EarlyWord

Binchy launched her career as a novelist with LIGHT A PENNY CANDLE in 1982

Popular Irish novelist Maeve Binchy has died in Dublin after a brief illness. She was 72.

The Telegraph calls Binchy “Ireland’s national treasure,” noting, “She was always delightfully self-deprecating, saying once: ‘I was very pleased, obviously, to have outsold great writers. But I’m not insane – I do realise that I am a popular writer who people buy to take on vacation.’ ”

The Irish Times, where she once worked as a journalist, writes about her love of Ireland and quotes her saying,  “the fax was invented so we writers could live anywhere we liked, instead of living in London near publishers.”

Her most recent book, Minding Frankie (RH/Knopf), was published last year.

Jonah Lehrer, the author of the best selling book on creativity, Imagine, has admitted that he made up some of the quotes he attributed to Bob Dylan in the book. Publisher Houghton Mifflin has announced that it is canceling further shipments and has asked accounts to stop selling it.

The errors were brought to light in the article “Jonah Lehrer’s Deceptions” by Michael C. Moynihan published in the online magazine Tablet yesterday. The New York Times reported that, as a result, Lehrer has resigned his job as science writer for the New Yorker and that the book will no longer be shipped.

The story is being picked up by dozens of other news sources, including the Wall Street Journal, the Washington Post, NPR and CBS News. Jayson Blair, the former New York Times reporter who was the subject of a plagiarism case nine years ago, reflects on the story for The Daily Beast.

Imagine has been on the NYT Hardcover Nonfiction list for the past 18 weeks. It debuted on the list at #1 and is on the current, 8/5 list at #14. Lehrer published two earlier books, How We Decide (HMH, 2009) and Proust Was a Neuroscientist (HMH, 2007).

Nobody knows how well Fifty Shades of Grey will do as a movie. It’s still a long way from arriving in theaters; it doesn’t even have a director, let alone a cast yet. Nevertheless, Hollywood is hot on the trail of the NEXT Fifty Shades.

According to the Hollywood Reporter, a bidding war is on for Jamie McGuire’s Beautiful Disaster. The book began as a self-published title, from Amazon’s CreateSpace. After appearing on the NYT E-Book Fiction best seller list, where it reached high of #9, it was picked up for publication by the Atria division of Simon and Schuster and is coming out in August. Atria also signed Walking Disaster, which, according to the publisher, “will continue this story from a different and surprising point of view.”

The Hollywood Reporter says, “The book is seen as being similar in tone to Fifty Shades but in a YA vein and without all the kinky sex. That makes it very attractive to Hollywood studios, which are concerned that audiences might shy away from a Fifty Shades movie due to the graphic scenes.”

It has a 4.13 rating on GoodReads, from nearly 26,000 readers.

Beautiful Disaster Jamie McGuire Retail Price: #15 Paperback: 446 pages Publisher: Atria Books – (2012-07-12) ISBN / EAN: 1476712042/9781476712048

S&S Audio

Interest continues in the breakout book of the summer, Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn (RH/Crown). It moved back up to #2 on the 8/5 NYT Hardcover Fiction Best Seller list (from #3 last week) after 7 weeks (two of them at #1). Holds continue to be heavy on both the book and the audio (RH Audio & BOT).

Flynn was interviewed on Friday’s CBS This Morning. Gayle King revealed that the book kept her up until 4:23 in the morning.

Flynn’s home town newspaper, the Chicago Tribune interviewed her on Sunday, “Peeking in Flynn’s Vault of Horror.”

The book was also the subject of Glamour magazine’s “five minute book club” (plenty of spoilers, so avoid it if you’re planning to read the book).

Marking another step in the growing acceptance of ebooks, two titles published by digital imprints were among the dozen titles winning RITA awards from the Romance Writers of America at a ceremony in Anaheim over the weekend.

The winner for best Contemporary Single Title is Boomerang Bride by Fiona Lowe. Originally published as an ebook by Harlequin’s Carina imprint, it was released in paperback as well. Currently it is an ebook-only title, available via OverDrive and B&T’s Axis360 platform.

The winner for best Romance Novella, I Love the Earl by Caroline Linden, is published by HarperCollins/Avon’s digital imprint, Impulse. It is also available via OverDrive and Axis360.

The RWA Librarian of the Year is Mary Moore, Reference & Adult Services Manager, Huntsville-Madison County Public Library, Huntsville, Alabama. She is profiled on the RWA site.

In addition, nine unpublished manuscripts won the association’s Golden Heart Awards.

Glee star Chris Colfer was so excited to hear that his debut book lands at #1 on the 8/4  NYT Children’s Chapter Books Best Seller list that he  leaked the news yesterday afternoon, via a tweet. The leak was picked up by the Hollywood Reporter, which noted that “Colfer first came up with the idea when he was in grade school but wrote the book between scenes on Glee.

