EarlyWord

You know that erotic romance has gone mainstream when it’s covered by Bill Geist on CBS Sunday Morning.

It happened again; an author made Oprah cry and her book sales soared.

Featured in a two-part Oprah’s Super Soul Sunday, Dr. Brene Brown brought Oprah to tears when she read the “parenting manifesto” from her book Daring Greatly, (Penguin/Gotham, 2012). Not only did it rise to the #2 position on Amazon’s sales rankings, but an earlier title, The Gifts of Imperfection, (Perseus/Hazeldon, 2010) rose to #3 and  I Thought It Was Just Me (but it isn’t), (Penguin/Gotham, 2007), rose to #28.

To see the segment that made Oprah cry, click here. The full episode (clip below) is here.

The author of Things Fall Apart has died. The story is reported by many news sources, including:
The New York Times — Chinua Achebe, African Literary Titan, Dies at 82

The Guardian — Chinua Achebe  dies, aged 82

The Associated Press — Author Chinua Achebe dies at 82

Fans can look forward to new titles in popular series next week, including those by Donna Leon, Jacqueline Winspear, J. R. Ward and Robert Ludlam (as channeled by Kyle Miles). Reviews are already starting for Elizabeth Strout’s The Burgess Boys, the author’s next book after her Pulitzer Prize winning Olive Kitteridge. Also arriving is a novel widely expected to be the next Paris Wife, about another “Real Housewife of Historical Fiction,” Zelda Fitzgerald.

All titles and more are included on our downloadable spreadsheet, New Title Radar, Week of 3.25.13

Watch List

The Burgess Boys, Elizabeth Strout, Random House; RH Audio; BOT

Strout’s previous book, Olive Kitteridge was considered a dark horse when it won the Pulitzer Prize in 2009. It went on to spend over a year on best seller lists in trade paperback. Her new book will again test readers’ willingness to accept some unlikeable characters, this time in novel form, rather than interconnected short stories. Signs are positive. It gets an unequivocal A from Entertainment Weekly and Ron Charles in the Washington Post says “…the broad social and political range of The Burgess Boys shows just how impressively this extraordinary writer continues to develop.”

Z: A Novel of Zelda Fitzgerald, Therese Anne Fowler, (Macmillan/St. Martin’s; Macmillan Audio; Thorndike Large Print)

Back in the early 70’s, Nancy Milford’s biography Zelda (Harper) shed new light on the F. Scott Fitzgerald’s wife Zelda. It became a long-running best seller and is still in print. Jazz era fascination continued with Robert Redford’s portrayal of The Great Gatsby on film. Flash forward to today. Baz Lahrmann’s Great Gatsby arrives this summer and is preceded by a heavily-promoted book about Zelda, titled simply Z, after the way she signed her letters.

People designates it a Pick in the new issue, saying it is “richly imagined… sometimes reads like an insider’s delicious account of gossip-column fodder. But these characters aren’t caricatures and Zelda’s tales are told with restraint and insight… here, her touching story is also fascinating and funny and it animates an entire era.” Entertainment Weekly gives it a B+

Other forthcoming books that feature Zelda include a bio (UPDATE: this title is a novel), Beautiful Fools: The Last Affair of Zelda and F. Scott Fitzgerald by R. Clifton Spargo (Overlook Press; May 2) and another novel, Call Me Zelda by Erika Robuck (Penguin/NAL Original Trade Pbk., May 7).

Life After Life, Jill McCorkle, (Workman/Algonquin; Thorndike Large Print)

As we noted earlier, this is the first of two novels arriving this season with the same title, both of which are #1 IndieNext picks for April. The IndieNext annotation reads,

Let yourself be drawn into the world of Pine Haven Estates in Fulton, North Carolina, and treat yourself to a cast of characters so rich that you will be bereft every time the point of view changes, only to find yourself enchanted anew. Pine Haven Estates is a retirement community, where life and death are inevitable companions. Its inhabitants and the people who care for and about them are at the center of this story that examines the cycle of life — what it means to be alive as well as how one faces the end of life. McCorkle’s first novel in 17 years depicts a community well worth visiting and offers a wonderfully satisfying reading experience. —Terry Gilman, Mysterious Galaxy Books, San Diego, CA

Media Magnets

Brothers Emanuel: A Memoir of an American Family, Ezekiel J. Emanuel, (Random House RH Audio; BOT)

The eldest of the Emanuel brothers, a bioethicist, writes about his family, which includes brothers Rahm, Mayor of Chicago and Ari, a major Hollywood agent. All that star power brings attention, including an interview with three brothers by Brian Williams on NBC’s Rock Center tonight (promoted on The Today Show this morning) and features on the NPR’s upcoming Weekend Edition Sunday and CNN’s Piers Morgan Tonight, CBS This Morning Saturday and MSNBC’s Morning Joe on Monday.

