There’s a single holds leader for the week, James Patterson’s NYPD Red 4 (Hachette/Little, Brown) co-written with Marshall Karp, but fans are also looking forward to new titles by Alafair Burke, Elisa James, Marcia Muller and Brandon Sanderson.

The titles covered here, and several more notable books arriving next week, are listed with ordering information and alternate formats, on our downloadable spreadsheet, EarlyWord New Title Radar, Week of Jan. 25, 2016

In the Media 

The Innocent Killer : A True Story of a Wrongful Conviction and its Astonishing Aftermath
Michael Griesbach, narrated by Johnny Heller, (Tantor Audio)

The Netflix series Making a Murderer is now a bona fide cultural phenomenon, having made the cover of People magazine. Next week Tantor releases an audio of a book by one of the an assistant district attorneys in the department that prosecuted the case (big surprise, he thinks the prosecution got it right). Published by the American Bar Association in 2014, long before the series debuted, the print version is currently out of stock, but it is available as an eBook (OverDrive sample). In the U.K., PRH is releasing it under the Windmill imprint, as reported by the Guardian.

Interest in the series may continue; the producers hinted recently that a second season may be coming

Peer Picks

The Swans of Fifth Avenue, Melanie Benjamin (PRH/Delacorte Press; OverDrive Sample) is the big Peer Pick book of the week, selected as both a January LibraryReads title and as the #1 IndieNext pick for February, as well as  Entertainment Weekly‘s #4 pick on the “Must List” for the week.

Emily Weiss, of the Bedford Public Library, Bedford, NH says:

“Benjamin transports readers to 1960s Manhattan. This story gives us the chance to spy on Truman Capote’s close friendship with Babe Paley and his society “swans,” and the betrayal and scandal that drove them apart. I loved the description of the Black and White Ball.”

All the Birds in the Sky, Charlie Jane Anders (Macmillan/Tor Books; OverDrive Sample) also made the Feb. IndieNext list, with Sara Hinckley, of Hudson Booksellers, Marietta, GA saying:

“All the Birds in the Sky reads like an instant classic. In tackling big questions about what is really important in life and how we are all connected, the novel soars through magic and science, good and evil, and all the shades in between; through the struggles of children against clueless parents, teachers, and spiteful kids; and through the struggles of adults against a heedless society, all with a love story at its heart. Deep, dark, funny, and wonderful!”

Another Feb. IndieNext pick out this week is The Unfinished World: And Other Stories, Amber Sparks (WW Norton/Liveright; OverDrive Sample).

“The beautiful stories in Sparks’ debut collection have an ephemeral quality that is difficult to categorize. Comparisons can be made to Haruki Murakami or George Saunders, but the writing is honestly unlike anything I have ever read. The otherworldliness of these stories will transport you beyond the minutiae of your everyday life and alter the way you look at the world.” —Shawn Donley, Powell’s Books, Portland, OR.

Tie-ins

How to Be Single, Liz Tuccillo (S&S/Washington Square Press; OverDrive Sample – also in mass market) releases this week in order to promote the Feb. 12 opening of the film starring Rebel Wilson, Dakota Johnson, Leslie Mann, Dan Stevens, Alison Brie, and Damon Wayans Jr.

The romantic comedy, a big Valentine’s Day bet, follows singles on the dating scene in NYC.

Timed for Easter is the new Biblical movie, The Young Messiah, starring Sean Bean, David Bradley, and Jonathan Bailey. It comes out on March 11th.

Based on a novel by Anne Rice, the tie-in editions have both the movie title and Rice’s original book title: The Young Messiah (Movie tie-in) (originally published as Christ the Lord: Out of Egypt), Anne Rice (PRH/Ballantine Books; OverDrive Sample – also in mass market).

In a rare event for a university press, a tie-in edition is also out for Free State of Jones, starring Matthew McConaughey, Gugu Mbatha-Raw, and Keri Russell.

The movie centers on the true life account of a Southern farmer who led a rebellion against the Confederacy.

The Free State of Jones, Movie Edition: Mississippi’s Longest Civil War (The University of North Carolina Press) was written by Victoria E. Bynum, a Texas State University professor, now retired.

The movie opens 5/13.

Each month, our GalleyChatter columnist Robin Beerbower runs down librarian and bookseller favorites from the most recent Twitter chat (#ewgc). Below is her post for January.

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Whipping out their crystal balls to predict which books will connect with readers this spring, GalleyChatters gathered for a Twitter chat earlier this month. Below are seven of the 113 titles mentioned. Check here for the complete Edelweiss list.

