Four Titles To Know, Week of July 14 to 18

9780062320056_7e69f   9780399169113_32fe0   9780670025596_1691b

Leading in holds of the books that arrive next week is the return of Daniel Silva’s art restorer and occasional spy for Israel, Gabriel Allon in The Heist, (Harper; HarperAudio; HarperLuxe) in which he searches for a stolen Caravaggio. Close behind is Stone Barrington’s newest outing, Cut and Thrust by Stuart Woods, (Penguin/Putnam; Recorded Books; Thorndike). Publishers Weekly gives it a fitting summary, “This installment goes down as smoothly as a glass of Knob Creek.”

Holds are also heavy for relative newcomer, Deborah Harkness’s The Book of Life, (Penguin/Viking; Recorded Books; Penguin Audio; Thorndike), the final book in her All Souls trilogy,  which began in 2011 with A Discovery of Witches, (a book we predicted would be a hit, but then, what librarian could resist a novel set in the Bodleian?)

All the books mentioned here, as well as several other notable titles arriving next week, are listed on our downloadable spreadsheet, with ordering information and alternate formats – New Title Radar, Week of July 14, 2014

Reorder Candidates

9781594205194_b1fc3The Mockingbird Next Door: Life with Harper Lee, Marja Mills, (Penguin Press; Thorndike)

Holds are growing on modest orders for this memoir/literary biography about the author’s relationship with Harper Lee. The Washington Post gave it a gotta-read review yesterday and notes a library connection, “As a reporter for the Chicago Tribune, Mills was assigned to write about Monroeville [the town where Harper Lee lived] when To Kill a Mockingbird was chosen to launch Chicago’s One Book, One Chicago program on the 41st anniversary of its publication.”

It is also a LibraryReads July pick:

“A warm and engaging telling of the life story of Harper Lee. Like no other biography, this book offers insights directly from Lee’s point of view as shared with the journalist she and her sister embraced in friendship late in their lives. Informative and delightful!” — Jan Fisher, Fairfield Public Library, Fairfield, CT

9780316231435_f1fc7-2Factory Man:  How One Furniture Maker Battled Offshoring, Stayed Local – and Helped Save an American Town, Beth Macy, (Hachette/Little, Brown)

Since the NYT’s Janet Maslin declared earlier this week that this book is, “in a class with other runaway debuts like Laura Hillenbrand’s Seabiscuit and Katherine Boo’s Behind the Beautiful Forevers … Ms. Macy writes so vigorously that she hooks you instantly. You won’t be putting this book down,” holds have grown on light ordering.

Readers Advisory

9781400068562_122e7Life Drawing, Robin Black, (Random House)

EarlyWord’s GalleyChatter Robin Beerbower has been urging librarians to read this debut novel ever since the first of the year, calling it “a gorgeously written suspenseful study of marriage and betrayal. Not exactly a Gone Girl readalike but just as compelling.” It was also singled out as one of a dozen Great Summer Reads by People magazine.

The PW review has so many quotable lines, it’s difficult to excerpt, “ A middle-aged married couple, their new friend, and her daughter interact, sometimes stormily, in this emotionally complex novel …Beginning with the information that one of these characters is now dead, the book draws the reader in from the first page and builds narrative tension almost ceaselessly to the bitter end …An astute inquiry into relationships and betrayal, this novel is nerve-wracking yet irresistibly readable.”

The author’s first book was the well-received short story collection, If I Loved You, I Would Tell You This, (Random House, 2010).

9781594746857_2ad78World of Trouble: The Last Policeman Book III, Ben H. Winters, (Quirk Books, original pbk; Brilliance Audio; )

LibraryReads July pick:

“Still the last policeman, Detective Hank Palace tirelessly pulls together clues from crime scenes and interrogates witnesses to find his missing sister. Winters paints a believable picture of a world awaiting its end thanks to an asteroid on a collision course. A great series for mystery and science fiction lovers, as well as anyone looking for a pre-apocalyptic tale without a single zombie.” — Jenna Persick, Chester County Library, Exton, PA

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