Decisive, Chip Heath and Dan Heath, (RH/Crown Business; RH Audio; BOT)

Following their influential and best selling business books, Made to Stick and Switch, the authors turn to the question of how we can make more rational business and life decisions. Heath published a story in the Wall Street Journal this week and the book has been in Amazon’s top 100 for 12 days, but libraries are showing modest holds at this point

Tie-ins

We’ve already featured two of the three tie-ins arriving this week, A Storm of Swords (RH/Bantam; HBO series begins March 31) and The Reluctant Fundamentalist by Mohsin Hamid, (Mariner Books; movie begins a limited run on April 26).

The third is The Iceman: The True Story of a Cold-Blooded Killer by Anthony Bruno (RH/Bantam). The movie stars Michael Shannon as a real-life hitman, trying to balance family and career, and co-stars Ray Liotta, Wynona Ryder, Chris Evans and James Franco. It opens on May 3.

Next week, celebrate the new season, with an extraordinary picture book about the famous ballet, The Rite of Spring (it really did cause a riot). Preschoolers will fall in love with a little pig who speaks frog and get ready for summer reading programs with a new Origami Yoda Activity Book by Tom Angleberger.

These and other titles coming out next week are listed on our downloadable spreadsheet, Kids New Title Radar, Week of March 25

Picture Books

When Stravinsky Met Nijinsky: Two Artists, Their Ballet, and One Extraordinary Riot written and illus. by Lauren Stringer, (Harcourt)

There are many children’s picture books about music and musicians (the Pinkneys’ Ella Fitzgerald and Duke Ellington, and Raschka’s Giant Steps) and dance and dancer’s (numerous Nutcrackers, even one illustrated by Maurice Sendak, lovely ballet books by Rachel Isadora, Dance! with Bill T. Jones featuring Susan Kuklin’s photos, and the Pinkneys’ Alvin Ailey).

But, believe me when I say there are none like this one. Stringer’s words are music and her illustrations dance. She captures the excitement and movement of a turning point in music and dance history. In 1913, the avant-garde composer Igor Stravinsky composed The Rite of Spring (in French, Le Sacre du printemps) to be choreographed by the internationally renowned dancer, Vaslav Nijinsky for Diaghilev’s Ballets Russes. The collaboration was so shocking at the time that the debut performance ended with the audience rioting.

Stringer’s lyrical text and exuberant paintings reflect the artistic styles of the period without being imitative, expressing the joy, frustration and excitement of creative processes.

In addition, Stringer offers a few gifts on her Web site, including an activity guide created with Tracie Vaughn Zimmer. There is also a curriculum guide to the Rites of Spring from Carnegie Hall, and you can also hear the music and a discussion of its reception on NPR.

Ribbit!, Rodrigo Folgueira, illus. by Poly Bernatene, (RH/Knopf BYR)

If, like me, parents and teachers continually ask you for more books like Bark, George and Meow Said the Cow, latch onto this one.  Pre-schoolers find it hysterically funny when an animal makes the wrong sound; it’s becoming a genre of its own.

Oversized Preschool Board Book

Tell Me Something Happy Before I Go to Sleep (lap board book), Joyce Dunbar, illus. by Debi Gliori,  (HMH)

This oversized board book reprint of a book originally published in 1998 and no long in print, is just right for reading aloud with parenting classes, Headstart or a pre-school programs and is a good title for modeling the pleasure and possibilities of reading aloud.

Middle Grade Series

Magic Tree House #49: Stallion by Starlight (A Stepping Stone Book) by Mary Pope Osborne and Sal Murdocca (RH BYR; Listening Library)

Magic Tree House Fact Tracker #27: Horse Heroes: A Nonfiction Companion to Magic Tree House #49: Stallion by Starlight, by Mary Pope Osborne, Natalie Pope Boyce and Sal Murdocca, (RH BYR)

It might not be news or cause for a parade when a new Magic Tree House book is published, but it should be. Whenever a new Jack and Annie comes out of the box (the series is now just one titles shy of 50 titles), my heart still sings. Osborne’s consistently engaging, just-right stories hit home with newly fluent readers. The companion Fact Trackers are a terrific way for classroom teachers to connect the fantasy with Common Core standards. So, who wants to help organize the parade?

