We are getting close to the wrap up of the Best Books list of 2015.

Today, Booklist released their picks, with a bit of a grumble from Editor Keir Graff that “The rush to be first has caused some of our competitors to release their year’s-best lists even earlier this year.”

We’ve also noticed lists coming earlier and earlier each year. We remember a day when Booklist didn’t release theirs until beginning of the new year.

Still to come are the various ALA lists, but this wraps up the critics picks.

Below are our updated downloadable spreadsheets compiling the adult lists.Llook for our Childrens and YA by the end of the week.

2015 Best Books Fiction – V3

2015 Best Books Nonfiction, V3

2015 Best Books Poetry V2

M. Kakutani, Top Ten Pick

People Top Ten

Entertainment Weekly #10

Entertainment Weekly #7

NYT BR Top Ten Title

Janet Maslin Top Ten

When it comes to best books lists, as we have noted often before, critics rarely agree. That’s made even more clear when comparing the various top ten lists.

Several new ones appeared at the end of last week:

People magazine Top Ten

Entertainment Weekly, “10 Best (And 5 Worst!) Books of 2015”

New York Times daily critics — 10 each, selected by Dwight Garner, Michiko Kakutani and Janet Maslin

Rounding up the titles from a dozen Top Ten lists (downloadable spreadsheet —  2015 Best-Books-Top-Ten) reveals how many are unique picks:

66 — on no other Top Ten lists

26 — on no other Best Books lists

Among all the sources, the New York Times daily critic Janet Maslin picks the most unique titles (5), partly because she’s more appreciative of  popular genres and therefore is the only one to pick Don Winslow’s The Cartel (PRH/Knopf) and Dennis Lehane’s World Gone By (HarperCollins/Morrow).

Most of fellow daily NYT critic Michiko Kakutani’s picks are expected literary titles (Ferrante’s The Story of the Lost Child, Garth Risk Hallberg’s City on Fire), with the intriguing exception of James Rebanks’s The Shepherd’s Life (Macmillan/Flatiron Books), which she describes as a “captivating book about the author’s small family sheep farm in the Lake District of England.”

Since unique picks may be a good place to make discoveries, we’ve created a downloadable spreadsheet of just the Top Ten Unique Picks.

For more on how to use these lists, PLA is offering a Webinar tomorrow with a title we can relate to, Attack of the “Best” Lists. Readers’ Advisory expert Becky Spratford will offer “practical advice on how to use ‘best’ lists to help patrons find their next great read, under the radar ‘best’ books for a wide range of readers, and plenty of readalike options.” NOTE; Open only to PLA personal members.

The slowdown in release of titles continues next week, which is dominated by the Star Wars tie-ins (see previous post). As a result, we can round up the other titles in one short paragraph.

James Patterson publishes the next in his middle-grade series,
I Funny TV: A Middle School Story (Hachette/LittleBrown; Hachette Audio) as well as the next in the Manga version sof his YA series, Maximum Ride: The Manga, Vol. 9, (Hachette/Yen Press). In adult titles, the next in James Rollins’s  Sima Force series arrives, The Bone Labyrinth.(HarperCollins/Morrow; HarperLuxe; HarperAudio).

The titles covered here, s well as the week’s tie-ins, are listed with ordering information and alternate formats, on our downloadable spreadsheet, EarlyWord New Title Radar, Week of 12/14/15.

On Broadway, The Color Purple opened yesterday and is getting kudos from coast to coast. The New York Times calls it “a glory to behold” and the L.A. Times says it is “a spiritually transcendent theatricalization of the tale.” The latter review also notes that the production “relies to an extent on the audience having some understanding of the basic story.”

Fortunately, there is a tie-in, The Color Purple (Musical Tie-In) by Alice Walker (HMH/Mariner Books).

..
Two film adaptations open today, including Ron Howard’s long anticipated adaptation of Nathaniel Philbrick’s In the Heart of the Sea.(poster at left).

Unfortunately, despite early Oscar buzz, Variety predicts, based on the overseas box office where it opened last week, that it will be  “one of the biggest flops of director Ron Howard’s career and will serve as a painful coda to what has been a devastating year for Warner Bros.” Reviews are not helping, exemplified by NPR’s headline, “There’s Entirely Too Much Melville In The Heart Of The Sea”

But unsuccessful movies sometimes bring readers to the books they are based on. The trade paperback edition has been rising on Amazon’s sales rankings,

Tie-ins include one for adults and another for young readers:

In the Heart of the Sea: The Tragedy of the Whaleship Essex (Movie Tie-in),  Nathaniel Philbrick (Penguin; Penguin Audio)

In the Heart of the Sea (Young Readers Edition), Nathaniel Philbrick (Penguin/Puffin Books; Blackstone Audio; OverDrive Sample).

