Archive for August, 2014

Ann Leckie Wins Hugo

Monday, August 18th, 2014

9780316246620_7d223American author Ann Leckie’s debut novel, Ancillary Justice, (Hachette/Orbit; trade pbk original; Recorded Books), the first in a planned space opera trilogy called Imperial Reich, won the Hugo Award at a ceremony held in London last night.

9780316246651_975ecreview in the Pittsburgh Post Gazette said that the book “puts a new spin on old tales, forces us to face quandaries we’d never even imagine in our day-to-day lives, and shows us life from fresh, impossible perspectives,” and that  “her unique narrator may be the novel’s most notable innovation.” Read a sample from OverDrive here.

The book has already won the Nebula Best Novel award, the Arthur C Clarke award, as well as tying for the British Science Fiction Association Best Novel award.

The next book in  the trilogy, Ancillary Sword, is coming in October (Hachette/Orbit, original trade pbk).

The author lives in St. Louis, Missouri.

KINGDOM OF ICE A Best Seller

Monday, August 18th, 2014

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We predicted it would be a best seller, but In the Kingdom of Ice: The Grand and Terrible Polar Voyage of the USS Jeannette, by Outside magazine’s Hampton Sides, (RH/Doubleday; RH Audio; RH Large Print) exceeded our expectations, debuting on the 8/24 NYT Hardcover Nonfiction list at #3. Library holds are increasing, of course, and several have ordered more copies.

The book, which has already received wide coverage, was reviewed in Sunday’s NYT Book Review, saying, “In the Kingdom of Ice” is a harrowing story well told, but it is more than just that. Sides illuminates Gilded Age society, offering droll anecdotes of Bennett’s [owner of the New York Herald, who financed the trip] escapades in New York, Newport and Europe.”

The audio sample, below, offers one of those droll anecdotes about the “exceedingly wealthy and flamboyant” Bennett. You can also read a sample, via OverDrive:

CURIOUS INCIDENT Coming To Broadway

Monday, August 18th, 2014

9780385512107A theatrical adaptation of Mark Haddon’s  The Curious Incident Of The Dog In The Night-Time (RH/Doubleday, 2003) is coming to Broadway this fall, after a long run in London, where it won the most Olivier Awards (the equivalent of the Tony’s here) for any play in the history of the  award.

The London production also received a rave review from the New York Times.

The book was optioned for a film adaptation prior to publication, but little news has emerged since (however, the play was filmed and shown in theaters in the U.K.).

Haddon won a Whitbread Award for the book, which was a best seller in both the U.S. and the U.K.

8 Titles to Make You An R.A. Guru — Week of 8/18

Friday, August 15th, 2014

The watchword for next week is “family sagas” as  two heavily-promoted titles arrive, one a debut and the other by a veteran returning to the genre she abandoned for decades.  Also on their way are several more to recommend, including 3 LibraryReads picks.

NOTE: To make you even more knowledgable, now you can read samples of these books via our links to OverDrive’s new Readbox system

The titles listed here, plus several other notable books arriving next week are listed on our downloadable spreadsheet, New Title Radar, Week of 8/18, with ordering information as well as alternative formats.

Family Sagas

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Bittersweet, Colleen McCullough, (S&S) — OverDrive Sample

Back in the late ’70’s, Colleen McCullough’s Thorn Birds, became a best seller, propelled to further success by a blockbuster TV series. A generational saga set in Australia, the author drew on her own family background for the story.

She has written over 20 books since, a series of historical novels set in classical Rome and another series of detective stories, but, as the 76-year-old author told an interviewer last year, she was uncomfortable returning to the genre that won her the most success. She’s overcome that for her new book, being promoted as her “first epic romantic novel since Thorn Birds” (you can almost hear the publisher cheering). McCullough, however, insists the two stories are not at all alike.  Prepub reviews are strong, and People magazine chooses it as their “Book of the Week.” Holds are relatively light.

We Are Not Ourselves, Matthew Thomas,  (S&S; S&S Audio)
— OverDrive Sample

A debut, this novel was heavily promoted at Book Expo. It’s the featured title in the book section of the new issue of  Entertainment Weekly, with the reviewer calling it an “absolutely devastating family saga … the best I’ve read since The Corrections.”  EW goes on to chart “25 First-Rate Family Sagas” beginning with War and Peace, through The Thorn Birds, and ending with Philipp Meyer’s The Son(HarperCollins/Ecco, 2013).