Literary Suspense

In Redemption Road (Macmillan/Thomas Dunne, May), John Hart has created the perfect combination of elements for any thriller reader, unending suspense, plot twists galore, and realistic settings. He is already receiving rave reviews from librarians, with Delphi (IN) Public Library’s library director, Kellie Currie, saying, “…thriller doesn’t do full justice to the book at all. The characters are not the cookie-cutter figures you often get in a plot-heavy novel. They’re complex and driven by a lot of inner angst. Great book for literary and thriller lovers alike.”

For a mesmerizing thriller with a more psychological bend, Elizabeth Brundage’s All Things Cease to Appear (PRH/Knopf, March) was favored by Jennifer Winberry (Hunterdon County Library, NJ), “A house with a tragic history, an unsolved murder and a town in need of answers and healing even twenty years later, this dark, Gothic novel tells the story of two families bringing evidence of evil and unknown crimes to light while at the same time plumbing the depths of the human psyche.”

Hot Debut

Set in a thinly disguised Manhattan restaurant that also happens to be a favorite among publishers, one of spring’s most anticipated novels is by a debut author (she was profiled in the NYT when the book was signed over a year ago), Sweetbitter by Stephanie Danler (PRH/Knopf, May).

About 22-year-old Tess, a recent NYC transplant who, despite no experience, is hired as a back waiter, Stephanie Anderson, Darien (CT) Library says, “Whether it’s the different varieties of oysters and their distinguishing characteristics, the proper wine to serve with foie gras or learning how deeply betrayal can color one’s life choices, this is a chronicle of what it means to be young, broke and finally on your own in the best city in the world.” Fans of Anthony Bourdain and Phoebe Damrosch’s Service Included: Four Star Secrets of an Eavesdropping Waiter will eat this up.

Getting Graphic

Lucy Knisley is known for writing graphic novels that honestly report on her life experiences. She continues that trajectory in the charming and sincere Something New: Tales of a Makeshift Bride (Macmillan/First Second, May). Lucy chronicles the process of planning a wedding while working out her feelings about getting hitched, and eventually works out a DIY approach to keeping the costs down and also making it a meaningful experience. Knisley’s drawings are perfect and the photos from the planning and wedding enhanced the visual experience. For those who weep at weddings, a tissue is recommended.

Welcome Comeback

Mention of the forthcoming publication of Justin Cronin’s third book in the Passage trilogy, The City of Mirrors (PRH/Ballantine, May) caused many to download the galley immediately. When questioned whether it is necessary to read (or reread) the first two books to appreciate it, Rosemary Smith, top Edelweiss reviewer and blogger, said “The trilogy is much more powerful, but Cronin does a good job in his ‘Biblical’ forward and in flashbacks, so readers might be able to read just the last book. In it, readers will finally find out what happened to Amy (sort of) after the destruction of the Twelve and will witness humanity trying to make a comeback from the brink of total obliteration. Nothing will compare to the first book, The Passage, but this is as close as readers will get.”

Meaty Book Group Titles

The many fans of Anthony Doerr’s All the Light We Cannot See will want to read the compelling Everyone Brave is Forgiven (Simon & Schuster, May) by Little Bee author, Chris Cleaves. Janet Schneider said this World War II story about four comrades set in Europe is “…a beautifully written exploration of the futility of war, loss, bravery, racism, and social class, featuring memorable characters who will break your heart.” She also recommends it as a readalike for Kate Atkinson’s A God in Ruins.

Trying to predict what titles will be popular with book groups is always a gamble, but Janet Lockhart is betting on Jung Yun’s short but effective novel, Shelter (Macmillan/Picador, March) saying, “Kyung Cho lives just a few miles from his parents, Jin and Mae, but couldn’t be farther away emotionally. A horrific incident forces him to welcome his parents into his home and the reasons for their chilly relationship can no longer remain repressed. A story of family dysfunction that reads like a thriller; I stayed up late turning the pages because I had to know what happened next.”

To discover more eagerly awaited titles and enjoy a rollicking discussion, join us on February 6 at 4:00 (ET) with virtual happy hour at 3:30, #ewgc. To keep up with my anticipated 2016 titles, “friend me” on Edelweiss.

Rave reviews and a storm of attention are helping Tessa Hadley’s newest novel wrack up impressive holds queues.

The Past (Harper; OverDrive Sample), is a character-centered novel about families.