Another hotly anticipated adaptation The Big Short, based on Michael Lewis’s best seller he housing and credit bubble, opens in a limited number of theaters today. Says Variety, “Paramount will try to exploit the empty playing field this weekend by launching The Big Short, a comic look at the financial crisis, in limited release. The subject matter is dense, terms like collaterized debt obligations are bandied about, so it will fall to an all-star ensemble of Brad Pitt, Christian Bale, Ryan Gosling, and Steve Carell to bring in audiences. The Big Short debuts on seven theaters before going wide on Dec. 25.”

The NYT is much more positive, calling it “A true crime story and a madcap comedy, a heist movie and a scalding polemic, [that] will affirm your deepest cynicism about Wall Street while simultaneously restoring your faith in Hollywood.”

The tie-in edition was published a few weeks ago, The Big Short: Inside the Doomsday Machine by Michael Lewis (Norton; OverDrive Sample).

Three TV events occur this week.

Hallmark continues its string of Christmas book adaptations on Sunday with Debbie Macomber’s Dashing Through the Snow (RH/Ballantine), the story of two strangers trying to make it to Seattle in the holiday rush.

There is not a specific tie-in edition, but as we noted the book was one to watch when it came out this past October.

In a three-night event the Syfy channel brings Arthur C. Clarke’s 1953 novel, Childhood’s End, to the small screen.

A tie-in edition came out in October, Childhood’s End (Syfy TV Tie-in) by Arthur C. Clarke (PRH/Del Rey; Brilliance Audio).

About an an alien invasion, the take over of the planet begins Dec. 14.

Also coming from the Syfy channel is The Expanse, a new space-set series based on the Hugo and Locus nominated book Leviathan Wakes (which is the first book in The Expanse series).

A tie-in edition came out in early November, Leviathan Wakes by James S.A. Corey (Hachette/Orbit; OverDrive Sample).

The series begins Dec. 14.

Lines began forming for the 7th installment of Star Wars:The Force Awakens, as early as last Saturday, 12 days ahead of its Thursday midnight opening.

There’s is a raft of Star Wars branded products to occupy them. As the Seattle Times points out, this is the first Star Wars movie “from merchandise-driven Disney.” following their acquisition of Lucasfilm.

You can get Death Star shoes and even Star Wars mascara and, of course, a wide range of collectibles, introduced earlier this year. Lucas film president Kathleen Kennedy comments in brand-speak, “Star Wars toys have always played an important role in how our fans interact with the Saga.”

Several Force Awakens branded titles were released in September and a whole new set is scheduled  for release next Friday. However, the print novelization is being held off until January, to avoid spoilers (that does not apply to the eBook edition, scheduled for release the same day as the movie).

StarWars.com lists and annotates the books and PRH/Del Rey has a Facebook page for their titles, including the recent “official cover reveal” of Chuck Windig’s sequel,  Aftermath: Life Debt, May 31, 2016. For ordering information, check our listing of tie-ins (minus library-unfriendly merch. items, like sticker books and those that include light sabers).The title currently highest on Amazon’s sales rankings is Pablo Hidalgo’s Star Wars: The Force Awakens Visual Dictionary (Penguin/DK).

If you had any doubts, there will be more Star Wars movies. Wired predicts “You Won’t Live to See the Final Star Wars Movie” and JJ Abrams, director of the current movie, is touting Selma director Ava DuVernay for future iterations.

Other tie-in arriving this week follow the normal pattern of being pubished months in advance of the movies:

Snowden (The Snowden Files Movie Tie In Edition): The Inside Story of the World’s Most Wanted Man, Luke Harding (PRH/Vintage).

Oliver Stone is taking on the Snowden story in a film set for release on May 15, 2016. Joseph Gordon-Levitt stars as  Snowden, along with Shailene Woodley and Nicholas Cage. The script is based on Harding’s nonfiction account, which published as an original trade paperback in the U.S. in February 2014.

For a while there was a duel going on for film dominance.

