Archive for August, 2013

New Title Radar; Week of Sept. 2

Friday, August 30th, 2013

9780385344340  9780385528788

The leader in library holds for books arriving next week is Lee Child’s Never Go Back(RH/Delacorte; RH Audio; RH Large Print). It seems readers were able to overcome the shock of Tom Cruise starring in Jack Reacher, the movie based on One Shot (there may actually be a sequel. Although the movie didn’t do well here, it was a success internationally). Child is scheduled to appear on MSNBC ‘s Morning Joe on publication day.

Dystopian trilogies aren’t just for YA authors; Margaret Atwood finishes hers with MaddAddam, (RH/Doubleday/Nan A. Talese; RH Audio; RH Large Print). The Wall Street Journal‘s “Speakeasy” blog has been running a serialization of it all week.

Titles highlighted here, plus several more arriving next week, are on our downloadable spreadsheet, with ordering information and alternate formats, New Title Radar, Week of 9/2/13.

Watch List

9781623650001

Alex, Pierre Lemaitre, trans. by Frank Wynne, (Quercus/MacLehose Press)

Quercus, founded in the U.K. in 2004, has grown into one of the largest independent publishers there, helped in no small part by its acquisition of the English-language rights to Stieg Larsson’s Millennium Trilogy (published here by RH/Knopf). Just launching in the U.S., this is their lead title, a translation of a French best selling crime novel, acquired by Christopher MacLehose, who also acquired Larsson’s books. It’s no  surprise, then, that librarians on GalleyChat saw similarities to Larsson’s twists and turns, with one calling the book “crazy creepy; you don’t know what is REALLY happening until the very end.” Another loaned her ARC to her adult son who “immediately wanted to read something else by the author.” No worries; this is the first in the Commandant Camille Verhoeven Trilogy.

It’s also an IndieNext pick for September:  “A beautiful woman is kidnapped after leaving a Paris shop and is brutally beaten and suspended from the ceiling in a wooden crate in an abandoned warehouse by a man who tells her he wants to watch her die. Police Commander Camille Verhoeven is assigned to the case after eyewitnesses report the abduction. Verhoeven is a detective whose tragic past has crippled him, but he is able to use his extraordinary investigative abilities to understand the victim. Alex is chilling and frequently horrifying as the plot twists catch the reader by surprise at every turn.” —Fran Keilty, The Hickory Stick Bookshop, Washington Depot, CT

9781594486432

Margot, Jillian Cantor, (Penguin/Riverhead trade pbk original)

Librarian interest in this LibraryReads pick, a debut published as a trade paperback original, began building at BEA when Angela Carstensen, SLJ‘s “Adult Books 4 Teens” columnist presented it during the librarian’s Shout ‘n’ Share panel, saying it’s the imagined “story of Anne Frank’s sister who survived the war and moved to Philadelphia. It is 1959, Margot is working as a law secretary, and no one knows she survived the camps. The writing is very readable, and Margot’s situation sympathetic.” That was followed by enthusiasm on GalleyChat, and its selection as one of ten on the LibraryReads inaugural list:

“Can you hide from your past and change who you are? If you try, what do you risk losing? This delicately written novel proposes an alternate fate for Anne Frank’s sister: Margot Frank survives the war, moves to Philadelphia, finds work as a law secretary and assumes the identity ‘Margie Franklin.’ But when the movie version of The Diary of a Young Girl is released and the law firm takes on the case of a Holocaust survivor, Margot’s past and Margie’s carefully constructed present collide. This great book will appeal to reading groups and fans of alternative history, what-if novels and character-centered fiction.” — Janet Lockhart, Wake County Public Libraries, Raleigh, NC

9781476704043   9781442476967

Cain’s Blood,(S&S/Touchstone; Brilliance Audio) and Project Cain (S&S Books for Young Readers), both by Geoffrey Girard

This dystopian story about a deranged geneticist who creates multiple clones of real-life serial killers (Jeffrey Dahmer and others) comes in two versions — the adult thriller and a YA companion, told from the perspective of one of the teenage clones. Booklist gave it a strong assessment; “This must be the highest-concept, most movie-ready idea of the year …  an updated The Boys from Brazil that ably mixes nature-versus-nature dilemmas with horrifying scenes of slasherdom.” On that latter note, Kirkus warns, “With a majority of the horrific acts depicted in gory detail, including thrill murder, rape, torture, necrophilia, etc., committed by and upon teens and young children, this book isn’t for every horror fan.” Reviews of  Project Cain are pretty damning. Says Kirkus, it “pales in comparison to the similarly themed novels of Dan Wells and Barry Lyga. Stick with Wells and Lyga; this muddle is just plain insulting.”

