New Title Radar; Week of Oct. 6

Top Down  Dallas 1963  Camelot's Court

9780393347333Opening today, the Tom Hanks-produced movie Parkland reminds us that the fiftieth anniversary of the JFK assassination is next month. Based on Vincent Bugliosi’s Four Days in November (Norton; tie-in released last week), it examines the chaos at the Dallas hospital when the dying president was brought to  the emergency room.

Several  books about Kennedy arrive next week, including a novel by former PBS New Hour anchor Jim Lehrer, Top Down, (Random House). The title refers to the fateful deceision to remove the bubble top from Kennedy’s car.

In Dallas 1963: Politics, Treason, and the Assassination of JFK, (Hachette/Twelve), two Texas journalists  look at the politics that made Dallas a city so hostile to JFK that many, including vice president Lyndon Johnson, a Texas native, warned him not to make the trip.  In Camelot’s Court (Harper),  Kennedy historian Robert Dallek examines the president’s relationships with his advisors.

For a gentler view, Caroline Kennedy has edited a book of her grandmother’s personal family photos, Rose Kennedy’s Family Album, (Hachette/Grand Central).

All the titles highlighted here, and more, are on our downloadable spreadsheet, with ordering information and alternate formats, New Title Radar, Week of Oct. 6

Known Quantities

Leading in library holds among next week’s titles are new book by Stuart Woods, John Sandford, and a Christmas themed book by Debbie Macomber, whose fan base has grown since Andie MacDowell brought new attention to the Cedar Cove books with the Hallmark TV series. Speaking of big names,  twenty writers, including Lee Child, C. J. Box, Charlaine Harris, John Connolly and Mary Higgins Clark collaborate on a “serial novel” titled Inherit the Dead, (S&S/Touchstone; S&S Audio).

In nonfiction, Daniel Goleman, author of the long-running best seller, Emotional Intelligence, turns to the subject of what make leaders in Focus, (Harper; HarperAudio)

Watch List

LongbournLongbourn, Jo Baker, (RH/Knopf; RH Audio)

A GalleyChat favorite that is now a LibraryReads pick for October, this is the downstairs to Pride and Prejudice‘s upstairs, focusing on the servants in the Bennet household. Word seems to be getting out; libraries are already showing holds.

Jo Baker spoke to librarians at the Random House Breakfast during BEA:

Media Magnets

I Am Malala  Elizabeth Smart

Two remarkable young women who have triumphed over  adversity will be featured in the news this week. One is  the Pakistani girl who was shot in the head for her efforts to secure education for women, Malala Yousafzai. She writes about her beliefs in  I Am Malala: The Girl Who Stood Up for Education and Was Shot by the Taliban, (Hachette/Little, Brown; Hachette Audio). Honored last week at Harvard, she is currently a favorite for the Nobel Peace PrizeDiane Sawyer landed the first U.S. television interview with Malala, to air beginning on Monday on all ABC News broadcasts culminating with a special edition of  20/20  on Friday, Oct. 11. On Tuesday, Oct. 13, she is scheduled to appear on The Daily Show with Jon Stewart. She is also featured on the cover of Parade magazine. [NOTE: we got ahead of ourselves and announced this on last week’s New Title Radar].

Also arriving is Elizabeth Smart’s memoir, My Story, (Macmillan/St. Martin’s; Macmillan Audio) who was kidnapped at age 14, survived nine months of rape and torture, managed to engineer an escape and now is an advocate for educating children on sex crimes. NBC News will air Elizabeth’s Story: A Meredith Vieira Special tonight.  Smart will appear again live on the Today Show on publication day, Tuesday, October 7. (See our downloadable spreadsheet for several other titles that are scheduled for media attention next week).

Movie Tie-ins

Romeo and Juliet gets a Hollywood makeover  that’s newsworthy enough to land it in the pages of the new issue of People (USA Today quipped about the premiere, “Some aspiring screenwriter named William Shakespeare worked with Downton Abbey writer Julian Fellowes to produce the screenplay.”)  The trade pbk. tie-in (RH/Ember) includes both Shakespeare’s and Fellowes’ versions. Worth seeing, if only for Paul Giamatti as Friar Laurence.

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