Sony bought rights to Glenn Greenwald’s No Place to Hide: Edward Snowden, the NSA, and the U.S. Surveillance State (Macmillan/Metropolitan Books) in 2014 (see our story here on the rivalry between Harding and Greenwald). However, Greenwald’s own website reports, relying ironically on leaks from the Sony email hack, that the film based on No Place to Hide is likely dead in the water, quoting an email from a Sony executive as saying the Stone film “will beat our Snowden project to market and therefore ours is unlikely to happen … We ended up passing after seriously considering the project.”

A teaser trailer has been released:

Pride and Prejudice and Zombies (Movie Tie-in Edition) by Jane Austen, Seth Grahame-Smith (Quirk Books).

The godmother of the mashup genre, Pride and Prejudice and Zombies, finally makes it to the screen, beginning Feb. 19 in a film starring Lily James (Cinderella, Downton Abbey and the upcoming BBC adaptation of War and Peace) as Elizabeth Bennett and Sam Riley as Mr. Darcy.

As we reported earlier, many leading ladies have been rumored or announced, including Natalie Portman, Emma Stone, Anne Hathaway, Scarlett Johansson, Mia Wasikowska and Rooney Mara.

The most listened-to podcast in the history of the medium has returned for its second season. Titled DUSTWUN, the New Yorker reports it made a quiet debut at 6 a.m. today.

The previous season of Serisl investigated the murder of a Baltimore teen, and the validity of the evidence that led to the conviction of her boyfriend for the killing. The new series also investigates a different mystery, why Sgt.Bowe Bergdahl left his Army base in Afghanistan in 2009, leading his captured and imprisonment by the Taliban for five years until he was released as part of a prisoner exchange (see NPR’s coverage of the story). The series will examine the impact of war on soldiers and the controversy surrounding Bergdahl’s rescue.

Libraries responded creatively to the first season with reading lists that included books about the criminal justice system. As the new season unfolds, libraries will be alert to the questions it raises.

It seems everyone is naming their favorite books of 2015.

President Obama in an interview with People magazine, says his favorite is a novel that is on many best books lists, a finalist for the National Book Award but not the winner, Lauren Groff’s Fates and Furies.

The title is absent from one significant Top Ten list. While the New York Times listed it as one of their 100 Notable Books, it was shut out of the Top Ten. In the “Inside the NYT Book Review” podcast this week, the editors discuss their battles over the selections and reveal that one of the editor fought to include the title, but ultimately lost.

Michelle Obama’s favorite book? Elizabeth Alexander’s memoir, The Light of the World, which appeared on neither of the NYT lists.

The first teaser has just been released for Steven Spielbeg’s adaptation of Roald Dahl’s 1982 childrens book, The BFG, (Macmillan/FSG YR). The movie is set to open on July 1 next year.

If the trailer reminds you a bit of Harry Potter (which Spielberg was offered, but turned down), you’re not the only one.

The movie stars newcomer Ruby Barnhill as Sophie. Mark Rylance, who just received a Golden Globe nomination for his performance as Thomas Cromwell in the BBC’s Wolf Hall, plays the Giant.

Tie-in:

The BFG Movie Tie-In
Roald Dahl
Penguin/Pufin Books: May 17, 2016
Paperback; $7.99 USD
Audio tie-in, Listening Library

Topping the LibraryReads list for January, released today, is a book that has been popular on our GalleyChats, Elizabeth Strout’s latest, My Name Is Lucy Barton, (PRH/ Random House; Jan 12). Catherine Coyne, Mansfield Public Library, Mansfield, MA writes the annotation,

Set in the mid-1980s, Lucy Barton, hospitalized for nine weeks, is surprised when her estranged mother shows up at her bedside. Her mother talks of local gossip, but underneath the banalities, Lucy senses the love that cannot be expressed. This is the story that Lucy must write about, the one story that has shaped her entire life. A beautiful lyrical story of a mother and daughter and the love they share.

It is also picked by booksellers for the Indie Next January list. the recommendation credits Strout with “the incredible ability to take ordinary, even mundane situations and use them to make acute observations on the human condition.”

Topping the Indie Next list is a book that was heavily promoted at BEA, The Readers of Broken Wheel Recommend by Katarina Bivald (Sourcebooks Landmark; Jan 19). Also on the LibraryReads list, it is describes by Barbara Clark-Greene, Groton Public Library, Groton, CT:

Sara arrives in the small town of Broken Wheel to visit her pen pal Amy, only to discover Amy has just died. The tale of how she brings the love of books and reading that she shared with Amy to the residents of Broken Wheel is just a lovely read. Any book lover will enjoy Sara’s story and that of the friends she makes in Broken Wheel. If ever a town needed a bookstore, it is Broken Wheel; the healing power of books and reading is made evident by this heartwarming book.

