EarlyWord

Cookbooks are the heaviest-circulating category in nonfiction, so we’ve put together an Excel file of the picks of 2012 — Best Cookbooks. We’ve also posted the covers on our Pinterest Board (feel free to copy it for your own virtual cookbook display).

Deb Perelman, author of The Smitten Kitchen Cookbook, (RH/Knopf), one of two titles with the most picks (tied with the “bible of Latin American cuisine,” Gran Cocina Latina, W.W. Norton), is described by People magazine as “living the food-blogger’s dream.” She was able to quit her day job to focus on her blog and write a book. She’s now living an author’s dream, with features on radio and in newspapers, including NPR’s Morning Edition and the New York Times, a spot in the top five on the NYT Hardcover Advice & Misc. best seller list for the last six weeks and heavy holds in libraries.

After the jump, links to the major best 2012 cookbook lists to date: Read the rest of this entry »

The young adult category, which has been attracting adult readers for some time, makes another leap this year in Best Books picks. YA author John Green’s The Fault in Our Stars, (Penguin/Dutton) is Time magazine’s pick as the #1 of 10 best books of the year. It’s also in Entertainment Weekly‘s top ten, and that magazine’s readership picked Green as the top entertainer in books, with 40% of the votes, ahead of J.K. Rowling (27%), E.L.James (11%) and Gillian Flynn (10%).

Also notable is the fact that a graphic novel, Building Stories by Chris Ware (RH/Pantheon) is on many lists. Publishers Weekly made it their #1 title, The New York Times put it in their top ten, and so did Time magazine. It is also listed in Kirkus‘s top 100, even though, as a book with multiple parts, it’s problematic for library collections.

Despite the amount of talk about ebook originals, only one appeared on any of the lists; the Kindle single, The Playground, was picked by the Washington Post as one of the 50 best nonfiction titles (the Amazon editors published their own picks of the Best kindle Singles; it did not include The Playground).

We hope you find our compiled lists (see the links under Best Books at the right for the latest) useful for end-of-the-year buying as well as book displays, whether actual or virtual (such as the Augusta County Library’s Pinterest Board).

Releases are light again this week, as the stores focus on selling, rather than unpacking boxes. It’s notable that the only book with a significant first printing is a Y.A. title, The Darkest Minds, the first in a new dyspotian romance trilogy. A new collection of stories in the ever-expanding Amish fiction category lands just as another Amish TV series begins. Also arriving is the tie-in to the eighth movie based on a Nicholas Sparks‘ novel, which hits theaters on Valentine’s Day.

Alexandra Bracken, The Darkest Minds, (Disney/Hyperion)

There’s high hopes (as in a 100,000-copy first printing) for this first in a new dystopian romance trilogy by an author with just one previous YA title (Brightly Woven, Egmont, 2010). A YALSA galley mailing made an impact; it’s been mentioned on recent YA GalleyChats. It is also on the Winter ’12 Kid’s Indie Next list. The three prepub reviews are strong. Only one, Booklist, raises an objection, saying that, although Bracken is skilled at ramping up the action, “there is so much going on here, it’s hard to keep it all straight.” PW says the author “has created a gritty, economically devastated near-future America where children are hunted and feared, and danger lurks even in the aisles of an abandoned Wal-Mart” and that “the story’s quick-paced action leads to a heartbreaking cliffhanger that will have readers eager for the next book in this planned trilogy.” That one will be coming in the Fall 2013.

An Amish Kitchen by Beth Wiseman, Amy Clipston, Kelly Long (Thomas Nelson; Oasis Audio; Thorndike Large Print)

This collection of three Amish romance novellas is the next in a series of such collections, the most recent was last year’s An Amish Wedding. The three contributors have each written several books in the genre. TV has also discovered the Amish; a new series, Amish Mafia begins on Wednesday.
 

