The third chat of the new year rivaled the previous two, with nearly as many titles, over 210, some as far ahead as December. Roundups are below. To read the full chat, search Twitter by #ewgc.
— EarlyWord GalleyChat, March, 2022 — link to downloadable spreadsheet of the titles on Google Docs. Includes quotes from tweets, notes on debuts, diversity titles, those mentioned for the first time, LibraryReads deadlines and DRC availability. NOTE: If you have any trouble downloading the spreadsheet, please let us know
— Edelweiss catalog — includes covers, publisher marketing information, and links to Edelweiss DRCs.
Our next chat has been moved to the first Tuesday of the month, April 5th, 4 to 5 pm ET (3:30 for virtual cocktails), to avoid conflict with the day-long PRH Spring Book Fest. Click here for the schedule of upcoming GalleyChats.
A Super Remarkable Debut
Remarkably Bright Creatures
Shelby Van Pelt
On Sale Date: May 3, 2022
9780063204157, 0063204150
Hardcover $27.99
Fiction / Literary
This debut is so hot, we had to create a new category for it, “SUPER HOT.” Excitement has been growing on GalleyChat since it was first mentioned in November. The following is just a selection of the many accolades — Cari Dubiel @caridubiel, “A grieving woman in the twilight of her life bonds with a sentient octopus facing his own death. An unusual and moving story with great character development and voice.” — Vicki Nesting @VNesting, “The relationship between the aquarium’s custodian Tova and the octopus Marcellus is the heart of the story, but the cast of other quirky characters round things out nicely. The audiobook is exceptional.” — audio DRCs available on Edelweiss and NetGalley — Kimberly Mcgee @kimsbookstack, “My fave this year has been REMARKABLY BRIGHT CREATURES. Who wouldn’t fall for a very wise octopus who escapes for sushi every night and guides the woman he bonded with. Everyone has to read this tearjerker big hearted story!”
It was the featured title in February on HarperCollins Library Love Fest’s new online series, Galley Club, which introduces librarians to a new title on the first three Tuesdays of each month, including interviews with each book’s editorial team as well as the authors themselves.
The March selection, which launches Tuesday, March 8, is the debut The Measureby Nikki Erlick, releasing in June, described by GalleyChatter Janet Lockhart @HartGami, “Would you want to know exactly how long you have to live? That’s the question faced by the world in THE MEASURE by @nikkierlick. Still not sure what my answer would be.”
Yerba Buena
Nina LaCour
On Sale Date: May 31, 2022
9781250810465, 1250810469
Hardcover $26.99
Fiction / LGBTQ+ / Lesbian
HOT on GalleyChat, as well as multiple “Much Love” on Edelweiss — Jenna Friebel @jenna_friebel, “A for-sure-will-be-on-my-2022-favorites title…like Sally Rooney in terms of character study/ relationships focus, but with the sparse yet poetic prose” — Carol Ann Tack @Carolanntack, “I read YERBA BUENA in two days and wished I hadn’t rushed through this remarkable story of love and family…it made my heart sing.”
A Caribbean Heiress in Paris
Adriana Herrera
On Sale Date: May 31, 2022
9781335639844, 1335639845
Trade Paperback $16.99
Hardcover library edition, 9781335427519
Fiction / Romance / Multicultural & Interracial
HOT, JenniferSchultz @Jennsreads, “A deliciously written Belle Epoque romance was just what I needed. The first paragraph is a master class in how to introduce character and setting. Such a treat. ” — Mara @mrlzbth, “…a fun romance about a woman from Santo Domingo who travels to Paris in 1889 looking for lucrative connections for her family’s rum business…but who of course finds love as well. The first in a planned series!”
Siren Queen
Nghi Vo
On Sale Date: May 10, 2022
9781250788832, 1250788838
Hardcover $26.99 USD
Fiction / Asian American
HOT on GalleyChat and multiple “Much Love” on Edelweiss — Ingram Library Services @TheLibraryLife_ “about young queer Chinese American wannabe starlet Luli & her story of navigating the treacherous, lecherous underworld of Golden Age Hollywood – full of actual monsters. ” — Mara @mrlzbth, “…a really dark and imaginative spin on the glamour of old Hollywood! I’ve been meaning to read her take on Gatsby from last year (THE CHOSEN AND THE BEAUTIFUL) and this definitely nudged me to do that soon.”
The Hacienda
Isabel Cañas
On Sale Date: May 3, 2022
9780593436691, 0593436695
Hardcover $27.00
Fiction / Gothic
Heating up — Michelle M @blkMYmorris. “I’m enjoying THE HACIENDA by Isabel Cañas. The historical setting, after the Mexican War of Independence is fresh setting for Gothic horror. It has malevolent spirits, a priest with a past, and touches on racism and classism.” — Jenna Friebel @jenna_friebel, “One of the books I’ve mentioned before but will not stop yelling about how much I loved.” — Louisa @llws, “I am so excited for this book! I love, love, love her short fiction and the buzz for this book is so strong.” — Contributor Bio, “Isabel Cañas is a Mexican-American speculative fiction writer. After having lived in Mexico, Scotland, Egypt, and Turkey, among other places, she has settled (for now) in New York City, where she works on her PhD dissertation in medieval Islamic literature and writes fiction inspired by her research and her heritage.”
