EarlyWord

[Ed. Note] We love that so many of you are reading ARC’s (aka, galleys), to find titles to nominate for LibraryReads, to be the first to discover the next big thing, and to make ordering decisions. Now that so many ARC’s are also available as e-galleys from Edelweiss and NetGalley, the selection is greater than ever.

There is a downside. Choice can be overwhelming, as evidenced by our own teetering tower at the left.

How do you pick what to push to the top of your virtual as well as actual TBR piles? And, when you fall in love with a book that won’t be published for several months, who can you talk to about it?

GalleyChat to the rescue; our monthly discussions of galleys fellow librarians are loving can help you tame your piles (adult GalleyChat is the first Tuesday of the month and YA/Middle Grade is the third Tuesday).

In addition, our own GalleyChatter, Robin Beerbower (Salem P.L.) gives us her take on what she’s learned from the adult edition (see her second roundup, below). Between chats, you can keep up with what other GalleyChatters are reading via postings on the Edelweiss community board (be sure to friend us).

The following is Robin’s April roundup:

The April Galleychat’s pace was its normal fast and furious self, with suspense thrillers dominating the discussion. Below are several of the titles that rose to the top. All are available as e-galleys from Edelweiss unless otherwise noted.

When it’s only April and a voracious reader tells you she’s already found one of her top ten books of the year, you take notice. The dark thriller The Distance, (Doubleday, September) by former bookseller Helen Giltrow, is already on Jane Jorgenson’s list of favorite books of the year. Continuing the dark and moody theme, Lori Rader-Day’s The Black Hour (Seventh Street Books, May) was on two chatters’ list and has also received “much love” from 3 peers on Edelweiss. On Goodreads Jorgenson calls it “A fascinating mystery that looks backwards and forwards” and “this is a great debut.”

Sharon (the author formerly known as “S. J.”) Bolton’s fourth Lacey Flint mystery, A Dark and Twisted Tide, (Macmillan/Minotaur, June; e-galley on NetGalley) is receiving many  raves. While it can be read alone, those who haven’t read Bolton’s previous titles will have a creepy good time reading the books in order, beginning with Now You See Me.

Also mentioned was J. A. Jance’s newest Joanna Brady novel, Remains of Innocence (HarperCollins/ Morrow, July), always a treat; The Bishop’s Wife by Mette Ivie Harrison (Soho Press), was called “nice twisty mystery, well-developed characters.” And, talk about being ahead of the curve, it doesn’t arrive until December. W.W. Norton’s Golda Rademacher, whose taste we’ve come to trust, cites as one of her favorites  Dry Bones in the Valley by Tom Bouman (July), a gritty mystery set in rural northeastern Pennsylvania. She was seconded by a librarian who gave it the ultimate accolade from a knowledgeable mystery reader; the ending was not at all what she expected.

My own favorite book this month was The Truth About the Harry Quebert Affair by Joel Dicker (Penguin, May), which just became available as an e-galley. This 600-plus-page suspense thriller with its knot of unreliable narrators twisted and turned so much I felt like I was on both a roller coaster and a tilt-a-whirl. This will be a great read alike for Dennis Lehane’s  Shutter Island and yes, even the book everything seems to be compared to these days, Gillian Flynn’s Gone Girl. I am predicting big things for HQ.

It’s fun to see the return of authors whose debuts we first discovered through other GalleyChatters. Daisy Goodwin grabbed many of us with The Heiress, so there was excitement from those who have just received her new one,  The Fortune Hunter, (Macmillan/St. Martin’s, July). One GalleyChatter who has already dived in reports she is loving it.

We’re as susceptible as anyone to a beautiful cover and this one not only features an arresting image, but it pops with raised and embossed details and lettering (an extra printing expense); a good indicator of a the package to come.

Remember to friend me if you want to keep up with what I’m anticipating on Edelweiss and please join us on May 6 for our next GalleyChat.

Politicians often announce ambitions for higher office by publishing a memoir, which gives potential voters two ways to get to know the candidate, via the book itself and personal appearances to promote it.

The announcement that Senator Elizabeth Warren (D, Mass.) is publishing her memoir, A Fighting Chance, (Macmillan/ Metropolitan; Macmillan Audio) has fueled rumors that she will run for president in 2016.

The book is embargoed in advance of its release next week (although a few libraries show they have received it). The Boston Globe is the first to break the embargo, saying that Warren “portrays herself as an idealistic outsider, persistently fighting the excesses and political power of Wall Street” and that, “Even though Warren has insisted she will not run for president in the next election, the book and her heavy promotional tour will keep her in the national spotlight.”

The book rose to #230 on Amazon’s sales rankings as a result of the attention.

As movie audiences will discover this summer, there is much more to YA adaptations than kids fighting kids in dystopian battles.

Following the release in June of The Fault in Our Stars, based on the John Green novel, comes the film adaptation of Gayle Forman’s If I Stay, (Penguin) on August 22. The first trailer, below, was just released.