Prepub reviews for The Land of Stories: The Wishing Spell (Hachette/LBYR; Hachette Audio) were not particularly strong, but most acknowledge, as Booklist puts it,  that the many Glee fans “will not be disappointed by the giddy earnestness of the writing.”

Last week’s debut, Seraphina, by Rachel Hartman, (Random House YR), arrived on the list at #8 with much better prepub attention; four starred reviews. Booklist says, “Hartman proves dragons are still fascinating in this impressive high fantasy.” The Washington Post agreed, “Nothing strikes dread in a reviewer’s heart like a dragon on a book cover. Can the author infuse this tired trope with fresh blood, or is it doomed to flame out in blatant cliche? Happily, Rachel Hartman, with her richly imagined reptile and human characters, proves more than equal to the task.” The book continues on the new list at #9. The debut began bullding librarian buzz on YA GalleyChat back in March.

Indicating anticipation for two of the titles arriving next week, Megan Abbott‘s sixth crime novel, Dare Me and M.L. Stedman‘s debut The Light Between Oceans, have already received strong mainstream reviews. New novels by Margaret Dilloway, Fiona Neill and Jennie Fields also have solid trade reviews behind them. Usual suspects include Dean Koontz, Kay Hooper, Susan Wiggs and YA author Sara Shepard. In nonfiction, Gretchen Rubin is back with a followup to the Happiness Project, historian Ben McIntyre takes a fresh look at D-Day, crime writer Stuart Woods republishes his 1977 sailing memoir, and the Pro Football Hall of Fame weighs in with a celebration of the game for its 50th Anniversary.

Watch List

Dare Me by Megan Abbott (Hachette/Little,Brown/Reagan Arthur; Hachette Audio) is the story of a varsity cheer leading squad whose pecking order is overturned by a new coach, who then becomes a suspect in a murder investigation. It’s a summer reading pick by Entertainment Weekly (“It feels groundbreaking when Abbott takes noir conventions — loss of innocence, paranoia, the manipulative sexuality of newly independent women — and suggests that they’re rooted in high school, deep in the hearts of all-American girls.” Grade: A-). The new issue of People says, “If cheerleaders scared you in high school, you’ll finish the haunting Dare Me convinced you were right.” Holds, while not yet heavy, are building in many libraries. Her sixth novel, this one may be Abbott’s breakout.

The Care and Handling of Roses with Thorns by Margaret Dilloway (Putnam Adult) is the author’s second novel, in which a solitary, prickly woman who grows roses competitively must unexpectedly make room in her life for her wayward niece. It was a BEA Librarians’s Shout ‘n’ Share title. LJ says, “engaging, enlightening, thoughtful, this is a winner.”

The Light Between Oceans by M.L. Stedman (S&S/Scribner; S&S Audio) is set in 1926 Australia, where a childless couple in a lighthouse claim a baby they find in a boat, with ensuing complications. This one gets an early review in the New York Times, which warns that it “does occasionally dip into the melodrama pot; Isabel at one point screams, ‘Don’t take my baby away!’ It’s a moving tale, regardless. Prepare to weep.” This week’s People magazine declares, “Stedman’s debut signals a career certain to deliver future treasures.” We’ve already issued a holds alert for this one.

What the Nanny Saw by Fiona Neill (Penguin/Riverhead; Tantor Media) is the tale of a London investment banker’s unraveling during the 2008 financial crisis, told by the nanny, who holds his family together but has secrets of her own. It’s the second novel by British newspaper columnist Neill. LJ says, “this biting drama is filled with tension and remarkably flawed characters. Neill’s engrossing tale makes for an addictive read, and one can only keep turning the pages to get to the inescapable conclusion.”

The Age of Desire by Jennie Fields (Penguin/Viking/Pamela Dorman) imagines a middle-aged Edith Wharton in her first physically passionate affair, with a younger American journalist. LJ says the author’s fourth novel should “appeal to those who enjoyed Paula McLain’s The Paris Wife or other stories focusing on the stormy romantic lives of creative people from past eras.”

Usual Suspects

Odd Apocalypse by Dean Koontz (RH/Bantam; RH Large Print; Brilliance Audio) is the fifth Odd Thomas novel about a short-order cook who can see dead people, and helps them when he can. LJ says, “Odd’s fanbase with fantasy-horror devotees is certain to grow, while previous admirers of his quirky charms will not be disappointed. Odd’s screen debut, starring Anton Yelchin and Willem Dafoe, later this fall is certain to attract new readers.”