Posted in GalleyChat | Comments Off on GalleyChat Roundup, March 2022
The second chat of the new year was nearly as blazing as the first, with over 230 titles grabbing GalleyChatter’s interest. Roundups are below. To read the full chat, search Twitter by #ewgc.
— EarlyWord GalleyChat, Feb, 2022 — link to spreadsheet of the titles on Google Docs. Includes quotes from tweets, notes on debuts, diversity titles, those mentioned for the first time, LibraryReads deadlines and DRC availability. NOTE: If you have any trouble downloading the spreadsheet, please let us know
— Edelweiss catalog — includes covers, publisher marketing information, and links to Edelweiss DRCs.
Our next chat will be held on Thursday, March 3rd, 4 to 5 pm ET (3:30 for virtual cocktails). Click here for the schedule of upcoming chats.
The next LibraryReads deadline is March 1, for books publishing in April. Please give special attention to our list of diversity titles for LibraryReads consideration.
Meet the Authors
GalleyChatters were impressed by debut author Marytza K. Rubio during the online Preview of Spring 2022 Novels, organized by library marketers from several publishing houses and moderated by GalleyChatter Jennifer Winberry, Assistant Director, Hunterdon Public Library, NJ.
Rubio’s book of short stores, Maria Maria, is described as “a darkly funny and imaginative debut conjuring tales of Mexican American mystics and misfits”
Also included in the episode is Elodie Harper, author of The Wolf Den, praised by GalleyChatter Jill Minor @JillRhudy, “Desire is their business, but sex is the last thing they desire. Slavery, trafficking, power dynamics, ultimate sacrifices for survival and freedom. THE WOLF DEN brings the women in a brothel in Pompeii to life.” The title has been so hot on GalleyChat that we will be very surprised if it is not the #1 LibraryReads pick for March (sorry, the deadline for voting is over).
HarperCollins Library Love Fest introduced a new program called GalleyClub this month. The first title of the series, Remarkably Bright Creatures, the debut novel by Shelby Van Pelt coming in May, is described as being “about a widow’s unlikely friendship with a curmudgeonly giant Pacific octopus reluctantly residing at the local aquarium — and, when a mysterious grifter comes to town, the truths all three unlock about her son’s disappearance 30 years ago,”
It is already a hit with many GalleyChatters. The clip played on the show convinced even more to pick it up. In the second episode, on Tues., Feb. 8, the library marketing team talk with the book’s editors. In the third and final episode of this series, coming Tuesday, Feb. 15, they will interview the author. To learn about upcoming series, follow Library Love Fest on Facebook, or on the Library Love Fest web site.
This title has been hot on GalleyChat for several months — librarylovefest @librarylovefest, “Are you in the mood for something revolutionary? I can’t say enough about THE MEMORY LIBRARIAN by Janelle Monae! …the perfect mash-up of dystopian and utopian … a big one for any cyberpunk fans!” — JAN, Jenna Friebel @jenna_friebel, ” currently reading THE MEMORY LIBRARIAN by Janelle Monáe & others. First story was great- excited to dive into the others!…Dirty Computer is one of my most played CDs. Love love love her.”
Fiction / Women
Perkins-Valdez, Dolen Take My Hand
PRH/Penguin/Berkley
HOT, Vicki Nesting @VNesting, “Started
TAKE MY HAND by Dolen Perkins-Valdez last night and could not put it down. Inspired by real events, a nurse in Alabama in 1973 blows the whistle on a terrible wrong done to her clients.”– JAN, Nanette Donohue @surferrosa, “…an engrossing, thought-provoking novel about the intersection of race, class, and women’s health. I’m still thinking about it three weeks after I finished it.” — Janet Lockhart @HartGami, “…let me join the chorus of praise. An important story that cannot be forgotten … Historical fiction at its finest and most relevant.”
Fiction / LGBTQ+ / Gay
Stuart, Douglas Young Mungo
Grove Press
This title has multiple “Much Loves” on Edelweiss, mostly from booksellers and GalleyChatters are showing interest. — Publishers Summary, “A story of queer love and working-class families, YOUNG MUNGO is the brilliant second novel from the Booker Prize-winning author of SHUGGIE BAIN.’
DEBUT — Mara @mrlzbth, “I have to rave about Jenny Tinghui Zhang’s stunning debut novel FOUR TREASURES OF THE SKY, absorbing historical fiction with an unforgettable protagonist.” — Vicki Nesting @VNesting, “…Gorgeous cover and an intriguing historical plot featuring a young Chinese girl trying to make her way in the American West.”
Fiction / African American & Black / Historical
Bryce, Denny S. In the Face of the Sun
Kensington
JenniferSchultz @Jennsreads, “If you loved WILD WOMAN & THE BLUES by Denny S. Bryce, don’t miss IN THE FACE OF THE SUN. This dual timeline historical novel (1920s and 1968) is rich with period details of Black American life during those eras and unforgettable characters.” — Kimberly Mcgee@kimsbookstack, “A great tale of a famous L.A. hotel catering to the Black elite in 1928. Old Hollywood, sisters, secrets and a crazy road trip in 1968 from Chicago back to L.A. with a wild carload of characters.” — JAN, LMR, Michelle Lauren Addo @MichelleAddo, “At the height of the Civil Rights Movement, a pregnant young woman & her aunt embark on an audacious road trip from Chicago to Los Angeles to confront a mystery from 1920’s Black Hollywood.”