Entertainment Weekly gives it an A-, saying:

“Hadley is so perceptive about the tiny ways we find ourselves performing for one another, and so skilled at fluidly dipping in and out of the minds of her characters—whether they’re 6 and wishing to spy on the grown-ups or 76 and considering the comforts of decades-long marriage—that it can feel like she’s revealing little secrets about life that it would have taken you years to notice on your own.”

Ron Charles writes in The Washington Post:

“… for anyone who cherishes Anne Tyler and Alice Munro, the book offers similar deep pleasures. Like those North American masters of the domestic realm, Hadley crystallizes the atmosphere of ordinary life in prose somehow miraculous and natural.”

The Guardian flat out raves:

“In her patient, unobtrusive, almost self-effacing way, Tessa Hadley has become one of this country’s great contemporary novelists. She is equipped with an armoury of techniques and skills that may yet secure her a position as the greatest of them. Consider all the things she can do. She writes brilliantly about families and their capacity for splintering. She is a remarkable and sensuous noticer of the natural world. She handles the passing of time with a magician’s finesse. She is possessed of a psychological subtlety reminiscent of Henry James, and an ironic beadiness worthy of Jane Austen. To cap it all, she is dryly, deftly humorous. Is that enough to be going on with?”

It has made The Millions “Most Anticipated: The Great 2016 Book Preview,” The NY Magazine list of the “7 Books You Need to Read This January,” and The Huffpost Arts & Culture’s “32 New Books To Add to Your Shelf in 2016,” which says:

“Hadley’s popular reputation, especially in the U.S., hasn’t caught up with her critical one. But this novel, which uses her much-praised perceptiveness and her fine-brushed prose to tell a story of familial secrets and tensions, may help her break through.”

Indeed. Holds are exceeding a 3:1 ratio by wide margins at many libraries we checked.

To catch up with the book, listen to this interview with Hadley, which aired earlier in the month on NPR’s Weekend Edition Saturday.

As the result of an embargo, preventing pre-pub reviews, many libraries are facing high demand on few, if any, copies of a new book on right wing money and politics, Dark Money: The Hidden History of the Billionaires Behind the Rise of the Radical Right (PRH/Doubleday; BOT).

Author and journalist Jane Mayer appeared on NPR’s Fresh Air yesterday and as a result the book is now #4 on Amazon’s sales ranking and holds are skyrocketing.

Mayer shares some horrifying stories about the Koch’s, the bad blood in the family, and the secret way they (and other wealthy conservative families) give money to shape politics.

Calling them the political equivalent of secret tax shelter banks in the Cayman Islands, she explains how the Koch’s and others have undertaken a concerted campaign to shape the political environment by financing think tanks to formulate ideas, bankrolling advocacy groups to support those ideas, and pressuring politicians to create laws to enact them – all constructed in a way to hide the identity of those funding the process.

PBS’s Newshour is running a series of reports on autism this week, “Understanding Autism.”

The first episode aired last night and highlighted a book we’ve covered before, NeuroTribes: The Legacy of Autism the Future of Neurodiversity by Steve Silberman (Penguin/Avery; Blackstone Audio; OverDrive Sample).

As a result, it rose back up Amazon’s sales rankings to #112.

Tonight, Newshour will feature a just-released title, In A Different Key: The Story of Autism (PRH/Crown; BOT; OverDrive Sample).

It was featured yesterday on NPR’s All Things Considered and has risen to #169 on Amazon’s rankings.

Set to write a memoir about her transformation from Bruce to Caitlyn, Jenner announced her co-author will be Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist, Buzz Bissinger.

Bissinger wrote the book Friday Night Lights, which became both a movie and a TV series.

The memoir is set to be published by Hachette/Grand Central, tentatively in spring of 2017. The New York Times reported the story, earlier today followed by People magazine and several other sources.

Jenner tweeted:

Thrilled to reunite with my friend Buzz Bissinger. Honored that he’s telling my full story. https://t.co/SlNzNau1BF pic.twitter.com/nA59jIl3J6

— Caitlyn Jenner (@Caitlyn_Jenner) January 19, 2016

The Slate Audio Book Club is back, this time discussing Jonathan Franzen’s Purity (Macmillan/FSG; Macmillan Audio; OverDrive Sample).

Calling it a big, sweeping, Dickensian novel, the Slate critics, Meghan O’Rourke, Parul Sehgal, and Katy Waldman, jump into a conversation about the core of the novel and its message.