LibraryReads Picks

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One Kick, Chelsea Cain, (S&S) — OverDrive Sample

The #1 LibraryReads pick for August:

“Kick Lannigan survived being kidnapped as a child. Now, at twenty-one, determined never to be a victim again, she has reinvented herself. Martial arts and weapons handling are just a few of the skills she has learned over the years. Kick catches the attention of John Bishop, a mystery man with access to unlimited funds, and together they go after a cabal of child pornographers. A read-in-one-sitting, edge-of-your-seat thriller.” — Elizabeth Kanouse, Denville Public Library, Denville, NJ

The Story Hour, Thrity Umrigar, (Harper; Dreamscape audio) — OverDrive sample

“Another beautifully written novel by Thrity Umrigar. A relationship develops between Maggie, a psychologist, and Lakshmi, a troubled Indian woman. As their stories develop, it is hard to figure out which woman does more to impact the other’s life. Highly recommended.” Ellen Firer, Merrick Library, Merrick, NY

The Miniaturist, Jessie Burton, (HarperCollins/Ecco; HarperLuxe) — OverDrive sample

“A dollhouse whose figures and furnishings foretell life events, mysterious notes, family secrets and the powerful guild and church of 1686 Amsterdam. All these elements combine for an engaging story of a young bride’s struggle to be the ‘architect of her own fortune.’” — Elizabeth Angelastro, Manlius Library, Manlius, NY

This also gets an A-, in Entertainment Weekly.

Lisa Von Drasek’s Adult Pick

9780385538138_7ec07-2Dear Committee Members, Julie Schumacher, (RH Doubleday; BOT) — OverDrive sample

As we reported earlier, EarlyWord Kids Correspondent, Lisa Von Drasek is a big fan of this humorous novel told in the form of letters of recommendation written by one world-weary academic. NPR backs her up, calling it “hilarious.” Try the OverDrive sample; you’ll find yourself reading it aloud to anyone who will listen (and even to those who won’t).

In the Media

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Sticker from The Colbert Report web site

Colbert Bump

Sweetness #9 , Stephan Eirik Clark, (Hachette/Little, Brown) — OverDrive sample

After making a NYT best seller of Edan Lepucki’s California, Stephen Colbert urges readers to buy this debut published by Hachette, just not from Amazon.

Entertainment Weekly gives it just a B-, but the Huffington Post picks it as “The Book We’re Talking About” this week.

NYT Book Review cover

Kill My Mother : A Graphic Novel, Jules Feiffer, (Norton/Liveright)

Reviewed by Laura Lippman in Sunday’s NYT BR, this is also an NPR “Exclusive First Read

 

Looking For DARK PLACES

Friday, August 15th, 2014

2332_top1It was going to be a fall that featured two major adaptations of Gillian Flynn novels.

Gone Girl, which arrives in theaters on Oct 3, is the focus of  Entertainment Weekly‘s Fall Movie Preview (full story only available by subscription).

But the other adaptation, Dark Places, with an A-list cast headed by Charlize Theron, is nowhere to be found in the issue.

Originally scheduled for Sept. 1, that date has since disappeared from IMDb (if you’re headed to Norway in November, however, you can catch it there). The release of the movie tie-in has also been postponed, so we have to assume the movie is being held as well.

Meanwhile, as we noted earlier, Flynn’s first novel, Sharp Objects, is being adapted as a TV series.

Gone Girl director David Fincher upset fans earlier this year when he seemed to imply to Entertainment Weekly that the movie’s final act will different from the book’s. In the new issue, he claims the quote was taken out of context. When asked to clarify if anything has been changed, he says, “Everything and nothing … But at its core, it’s exactly what I think Gillian always intended” (see if you can make sense of the full quote here).

Kate DiCamillo On The Power of THE GIVER

Thursday, August 14th, 2014

9780544430785_b395aJeff Bridges’s long road to his dream of adapting Lois Lowry’s seminal YA dystopian novel, The Giver (HMH, 1993; winner of the 1994 Newbery Medal) has finally become reality. The movie premiered this week, amid a massive amount of publicity, and opens in theaters tomorrow.

The Huffington Post proclaims that “The Giver Movie Is Quite Different From The Book You Remember … ” while on NPR station WBUR, the author herself says The Giver Stays True To Spirit Of Her Book, and also tells the Washington Post that the cast elevated her original novel.

Good news for that novel, it’s at #3 on the new USA Today best seller list, the highest ever for the book.

From the photos at the premiere, it seems that Lowry was having the most fun of anyone there.

EarlyWord Kids Correspondent, Lisa Von Drasek, got to see an early screening and calls the movie “spectacular.” Joining her for the screening was Kate DiCamillo (two time Newbery winner and National Ambassador for Children’s Literature), who said,

The Giver is a triumph for book-lovers and movie-goers. It is a movie that reminds us of the power of memory and books and stories and love. It shows us the privilege and the pain and joy of being alive, fully human.”

