EarlyWord

The movie Albert Nobbs, starring Glenn Close as a woman passing as a man in 19th C Dublin, picked up two Golden Globe nominations this week, for Best Actress (Close) and Best Supporting Actress (Janet McTeer, who also plays a woman passing as a man). It’s probably the least-known of the films in either category, having just opened in a limited run in New York and Los Angeles this week. Reviews just beginning (the New York Times is enthusiastic, but USA Today is not). After its Oscar-qualifying run, it opens across the country on Jan. 27

The movie is based on a long short story (the tie-in is labelled a “novella”), The Singular Life of Albert Nobbs, by the Irish wirter, George Moore. It was published in his 1927 collection, Celibate Lives. Close played the character on stage nearly 30 years ago and has been working for years to turn it in to a film.

The movie tie-in releases today.

Albert Nobbs: A Novella George Moore Retail Price: $10.00 Paperback: 112 pages Publisher: Penguin (Non-Classics) – (2011-12-21) ISBN / EAN: 0143122525 / 9780143122524

The title of the memoir, Another Bullshit Night in Suck City, has been tamed down quite a bit for the film version. It’s called Being Flynn, which refers to both the author, Nick Flynn, and his father and is now scheduled for limited release on March 2nd.

The movie, stars Robert De Niro as a homeless writer. His son, played by Paul Dano, also a writer, works in a homeless shelter, when a familiar figure walks in.

When it was published in 2005, the book received generally strong reviews (although the papers reduced the title to Another Bulls**t Night in Suck City) and appeared on the NYT extended best seller list when it came out in paperback.

San Francisco Chronicle

… the book will probably do very well because the story is true. And that’s actually almost a shame, because that would fail to take into account where the book truly succeeds, which is as a near-perfect work of literature.

NY Times Book Review

Flynn’s talents are considerable—he has a compelling voice and a wry sense of humor, especially about himself. He avoids the pitfalls that come with his subject matter: when writing about his recovery from alcohol and drug addiction, he keeps therapy-speak at bay; when describing his work at the shelter, he’s utterly unsanctimonious.

Being Flynn (Movie Tie-in Edition)  Nick Flynn Retail Price: $15.95 Paperback: 384 pages Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company ISBN / EAN: 0393341496 / 9780393341492

After months of promotion, the English-language, David Fincher-directed version of The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo opens across the country tomorrow.

According to the site Rotten Tomatoes, 82% of the 34 “top critics” give it a favorable review (although a few are a bit grudging).

Many of the reviews compare it to the earlier Swedish-language film (Time‘s critic Richard Corliss, says, it’s “like getting a Christmas gift of a book you already have”). A few hark back to Stieg Larsson’s original:

L.A. Times 

One reason Salander is catnip on the page is that she is anything but in real life. Antisocial when she’s not downright furious… she is fierce, furtive and feral…..[but the movie’s] cold, almost robotic conception of Salander as a twitchy, anorexic waif feels more like a stunt than a complete character, and so the best part of the reason we care enough to endure all that mayhem has gone away.

New York Times

Critic A.O Scott is also a fan of Lisbeth on the page, describing her as “Tiny as a sparrow, fierce as an eagle…one of the great Scandinavian avengers of our time, an angry bird catapulting into the fortresses of power and wiping smiles off the faces of smug, predatory pigs”  and believes that lead actress Rooney Mara, “…captures her volatile and fascinating essence beautifully.” He is not so enthusiastic about the book’s plot, however and feels “Larsson’s heavy-footed clumsiness as a storyteller” harms the movie. The changes from the book to the screenplay just show “…how arbitrary some of Larsson’s narrative contrivances were in the first place”  and the movie suffers from “…long stretches of drab, hackneyed exposition that flatten the atmosphere.”

Whatever the critical verdict, the publicity surrounding the movie continues to bring new readers to the book. Libraries are still showing holds queues.

