker’s on-air personality, his book has its dark moments).
The main character, Billy Blessing, is a chef and restaurant owner, who also does segments on a TV morning show and has just begun filming a reality show. There’s no love lost between Blessing and the show’s executive producer, who inconveniently dies after eating poisoned coq au vin in Blessing’s restaurant.
The book is the first of a planned series. Roker and his coauthor are working on the second one, which is scheduled for release in fall 2010.
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Random House Audio; 9780307577375; $35
The NYT reviews a book that has been a best seller in Israel and France and was recently released in English here and in the UK, where it has sparked heated debate. In The Invention of the Jewish People, by Shlomo Sand, a professor at Tel Aviv University, says the NYT, “resurrects a theory first raised by 19th-century historians, that the Jews of Central and Eastern Europe, to whom 90 percent of American Jews trace their roots, are descended from the Khazars, a Turkic people who apparently converted to Judaism…”
The NYT quotes Michael Terry, head of NYPL’s Jewish Division, who says experts have since discredited this theory.
The historian Simon Schama recently reviewed the book in the Financial Times, saying it “…relies on twists of historical logic and strategic evasions of modern research.”
It appears that it was not reviewed prepub; few libraries own it.
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When Michael Chrichton died last year, he left two books, Pirate Latitudes, which releases next week and an unfinished thriller.
Of the titles coming out next week, those by Chrichton, Koontz, & Butcher lead in holds. Butcher has the highest holds to copies ratios.
Butcher, Jim, First Lord’s Fury
Chrichton, Michael, Pirate Latitudes
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HarperAudio: 9780061930256; $34.99 HarperLuxe: 9780061929403; pbk; $27.99 |
Audio downloadable from OverDrive
Entertainment Weekly gives Pirate Latitudes a C, saying Crichton should not be remembered for this “hackneyed historical novel filled with bosomy maidens and blustery old navy dialogue.” but, “Crichton’s great talent was writing books that were virtually impossible to put down, even when they were bad. Pirate Latitudes is no exception.” Spielberg bought the film rights back in August (Jurassic Park with pirates?).
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Jin, Ha, A Good Fall
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Blackstone Audio: CD 9781441711458: $29.95 |
Book and audio downloadable from OverDrive
This collection of stories by 1999 National Book Award winner, Ha Jin gets the lead review and 3.5 of a possible 4 stars in People‘s “Books” section this week. The stories feature people who leave China to try for a new life in the U.S. People says Jin “writes with humor about it means to be a bewildered stranger in a strange land.”
Koontz, Dean, Breathless
Roker, Al, The Morning Show Murders
Wambaugh, Joseph, Hollywood Moon
Sklenicka, Carol Raymond Carver
Bradley, James The Imperial Cruise: A Secret History of Empire and War
Scottoline, Lisa, Why My Third Husband Will Be a Dog: The Amazing Adventures of an Ordinary Woman
Hunter, Erin, Warriors: Omen of the Stars #1: The Fourth Apprentice
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Book downloadable from OverDrive
A shoutout out to the 14 libraries who, according to WorldCat discovered Glamourpuss: The Enchanting World of Kitty Wigs before we spied it in the new issue of People (thank heaven; it’s a welcome relief from all those photos of the 110 Hottest Guys on the Planet).
Sadly, it seems the book is currently out of stock.
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How many times has Gossip Girl been called “Sex and the City for Teens”?
Come May, there will be an actual S&TC for teens, when Candace Busnell publishes The Carrie Diaries, the first of two fictional diaries supposedly written by Carrie Bradshaw as a teenager.
The grownup version of Carrie will appear in theaters in May, with the release of Sex and the City 2.
Entertainment Weekly‘s “Shelf Life” blog gives a sneak peek at the cover and so do we:
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HarperChildrensAudio; 5/1/10; UNAB; 978-0061983948; $25.99
A recipe for spicy caramel corn from The Craft of Baking featured in the “Cooking with Dexter” column in Sunday’s New York Times Magazine was all it took to send the book rising on Amazon.
Who could resist that cover?
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First there was Captain Chesley Sullenberger’s autobiography, Highest Duty, with his account of the miraculous landing on the Hudson that brought him to fame. In it, Sullenberger says, as he has from the beginning, that credit for the feat should not go to him alone, but to the teamwork of everyone involved.
Now comes a different take. In the book, Fly By Wire, William Langewiesche says there’s another member of the team that hasn’t received the credit it deserves; the Airbus’s automation system.
Sullenberger recently shot back, saying that Langewiesche “greatly overstates” the importance of the plane’s equipment.
Library users are with Sullenberger; holds are much higher for his book than Langewiesche’s, as are number of copies.
