EarlyWord is the home of GalleyChat, monthly online discussions where library staff share excitement about upcoming books. More information here.
Summaries of chats and announcements are posted to the right. Use them to add to your own TBR piles and for collection development.
Links on the far right of the site offer information useful to readers advisors.
Hope to see you during our next chat,
GalleyChatters
In an interview on the Austin, TX PBS station, Sam Tanenhaus, editor of the NYT Book Review says what we already knew — they are going to do an eBook best seller list (the NYT’s announcement said it will debut “early next year“). He also says they are going to do “complicated, fun interesting things” with all the lists.
Unfortunately, he does not elaborate, but does go on to say how they assign books are for review.
Following the opening of HP and the Deathly Hallows, Part 1 this Friday, two major children’s movies arrive to help fill family holiday time.
Tangled, based on Rapunzel, opens next week, 11/24. Several clips are available on the official Web site. Disney Books for Young Readers is doing several tie-ins.
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A new trailer for the next movie in the Chronicles of Narnia just appeared on the Web (official web site, Narnia.com). The movie arrives on 12/10.
HarperCollins Childrens is releasing the tie-ins.
Author, library supporter and hilarious speaker, Adriana Trigiani was on the Today Show last week, talking about her new book, Don’t Sing at the Table: Life Lessons from My Grandmothers. (Apologies for being a bit late in posting this and thanks to Carol Fitzgerald for mentioning it in this week’s Book Reporter newsletter).
This book must mean a lot to her; she’s actually speaking slowly.
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One of the big films of next year is based on an ALA Notable Children’s Book from the 1950’s. Rosemary Suttcliff’s The Eagle of the Ninth has been adapted for the screen as The Eagle, directed by Kevin Macdonald (The Last King of Scotland, State of Play). Starring Channing Tatum as Marcus Aquila, the movie is scheduled to open on February 25.
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Official Website: FindtheEagle.com
Tie-in:
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Laura Hillenbrand’s second book after her mega seller Seabiscuit is breaking records for media attention in advance of its release tomorrow. Library holds are growing on modest orders, so the issue now how many more copies to order.
Newsweek asks the central question, Can Laura Hillenbrand Top Seabiscuit?, and answers with a resounding “yes,”
Unbroken is wonderful twice over, for the tale it tells and for the way it’s told. A better book than Seabiscuit, it manages maximum velocity with no loss of subtlety. With a jeweler’s eye for a detail that makes a story live, Hillenbrand compresses pages of explanation into a paragraph and sometimes just a line. Even the planes come alive. One pilot describing what it was like to fly the unwieldy B-24s compares it to “sitting on the front porch and flying the house.”
But this doesn’t address how many readers will be willing to live through the book’s detailed descriptions of suffering. The hero of the story, Louis Zamperini, survives 47 excruciating days at sea after his WWII bomber crashes, only to be “rescued” by the Japanese and endure 2 more years of captivity in a brutal POW camp.
Janet Maslin, in today’s NYT says Unbroken tells a “much more harrowing, less heart-warming story” than did Seabiscuit and notes, “there’s a limit to how many times Ms. Hillenbrand can present a man-socks-shark-in-the-nose anecdote before it begins to get old.” But even so, she says, the book “manages to be as exultant as Seabiscuit.”
Hillenbrand, herself, addresses the differing appeal of the two books in the Wall Street Journal,
“Seabiscuit’s story is one of accomplishment. Louie’s is one of survival. Seabiscuit’s story played out before the whole world. Louie dealt with his ordeal essentially alone. His was a mental struggle.” That struggle, she adds, feels particularly resonant in 2010. “This is a time when people need to be buoyed by something, and Louie blows breath into people by making them realize that they can overcome more than they think.”
Our take; libraries that have ordered modestly should order more copies now as demand will be driven by the book’s considerable publicity (upcoming this week; the Today Show, NPR’s Weekend Edition Saturday, as well as the NYT BR). Will you need even more? That depends on whether readers are put off by the grimmer scenes, or whether they see it as a story of “survival, resilience and redemption” as the book’s subtitle describes it.
Will Unbroken follow Seabiscuit to the big screen? That would seem a no-brainer, but there are some sticky rights issues that have to be worked out, as outlined in the Wall Street Journal. Mr. Zamperini is still living (at 93, he is excited about promoting the book. Ironically, he is better equipped to do so than Hillenbrand, who suffers from chronic fatique syndrom). Universal optioned both Zamperini’s “life rights,” and his own earlier autobiography, Devil at My Heels, first in the 1950’s, with plans to star Tony Curtis and again in the 1990’s with Nicholas Cage in mind. It seems Universal still has the rights to the autobiography, although Zamperini says he’d rather they base the movie on Hillenbrand’s book.
