Archive for April, 2015

Some Day THE LITTLE PRINCE
Will Come

Thursday, April 30th, 2015

Ever since the French trailer for animated movie The Little Prince was released in December, fans have been salivating for more. In anticipation of the Cannes Film Festival, where it will premiere, an English language trailer was just released, but there’s still no news on when the film will open in the U.S..

Featuring the voices of Jeff Bridges, Mackenzie Foy, Rachel McAdams, James Franco, Marion Cotillard, Benicio del Toro, Paul Giamatti, Paul Rudd, Budd Cort, Ricky Gervais, and Albert Brooks, it is directed by Mark Osborn (Kung Fu Panda).

Although it is based on the beloved book by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, it also introduces the story-within-a story of a modern day young girl learning about the book through a neighbor, the now aged Aviator (Jeff Bridges).

Tie-ins have not been announced, but HMH is releasing a new translation in hardcover in October as well as several Little Prince board books,

Published last year, The Pilot and the Little Prince: The Life of Antione de Saint-Exupery, written and illustrated by Peter Sis (Macmillan/FSG/Frances Foster) was on several best children’s books lists, including the New York Times 10 Best Illustrated books and EarlyWord Kids Contributor Lisa Von Drasek’s list of best informational books.

Author/illustrator Sis talks about his inspiration in the following video:

Lisbeth’s Fan

Thursday, April 30th, 2015

The Girl in the Spider's WebSpeaking with simmering intensity in two exclusive videos on Entertainment Weekly‘s web site, David Lagercrantz, the author of The Girl in the Spider’s Web (RH/Knopf: RH Audio; RH Large Print, 9/1/15), the fourth book in Stieg Larsson’s  Millennium series, expresses his enthusiasm for main character, Lisbeth Salander.

The first book in the series, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, was made into a film directed by David Fincher in 2011. According to The Hollywood Reporter, Spider’s Web may bring renewed interest in developing the other titles in the series into English-language films (all three original titles were made into successful Swedish-language films).

You Can Stream It On A Phone

Thursday, April 30th, 2015

In what may be the first press release written in rhyme, Netflix announces that they are adapting Green Eggs and Ham as a 13-episode animated series.

We’d love to share some happy news
based on the rhymes of Dr. Seuss.
Green Eggs and Ham will become a show
and you’re among the first to know … [more]

Executive producer Ellen DeGeneres contributes her own rhyme in the video below.

Coming in 2018, she promises the series will use cutting edge animation

Entering THE AGE OF ULTRON

Wednesday, April 29th, 2015

The one thing we understood from Jon Stewart’s interview with Elizabeth Olsen about the movie in which she stars, Avengers: The Age Of Ultron, opening this week and expected to a major blockbuster, is that you probably need to be a fan boy to get the references.

This may help:

Well, maybe not.

If you prefer to do your own background research, Wired magazine offers “5 Comics That’ll Get You Ready for Avengers: Age of Ultron.”

There are several movie tie-ins (check our Movie Tie-in Collection for full listings).

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TV to Movies; Movies to TV

Wednesday, April 29th, 2015

Take heart, YA series fans. If a book doesn’t succeed as a movie adaptation, it may go to TV, and vice versa.

The Selection  The Elite  9780062059994_be9c6

The CW network played a game of on again, off again with their plans to develop a series based on Kiera Cass’s YA title, The Selection (HarperTeen, 2012), finally abandoning the idea after two tries, each going as 9780062349859_b3458far as the pilot stage. Now, according to Deadline, Warner Bros. has won the film rights and has a screen writer set to adapt it for the big screen.

The fourth novel in the series, The Heir (HarperTeen), arrives next week.

On the other hand, the movie based on The Mortal Instruments: City Of Bones, the first in the Y.A. urban fantasy series by Cassandra Clare, made it to the screen, but plans to turn it into a franchise died along with the box office receipts. ABC Family now plans to create a spin-off TV series, titled Shadowhunters, and has just announced that Dominic Sherwood (Vampire Academy) has won the male lead.

9781481455923_84766New trade paperback editions of the six titles in the series as well as of the 3-part prequel series, Infernal Devices are coming in September.

WE WERE LIARS Closer to Screen

Wednesday, April 29th, 2015

We Were LiarsNearly a year after acquiring the film rights to We Were Liars, E. Lockhart, (RH/Delacorte; Listening Library), Imperative Entertainment announces they have hired a screenwriter.

The newly formed company won the rights in competitive auction prior to the book’s publication,

One of the LibraryReads Top Ten favorites the book was on most of the year’s childrens and YA best books lists.

