When excerpts of the novel, American Wife were posted in early July, the obvious references to the life of the current first lady (and the fact that the excerpts were “steamy”) brought some strident protests. Maureen Dowd, who clearly read more than just the excerpts, jumped into the fray and defended the book, saying the portraits of the First Couple “are trenchant and make you like them more.”

The book will be released on Tuesday; USA Today features a review today. Noting that the book’s release date coincides with the Republican National Convention, the review says author Curtis Sittenfeld (who, in case you are wondering, is a woman), “creatively fills in the blanks” of the Laura Bush story (actually, the Alice Blackwell story, as the main character is named).

Reading the book could bring on a curious feeling, which USA Today describes,

It may be impossible for readers not to picture President and Mrs. Bush while reading about Alice and Charlie. This gives the novel cinematic qualities that enhance the experience. But explicit sex scenes will make you feel like a voyeur.

In a sidebar, USA Today tries to discover if the First Lady will be indulging in that voyeurism (talk about a multi-layered experience). A spokesperson says she “has no plans to read [it].”

So far, reserves are not heavy at the four large library systems I checked. They show a total of 166 copies on order in both print and audio, with 410 reserves, which is about 2.5 per copy.

American Wife

Curtis Sittenfeld

• Hardcover: $26.00
• Publisher: Random House (September 2, 2008)
• ISBN-10: 1400064759
• ISBN-13: 978-1400064755

Just appearing on the Amazon bestseller list at #25 earlier today (it’s now at #39) is the new edition of Getting the Love You Want by Harville Hendrix. None of the libraries I checked have it on order. All of them have the previous 2001 edition and some are showing holds on those copies.

Getting the Love You Want, 20th Anniversary Edition: A Guide for Couples
by Harville Hendrix

• Paperback: 320 pages
• Publisher: Holt Paperbacks; Revised and Updated edition (December 26, 2007)
• ISBN-10: 0805087001
• ISBN-13: 978-0805087000

• Audio CD: Unabridged, $44.95
• Reader: Jack Garrett
• Publisher: Macmillan Audio (Dec., 2007)
• ISBN-10: 1-4272-0240-0
• ISBN-13: 978-1-4272-0240-6

Below is the publisher’s description of the new edition:

The 20th anniversary edition contains extensive revisions to this groundbreaking book, with a new chapter, new exercises, and a foreword detailing Dr. Hendrix’s updated philosophy for eliminating all negativity from couples’ daily interactions, allowing readers of the 2008 edition to benefit from his ongoing discoveries during his last two decades of work.

In anticipation of the release next Tuesday of Stephenie Meyer’s adult title, The Host, Time magazine profiles the author. Echoing a piece in the Wall Street Journal last year, the article is called, “Stephenie Meyer: A New J.K. Rowling?”

Time offers insight into her appeal.

…she rewrites stock horror plots as love stories, and in doing so, she makes them new again. She writes vampire novels without the biting and science fiction without the lasers. Instead, she slows down the action, tapping it for the pent-up emotional drama that’s always been present in it but had been all but invisible until she came along.

Most libraries have The Host on order in quantity, but reserves are heavy (in some cases, over 10 to 1). None of the libraries I checked have ordered it for their Young Adult collections. As we’ve said before, the book has strong crossover appeal and should be purchased for both YA and adult collections (Booklist agrees in their 3/1 review). Addressing the issue of sexual content in the books, Time says, “some of their appeal lies in their fine moral hygiene: they’re an alternative to the hookup scene, Gossip Girls for good girls…What makes Meyer’s books so distinctive is that they’re about the erotics of abstinence. Their tension comes from prolonged, superhuman acts of self-restraint.”