There’s little crossover between the rest of  the titles on the lists, giving readers advisors 29 titles to know and recommend (check for digital galleys on Edelweiss and NetGalley).

News recently leaked that Laura Dern and Shailene Woodley were being courted for the HBO series based on Australian author Liane Moriarty’s best seller Big Little Lies (Penguin/Putnam/Einhorn).

Deadline now confirms that Dern has signed to play Renata Klein, one of the three mothers at the center of the story. Woodley is expected to play Jane, a single mother whose son is accused of bullying, but that has not yet been confirmed, but seems certain since producer Nicole Kidman announced it last week.

The show runner is David E. Kelley (Ally McBeal, Boston Legal), with Jean-Marc Vallée (Dallas Buyers Club, Wild) set to direct several of the episodes.

Moriarty is scheduled to publish an untitled new novel in July (Macmillan/Flatiron Books).

Two of Moriarty’s other novels are in development, as feature films. The Husband’s Secret, (Penguin/Putnam/Einhorn, 2013), with CBS Films and  What Alice Forgot, (Penguin/Putnam/Einhorn, 2011)  with TriStar. At the end of October, it was reported that Jennifer Aniston is in talks to star in the latter.

From EarlyWord‘s GalleyChatter columnist, Robin Beerbower:

Librarians are tweeting their favorite titles of the year in a countdown that ends on Wednesday, December 16. It’s not too late to join in.

The rules are simple:

Count down your top 10 fave books of 2015 (adult and youth), one per day. TITLE in caps w/ author, tag #libfaves15.

If you haven’t started yet, you can “cheat” and tweet your #10 through #8 picks today and pick up with #7 tomorrow.

Participants are encouraged to submit titles published in 2015. The top ten titles will be announced here on Thursday, December 17, with a link to the final spreadsheet.

At this point over 220 titles with over 270 votes have been received, with Girl on the Train by Paula Hawkins barreling along at top speed, but there’s also plenty of love for Kelly Link’s Get in Trouble, David Mitchell’s Slade House and the teen book All the Rage by Courtney Summers, along with a higher number of graphic novels than were submitted last year. Will these titles continue to collect nods from librarians? Check back on December 17 to find out.

We’ve Storified the 387 tweets through this this afternoon (scroll through them, not only for title recommendations, but to see how creatively librarians use 140 characters or fewer).

Read the chat, below.

For information on upcoming titles, and to sign up for the program, click here.

The HBO series based on Liane Moriarty’s best seller Big Little Lies (Penguin/Putnam/Einhorn), now has another big name attached. Shailene Woodley is set to join Nicole Kidman and Reese Witherspoon in the production, reports Variety, but the news seems to have been broken via a tweet from the Hindustan Times Leadership Summit. Variety notes the deal is not completed. Since the source of the news is Kidman and she is a producer, it seems it is likely it will be confirmed shortly.

Nicole Kidman confirming Shailene Woodley for Big Little Lies at the HT Leadership Summit. pic.twitter.com/BUpIX0lQrG

— Lauren (@lfakier) December 5, 2015

For those whose lives have not yet been changed by the magic of tidying up, another opportunity is on its way.

Arriving in January is Marie Kondo’s  Spark Joy: An Illustrated Master Class on the Art of Organizing and Tidying Up (Ten Speed Press; RH Large Print) and The New Yorker takes it as an opportunity to examine  “The Origin Story of Marie Kondo’s Decluttering Empire,”

The story mentions her stance on keeping books, “still-unread means never will be read, and that, once read, books shouldn’t be retained for rereading.” That got us wondering, have libraries seen an uptick in donations since the first book was published?

What does a MacArthur Genius Fellow do when he appears on The Late Show? Sing a childrens song in a duet with Stephen Colbert, of course, even though it makes him nervous. As he admits, having to perform in front of the Late Show band is like “having sex in front of porn stars.”

Quotable line from the interview, “Novels are training wheels for empathy.”

George Saunders is currently on tour for the re-release of his childrens book, The Very Persistent Gappers of Frip, illustrated by Lane Smint, (Random House, 11/24/15; originally published in 2006).

Not mentioned in the interview, the book is set to be adapted as a movie by MGM, with Saunders producing.

Saunders also read a bedtime story to Colbert.