On NPR last week, Neil Gaiman talked about his favorite movies and tv episodes, for a segment called “Watch This.” (Don’t be insulted that he didn’t mention books; they were not part of the assignment).

2013 may be an even bigger year than usual for Gaiman. Below are the many projects he’s released or has in the pipeline:

Chu’s Day was released in January. Says EarlyWord Kids Correspondent, Lisa Von Drasek, “It is every bit as delightful as the premise (Chu is a little panda with a big sneeze that gets him in to trouble). Illustrator Adam Rex’s rolly polly panda is a huggably ‘awww’ inspiring as he sneezes his way through what will be a story time treasure.”

Check out all the happy library users in the following spread (and what’s going on in the empty card catalog drawers; click on the image to enlarge it):

Also recently released, a new edition of The Books of Magic (DC Comics/Vertigo, 1/29), in which a boy is introduced to all the heroes and villains in the DC comics. The series is collected in hardcover for the first time, over twenty years after it first appeared. It gets a big push from the Comics Alliance.

And, after many delays, Ron Howard is in talks to direct an adaptation of The Graveyard Book. Also in the works are several re-releases, an adult novel (The Ocean at the End of the Lane) and a prequel mini-series to The Sandman comic book series (DC/Vertigo), which was announced at Comic-Con last year. Also, his fantasy epic American Gods (released on its 10th anniversary as an “Author’s Preferred Text” edition last year and available in paperback on 2/5) is being developed as a series at HBO and he’s written an episode of the new season of Doctor Who, to air this spring.

Details on publication dates for the upcoming projects, after the jump:

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We are shocked and saddened to report the passing of legendary storyteller and author of 23 books of folklore, Diane Wolkstein, last Thursday, Jan. 31.  To children’s book people, storytellers and librarians she brought weight and honor to the art, lightness and joy to the telling. She will be missed. For over 40 years, she introduced children to the joys of folklore by telling Stories at the Statue of Hans Christian Anderson.

In a message, her daughter, Rachel Zucker stated:

It is with profound sadness that I tell you that my mother, Diane Wolkstein, passed away very early this morning in Taiwan. She had had emergency heart surgery but the procedure was not sufficient to allow her heart to work on its own. She was not conscious and she was not alone. She had several of her close friends from Taiwan there with her and at the very end she had a rabbi say kaddish and Buddhist prayers were said as well. Her death is a terrible shock. Her life overflowed with joy, intensity, friendship, love and spirit. Her love for each of us and the stories she told live inside of us forever.

A public memorial service will be held this Sunday, February 3rd, at 3PM at the New York Insight Meditation Center, located at 28 West 27th Street, 10th floor (b/w 5th and 6th Avenue). A second memorial, celebrating Diane’s life, is planned for the summer/fall.

In lieu of flowers, the family asks that people consider making a donation in Diane’s name to Partners in Health, or Tzu Chi Foundation. Videos of Wolkstein are on Vimeo.

The season moves into full gear this week, with dozens of titles vying for attention (so many, that we’ve put together a downloadable spreadsheet that includes the following highlights plus nearly 30 other titles). On our Watch List is a Gatsby-esque debut that has been a hit on GalleyChat, Indiscretion by Charles Dubow. Movie tie-ins remind us that Disney’s Oz, The Great and the Powerful arrives in theaters on March 8.

Watch List

Indiscretion Charles Dubow, (HarperCollins/ Morrow; Blackstone Audio; HarperLuxe)

We fell in love with this debut and asked GalleyChatters to read the ARC. They came back with equal enthusiasm, enjoying the “Gatsby-ness [it’s told from the perspective of an outsider, who suffers years of unrequited love for one of the main characters] and the twist at the end.” It’s on the February Indie Next list and is one of 16 Oprah Must-Reads for February. One library is betting big on it; Cuyahoga bought 210 copies.

LATE ADDITION:
 Schroder, Amity Gaige, (Hachette/Twelve)

A People Pick in the new issue, this in-house favorite is reviewed by Danielle Trussoni (Angelogy) who calls it “a chilling story about an obsessional father who deceives his wife and kidnaps their only child…Gaige’s writing is surprising and original, but the real pull of this magnetic novel is the moral ambiguity the reader feels.”

The City of Devi, Manil Suri, (W. W. Norton)

The Washington Post‘s reliable Ron Charles says, “Even amid the wondrous variety of contemporary Indian fiction, Suri’s work stands apart, mingling comedy and death, eroticism and politics, godhood and Bollywood like no one else.” It is scheduled for coverage on NPR’s Weekend Edition.

Review Magnet 

See Now Then, Jamaica Kincaid,  (Macmillan/FSG ; Macmillan Audio)

Kincaid’s first novel in ten years is sure to draw many reviews. Entertainment Weekly kicks it off with a middling B grade, saying that the story of a divorce is heavily reminiscent of Kincaid’s own, and that she “captures the stuck rhythms of marriage as she repeatedly cycles back to the same fights…As a literary device, it’s affecting, but actually reading the words, again and again, can get tiring.”