Actress Chole Moretz stars as Mia, a 17 year-old cellist, who is given the choice whether to live or die, while in a coma after a car accident that killed her family. Jamie Blackley (Snow White And The Huntsman, The Fifth Estate) plays her boyfriend Adam, Mirella Enos and Denny Hall,  her parents and Stacy Keach, Gramps. It is directed by R. J Cutler, known for his documentaries, including the Emmy-award-winning American High.

BuzzFeed creates those annoyingly effective numerical lists, such as:

17 Baby Elephants Learning How To Use Their Trunks

24 Things Everyone Experiences On A One Night Stand

71 Thoughts Every Woman Has While Bra Shopping

In a change of pace, they offer one for National Library Week, a good inspiration for book displays, 11 Literary Librarians Who Smash Stereotypes.

(Image via BuzzFeed and Flickr: 10409977@N06)

Last year’s National Book Award winner, The Good Lord Bird by James McBride (Penguin/Riverhead; Dreamscape Audio; Thorndike) may be heading to the big screen. Liev Schreiber and Jaden Smith (The Karate Kid, After Earth) have signed to star, with author McBride taking on a role as producer. Smith will play Henry “Onion” Shackleford with  Schreiber in the role of abolitionist John Brown.

McBride’s’ Miracle At St. Anna (Penguin/Riverhead, 2002) was adapted by Spike Lee in 2008. An FX series based on the author’s book Song Yet Sung, (Penguin/Riverhead, 2008), about Harriet Tubman, was announced last fall.

Was last night’s blood moon, the first of four that will occur this year, just a beautiful event, or does it portend something more? The Washington Post takes a look at several new books that claim the event  fulfills the Biblical prophecy, “The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before the great and terrible day of the Lord,” in the Book of Joel 2:31.

The most popular of these comes from Texas televangelist John Hagee, Blood Moons Rising, (Tyndale House). It is currently at #4 on the New York Times Advice & How To best seller list.

No more teases, below is the full Gone Girl trailer which debuted on yesterday’s Entertainment Tonight.

Fans of the book should prepare for a new ending. Author Gillian Flynn and director David Fincher have said that they worked out a completely new one  for the movie. About the experience, Flynn said, “There was something thrilling about taking this piece of work that I’d spent about two years painstakingly putting together with all its eight million LEGO pieces and take a hammer to it and bash it apart and reassemble it into a movie.”

Fincher who directed the English-language adaptation of The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo, expressed regrets about it, saying, “we may have been too beholden to the source material.”

This may bring a rush of people who want to read the book before the movie (yes, amazingly, it seems that there are a few who haven’t read it yet), so you may want to hold off on weeding copies. For those who need to replace worn out copies, the trade paperback and mass market paperback (both from RH/Broadway) arrive next week. The movie tie-in (RH/Broadway) is scheduled for August 26.

The movie hits theaters Oct. 3,

Note: You can also view the trailer on the Apple site.

Capping a string of best books of the year picks, Donna Tartt’s The Goldfinch (Hachette/Little, Brown; Hachette Audio) won the Pulitzer Prize, announced yesterday.

The Pulitzers could be termed the Newbery/Caldecotts of adult book awards, having an immediate, and lasting effect on sales. All the winners moved up Amazon’s sales rankings, most stunningly, the poetry winner which rose from # 821,844 to #337. Even the fiction winner, which had already been high on the list, rose from #35 to #4.

The other winners in the books categories are:

History

Alan Taylor, The Internal Enemy: Slavery and War in Virginia, 1772-1832. (W. W. Norton) —  also a National Book Award finalist. The author won a Pulitzer in 1996 for William Cooper’s Town: Power and Persuasion on the Frontier of the Early Republic.

Biography

Megan Marshall,  Margaret Fuller: A New American Life. (HMH) — chosen as one of 100 notable books of the year by the NYT Book Review and on NYT daily critic Dwight Garner‘s list of his 10 favorite books of the year. A trade paperback edition was released in March (HMH/Mariner).

General Nonfiction

Dan Fagin, Toms River: A Story of Science and Salvation, (RH/Bantam; BOT) —  on NPR’s best books list, it was also picked by Kirkus.

Poetry

Vijay Seshadri, 3 Sections,  (Graywolf Press) — The nonprofit Graywolf Press, which has published an impressive number of award winners, is now in its 40th year. The woman who heads the company is profiled here (via Publishers Marketplace).

After a glowing cover review in the New York Times Book Review, Family Life by Akhil Sharma (W.W. Norton) is getting even more attention. It is called the “year’s first great novel” by Salon. In a review on NPR’s All Things Considered on Thursday, Meg Waltzer says the author, “takes a simple, emotionally difficult story and makes the reader brave the ongoing pain and become fully absorbed,” and the Huffington Post designates it as the week’s “Book We’re Talking About.”

Libraries that ordered it modestly are showing heavy holds ratios.