The Host Stephenie Meyer

• Hardcover: $25.99
• Publisher: Little, Brown and Company (May 6, 2008)
• ISBN-10: 0316068047
• ISBN-13: 978-031606804

• Audio CD: Unabridged edition, $49.98
• Publisher: Hachette Audio, (May 6, 2008)
• Reader: Kate Reading
• ISBN-10: 1600241662
• ISBN-13: 978-1600241666

• Paperback: $25.99
• Publisher: Little, Brown and Company (May 6, 2008)
• ISBN-10: 0316034118
• ISBN-13: 978-03160341

The release of The Host is likely to feed the anticipation for the release of the fourth title in Meyer’s Y.A. series, Breaking Dawn, which pubs on Aug. 2. The book is embargoed, so there will be no reviews. For more on the publisher’s plans for it, check our Feb. 14 story

.

Breaking Dawn (The Twilight Saga, Book 4) Stephenie Meyer

• Hardcover: $22.99
• Publisher: Little, Brown Young Readers (August 2, 2008)
• ISBN-10: 031606792X
• ISBN-13: 978-0316067928

• Audio CD: Unabridged $60
• Publisher: Listening Library (August 2, 2008)
• ISBN-10: 0739367676
• ISBN-13: 978-0739367674

Jeffrey Gegner, Popular Materials Specialist at Hennepin County Library, offers this idea for adding long-lead titles to the catalog:

At Hennepin County LIbrary (suburban), we put a record into our catalog for Breaking Dawn at the end of December and our order went out February 19. This morning there are 271 requests on 47 copies.

When we have information from a reliable source about an upcoming title that is expected to have high demand, we put a ‘Work in Progess’ record in our catalog so customers may place requests. We’re selective about how many we add, but it saves customers and staff a lot of hassle.

In addition, Baker & Taylor doesn’t always have full ordering information on some high demand titles as quickly as we’d like. If I’m able to verify title, ISBN, price, etc., at other sources such as the publisher’s website, author’s website or Amazon, I will prepare an order, use it to create a record in the catalog, and then hold the actual order until the title shows in Title Source. Again, this is done selectively.

The story of the raid on a Texas polygamist compound has brought new attention to a book by the former wife of the man who oversees the compound elder in the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (FLDS). Carolyn Jessop has appeared on several news shows, including the Today Show. The book went on the Amazon list at #23 last week and is currently at #28.

Today, Slate, looks at the book in their “Juicy Bits: How to Read Juicy Books” column. Reserves are building in most places. A trade paperback is scheduled, but it is not due out until August 26.

Escape
Carolyn Jessop

• Hardcover: $24.95
• Publisher: Broadway (October 16, 2007)
• ISBN-10: 0767927567
• ISBN-13: 978-076792756

• Audio CD: $27.95
  
• Publisher: Random House Audio; Abridged edition (October 16, 2007)
• ISBN-10: 0739354574
• ISBN-13: 978-073935457

We mentioned earlier that Quiet, Please: Dispatches from a Public Librarian was Dan Menaker’s thank-you gift to the authors who appeared on the most recent Title Page TV show.

The book just got a bigger hit — coverage in USA Today. But, review editor, Bob Minzesheimer backhands our favorite institution — “libraries would benefit from more creative staffs with a sense of humor.” Ouch! Some way to celebrate libraries during National Library Week. Bob should know better; he is also President of the Board of the Ossining [NY] Public Library.

As far as the book goes, Minzesheimer finds it “too self-consciously hip for my tastes.”

Quiet Please: Dispatches from a Public Librarian

Scott Douglas

• Hardcover: $25.00
• Publisher: Da Capo Press (March 24, 2008)
• ISBN-10: 0786720913
• ISBN-13: 978-0786720910

As part of this National Library Week “celebration,” he also reviews The Library at Night, saying, “The writing is challenging but rewarding.”

The Library at Night
Alberto Manguel

• Hardcover: $27.50
• Publisher: Yale University Press (March 28, 2008)
• ISBN-10: 0300139144
• ISBN-13: 978-0300139143

The book has also been reviewed by Michael Dirda in the Washington Post and Nicholas A. Basbanes in the L.A. Times.

Featured in Salon today is a long review (actually, not so much a review as an essay based on the book) with the inspired title, “Through a Bong, Darkly,” of a book that deconstructs the sixties.