Media Magnet 

9781476744834

Salinger, by David Shields, Shane Salerno, (S&S)

Media coverage for this look at the world’s most reclusive author began this week and will continue next week with appearances on PBS’s Charlie Rose show, Comedy Central’s Colbert Report and NPR’s Weekend Edition. A documentary will also appear in theaters (to be aired on PBS in January). Entertainment Weekly gives the book a B- and a lower grade to the movie, a middling C, saying, “Like the book, it suffers from its creators’ obsessive zeal. Only here, you can’t page ahead to the next chapter. ”

9780143125419Movie Tie-in

12 Years a Slave, Solomon Northup. (Penguin Books; Tantor Audio)

The movie based on this 1853 memoir has been widely picked as a major Oscar contender.

Official Movie Site: 12YearsASlave.com

See trailer below:
 

NYT Magazine Cover: A HOUSE IN THE SKY

Thursday, August 29th, 2013

01cover-sfSpanFeatured on the cover of the upcoming NYT Magazine is an excerpt from A House in the Sky, (S&S/Scribner; S&S Audio), Amanda Lindhout’s memoir of being kidnapped at gunpoint and spending 460 days in captivity in Somalia.

To be  published on Sept. 10., it is one of the ten titles on the Sept. LibraryReads list, with this recommendation:

9781451645606

“Absolutely gripping, harrowing and unforgettable! This well-written memoir is a true testament to the strength of one woman’s spirit and her will to survive in unimaginable circumstances. The family issues that led Amanda Lindhout from her home in Canada to a life of world travel and a career in journalism are as richly detailed and compelling as the brutal account of her fifteen month-long captivity by Somali Islamist rebels in 2008. She tells her story with such vulnerability and honesty that it is a privilege to read it.” — Mary Coe, Fairfield Woods Branch Library, Fairfield, CT

More coverage is coming; the author will be featured on NBC’s Dateline, the Today Show and The Nightly News with Brian Williams on Friday, Sept 6. The following week, she will be on CNN”s Anderson 360 and MSNBC’s Morning Joe.

Best Seller Debuts: NIGHT FILM and BONE SEASON

Thursday, August 29th, 2013

Night Film  Bone Season

Two heavily promoted titles debut on the USA Today best seller list. Night Film, by Marisha Pessl, (Random House; RH Audio) arrives at #13, with Samantha Shannon’s  The Bone Season, (Macmillan/Bloomsbury), the first title in the reinvented Today Show Book Club, close behind at #18.

Movie Updates: DARK PLACES And GONE GIRL

Thursday, August 29th, 2013

Dark PlacesFilming began in Shreveport, Louisiana, this week for the adaptation of Gillian Flynn’s second novel, Dark Places (RH/Crown). Photos of Charlize Theron on set were published in the U.K.’s Mail Online. Theron plays the lead role, Libby Day, a character that, says the publication, “shares a chilling similarity [with] her own childhood,” since both witnessed the murders of family members when they were children.

Gone Girl

Christina Hendricks recently joined the cast and will play a stripper [UPDATE: Hendricks has been given a larger role, as the murdered mother of the main character, played by Charlize Theron]. The film is currently scheduled for release on Sept. 1 of next year.

Work is also beginning on Gillian Flynn’s more famous third novel, Gone Girl (RH/Crown). Rumors that sites are being scouted in the southeast Missouri town of Cape Girardeau created local excitement this week. David Fincher directs the movie which stars Ben Affleck and Rosamund Pike.

CARRIE: Second Trailer

Thursday, August 29th, 2013

978-0-345-80587-4The second trailer for the new adaptation of Stephen King’s classic horror story, Carrie, debuted online this week. Directed by Kimberly Peirce, it stars Chloë Grace Moretz in the title role and Julianne Moore as her fanatically religious mother. The movie arrives in theaters on Oct. 18.

Brian De Palma directed the original adaptation in 1976, with Sissy Spacek as Carrie and Piper Laurie as her mother.

Tie-ins to Carrie from RH/Vintage will be released on Sept. 24 in mass market, audio (Sissy Spacek narrates) and Spanish-language editions.

Director Kimberley Peirce (Boys Don’t Cry) has said on her Facebook page that her Carrie will not be a remake of De Palma’s version:

… I have gone back to the wonderful STEPHEN KING Book CARRIE; I am also modernizing the story as one has to in order to bring any great piece of work written in one era into the next and especially given how very relevant this material is right now.

That explains the presence of cell phones in the trailer (for more insight on Peirce’s approach to the novel, see MovieWeb‘s on-set interview with the director).