Fiction / Historical / Ancient
Patel, Vaishnavi Kaikeyi
Hachette/Redhook
DEBUT, Multiple “Much Loves” on Edelweiss — Mara @mrlzbth, “My favorite read this month was KAIKEYI by Vaishnavi Patel, a compelling reimagining of Indian mythology that completely held my interest from start to finish. The CIRCE comparisons are well-deserved with this one!” — Janet Lockhart @HartGami, “Three chapters in and I’m already captivated by this reimagining of the story of the queen in the Indian epic the Ramayana is perfect for fans of CIRCE.”
Hearing from the Deaf
Deaf Awareness month isn’t until September, but April brings several new books by deaf authors.
Biography & Autobiography / People With Disabilities
DiMarco, Nyle Deaf Utopia
HarperCollins/William Morrow
Mara @mrlzbth, “I’m currently about halfway through Nyle DiMarco’s memoir DEAF UTOPIA and highly recommend it! I wasn’t familiar with him before this [he the first male and first deaf winner of “America’s Next Top Model”, followed by winning “Dancing with the Stars”] but it’s a really interesting and entertaining look at his life as a Deaf person and also at the history of Deaf education and culture.” — Jennifer Schultz @Jennsreads, “It’s a great read, I learned so much.”
Fiction / Coming Of Age
Fell, Blair The Sign for Home
S&S Atria/Emily Bestler Books
Multiple “Much Loves” on Edelweiss — JenniferSchultz @Jennsreads, “THE SIGN FOR HOME by Bell Flair is an endearing, heartbreaking, funny, and eye-opening contemporary novel about a Blind-Deaf college student and his interpreter who embark on a journey to find freedom and lost love.” — S&S EducationLibrary @SSEdLib, “…when Arlo Dilly learns the girl he thought was lost forever might still be out there, he takes it as a sign and embarks on a life-changing journey to find his great love-and his freedom.”
Fiction / Coming Of Age
Novic, Sara True Biz
PRH/Random House
Oprah Daily picked this as one of the “50 Most Anticipated Books of 2022“, saying, “As a follow-up to her piercing debut, GIRL AT WAR, Novic taps her own experiences as a hearing-impaired writer. …Novic strips away the platitudes associated with disability while weaving in images and idioms from American sign language. (The title alludes to ASL’s definition of ‘real talk.’) Her deft, textured prose reveals the lush interior landscapes of her characters.” — DEC. JenniferSchultz @Jennsreads, “My current read is TRUE BIZ by Sara Novic, set at a residential school for the deaf. Just started but I think this is a winner.”
Posted in GalleyChat | Comments Off on GalleyChat Roundup, Feb. 2022
The first chat of the new year was blazing, with nearly 250 titles mentioned. Roundups are below. To read the full chat, search Twitter by #ewgc.
— EarlyWord GalleyChat, Jan, 2022 — link to spreadsheet of the titles on Google Docs. Includes excerpts from notable tweets, notes on debuts, diversity titles, those mentioned for the first time as well as LibraryReads deadlines and DRC availability. NOTE: If you have any trouble downloading the spreadsheet, please Let us know
— Edelweiss catalog — includes covers, publisher marketing information, and links to Edelweiss DRCs.
Our next chat will be held on Thursday, Feb. 3rd, 4 to 5 pm ET (3:30 for virtual cocktails). Click here for the schedule of upcoming chats.
Chris @marbooks, “…a great book to start the new year of reading. The situations (and fashions) Meddy & her family find themselves in as they celebrate Meddy’s wedding to Nathan had me laughing out loud. ” — DEC, Nanette Donohue @surferrosa, “…thrilled to hear that there will be two more Meddy Chan books!” — NOV, Jenna Friebel @jenna_friebel, “…such a delightful and fun follow up to DIAL A FOR AUNTIES. Loved being with those characters again in another ridiculous situation”
Louisa @llws, “A short book that begs you to linger, immersive, with a rich cast of characters.” — Norton Library Mktg @WWNortonLibrary, “Library Journal gave [it] a star: ‘A resonant and pointedly perceptive story about family, Middle East history, and creating new narratives, whether as individuals or nations.'” — OCT, Jennifer Dayton @jenniferdayton, “wonderful. Her books never fail to delight. Family returns to Jordan to reconnect with its past.” — Janet Lockhart @HartGami, “I didn’t want this book to end. The writing is sublime.”
Byeong-mo, Gu Old Woman with the Knife
HarperCollins/Hanover Square Press
Fiction / Thrillers / Psychological
The e-newsletter dedicated to early reviews of mystery titles, First Clue, by former LJ/SLJ editors, Brian Kenny and Henrietta Verma, brought this to the attention of several GalleyChatters. From the review, “This startling work upends every stereotype of old ladies and killers. Known as Hornclaw, our protagonist is only 65 but welcomes the invisibleness of appearing elderly so as to better function as a disease control specialist: a hired killer.…The story, which immerses readers into everyday life in Seoul, is made unforgettable by Gu’s language …For lovers of literary fiction and book clubs that will try something different.” GalleyChatter Louisa @llwsm calls it “[One of] My 2 top adult reads of the new year …short, potent literary thriller about an aging assassin, …Highly rec for fellow Smiley fans.”