If, like Nora Ephron, you no longer know anyone in People magazine, this Daily Beast article’s for you; A Baby Boomer’s Guide to Jay-Z.
Jay Z’s autobiography releases tomorrow. It’s also reviewed in the B&N Review.
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According to the latest rumors, Carey Mulligan is now the lead contender to play Daisy in Baz Luhrmann’s version of F.Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby. Earlier bets were on Scarlett Johansson, but she is now set to star in a movie based on a much more recent book, We Bought a Zoo (Weinstein Books, 2008), directed by Cameron Crowe.
Meanwhile, a movie based on fellow jazz age writer Ernest Hemingway’s novel, The Garden of Eden, was recently scheduled for release in the U.S. on Dec 10, in a bid for Oscar attention.
Hemingway did not publish The Garden of Eden in his lifetime, abandoning it after 15 years of work. It was edited and released in 1986, years after his death. It is said to be based on Hemingway’s honeymoon with his second wife, Pauline Pfeiffer.
Official Movie Web Site: GardenofEdenMovie.com
An Evening with Nancy Pearl is being broadcast on the local Seattle cable channel this week.
It had to happen. The cover of the 11/21 NYT BR goes to Keith Richards for his memoir, Life (if you are suffering a bit of déjà vu, so are we. For some reason, last week’s NYT BR preview listed Liz Phair’s review as appearing in that issue). The book also moves to #1 on the Hardcover Nonfiction best seller list, up from #2 last week.
The “biography of cancer,” The Emperor of All Maladies by Siddhartha Mukherjee, gets a better reception than Janet Maslin gave it in the daily NYT yesterday.
In nonfiction best sellers, Stacy Schiff’s Cleopatra arrives on the list, as we predicted, at #11 and the Cake Boss, Buddy Valastro, arrives at #4 on the Advice, etc. list. In children’s, Kathy Reichs’ first book featuring the fictional niece of the protagonist of her adult mysteries, Virals, debuts at #6 on the Chapter Books list.
Of course you know that The Social Network is based on Ben Mezrick’s The Accidental Billionaires and that the upcoming Gulliver’s Travels is nominally based on Jonathan Swift’s satire.
But some connections are less obvious. Two movies getting heavy promotion right now are the upcoming Anne Hathaway/Jake Gyllenhaal rom/com Love and Other Drugs, which is based on a memoir of a Viagra salesman. The Way Back, with Collin Farrell and Ed Harris is based on The Long Walk, a memoir of soldier captured by the Red Army in 1939 who escaped with six others, by foot, all the way to India. The latter is getting Oscar buzz for both director Peter Weir and star Ed Harris.
Below are the trailers and tie-in information:
LOVE AND OTHER DRUGS — 11/24
Tie-in:
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THE WAY BACK — 12/29, limited; Expands 1/21/11
Tie-in:
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You can stay up to date by regularly checking our listings of Movies Based on Books (links are available at the right):
For those who want to look even further out, we also list movies that are In Production and books that have had their Film Rights Acquired.
The L.A. Times today publishes a remarkably clear-eyed story about the issues libraries face in the digital age (with only a few laughable overstatements, like “Libraries are reluctant to digitize new bestsellers”).
Unfortunately, the article states that some libraries show declining circulation of books, without noting that the culprit could be reduced hours and book budgets.
Featured is the Rangeview, Colorado library as well as the L.A. Public Library.
Coming next week are the National Book Awards. We were going to write about them, but the Washington Post‘s critic Ron Charles says nearly all that needs to be said about them:
Like Charles, I am rooting for Lionel Shriver’s So Much for That, a book I’ve been thinking about ever since reading it in galley. I disagree with his description of the book, however. It isn’t really about how the cost of health care can devastate a family, or the ravages of cancer treatment. Shriver uses those issues to get to a deeper one; how much should you trust authorities, even doctors, and when is it time to have the courage to take your destiny in to your own hands?
We hope Shriver wins and that reading groups adopt it in droves when it comes out in trade paperback in March (with an intriguing change of cover).
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Audio from Brilliance Corporation 03/09/2010; Compact Disc: $36.99; ISBN 9781423360995
Larger Type from HarperLuxe; $25.99; ISBN 9780061946134
Overdrive; Adobe EPUB eBook; WMA Audiobook; MP3 Audiobook
Laura Hillenbrand’s Unbroken, about a WWII hero who survived being shot down and drifting on a life raft in the open ocean, only to endure two years in a brutal Japanese POW camp, is poised to be next week’s biggest nonfiction release. As we wrote earlier, it’s a People Pick, was featured on the cover of USA Today‘s “Life” section, and is excerpted in the December issue of Vanity Fair. Hillenbrand’s appearances next week include the Today Show and NPR.
