Last season was about big-name authors; this one is about debuts, so we’re keeping our eyes out for titles that may hit (remember; The Help came out on 2/10 last year; we first highlighted it in a post on 2/12; it debuted on the 3/29 NYT Fiction bestseller list)

This week, Entertainment Weekly goes nuts for the debut Bloodroot by Amy Greene,

Some novels are so powerful, so magical in their sweep and voice, that they leave you feeling drugged. Close the pages and the people in them keep right on talking to you. Amy Greene’s debut novel, Bloodroot, set in the bone-poor hollows of the eastern Tennessee mountains, is such a book.

Needless to say, they give it an unqualified A.

The prepub reviews, however, were divided.

Booklist — starred review — “With a style as elegant as southern novelist Lee Smiths and a story as affecting as The Color Purple, this debut offers stirring testimony to the resilience of the human spirit.”

Kirkus — “…bound to be a big hit”

Library Journal — “Fans of Appalachian culture and/or family chronicles may find something to take pleasure in here; casual popular fiction readers should likely pass.”

PW — “Despite a few vivid moments, this uneven debut, a four-generation Appalachian family epic, loses sight of the intriguing mythology it lays out early on.”

Location: Setting is the author’s native Tennessee Smoky Mountains.

It’s an Indie Next pick for January. Bookseller Janel Feierabend from Book Passage, Corte Madera, CA describes it;

The isolated Appalachian setting in Bloodroot is a powerful, realistic, and truly American stage on which basic human traits emerge under the heavy hand of hardship and poverty. This multi-generational story is a must-read for those who wish to expand their horizons, experience a part of our country often ignored, and face challenges head-on through honest and sparse prose. I’m still reeling.

Bloodroot Amy Greene Retail Price: $24.95 Hardcover: 304 pages Publisher: Knopf – (2010-01-12) ISBN / EAN: 0307269868 / 9780307269867

UNABR Simultaneous Audio: Random Audio; 9780307713230; $40
eBook available from OverDrive

Wench by Dolan Perkins-Valdez has “sleeper success” written all over it, with a fascinating story line about an Ohio resort where slave masters brought their slave mistresses and rapturous early reviews, including one in People, calling it a “devastating beautiful account of a cruel past.”

The author appeared on NPR’s Tell Me a Story yesterday and added a third element to the list of pros; an author who can sell her book. She tells how she learned the story about the real resort that is the backdrop for her book, in a biography of W.E.B. Du Bois. Images of the actual resort are available on the author’s Web site.

Click here to listen to the story.

Location information: the real resort was in Xenia, in southwest Ohio near Dayton.The author was born and raised in Memphis, Tennessee and now splits her time between Washington, DC and Seattle.

Wench Dolen Perkins Valdez Retail Price: $24.99 Hardcover: 304 pages Publisher: Amistad – (2010-01-01) ISBN / EAN: 006170654X / 9780061706547 Unabridged Audio: Book on Tape Audio and eBook downloadable from OverDrive

Perkins-Valdez learned about the real resort in this bio of W.E.B. Du Bois, which won a Pulitzer Prize for Biography:

W. E. B. Du Bois, 1868-1919: Biography of a Race David Levering Lewis Retail Price: $24.00 Paperback: 752 pages Publisher: Holt Paperbacks – (1994-12-15) ISBN / EAN: 0805035680 / 9780805035681

Next week’s most-anticipated nonfiction book is bestselling business guru Seth Godin‘s guide to mastering the new economy, Linchpin: Are You Indispensable?  Three of the four libraries we checked had it, with holds of close to 2:1 on orders of 8-15 copies

Though the reserves aren’t huge, they appear to be a positive effect of Godin’s gamble on Internet-only publicity campaign, in which he bypassed the traditional media, giving away books at his own expense to the first 3,000 readers who agreed to make a minium $30 donation to the Acumen Fund.