Garrett, Kellye Like a Sister
Hachette/Mulholland Books
Fiction / Mystery & Detective / Amateur Sleuth
Janet Lockhart @HartGami, “[Protagonist] Lena completely rejects the idea that Desiree’s death was an overdose. She doesn’t care what it looks like, she knew her sister. Or did she? How well we know those closest to us is poignantly explored in the stellar crime novel.” — RedheadFangirl @RedheadFangirl, “Liked the Harlem setting and the insta/reality world sister vs. the student sister.” — DEC, Mara @mrlzbth, “a suspenseful read about a woman investigating the mysterious death of her reality TV star sister. I really liked the character development in this one!” — OCT, Cari Dubiel @caridubiel, “…Go get the galley now! About a young woman reckoning with her famous sister’s death…perfect for those thriller fans who are clamoring for more.”
Mara @mrlzbth, “I didn’t want to put down THE CARTOGRAPHERS by Peng Shepherd, the suspenseful story of a precious map with magical qualities and the people who would do anything to get their hands on it. Got to love the New York Public Library’s Map Division at the heart of the plot!” — Kimberly Mcgee @kimsbookstack, “…A secret society, magical maps and murder mystery set partially in the New York Public Library. Indiana Jones meets Brigadoon. Loved this book and tried to read it slow.” — DEC., Beth Mills @BethMills2, “…What an imaginative take in maps and map makers” — From the Publishers Summary, “Peng (pronounced “Pung”) Shepherd is a diverse author who has lived across the globe and her writing and characters accurately reflect our complex world.”
Wilkes, Ally All the White Spaces
S&S Atria/Emily Bestler Books
Fiction / Horror
Jenifer May @jennyjump79, “Ally Wilkes’ ALL THE WHITE SPACES has been my late night reading this past week. I feel like I’m right there with Jonathan, the young, inexperienced stowaway, on this haunted 1919 Antarctic expedition. So good and so eerie!” — NOV, Mara @mrlzbth, “A thrilling tale of polar exploration where something sinister is lurking out there on the ice. Great use of a post-WWI setting where almost everyone is haunted by their pasts.” — SEPT, Ingram Library Services @TheLibraryLife_, “If you’re looking to grow your transgender genre collections, consider ALL THE WHITE SPACES by Ally Wilkes @UnheimlichManvr. Keywords according to the author’s twitter acct: post WW1 setting, Antarctic, ships, ghosts, death, trans.”
Williams, Sheila Things Past Telling
HarperCollins Amistad
Fiction / Historical / Civil War Era
Kimberly Mcgee @kimsbookstack, “A sweeping saga like ROOTS. Told by a smart over 100 year old woman who doesn’t let anyone take her dignity or name away from her. Civil War historical masterpiece.” — librarylovefest @librarylovefest, “Ok, when I heard THINGS PAST TELLING launched as ‘combining the epic romance and adventure of OUTLANDER, the sweeping drama of ROOTS, and the haunting historical power of BARRACOON.’ Say no more-I’m in!!”
Posted in GalleyChat | Comments Off on GalleyChat Roundup, Jan. 2022
Roundups of the titles from the December chat are below. To read the full chat, search Twitter by #ewgc.
And for those looking back at their favorites of the year, #Libfaves2021 runs through Dec. 17th. It began yesterday, Dec. 8, with library folk posting their top ten favorite 2021 titles, countdown style. Don’t worry if you missed the first day, you can catch up by adding the titles for the days you missed.
— EarlyWord GalleyChat, Spreadsheet — link to spreadsheet of the titles on Google Docs. Includes excerpts from notable tweets, notes on debuts, diversity titles, those mentioned for the first time as well as LibraryReads deadlines and DRC availability. NOTE: If you have any trouble downloading the spreadsheet, please Let us know
— Edelweiss catalog — includes covers, publisher marketing information, and links to Edelweiss DRCs.
Our next chat will be held on Thursday, January 6th, 4 to 5 pm ET (3:30 for virtual cocktails). Click here for the schedule of upcoming chats.
Several February titles (LR votes due Jan 1) have received heartfelt recommendations from GalleyChatters.
Slocumb, Brendan, The Violin Conspiracy, (PRH/Anchor, 9780593315415, February 1, 2022)
DEBUT, Beth Mills, “…great main character, loved the classical music background.” — Jane Jorgenson, “Engrossing and heartbreaking at turns. Hero is a young black man who has to work exponentially harder to get into the world of being a classical violinist, then has his family heirloom (and extremely valuable) violin stolen.” — JenniferSchultz, “…a mystery about a Black violinist who, against all odds, creates an extraordinary violinist career, which is threatened when his priceless violin goes missing. Fascinating & gripping.” — Mara, “…a compelling mystery, but also a fascinating look at the world of classical music and a moving tribute to the power of music education. I really enjoyed it!”