Official Movie Site: Carrie-Movie.com

Below is the trailer:

Live On-Line Chat with Debut Author Kerry Hudson

Wednesday, August 28th, 2013
 Live Chat with Kerry Hudson(08/28/2013) 
3:44
Nora - EarlyWord: 
We will begin our live online chat with Kerry Hudson, author of TONY HOGAN BOUGHT ME AN ICE CREAM FLOAT BEFORE HE STOLE MY MA in about 15 minutes.
Wednesday August 28, 2013 3:44 Nora - EarlyWord
3:44
Nora - EarlyWord: 
Meanwhile, here’s the cover of the book…
Wednesday August 28, 2013 3:44 Nora - EarlyWord
3:44
Nora - EarlyWord
Wednesday August 28, 2013 3:44 
3:45
Nora - EarlyWord: 
It was published in the UK last year – here’s the UK trailer…
Wednesday August 28, 2013 3:45 Nora - EarlyWord
3:45
  
Wednesday August 28, 2013 3:45 
3:46
Nora - EarlyWord: 
And, my brief audio interview with Kerry …
Wednesday August 28, 2013 3:46 Nora - EarlyWord
3:46
Interview  Play
Wednesday August 28, 2013 3:46 
4:00
Nora - EarlyWord: 
We’re happy to see so many chat participants gathering. You can enter your questions at any time. They'll go into a queue, and we'll submit as many of them as we can to Kerry before the end of the chat. Don’t worry about typos – and please forgive any that we commit.
Wednesday August 28, 2013 4:00 Nora - EarlyWord
4:00
Nora - EarlyWord: 
I think Kerry is in the house. Say hi to everyone, Kerry!
Wednesday August 28, 2013 4:00 Nora - EarlyWord
4:01
Kerry Hudson: 
Hi from sunny London everyone - very happy to be here!
Wednesday August 28, 2013 4:01 Kerry Hudson
4:01
Nora - EarlyWord: 
"Sunny London" -- not a phrase you hear often.
Wednesday August 28, 2013 4:01 Nora - EarlyWord
4:02
Kerry Hudson: 
Haha...we've had a glorious summer actually...lots of ice-cream.
Wednesday August 28, 2013 4:02 Kerry Hudson
4:02
Nora - EarlyWord: 
We received some questions and comments in advance. This is how one of our participants reacted to Tony Hogan:

“I loved TONY HOGAN, even though I tend to avoid tales of extreme poverty & childhood abuse. But this one has a voice that kept me reading, without wanting to skip a word.”

It’s the warmth and optimism that shine through in TONY HOGAN that makes it not just a ‘misery memoir,’ even though there is plenty of tough stuff in it. Did you consciously work to make it hopeful?
Wednesday August 28, 2013 4:02 Nora - EarlyWord
4:02
Kerry Hudson: 
Thank you so much for you kind words regarding the book - that is really lovely to hear. Regarding making it hopeful...Absolutely. Partly because that's true to Janie - she's a hopeful person, one of the ways she survives is by finding the good in most situations. Also because there is hope from that sort of background. I intended for the reader to be able to see that optimism, the opportunity and will good things for Janie throughout the book.
Wednesday August 28, 2013 4:02 Kerry Hudson
4:03
Nora - EarlyWord: 
Below is another advance question from one of the First Flight participants:

“How long from the events at the end of TONY HOGAN until you got the idea to write about them in this fictionalized form? Had you considered a memoir at some point? It reads so TRUE, with the characters all balanced and evolving.”
Wednesday August 28, 2013 4:03 Nora - EarlyWord
4:04
Kerry Hudson: 
Thank you - I'm so happy the book and the characters ring true to you. I started writing short stories based on my upbringing when I was twenty-seven (which was really when I started writing seriously or with intent) so almost a full decade from when the book finishes with Janie. I started the book about a year after I started the short stories - largely because I had interest from my now literary agent. Completely honestly, it took me that much time to deal with and process that upbringing (writing the book was very much part of that process actually) and to be settled enough to start thinking about it. I never considered memoir, partly because I don't think in itself - without those fictional smoke and mirror tricks - my story would stand up on it's own and partly because I love the freedom of 'creating' something.
Wednesday August 28, 2013 4:04 Kerry Hudson
4:05
Nora - EarlyWord: 
Another advance question:

