The end of the summer is proving to be great for first-time authors; two new debuts join the three already on the new Indie Hardcover Fiction Bestsellers list.

#3. The Dog Stars, Peter Heller, (RH/Knopf; Random House Audio; BOT)  — moves up after debuting at #14 last week (see previous story)

#7. The Light Between Oceans, M.L. Stedman, (S&S/Scribner; Large type coming in November from Thorndike)  — moves up after debuting at #11 last week (EarlyWord coverage)

#9. The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry, Rachel Joyce, (Random House; RH Audio; BOT) — down slightly after 3 weeks on the list (EarlyWord coverage)

#11. Where’d You Go, Bernadette, Maria Semple, (Hachette/Little, Brown; Hachette Audio; Thorndike Large Type in Dec.) — Debuts on this week’s list (EarlyWord coverage)

#14.  In the Shadow of the Banyan, Vaddey Ratner, (Simon & Schuster; Thorndike Large Print) — Debuts on this week’s list (EarlyWord coverage)

Making quite a leap, Peter Heller’s apocalyptic novel, The Dog Stars (RH/Knopf; Random House Audio) rises to #3 on the new Indie Hardcover Fiction Bestsellers list (it debuted at #14 last week).

Known for his articles and books about adventure travel, this is Heller’s first work of fiction, the story of two men struggling to survive after a pandemic wipes out 99% of the population. Heller draws on many of his own experiences for the adventure scenes, as he explained last week on NPR’s Fresh Air. As she does so often, Caroline Leavitt (Pictures of You), gets to the heart of the book’s appeal in her review in the San Francisco Chronicle.

The trailer focuses on the emotional side of the book.

Sales of Joe Posnanski‘s biography of disgraced Penn State Coach, Paterno (Simon & Schuster; S&S Audio; Thorndike Large Print) are off to a slow start at the Penn State bookstore, claims USA Today, noting that a shelf of the books appears untouched. However, the manager says they’ve sold 30 to 40 copies, a respectable number for a single location, even though USA Today calls it “lukewarm.”  The book is currently at #11 on Amazon’s sales rankings, its highest point to date.

The NYT review makes it sound less than revelatory, saying it’s “breezy and largely sympathetic. It doesn’t contain (reverse spoiler alert) any especially startling revelations about what Paterno knew and when he knew it. It adds grain and texture to the historical record, though, while mostly skimming the surface of its subject’s life,” but says, “The book’s best chapter, and the one many people will turn to first, is titled simply ‘Sandusky.’ ”

Libraries are showing modest holds.

The author appeared on the Today Show yesterday.

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Anxiety can be a healthy reaction to stress, but Daniel Smith suffered anxiety attacks so severe that he was unable to leave his house.

He writes about his experience in Monkey Mind, a memoir that has been called a classic in the making by the Psychiatric Times, and named a People pick. It’s been moving up best seller lists (currently at #6 on the Indie Hardcover Non-fiction list. Curiously, Los Angeles seems to be a more anxious place than New York; it reached #5 on the  L.A. Times’ list, but only #21 on the N.Y. Times‘).

Smith appeared on The Today Show yesterday.

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Libraries in areas of high anxiety (you know who you are, Hennepin!) are showing heavy holds.

Monkey Mind: A Memoir of Anxiety Daniel Smith Retail Price: $25.00 Hardcover: 224 pages Publisher: Simon & Schuster – (2012-07-03) ISBN / EAN: 1439177309/9781439177303

Blackstone Audio

PBS is calling the upcoming season the strongest fall schedule in years. No wonder, several shows are inspired by books.

CALL THE MIDWIFE
Sundays, September 30 to November 4, 2012, 8:00-9:00 p.m. ET

Topping the ratings of Downton Abbey, this series about a midwife in the slums of East London in the 1950s, was a surprise hit when it ran in the UK earlier this year. Based on a best-selling series of memoirs by Jennifer Worth, it brought the books back to the top of UK lists. Many libraries have copies of the 2009 US edition of the first title on the shelves (the others were not published here).

Trailer:

In addition to a tie-in edition of the original title (below), a behind-the-scenes companion volume will be released Oct. 9.