Nicholas Sparks, Safe Haven (trade paperback, Hachette/Grand Central; also mass market pbk)

No wonder Sparks appears in The Hollywood Reporter’s first list of “Power authors;” this is the eighth movie based on one of his novels. It is directed by Lasse Hallstrom, who also headed up the adaptation of Sparks’ Dear John (his other credits include Cider House Rules, Chocolat and Salmon Fishing in the Yemen).

Julianne Hough and Josh Duhamel star in this next potential blockbuster, which debuts on Valentine’s Day.

Speaking of William Boyd, who is currently at work on a new James Bond novel, his 2006 spy novel, Restless, has been made into a two-part series which concludes on the Sundance Channel tomorrow. Charlotte Rampling has been nominated for a Screen Actors Guild Award for her starring role.

Unfortunately, Salon writes that she is “the only great thing about Restlesss … But sometimes seeing Charlotte Rampling holding an outsize firearm like she intends to use it is good enough.” The NYT indicates viewers would be better off reading the book, saying that the producers “have turned an entertaining and suspenseful novel into a surprisingly ordinary television production.”

Originally published in 2006, Restless is also available as a tie-in:

Restless: TV tie-in William Boyd Retail Price: $16.00 Paperback: 336 pages Publisher: Bloomsbury USA – (2012-11-27) ISBN / EAN: 1620402963 / 9781620402962

Taking advantage of Bond fever (Skyfall is still #1 in the box office, weeks after opening in November and has topped every new release since, including Spielberg’s Lincoln and even the final movie in the Twilight series), some news was released about the next title in the Bond book franchise, coming in fall, 2013.

It’s not much news, however. William Boyd, selected by the Ian Fleming estate to write the next novel, told the UK’s Radio Times, “All I will say is it’s set in 1969. Fleming died in 1964. He was in his mid-50s, so conceivably if he’d looked after himself a bit better, hadn’t smoked and drunk so much, he might have written a James Bond novel in that year.” The title of the upcoming book has not been released.

Boyd has not seen Skyfall, saying, “In the films Bond is a cartoon character, but in the novels he is far more troubled, nuanced and interesting.”

Recent attempts at reviving Bond in print have not met with as much success as the films. Jeffery Deaver published Carte Blanche, in 2011 (S&S). It was a NYT hardcover best seller for 4 weeks. Sebastian Faulks’ Devil May Care (RH/Doubleday, 2008) also spent a few weeks on the hardcover list. 

Welcome to part one of my sixth annual answer to the burning question: “How do I choose a book as a gift for a kid I don’t know very well?” [Links to the previous five years answers are available here].

Books may seem under threat these days, but we know that readers still have a competitive edge over non-readers and that children who hear a wide range of vocabulary at home do better in school than kids who don’t. Who wouldn’t want to give this priceless gift?

A great example of the benefits of a lifetime of book sharing is Will Schwalbe’s The End of Your Life Book Club (RH/Knopf; BOT Audio; RH Audio), a book I will be giving to all the memoir junkies on my list this year. Schwalbe, who also co-wrote my favorite gift for new grads and recent hires, SEND: Why People Email So Badly and How to Do It Better, creates a portrait of his mother, Mary Anne Schwalbe within the framework of the books that they loved and shared while she endured treatment for pancreatic cancer. For bibliophiles and fans of Ex Libris by Ann Fadiman, the book discussions are like a scrapbook of “Oh, yes, I loved that book, too” and “I never did get around to that one, it’s around the house somewhere” and “I need to get that one right away.” Through this memoir about family and spirituality we grow to love, admire and respect Mary Anne Schwalbe not only as a person, but also as a parent who raised an empathetic, compassionate, and well-read son.

Your gift may spark a similar lifetime of reading. So, how do we select a book for a child we don’t know very well or see very often?

For young children, we want picture books with writing that sings, outstanding art that expands on the words, and stories or information that are developmentally appropriate. Below are this year’s picks from your librarian, for the family with the new baby, the grandchildren who live across the country, the godchildren who have arrived for the weekend and to amaze your nieces and nephews with your superior intuitive abilities, chosen from the thousands of children’s books published this year — sorted by age group, and with some notes to help you spot just the right book for that young reader. Since kids are likely to already know the latest Rick Riordan, James Patterson or Ivy and Bean book, the ones I have selected are mostly sleepers.