“Did you go through many, many revisions?”
Wednesday August 28, 2013 4:05 Nora - EarlyWord
4:06
Kerry Hudson: 
It was actually an amazingly 'fast' book to write. I wrote the version that went onto submission with publishers in six months in Vietnam while on sabbatical from my NGO job in the UK. I knew that time was precious and unlikely to be had again and so every day my focus was just on writing the book, immersing myself in the story. And I loved writing it (I still love writing first drafts!) so that was easy. Once it had been accepted for publication the redrafting was fairly light too. So about 7 drafts in total I would say but two of those were copy-editing and a 'read-aloud' to check the rhythm. They say your first is the book you've been writing all your life so it's not uncommon for it some flooding out...my second has taken much, much, MUCH longer though! You fly on your first and do all your learning on your second is what I've found.
Wednesday August 28, 2013 4:06 Kerry Hudson
4:07
Nora - EarlyWord: 
Wait; you wrote the book in VIETNAM? Why there?
Wednesday August 28, 2013 4:07 Nora - EarlyWord
4:08
Kerry Hudson: 
I wanted to travel there anyway and didn't have much money so it seemed to make sense. It was actually the best decision though. I was able to completely dislocate myself from everything I knew and conjure my memories afresh (I had nothing familiar around me). I woke up, I swam in a dilapidated Communist Workers Party rooftop pool, cycled around, ate noodles, wrote my chapters longhand and typed them up in incredibly noisy internet cafes. I was incredibly, incredibly happy - and productive!
Wednesday August 28, 2013 4:08 Kerry Hudson
4:09
Kerry Hudson: 
...so much so I went back to Hanoi to finish my second! It casts some sort of spell.
Wednesday August 28, 2013 4:09 Kerry Hudson
4:09
Nora - EarlyWord: 
Wasn't it strange to not be in the country you were writing about?
Wednesday August 28, 2013 4:09 Nora - EarlyWord
4:10
Nora - EarlyWord: 
To those of you out there -- I see you lurking but not a single comment is coming through. This is very strange and makes me wonder if I've accidentally hit something that prevents comments. So, if you're trying to get through, hang in there -- I'm trying to figure it out.
Wednesday August 28, 2013 4:10 Nora - EarlyWord
4:10
Kerry Hudson: 
It was helpful I think. I think it helped with description...if I wanted to write about fish and chips I couldn't just go to the end of my road and buy some...I had to conjure the smell of vinegar, the flesh of the fish, the grease on my lips...everything had to be given so much imagination because I was so dislocated fro my normal existence.

Wednesday August 28, 2013 4:10 Kerry Hudson
4:13
Nora - EarlyWord: 
As I said in our interview, I was fascinated by the British junk foods you mentioned, like Great Aunt Aggies bag of Sherbet Lemons that she brings to the hospital after Janie is born. I had to look them up to find out what they were (photo coming) ...
Wednesday August 28, 2013 4:13 Nora - EarlyWord
4:13
Nora - EarlyWord
Sherbet Lemons
Wednesday August 28, 2013 4:13 
4:13
Kerry Hudson: 
Delicious!! I still love those.
Wednesday August 28, 2013 4:13 Kerry Hudson
4:13
Nora - EarlyWord: 
The one that REALLY got me, was Angel Dream (screen shot of their Web site coming) ...
Wednesday August 28, 2013 4:13 Nora - EarlyWord
4:13
Nora - EarlyWord
Angel Delight Web Site
Wednesday August 28, 2013 4:13 
4:14
Nora - EarlyWord: 
Did you grow up on these?
Wednesday August 28, 2013 4:14 Nora - EarlyWord
4:15
Kerry Hudson: 
Yes, the food we ate was mostly processed, very cheap. When I was older my Mum became more aware of nutrition and cleverer about making the food money go further. I also still like Angel Delight (it;s a kind of pudding) but as a grown-up(ish) am aware it must be very unhealthy!
Wednesday August 28, 2013 4:15 Kerry Hudson
4:16
Nora - EarlyWord: 
Just got the following via email from Linda, a librarian in Massachusetts:

Since the story is so true to life (even if it's actually fiction) what has been the reaction from your family and the people you grew up with? How do they feel about the way they were portrayed?
Wednesday August 28, 2013 4:16 Nora - EarlyWord
4:18
Kerry Hudson: 
I told them before I'd ever written a word that I was intending on writing a novel based on my upbringing and asked if that was ok. My mum read it when it was published and said she thought I'd done a good job.

I think it's important to say that Iris, Tiny, Doug...they aren't my real family...they're fictional characters built on a tiny part of the reality so it's not about how they're portrayed really but how the characters are...how true they are within fiction.