Call the Midwife: A Memoir of Birth, Joy, and Hard Times Jennifer Worth Retail Price: $16.00 Paperback: 352 pages Publisher: Penguin Books – (2012-08-29) ISBN / EAN: 0143123254 / 9780143123255

Highbridge Audio

WALLANDER III – Masterpiece Mystery!

Sundays, September 9, 16 & 23, 2012, 8:00-9:00 p.m. ET

HALF THE SKY
Monday, October 1 and Tuesday, October 2, 2012, 9:00-11:00 p.m. ET

George Clooney introduces this series in which New York Times columnist Nicholas Kristof and Sheryl WuDunn, authors of  Half the Sky: Turning Oppression into Opportunity for Women Worldwide, travel to ten countries to report on how women are overcoming oppression.

A bootlegged copy of the trailer for Season 3 of Downton Abbey appeared last week. It’s been pulled, but American fans need not feel bereft. Britain’s ITV has released two official clips. Both underscore the anticipated sparks between new cast member Shirley MacLaine and Maggie Smith.

See our earlier story for tie-ins.

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If you spent your weekend reading book reviews, you know that ASBO stands for Anti-Social Behavior Orders, which are issued in Great Britain for certain acts, like public drunkenness and urinating in public.  The titular character of Martin Amis’s new novel, Lionel Asbo: State of England (RH/Knopf) received his first one at age 3.

The New York Observer sums up the reactions of most reviewers; “A mediocre book by Martin Amis is better than most books by anyone else, but unfortunately, a bad book by Martin Amis is just as bad as any other bad book. And Lionel Asbo is a bad book.” Only the Kansas City Star dissents, calling it ” one of [Amis’s] most compulsively readable” novels.

Amis himself explained both the title and the subtitle in an interview on NPR’s Weekend Edition Sunday.

Among the books arriving next week is one that ran into some unexpected challenges. The bio of Joe Paterno was recently called by the NYT “perhaps one of the most unfortunately timed books of 2012.” Our “Watch List” looks at some titles that librarians have been buzzing about. Among the usual suspects in Kathy Reichs‘ latest and, in nonfiction, the novelist Paul Auster reflects on aging.

Watch List

The Roots of the Olive Tree by Courtney Miller Santo (HarperCollins/Morrow; Harperluxe)

A BEA librarian’s Shout ‘n’ Share pick, described as “Set in olive groves in California, five generations of women clash as they try to protect their secrets. Think Falcon Crest–plenty of soap opera and melodrama, but in a really good page turning, ‘I love that character!!’ kind of way. Customers are going to love this one.”

The Orchardist by Amanda Coplin (Harper; Thorndike Large Print)

Can it be? The second debut in one week set in an orchard? This was also a BEA Librarians Shout ‘n’ Share pick and has been picked for B&N Discover Great New Writers program and is a Flavorwire “Must Read,” for August with this description; “William Talmadge is a reclusive orchardist, living peacefully in a lush valley in the Pacific Northwest — until two sisters appear on his land, wild, pregnant escapees from a brothel. Talmadge takes them in, but someone is looking for them. Coplin’s eloquent first novel is a harrowing triumph, a sparkling, utterly unsentimental ode to the capacities of the human heart.”

Stranger in the Room by Amanda Kyle Williams (RH/Bantam)

The author’s second book is the second in a series, following The Stranger You Seek, which features wise cracking private investigator Keye Street. Librarians on GalleyChat say she is a great protagonist; also a Shout ‘n’ Share pick.

Usual Suspects

Bones Are Forever by Kathy Reichs (S&s/Scribner; S&S Audio; Thorndike Large Print)

There’s a one-day laydown for this next title in the Bones series. Reichs, who bases the series about a forensic anthropologist on her own career (she commented on the search for a missing woman in Winnipeg this week) is also the producer for the Bones series on Fox TV. It was just signed for an eighth season.

Trickster’s Point by William Krueger (S&S/Atria; Thorndike Large Print)

The twelfth in the author’s series about Minnesota private eye Corcoran “Cork” O’Connor.

You Are the Love of My Life by Susan Richards Shreve (Norton; Center Point Large Print)

Gets the lead review in People magazine this week and is designated a “People Pick, ” saying “Don’t be put off by the sappy titles. This finely crafted novel about a woman haunted by family secrets packs a smart punch.”