So far, Godin has a page of positive blog reviews and tweets to show for his efforts, and the Acumen Fund has raised more than $100,000.

Linchpin: Are You Indispensable? Seth Godin Retail Price: $25.95 Hardcover: 256 pages Publisher: Portfolio Hardcover – (2010-01-26) ISBN / EAN: 1591843162 / 9781591843160

Audio available from Random House on 2/09/10:

• CD: $15; ISBN 9780307704078

Other Major Titles Going on Sale Next Week:

Eternity Soup: Inside the Quest to End Aging by Greg Critser (Harmony) is a journalist’s irreverent look at the anti-aging industry. Kirkus found it “a delightful, politically incorrect view of the life-extension movement, accompanied by the disappointing news that aging is reversible but not in the near future.”

I Am Ozzy by Ozzy Osbourne (Grand Central) is the legendary rocker and reality show star’s memoir, which Kirkus deemed “as toxic and addictive as any drug its author has ever ingested.”

Why I Stayed: The Choices I Made in My Darkest Hour by Gayle Haggard (Tyndale) is a memoir by the wife of evangelical Christian leader Tim Haggard who had liaisons with a male prostitute.

Tea with Hezbollah: Sitting at the Enemies Table, Our Journey Through the Middle East by Ted Dekker and Middle East expert Carl Medearis  (Doubleday Religion) is an account of the Christian novelist’s effort to love his enemies.

Thriller fans are driving strong library demand for two titles coming next week, from Tom Dorsey and Kay Hooper – and early reviews favor Dorsey.

Gator A-Go-Go by Tim Dorsey is the most-requested title to be released next week, with strong holds of 6:1 or more in libraries we checked. It features homicidal yet discerning anti-hero Serge Storms and his drug-addicted sidekick as they seek rough justice amid the revelry of spring break. Booklist says: “All of Dorsey’s books offer belly laughs, but this one seems a cut above.”

Gator A-Go-Go Tim Dorsey Retail Price: $24.99 Hardcover: 352 pages Publisher: William Morrow – (2010-02-01) ISBN / EAN: 0061432717 / 9780061432712

Large Print available from HarperLuxe on 02/01/2010

• $24.99; ISBN: 9780061945670

Blood Ties by Kay Hooper has holds of at least 1:1, and as high as 7:1 at one library. Publishers Weekly was not very impressed:

Too many interchangeable doll-like victims and a by-the-numbers plot mar bestseller Hooper’s conclusion to her paranormal thriller trilogy that began with Blood Dreams and Blood Sins.

Blood Ties: A Bishop/Special Crimes Unit Novel Kay Hooper Retail Price: $26.00 Hardcover: 320 pages Publisher: Bantam – (2010-01-26) ISBN / EAN: 0553804863 / 9780553804867

Audio available from Brilliance

• CD (9 discs): $87.97; ISBN 9781423333142
• MP3: $39.97; ISBN: 9781423333166

Large Print from Random House

• $26; ISBN 9780739377567

More Major Fiction Releases Next Week:

The Dragon Keeper: Volume One of the Rain Wilds Chronicles by Robin Hobb (Eos/Harper), the first in a two-volume fantasy “mini-series” by veteran fantasist Hobb that Booklist calls as “good as it is massive.”

The Bricklayer by Noah Boyd (Morrow) is the first in a new thriller series by debut author Boyd. Publisher Morrow is backing its high hopes for the book with a 150,000 first printing.

Three Days Before the Shooting . . . by Ralph Ellison; only half the ibraries we checked have ordered this novel that Ellison left unfinished after his death, his second after Invisible Man.

The wife of Appalachian Trail fan, South Carolina Governor Mark Sanford, will appear on national shows to promote her forthcoming book, Staying True, originally announced for a May publication date, but recently moved up to February 5.