R.A. Alert: DEAR COMMITTEE MEMBERS

Wednesday, August 13th, 2014

9780385538138_7ec07On NPR’s Fresh Air yesterday, Maureen Corrigan gave an enthusiastic shout-out to a book arriving next week, sending it into Amazon’s top 100.

She calls Dear Committee Members by Julie Schumacher (RH/Doubleday), “a hilarious academic novel … composed of a year’s worth of recommendations that our anti-hero — a weary professor of creative writing and literature — is called upon to write for junior colleagues, lackluster students and even former lovers.”

EarlyWord Kids correspondent Lisa Von Drasek is also a fan, calling it “wickedly delightful,” and agreeing whole-heartedly with the publisher’s description, “Finally a novel that puts the ” ‘pissed’ back into ‘epistolary’.”

If you have the galley, grab it. We guarantee that the minute you crack it, you’ll find yourself reading it aloud to anyone available. UPDATE: Get a taste for what we’re talking about by reading a sample via OverDrive’s new Readbox product.

The author is also scheduled to be interviewed on NPR’s All Things Considered on release date, Aug. 19.

Don’t Weed Yet: THE LIGHT BETWEEN OCEANS

Wednesday, August 13th, 2014

The Light Between Oceans, Trade PbkDreamWorks has announced that filming will begin in New Zealand and Australia next month for the long-running 2012 world-of-mouth best seller, The Light Between Oceans, M.L. Stedman’s debut novel, (S&S/Scribner; S&S Audio; Thorndike; trade pbk, 2013).

Starring in a role that, according to Deadline the “brightest young actresses … [were] trying for,”  is Swedish actress, Alicia Vikander. Just 25 years old, she has already appeared in several book-to-movie adaptations.  In 2012, she starred in A Royal Affair, based on the novel by Danish writer Bodil Steensen-Leth and had a supporting role in Anna Karenina. Upcoming, she will appear in Seventh Son, (based on the Joseph Delaney novels, opening in Feb), and star as Vera Brittain in Testament of Youth. She will also star in Tulip Fever, as well as in The Danish Girl.

Also starring in The Light Between Oceans, directed by Derek Cianfrance (Blue Valentine) are Michael Fassbender, and Rachel Weisz.

Other recent movie news, below (check our Books to Movies & TV spreadsheet for a complete listing of upcoming adaptations):

American Sniper — release date set for 12/25/14 – Based on Chris Kyle,’s American Sniper, (HarperCollins/Morrow, 2012), directed by Clint Eastwood, it stars Bradley Cooper, Sienna Miller and Luke Grimes. It will probably not include the book’s passages about Jesse Ventura.

5th Wave — Maika Monroe to play Ringer — Based on Ricy Yancey’s The 5Th Wave, (Penguin/Putnam Juvenile, 2013), directed by J Blakeson, it stars Chloë Grace Moretz, Nick Robinson, Alex Roe, Maika Monroe with Liev Schreiber in negotiations to play the villain. Scheduled for release 1/29/16.

MortdecaiTrailer released  — Based on Kyril Bonfiglioli’s darkly comic detective books, the Charlie Mortdecai series, (published in the U.S. as The Mortdecai Trilogy, Overlook, 1991), it is directed by David Koepp, stars Johnny Depp, Ewan McGregor, Gwyneth Paltrow, Olivia Munn and Paul Bettany and is scheduled for release on 2/6/2015.

The Sound and the Fury — To debut at the Venice film festival next month, based on the 1929 classic by William Faulkner, it is directed by James Franco, and stars Franco, Seth Rogen, and Danny McBride (no, they’re not playing it as a comedy).

Best Seller Crystal Ball:
IN THE KINGDOM OF ICE

Tuesday, August 12th, 2014

9780385535373_8e8d4Expect to see In the Kingdom of Ice: The Grand and Terrible Polar Voyage of the USS Jeannette, by Outside magazine’s Hampton Sides, (RH.Doubleday; RH Audio; RH Large Print) on this week’s best seller lists.

Based on newly-released documents, it tells the story of an ill-fated polar expedition, one that is less well-known than those of the Shackleton or Scott expeditions. Like those stories, says USA Today, “the struggles of DeLong and his crew to survive and work their way out of their dire predicament somehow make an even more compelling story than a hypothetical one of ultimate conquest.”

The book has received a string of enthusiastic reviews, including in The Wall Street Journal, and the Washington Post. The author was interviewed on NPR’s Aug. 2nd Weekend Edition Saturday, causing it to climb Amazon’s sales rankings.

 A book trailer, gives an idea of the story, but for a taste of the writing, listen to a sample of the audio (hint: be sure to listen through to the end).