My family are all proud of me though. People from where I grew up were never meant to write books - they became shop assistants or, at best, supervisors - it was very blue collar...the very idea I would get a novel published was unthinkable - books were something 'other people' did - so I don't think any of us can quite believe that this is now my job. I feel lucky every single day.
Wednesday August 28, 2013 4:18 Kerry Hudson
4:19
Nora - EarlyWord: 
Amazing; what made you feel you could write a book?
Wednesday August 28, 2013 4:19 Nora - EarlyWord
4:21
Kerry Hudson: 
I had a very supportive partner who helped me see the value of what I had to say. Also, when I was writing it I really, really, REALLY (etc.) never thought it would be published. I wrote that book for myself mostly...to make sense of things. Because I have always tried to be the type of person who, if I want to do something, will do it and not be frightened of failing. Life is short....
Wednesday August 28, 2013 4:21 Kerry Hudson
4:22
Kerry Hudson: 
...so it has been overwhelming to have it published. I had no idea it would be, that what I was writing in that little room in Vietnam would become a proper book in libraries...and published by Penguin in the US no less!
Wednesday August 28, 2013 4:22 Kerry Hudson
4:22
Nora - EarlyWord: 
You wrote a lovely essay for the Guardian, “My Hero, Roddy Doyle." In it, you said you were 16 when you discovered THE COMMITMENTS in your local library. What did that mean to you?
Wednesday August 28, 2013 4:22 Nora - EarlyWord
4:23
Kerry Hudson: 
Reading THE COMMITMENTS was the first time I had ever seen working-class life - and all its energy and colour and spirit - portrayed in a book. It suddenly made me realise that my story, my interior world and emotions, were just as valid as anyone else's. It's thanks to that book that years later when I began writing TONY HOGAN I felt I had something worth saying...
Wednesday August 28, 2013 4:23 Kerry Hudson
4:24
Kerry Hudson: 
...I think, for me, literature should reflect the full spectrum of society...stories from poorer streets are just as important for understanding ourselves and the world around us as middle-class stories are. But certainly in the UK they are still under-represented sadly.
Wednesday August 28, 2013 4:24 Kerry Hudson
4:25
Nora - EarlyWord: 
Speakng of it being published in the U.K., here's the U.K. jacket...
Wednesday August 28, 2013 4:25 Nora - EarlyWord
4:25
Nora - EarlyWord
UK Paperback Jacket
Wednesday August 28, 2013 4:25 
4:25
Kerry Hudson: 
Very different from the US cover (which I absolutely LOVE).
Wednesday August 28, 2013 4:25 Kerry Hudson
4:26
Nora - EarlyWord: 
You got great response in the U.K., including being nominated for the Guardian's Best First Book prize...
Wednesday August 28, 2013 4:26 Nora - EarlyWord
4:27
Nora - EarlyWord: 
Besides being totally gratified by that, were there in surprises in the response?
Wednesday August 28, 2013 4:27 Nora - EarlyWord
4:32
Nora - EarlyWord: 
Just got this comment from Beverly:

Enjoyed the book and was intrigued by everyday descriptions - felt like I watching a film - saw the housing, food, clothing, etc. Also appreciated information regarding the British welfare system and the support/or lack of support for those needing assistance. The B&B's set up to "house" the poor and often how easily they could find a place to accept them was interesting from my American mind.
Wednesday August 28, 2013 4:32 Nora - EarlyWord
4:37
Nora - EarlyWord: 
I agree with Beverly's comment about the British welfare system, which seems to offer more safety nets than the US -- wonder if that is true?
Wednesday August 28, 2013 4:37 Nora - EarlyWord
4:41
Kerry Hudson: 
Hi Beverly, great point! Yes, I think it's true that we have a greater safety net here - though that is changing rapidly unfortunately. But yes, we have free healthcare (and it's very good in my experience), unemployment benefit that's just about liveable on, access to education (though the debt might deter people from poorer house holds)...
Wednesday August 28, 2013 4:41 Kerry Hudson
4:41
Kerry Hudson: 
...though Janie expereinces poverty in context she always has somewhere to sleep, access to to school and - of course!! - libraries.
Wednesday August 28, 2013 4:41 Kerry Hudson
4:43
Kerry Hudson: 
In response to Nora's earlier question one of the most surprising responses was people expressing surprise that that level of poverty exists in the UK though...well-educated city dwellers who apparently couldn't see disenfranchised kids on lots of street corners.
Wednesday August 28, 2013 4:43 Kerry Hudson
4:43
Nora - EarlyWord: 
Here's another question:

What in particular about the 1980’s made you set the book in that decade? How might Iris and Janie’s story been different set say in the 1990’s or 1970’s?

Jennifer
Wednesday August 28, 2013 4:43 Nora - EarlyWord
4:45
Kerry Hudson: 
Hi Jennifer! Great question...in absolute truth it's because that's when I was growing up so it was an era that was easy for me to reach (I was born in 1980). I think in the 90's it would have been much the same but in 2000's they would have been far less isolated thanks to the internet and mobile phones...
Wednesday August 28, 2013 4:45 Kerry Hudson
4:46
Nora - EarlyWord: 
You worked for a children’s charity. How does it feel to work with kids who face many of the same challenges you did. Does it make you more or less sympathetic?