Some of her scheduled appearances and coverage include:

February 5th — Barbara Walters interview on ABC’s 20/20

February 8th

• Good Morning America: first of a two-part interview
• The View
• Larry King Live
• The Daily Show with Jon Stewart
• NPR Morning Edition
• People Magazine: excerpt

Little information has leaked about this embargoed title, but Sanford is also scheduled appear on the Christian Broadcasting Networks’ The 700 Club, indicating it will be short on salacious details. As Politics Daily puts it, “With other stories rapidly feeding the public appetite for scandal, is there still interest in Jenny Sanford’s tale before, during and after a South American trip made her famous?”

Libraries we checked are currently showing light reserves on light to moderate ordering.

Staying True Jenny Sanford Retail Price: $25.00 Hardcover: 240 pages Publisher: Ballantine Books – (2010-02-05) ISBN / EAN: 0345522397 / 9780345522399

Random House Audio; UNABR; simultaneous; 9780307736284; $25

Thought the Twilight franchise had ended? Ah, ye of little faith; the graphic novel will be released March 16th from Yen Press, the manga imprint of Hachette, which also owns Little, Brown Books for Young Readers, publisher of the Twilight book series. First printing is 350,000 copies. A second volume is planned.

Entertainment Weekly has posted one of the panels from the book and a segment of an interview with Meyer on their Shelf Life blog (an exclusive ten-page excerpt, and the full Q&A will be in this Friday’s issue of Entertainment Weekly).

Twilight: The Graphic Novel, Volume 1 Stephenie Meyer Retail Price: $19.99 Hardcover: 0 pages Publisher: Hachette – (2010-03-16) ISBN / EAN: 0759529434 / 9780759529434

Of the titles going on sale this week, Joshua Ferris’s much-anticipated second novel, The Unnamed, has the most buzz. The tale of how a wealthy New York lawyer and his family cope with his mysterious illness is the #1 Indie Pick for January. Libraries are showing modest holds on modest ordering in the libraries we checked.

Reviews are mixed:

• Newsweek and the Wall St. Journal have already praised the book, though both reviewers struggle with the metaphorical meaning of the protagonist’s illness.
• The Los Angeles Times is most positive, calling The Unnamed “accomplished and daring” and describing it as  “lay[ing] bare the fabric of families, the lengths people will go for the ones they love and the lack of value we place on the simple ability to pause, to stop and to reconsider all the steps we’ve made.
• Entertainment Weekly is less sanguine, and gives it a B- for wandering aimlessely.

What’s your take?  Are the reviews fair? Will your patrons enjoy this one?

The Unnamed Joshua Ferris Retail Price: $24.99 Hardcover: 320 pages Publisher: Reagan Arthur Books – (2010-01-18) ISBN / EAN: 0316034010 / 9780316034012

Audio from Hachette Audio:

• CD: $34.98; ISBN 9781600248771

Large Print from Regan Arthur Books:

• $24.99; ISBN 9780316074001

Also coming this week:

• Wolf at the Door (Sean Dillon Series #17) by Jack Higgins, Putnam: hold ratios as high as 5:1
• The Brightest Star in the Sky by Marian Keyes, Viking: holds of about 2:1 or more.
• Kisser by Stuart Woods, Putnam: holds as high as 9:1 in one of the libraries we checked
• The Burning Land (Saxon Tales) by Bernard Cornwell, Harper: Holds up to 5:1

There’s a theme to the books that Jon Stewart will be featuring on The Daily Show this week:

Monday

Comeback America: Turning the Country Around and Restoring Fiscal Responsibility David Walker Retail Price: $26.00 Hardcover: 240 pages Publisher: Random House – (2010-01-12) ISBN / EAN: 1400068606 / 9781400068609

Audio: Books on Tape
eBook and audio available from OverDrive

Wednesday

Rediscovering Values: On Wall Street, Main Street, and Your Street Jim Wallis Retail Price: $24.00 Hardcover: 272 pages Publisher: Howard Books – (2010-01-05) ISBN / EAN: 1439183120 / 9781439183120

Unabridged Audio: S&S; 9781442305090

At #3 on the NYT Nonfiction bestseller list, where it debuted this week,  and #17 on Amazon sales rankings and rising is Atul Gawande’s Checklist Manifesto.

