Archive for June, 2015

Misty Copeland Makes History

Tuesday, June 30th, 2015

Call it #WeNeedDiverseBallet. After 14 years with the American Ballet Theater, Misty Copeland has just been become the company’s first black female principal dancer.

9781476737980_f76ddHer autobiography, Life in Motion: An Unlikely Ballerina, (S&S/Touchstone; Tantor Audio), was published in hardcover last year and is also available in trade paperback.

She also published a children’s picture book, Firebird, illus. by Christopher Myers, (Penguin/Putnam) picked as a best book of the year by NPR:

9780399166150_a023d

“The book is for very young dancers who may not see many people who look like them in the world of ballet. It’s illustrated by Christopher Myers, whose collagelike work is painterly, vivid and emotional. Copeland’s writing and Myers’ art draw you into a beautiful world, rich with color, texture and drama. For all budding young artists who maybe don’t have role models they can relate to, this little book provides some inspiration.”

She was one of Time magazine’s 100 Most influential People this year and was profiled in May on 60 Minutes and said she dreamed of becoming ABT’s principal dancer one day. That day has come.

TEN THOUSAND SAINTS, Trailer

Tuesday, June 30th, 2015

Screen Shot 2015-06-30 at 10.31.55 AMEleanor Henderson’s debut novel, Ten Thousand Saints (HarperCollins/Ecco, 2011; OverDrive Sample) is about to land in movie theaters (on Aug. 14) . It premiered earlier this year at the Sundance Festival.

Adapted by the team behind American Splendor, the film stars Ethan Hawke, Asa Butterfield, Hailee Steinfeld, Emile Hirsch, and Emily Mortimer and is set in the hardcore punk scene of Manhattan during the late 80s, on the eve of the Tompkins Square Park riots.

Early reviews are mixed, with The Hollywood Reporter calling it “unassumingly strong” and Variety praising its tone and setting but questioning its selling power, “this warmly conceived dramedy will likely resonate strongest with audiences who have a direct connection to the story’s place and time. Otherwise, there’s not much to suggest a theatrical windfall.”

The NPR’s review of the novel deemed it “a sad, funny…bittersweet, lovely book.” Based on the trailer, that tone seems to have carried over to the movie with its music, inter-generational dialogue, and teenage angst.

HarperCollins releases a movie-tie in edition next month:

Ten Thousand Saints MTI
Eleanor Henderson
HarperCollins/Ecco; July 28, 2015; Paperback
9780062428691, 0062428691
$15.99 USD, $19.99 CAD

GREY Gets a Spanking

Tuesday, June 30th, 2015

Last night’s live online Twitter chat with E.L. James (#AskELJames) turned into some Fifty Shades bashing. As Entertainment Weekly puts it, “E.L. James’ Twitter Q&A didn’t really go as well as planned.”

Before all that broke loose, James responded to a question about plans for other romance novels by saying,

I’ve written a new book and am halfway through another. Both romances. Not sure when I will finish them. :)

Locus Award Winners, 2015

Monday, June 29th, 2015

The 2015 Locus Awards, for outstanding Science Fiction and Fantasy are:

Screen Shot 2015-06-29 at 12.28.53 PMAnn Leckie won best SF novel for Ancillary Sword (Hachette/Orbit; Hachette Audio and Blackstone Audio; OverDrive Sample), the follow-up to Ancillary Justice which won the 2014 Hugo, Nebula, and Arthur C. Clarke awards.

Nominees in the category that had the bad luck of going up against that juggernaut are The Peripheral (Penguin/Putnam; Penguin Audio; OverDrive Sample) by William Gibson, The Three-Body Problem (Macmillan/Tor; Macmillan Audio; OverDrive Sample) by Cixin Liu, Lock In (Macmillan/Tor; Audible Studios on Brilliance Audio; OverDrive Sample) by John Scalzi (which was a LibraryReads pick for August 2014), and all three books in Jeff VanderMeer’s Southern Reach trilogy. The first in the set, Annihilation (Macmillan/FSG; Blackstone Audio; OverDrive Sample), just won the 2015 Nebula.