Audio sample:

WONDER, New Director

Wednesday, April 29th, 2015

Wonder Back in November of 2012, months after it began its slow and steady climb up the NYT Children’s Best Sellers list, Lionsgate bought the film rights to Wonder by R.J. Palacio, (RH/ Knopf Young Readers).

After announcing a director just this past fall, Lionsgate has a new one in place, Paddington director Paul King. The  book is #1 on the NYT Children’s Middle Grade best seller list after 125 weeks.

Next CORMORAN STRIKE On The Way

Wednesday, April 29th, 2015

Screen Shot 2015-04-27 at 11.55.15 AMScreen Shot 2015-04-27 at 11.55.33 AMThe third Cormoran Strike novel, Career of Evil, is coming this fall.

Robert Galbraith (aka J.K. Rowling) announced that the novel is finished via a Twitter post:

That was followed by a tweet by Little, Brown UK stating the title:

Details on the U.S. edition (ISBN, pub date) are still being worked out, according to the publisher. We will let you know when that information is available.

Best Cookbooks of the Year

Tuesday, April 28th, 2015

Screen Shot 2015-04-28 at 9.57.12 AMYucatán by David Sterling (University of Texas Press) is the 2015 James Beard Foundation Cookbook of the Year.

Sterling runs a Yucatán cooking school in Mexico and his book is an ode to the food he loves, a huge, 576 page encyclopedic tome, filled with photos and a richly detailed text. It weighs more than a five pound bag of flour and lists for $60. It won the award for best International Cookbook as well.

The James Beard Awards come on the heels of the International Association of Culinary Professionals (IACP) Awards, which were announced late last month.

Screen Shot 2015-04-28 at 10.03.37 AMTheir top pick is A New Napa Cuisine by Christopher Kostow (RH/Ten Speed Press; OverDrive Sample), the chef running The Restaurant at Meadowood, a three-Michelin-starred destination eatery in California. A mix of chef’s journey, regional spotlight, and artistic expression, it is a good example of the trend, as we reported last week, for cookbooks to be more than compilations of recipes.

Between the two awards there are five overlapping winners:

Screen Shot 2015-04-28 at 10.04.48 AMLiquid Intelligence by David Arnold (W.W. Norton) which won the James Beard Award for best Beverage book and the IACP Jane Grigson Award.

Screen Shot 2015-04-28 at 10.05.18 AMButchering Poultry, Rabbit, Lamb, Goat and Pork by Adam Danforth (Workman/Storey Publishing; OverDrive Sample) which won the James Beard award for Reference and Scholarship and the IACP Beverage/Reference/Technical award.

Screen Shot 2015-04-28 at 10.05.58 AMBar Tartine by Nicolaus Balla and Cortney Burns (Chronicle; OverDrive Sample) which won the James Beard Cooking from a Professional Point of View award and the IACP award for best Chefs and Restaurants book.

Screen Shot 2015-04-28 at 10.06.42 AMHeritage by Sean Brock (Workman/Artisan) which won the James Beard American Cooking award and the IACP Julia Child First Book award.

Screen Shot 2015-04-28 at 10.07.49 AMAt Home in the Whole Food Kitchen by Amy Chaplin (Shambhala/Roost Books) which won the James Beard award for Vegetable Focused and Vegetarian cookbook and the IACP award for Health & Special Diet.

The full list of James Beard winners and IACP winners is available at each award’s website.

Judith Miller Tells Her Story

Monday, April 27th, 2015

The StoryJudith Miller, a Pulitzer Prize winning New York Times journalist, reported in 2002 that Iraq had stockpiles of WMD, Those stories, which were used by the Bush administration to help build the case for the invasion of Iraq, were later discredited for being based on false information. The NYT forced Miller to resign, but, before that, she was jailed for 85 days for not revealing the sources of information for a different story, one that outed Valerie Plame as a member of the CIA.

Now a FOX News commentator and a member of the conservative Manhattan Institute, she has written a memoir about her years at the NYTThe Story: A Reporter’s Journey (Simon & Schuster; Random House Audio; Thorndike;  OverDrive Sample).

Following a round of appearances earlier this month on several FOX shows, CBS This Morning, and on the Bill Maher Show, she will appear on The Daily Show with Jon Stewart this Wednesday.

She is getting a tough reception by most commentators, her former employer, and other media outlets.

Lloyd Grove of The Daily Beast offers a scathing review, stating:

Much of The Story, including a chapter titled “Scapegoat,” is Miller’s self-pitying account of how she was demonized by critics and enemies, inside and outside the Times, as an influential cheerleader for an unjustified and ultimately ruinous war conducted under false pretenses.