The book was propelled by an NPR interview. It was reviewed in the Washington Post on Sunday and earlier in the New York Times. Gawande spoke yesterday at ALA MidWinter.

Several libraries are showing heavy holds.

The Checklist Manifesto: How to Get Things Right Atul Gawande Retail Price: $24.50 Hardcover: 224 pages Publisher: Metropolitan Books – (2009-12-22) ISBN / EAN: 0805091742 / 9780805091748

Macmillan Audio: UNAB CD; 9781427208989; $29.99

Revelations from the book Game Change has been much discussed in the media, but we haven’t heard much about the actual experience of reading it. In the new Entertainment Weekly, book review editor Tina Jordan, calls it a “riveting read” that is “more bodice ripper than Beltway.”

More media is coming up, including NBC’s Meet the Press on Sunday.

Unfortunately, the publisher is currently out of stock and working furiously on a reprint.

Game Change: Obama and the Clintons, McCain and Palin, and the Race of a Lifetime John Heilemann, Mark Halperin Retail Price: $27.99 Hardcover: 464 pages Publisher: Harper – (2010-01-01) ISBN / EAN: 0061733636 / 9780061733635

HarperLuxe; 9780061945991; $27.99

eBook downloable from OverDrive beginning 2/23

The new issue of People (1/25) gives publisher Grand Central’s big novel of the season, the debut Roses, 4 of a possible 4 stars and makes it a People pick, saying, “Like Gone with the Wind, this 600-page, multigenerational epic is as gloriously entertaining as it is vast.”

Roses Leila Meacham Retail Price: $24.99 Hardcover: 624 pages Publisher: Grand Central Publishing – (2010-01-06) ISBN / EAN: 0446550000 / 9780446550000

Read an Excerpt

USA Today asks booksellers what new voices they’re most looking forward to in the upcoming season.

Among the fiction picks are several that are just out now, or about to be released.

The Postmistress Sarah Blake Retail Price: $25.95 Hardcover: 336 pages Publisher: Amy Einhorn Books/Putnam – (2010-02-09) ISBN / EAN: 0399156194 / 9780399156199 Simultaneous Unabridged Audio: 9780143145448; $39.95 Audio and eBook downloadable from OverDrive

Bookseller Elaine Petrocelli from Book Passage in Corte Madera, CA thinks this debut will have “the kind of following that The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Society had.” The author will be at MidWinter, signing at the Penguin booth, #1324, on Sunday, 1:30 to 2:30.

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Wench Dolen Perkins-valdez Retail Price: $24.99 Hardcover: 304 pages Publisher: Amistad – (2010-01-01) ISBN / EAN: 006170654X / 9780061706547 Unabridged Audio: Book on Tape Audio and eBook downloadable from OverDrive

This debut novel is about slave owners who vacationed with their black mistresses at a summer resort in Ohio. “Almost every copy we had pre-ordered was spoken for by the time it came in,” says a bookseller from Cincinnati, where the local setting may have particular appeal. All four prepub sources are enthusiastic about it; PW calls it “heart-wrenching, intriguing, original and suspenseful.” People gave it 3.5 of 4 stars, calling it a “devastating beautiful account of a cruel past.”

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The Swan Thieves Elizabeth Kostova Retail Price: $26.99 Hardcover: 576 pages Publisher: Little, Brown and Company – (2010-01-12) ISBN / EAN: 0316065781 / 9780316065788 Audio from Hachette: CD: $39.98; ISBN 9781600247453 Large Print:Little Brown: $28.99; ISBN 9780316043663 Book and audio downloadable from OverDrive

The Swan Thieves is getting considerable attention, largely because of the huge success of the author’s 2005 debut title, The Historian. Borders tells USA Today that they are throwing support behind it. This week, rival B&N.com published Laura Miller’s intriguing review of the book in The Barnes and Noble Review.