It’s not certain whether Fincher will direct the next movies in the trilogy. At a recent press conference, he said he hasn’t been signed yet; “Classically, movie studios don’t make deals with directors, even if there’s a hope that there’s going to be three [films], because they want to make sure you behave.” He did, however, go on to say that if he were to direct the next two films, he would shoot them both at once. He also noted that the Dragon Tattoo shoot was “incredibly draining” for Rooney Mara because of all the “naysayers” who thought she was the wrong choice for the role.

Below is the trailer for the Swedish-language version:

NPR’s All Things Considered takes a look at the new Sherlock Homes movie, Sherlock Holmes 2: A Game of Shadows, starring Robert Downey Jr., through the lens of two recent books inspired by Conan Doyle’s master detective.

As a result, The House of Silk, rose on Amazon’s sales rankings. Libraries are showing moderate holds. In its review, PW said, “The hype surrounding what’s being billed as the first pastiche ever officially approved by the Conan Doyle estate is amply justified in this authentic, if melancholy, recreation of the beloved Baker Street characters by the creator of the acclaimed Foyles War TV series.”

The House of Silk: A Sherlock Holmes Novel Anthony Horowitz Retail Price: $27.99 Hardcover: 304 pages Publisher: Mulholland Books – (2011-11-01) ISBN / EAN: 0316196991 / 9780316196994

The second book is a collection of short stories inspired by Conan Doyle, also released this fall.

A Study in Sherlock: Stories Inspired by the Holmes Canon Laurie R King, Leslie S Klinger Retail Price: $29.95 Hardcover: 250 pages Publisher: Poisoned Pen Press – (2011-10-25) ISBN / EAN: 1590585496 / 9781590585498

Of course, many other authors have carried on the Holmes tradition. Check this list from Wikipedia for the makings of an extensive book display.

The new movie, unlike the previous one, is based on a specific Holmes story,  “The Final Problem,” which is included in the re-released The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes (Penguin; other editions available in ePub and Kindle on OverDrive).

After some of the screeds about YA fiction that have found their way into the press, it’s refreshing to read the following on NPR’s web site,

…young adult fiction has developed into one of the most complex and extensive genres in literature. 2011 brought us a wealth of new reads that continue to twist traditional formulas and take risks that are, by and large, paying off with wholly unique reading experiences.

Those encouraging words come from Marissa Meyer, who may be slightly prejudiced — her own debut YA novel, Cinder, arrives in January.

Meyer lists her choices of Top 5 YA Novels of the year (Meyer is recording the piece, which will be broadcast soon). Three of her picks have appeared on other Best Books lists (see our spreadsheet of all the major picks to date) but two are unique:

So Silver Bright Lisa Mantchev Retail Price: $16.99 Hardcover: 368 pages Publisher: Macmillan/Feiwel & Friends  – (2011-09-13) ISBN / EAN: 0312380984 / 9780312380984

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Ashfall Mike Mullin Retail Price: $16.95 Hardcover: 476 pages Publisher: Tanglewood Press – (2011-09-27) ISBN / EAN: 1933718552 / 9781933718552

Marissa Meyer’s own YA novel kicks off the new year in red high heels. Kirkus describes it as a “debut [that] offers a high coolness factor by rewriting Cinderella as a kickass mechanic in a plague-ridden future.” It’s being backed by a strong marketing campaign (as outlined by PW), including an excerpt in USA Today, and a book trailer which debuts today on Entertainment Weekly‘s “Shelf Life” blog.

Cinder: Book One in the Lunar Chronicles Marissa Meyer Retail Price: $17.99 Hardcover: 400 pages Publisher: Macmillan/Feiwel & Friends – (2012-01-03) ISBN / EAN: 0312641893 / 9780312641894

Macmillan Audio (listen to excerpt here); Thorndike Large Print

If there were an Academy Award for strangest film title, Salmon Fishing in the Yemen would surely win. It ‘s based on a book of the same title, the 2007 debut novel by British writer Paul Torday (HMH), about a sheik who believes salmon fishing will help unite the people of Yemen. Publishers Weekly called it “winningly absurdist,” an assessment echoed by both Library Journal and Booklist (which starred it). Torday’s second novel, Bordeaux (HMH, 2009) received equally strong reviews. His third book, The Girl on the Landing, has not been published here.