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HarperAudio, 9780061953255, UNAB. $39.99
HarperLuxe, 9780061927584, pbk, $25.99
Audio and eBook downloadable from OverDrive
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Tantor Audio available 12/21/09. Read by David Drummond
Has everyone seen The Little Dump Truck by Margery Cuyler?
I could shout from the rooftops. It’s not just another truck book with bold graphic child-friendly pictures, you can sing it (think “I’m a little teapot”);
I’m a little dump truck
Run by Hard Hat Pete.
Rattle-rattle-clatter,
Driving down the street.
Pre-school teachers are knocking each other out of the way to get their hands on my review copy. Buy a stack; children’s librarians will be hoarding them for story time.
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On NPR’s Fresh Air last night, Joshua Kosman, author of The Buyout of America, spoke to Terry Gross about how private equity companies work. Kosman believes that their practices are leading to another credit crisis.
The book rose to #117 (from #4,194). Libraries own modest quantities, with holds averaging 1:1.
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Downloadable eBook from OverDrive.
When you make Jon Stewart laugh this much, it’s great for book sales. Jake Edelstein’s Tokyo Vice went to #95 (from #201) on Amazon after this appearance last night.
As we noted earlier, Edelstein was interviewed on NPR’s Fresh Air last week. Tokyo Vice was reviewed in the Boston Globe on Thursday.
| The Daily Show With Jon Stewart | Mon – Thurs 11p / 10c | |||
| Jake Adelstein | ||||
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Audio and eBook downloadable from OverDrive.
As prep for Oprah’s sit-down with Sarah Palin today, you may want to read Michiko Kakutani’s review of her book (supposedly embargoed until tomorrow, but widely leaked), under the headline, “Memoir is Palin’s Payback to McCain Campaign.”
UPDATE: This may be the least-respected embargo in history; it’s also reviewed in the Wall Street Journal. On Friday, the AP fact-checked the book. Palin calls it “opposition research” on her Facebook page.
UPDATE — Just discovered (thanks to a sharp-eyed reader) that the Hungry Girl book mentioned below is actually recipe cards, which obviously doesn’t work as a library item.
Can you cook food at home that tastes like you bought it at various fast-food chains? Entertainment Weekly put together a panel of judges to see if the latest title in the Top Secret Recipes series, Unlocked produces dishes that taste like the originals.
The book failed; the home-cooked versions tasted too good.
Most libraries own all but this, the ninth title in the series.
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Speaking of cookbook franchises, the latest Hungry Girl title lands next month, in time for holiday gift giving.
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Getting the most attention of the books coming next week, of course, is Sarah Palin’s Going Rogue. Palin taped an interview with Oprah on Thursday for Monday’s show. An interview with Barbara Walters will air in five parts, beginning on Good Morning America on Tuesday, the day the book is released. Copies have been strategically leaked, causing a press feeding frenzy, but most sources say there are no surprises; as the AP puts it, the book confirms that “the McCain-Palin campaign was not a happy family.”
Based on holds, next week’s biggest book is the new James Patterson I, Alex Cross. At four large library systems, holds are nearly three times higher on the Patterson title than on Palin’s (2,546 for Patterson; 885 for Palin).
Patterson, James, I, Alex Cross
Cussler, Clive, The Wrecker
Munro, Alice, Too Much Happiness
Nabokov, Vladimir, The Original of Laura
Weber, David, Torch of Freedom
Palin, Sarah, Going Rogue
Horowitz, Anthony, Crocodile Tears: An Alex Rider Adventure
Noel, Alyson, Shadowland: The Immortals
Of course you expect a new John Grisham title to top bestseller lists, but could Grisham work the same magic with a book of short stories?
No problem; Ford County debuts on the USA Today list at #2 (it takes a lot to beat the Wimpy Kid), making it a shoe-in for #1 on the upcoming NYT Hardcover Fiction list.
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Random House Audio; UNAB; 9780307702104; $35
Random House Large Print; 9780739377383; pbk; $24
Audio downloadable from OverDrive
At #5 on USA Today‘s list is Dan Brown’s The Lost Symbol, which held the #1 position for 4 weeks, before being knocked down by the not-so-Wimpy Kid and then slipping to #5 last week.
USA Today’s “Book Buzz” column says Grisham’s next legal thriller, as yet untitled, will be published next fall. His first bestseller, The Firm, was published in February, to take advantage of a period that traditionally did not feature big-name competition. In the 20 years since, you could count on a Grisham legal thriller to appear as the calendar turned to February; it seems that will not longer be the case.
Entering the list at #15 is Barbara Kingsolver’s The Lacuna, making it the sixth bestselling adult hardcover fiction title on the list.
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HarperAudio; 9780060853563; $44.99
HarperLuxe; 780061927560; pbk; $26.99
Audio and eBook downloadable from OverDrive