It also made PW and the Amazon Editors Top Ten lists for 2010. Today’s Wall Street Journal profiles the subject of the book, Louis Zamperini, and quotes a buyer for B&N, “We’re positioning it as the big book for the holidays.”
The one naysayer so far is Entertainment Weekly which gives the book a “B”:
Hillenbrand is a better writer than a lot of historians and biographers. At times her prose even veers toward the poetic. But… she gives this story a chronological structure that frankly gets a little plodding…. Also, as inspiring as Zamperini’s tale is, his ordeal isn’t exactly a joy to experience on the page.
Nevertheless, the book is rising on Amazon, reaching #11 this morning (making it the fifth highest nonfiction title on the list). We’ll see how it fares with word of mouth after its release.
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RH Large Print; 9780375435010
RH Audio; 9780739319697
Other Notable Nonfiction on Sale Next Week
Hero: The Life and Legend of Lawrence of Arabia by Michael Korda (HarperCollins) is a biography by the veteran publisher. PW says “Korda perhaps exaggerates the novelty and significance of Lawrence’s military exploits and makes an unconvincing stab at framing him in Joseph Campbell-inspired heroic archetypes. Still, Korda’s vivid portrait of Lawrence and his warring impulses captures the brilliance and charisma of this fascinating figure.”
My Passion for Design by Barbra Streisand (Viking) is an illustrated tour of the great star’s homes and art collections – and her first book. Streisand will appear for a full hour on the Oprah Winfrey Show on November 16.
Of Thee I Sing: A Letter to My Daughters by Barack Obama (Knopf Books for Young Readers) explores the characteristics of 13 important figures in American history through a letter to the President’s daughters.
The Emperor of All Maladies: A Biography of Cancer by Siddhartha Mukherjee (Scribner) chronicles the history of cancer, cancer treatments and new research into the disease. Reviewing the book in the New York Times, yesterday, Janet Maslin objects that it is “transparently glib” to call the book a “biography,” but that, “With objectives so vast, and with such a beautiful title, The Emperor of All Maladies is poised to attract a serious and substantial readership.” While the tone of the review is generally negative, it’s clear that Maslin is fascinated by much of it, underscoring her assessment that it will attract readers.
Decoded by Jay-Z (Spiegel & Grau) is part memoir, part tribute to the genre of hip-hop by the superstar. Entertainment Weekly gives it an A-: “The memoir’s chief theme is Jay-Z’s obsession with words…. He situates his work in the English canon, comparing his chosen form to the sonnet and crediting favorite authors (”Shout-out to Alfred, Lord Tennyson”). After reading Decoded, you won’t doubt for a second that he deserves the same level of respect as any of those great scribes.”
Sterling’s Gold: Wit and Wisdom of an Ad Man, the fictional memoir of Roger Sterling, a character from the TV series Mad Men, is the unlikely media darling of next week’s fiction lineup. It compiles Sterling’s best one-liners from the show, such as: “When God closes a door, he opens a dress.”
It has already attracted a swarm of media attention along the lines of this mention on New York Magazine‘s pop culture site, Vulture and on the Los Angeles Times Show Tracker blog – with more reviews undoubtedly to follow next week.
Libraries we checked have placed minimal order, but this gold, although a great holiday gifts for series lovers, may just be a flash in the pan.
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Crescent Dawn (Dirk Pitt Series #21) by Clive Cussler (Putnam) didn’t entirely win over PW: “Fans of the indefatigable Pitt will enjoy watching their hero as he joins the battle on land, in the air, and at sea, but others might wish the Cusslers had picked less familiar terrorist targets.”
Night Star by Alyson Noel (St. Martin’s) is the newest entry in the bestselling paranormal romance Immortals series for teens.
Luka and the Fire of Life by Salman Rushdie (Random House) is a surreal adventure in which a boy must journey through the “World of Magic,” a land with strangle creatures and video game logic, which Rushdie wrote for his 13-year-old son Luka. PW says, “the author’s entertaining wordplay and lighter-than-air fantasies don’t amount to more than a clever pastiche…. This is essentially a fun tale for younger readers, not the novel Rushdie’s adult fans have been waiting for.” The Washington Post delves in to the inspiration for the story.
Ricky Martin’s memoir is a best seller in both English and Spanish. The English version, Me is at #36 on the new USA Today list. The Spanish-language edition, Yo, is at #145, It’s published by Penguin’s Spanish-language imprint, Celebra.
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