PICTURE BOOKS

For the family with the new or newish baby

Baby Animals: In the Sea and Baby Animals : At the Zoo (Board Books, Macmillan/Kingfisher), ages 6 months and up

This series of board books are are the perfect introduction to language for the very young. Sharp photographs paired with a just-right text are a delightful first read-aloud.

Sniff! Matthew Van Fleet (S&S/Paula Wiseman), ages 6 months and up

Matthew Van Fleet has invented a way to delight toddlers with a sturdy board book containing interactive parts, building on the success of his earlier Tails (HMH, 2003), Sniff! is an exploration of noses and smell. We can touch the bear’s squishy tactile shiny embedded nose, feel the twitchy whiskers attached to the mouse’s nose and move the elephant’s trunk up and down.

Two- and Three-Year-Olds

Two of the best read-alouds for this group have bold graphic illustrations:

Mice by Rose Fyleman illustrated by Lois Ehlert, (S&S/ Beach Lane Books), ages 3 and up

Lois Ehlert explores Mice the classic poem by Rose Fyleman, (which begins, “I think mice are rather nice”) often found in children’s poetry collections. Ehlert (Chicka Chicka Boom Boom, Growing Vegetable Soup and others) has created charming rodents from geometric shapes with cut paper collage.

Robot Zombie Frankenstein! by Annette Simon, (Candlewick), ages 3 and up

The title most likely to reap the shout, “read it again!” is Robot Zombie Frankenstein!  Here, Annette Simon crosses the outrageousness of Shark Vs Train with the sly humor of Mo Willem’s Pigeon series. Shapes play a significant role in the digitally rendered, sharp-edged, boldly colored graphic illustrations. Simon layers the shapes to create mashed up transformations from fairly benign robot antagonist to frighteningly fun disguises.

Concepts

When preparing preschoolers for school, there are certain concepts parents need to teach their children. Most early childhood concepts are obvious; colors, numbers, and recognizing the alphabet.

Green by Laura Vaccaro Seeger, (Macmillan/Roaring Brook) ages 3 and up

Laura Vaccarro Seeger demonstrates that she is one of the most inventive picture book artists of our time with Green, exploring the varieties of shades with acrylic paint, from lush brushstrokes of forest green to delicate dots of the glowing tails of fireflies. The simple rhyming text lulls the reader as the pages with their cut-outs for new colors foreshadow the next surprising twist:

Ages 4 and up

Z is for Moose by Kelley Bingham illustrated by Paul O. Zelinsky (HarperCollins/Greenwillow), ages 4 and up

Just when a reviewer may sigh, “Oh no, not ANOTHER alphabet book” arrives Kelly Bingham’s Z is for Moose illustrated by Caldecott winner Paul O. Zelinsky. The premise is that all of the objects and animals are lining up to present an alphabet play. Zebra is directing the action that begins quite orderly until Moose busts into the action impatient to have his turn. Zelinsky’s renderings of Moose’s wide-ranging emotions perfectly capture a young child’s big feelings when anxious and angry, exploding off the page in an uncontrollable tantrum.

Dinosaur Thunder by Marian Dane Bauer, illustrated by Margaret Chodos-Irvine (Scholastic), ages 4 and up

Learning to handle big feelings like fear are essential for a child’s development. Marian Dane Bauer, hits one out of the park with Dinosaur Thunder,  illustrated by Margaret Chodos-Irvine. Brannon is afraid of thunder and runs for safety as the sound booms from above. The adults try to help with familiar tropes like “It’s just angels bowling” or “It’s just a big cat purring.” But it’s only when his big brother likens the sound to dinosaurs roaring that Brannon’s imagination overcomes his fear.