Chang, Lan Samantha, Family Chao, (W. W. Norton, 9780393868074, Feb. 1, 2022)
Mara, “Loved the character development in this story of three very different brothers thrust into the spotlight after their father’s suspicious death.” The author is featured Booklist’s Webinar along with Mary Roach and Glory Edim,
Louisa, “Love love love DON’T CRY FOR ME! Need to remember to vote [for LibraryReads, due Jan 1] — Leslie DeLooze, “I just started DON’T CRY FOR ME by Daniel Black, and I can’t put it down. Surprising because of the serious nature of the novel. So compelling.”
March titles getting attention (LibraryReads deadline, 2/1/22)
Wilkes, Ally All the White Spaces (S&S Atria/Emily Bestler Books, 9781982182700, March 22, 2022)
Mara, “I’ve been raving about All The White Spaces by Ally Wilkes to anyone who will listen this month! A thrilling tale of polar exploration where something sinister is lurking out there on the ice. Great use of a post-WWI setting where almost everyone is haunted by their pasts.”
Jenna Friebel, “…such a delightful and fun follow up to Dial A For Aunties. Loved being with those characters again in another ridiculous situation.”
A well-loved title originally scheduled for February, has been moved to May, giving more people time to read it before its new LibraryReads deadline, 4/1/22.
LaCour, Nina. Yerba Buena. Macmillan/Flatiron, May 31, 2022)
ADULT DEBUT — Carol Ann Tack, “I read Yerba Buena in two days and wished I hadn’t rushed through this remarkable story of love and family.” — Jenna Friebel, “If I could rave about only one novel right now, it’d be Yerba Buena by Nina LaCour. Her adult debut is like Sally Rooney in terms of character study/ relationships focus, but with the sparse yet poetic prose LaCour is known for from her YA books. And it’s queer”!
Posted in GalleyChat | Comments Off on GalleyChat Roundup, Dec., 2021
Roundups of the titles from the November chat are below. To read the full chat, search Twitter by #ewgc.
— EarlyWord GalleyChat, Nov, 2021 — link to spreadsheet of the titles on Google Docs. Includes excerpts from notable tweets, notes on debuts, diversity titles, those mentioned for the first time as well as LibraryReads deadlines and DRC availability. NOTE: If you have any trouble downloading the spreadsheet, please Let us know
— Edelweiss catalog — includes covers, publisher marketing information, and links to Edelweiss DRCs.
Our next chat will be held on Thursday, December 2nd, 4 to 5 pm ET (3:30 for virtual cocktails). Click here for the schedule of upcoming chats.
Olga Dies Dreaming
Xochitl Gonzalez, Macmillan/ Flatiron Books
January 4, 2022, 9781250786173
Mara @mrlzbth, “Giving a shoutout to two January titles that I’ve mentioned before but love and would love to see on January’s LibraryReads list: Xochitl Gonzalez’s OLGA DIES DREAMING and Sue Lynn Tan’s DAUGHTER OF THE MOON GODDESS. Read them before December 1st and vote, vote, vote!”
Posted in GalleyChat | Comments Off on GalleyChat Roundup, Nov. 2021
Roundups of the titles from the October chat are below. To read the full chat, search Twitter by #ewgc.
— EarlyWord GalleyChat, Oct, 2021 — link to spreadsheet of the titles on Google Docs. Includes excerpts from notable tweets, notes on debuts, diversity titles, those mentioned for the first time as well as LibraryReads deadlines and DRC availability. NOTE: If you have any trouble downloading the spreadsheet, please Let us know
— Edelweiss catalog — includes covers, publisher marketing information, and links to Edelweiss DRCs.
Our next chat will be held on Thursday, November 4th, 4 to 5 pm ET (3:30 for virtual cocktails). Click here for the schedule of upcoming chats.
UPDATE: Thanks for the wonderful comments and best wishes. We are thrilled and humbled.
This is our final EarlyWord post. Over the last nine years, we have enjoyed your support and enthusiasm for EarlyWord.com.
We will continue the EarlyWord GalleyChats and invite you to join us the first Thursday of each month.
We have dozens of people to thank for EarlyWord‘s existence, most importantly, our readers. You dazzle us every day with your dedication to helping people discover books and become lifelong readers.
EarlyWord could not have gotten off the ground without our co-founder and “spiritual guru,” Fred Ciporen. Thanks to you, Chris Kahn for helping our advertisers craft creative and meaningful promotions. Thanks to Robin Beerbower and all the GalleyChatters for spotting forthcoming titles we should all read. You’ve had an amazing track record in putting the “early” into EarlyWord. Also thanks to kids contributors Lisa Von Drasek and to JoAnn Jonas, who enthusiastically moderated over 40 chats with middle-grade and YA authors. Our web designer, Chris Andreola of adcSTUDIO created a site that pleases us each time we look at it, which is saying a lot, considering how many times a day we go to it.
A special thanks to the library marketers at the publishing companies that have supported us. It’s been a joy to get to know you and I hope we have served our mission as the “Publisher Librarian Connection.”
As I’ve said many times before, “Keep on Reading!”
The 2017 Audie Awards were announced last night by the Audio Publishers Association.