Screen Shot 2015-06-29 at 12.34.00 PMKatherine Addison won best Fantasy novel for The Goblin Emperor (Macmillan/Tor; Tantor Audio; OverDrive Sample).

It topped an equally strong group of nominees that includes Steles of the Sky (Macmillan/Tor; OverDrive Sample) by Elizabeth Bear, City of Stairs (Hachette/Jo Fletcher Books; OverDrive Sample) by Robert Jackson Bennett, The Magician’s Land (Penguin/Viking; Penguin Audio; OverDrive Sample) by Lev Grossman (also a LibraryReads pick for August 2014), and The Mirror Empire (PRH/Angry Robot; OverDrive Sample) by Kameron Hurley.

The Locus Awards are decided by the readers of Locus Magazine. A full list of winners and nominees can be seen on the io9 site.

A Touch of Green

Monday, June 29th, 2015

9780147515018_5d27c  9780142402511  9780525476887_ad17d

In a bit of an understatement, the Hollywood trade Deadline notes “[John] Green’s young-adult allure has made him as bankable an author as there is right now.”

Just last week it was announced that a film adaptation of a collection of three linked short stories, one of them by Green, Let It Snow (Penguin/Speak, pbk original, 2008), will be released on Dec. 9, 2016.

Another Green title has just taken a step closer to the screen. Director Rebecca Thomas is in talks for Looking For Alaska.

And, of course, Paper Towns, starring  Nat Wolff and Cara Delevingne is set to open in less than a month, on July 24.

So, what about his other books?

On his web site, Green says that An Abundance of Katherines, has been optioned, but is “a long way off.”

9780525421580_80048That leaves just Will Grayson, Will Grayson, which he wrote with David Leviathan. It hasn’t been optioned, says Green, because,”To quote a real live movie producer who really said this about Will Grayson, Will Grayson, ‘The only thing Hollywood hates more than smart teenagers is smart, gay teenagers’ I hope Hollywood will prove this movie producer wrong someday.”

Green has helped Hollywood get over that first objection. He may conquer the second as well.

Silva Summer: THE ENGLISH SPY

Monday, June 29th, 2015

Screen Shot 2015-06-29 at 11.05.17 AMSeveral things happen around this time of year: the heat intensifies, humidity blooms, and Daniel Silva releases another Gabriel Allon thriller.

This time it is The English Spy (Harper; HarperAudio) which comes out tomorrow.

In this new title, Silva’s character, Israel’s super spy Allon, finds himself torn between the past and future as he is forced to leave his pregnant wife to fulfill a longstanding vendetta. It is a quest that will ensnare his British cohort Christopher Keller (who first appeared in The English Assassin) and a number of other old friends and enemies.

Making the book tour rounds, Silva appeared this morning on the Today Show to talk about how he borrows from the headlines, politics, and current events to create the background for his plots.

He was also on NPR’s Weekend Edition Saturday where he offered brief comments on politics and writing. While there are a number of complications in writing a political series (and his series  is very political, with a conservative point of view about Israel and Middle Eastern and Russian politics) he says it is those complications that give his Allon books their edge. He also discussed the burdens of writing a successful franchise, revealing that he has numerous blue note cards full of stories that do not feature Allon, but feels that his fans would revolt if his next book didn’t continue the series.

For now, Allon reigns supreme but fans might one day meet a new Silva character.

ALA’s Carnegie Medal Winners, 2015

Monday, June 29th, 2015

The winners of the Andrew Carnegie Medals for Excellence in Fiction and Nonfiction were announced this weekend at the Annual ALA Meeting.

The medalist in fiction is the long-running best seller, winner of the Pulitzer Prize in literature, as well as finalist for the National Book Award, All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr (S&S/Scribner).

The winner is nonfiction also hit the NYT best seller list, for one week at #10, Just Mercy: A Story of Justice and Redemption, Bryan Stevenson, (RH/Spiegel & Grau; RH Audio,  OverDrive Sample).