Charley’s First Night, by Amy Hest, illustrated by Helen Oxenbury (Candlewick), ages 4 and up

Aren’t we always looking for the perfect bedtime book? They don’t get any better than this one. The action centers on Henry and his new puppy. The setting is predictable; what happens on that first evening? It is Henry’s empathy that engages the reader as he repeatedly reassures Charley, “Don’t cry, don’t cry … I showed him my room again and my bed. I showed him my mother and father asleep in their bed, and I held Charley close in my strong arms” Oxenbury’s watercolor paintings perfectly capture the gentle relationship of a boy and his dog.

Spike the Mixed up Monster, by Susan Hood, illustrated by Melissa Sweet, (Simon and Schuster), ages 4 and up

Spike is an axolotl (pronounced Ack-suh-Lah-tul),  a special kind of salamander that lives in Mexico. This little reptile has been having trouble scaring the other species that live near him. Cook Prize winner (Balloons over Broadway), Sweet has created a biologically accurate environment as Spike ventures out swooshing his tail, shaking his spikes and baring his sharp pointy teeth.

Ganesha’s Sweet Tooth by Sanjay Patel & Emily Haynes, (Chronicle), ages 5 and up

Ganesha, the elephant-headed god has a weakness for sweets and a magical mouse companion. Patel and Hanes have created an easily accessible picture book based on one of the most popular legends in Hindi mythology. Clean lines, bold graphics with contrasting colors of hot pink and navy blue, cream and teal animate the story. The wordless two-page spreads retelling the ancient epic Sanskrit poem, Mahabharata is a masterpiece.

Oh, No! by Candace Fleming and Eric Rohman, (RH/Schwartz and Wade), ages 4 and up

A ferocious tiger is chasing the animals of the jungle. Kids who got a kick out of I Want My Hat Back by Jon Klassen will be enthralled with the limited language of the rhyming couplets in this suspenseful tale. Fair warning…the ending is not “nice.”

The Town Mouse and Country Mouse, Helen Ward, (Candlewick), ages 5 and up

This lusciously illustrated retelling of Aesop’s fable of two mice who find that there really is no place like home is set in 1930’s New York on Christmas Eve. It is a perfect read aloud for the Christmas holiday.

Now that Oprah has picked the 39-year-old’s first novel, The Twelve Tribes of Hattie (RH/Knopf; BOT Audio; RH Audio and RH Large Print), as the second title in her Book Club 2.0, many are asking who Ayana Mathis is.

The media is responding. She is interviewed in the New York Times today (her writing mentor is Marilynne Robinson) and, on the Oprah Club site, Mathis writes about overcoming obstacles (as a tour operator in Florence, she had to learn Italian) and on making difficult choices (“When in Doubt, Cook Italian”).

Oprah interviews Mathis on her “Super Soul Sunday” show, February 3 at 11 a.m. ET.

The trailer for the first of four contenders for Next Big Movie Based on a Paranormal Romance, was featured, appropriately, before screenings of the final installment of Twilight. This one, however, adds some humor to the love story about a teenage zombie who falls in love with a human who happens to be the daughter of a zombie killer (Montagues and Capulets, anyone?), played by John Malkovich.

The tie-in (S&S/Atria/Emily Bestler) arrives Dec. 25. The movie arrives Feb. 1.

The book’s author, Isaac Marion noted on his blog in October that he is working on a sequel.

The other Next Big Movie Based on a Paranormal Romance contenders coming next year are:

Feb 13 — Beautiful Creatures — Based on the first in a four-part YA paranormal romance series by Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl

March 29 — The Host — Based on a standalone alien romance novel by Stephenie Meyer

Aug 23 — Mortal Instruments — Based on the first two titles in a six-part YA urban fantasy series by Cassandra Clare

The number of big releases slows to a trickle next week. Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child bring back their enigmatic hero, Aloysius Xingú Leng Pendergast in a new thriller; James Patterson continues to work the popular middle-school territory and, in Young Adult, Jessica Day George wraps up her Twelve Dancing Princesses trilogy.