Hamilton: The Revolution by Lin-Manuel Miranda and Jeremy McCarter, narrated by Mariska Hargitay with the authors (Hachette Audio), took top honors as the Audiobook of the Year.
In giving the prize the judges call it “a must-have insider’s guide to the making of the musical” and write:
“Read by super-fan Mariska Hargitay, the audio takes listeners on a journey from Lin-Manuel Miranda’s pool-side reading of Ron Chernow’s biography of Alexander Hamilton to Broadway success and propulsion into the zeitgeist. Fans will especially appreciate Miranda’s reading of his annotations, from the very first revelation that the distinctive three-note intro mimics a squeaky door. Just as the musical has expanded the audience for musical theatre, this audiobook has won new fans to the world of audiobooks, thanks in no small part to Miranda’s devoted social media following.”
The AudioFile review calls the work “fascinating listening for Broadway aficionados and an essential deep dive for HAMILTON fans” and says that “Mariska Hargitay takes on the role of warm documentarian.” Of the footnotes read by Miranda, they write “it’s SO much fun hearing them lift off the page, by turns serious and playful.”
Audiobooks are enjoying a surge in popularity, making the Audies (both winners and nominated titles) a great resource for RA librarians looking for a guide to the best narrators and seeking sure bet suggestions. The lists can also be mined for popular and easy displays. There are plenty of titles to choose from as awards are given out in over two dozen categories.
The full list of winners is online. The ceremony is on YouTube (the video begins at 12:26):
“Breathless anticipation” is the watchword of the week, with John Grisham releasing his first summer novel, Camino Island (PRH/Doubleday; RH Large Print; RH and BOT Audio).
Featuring plot elements that will appeal to both booksellers and librarians, it’s about hunting down handwritten F. Scott Fitzgerald manuscripts stolen from the Princeton Library. The investigation leads to a bookseller (indie, of course) on the fictional island of the title in Florida. Grisham also has a new title coming in October, titled at this point simply New Legal Thriller.
OfThe Ministry of Utmost Happiness by Arundhati Roy (PRH/Random House; RH and BOT Audio), the Washington Post‘s chief critic Ron Charles writes, “We waited 20 years for [Roy’s] follow-up to The God of Small Things. It was worth it.”
The titles covered in this column, 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 June 5, 2017
Not a celebrity memoir, but a book by Alda about his avocation and passion, helping people to communicate better and how he has helped scientists, academics and medical professionals explain themselves more clearly. In a NYT essay, he talks about the origin of the book, when he and a dentist miscommunicated (do not read if dentists make you queasy).
Peer Picks
Three LibraryReads titles arrive this week, including the #1 pick for June, Magpie Murders by Anthony Horowitz (HC/Harper; HarperLuxe; HarperAudio).
“Susan Ryeland is a London book editor who has just received the latest manuscript from one of her most irascible authors, Alan Conway. But the manuscript’s ending appears to be missing and she learns that Conway has committed suicide. As Ryeland learns more about his death, she starts to question whether a murder has occurred and begins to investigate. Magpie Murders is a delightful, clever mystery-within-a-mystery. Horowitz shows real mastery of his craft. This is a terrific, modern take on the traditional mystery with ingenious puzzles to solve.” — Andrea Larson, Cook Memorial Library, Libertyville, IL
“Outstanding fictional account of the Alice network, women spies in World War I, tough and determined to defeat the Germans. The story centers on Eve Gardiner, aka Marguerite, a young woman trained to spy on the Germans, and Charlie St. Clair, a young woman post WWII, pregnant, lost and finding her direction. The two meet and the story alternates chapters as Charlie is determined to find her cousin, Rose presumed dead after the war, while Eve’s story of the Alice network unfolds. A fantastic book with strong female characters.” — Ellen Firer, Merrick Library, Merrick, NY
“Liv and Nora, who are cousins, decide to take their families on a cruise. Both have an eleven-year-old and a younger child as well. At one of the ports, the moms take the children out with another family they met on the ship. All goes well until the children, in a brief moment, aren’t observed and disappear. From here the nightmare begins, and the story alternates between what is happening to the children and the adults. The story is gripping and the characters are well-developed. The book explores family and marital dynamics, race, privilege, guilt, and responsibility.” — Mary Bennett, Carmel Clay Public Library, Carmel, IN
Five additional Indie Next titles publish this week:
Stephen Florida, Gabe Habash (Consortium Book Sales/Coffee House Press; HighBridge Audio).
“Spanning a college wrestler’s senior season, Stephen Florida is eerie, unsettling, and unlike anything else. It can be hard to live in Stephen’s head, but it is impossible to stop reading or to forget what you find there. Stephen is unpredictable, sympathetic, focused, frenzied, cold, and tender. He is hard to love, yet I love him. We are lucky to have a new novel like this: something you haven’t seen before, that makes you remember what good fiction is capable of.” —Tyler Goodson, Avid Bookshop, Athens, GA
“Already a huge bestseller internationally, Marc Elsberg’s Blackout is poised to be a sensation in the U.S. this June. In Blackout, hackers are able to take down all the electrical grids across Europe, resulting in a total blackout more far-reaching than anything previously thought possible. Once it becomes clear that this event is not a glitch and the depths of the crisis — no lights, no heat, no Internet, no cell service — become evident, chaos ensues. Piero Manzano is an activist and a former hacker whose investigation into the cause of the disaster soon makes him a prime suspect and forces him to run from the authorities. This is a taut, fast-paced thriller about a frighteningly plausible scenario.” —Cody Morrison, Square Books, Oxford, MS
The Long Haul: A Trucker’s Tales of Life on the Road, Finn Murphy (W.W. Norton; HighBridge Audio; OverDrive Sample).