Audio sample:

The book was one of the NYT Book Review’s 100 Notable Books, described as, “An activist lawyer’s account of a man wrongfully convicted of murder reads like a call to action.”

Stevenson, founder of the Equal Justice Initiative, has been called by Archbishop Desmond Tutu, “America’s young Nelson Mandela.” In a long blurb on the book’s cover, John Grisham says that Stevenson is  “… doing god’s work fighting for the poor, the oppressed, the voiceless, the vulnerable, the outcast and those with no hope. Just Mercy is his inspiring and powerful story.”

Stevenson appeared on NPR’s Fresh Air  and on the Daily Show last year.

Best Beach Books

Friday, June 26th, 2015

1370-cover  cover-768

With the Fourth of July holiday ahead, sister publications People and Entertainment Weekly offer recommendations of titles to take to the beach:

People — “Summer’s Best Beach Books” — not available online, link is to our collection on Edelweiss

Entertainment Weekly — “Brainy & Brilliant Beach Books“– link is to our Edelweiss collection

Titles on Entertainment Weekly‘s “Must List” for the week:

#3 — Sick in the Head : Conversations About Life and Comedy, Judd Apatow, (Random House); has been getting media coverage, of course. The author has appeared on several shows, including NPR’s Fresh Air and The Daily Show with Jon Stewart. The book has even been covered by The New Yorker.

#9 — Day Four, Sara Lotz (Hachette/Little, Brown; Hachette Audio: eBook) —  also gets a B+ review in the previous issue’s review section saying this “eerie tale contains freaky spooks … You’ll turn the pages curiously, hungry for clues, until the ending, told through newspaper clippings and CIA files, kicks you in the stomach.” The Guardian agrees crediting “Lotz’s expertise at orchestrating the mounting tension as the story builds to a wonderfully ambiguous, though satisfying and unusual, denouement.”

Titles Know and Recommend, the Week of 6/29

Friday, June 26th, 2015

9780062320131_9f0ce  9780785192664_a3125

Leading up to the Fourth of July weekend, The English Spy by Daniel Silva, (Harper) is the holds leader among books arriving next week. Also, arriving is one of tie-ins to Marvel’s big summer release, Ant-man (full list of titles in our collection Upcoming — Tie-ins) and an audio-only title from Stephen King.

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 6:29:15

Media Attention

9781442389649_aba55Drunken Fireworks, Stephen King, read by Tim Sample, (Simon & Schuster Audio; 3 minute excerpt)

Stephen King brought attention to eBooks when he released an eBook-only title, Riding the Bullet. He now brings attention to CBS’s on-demand audio platform by releasing this audiobook-only title. About a fireworks rivalry that gets out of hand, the audio is also available on CD and via audio download.

In early November the short story will be released in print as part of a new King collection, The Bazaar of Bad Dreams (S&S/Scribner; Nov 3).

Media:

The New York Times, author and narrator interview (upcoming)

CBS/Play.It, live stream, July 1 and 2

9781455530373_69a37

Killing Monica, Candace Bushnell, (Hachette/Grand Central)

Candace Bushnell wrote a series of columns for the New York Observer, which became the book Sex and the City, which became the HBO series starring Sarah Jessica Parker. In Busnell’s new book, she writes about an author of a series of best selling books that becomes a popular TV series starring an actress need SondraBeth Schnowzer. The author ends up being so identified with the character that, well, the title seems to serve as a spoiler.

In multiple interviews, including one with The New York Observer, Bushnell denies that this book bears any similarity to her life or to her relationship with SJP. Not that it much matters; interest in SATC has been dimmed by time and two disastrous movies (even so, Parker recently hinted that a third is on the way. We’ll believe it when we see it). As USA Today indicates, the book has little going for it on its own.