Defies Category

Art2 – D2’s Guide to Folding and Doodling: An Origami Yoda Activity Book by Tom Angleberger, (Abrams/Amulet)

Angleberger’s The Strange Case of Origami Yoda, Darth Paper Strikes Back, and The Secret of the Fortune Wookiee were runaway hits with Bank Street’s 4^th and 5^th graders (Origami Yoda was a Mock Newbery honor winner). Fair warning, this is “consumable,”  because of its pull-out pages. Buy one for reference and start planning Star Wars summer reading programming, using this and  Star Wars Origami: 36 Amazing Paper-folding Projects from a Galaxy Far, Far Away by Chris Alexander (with forward by, guess who, Tom Angleberger).

You can thank me later.

Young Adult 

If You Find Me, Emily Murdoch, (Macmillan/St. Martin’s)

A suspense-filled story about 15-year-old Carey, who is rescued after living in the Tennessee wods with her sister and meth-addicted mother. Prepub reviews are  strong, with Kirkus calling it a “deeply affecting story … made all the more so by Carey’s haunting first-person narration.” PW had issues with the credibility of the story, but still called it “memorable and deeply moving” and predicted that readers will fall in love with the characters.

Yaqui Delgado Wants to Kick Your Ass, Meg Medina, (Candlewick; Brilliance Audio)

Kirkus calls this first-person story about a 15-year-old who is bullied when she goes to a new school in Queens, NY, “nuanced, heart-wrenching and ultimately empowering.”

Manga

Witch & Wizard: The Manga, Vol. 3, James Patterson and Jill Dembowski, Yen Press

It’s Patterson’s popular series, Manga style, a high-interest title that will appeal to graphic novel fans, both boys and girls.

Talk about making the world your focus group. Elizabeth Gilbert, author of Eat, Pray, Love, has invited fans to help choose the US cover for her forthcoming novel The Signature Of All Things, (Penguin/Viking, Oct. 11), by voting, today through Sunday, on one of three choices on her Facebook page:

The winner will be announced on Monday in USA Today.

Our bet, based on studies that show readers respond best to covers that feature people and give a sense of story, is that it will be the one on the right.

On this week’s USA Today best seller list, Sheryl Sandberg’s “sort of feminist” manifesto, Lean In: Women, Work, and the Will to Lead, (RH/Knopf; RH Audio; BOT) is #1 in its second week on the list, after debuting at #133 last week.

That may not be much of a surprise, given the amount of attention it has received. The surprise is that it’s one of the few hardcovers on the list. By contrast, the latest Alex Cross title  by James Patterson is at #3, but in ebook. Of the top 50 USA Today bestsellers, 27 are ebooks, 18 paperbacks and just 8 hardcovers.

After a slow start, many libraries are showing heavy holds on all formats of Lean In.

The producers of the film adaptation of John Green’s The Fault in Our Stars (Penguin/Dutton; Brilliance Audio; Thorndike Large Print), have found their Hazel; Shailene Woodley has been offered the role.

If negotiations work out, this will be her fourth film based on a book. She played George Clooney’s daughter in The Descendants (based on the novel by Kaui Hart Hemmings), is the lead in The Spectacular Now (based on the YA book, a National Book Award finalist by Tim Tharpe, opening in a limited theatrical run on Aug. 2) and  is about to begin production on Divergent, based on the first in Veronica Roth’s YA series, in which she plays Tris. Currently, she is at work on The Amazing Spider-Man 2.

Author Green tweeted his approval, “There were so many amazing auditions for the role of Hazel, but Shailene’s love for the book and her understanding of Hazel blew me away.”

HBO has begun promotion for its Liberace biopic, Behind the Candelabra, which premieres on May 26th. It features Michael Douglas in the lead, with Matt Damon, as his lover, Scott Thorson (pictured, at left, on the cover of the March 15 issue of Entertainment Weekly).

It is based on Thorson’s 1988 memoir, Behind the Candelabra: My Life With Liberace, which is being re-released by Tantor Audio in three formats; print, audio, and ebook on May 2.