The Sixties Unplugged:

A Kaleidoscopic History of a Disorderly Decade

Gerard J. DeGroot

• Hardcover: $29.95
• Publisher: Harvard University Press (March 28, 2008)
• ISBN-10: 0674027868
• ISBN-13: 978-067402786

The book is owned widely.

Tomorrow’s Oprah Show features David Sheff and his son Nic. David, a journalist, wrote an article in 2005 about his son’s meth addiction, “My Addicted Son,” for the New York Times Magazine. The response to the article was so strong (Sheff points out that most addiction memoirs are by the addict, but we rarely hear what addiction does to the family), that Sheff wrote a book on the subject, Beautiful Boy. It’s the current Starbucks book program selection (which means it’s on sale in the 6,500 Starbucks owned stores) and is #2 on the New York Times hardcover nonfiction list after five weeks (it’s at #42 on USA Today’s list, which shows all bestsellers in one ranking, giving a better view of relative sales). David’s son, Nic, wrote his own book, Tweak, a YA title. It is currently on the NYT Childrens Chapter Books list at #4 after five weeks and the USA Today list at #115.

Reserves are heavy in most libraries. In one that I checked, they were running 10 to 1.

Beautiful Boy, David Sheff

• Hardcover: $24.00
• Publisher: Houghton Mifflin (February 26, 2008)
• ISBN-10: 0618683356
• ISBN-13: 978-061868335

• Audio CD: $29.95
• Narrator: Anthony Heald
• Publisher: Blackstone Audio, Unabridged (February 26, 2008)
• ISBN-10: 1433204681
• ISBN-13: 978-143320468

• Audio Cassette: $29.95
• Publisher: Blackstone Audio, Unabridged (February 26, 2008)
• ISBN-10: 1433204673
• ISBN-13: 978-1433204678

Tweak: Growing Up on Methamphetamines, Nic Sheff

• Hardcover:$16.99
• Publisher: Ginee Seo Books (S&S) (February 19, 2008)
• ISBN-10: 1416913629
• ISBN-13: 978-1416913627

• Audio CD: $29.95
  
• Narrator: Paul Michael Garcia
  
• Publisher: Blackstone Audio, Unabridged (February 23, 2008)
• ISBN-10: 1433209365
• ISBN-13: 978-1433209369

• Audio Cassette: $65.95
  
• Publisher: Blackstone Audio, Unabridged (February 23, 2008)
• ISBN-10: 1433209330

ISBN-13: 978-1433209338

One farsighted observer began to fear a credit crisis way back in 2005 and was able to convince a publisher that they should publish a book about it. Now, The Trillion Dollar Meltdown is at #18 on Amazon and the author, Charles R. Morris is the go-to expert on the subject. As proof of its foresightedness, the book’s original title was The Coming Crash.

It was not reviewed in the pre-pub media. The one library that has it on order, of the ones I searched, shows 6 holds per copy.

It was reviewed yesterday on Bloomberg.com as a “shrewd primer” to the current credit crisis. The Economist said in its March 6th review:

Morris can’t be dismissed as a crank. A lawyer, former banker and author of 10 other books, he knows a thing or two about the complex instruments that have spread toxic debt throughout the credit system.

The Trillion Dollar Meltdown: Easy Money, High Rollers, and the Great Credit Crash

Charles R. Morris

• Hardcover: $22.95
• Publisher: PublicAffairs (March 3, 2008)
• ISBN-10: 1586485636
• ISBN-13: 978-1586485634

Today’s Salon features a fascinating interview with Elizabeth Hess, the author of Nim Chimpsky: The Chimp Who Would Be Human. As Salon describes it, the book is about a chimp who was “raised like a son by a New York City family as part of a language experiment, [but] Nim Chimpsky was shipped away when funds ran out.”

The book was selected recently by USA Today in a roundup of animal titles. It was also reviewed in the Seattle Times (”a story every bit as stirring and elaborate as that of a famous person”) and the Christian Science Monitor (”about as poignant an animal story as you can get. The neglect Nim suffered… is heartbreaking. And yet in many ways reading about him remains a joyous experience.”)