The NYT calls her book “sad and flawed” while The Washington Post‘s media critic says:

This dynamic — Judy Miller against the world — lends her book an aspect that is both depressing and desperate. Over more than 300 pages, Miller flays her critics (particularly those who write for blogs) and lays out a defense of her reporting that relies on bluster, repetition and a highly selective set of facts, some of the same ingredients that the Bush administration dropped into its case for the Iraq war.

The Columbia Journalism Review, which offers perhaps the most even handed review, still holds that:

The Story turns out to be less personal than we might wish, less a memoir than an apologia and an assault… alternately turgid and fascinating, if not in equal measure.

Published on April 7th, holds are light on light ordering around the country despite the amount of media attention.

UPDATE:
Stewart did not go easy on her. Holds are still modest.

RA Alert: Owls Take Flight

Monday, April 27th, 2015

Screen Shot 2015-04-26 at 12.47.43 PMOwls are literally in the air. First came the PBS Nature episode “Owl Power” and now comes The House of Owls by Tony Angell (Yale UP; OverDrive Sample).

The book is a cross between natural history, bird watching, and memoir. Lavishly illustrated by Angell, who is a celebrated artist from the Pacific Northwest, it also strikes a cord for those who enjoy grown-up picture books.

It is getting attention in The Wall Street Journal, in a review that makes the book sound as irresistible as the cover art,  The Seattle Times, which lists it as one of its “30 Books for Spring Reading,” and is climbing Amazon’s rankings, putting it, if its rise continues, in striking range of bestseller lists.

Holds Alert: THE RESIDENCE

Monday, April 27th, 2015

9780062305190_e24b8Check your copies, Kate Andersen Brower’s The Residence: Inside the Private World of the White House (Harper; HarperCollins and Blackstone Audio; OverDrive Sample) is a holds superstar with wait-lists growing into triple digits and holds ratios topping 5:1 across the country.

As we reported earlier, the book is a behind-the-scenes account of the staff that the runs the White House – from the Kennedy administration through the Obamas. It recently made the news due to its Clinton connection (dishy details over the Monica fallout).

The book is only going to get hotter with the news that Kevin Spacey’s production company, Trigger Street, (responsible for House of Cards, Captain Phillips, The Social Network), has bought the TV rights.

According to Politico, the plan for the show is to create:

… a modern and fictional 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue spin on Downton Abbey, wherein the White House’s butlers, stewards, maids and the like are the stars, often more committed to the mansion and upholding its historic traditions than to the family who lives there.

The book is currently #5 on NYT Best Seller list (down from #3 last week) but is rising on Amazon and out of stock at both Ingram and B&T.

According to the NY Post the juicy gossip is not limited to the Clintons, there are plenty of other revelations about Presidential behavior (good and salacious), first wives (Nancy Regan is called “spoiled rotten”), and first kids behaving badly.

It is also full of history and context and likely to prove irresistible on TV.

Eight Titles to Know and Recommend, Week of April 28

Friday, April 24th, 2015

Next week brings the second anniversary of the escape of three women who were abducted and held prisoner in a home in Cleveland, celebrated by the release of a new book about their ordeal. A struggle of a different sort is examined by literary favorite Karl Ove Knausgaard. Leading in holds is John Sanford’s new title in the Prey series, while indies, fellow librarians and Entertainment Weekly all herald favorites of the week.

The titles covered here, and several more notable titles arriving next week, are listed, with ordering information and alternate formats, on our downloadable spreadsheet, EarlyWord New Title Radar, Week of April 27, 2015

Holds Leaders

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Gathering Prey, John Sandford, (Penguin/Putnam; Penguin Audio; Thorndike; OverDrive Sample)

The 25th in the Prey series, this comes just six months after the author’s previous best seller, Deadline.

Your Next Breath, Iris Johansen, (Macmillan/St. Martin’s Press; Brilliance Audio; Thorndike; OverDrive Sample)

Not to be outdone by prolific author Sanford, Johansen’s next also arrives six months after her previous title, The Perfect Witness

Death Wears a Beauty Mask and Other Stories, Mary Higgins Clark, (S&S; S&S/Audio; Thorndike; OverDrive Sample)

Much further down the holds lists, we love the title of the new collection of stories.

Media Attention

9780525427650_1b468-2Hope: A Memoir of Survival in Cleveland, Amanda Berry, Gina DeJesus, (Penguin/Viking; Penguin Audio; Thorndike; OverDrive Sample)

Two years ago, three women finally escaped from a home in Cleveland where they had been chained and repeatedly raped by their abductor. People magazine features an excerpt of a new book by two of those women in the new issue (not yet online, promo here) and Robin Roberts will do an hour-long ABC hour special with the authors on Tuesday.