More On SOLDIER GIRLS

Tuesday, August 12th, 2014

9781451668100_c7622As we noted earlier, media attention has been growing for a book that follows the experiences of three women in the military, Soldier Girls: The Battles of Three Women at Home and at War, by Helen Thorpe (S&S/Scribner; Dreamscape audio). Today, the daily New York Times reviewer, Michiko Kakutani, adds her voice,  calling it “compelling” and saying Thorpe “gives us a dynamic understanding of what it’s been like for Guard members who unexpectedly found themselves shipped off to the front lines of the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, their lives and plans disrupted, their families thrown into disarray.”

It will also  be available in audio from Dreamscape on Sept. 2 (audio download on OverDrive).

MAGIC BREAKS Into Hardcover

Monday, August 11th, 2014

9780425256220_f1dcdAuthor Ilona Andrews, who has been a best seller in paperback, released the 11th Kate Daniels novel in hardcover, Magic Breaks, in late July (Penguin/Ace; Recorded Books) and admits on her blog that she feared the shift would decrease sales.

Instead, it debuts on the NYT hardcover list at #13 and at #6 on ebooks only list.

Library journal calls it, “one of the best urban fantasy series around.”

LibraryReads Picks for September

Monday, August 11th, 2014

LibraryReads Favorite  SmokeGetsinYourEyes-199x300

Struggling to answer the eternal question, “What’s new that’s good?”

LibraryReads to the rescue. The September list, released this morning, marks the first anniversary of the program, which means we now have a total of 130 titles to draw from (all are listed on our downloadable spreadsheet, with ordering information and alternate formats, LibraryReads-All-Titles-Through-Sept 2014).

The number one title for the monthis Smoke Gets in Your Eyes: And Other Lessons from the Crematory by Caitlin Doughty, (W. W. Norton,  9/15), which Patty Falconer of Hampstead Public Library, NH, describes as, “Part memoir, part exposé of the death industry, and part instruction manual for aspiring morticians. First-time author Doughty has written an attention-grabbing book that is sure to start some provocative discussions.”  It is also on the Indie Next List for September.

Check Edelweiss and NetGalley for digital ARC’s of the titles you’d like to be ready to recommend; they are generally available until publication day, so you have at least two weeks read them.

And don’t forget to nominate your favorite upcoming titles, with publication dates of October and after (how-to specifics here).

LibraryReads also provides  FREE downloadable marketing materials so you can easily:

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• Post online banner ads on your library’s website

• Include LibraryReads-recommended titles in your library’s newsletter

• Print copies of the monthly flyer to post on your community bulletin board and have available as handouts

• Print copies of the horizontal banner for patrons to use as bookmarks

In the Media: SOLDIER GIRLS

Monday, August 11th, 2014

Helen Thorpe’s new book, Soldier Girls: The Battles of Three Women at Home and at War, (S&S/Scribner; Dreamscape audio), released last Tuesday, examines an under-covered story, women in the military, by following three women who were deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan.

The book has received a wide range of attention. It’s People magazine’s latest  “Book of the Week,” and is covered in the 8/10 NYT Book Review, among other publications

The author was interviewed in Elle magazine, on yesterday’s Weekend Edition, as well as on the Daily Show with Jon Stewart.

Several libraries are showing heavy holds on light ordering.

Flanagan on NPR

Monday, August 11th, 2014

9780385352857_702c0Featured yesterday on NPR’s Weekend Edition Sunday, was Richard Flanagan, the author of one of the books on the Man Booker Award long list, The Narrow Road to the Deep North (RH/Knopf).

The author is a favorite of Seattle Public Library’s David Wright who says he is, “a consummate stylist, but with a style that is in service to the realities he’s writing about, which are often deeply painful and tragic. That is certainly true in The Narrow Road to the Deep North, which depicts with a fair amount of detail the horrific experience of POWs in WWII (Flanagan’s father was a survivor of the Thai-Burma death railway) … He is so skillful in showing how these events affect mens’ lives … his writing is devastating, generous, and deeply caring.”

The book is being published tomorrow. Several libraries are showing heavy holds on light ordering.

Holds Alert: DEAR DAUGHTER

Friday, August 8th, 2014

dear-daughter-bcHolds are growing for the mystery that was listed at #3 on Entertainment Weekly’s “Must List” last week, Dear Daughter, by Elizabeth Little, (Penguin; Recorded Books).

Earlier, we suggested it as one to recommend for readers who can’t get their hands on Liane Moriarty’s Big Little Lies, but now both are difficult to come by.

People magazine makes it as one of three book picks of this week. They compare it to yet another title, “Quick-witted and fast-paced, this debut mystery should be a hit with Gone Girl fans,” as does the Associated Press reviewer, “The unlikable protagonist with a biting personality and outrageous actions, but who is fascinating at the same time, has never been more popular. Just think of Gone Girl. In her confident fiction debut, Elizabeth Little puts a fresh spin on this character.”