Significant holds are building in some areas.

• Hardcover: $23.00
• Publisher: Bantam (February 26, 2008)
• ISBN-10: 0553803832
• ISBN-13: 978-0553803839

USA Today rounds up their favorite of the new books on human interactions with animals. With so much many titles on the subject to choose from these days (thank you, Marley) a little guidance is helpful.

These titles have been received in the libraries I checked (with a few showing as on order), in modest quantities with scattered holds.

• Hardcover:$22.95
• Publisher: Broadway (March 11, 2008)
• ISBN-10: 0767926439
• ISBN-13: 978-0767926430

• Audio CD, Unabridged: $29.95
• Publisher: BBC Audiobooks America; (March 15, 2008)
• ISBN-10: 1602833486
• ISBN-13: 978-1602833487

• Hardcover: $24.00
• Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux; (February 19, 2008)
• ISBN-10: 0374186308
• ISBN-13: 978-0374186302

• Hardcover:$26.00
• Publisher: Random House; February 5, 2008
• ISBN-10: 1400062934
• ISBN-13: 978-1400062935

• Hardcover: $23.00
• Publisher: Bantam (February 26, 2008)
• ISBN-10: 0553803832
• ISBN-13: 978-0553803839

Of the titles I’ve been checking on library catalogs this week, the one that has the most holds per copy (an average of 14) is Richard Price’s Lush Life.

Richard Price, Lush Life

• Hardcover: $26.00
• Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux (March 4, 2008)
• ISBN-10: 0374299250
• ISBN-13: 978-0374299255

• Audio CD, Unabridged: $44.95
• Reader: Bobby Cannavale
  
• Publisher: Macmillan Audio (March 4, 2008)
• ISBN-10: 1427203202
• ISBN-13: 978-1427203205

Libraries had reason to be cautious in buying this title:

It’s too New York centric.

That doesn’t seem to be a problem, it’s #1 on both the San Francisco Chronicle and the Northern California Independent Booksellers lists and West coast libraries show long reserve lists.

Price’s last book came out ten years ago, so there might be concern about whether there’s a waiting fan base.

The fan base was waiting. It went to #6 on Amazon on the day of release and is now at #18. It’s one of the few fiction titles to break into the top twenty on Amazon’s list recently — and from a guy who hasn’t even been on Oprah.

The secret to it’s success may be that it’s being reviewed as crime fiction, not as “littrachure.” The reviews make the book sound accessible and they’re some of the best-written reviews I’ve read in a while (perhaps Price inspired the critics).

Besides the usual suspects (the NY Times, Sunday and Daily, the Boston Globe, The Washington Post, and eleven other newspaper review sections), it’s been reviewed in places that cater to more popular interest:

USA Today review

Newsweek profile

Entertainment Weekly review

Time listed it as number 1 in the “5 Things You Should Know About,” calling it the “best crime novel of the year, guaranteed.”

Many libraries don’t have the book on the shelves yet, even though it’s been out for nearly two weeks. So, get the book out there and consider ordering more copies (the wholesalers have inventory).

Tony Earley’s Blue Star will be the featured cover review of the NYT Book Review this Sunday. Blue Star is the sequel to the author’s 2000 bestseller, Jim the Boy.

• Hardcover: $23.99
• Publisher: Little, Brown/Hachette (March 10, 2008)
• ISBN-10: 0316199079
• ISBN-13: 978-0316199070

The book was “Enthusiastically recommended” by Library Journal’s reviewer (Jan. 15), who feels it lives up to Jim the Boy. The only newsstand review so far (pub date is next week) is from the Kansas City Star. The reviewer manages to elegantly explain why the author’s simple prose style is so satisfying. The Times will have a long way to go to top it.

It’s common to parse a first novel to see if it’s based on the author’s life. Now it seems we have to do the same with memoirs. Today’s New York Times reports that Margaret Jones has admitted that her memoir of life as a gang member, Love and Consequences, is fabricated.