Lionel Asbo: The State of England by Martin Amis (RH/Knopf)

Amis again satirizes his home country in this tale of a dysfunctional family (one of the characters feels uncomfortable about having sex with his Granny; he’s fifteen, she’s thirty nine). It is scheduled for a cover review in the New York Times Book Review this weekend as well as a feature on NPR’s Weekend Edition Saturday. Amis will submit himself to the Colbert treatment on Comedy Central in early September.

One Last Thing Before I Go by Jonathan Tropper (Penguin/Dutton; Penguin Audio; Thorndike Large Print)

Entertainment Weekly give this one an A-, saying, “Like Tropper’s exceptional last novel, This Is Where I Leave You, it’s a heartfelt look at irreparable mistakes and damaged masculinity that balances its bleak circumstances with dark humor.” The previous title is being adapted for a movie starring Jason Bateman, Zac Efron, Goldie Hawn, and Leslie Mann and rights have been acquired by Paramount for the new title.

Nonfiction

Paterno by Joe Posnanski (Simon & Schuster; S&S audio; Thorndike Large Print)

As Posnanski was completing his book on the famous Penn State coach, his subject suddenly came under a cloud. Because of remarks the author made as the news broke, some have speculated that the book will be a whitewash. Posnanski addresses those questions himself  in USA Today. S&S decided to hold off on the author’s book tour (including 9/6 event at the Free Library of Philadelphia) but he is scheduled for appearances on The Today Show and  NPR’s All Things Considered, on Aug. 30.

Winter Journal by Paul Auster (Macmillan/Holt; Macmillan Audio; Thorndike Large Print)

Novelist Paul Auster’s first book was a memoir, The Invention of Solitude, published in 1985 when he was 35 and his father had just died. Now 65, Auster begins this second memoir on the subject of aging with the words “You think … you are the only person in the world to whom none of these things will ever happen.” People magazine gives it  3.5 of 4 stars, calling it “intensely moving.”

Young Adult

The Rise of Nine by Pittacus Lore (aka, James Frey and Jobie Hughes)

Book three in The Book of Four series is getting promo on the Entertainment Weekly “Shelf Life” blog.

Over You by Emma McLaughlin and Nicola Kraus

The book tour kicks off at Nordstrom’s for this, the second YA novel by the authors of The Nanny Diaries. An excerpt appears in the September issue of Teen Vogue.

At the BEA Librarians’ Shout ‘n’ Share program, the panelists picked Attica Locke’s second thriller, The Cutting Season, (HarperCollins, 9/18) as one of their favorites for the fall. Wendy Bartlett exhorted the audience, “If your customers don’t know Attica Locke, you’re not doing your job of turning people on to great new talent.”

An added bonus, it will also be available in audio from Dreamscape (both CD and downloadable from OverDrive).

We’d like to see what would happen if libraries all over the country got behind The Cutting Season. Who knows? Maybe we could make a best seller. Here’s what you can do:

1) Ask library staff to read The Cutting Season (the digital ARC is available from Edelweiss).

2) If they share our enthusiasm, buy extra copies (consider buying extra of the audio as well).

3) Promote The Cutting Season on your Web site, newsletters, through readers advisory and in the local press. Let us know your creative ideas.

3) Watch holds to see if they grow.

4) Report back on your success.

Locke lives in Los Angeles where she is active on the Board of the Los Angeles Public Library Foundation. She is originally from Houston where her first book, Black Water Rising, is set. Her new book is set in Louisiana. It is the first title selected by Dennis Lehane for his new imprint at HarperCollins.

Downton Abbey season 3 arrives on these shores in January, following its September run in the UK.

To further whet already strong appetites, we have the following trailer. The tinny sound is because it was recorded from a TV in the UK (and smuggled here via New York magazine’s Vulture blog)

UPDATE: The video was pulled, but two official clips have appeared. Both hint broadly at the hoped-for sparks between new cast member Shirley MacLaine and Maggie Smith:

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Americans will get a more extensive preview when The Chronicles of Downton Abbey: A New Era is published in November. Billed as the “official inside story of the history, characters, and behind-the-scenes drama of Season 3, when Downton Abbey enters the 1920s,” it is co-written by Jessica Fellowes, author of The World of Downton Abbey and niece of the series creator, Julian Fellowes and likely to be on many wish for the holidays.