Reviewer Favorite

Sebastian Faulks, A Possible Life: A Novel in Five Parts (Macmillan/Holt; Dreamscape Audio and OverDrive)

British reviewers quibbled with the author’s assertion in both the book’s subtitle and trailer, that this is a novel, not a set of long short stories. It appears the question hasn’t been settled; Vanity Fair‘s online interview opens with it. The book received strong reviews in the UK, with the Independent concluding that it is “probably Faulks’s most intriguing fictional offering.” Published in September there, it hit the top ten on the Times of London’s best seller list.

Usual Suspects

Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child, Two Graves
(Hachette/Grand Central: Hachette Audio; Hachette Large Print)

This completes a trilogy within the larger series. Referred to as the “Helen Trilogy,” beginning with Fever Dream and continuing last year with Cold Vengeance, it follows the erudite detective Pendergast search for his long-missing wife, Helen. Reviewers warn that reading the previous titles is a requirement.

Michael Palmer, Political Suicide (Macmillan/St. Martin’s Press: Macmillan Audio; Thorndike Large Print)

The 18th thriller by Palmer is his second featuring Dr. Lou Welcome, a recovering alcoholic and drug addict (introduced last year in Oath of Office). Prepub reviews are less than admiring, but libraries are showing holds and it gets high marks on GoodReads.

Childrens

James Patterson and Chris Grabenstein
I Funny: A Middle School Story (Hachette/Little, Brown YR; Hachette Audio)

This is the third in Patterson’s series aimed at a once overlooked age group, which is clearly called out in the titles, beginning with Middle School, The Worst Years of My Life, and followed by Middle School: Get Me out of Here! This one features Jamie Grimm, a wheelchair bound middle schooler whose goal is to become the world’s greatest standup comedian.

Young Adult

Jessica Day George, Princess of the Silver Woods (Bloomsbury USA)

The final title in the series that reworks classic fairy tales, beginning with Princess of the Midnight Ball, (based on the Grim tale, The Twelve Dancing Princesses), and  followed by Princess of Glass (based, of course, on Cinderella). This one is based on the tales of two hoods —  Red Riding and Robin.

Movie Tie-in

The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey Chronicles: Art & Design (Harper Design)

This is the last of the tie-ins leading up to the Dec. 14 debut of the first in the series  of movies based on J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Hobbit (you may have noticed promos nearly, well, everywhere). It is produced by the Weta Workshop, which designed the movie’s special effects and ends with a sneak peek at the second film in the series. Another behind-the-scenes book came out last month, The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey Official Movie Guide.

Audible has just released their list of the best audios of the year, including their pick of the ONE best, which is Beautiful Ruins by Jesse Walter (HarperAudio). It was also chosen by Salon, which praised narrator Eduardo Ballerini’s “handling of this fantastically complex narration [which] is so accomplished you keep forgetting that it’s a performance.”

The print version has been picked up Best Book picks, from Kirkus, NYT Book Review, Publishers Weekly and the Washington Post.

We first heard about it during HarperCollins Library Marketing’s Buzz session at ALA MidWinter last year (sign up for the upcoming one here). Kayleigh George’s description deserves its own award.

The movie is not scheduled for release until Nov. 1 of next year, but Entertainment Weekly is already offering a sneak peek at Ender’s Game, including a still of Harrison Ford as Colonel Graff, staring down Asa Butterfield as Ender, plus photos of the full cast.

There are those who want to read the book before the movie; the attention has moved Orson Scott Card’s 1985 sci-fi novel (Macmillan/Tor) up Amazon’s rankings. EW quotes director Gavin Hood about the changes they will see. He promises that at least one thing remains the same,“That ending — and the complex moral questions that it raises — is one of the reasons why I love the book. I promise you that it is very much there.”

Summit Entertainment has just launched the film’s official Facebook page.

Hours after Oprah announced she had picked Ayana Mathis’s The Twelve Tribes of Hattie (RH/Knopf), the NYT posted a rave review from their difficult-to-please reviewer, Michiko Kakutani, who calls the book a “piercing debut.”

Although it shot up Amazon’s sales rankings, jumping from #186,959 to #130, it didn’t break in to the top 100. It’s doing much better on BandN.com rankings, however, where it is currently at  #17.