• Hardcover
• Publisher: Riverhead/Penguin (February 28, 2008)
• ISBN-10: 1594489777
• ISBN-13: 978-1594489778

• Audio CD
• Publisher: Brilliance Audio on CD Unabridged; Unabridged edition (February 28, 2008)
• ISBN-10: 1423360575
• ISBN-13: 978-1423360575

The book received a starred review in LJ (no fault there; it’s not up to the reviewer to determine if a memoir is what it purports to be). The review said “This conversationally written, exquisitely detailed book is as close to a living experience of the American ghetto as one can get.” Most libraries have both the book and the audiobook, from Brilliance, on order. Riverhead/Penguin is recalling the book and canceling the author’s book tour.

The NY Times gave the book a strong review and profiled the author last Thursday. The Times reports that the author’s sister saw the article and called publisher with the news that Jones (real name: Seltzer) did not grow up in a gang, but with her family in a middle-class section of LA.

Libraries that have received the book may be wondering if they have to return it. This isn’t quite like a meat recall. While the publisher might prefer that the book is not in circulation, libraries who hang on to it are not risking law suits.

The Web is often blamed for taking people away from reading books, but it may also offer new opportunities to lead people back to them. Oprah is doing a Webinar series for her current book club selection. In a similar approach, but with much different books, Dan Maneker, former editor in chief of Random House, launched an “online salon” today, Titlepage.tv.

The authors and titles featured on the first show are:

Richard Price, Lush Life

• Hardcover:$26.00
• Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux (March 4, 2008)
• ISBN-10: 0374299250
• ISBN-13: 978-0374299255

Colin Harrison, The Finder

• Hardcover:$25.00
• Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux (April 1, 2008)
• ISBN-10: 0374299498
• ISBN-13: 978-0374299491

Susan Choi, A Person of Interest

• Hardcover:$24.95
• Publisher: Viking (January 31, 2008)
• ISBN-10: 0670018465
• ISBN-13: 978-0670018468

Charles Bock, Beautiful Children

• Hardcover:$25.00
• Publisher: Random House (January 22, 2008)
• ISBN-10: 1400066506
• ISBN-13: 978-1400066506

The TitlePage blog offers further book picks.

Although the next program is not listed on the site, a January New York Times article said the next show will follow in two weeks and will feature first-time authors:

Sloane Crosley, I Was Told There’d Be Cake

• Paperback Original: $14.00
• Publisher: Riverhead/Penguin (April 1, 2008)
• ISBN-10: 159448306X
• ISBN-13: 978-1594483066

Please Excuse My Daughter, Julie Klam

• Hardcover:$22.95
• Publisher: Riverhead/Penguin (March 27, 2008)
• ISBN-10: 1594489807
• ISBN-13: 978-1594489808

Blood Kin, Ceridwen Dovey

• Hardcover:$23.95
• Publisher: Viking/Penguin (Feb 28, 2008)
• ISBN-10: 0670018562
• ISBN-13: 978-0670018567

All the Sad Young Literary Men, Keith Gessen

• Hardcover: $24.95
• Publisher: Viking/Penguin (April 10, 2008)
• ISBN-10: 0670018554
• ISBN-13: 978-0670018550

According to Time magazine, Anne Rice has another vampire novel coming. Rice, whose recent return to religion made her swear off the blood suckers, says she just couldn’t quit Lestat. The book, her last in the series, will be a vampire story with a twist. She tells Time that it will have Christian framework.

The second novel in her series on the life of Jesus, Christ the Lord: The Road to Cana, starred by PW, will be pubbed this coming Tuesday. She will publish one more in that series, before returning to the Vampire Chronicles. Based on her history of publishing a book every 15 months, Time estimates it will be at least 3 years before the final Vampire Chronicle title.

• Hardcover: 256 pages
• Publisher: Knopf (March 4, 2008)
• ISBN-10: 1400043522
• ISBN-13: 978-1400043521