This may be the last film directed by Steven Soderbergh, who, after 26 films in 24 years, has announced he is taking a break from filmmaking and will turn his attention to other interests (among them, importing cognac from Bolivia. What may be his last theatrical film, Side Effects, is currently playing in theaters).

Interviewed in The Hollywood Reporter, the director says he is very happy with his swan song, “I think people are gonna be surprised at how intimate it is, and that there’s no attempt to make fun of them or … to make them seem like cartoons… at the end of the day, [it’s just] two people in a room … there’s just a lot of rhinestone in it.”

Harlan Coben has honed his ability to hook readers. He begins his Today Show interview with the opening line of  his new book, the “romantic thriller” Six Years (Penguin/Dutton; Thorndike Large Print), released this week,

“I sat in the back pew and watched the only woman I would ever love marry another man.”

Separately, The Hollywood Reporter writes that Hugh Jackman is set to star in a movie of the novel. There’s no news yet on when filming will begin. This may be the first English-language film of a Coben novel; Tell No One was adapted as a French-language film in 2006. Ben Affleck has been attached to direct an English-language remake.

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In the current issue of USA Today, a debut novelist answers the question that plagues many first-timers; “Is your book based on your own life?”

In this case, the answer takes on extra interest. Double Feature (S&S/Scribner, releasing today) is about a famous father and his estranged son. The author happens to be the son of a famous father, Stephen King (a connection that is not mentioned in the publisher’s promo material, although that fact has not been kept a secret).

Owen King acknowledges that readers will want to know if the character “is based on my dad. But two people couldn’t be more different.”

As signaled by the fact that the cover blurb is from Larry McMurtry, Owen King’s style is quite different from his father’s.

All four prepub reviews are enthusiastic:

Booklist –” Entertaining and thought-provoking, this captivating look at the ongoing process of becoming an adult will especially appeal to fans of the indie film industry.”

Kirkus — “…an often weirdly funny book… King’s novel is winning. Superbly imagined lit-fic about family, fathers and film.”

LJ — “Fans of John Irving, Tom Perrotta, Jonathan Tropper, and Nick Hornby will appreciate this urban family tale liberally dosed with humor.”

PW — “King’s prose is artful, perceptive about people and their ‘warrens of self that go beyond understanding,’ and sometimes very funny.”

Owen King comes from a writing family. His brother, who writes under the pen name Joe Hill, is publishing his third supernatural thriller, NOS4A2 at the end of April. And, of course, his their next, Doctor Sleep, the sequel to The Shining, is coming in September.

Game of Thrones returns to HBO for its third season on March 31, as heralded on Entertainment Weekly’s cover.

This season is based on the third book in George R.R. Martin’s series. The tie-ins arrive next week.

A Storm of Swords (HBO Tie-in Edition): A Song of Ice and Fire: Book Three
George R.R. Martin
On Sale Date: March 26, 2013
Trade Pbk; 9780345543974, 0345543971
Mass Mkt. Pbk; 9780345543981, 034554398X

Released yesterday, a new trailer opens with a line that may resonate with non-fans, “”How long does it go on?”

Next week, middle school kids will be clamoring for the next in a series they can easily recognize as written for them, the prolific James Patterson‘s third in his Middle School series, My Brother Is a Big, Fat Liar (Hachette/LBYR). Newbery Medalist, Patricia MacLachlan, proves herself no slouch, with two new titles in one week and the hotly popular Cassandra Clare concludes the steampunk Infernal Devices series.

These, and more highlights, are included on our downloadable spreadsheet, Kids New Title Radar, Week of March 18.

Two from MacLachlan

White Fur Flying, Patricia MacLachlan, (S&S/Margaret K. McElderry )

Cat Talk, Patricia MacLachlan and Emily MacLachlan Charest, illus. by Barry Moser, (HarperCollins/Katherine)

MacLachlan (best known for her Newbery medal winner, Sarah, Plain and Tall) rests not on her laurels. With two titles arriving this week, she makes even James Patterson look like a slacker. In Cat Talk, she and her daughter, who collaborated on two books about dogs, Once I Ate a Pie and I Didn’t Do It, bring their verse skills to the feline point-of-view, with artwork by Barry Moser, whose sublime kitty illustrations adorned My Cats Nick and Nora and Cheshire Cheese Cat. In White Fur Flying, MacLachlan’s spare style tells the moving story of a troubled boy and the dog that saved him.