ABC Breaking US News | US News Videos

Finding MeMore is coming on the story.

On Saturday, May 2, Lifetime will air a movie, Cleveland Abduction based on a book published last year by the third  Cleveland captive, Michelle Knight, Finding Me: A Decade of Darkness, a Life Reclaimed, (Perseus/Weinstein; OverDrive Sample).

 

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My Struggle: Book Four, Karl Ove Knausgaard, (Steerforth/Archipelago; OverDrive Sample)

Most of us are n9780914671176_e9ba7ot in on the cult surrounding Norwegian writer Karl Ove Knausgaard, called by some a “modern-day Proust” for his series of autobiographical novels. For an examination of the phenomenon, read the quote-peppered piece in this week’s New York Magazine, “The Very Public Saga of Karl Ove Knausgaard Writing About Himself.”

Further proving his cred as a writer’s writer, the latest title in the series is reviewed by Jeffrey Eugenides in the week’s NYT Book Review, who notes, “I may be the first reviewer of Knausgaard’s autobiographical works who has appeared in one of them,” putting him, he claims, in a position to “judge how [Knausgaard} uses the stuff of his life to fashion his stories.”

The result? Eugenides judges him no less than a great writer. The first three hardcovers have been released in trade paperback by Macmillan/FSG and Recorded Books is doing them in audio.

Picks

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Early Warning, Jane Smiley, (RH/Knopf; RH & BOT Audio; Thorndike; OverDrive Sample)

LibraryReads:
“In the second book of the Langdon trilogy, the Pulitzer Prize winning novelist follows the next generation of the unforgettable Iowa family introduced in Some Luck. Beginning with the death of the patriarch Walter in 1953, Smiley chronicles the social consciousness in America of the 1960s. The book goes up to events in the 1970s and early 1980s that touch each family member in unforeseen ways.” — Jennifer Winberry, Hunterdon County Library, Flemington, NJ

Smiley was interviewed on NPR’s Diane Rehm Show this week.

The Doll Maker, Richard Montanari, (Hachette/Mulholland; Hachette Audio; OverDrive Sample)

Number three on the “Must List” in the new issue of Entertainment Weekly:
“The eighth installment in the popular Byrne and Balzano series sees the detectives investigating a string of gruesome murders. Children are killed then posed in public like dolls. Your pulse will race as they try to solve the case before another life is lost.”

The Last Bookaneer, Matthew Pearl, (Penguin Press; Penguin & BOT Audio; Thorndike; OverDrive Sample)

The audio is narrated by Golden Voice Simon Vance. Treat yourself by giving it a listen:

Indie Next:
“An adventure, a mystery, an historical fiction — this exciting read defies categorization. With quirky and engaging characters who are at once villains, crooks, and heroes, along with exotic locations, literary figures, fast-paced action, and a surprise ending, this novel has something for everyone. Changing copyright laws spell the end of the line for career book thieves and spies, and a race against time and competitors makes for a story that is hard to put down. This will be another bestseller for Pearl!” —Coleen Colwell, BookSmart, Morgan Hill, CA

GalleyChatter: Something
for Everyone

Thursday, April 23rd, 2015

Editor’s Note: Each month our “GalleyChatter” Robin Beerbower wrangles the many titles librarians buzzed during GalleyChat down to a select few that are candidates for nearly everyone’s TBR lists.

GalleyChats are held on Twitter the first Tuesday of each month. The next one, May 6, 4 to 5 p.m. EDT will focus on the titles librarians are hoping to find at BEA. Please join us (details here).

Take it away, Robin!

April’s GalleyChat yielded a nice variety of forthcoming books with something for everyone.

If you couldn’t keep up with the over 400 tweets, check out the complete listing of titles on Edelweiss.

Suspense Thrillers

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Two suspense thrillers were at the forefront of our discussion starting with the second in the Jack White series, Vanishing Games (RH/Knopf, July). In 2013 Roger Hobbs had a hit with the first Jack White title, Ghostman, (even Michiko liked it!) and the second one is—if possible—even more intense. Set in the fascinating location of Macau, “Jack” reunites with his mentor, Angela, to find a missing treasure while trying to stay one step ahead of multiple bad guys. Stephanie Chase, Hillsboro Public Library (OR), said this is “a fast-paced and thrilling high-stakes caper that is enjoyable from start to finish.”