While the central character, a woman named Pip, should serve as the novel’s heart, all the participants agree that it is the mothers in the story that power its interest, saying that those characters offer a creepy sensibility that provides “a range of tones from horror to simmer” and become the most fascinating part of the story.

The group also discusses the portrayal of women and the ways the men operate in the novel, accusing  Franzen of failing the Bechdel;Wallace test.

Each ends up recommending the novel, despite clear flaws, saying they admire Franzen’s ambition and his ability to identify questions readers need to address. However, they say that this is not the book to start reading Franzen – for that they suggest The Corrections.

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Next month the book club will explore Lucia Berlin’s short-story collection A Manual for Cleaning Women, which was featured on a number of the year-end best books lists.

A children’s picture book that features George Washington’s enslaved cook has been withdrawn from sale by the publisher Scholastic, just weeks after it hit shelves.

Bowing to widespread pressure, Scholastic has ceased distribution of A Birthday Cake for George Washington, written by Ramin Ganeshram and illustrated by Vanessa Brantley-Newton, saying in a press release, “We do not believe this title meets the standards of appropriate presentation of information to younger children, despite the positive intentions and beliefs of the author, editor, and illustrator.”

At first Scholastic defended the book. VP and executive editor, Andrea Davis Pinkney posted an explanation on the company’s website. The book’s author also posted a  defense on the Children’s Book Council site.

Published just a few weeks ago on Jan 5., the book is facing similar charges to those leveled at another recently published picture book that also features slaves smiling while they create a treat for the household’s masters,  A Fine Dessert: Four Centuries, Four Families, One Delicious Treat written by Emily Jenkins and illustrated by Sophie Blackall (RH/Schwartz & Wade).

SLJ Book Review Editor Kiera Parrott, who wrote a starred review of that book, reversing her position after considering the complaints against it, panned A Birthday Cake for George Washington, calling it “A troubling depiction of American slavery … A highly problematic work; not recommended.”

Many libraries seem to have taken note. A search of World Cat reveals few holdings.

The controversy is getting wide coverage with pieces in The New York Times, Entertainment Weekly, and Forbes. The story is even making UK news with the BBC reporting on it as well.

Poised to  break onto the bestseller lists is Paul Kalanithi’s memoir, When Breath Becomes Air, (PRH/Random House; BOT; OverDrive Sample).

It begins at the moment the author, a neurosurgeon finally completing over a decade of training, learns that his life, put on hold for so long, might very well end decades sooner than anyone would expect.

On the NYT’s Book Review podcast, Greg Cowles, who oversees the bestseller lists, hints that it is likely to hit the list next week and notes that it has been getting a lot of attention.

Indeed it has.

Janet Maslin, reviewing it for the daily NYT calls it “unmissable” and says:

“Dr. Kalanithi, who died at 37, went on to write a great, indelible book … To paraphrase Abraham Verghese’s introduction, to read this book is to feel that Dr. Kalanithi still lives, with enormous power to influence the lives of others even though he is gone … I guarantee that finishing this book and then forgetting about it is simply not an option.”

Entertainment Weekly gives it a A-, remarking that its “unsentimental approach” gives the book its power:

“There’s no redemption here. Kalanithi died before he finished the book, leaving his wife Lucy to write a beautiful but painful epilogue. In the few hundred pages he completed, he chronicles his transition from doctor to patient with an acute clinical eye … Its only fault is that the book, like his life, ends much too early.”

The Washington Post calls it “an emotional investment well worth making” and as we reported earlier, it is an Indie Next pick for January as well. It is also an Amazon Best Book for January, where it is currently holds the #4 spot as the site’s bestselling book list.

Libraries bought it conservatively and as a result holds lists are skyrocketing past a 3:1 ratio with more than one library we checked adding more copies.

Below is a video, posted in The Washington Post, featuring Dr. Kalanithi reflecting on his prognosis (Note: if the video is unavailable below, link to it here, or read Kalanithi’s reflections here).

There’s just one title arriving with a a significant number of holds next week Blue, Danielle Steel, (PRH/Delacorte; RH Large Print; Brilliance audio). Fans are also anticipating new titles by Gregg Hurwitz (one of the peer picks, below) and Bernard Cornwall’s ninth installment in the Saxon Tales, Warriors of the Storm (HarperCollins/Harper).