Wednesday August 28, 2013 4:46 Nora - EarlyWord
4:46
Kerry Hudson: 
...one thing I remember is my own single mum's absolute isolation when we didn't have a home phone - she literally had almost no contact with her family.
Wednesday August 28, 2013 4:46 Kerry Hudson
4:47
Kerry Hudson: 
Nora - It wasn't my intention to awaken people to the conditions around them but it's been gratifying to hear people say it's made them view that section of society differently...that they don't just write those kids on the street corner off as hoodlums anymore. That's made me really happy (and hopeful).
Wednesday August 28, 2013 4:47 Kerry Hudson
4:50
Kerry Hudson: 
Regarding working for a children's charity and one which works specifically with vulnerable children. Yes, coming from that background made me very passionate about their work. I have huge compassion for how hard it is to be poor anywhere, not just in Britian....how hard it is to believe you won't amoutn to anything from a really early age. Working for that charity showed me that what Janie experiences is the tip of the iceberg unfortunately.
Wednesday August 28, 2013 4:50 Kerry Hudson
4:51
Kerry Hudson: 
I'm not going to generalise and say that is always the case but that was my experience and so that is what I reflected in the book. I think that there is a certain hopelessness which is easy to fall into when you have no prospects, feel marginalised, have constant worry about making ends meet...while men can try and seek escape I just think women have a stronger protective, maternal instinct which means they 'keep it together'. Lots of the women I observed growing up - women in the worst kinds of circumstances kept themselves going by hook or by crook for their children...like Iris does I suppose.
Wednesday August 28, 2013 4:51 Kerry Hudson
4:52
Nora - EarlyWord: 
However, the men in Tony Hogan are feckless at best; it’s the women who take care of things.
Wednesday August 28, 2013 4:52 Nora - EarlyWord
4:53
Kerry Hudson: 
Exactly...I thought there would be a backlash but I think people understood that I wasn't saying 'this is how things are' just 'this is how this story is for these women'...
Wednesday August 28, 2013 4:53 Kerry Hudson
4:54
Kerry Hudson: 
...and you have to remember Iris is a fishwife - they're made of strong, strong (slightly terrifying!) stuff...she was always going to hold it together.
Wednesday August 28, 2013 4:54 Kerry Hudson
4:55
Nora - EarlyWord: 
I'm trying to think of something similar to fishwives in the U.S., but am coming up empty!
Wednesday August 28, 2013 4:55 Nora - EarlyWord
4:56
Nora - EarlyWord: 
We're close to the end of the chat, so it's a good time to ask you about your next book.
Wednesday August 28, 2013 4:56 Nora - EarlyWord
4:56
Kerry Hudson: 
Imagine if there were female dock-workers...big-armed, foul-mouthed, handy with their fists and sharp with their tongues!
Wednesday August 28, 2013 4:56 Kerry Hudson
4:57
Kerry Hudson: 

My second novel THIRST is a fragile love story set between Siberia and East London...it's out in the UK next July.



Wednesday August 28, 2013 4:57 Kerry Hudson
4:57
Kerry Hudson: 
Also, I'm more than happy to answer additonal questions via email is anyone wasn't able to ask!
Wednesday August 28, 2013 4:57 Kerry Hudson
4:57
Nora - EarlyWord: 
How can they reach you?
Wednesday August 28, 2013 4:57 Nora - EarlyWord
4:58
Kerry Hudson: 
They can email kerrythudson at gmail dot com or contact me on twitter (or just come tell me what you had for breakfast!) @kerryswindow
Wednesday August 28, 2013 4:58 Kerry Hudson
4:59
Nora - EarlyWord: 
TONY HOGAN BOUGHT ME AN ICE-CREAM FLOAT BEFORE HE STOLE MY MA is coming out at the end of January and is available as a Digital Readers Copy via Edelweiss and NetGalley until pub date.
Wednesday August 28, 2013 4:59 Nora - EarlyWord
4:59
Nora - EarlyWord: 
You are active on Twitter -- do you think that influences your writing in any way?
Wednesday August 28, 2013 4:59 Nora - EarlyWord
5:00
Kerry Hudson: 
I work completely alone each day (unless I'm teaching writing which I do sporadically throughout the year for a few weeks at a time) so Twitter has become my office canteen, water-cooler and after-work bar all in one. It hasn't changed my writing but it has changed my career...I've made so many friends, gotten so much work just by being accessible and it allows people who read and like Tony Hogan to tell me so - and that's one of the best bits of the whole job!
Wednesday August 28, 2013 5:00 Kerry Hudson
5:01
Nora - EarlyWord: 
Thanks, Kerry. It's been fun talking to you.

Thanks to those of you who joined us and remember that this conversation will be archived on the EarlyWord site.


Wednesday August 28, 2013 5:01 Nora - EarlyWord
5:02
Kerry Hudson: 
Thank you so much for having me...apologies on behalf of my glitchy brit internet but thanks for all of the fascinating questions!
Wednesday August 28, 2013 5:02 Kerry Hudson
5:03
Nora - EarlyWord: 
One final comment from Jennifer is a good reminder:

That comment about how isolated Kerry and her mom were without a phone is a foreign idea today…look at how we are chatting across the ocean in real time. It sometimes gives me pause and I wonder how much we are really saying is important and how much is just because we can, and how alternate ways of communication (notably letter writing) have really gone by the wayside.