Haven by Kay Hooper (Penguin/Berkley; Brilliance Audio) is the 13th thriller featuring the Special Crimes Unit, this time sending a paranormal investigator to a small North Carolina mountain town. PW says, “the juxtaposition of the idyllic town and the sadistic sociopath makes the horrors of the crimes stand out, but the basic investigative errors made by just about all of the characters seem to come straight from a schlock horror film with the audience yelling, ‘Don’t go in there!'”

Return to Willow Lake by Susan Wiggs (Harlequin/Mira; Brilliance Audio) the next in the Lakeshore Chronicles is the story of a woman whose near-perfect life is derailed when her mother unexpectedly gets pregnant.

Young Adult

Hide and Seek (Lying Game Serious #4) by Sara Shepard (Harper Teen) is told from beyond the grave by an adopted daughter whose long-lost twin sister has taken her place, but faces the same potentially fatal perils.

Nonfiction

Happier at Home: Kiss More, Jump More, Abandon a Project, Read Samuel Johnson, and My Other Experiments in the Practice of Everyday Life by Gretchen Rubin (RH/Crown/Archetype; RH Audio) is the sequel to the author’s hit debut The Happiness Project. PW says, “although it lacks the freshness and originality of her earlier book, this perceptive sequel offers elegant musings about the nature of happiness combined with concrete ways to make the place where we sleep, eat, and watch TV truly a home.”

Double Cross: The True Story of the D-Day Spies by Ben Macintyre (RH/Crown; RH Large Print Publishing; RH Audio) explains how the D-Day landings became the most well-kept secrets of WWII. PW says that it “effortlessly weaves the agents’ deliciously eccentric personalities with larger wartime events to shape a tale that reads like a top-notch spy thriller.”

Blue Water, Green Skipper by Stuart Woods (Penguin/Putnam) is a republication of the crime author’s memoir of how he single-handedly sailed across the Atlantic in 1973 after quitting his job in advertising, before he finished the first of his 50 novels. PW says, “casual readers will enjoy the adventurous portions of the tale, but sailing aficionados will get the most out of Woods’s journey.”

The Pro Football Hall of Fame 50th Anniversary Book: Where Greatness Lives editedby John Thorn and Joe Horrigan, (Hachette/Grand Central) features commentaries by every living Hall of Famer, and quotes or bios from those who are gone.

The trailer for the movie of the book that many experts considered unfilmable, David Mitchell’s 2004 Booker Prize finalist, Cloud Atlas, has just been released. The filmmakers, the Wachowski’s, best known for The Matrix trilogy , and  Tom Tykwer (Run Lola Run) faced the challenge of adapting a book that connects six stories set in different time periods and locations.

The film will premiere at the Toronto Film Festival and open in U.S. theaters on Oct. 26. The cast, many of whom play multiple roles, include Tom Hanks, Halle Berry, Jim Sturgess, Keith David, Susan Sarandon and Hugh Grant

The trailer is six minutes long; according to the intro from the creators, “Unfortunately, in one way the experts were right: The movie is hard to sell, because it’s hard to describe, it’s hard to reduce. So we decided to make a really, really, really long trailer and just put it out there.”

Official Web Site: CloudAtlasMovie.com

The movie tie-in will be released Sept. 11 (Random House Trade Paperbacks, 9780812984415, $15). Both the print and ebook edition will include an essay by David Mitchell. In addition to the regular ebook, there will also be an enhanced ebook with footage from the film and interviews with the author and the filmmakers.

Arriving at #11 on the USA Today Best Seller list is a “mini eBook” Deep Down by Lee Child (RH/Delacorte, 7/16).

USA Today’s “Book Buzz” column calls it a “literary hors d’oeuvre,” an original short story, along with an excerpt of Child’s upcoming novel A Wanted Man, published exclusively as an eBook.

It is available to libraries via OverDrive.

Debuting at #10 on the new Indie Hardcover Nonfiction Best Seller list is Monkey Mind: A Memoir of Anxiety by Daniel Smith, a book that was called a classic in the making by the Psychiatric Times and named a People pick last week.

Many libraries are showing growing holds on light ordering.

Monkey Mind: A Memoir of Anxiety Daniel Smith Retail Price: $25.00 Hardcover: 224 pages Publisher: Simon & Schuster – (2012-07-03) ISBN / EAN: 1439177309/9781439177303

Blackstone Audio

The Swedish director, Lars Hallstrom (Chocolat, Dear John, Salmon Fishing In The Yemen) has made his first Swedish-language movie in 24 years, based on  The Hypnotist by the Swedish husband-and-wife team writing under the name Lars Kepler (some of you may have seen their charming talk at PLA this year). The trilogy is the second most popular crime series in Sweden, after Stieg Larsson’s Millennium  titles.

The film opens in Sweden in September. At this point, there is no US release date, but it is sure to find an American distributor, given the success of the Swedish-language versions of the Stieg Larsson trilogy.