The titles covered here, and several other notable titles arriving next week, are listed with ordering information and alternate formats, on our downloadable spreadsheet, EarlyWord New Title Radar, Week of Jan. 18, 2016

Media Magnets

Before I Forget,  B. Smith and Dan Gasby with Michael Shnayerson, (PRH/Harmony)

Say it isn’t so. The vibrant B. Smith has early-onset Alzheimer’s at 64. She writes this poignantly titled memoir with her husband Dan Gasby and Vanity Fair contributing editor Michael Shnayerson. An excerpt is featured in the new issue of People Magazine and B. and Dan are scheduled for an interview on NBC’s Today Show

Dark Money: The Hidden History of the Billionaires Behind the Rise of the Radical Right,  Jane Mayer. (PRH/Doubleday; RH Large Print; RH Audio) — Embargoed

The New York Times broke the news about this embargoed title in the story, ‘Father of Koch Brothers Helped Build Nazi Oil Refinery, Book Says‘ and in a review. A New Yorker writer, the author will also publish a story on the Koch brothers in the magazine next week. In addition, she is scheduled for NPR’s Fresh Air as well as several TV shows.

Peer Picks

The #1 Indie Next January pick comes out this week, The Readers of Broken Wheel Recommend, Katarina Bivald (Sourcebooks Landmark).

It is also a January LibraryReads choice. Barbara Clark-Greene of Groton Public Library, Groton, CT says.

“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.”

The Things We Keep, Sally Hepworth (Macmillan/St. Martin’s Press; Macmillan Audio; OverDrive Sample) is another double pick out this week.

An IndieNext and a LibraryReads pick, Elizabeth Eastin of the Rogers Memorial Library, Southampton, NY says:

“A sweet story of love and loss set in a residential care facility. Two of its youngest residents, a man and a woman both diagnosed with early-onset Alzheimer’s, fall in love. Their story is intertwined with the stories of other residents and employees at the facility, including a recently widowed cook and her seven-year-old daughter. A moving and improbably uplifting tale.”

Two additional January LibraryReads picks also hit the shelves this week.

Even Dogs in the Wild, Ian Rankin (Hachette/Little, Brown and Company; OverDrive Sample)

“Readers rejoice!” says Janet Lockhart of Wake County Public Libraries, Raleigh, NC, “John Rebus has come out of retirement. Siobhan Clarke and Malcolm Fox are working an important case and ask for his help. Then an attempt is made on the life of his longtime nemesis, Big Ger Cafferty. Are the cases connected? A top notch entry in a beloved series.”

The Road to Little Dribbling: Adventures of an American in Britain, Bill Bryson (PRH/Doubleday; BOT)

“A slightly more curmudgeonly Bill Bryson recreates his beloved formula of travel writing and social commentary. This book is a lovely reminder of all the amazing natural beauty and historically significant sites found in the United Kingdom. Even though Bryson extols the virtues of his adopted homeland, he never lets up on the eccentricities and stupidity he encounters. Bryson’s still laugh-out loud funny and this book won’t disappoint.” – Susannah Connor, Pima County Public Library, Tucson, AZ

Two additional February IndieNext picks release as well.

Orphan X, Gregg Hurwitz (Macmillan/Minotaur Books; Brilliance Audio; OverDrive Sample)

“The U.S. government secretly trained a group of orphaned children to be lethal assassins when they grew up. Evan, one of these children and now a grown man, has left the program and disappeared, resurfacing only to help those in desperate need. It is through this work that one of his enemies has found him, but which enemy — the government, one of his fellow orphans, or a relative of one of the many bad guys he has gotten rid of? Filled with lots of twists and turns and neat techno gadgets, Orphan X takes you on a roller coaster ride that will leave you breathless and waiting for the next installment of the Nowhere Man.” —Nancy McFarlane, Fiction Addiction, Greenville, SC

The Portable Veblen, Elizabeth Mckenzie (Penguin Press).

“This story of an engaged couple trying to navigate crazy family dynamics, betrayal, and professional dilemmas on their way to getting married is one of the funniest, most unique novels I’ve ever read. If you simply list the story’s elements — a hippy commune, a combat field-medicine controversy, screaming snails, a devious pharmaceutical exec, a long-dead social theorist, the world’s greatest hypochondriac, and a main character who believes a squirrel is following her around California trying to tell her something — you would think that there is just no way it could all come together, but it absolutely does, and ingeniously so. A terrific book!” —Rico Lange, Bookshop Santa Cruz, Santa Cruz, CA

Tie-ins

Jessica Jones: Alias Vol. 4, Marvel Comics (Marvel), which airs on Netflix, comes out this week.

As we reported earlier, Nexflix began streaming the series based on the Marvel superhero in late November. Four books collect the original comics, making this week’s entry the last of the tie-ins.