Wednesday August 28, 2013 5:03 Nora - EarlyWord
5:04
Nora - EarlyWord: 
Over and out -- thanks everyone!
Wednesday August 28, 2013 5:04 Nora - EarlyWord
 
 

New Gaiman Book Trailer

Wednesday, August 28th, 2013

Fortunately, The Milk, USNeil Gaiman’s next book Fortunately, the Milk, (HarperCollins) is written for middle-grade kids and is scheduled for publication on Sept. 17 (shipping today). It is about the many obstacles a father encounters while trying to buy milk for his childrens’ cereal (which, fortunately, he finally manages to bring home).

Fortunately, The Milk, UK coverVideos of Gaiman introducing the book have already appeared. The official book trailer has just been released and it’s being featured in several publications, including USA Today and The Hollywood Reporter.

The U.S. edition (above, left) is illustrated by Marvel comics’ Scottie Young (the UK edition is by Chris Riddell, who illustrated The Graveyard Book).

View the official trailer here.

DIVERGENT Expectations

Monday, August 26th, 2013

The first trailer for the film adaptation of Veronica Roth’s YA novel Divergent debuted at MYV’s Video Music Awards last night.

Unfortunately, it arrives just as another YA adaptation is being called a flop. City of Bones, which opened this weekend, was called a “disappointment” by  many sources, including the Wall Street Journal. Nevertheless, filmmakers say a sequel is still in the works.

This is viewed as a trend, since the adaptation of Beautiful Creatues, released in the spring, was also considered a box office failure.

Bloomberg Business Week quotes YA marketing consultant MaryLeigh Bliss of YPulse, who says that these movies didn’t connect because they are based on books that don’t have “an organized and impassioned fandom that could match something like Harry Potter or Twilight” or a large crossover audience. She expects the second Hunger Games film, opening in November, to do well, but doesn’t hold out much hope for Divergent, coming in March, or The Maze Runner which arrives in February.

The trailer is below:

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2013 VMA, Artists.MTV, Music

Fall Book Previews Arriving

Monday, August 26th, 2013

23-fallpreview_cvr_150x195As the summer draws to a close, the consumer fall book previews begin to arrive. The first two are New York magazine’s  Fall Books Preview and Entertainment Weekly’14 Hot Books For Fall; we will post the links to all of them as they arrive, on the right, under “Season Previews.”

Also check our new “Editor’s Spotlight” feature, from Penguin.

Two titles on these lists, and likely to be featured on all upcoming lists, are Donna Tartt’s The Goldfinch, (Hachette/Little, Brown) and Stephen King’s Doctor Sleep,(S&S/Scribner).

THIS TOWN Rises Again

Sunday, August 25th, 2013

This TownMany shows have already covered Mark Leibovich’s take-down of politics in D.C. in This Town, (Penguin/Blue Rider). Bill Moyers gave it powerful new attention this weekend, introducing his interview with the author by saying, “Whatever you’re doing these last days of summer. Stop. Take some time, and read this book. You’ll laugh, you’ll cry, and by the last page I think you’ll be ready for the revolution.”

The book, which had been sliding down Amazon’s sales rankings from a high of #3 in late July, rose to #15.

Below is the video of the interview.

More From SALINGER?

Sunday, August 25th, 2013

9781476744834Several news sources, including today’s New York Times, reveal that an embargoed biography of J.D. Salinger claims there are at least five more books in the author’s vault, and that Salinger left instructions to begin publishing them in 2015.

The assertions are in the 720-page Salinger by David Shields and Shane Salerno (S&S; S&S Audio), which is being published on Sept. 3. A related documentary, also titled Salinger, directed by Salerno, will be released a few days later and will be featured in January on American Masters on PBS.

Speaking for the estate, the author’s son refused to comment for the story.

As a result of the coverage, the book rose on Amazon ales rankings to #156, from #2,614.

Below is the trailer for the documentary, More details on the book are in a story in The Guardian.

Holds Forecast: THE SMARTEST KIDS IN THE WORLD

Friday, August 23rd, 2013

9781451654424Holds are  outpacing the number of copies in libraries for Amanda Ripley’s critique of American education, The Smartest Kids in the World (S&S), but that’s not saying much, since library ordering was minimal. Holds may rise now that it is featured on the cover of this week’s NYT Book Review, and is called a “masterly book [that] can also generate the will to make changes.”

This issue also features a “Back to School Children’s Books” section.

THE BOOK THIEF; First Trailer

Friday, August 23rd, 2013

The trailer for the movie based on Markus Zusak’s The Book Thief, (RH/Knopf) starring Geoffrey Rush, Emily Watson and Sophie Nélisse in the lead, arrived online yesterday and already the book is rising on Amazon.

For those who are concerned that the novel’s narrator, Death, is missing from the trailer, the author himself assures readers on his blog that Death will be featured in the movie.

The movie debuts on Nov. 15.

Official Movie Site: TheBookThief.com

Libraries Save Lives

Friday, August 23rd, 2013

9780062218834Standing in the library that served as a “safe haven” to her and her four siblings (Middle Country Public Library on Long Island, NY) when they were the homeless children of a mentally ill and abusive mother, Regina Calcaterra talks to Inside Edition (video here) about her memoir of that time, Etched in Sand (HarperCollins/Morrow original trade pbk).