Patrick Lee introduced the intriguing ex-Special Forces operative Sam Dryden in his smart thriller Runner and Dryden is again featured in the follow-up, Signal (Macmillan/Minotaur, July). In her Edelweiss review, Janet Lockhart (Wake County Public Libraries) said “Think Lee Child with a sci-fi twist. Main character who is sympathetic despite the alarmingly large number of people he has to kill, great pacing, and mind blowing plot twists make this a great read.”

Book About Books

9780553418774_590eb“A book is both doctor and medicine. It makes diagnoses and provides therapy. Bringing the right novels together with the appropriate people is the way I sell books.” Combine that quote from Little Paris Bookshop, Nina George (RH/Crown, June) with the setting of a floating bookshop on the Seine and no readers’ advisory librarian will be able to resist reading (and recommending) it. Joe Jones (Cuyahoga County Public Library, Ohio) said, “Lost loves, a search for forgiveness, and one memorable road trip featuring some unique companions and characters along the way. For anyone who loves books and how they affect us. A perfect book discussion title.”

Psychological Suspense at Its Best

9780062363237_da22e“Eerie” and “unsettling” best describes Paul Tremblay’s Head Full of Ghosts (HarperCollins/ Morrow, June), the story of an 8-year-old grappling with her 14-year-old sister’s mental illness (real? fake? activated by paranormal activity?) and their family’s decision to have an exorcism filmed by a television crew. This was so intense I could hardly keep reading and recommend to readers who liked John Searles’ Help for the Haunted, especially for the sisterly bond.

Best of 2015 Contender

9781476798172_2ec36Every GalleyChat has at least one book deemed a “favorite of the year” and the heartbreaking debut by Bill Clegg, Did You Ever Have a Family (S&S/Gallery/Scout Press, September) is a definite contender. Discerning reader and devoted participant Cynthia Baskin loved this saying, “The author combines beautiful, empathetic writing with fully drawn realistic characters dealing with a horrible tragedy.” Janet Lockhart also agrees, saying this will appeal to fans of Elizabeth Strout and Ann Patchett and is a perfect title for all book groups.

Feverish for Gothics

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The fever never wanes among GalleyChat participants; we just can’t get enough of these novels filled with nail-biting atmospheric suspense. The announcement that Kate Morton’s next book, The Lake House, is due next October (S&S/Atria), sparked discussion about two titles that can be read now. Both Kimberly Freeman’s Evergreen Falls (S&S/Touchstone, August) and Lucinda Riley’s The Seven Sisters S&S/Touchstone, May) have dual timeline stories in exotic settings. Freeman’s book is set in a spa hotel in Australia and features a story fraught with scandalous secrets and love affairs; it’s a perfect match for fans of the departed Victoria Holt. New Rochelle (NY) Public Library’s Beth Mills reported that the Riley book “is the first in a linked series of seven novels focused on the mysteries surrounding six girls adopted by an enigmatic billionaire and each book features one of the sisters. I can hardly wait for the second novel, promised for November 2015.”

Memoir to Remember

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Bastards: A Memoir, Mary Anna King (WW Norton, June), mentioned a couple of months ago, now has a hold on Jennifer Dayton (Darien, CT, Library) who calls it a memoir to watch.  As a child King’s mother had multiple babies but gave them all up for adoption, then sent King to live with her grandparents. As an adult, King was haunted by the family she never knew and was determined to bring everyone back together. Janet Lockhart remarked that this is a “moving bio of girl trying to find a way to make sense of her fractured family life.”

I check Edelweiss for forthcoming books daily so you don’t have to, so “friend me” to see what I’m excited to read.

Witherspoon Voices WATCHMAN

Thursday, April 23rd, 2015

Screen Shot 2015-04-23 at 10.11.26 AMFollowing in the footsteps of actress Sissy Spacek who narrates the 2009 production of To Kill A Mockingbird, Reese Witherspoon has been selected by HarperAudio to narrate Go Set A Watchman.

The audiobook will be released simultaneously with the print and ebook versions on July 14th.

Born in New Orleans, Witherspoon is quoted in USA Today:

As a Southerner, it is an honor and privilege to give voice to the Southern characters who inspired my childhood love of reading, Scout and Atticus Finch…I am eager for readers to be transported to a pivotal time in American history in the manner that only Harper Lee’s gorgeous prose can deliver.

An avid reader, Witherspoon has been associated with a number of book adaptations as both an actress and a producer, including Water for Elephants, Wild, and Gone Girl.  She won the best actress Oscar for her portrayal of June Carter in Walk the Line, Oddly enough, Mockingbird‘s narrator, Spacek also won a best actress Oscar for her portrayal of another singer, Loretta Lynn in Coal Miner’s Daughter.

This is Witherspoon’s first audiobook.