“This memoir of a life spent driving trucks full of strangers’ personal belongings across the country is the book I didn’t know I needed. Finn Murphy writes engaging slice-of-life stories about his time as a long-haul truck driver while also showing the changes in the trucking industry and American life in the decades he’s spent pulling thousands of pounds up mountains, through storms, and across plains. Trucking is a solitary life, but Murphy grabbed me like a friend and took me with him on his journey.” —Jamie Thomas, Women & Children First, Chicago, IL
Additional Buzz:NYT reviews, writing it is “almost shamefully enjoyable, allowing readers to have their fix of “fabulous-life-of” porn and class outrage, too.” Murphy offers a playlist for drivers, posted on the Powells’ site.
“If you love mystery, Victorian England, and exploring the tension between science and religion, you will love The Essex Serpent. Many contemporary authors manage to evoke for readers that experience of reading Jane Austen or Sir Arthur Conan Doyle for the first time. The real miracle of Sarah Perry is that she manages to do so with a completely fresh voice. With beautiful sentences and characters and landscapes so well-crafted you feel you’ve been there, The Essex Serpent captures the imagination and manages to deliver the sense of wisdom only good literature can.” —Tina Ontiveros, Klindt’s Booksellers, The Dalles, OR
Additional Buzz: It has done extraordinarily well in the UK. The Guardian writes it has had “an astonishing trajectory, selling more than 200,000 copies in hardback alone – 40 times more than the initial sales target – and scooping up nominations as varied as the Costa fiction award to the Wellcome prize for books about medicine and health.” Perry beat both Sebastian Barry and Paul Beatty out and won the British Book Award, both best novel and the Book of the Year. It was also on the Baileys Women’s Prize for Fiction long list and the Dylan Thomas Prize shortlist.
The Bright Hour: A Memoir of Living and Dying, Nina Riggs (S&S; S&S Audio).
“This uplifting and affirming book will alter readers’ views about books on death. Nina Riggs’ memoir shares the story of both her ongoing battle against cancer and her mother’s valiant fight against the same disease. Both women face the realities of their situation with wonderful humor and candor. Readers will find themselves laughing out loud and sharing passages with other book lovers. As a cancer survivor myself, I felt that I was reading the ‘bright book’ of the season. The hope, spirit, and determination exhibited in these pages will provide inspiration to all, whether dealing with this disease or not.” —Nancy Simpson-Brice, Book Vault, Oskaloosa, IA
Additional Buzz: The Washington Post calls it “this year’sWhen Breath Becomes Air.” It is People‘s Book of the Week, calling it a “deeply affecting memoir, a simultaneously heartbreaking and funny account of living with loss and the specter of death. As she lyrically, unflinchingly details her reality, she finds beauty and truth that comfort even amid the crushing sadness.”
Tie-ins
Spider-Man Homecoming opens on July 7, spinning webs of tie-ins before it lands. It picks up after Captain America: Civil War and stars Tom Holland, Chris Evans, and Robert Downey Jr., among many others.
Spider-Man: Homecoming: The Deluxe Junior Novel by Jim McCann (Hachette/Little, Brown Books for Young Readers; also in a regular paperback edition; OverDrive Sample) will be one of the lead tie-ins. A level reader also comes out, Spider-Man: Homecoming: Meet Spidey by Charles Cho (Hachette/Little, Brown Books for Young Readers).
Another Doctor Strange book comes out this week, long after the 2016 film has left theaters, and a few months after the February DVD release, a middle grade novel is based on the movie, Phase Three: MARVEL’s Doctor Strange by Alex Irvine (Hachette/Little, Brown Books for Young Readers; OverDrive Sample).
The “phase three” of the title is not a reference to a sequel but rather to the Marvel Cinematic Universe time line, the period of time when the Avengers have become at odds with each other.
An interview on NPR’s Morning Edition has sent Richard Reeves’s forthcoming book, Dream Hoarders: How the American Upper Middle Class Is Leaving Everyone Else in the Dust, Why That Is a Problem, and What to Do about It (Brookings Institution Press, June 13), soaring on Amazon. It is now ranked #27, up from a lowly #53,949.
The episode is part of the show’s “The History of Our Time” series. Steve Inskeep describes the series as investigating, the big trends “driving our history.” He interviews Reeves who says that the upper-middle class, those making six figure incomes and above, dominate the best schools, live in the best homes, and pass on the best futures to their children, at the cost of everyone else.
He calls this “opportunity hoarding.”
Reeves, now an American citizen but originally from the U.K., contends that the American class system is even worse than the system of royalty that rules his birth country. In the UK, they make no bones about the privileges of the aristocracy while in the US, we “have a class system that operates every bit as ruthlessly as the British class system but under the veneer of classless meritocracy. There isn’t even a self awareness.”