Starring Krysten Ritter (Breaking Bad) as Jones, a character with superhuman strength, the show has racked up some very impressive reviews. Just one example is Eric Deggans take for NPR. He calls it “powerful” and “brilliant” and says it is one “of the best TV shows of the year.”

Also coming this week are several library-friendly titles among the the many Zootopia tie-ins to the new Disney movie due out March 4. Featuring the voices of Idris Elba, Ginnifer Goodwin, and an all star cast, the animated film is about a rookie bunny cop on her first big case.

Zootopia: Judy Hopps and the Missing Jumbo-Pop, Disney Book Group (Disney Press).

Zootopia: Junior Novelization, RH Disney, (PRH/Disney).

Zootopia: The Official Handbook, Suzanne Francis, (PRH/Disney).

Disney Zootopia: The Essential Guide, DK (DK Children).

The Stinky Cheese Caper (And Other Cases from the ZPD Files)
Greg Trine, Cory Loftis (PRH/Disney).

(for our full list of upcoming adaptations, download our Books to Movies and TV and link to our

A new book overturns dieters’ ages-long focus on calories. By an endocrinologist with impressive credentials (he’s a professor of nutrition at the Harvard School of Public Health, among other positions), it debuts on the #3 spot on the 1/24/16 NYT Advice, How-To & Miscellaneous list.

Always Hungry?: Conquer Cravings, Retrain Your Fat Cells, and Lose Weight Permanently (Hachette/Grand Central Life & Style; Hachette Audio; OverDrive Sample) tells dieters to re-think their approach.

Rather than a calories in/calories out model, Ludwig says processed carbohydrates and added sugars are the real problem, creating a chemical state in the body that makes gaining weight easy and losing it difficult.

His message, perfectly timed for the resolution season, is getting plenty of play in print media, from a piece in the NYT’s “Well” blog, to Forbes, Boston Magazine, Runner’s World, and to a post on NPR’s The Salt.

In what might be one of the easiest ever Crystal Ball calls, we can say the Ruth Wariner’s The Sound of Gravel: A Memoir (Macmillan/Flatiron Books; Macmillan Audio; OverDrive Sample) is headed for best seller lists.

No guessing here. We know because the author announced it herself on her Facebook page.

“Just landed in California and received an unbelievable call from the team at Flatiron Books telling me that The Sound of Gravel is an instant NYT Bestseller. WOW! I can hardly believe it and feel like I might still be daydreaming on the plane right now! Thank you to everyone who has been involved and read my story so far. Thank you for reaching out to say how it has affected you, for recommending it to other readers, and for supporting me in so many ways. I am truly overwhelmed with amazement and gratitude!”

It debuts on the upcoming  NYT Bestseller E-Book List at #13.

Thanks for GalleyChat columnist Robin Beerbower for the alert. She has been an early proponent of Wariner’s  memoir about growing up in a violent polygamous Mormon cult. The book has also received advance media attention.

Pulling out the killer opening line: “I am my mother’s fourth child and my father’s thirty-ninth,” Entertainment Weekly gives it a glowing review and an A grade, saying:

“It’s so wrenching and moving that I lost sleep finishing the book, and then lost even more lying awake ruminating on it—a testament to Wariner’s skill at making painful events from decades ago feel visceral and to her willingness to reopen wounds.”

People has featured the title twice, making it their “Book of the Week” for the Jan 18 issue (which came out last Friday) and earlier featured a long, detailed interview with the author on the Web site, in which they call the memoir “powerful and poignant.”

As we reported earlier, it is a IndieNext pick for January too. Mary Laura Philpott (W), Parnassus Books, Nashville, TN says:

“This is a memoir made extraordinary simply by the fact that the author lived to tell the tale. Wariner grew up in a polygamist cult across the Mexican border, the 39th of her father’s 41 children. Surrounded by crushing poverty and repeated tragedy, little Ruth was taught that girls are born to be used by callous men and an angry God. However, she had just enough contact with her maternal grandparents and the outside world to realize the bizarre practices at home didn’t match up with the rest of civilization. With quiet persistence, she grew into an adolescent and began to consider the possibility of escape. Riveting and reminiscent of Jeannette Walls’ The Glass Castle.”

Holds are quickly getting out of control with ratios topping 7:1 on modest ordering in some areas. The author lives in Portland, Oregon and holds in the Northwest are particularly heavy.