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One Amazing Thing Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni Retail Price: $23.99 Hardcover: 240 pages Publisher: Voice – (2010-02-02) ISBN / EAN: 1401340997 / 9781401340995

Petrocelli is also excited about a book we’ve been hearing advance reader buzz for, Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni’s One Amazing Thing. PW and Kirkus are both lukewarm about this story of seven people trapped in an American consulate after an earthquake, but Booklist calls it a “a suspenseful, astute, and unforgettable survivors tale.”

In a sure sign that a new publishing season is upon us, USA Today has posted its interactive calendar of the major titles coming out through April. It includes covers, annotations and pub dates — great for reminding yourself of what’s upcoming. You could think of it as flashcards for readers advisory work.

And, hurrah, This Book is Ovedue! is one of the selected titles.

This Book Is Overdue!: How Librarians and Cybrarians Can Save Us All Marilyn Johnson Retail Price: $24.99 Hardcover: 288 pages Publisher: Harper – (2010-02-01) ISBN / EAN: 0061431605 / 9780061431609

We’ve set up a new section for links to the season’s previews (on the right, under “Books of Winter/Spring ’10 — Previews.”)

Gossipmongers have been riveted all week by revelations from the book Game Change, keeping it at #1 on Amazon sales rankings. Sarah Palin, the Clintons, the McCains and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid have all various amounts of dirty laundry aired. But some of the most eyebrow-raising sections are about John Edwards and his wife Elizabeth, excerpted in this week’s New York magazine; far from being the humble man of the people, John Edwards developed into a megalomaniac, Elizabeth was an “abusive, intrusive, paranoid, condescending, crazy woman”, and campaign workers agonized over Edwards’ affair with Rielle Hunter.

And, John Edwards’ $400 haircut? It really cost $1,250.

There’s more to come.  Andrew Young, the Edwards’ aide, who pretended to be the father of Rielle Hunter’s baby to protect his boss, is publishing his own tell-all, The Politician. He is scheduled to get some serious air time:

1/29 — 20/20 begins a multiple-part interview with Bob Woodruff
2/1 — Book will be featured on World News with Diane Sawyer
2/2 — Interview with George Stephanopolous on Good Morning, America
2/2 — Nightline appearance

Few libraries have ordered The Politician; it was not reviewed prepub.

UPDATE: Unabridged audio will be available from Tantor:

Publisher: Tantor
Read by: Kevin Foley
Trade: 9781400116508; 10 CD’s; $34.99
Library: 9781400146505; 10  CD’s; $69.99
MP3: 9781400166503; 1 MP3-CD; $24.99

The Politician: An Insider’s Account of John Edwards’s Pursuit of the Presidency and the Scandal That Brought Him Down Andrew Young Retail Price: $24.99 Hardcover: 320 pages Publisher: Thomas Dunne Books – (2010-02-02) ISBN / EAN: 031264065X / 9780312640651

Alice, of Wonderland fame, is getting a mini-revival this year. As USA Today points out, in addition to the novel that imagines the life of the real-life model, Alice I Have Been, a new biography of Lewis Carroll is coming out next month, as well as the Tim Burton movie in March.

Alice-themed book clubs, anyone?

Alice I Have Been Melanie Benjamin Retail Price: $25.00 Hardcover: 368 pages Publisher: Delacorte Press – (2010-01-12) ISBN / EAN: 0385344139 / 9780385344135

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The Mystery of Lewis Carroll: Discovering the Whimsical, Thoughtful, and Sometimes Lonely Man Who Created “Alice in Wonderland” Jenny Woolf Retail Price: $27.99 Hardcover: 336 pages Publisher: St. Martin’s Press – (2010-02-02) ISBN / EAN: 0312612982 / 9780312612986