The second book in the trilogy, The Nightmare (Macmillan.FSG/Sarah Crichton) was released in the US earlier this month. Hallstrom has said he doesn’t plan to film the entire trilogy, but if this one is successful, another director is likely to step in.

The Hypnotist stars Mikael Persbrandt (In A Better World, The Hobbit) and Lena Olin (The Unbearable Lightness Of Being, Chocolat).

Below is the Swedish-language trailer. There are no subtitles, but it gives a sense of the movie’s tone and atmosphere, which is quite different from the movies Hallstrom has made to date:

Talk about a long road to reality. Rights were optioned for the 2002 Booker winner, The Life of Pi by Yann Martel in 2003. The project went through several possible directors (including M. Night Shyamalan), before Ang Lee finally took over the helm. The film is now complete and the trailer has just been released. It opens on Nov. 21.

As visually arresting as the trailer is, the 3-D film will undoubtedly be even more so.

Official Web site: LifeOfPiMovie.com

Life of Pi (Movie Tie-In) Yann Martel Retail Price: $15.95 Paperback: 352 pages Publisher: Mariner Books – (2012-10-02) ISBN / EAN: 0547848412 / 9780547848419

The longlist for the Booker Awards was just announced in London. Hilary Mantel is one of the 12 authors, for Bring up the Bodies, her followup to the 2009 Booker winner, Wolf Hall. The second in a planned trilogy, Bring up the Bodies is already a best seller in the US. It hit the NYT bestseller list at #3, a direct result of the boost the Booker gave to the author’s visibility.

For reasons we’ve never been able to pinpoint, the Booker has more effect on sales in the U.S. than our own National Book Awards. Most of the winners of the British prize have ended up on the New York Times best seller list.

The award is open to citizens of the United Kingdom, the Commonwealth or the Republic of Ireland. Of the twelve writers just announced, nine are British, one Indian, one South African and one Malaysian.

The titles, with American publication information, are below:

Currently available in the US

Jeet Thayil, Narcopolis, Penguin Press, 4/12/12; Reviews, PW, starred;  The Millions

Hilary Mantel, Bring up the Bodies, Macmillan/Holt, 5/8/12; Review links

Michael Frayn, Skios, Macmillan/Holt, 6/19/12; Reviews, Washington Post, by Michael Dirda; New York Times, by Michiko Kakutani; New York Times Book Review, by Alex Witchel; Seattle Times, by Michael Upchurch

Rachel Joyce, The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry, Random House, 7/24/12; Review links

Upcoming US Publications

Tan Twan Eng, The Garden of Evening Mists, Perseus/ Weinstein Books, 8/14/12; Booklist review; LJ review by Barbara Hoffert

Will Self, Umbrella, Grove Press, 12/10/12

Ned Beauman, The Teleportation Accident, Bloomsbury US, 2/26/13; Review, The Independent; Profile of the author, The Guardian

Not Yet Scheduled

(publishers listed are British)

Nicola Barker, The Yips, HarperCollins/Fourth Estate; Review, The Guardian; Review, The Independent

André Brink, Philida, Random House/Harvill Secker

Deborah Levy, Swimming Home, And Other Stories, Publishing; Review, The Guardian

Alison Moore, The Lighthouse, Salt Publishing

Sam Thompson, Communion Town, HarperCollins/Fourth Estate; Review, The Telegraph

The shortlist of six authors will be announced on  September 11th, and the winner on October 16h.

Below, director Joe Wright introduces a new, six-minute clip of his film of Anna Karenina (try to get past the surprisingly stilted into). Opening in theaters on November 9th, it stars Keira Knightly and Jude Law with a screenplay by Tom Stoppard.

Get those Russian-themed book displays ready.

Official Site: FocusFeatures.com/Anna_Karenina

Vintage is releasing a tie-in edition in October. The translation is by Tolstoy’s close American friends Louise and Aylmer Maude, originally published in 1918.

A 2004 Oprah book club pick, it is still available in that edition. Two of the beneficiaries of that pick were the husband-and-wife translators, Richard Pevear and Larissa Volokhonsky, who, according to a story in the New York Times, had never heard of Oprah or her club when they got the news that their translation was getting a new print run of 800,000 copies.

In reviewing this translation in the New Yorker, James Wood said the couple are “at once scrupulous translators and vivid stylists of English, and their superb rendering allows us, as perhaps never before, to grasp the palpability of Tolstoy’s ‘characters, acts, situations.'”

New Yorker editor David Remnick explored translations of Russian classics in depth in “The Translation Wars: How the race to translate Tolstoy and Dostoyevsky continues to spark feuds, end friendships, and create small fortunes.”

Anna Karenina Leo Tolstoy Retail Price: $17.00 Paperback: 862 pages Publisher: Penguin Classics – (2004-05) ISBN / EAN: 0143035002 / 9780143035008