The film of Divergent is an official success, so much so that, like other popular teen franchises (Twilight, Hunger Games), the final book in the series will be split into two movies.

The stars revealed on yesterday’s MTV Movie Awards red carpet that they knew that was a possibility from the beginning:

No, we don’t have the first trailer, but what we do have is the teaser for the first trailer (calling M.C. Escher).

The actual trailer will debut on Entertainment Tonight on Monday, April 14.

Next week is light in terms of releases from big-name repeat authors, but Nora Roberts is guaranteed a #1 spot on best seller list with The Collector, (Penguin/Putnam; Penguin Large Print; Brilliance Audio), a standalone hardcover. Booklist stars it, saying, “Roberts is performing at the top of her literary game, and the novel’s opening nod toward Rear Window should clue readers in to the fact they are in for an addictive blend of sleek suspense and sophisticated romance that would make Hitchcock proud.”

Below are a few other titles to have on the tip of your tongue (download our spreadsheet for ordering information on these and more titles arriving next week):

The Axe Factor: A Jimm Juree Mystery, Colin Cotterill, (Macmillan/Minotaur Books; Highbridge Audio)

If the title alone doesn’t sell you, this LibraryReads annotation may do the trick:

“I love this sharply-written and quirky cozy mystery. Jimm Juree is a wonderful character, slyly funny and insightful, with an oddball cast of family and friends to back her up. Set in coastal Thailand, this is a laugh-out-loud funny mystery with plenty of great twists and turns that will keep readers guessing.” — Vicki Nesting, St. Charles Parish Library, Destrehan, LA

Until You’re Mine, Samantha Hayes, RH/Crown

Word of mouth is building for this thriller.  It gets “much love” from ten  readers on Edelweiss, plus this passionate review from a bookseller, “When it comes to mysteries, I really treasure the authors who keep me guessing every time: Sophie Hannah, Mo Hayder, Michael Robotham, Tana French, Gillian Flynn – and now Samantha Hayes. I thought I had the book all figured out, but kept reading anyway because the story sucked me in. I’m glad I did, because the ending blew me away: I honestly had no idea what was coming. ” All four prepub reviews were strong and Entertainment Weekly features it this week with a B+, saying  “Hayes plants the seeds of suspense early, and they gestate until a truly spectacular ending bursts forth.”

The Kind Mama: A Simple Guide to Supercharged Fertility, a Radiant Pregnancy, a Sweeter Birth, and a Healthier, More Beautiful Beginning, Alicia Silverstone, Rodale Books

Back in 2010, the Oprah Show launched Alicia Silverstone’s book on the vegan lifestyle, The Kind Diet, into public consciousness and onto best seller lists. Expect Silverstone to make the talk show rounds for her new book on motherhood (she’s camera-ready, proving it with book trailer released back in November) which addressed the hot-button question, “When did making babies get to be so hard?”

We’re on the verge of the summer movie season, as the new issue of Entertainment Weekly reminds us with a cover featuring Jennifer Lawrence, looking ready to join Blue Men Group in makeup for her role in X-Men Days of Future Past.

Coming in August is a more tongue-in-cheek comic adaptation, Guardians of the Galaxy. It seems the world is poised to fall in love with one of the characters, Rocket Raccoon and his side kick/body guard, a large plant named Groot.

Marvel, sensing the growing interest, has announced the launch of their “first original prose novel,” Rocket Raccoon & Groot: Steal the Galaxy! by Dan Abnett (Marvel; ages 9 and up), which led one comics observer to moan, “a prose novel … set to capitalize on the presumed success of the upcoming major, big-budget Guardians of the Galaxy feature film. This is the world we live in now.”

Several other “prose novels” will be published to tie-in, which is presumably less surprising since they come from publishers who are generally in the prose novel business (downloadable spreadsheet here; for all the tie-ins to the summer’s movies, check our listings of Upcoming movies).

Time to get hooked on a feeling:

Stephen Colbert, as we’ve often noted here, has been very good for books. Many authors have enjoyed the benefit of the “Colbert Bump” even as the host of Comedy Central’s Colbert Report makes mock fun of them on his show.

It’s just been announced that Colbert will leave that show to take the place of retiring David Letterman on CBS Late Night, beginning some time in 2015.

Entertainment Weekly raises the question on many minds. Who is the real Colbert once he sheds his mock-conservative persona?

We just hope the real Colbert continues to be interested in books.

It’s difficult to imagine a film based on Emma Donoghue’s claustrophobic best seller, Room  (Hachette/Little,Brown), but the project, announced in September, appears to be moving along.

Director Lenny Abrahamson has hired Brie Larson for the lead role of Ma, a woman who was kidnapped as a teenager and lives in a tiny room with her 5-year-old son. The story is told through the boy’s eyes, as his mother works to maintain the illusion that their life is normal.

Donaghue’s latest novel, Frog Music, (Hachette/Little, Brown), was released last week.