Ready for Summer; Titles for RA Gurus, The Week of May 4

Next week is the first week of the summer, according to the publishing calendar, so it’s appropriate that Entertainment Weekly anoints the “first big beach read of the season,” the “hilarious” debut, I Take You, Eliza Kennedy, (RH/Crown; RH Audio).

9780316408752_8a3c4We’ve become used to James Patterson’s publishing schedule racing along nearly as fast as his chapters, but he may be setting a new record. Just one month after the previous handover bearing his name, comes the 14th Deadly Sin, the next in the Women’s Murder Club series written with Maxine Paetro. Big surprise, it’s the holds leader for the week.

On the other hand, we are surprised that one of the most heavily anticipated books of the year, A God in Ruins by Kate Atkinson isn’t showing heavy holds. As with her previous title, holds they may build with word of mouth.

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 May 4, 2015.

Heavily Anticipated

Life After Life  9780316176538_e515b

A God in Ruins, Kate Atkinson, (Hachette/Little, Brown; Hachette Audio)

After the big success of her eighth novel Life After Life  (2013), Kate Atkinson faces a daunting prospect with a follow up. The NYT‘s Janet Maslin, one of the early proponents of the previous title, reviews it today. While she’s clearly a fan, she gives us no quotable one liner. Leading off Entertainment Weekly‘s review section, it gets a B+ , saying it is  “cautiously dubbed a ‘companion piece’ even though the book stands, often stunningly on its own.”

It’s also a LibraryReads pick for the month:

In A God in Ruins, we become reacquainted with Teddy Todd, the beloved little brother of Ursula from Atkinson’s last book. As with Life After Life, this novel skims back and forth in time, and we see the last half of the 20th century through Ted’s eyes and the eyes of his loved ones. At times funny and at others heartbreaking, Atkinson revels in the beauty and horror of life in all its messiness. — Jennifer Dayton, Darien Library, Darien, CT

Media Attention, Memoirs

9781101903827_c8f37  9780062398086_2008c-2  9781476772905_0958a

The Book of Joan: Tales of Mirth, Mischief, and Manipulation, Melissa Rivers, (RH/Crown Archetype; RH Audio)

Excerpted in People, 5/1/15

Appearances:
NBC Today Show – 5/4
NBC Today Show – live in 4th hour – 5/5
MSNBC Morning Joe – 5/5

American Wife: A Memoir of Love, War, Faith, and Renewal, Taya Kyle, Jim DeFelice, (HarperCollins/Morrow/Thomas Nelson; HarperLuxe)

By the widow of Chris Kyle, author of American Sniper, the basis for Clint Eastwood’s successful movie. It was excerpted in People back in March, and featured on the cover. Robin Roberts interviews Kyle today on both Good Morning America and 20/20. 

More coming from ABC:

Saturday, May 2, ABC/Good Morning America Weekend
Monday, May 4, ABC/Good Morning America, Live in studio (Times Square Jumbotron to show cover of AMERICAN WIFE)
Monday, May 4, ABC/The View, Live in studio
Monday, May 4, ABC/World News

And Fox:

Tuesday, May 5, Fox News Channel, Fox & Friends, Live in studio
Tuesday, May 5, Fox News Channel, Hannity
Wednesday, May 6, Fox News Radio, Kilmeade & Friends
Wednesday, May 6, Fox News Channel, The Real Story w/Gretchen Carlson

And:

Tuesday, May 5, Entertainment Tonight
Wednesday, May 6, Access Hollywood Live, NY City
Wednesday, May 6, CNN, Jake Tapper
Wednesday, May 6, Inside Edition
Wednesday, May 13, Glenn Beck Radio
Monday, May 25, Glenn Beck Radio, Memorial Day Special

Print review also coming from the Washington Post

When the Balls Drop, Brad Garrett, (S&S/Gallery; S&S Audio; OverDrive Sample)

• NBC-TV/’Today,’ May 4
• ABC-TV/’The View,’ May 5
• ‘Entertainment Tonight,’ May 5

Media Attention, Nonfiction

9781476728742_a9b5d  9781476724218_a25d7

The Wright Brothers
, David McCullough, (S&S; Dreamscape Audio; Thorndike; OverDrive Sample)

This has been optioned for an HBO series co-produced by Tom Hanks’s company, Playtone. There are a couple of other projects in the company’s queue, so it may be a while before it comes to fruition.

The author is scheduled for interviews:

• CBS-TV/”CBS Sunday Morning,” May 3
• NPR-Radio/”The Diane Rehm Show,” May 11

The Dorito Effect: The Surprising New Truth About Food and Flavor, Mark Schatzker, (S&S; S&S Audio)

This book caught our eye via a fascinating essay in the WSJ. We’re looking forward to hearing more from the author:

• CBS-TV/”CBS This Morning,” May 5
• Nationally Syndicated/”The Dr. Oz Show,” May 5
• NPR/”Marketplace,” May 5

Hot YA

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The Heir (The Selection), Kiera Cass, (HarperTeen; Harper Audio; OverDrive Sample)

The fourth book in the series. As we noted this week, The Selection has been optioned for a movie, after several attempts to turn it into a TV series

Saint Anything, Sarah Dessen, (Penguin/Viking; Listening Library; OverDrive Sample)

Peer Picks

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Pieces of My Mother: A Memoir, Melissa Cistaro, (Sourcebooks; Blackstone Audio; OverDrive Sample)

Indie Next:

Cistaro’s story begins with the last days of her mother’s life, 35 years after she abandoned her children and husband with no explanation. Cistaro is still seeking the truth and the one answer that she feels she needs most desperately — why did her mother leave? What is most impressive about this memoir is the honesty with which the author details her own anxieties, and readers will relate to her and cheer her on when she makes an important, life-changing decision. This is an amazing story of forgiveness, connection, understanding, and grace. —Lynn Riehl, Nicola’s Books, Ann Arbor, MI

Church of Marvels, Leslie Parry, (HarperCollins/Ecco; HarperAudio; HarperLuxe)

Indie Next:

In this page-turner of a debut very little is what it first appears to be. Set in Coney Island and Manhattan at the end of the 19th century, Church of Marvelsis populated with carnival folk and others living on the edge of society with either much to hide or much to discover. The characters are richly drawn and their circumstances exceptionally intriguing as they seek and find the complicated truths of their lives in the dark underbelly of New York. —Cathy Langer, Tattered Cover Book Store, Denver, CO

Media Picks

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I Take You, Eliza Kennedy, (RH/Crown; RH Audio)

Called the “first big beach read of the season,”  and a “hilarious debut,” this is on Entertainment Weekly‘s “Must List” for the week and is also a People pick.

The Life and Death of Sophie Stark, Anna North, (Penguin/Blue Rider Press; OverDrive Sample) — coming May 19

Entertainment Weekly “Must List,” #3

Filmmaker Sophie Stark is a creative genius who exploits the lives of friends and family for her art, ignoring the wreckage she leaves in her wake. Told from the perspectives of those loves ones, North’s novel explores the limits of eccentricity.

The Enlightenment of Nina Findlay, Andrea Gillies, (Other Press)

Huffington Post, ‘The Book We’re Talking About

Welcome to My Breakdown: A Memoir, Benilde Little, (S&S/Atria)

9781476751955_de94e-2A People pick for the week:

‘Benilde Little (Good Hair) has a doting husband, beautiful kids, friends and a career. Then her force-of-nature mother dies, and she falls into a depression so deep she’s sure she can’t recover. Revisiting her past helps her build a sunnier future. An eminently readable memoir about turning darkness back into light.”

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