Terry Gross interviews Elizabeth Strout about her newest book, My Name Is Lucy Barton (Random House; Random House Audio/BOT; OverDrive Sample), which was published yesterday.

As we noted earlier, Robert Redford is set to produce a series for HBO based on Strout’s previous book, The Burgess Boys.

Seth Meyers added a new episode to his “Late Night Literary Salon” by interviewing Sunil Yapa, the author of the just-released debut novel, Your Heart Is a Muscle the Size of a Fist (Hachette/Lee Boudreaux Books; OverDrive Sample) last night. Meyers, who has a personal interest in literature, hand picks the authors he wants to interview. Earlier, he’s featured novelists Hanya Yanagihara, Marlon James (before he won the Booker) and Lauren Groff.

Meyers and Yapa briefly discuss the novel’s story – one chaotic day during the 1999 World Trade Organization protests in Seattle – and then turn to Yapa’s childhood growing up with a father who is a “Marxist professor of geography.” A native of Sri Lanka, Yapa’s father first arrived in the U.S. in 1964 and was amazed by the crowds that greeted his plane. It turned out that the Beatles also happened to be on the same flight.

NOTE: if the video doesn’t play, link to it here.

In part two of the interview, Yapa reveals the heartbreak of losing his only draft of Your Heart Is a Muscle the Size of a Fist and having to completely rewrite it.

Yapa’s appearance has yet to boost sales or holds of the book, which is getting largely positive reviews.

The Washington Post‘s Ron Charles says it is a “taut …fantastic debut” that “arrives like a punch in the chest” and goes on to compare it Norman Mailer’s Armies of the Night.

The Rumpus says that “Yapa does a heroic job of journeying into the heart of this complex set of events, illustrating how they grow out of and impact the character’s lives. And while the heart may be the size of a fist, here it paradoxically seems to encompass the whole world and all of its citizens, who pulse with its every beat.”

Flavorwire offers “Your Heart is a Muscle The Size of a Fist is the rare contemporary novel about protest that has the courage to side with the protester — but does so skillfully enough to maintain its literary authority.”

As we reported earlier it is an IndieNext pick as well.

NPR’s reviewer Michael Schaub offers a very different take, however. In a pull-no-punches review, he says “Yapa isn’t an untalented writer, but he lets his writing get away from him way too often … After a while, it begins to feel like you’re getting lectured by a hippie professor who writes messages for fortune cookies on the side.”

The book arriving with the most anticipation this week is Elizabeth Strout’s latest, My Name Is Lucy Barton. There’s just one strong holds leader for the week is appropriately named, The Bitter Season by Tami Hoag and

The titles covered here, and several other notable titles arriving next week, are listed with ordering information and alternate formats, on our downloadable spreadsheet, EarlyWord New Title Radar, Week of Jan. 11

Peer Picks

Two LibraryReads picks for January go on sale this week. The first is the LibraryReads #1 pick for the month:

My Name Is Lucy Barton, Elizabeth Strout (Random House; Random House Audio/BOT; OverDrive Sample)

It is also the cover of the NYT BR with a review by  Claire Messud.

Catherine Coyne, Mansfield Public Library, Mansfield, MA says:

“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 an Indie Next pick for January:

“Strout has the incredible ability to take ordinary, even mundane situations and use them to make acute observations on the human condition. A mother’s visit to her daughter in the hospital becomes the vehicle for an astute examination of daily needs, desires, yearnings, wishes, and dreams that become so much of the remembered experience. Using spare, precise, but beautiful language, she has produced another masterpiece in a growing list of impressive work.” —Bill Cusumano, Square Books, Oxford, MS

The second LibraryReads pick out this week is American Housewife: Stories, Helen Ellis (PRH/Doubleday; BOT)

“In a series of short stories, Helen Ellis picks up the rock of American domesticity and shows us what’s underneath. While it’s not always pretty, it is pretty hilarious, in the darkest, most twisted of ways. The ladies in these stories seem to be living lives that are enviable in the extreme, but then slowly, the layers are pulled away, and the truth is revealed.” Jennifer Dayton, Darien Library, Darien, CT

It too is an Indie Next pick for January. Bookseller Lauren Peugh, of Changing Hands Bookstore, Tempe, AZ says:

“American Housewife is a little arsenic cupcake of a book: adorable and lethal! Each of the stories features a housewife who does all the usual hausfrau things, but with a homicidal twist. Each of these ladies stand by their man — and sometimes they kill for him. I was spellbound and loved every vicious one of them, from their perfectly coiffed hair and gel-manicured fingers to their coal-black hearts! This is the guiltiest of guilty pleasures!”