Usual Suspects

Deadly Stakes, J.A. Jance, (S&S/Touchstone; S&S Audio; Thorndike Large Print)

The eighth in the series, Booklist gives it kudos for, “Fast pacing, multiple plotlines, a fascinating look at online research, and sympathetic characters … [all tied into a] suspenseful story,” but PW demurs that it exhibits “…awkwardly contrived linkages and a lack of narrative drive, [making] this a lesser effort.” Nevertheless, it is showing the most holds in libraries of all the titles coming out this week.
Touch & Go, Lisa Gardner, (Penguin/Dutton; Brilliance Audio; Thorndike Large Print)

People reviews this stand-alone about kidnapped couple Justin and Libby Denbe, saying “The suspense crackles as the Denbes grapple with their captors’ bewildering brutality. But what gives the story heart is Libby’s dawning realization that her family may have been broken long before their kidnappers appeared.”

Media Magnets

From Mama’s Table to Mine, Bobby Deen & Melissa Clark, (RH/Ballantine paperback original)

Paula Deen’s kids know how to make diet lemonade out of lemons. Their mother, who has made millions from comfort food, suddenly admits she’s had diabetes for years and the entire family goes on a diet. Rather than becoming Weight Watchers spokepeesons, son Bobby publishes a book and the entire family appears on cover of People Magazine (2/4 issue) . The book will be featured on several shows in the upcoming week; NBC’s Today Show; FOX-TV’s Fox and Friends; ABC’s The Dr. Oz Show; ABC’s The Chew and The Rachael Ray Show.
Lucky Me: My Life With–and Without–My Mom, Shirley MacLaine, Sachi Parker, Penguin/Gotham

Shirley MacLaine, of course, is back in the spotlight because of her scene-stealing turns on Downton Abbey. She gets less flattering attention in her daughter’s memoir, which with will be featured on ABC’s 20/20 show tonight, on a segment titled, Stars, Scars and Showbiz Kids (10:00-11:00 p.m., ET).  The show’s press release states, “Parker says MacLaine neglected her while instead focusing on her own career and life.”
Citizenville: How to Take the Town Square Digital and Reinvent Government, Gavin Newsom and Lisa Dickey, (Penguin Press)

Clearly, there are high hopes for this book, which is embargoed with a one-day laydown on Tuesday. California Lieutenant Governor Newsom writes about using technology to improve local government (it is billed as an attempt to create “Angry Birds for Democracy”).

My Brother’s Book, Maurice Sendak, HarperCollins

As we noted earlier, Sendak’s final completed book is previewed on the Vanity Fair Web Site. Expect more coverage as the book arrives next week.

Movie Tie-ins

Disney’s Oz, The Great and the Powerful arrives in theaters on March 8. Disney is investing considerable bucks to promote this prequel via a spot during the SuperBowl on Sunday (ten-second preview below — to see longer trailers go to  the Official Web Site).

Publishing is also pulling out all the stops with re-releases of the original book:

The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, L. Frank Baum, Disney Press — This re-release features “beautifully repainted Denslow artwork, original Stromberg imagery, and an introduction by one of the stars of Oz The Great and Powerful, James Franco.”

Audio: Dreamscape is releasing new recordings of the first two Oz books (also on OverDrive):
The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, read by Tara Sands (Jan 22)

The Marvelous Land of Oz read by Tara Sands (Feb 19)

Disney Press is releasing several tie-ins :

Oz The Great and Powerful, Elizabeth Rudnick — the junior novel adaptation

The Art of Oz The Great and Powerful by Grant Curtis — behind-the-scenes book

Oz The Great and Powerful: The Movie Storybook by Scott Peterson — movie stills

Oz The Great and Powerful: Witches of Oz, Scott Peterson, Disney Press– picture book

Oz The Great and Powerful: Land of Oz Disney Press — Level 2 World of Reading title.

Netflix begins streaming an original series today, House of Cards, starring Kevin Spacey and Robin Wright. The first two episodes of the 13-part series are directed by David Fincher (The Social Network). It is based on a BBC series (with the setting changed from the House of Commons to the House of Representatives), which in turn is based on a trilogy of novels by former British Conservative Party Chief of Staff and best-selling author in Britain, Michael Dobbs:

• House of Cards (1989)
• To Play the King (1992)
• The Final Cut (1994)

The novels are no longer in print in the U.S., but several libraries own them.

NPR covers the new venture today  and NPR’s movie critic, David Bianculli, gives House of Cards a thumbs up, saying it “is to Netflix what The Sopranos was to HBO…an identity maker and a game changer.” He also gives kudos to the original, a “wonderful British miniseries from 1990, which starred Ian Richardson as a career politician who spoke to the camera directly as he schemed and charmed his way through the corridors of power.”  That series is owned by libraries; if it is languishing on your shelves, now is the time to put it on display.

Netflix is currently at work on another series, based on a book, Orange Is the New Black: My Year in a Women’s Prison by Piper Kerman (RH/Spiegel & Grau, 2010). It is being directed by Weeds creator Jenji Kohan.

More drum rolls arrive today for The Dinner by Dutch author Herman Koch (RH/Hogarth; AudioGo; Thorndike Large Print coming soon). Following an “Exclusive First Read” on the NPR Web site on Tuesday (see our earlier story) , the Wall Street Journal, calls it “A European GONE GIRL,” saying this “sly psychological thriller that hinges on a horrific crime and its consequences for two families, has become one of this spring’s most anticipated suspense novels.”

The book doesn’t arrive until Feb. 12, but it’s time for libraries to re-order. Holds are already as high as 15:1 on modest orders.