Peer Picks

9781451659160_68cd4

The Oregon Trail : A New American Journey, Rinker Buck, (Simon & Schuster)

Indie Next #1 Pick:

“Inspired by a family trip in a covered wagon in the 1950s, Rinker Buck and his brother Nick set out by wagon to discover what remains of the Oregon Trail between Missouri and Oregon. Along the way, readers learn about wagon design, mule heritage, and what pioneers needed to endure traveling west in the 19th century. This is also a moving personal story of brotherhood, endurance, and the kindness of strangers. Buck weaves fact, action, and reflection together into a page-turning delight that history buffs and fans of contemporary nonfiction will not want to miss.” —Dick Hermans, Oblong Books & Music, Millerton, NY

Reviewed in the daily New York Times by Dwight Garner, it was also on Entertainment Weekly‘s “Summer Reading Preview,”5/16/15.

In the trailer, author Rinker Buck explains what made him deiced to take such a crazy journey:

9781476786506_f3669

The Mountain Story, Lori Lansens, (Simon & Schuster)

One of our GalleyChat picks back in December:

“Lori Lansens’ story of conjoined twins, The Girls, is a perennial library favorite and The Mountain Story (S&S/Gallery), her latest book about a group of strangers who get stranded in the woods above Palm Springs, California, is already receiving attention. Stephanie Chase (Hillsboro, OR, Public Library) said it’s ‘a deeply moving story of survival, and of the choices we make in our lives. Lansens does a wonderful job of weaving in the stories of the four characters, and moving between the current desperate situation and events in the past.’ ”

9781594205958_d99d2-3

The Star Side of Bird Hill, Naomi Jackson, Penguin Press

Featured in our Penguin Debut Authors series, this is an Indie Next pick:

“In the summer of 1989, sisters Dionne and Phaedra — aged 16 and 10, respectively — are shuttled from their Brooklyn life to their grandmother Hyacinth’s home in Barbados. Dionne is filled with palpable teenage angst and the desire for romance, while Phaedra prefers to experience the mysteries of Bird Hill with her grandmother. Both girls have a tentative curiosity about their mother’s early life on the island, but it is not until their father shows up unexpectedly that they question their very identities and what it means to be ‘home.’ Reminiscent of Jamaica Kincaid, Jackson’s coming-of-age tale makes Barbados spring from the page with humor, beauty, and heartbreak.” —Amanda Hurley, Inkwood Books, Tampa, FL

The author speaks to librarians, below:

9780373780129_ba3d9

Kiss Me, Susan Mallery, (Harlequin)

LibraryReads:

“As always, Ms. Mallery has given us a fantastic read. As soon as I pick up her titles, I can’t put them down until I have finished them. They are feel-good, heartwarming — I need more synonyms. I love seeing all the previous characters, the friendships and families that have formed since Chasing Perfect came out five years ago. Thanks, Ms. Mallery, for another amazing read.” — Jenelle Klavenga, Marshalltown Public Library, Marshalltown, IA

Book Adaptations Debut

Friday, June 26th, 2015

The 13-episode series Zoo, based on the novel by James Patterson and Michael Ledwidge premieres on CBS at 9 p.m. on Tuesday, June 30. Entertainment Weekly gives is a solid B and calls it a ‘”worthy small screen supplement to a  Jurassic World summer.”

Tie-ins:

9781455536702_96fa5Zoo

James Patterson and Michael Ledwidge

Hachette/Grand Central, May 26, 2015
Trade Paperback, $15.00 USD, $17.00 CAD
Mass Market, $8.00 USD, $9.00 CAD
Debuting in theaters is Big Game, starring Samuel L. Jackson, playing the President of the U.S. in a role the New York Post calls the actor’s “campiest outing since Snakes on a Plane.” It is based on Big Game Daniel Smith, , (Scholastic/Chicken House)

MAN IN THE HIGH CASTLE
Comes to Comic-Con

Thursday, June 25th, 2015

Marvel and a few other studios are sitting out the upcoming San Diego Comic-Con, causing Variety to  declare, “TV Takes Over Comic-Con as Film Studios Back Out” (perhaps they haven’t noticed that TV seems to be taking over everything these days).