Picture Books

Pug Worth, Valerie Worth, illus. by Steve  Jenkins, (Macmilla/FSG BYR)

Each season, the cover of a new picture book gets the place of honor above my desk. I have been looking up at this one since November and still adore it. Jenkins’s talents highlight Valerie Worth’s animal poems.
Ol’ Mama Squirrel, David Ezra Stein,  (Penguin/Nancy Paulsen Books)

A Kids IndieNext Spring pick, described as “equally a funny story of one courageous mom facing down the world and a thank you to all the moms out there in the world who have done the same — and continue to do so — for their children.”

Children’s Informational Books

Pranklopedia: The Funniest, Grossest, Craziest, Not-Mean Pranks on the Planet!, Julie Winterbottom, (Workman)

Looking for something for third grade boys to put a little spark in the winter doldrums? As the title guarantees, nothing too mean but many classic pranks in this compendium.
The Eagles are Back, Jean Craighead George, Illus. by Wendell Minor, (Penguin/Dial)

Naturalist Jean Craighead George left us bereft when she died last year. There will be no more wolves, falcons, and eagles to enchant us in novels, essays and picture books. Or so we thought. Her boon companion Wendell Minor brings his signature style to illustrated  one more revelatory story, the revival of the eagle in its habitat. Jean’s books ARE the Common Core; she was a visionary.

Chldren’s Fiction

Tallulah’s Toe Shoes, Marilyn Singer, Alexandra Boiger, (HMH/Clarion)

Singer’s ballerina series took flight with Tallulah’s Tutu. For all the little children who WANT, NEED, HAVE TO HAVE a ballet book, Tallulah is “every girl” and we are happy to have another to share.
 

Young Adult

Clockwork Princess, Cassandra Clare, (S&S/ Margaret K. McElderry)

More steam punk, please! This, the final volume in the Infernal Devices series arrives with much fanfare; with a ‘book trailer exclusive” on Entertainment Weekly’s Shelf Life blog, a feature in USA Today on Thursday, and an A- review from Entertainment Weekly, saying it may be the author’s ” best undertaking to date.” This series is the prequel to Clare’s Mortal Instruments, which will be coming to the big screen in August, starring Lily Collins. Clare and Holly Black (co-author of The Spiderwick Chronicles) are collaborating on another series, Magisterium, aimed at middle schoolers, with The Iron Trail, coming in September of next year.

Among the books arriving next week, Harlan Coben’s Six Years (Penguin/Dutton) leads in number of holds (over 800 in some libraries). Readers advisors will want to take a look at Once Upon A Flock, a memoir with chickens that caused Kirkus to go all mushy and a fiction debut about child-on-child crime that arrives here after much success in the U.K.

The titles highlighted in this post, and more, are listed on our downloadable spreadsheet, New Title Radar, Week of 3.18.13

The Guilty One, Lisa Ballantyne, (Harper/Morrow pbk original; HarperLuxe)

This debut by a Scottish author arrives here with advance buzz after having been a hit in the UK (it was chosen by the influential Richard and Judy Book Club). It may also be a hit here. It’s an IndieNext pick for March, described as “… a profound, heart-wrenching, thought-provoking, must-read. While it is primarily the story of a little boy accused of murder and his lawyer, it is also a mesmerizing study of the three main characters and how they are each affected by horrible events in their past.” The Washington Post gives it an early review, praising Ballantyne’s “crisp, reflective writing,” but objects to unlikable characters and grim subject manner (sound familiar? Like The Dinner, perhaps?)

Once upon a Flock: Life with My Soulful Chickens, Lauren Scheuer, (S&S/Atria)

Given the fascination with urban farming, there should be a ready audience for this book that Kirkus calls, “a charmingly quirky story of a woman and the flock of spirited chickens that stole her heart.” The chicken’s daily lives are documented “with drawings and photographs, which she includes on almost every page of the book.” Scheuer is a children’s book illustrator who writes the blog Scratch and Peck.

Toms River: A Story of Science and Salvation, Dan Fagin, (RH/Bantam; BOT)

One of PW’s 10 “Most Anticipated for Spring” in the science category, described as a “science-centered detective story” that looks into New Jersey’s environmental disasters brought about by toxic industrial waste and government officials that looked the other way. It will be featured on NPR’s Weekend All Things Considered tomorrow.