Helen Ellis was also featured in the 12/27 New York Times Sunday Style section in a piece by J. Courtney Sullivan.

Several other Indie Next picks for January also hit the shelves this week.

Your Heart Is a Muscle the Size of a Fist, Sunil Yapa (Hachette/Lee Boudreaux Books; OverDrive Sample)

“Yapa’s debut novel is a raw orchestra of voices needing to be heard. Bringing to life the 1999 World Trade Organization protests in Seattle, all those present are both dedicated and at a loss: the organizers and protesters, the police and their chief, the delegates and politicians, and the young unintended participant who is searching for meaning, purpose, and hope amid the brutality. From the personal to the political, within a single fraught day the whole world is blown wide open. Yapa has captured the chaos — and the beauty — with both fierceness and heart.” —Melinda Powers, Bookshop Santa Cruz, Santa Cruz, CA

The Expatriates, Janice Y. K. Lee (PRH/Viking; BOT)

“The Expatriates focuses on three very different American women whose lives in wealthy and privileged modern-day Hong Kong merge in an astounding way. Margaret, Hilary, and Mercy come from different backgrounds, and as their inner struggles first collide in this glamorous new world and then with each others’, tough decisions are made that have a rippling effect. An unthinkable tragedy occurs that makes two women wish they could turn back the clock. Lee writes beautifully, with each woman’s story unfolding in sequenced chapters. A fantastic read!” —Joanne Doggart, Where the Sidewalk Ends, Chatham, MA

When Breath Becomes Air, Paul Kalanithi with a forward by Abraham Verghese (Random House; BOT; OverDrive Sample)

“With a message both mournful and life-affirming, When Breath Becomes Air chronicles a young doctor’s journey from literature student to promising neurosurgeon and finally to a patient in his own hospital after being diagnosed with Stage IV lung cancer. Always profound, never sentimental, this important book refuses to take refuge in platitudes, instead facing mortality with honesty and humility. Written in engaging prose and filled with penetrating insights, this story is relevant to everyone and will captivate fans of memoir, literature, philosophy, and popular science alike. Lyrical passages of great beauty and vulnerability are deftly balanced by bright, candid moments of joy and even humor. Come prepared with plenty of tissues; over and over again this exquisite book will break your heart.” —Carmen Tracey, Loganberry Books, Shaker Heights, OH

Rosalie Lightning: A Graphic Memoir, Tom Hart (St. Martin’s Press)

“Rosalie Lightning is a haunting and beautiful memoir that lays bare the love parents can have for their children. Hart’s simple renditions of his life before and after the death of his young daughter are successful symbols, lucidly conveying the widest range of emotions and thoughts. It would be a disservice to say Rosalie Lightning just made me cry — it also burrowed into my heart. Hart describes the most unthinkable, painful event that can happen to a parent, and even more extraordinarily, he describes the love and the life that is still available afterwards. Rosalie was a joy to read about, and even on the darkest pages, I am glad he gave this gift of a memoir.” —Lyla Wortham, Whistle-Stop Mercantile, Douglas, WY

Fallen Land, Taylor Brown (St. Martin’s Press; OverDrive Sample)

“Fallen Land by debut novelist Brown is like a blend of Charles Frazier’s Cold Mountain and Cormac McCarthy’s The Road. In the setting of the southern Appalachians and crossing Georgia during Sherman’s March to the Sea, Brown shares the beautifully written story of Callum, a young Irish immigrant, and Ava, the orphan daughter of a Carolina doctor who perished in the war. Together they stay one step ahead of a loosely formed band of vicious bounty hunters at the trailing end of Sherman’s scorching destruction of the South. Determination, survival, and love all combine to form a thrilling and romantic story set during the final days of the Civil War.” —Doug Robinson, Eagle Eye Book Shop, Decatur, GA

It also received starred reviews from Booklist, Kirkus, and LJ.

And Again, Jessica Chiarella (S&S/Touchstone)

“This intriguing novel explores the age-old body/soul relationship from a fresh angle by introducing us to four participants in a pilot program that gives terminally ill patients new, genetically perfect bodies. Will these four — a beautiful actress, a womanizing congressman, a talented artist, and a beloved mother — simply resume their lives as they were before disease or accident struck? Or will they make new starts, make different choices? Can their new bodies incorporate what they have learned in the past? A fascinating literary debut.” —Ellen Sandmeyer, Sandmeyer’s Bookstore, Chicago, IL