Amazingly, Calcaterra managed to not only survive, but to also put herself through law school and help her siblings who are now all doing well. She says she is very moved by “just the thought that my book may be in this library where I came as a kid who was impoverished and that one day one of these kids are going to be reading it too and figuring out how … they are going to be able to pull themselves up out and out.”

In the new issue of People magazine reviewer Caroline Leavitt writes, “Her book reminds us that it’s possible to suffer the unimaginable and still grow up to make a difference.”

New Title Radar, Week of Aug 26

Friday, August 23rd, 2013

How the Light Gets In   9780061348174_0_Cover   Bones of the Lost

Arriving next week are new titles by several favorite mystery authors, led by Louise Penny, whose previous Inspector Gamache title, The Beautiful Mysteryhit new highs for her on best seller lists, debuting at #2 on the NYT  list. The new novel, How the Light Gets In receives 4 of 4 stars in the new issue of People, saying. “Penny delivers a masterful, nuanced suspense novel in which tone and setting are just as riveting as the murder’s who and why.” It is featured on the inaugural LibraryReads list. Also arriving are new titles by Diane Mott DavidsonKathy Reichs, and the mother/son writing team of Charles Todd.

Below are several titles to keep your eye on; all the titles highlighted here and more coming next week are listed on our downloadable spreadsheet, with ordering information and alternate formats, New Title Radar, Week of 8/26/13.

Watch List

9780778315339The Returned, Jason Mott, (Harlequin/MIRA; Brilliance; Thorndike)

Book trailers are so yesterday. This debut has one, but it also arrives with a trailer for an ABC series based on it. Inexplicably renamed Resurrection, it begins in March.

This debut engendered  big buzz at BEA this year and was a favorite among librarians on the Shout ‘n’ Share panel. It’s on the inaugural LibraryReads list, with this compelling annotation:

Around the world, people are coming back from the dead and trying to reunite with their loved ones. In a tiny Southern town, Harold and Lucille Hargrave are astonished to have their son Jacob come back to them fifty years after he died. A global government agency at first works to reunite “The Returned” with their families, then later confines them as more and more people come back from the dead. A beautifully written exploration of love and family, community and responsibility, and a perfect book group selection. – Vicki Nesting, St. Charles Parish Library, Destrehan, LA

It’s received 4 starred reviews from the pre-pub sources and Entertainment Weekly gives it a B+.

ABC series trailer:

9781250041296The Affairs of Others, Amy Grace Loyd, (Picador)

This debut gets an A- from Entertainment Weekly, which calls it mesmerizing. It is also an IndieNext pick for September;

“With elements of both Alfred Hitchcock and Ian McEwan, this gorgeously written novel seduces the reader into a fascinating world with its own vortex. Celia, the young widow who keeps careful tabs on her Brooklyn apartment building, is drawn deeply into her tenants’ lives after the sensuous Hope takes a sublet. Peopled with intriguing characters — the elderly ferry boat captain who doesn’t mind climbing four flights to his room with a water view, the disappearing cleaning woman — and infused with the sights and sounds of the perpetually mysterious New York City, this book unfolds with stunning momentum and reverberates long after the reader has turned the final page.” —Jaime Clarke, Newtonville Books, Newton Centre, MA

9780062240613Early Decision, Lacy Crawford, (HarperCollins/Morrow)

Entertainment Weekly gives this a B+, but it may rate an A+ among certain audiences, based on the following; “Overbearing moms and dads scheming to secure their kid a place at Harvard will find this novel more helpful than any nonfiction book on the market. But everyone else can enjoy Early Decision for what it is: a sweetly sharp modern-day comedy of manners about the brutally competitive college-admissions ordeal.”

9780143122548-1Troubled Daughters, Twisted Wives, Sarah Weinman, (Penguin Books)

As the NYT noted last week, “readers looking for ‘the next Gillian Flynn’ would be smart to consider her predecessors,“ featured in this anthology by the most insightful writer on mysteries today, Sarah Weinmen. The intro alone should be required reading for all reader’s advisors (and Penguin is offering a chance to win a copy).

Nonfiction

9781451674071-1War Dogs, Rebecca Frankel, (S&S/Atria)

Rebecca Frankel is the “Chief Canine Correspondent” for “Best Defense,” on Foreign Policy‘s web site. Her column, “War Dog of the Week” gets millions of hits (unsurprisingly, it’s the most popular section of Foreign Policy‘s site). Other books on dogs at war, such as Maria Goodavage’s Soldier Dogs (Penguin/Dutton; 2012) and Trident K9 Warriors (Macmillan/St. Martin’s; April, 2013) have hit best seller lists. You don’t need to know all that to bet this will be popular; just look at that cover.