Further, they say this offers “upstart digital networks looking to compete with their broadcast counterparts” an opportunity to get more exposure.

One of those upstarts is Amazon Studios, appearing at the show for the first time this year with two series, one of which is The Man in the High Castle, adapted from the iconic alternative reality novel by Philip K. Dick. A special screening of the first two episodes at Comic-Con on Friday, July 10 will also be live-streamed on Entertainment Weekly‘s site.

The series is directed by Ridley Scott, known for 1982 movie Blade Runner based, if somewhat loosely, on another iconic book by Philip K. Dick, Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?

The first, rather obscure, trailer to promote that event has just been released:

Comic-Con will also feature a first look at at Outcast, the upcoming Cinemax series based on the comics by Robert Kirkman and Paul Azaceta.

PROJECT FATHERHOOD
on Fresh Air

Thursday, June 25th, 2015

9780807014523_3ffaaYesterday NPR’s Fresh Air featured a much-needed inspiring story about the possibility of change, the dangers of stereotyping, and how a group of former gang members in Watts come together to learn to become better fathers.

That effort is covered in the book,  Project Fatherhood by Jorja Leap (Beacon Press, 6/9/15).

ORANGE Alert

Thursday, June 25th, 2015

9780812986181_0d2c5Orange is the New Black, season three, debuted on Netflix two weeks ago, moving the memoir  by Piper Kerman it is based on (RH/Spiegel & Grau) back onto best seller lists.

The series is known for bringing attention to other books as well. Entertainment Weekly points out that the new season is a bit lighter on specific titles (all the books in the prison library are burned after a bed bug is discovered in a copy of Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH).

But there’s plenty of titles to mine from previous series for a book display.

Season Two Reading List

Season One (BuzzFeed)

The series has been renewed for a fourth season.

Sharing the Creative Process

Wednesday, June 24th, 2015

lisabadge

People often ask me how could I give up working Bank Street College of Education in NYC to live in Minnesota.

The answer is the Kerlan Collection at University of Minnesota Libraries​, one of the largest  repositories of children’s book manuscripts, art and first editions. We hold the papers of all of the Ambassadors for Young Peoples Literature (if you are counting in your head that is Scieszka, Patterson, Myers, and DiCamillo).

Since everyone can’t visit the University of Minnesota, it is my goal to bring the collection out of the cavern and share it with librarians and teachers.

balloonsOverBroadway-image-resize

One of those efforts is the just-launched digital exhibit, Balloons Over Broadway, Melissa Sweet, and the Engineering of a Picture, which examines the author/illustrator research and creative process using the materials in the Kerlan Collection.

If you are going to ALA, don’t miss the opportunity to hear Melissa Sweet​ at the ALSC President’s program.

Charlemae Rollins President’s Program
More to the Core: From the Craft of Nonfiction to the Expertise in the Stacks

MCC-2001 (W)
Monday, 6/29 1:00 to 2:30

Awarding-winning author and illustrator Melissa Sweet and literacy advocate Judy Cheatham, VP of Literacy Services at Reading Is Fundamental, share the stage to present an informational and inspirational look at the creation of excellent nonfiction and the matchmaking of great books and kids who need them. Libraries’ role in innovative implementation of programs and services to support the Common Core Standards is a central skill and an important contribution to the communities we serve.  Even if CCS isn’t a part of your educational landscape, great nonfiction books – how they are created and ways to connect them to children and families is central to our craft and critical to our ability to collaborate with our communities. Let’s be inspired together!

Norton eBooks Soon Available to Libraries

Wednesday, June 24th, 2015

WWNorton-LogoIn a press release today, independent publisher W.W. Norton announced that they will make their eBooks, as well as those from the publishers they distribute (among them is Overlook, Fantagraphics and New Directions), available to libraries through Baker & Taylor, OverDrive, and 3M.

No news yet on terms to libraries.

W.W. Norton will be exhibiting at ALA Annual in San Francisco beginning this Friday (booth #1119).

Press Release: Norton E-Books Available Through Libraries