The Chronicles of Downton Abbey: A New Era Jessica Fellowes, Matthew Sturgis Retail Price: $29.99 Hardcover: 320 pages Publisher: Macmillan/St. Martin’s Press – (2012-11-13) ISBN / EAN: 1250027624 / 9781250027627

Now officially a best seller, Dearie, Bob Sptiz’s bio of Julia Child debuts on the Indie Hardcover Nonfiction Bestseller list at #5, during the week that marks the 100th anniversary of the author’s birth.

Dearie: The Remarkable Life of Julia Child  Bob Spitz Retail Price: $29.95 Hardcover: 576 pages Publisher: RH/Knopf – (2012-08-07) ISBN / EAN: 0307272222 / 9780307272225

Random House Audio; BOT Audio (strong review from AudioFile).

Child’s landmark book, Mastering the Art of French Cooking, also receives a boost this week, rising to #40 on Amazon sales rankings. Few would have anticipated this continued success fifty years ago, certainly not the publishers, Alfred A. and Blanche Knopf, who prided themselves on publishing “important” books. Cookbooks were not considered important and those they did publish could be out of step with the times. Spitz writes that the recipes in an earlier Knopf French cookbook served a surprisingly large quantity of people. When asked why, the author responded that one had to feed the help.

But Child’s book came along at the perfect time. As Spitz points out, American women were being exhorted to use convenience foods, turning the kitchen into a factory assembly line. Julia appealed to women’s desire to reach for something more.

A first edition of the book that was published so reluctantly is currently offered for sale on AbeBooks.com for $6,500. Mastering the Art of French Cooking , as well as Child’s other titles, have become staples on the Knopf list.

The publisher’s prediction that word-of-mouth best seller, The Light Between Oceans by M.L. Stedman (S&S/Scribner,; Large type coming in November from Thorndike) will do as well as  Sara Gruen’s Water for Elephants and Kim Edwards’ The Memory Keeper’s Daughter, may not be far off the mark. It arrived on the NYT Hardcover Fiction list last week at #7 and on the USA Today list at #21. It holds steady this week on USA Today, so expect it to do the same when the NYT  list arrives.

Last week’s other word of mouth debut, The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry (Random House; RH Audio; BOT) slides a bit, from #107 on the USA Today list to #127.

It’s been quite a summer for word of mouth successes, beginning with Gillian Glynn’s Gone Girl, (RH/Crown; RH Audio; BOT) which, after 10 weeks, appears on the USA Today list immediately after that other word of mouth phenomenon, Fifty Shades of Grey, (RH/Doubleday). Interest in Gone Girl is continuing; holds are continue to rise. One library shows over 2,000 holds on 250 copies.

Many roles are still being cast for the second installment of The Hunger Games, scheduled to open in theaters on 11/22/13.

The leads (Jennifer Lawrence, Josh Hutcherson and Liam Hemsworth) are returning. So are Donald Sutherland, Woody Harrelson, Lenny Kravitz and Elizabeth Banks. But director Gary Ross has headed off for other projects and has been replaced by Francis Lawrence (I Am Legend; Water for Elephants).

A dozen new players have already been announced (Amanda Plummer! Philip Seymour Hoffman!), but many more roles are still open.

Trying to keep them straight is exhausting.

Fortunately, The Hollywood Reporter has put together a handy scorecard.

Let the games begin.

The DVD and Blu-Ray version of the first in the series begins shipping on midnight this Friday.

If your reading clubs are looking for a book “with all the heart-tugging appeal of The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society,” Entertainment Weekly suggests Margaret Dilloway’s The Care and Handling of Roses With Thorns, an “exquisite little novel, about a biology teacher who breeds roses so she won’t have to think about her kidney disease.”

The public hasn’t caught on yet; libraries are showing few holds, so you might actually be able to find copies on your new book shelves to recommend.

The Care and Handling of Roses with Thorns Margaret Dilloway Retail Price: $25.95 Hardcover 368 pages Publisher: Penguin/Putnam – (2012-08-02) ISBN / EAN: 9780399157752/0399157751

Thorndike Large Print, Nov