All the libraries we checked ordered the book prior to the announcement, based on stellar pre-pub reviews, but we found just one that had ordered multiple copies per branch. Cuyahoga’s Wendy Bartlett reports on how she spotted it:

I snapped up The Twelve Tribes of Hattie as soon as the publisher sent me the ARC, because it deals with America’s great African-American migration. Our customers loved the nonfiction title on that subject, The Warmth of Other Suns, by Isabel Wilkerson (Random House), which came out last year. Baby boomers especially enjoy books about this time period; they’ve heard these stories all their lives from their parents and grandparents, so they want to know more. Every African-American family here in Cleveland has a migration story, so I knew they’d love this book.

A reminder: the pub date for The Twelve Tribes has been moved up from mid-January to today and the original ISBN’s have been changed (see previous post), so libraries need to place new orders. Also, please note the BOT editions —

The debut novel, The Twelve Tribes of Hattie by Ayana Mathis (RH/Knopf) has been chosen as the next title in Oprah’s Book Club 2.0.

The book was originally scheduled for publication in January, but the date has now been moved up to tomorrow, Dec. 6.

RH Library Marketing alerts librarians that the original ISBN’s have been changed and they will need to place new orders.

The Twelve Tribes of Hattie (Oprah’s Book Club 2.0) Ayana Mathis Retail Price:  $24.95 Hardcover: 256 pages Publisher: Knopf – (2012-12-06) EAN: 9780385350280

Regular Ebook: 9780385350303, $12.99

Oprah’s Book Club 2.0 Digital Edition: 9780385350297, $12.99

BOT CD: 9780804127271

BOT Library Download: 9780804127288

Large Print, Trade Pbk.: 9780804121026, $26.00

Publishers Weekly, Kirkus and Booklist all starred the book. The author was interviewed in PW last month.

The man credited with “changing the nature of television criticism” by Slate, Alan Sepinwall, recently published a new book, The Revolution Was Televised. After Michiko Kakutani’s glowing review in yesterday’s New York Times, it rose to #133 on Amazon Sales Rankings. It has also been covered by Time magazine, The New Yorker, the Hollywood Reporter and USA Today.

But, no libraries own it.

Why?

Sepinwall chose to self-published the book. It appears to be available only through Amazon and hasn’t been reviewed by library publications.

The Revolution Was Televised: The Cops, Crooks, Slingers and Slayers Who Changed TV Drama Forever Alan Sepinwall Retail Price: $16.99 Paperback: 306 pages Publisher: What’s Alan Watching? – (2012-11-21) ISBN / EAN: 0615718299 / 9780615718293

George Clooney already has a slate of big names for his movie about the rescue of art treasures from the hands of  the Nazis, The Monument’s Men. Now Deadline reports that Matt Damon is also in talks to join a cast that would overwhelm the largest marquee. It includes Daniel Craig, Bill Murray, Cate Blanchett, Jean Dujardin, and John Goodman.

The film is based on a book by Robert M. Edsel who, after selling his oil and gas exploration company, began researching the efforts of the group called “The Monuments Men,” (which, despite its name,  included at least one woman, Rose Valland, a French Resistance fighter, to be played by Blanchett).

Clooney will direct as well as star. Filming is set to begin in January in Europe.

The Monuments Men: Allied Heroes, Nazi Thieves, and the Greatest Treasure Hunt in History Robert M. Edsel Retail Price: $26.99 Hardcover: 513 pages Publisher: Hachette/Center Street – (2009-09-03) ISBN 9781599951492

There are several other books on the subject (see our earlier story). Edsel is also publishing new book, Saving Italy: The Race to Rescue a Nations Treasures from the Nazis, this coming May.

Saving Italy: The Race to Rescue a Nation’s Treasures from the Nazis Robert M. Edsel Retail Price: $28.95 Hardcover: 464 pages Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company – (2013-05-13) ISBN / EAN: 0393082415 / 9780393082418