In the end, Reeves says, the upper-middle class have created a dangerous separation of themselves from the rest of society and that divide is ruinous, “They are also disproportionately powerful and the fact that they are not only separate but unaware of the degree to which the system works in their favor strikes me as one of the most dangerous political facts of our time.”
The book was not reviewed prepub and many libraries have not yet to ordered copies.
The publication of Michael Crichton’s posthumous novel, Dragon Teeth (HC/Harper; HarperLuxe, HarperAudio; OverDrive Sample), sees the routinely bestselling author back on the lists, nearly a decade after his death.
Before his death, Crichton was a fixture on the charts and four of his novels hit the #1 spot on the USA Today list, including Disclosure, The Lost World, Airframe, and Prey. (Their list began in 1993, thus missing some of his other hits). An earlier posthumous novel, Pirate Latitudes, peaked at #9.
The choices are mostly from well-known authors, such as the I-can’t-believe-it-is-nearly-over moment for fans of P.I. Kinsey Millhone, Y is for Yesterday by Sue Grafton (PRH/Marian Wood Books/Putnam; RH Audio; Aug. 22). The series began in 1982 withA is for Alibi. On her webpage Grafton says that Z Is For Zero will follow in fall of 2019. Grafton offers some solace, “If I have the wherewithal, I may write a Kinsey Millhone stand-alone or two.” USA Today offers an excerpt of the newest.
The single debut the paper picks is Sour Heart: Stories by Jenny Zhang (PRH/Lenny; Aug. 1). The “collection of short stories about young women in New York City has a definite Brooklyn hipster vibe,” USA Today writes. Appropriately, it’s the first book in Random House’s new imprint, with titles selected by Girls‘ Lena Dunham and Jenni Konner.
The full list is online now. We have posted the link in our Season Previews to the right.
Posted in 2017 -- Summer | Comments Off on USA Today’s Summer Reading
The author of one of the season’s most heavily anticipated new cookbooks, Salt, Fat, Acid, Heat: Mastering the Elements of Good Cooking (S&S; OverDrive Sample), Samin Nosrat was featured yesterday on NPR’s food show The Salt. Libraries are seeing holds ratios well over 3:1 for the book, in one case 8:1.
Nosrat became known as the chef who taught Michael Pollan to cook after he featured her in both his book Cooked and his Netflix show of the same name. In turn, she learned her craft under the eagle eye of legendary cook Alice Waters, founder of Chez Panisse.
She tells The Salt that “The key to good cooking … is learning to balance [salt, fat, acid, and heat] and trust your instincts, rather than just follow recipes.”
In this, her first book, she seeks to revolutionize standard cookbook formats, Saving all of the recipes for the end, the first half teaches readers the basics of cooking so they can learn to trust their own senses. Nosrat also uses illustrations, rather than staged photographs so readers won’t “feel bound to my one image of a perfect dish in a perfect moment and feel like that was what you had to make … I didn’t want you to feel like you had to live up to my version of perfection.”
Highlighting authors who are also bookstore owners, PBS News Hour invited two of them, Louise Erdrich, owner of Birchbark Books, and Emma Straub, who recently opened Books Are Magic in Brooklyn, to share their summer reading suggestions.
Ironically, an indicator of the success of these recommendations by indie booksellers is that several of them leapt up Amazon’s sales rankings.
Death at La Fenice: A Commissario Guido Brunetti Mystery by Donna Leon (HC/Harper Perennial, 2004; OverDrive Sample) got the biggest bump. Erdrich says “there are 25 of Donna Leon’s crime mysteries set in Venice. Venice itself becomes a character in these books … You become so wrapped up in these compelling characters, that I think you could go through all 25 this summer … Each one is better than the last.”
Sunshine State: Essays by Sarah Gerard (HC/Harper Perennial; HarperAudio; OverDrive Sample). Straub calls this essay collection about Florida “a deep dive into identity and weirdness and location and family.”
Too Much and Not the Mood: Essays by Durga Chew-Bose (Macmillan/FSG Originals; OverDrive Sample). Another Straub pick, she says it “looks like a work of art and is a work of art. They are essays about identity, and family, and becoming an adult.”
Warning “that it’s almost cruel to recommend for vacation reading … because it is [about] a vacation gone extremely, horribly, horribly wrong,” Straub says “it’s an incredibly gripping thriller. It’s one of those books that you really will stay up late to read … it’s so delicious when you get one of those books.”
Both author/bookselers also contributed to a similar story by the NYT recently, joined by Ann Patchett, Jonathan Lethem, Jeff Kinney, Judy Blume. Blume, who owns Books & Books in Key West, Fla. also suggests Sunshine State.
Posted in 2017 -- Summer | Comments Off on Author/Booksellers on Summer Reading
Remarkably Bright Creatures
The March selection, which launches Tuesday, March 8, is the debut The Measure by Nikki Erlick, releasing in June, described by GalleyChatter Janet Lockhart @HartGami, “Would you want to know exactly how long you have to live? That’s the question faced by the world in THE MEASURE by @nikkierlick. Still not sure what my answer would be.”
Yerba Buena
A Caribbean Heiress in Paris 
Siren Queen
The Hacienda