The film’s director, Lasse Hallstrom, has had experience adapting quirky books; he directed Chocolat, The Cider House Rules, What’s Eating Gilbert Grape, and My Life as a Dog.

Salmon Fishing stars Ewan McGregor, Emily Blunt, and Kristin Scott-Thomas and received strong reviews at the Toronto Film Festival in September.

No tie-in has been announced. The film arrives in theaters on March 2 UPDATE: Now moved to March 9.

Shipments of new books will be light next week (just one notable title, listed below), so we are skipping ahead to the week after the holiday, when the final hardcover releases of 2011 arrive, in time for customers cashing in gift certificates and exchanging what they got for what they wanted.  Look for Rod Rees‘s dystopian steampunk debut, a new series from Anne Holt, Norway’s #1 bestselling crime writer, and the much-anticipated followup to Taylor Stevens‘s first Vanessa Michael Monroe thriller. Not all of the usual suspects are turning out their best work, according to the early reviews, but there are new titles from Dean Koontz, W. E. B. Griffin and William E. Butterworth IV, Stuart Woods, Robin Cook, Tamy Hoag and Karen Robards. 

Watch List

‘Tis the season for holiday books. Below are my favorites of the year’s new titles.

The Twelve Days of Christmas by Lauren Long, $16.99, Penguin/Dial, All Ages

Fine artist, Long, illustrates this classic carol with double-paged lush paintings echoing renaissance masters. A plump partridge is settled amongst golden pears as a maiden hurries down a garden path framed with topiary shaped like turtle doves, swans and a French hen. Hidden in plain site are the previous gifts and a foreshadowings of the next ones. Many of the images are unexpected; the “lords-a-leaping” are knights on horseback. the drummers drumming are toy soldiers woven into a wreath. The final page can be construed as “ a seek and find” as all of the gifts are represented in the painting as the two true lovers are united in a holly festooned boat.

The Best Christmas Pageant Ever by Barbara Robinson illustrated by Laura Cornell, Harper, $16.99. All ages.

I generally sneer at picture book adaptations of novels. I mock publishers’ attempts to expand the “brand” in a variety of formats. Then, I…I…I was completely charmed by this retelling of this classic chapter book of the same title. This picture book goes straight to heart of novel. The Herdmans (the original “free range” children) are six kids with no apparent adult supervision ages ten to five. All the other children in the neighborhood know to avoid them, for where ever there is a Herdman; there is trouble. The Herdmans somehow highjack the Christmas pageant despite their complete ignorance of the nativity’s story and elements. Cornell’s cartoonish illustrations capture the mischievous humor of the original.

Chanukah Lights by Michael J. Rosen and paper engineering by Robert Sabuda, Candlewick Press, $34.99. Ages 6 and up (delicate paper engineering)

This pop-up extravaganza follows the Diaspora of the Jewish people though the ages via architectural structures. We witness the first day of Chanukah at the rededication of the Temple in Jerusalem. Doves flutter in the archways of the white paper model sharply contrasting with an orange background reminiscent of a sunrise. The second night is portrayed as candles are lit in a desert tent. On the third night we spy the candles lit in a portal of a tall sailing ship. Sabuda creates a sense of time and place by including details like windmills in the distance and towers topped with minarets. Tiny windows display gold flames that count the days in the city (pushcarts) and the country ( tiny sheep on a hill) concluding with a menorah created by a skyline of skyscrapers.

A Very Babymouse Christmas by Jennifer L. Holm & Mathew Holm, Random House. $6.99, ages 7 and up

Fans of the graphic Babymouse series won’t be surprised that this is number fifteen, but will be thrilled as Babymouse counts the minutes to the big day, hoping, wishing and wanting Santa to bring her the latest electronic gadget, The Whizbang™.

Writer and iconoclast, Christopher Hitchens died yesterday at 62. The death was announced by the magazine he has written for since 1992, Vanity Fair, which also put together a fitting video tribute, “The Immortal Rejoinders of Christopher Hitchens.”

Hitchens learned he had esophageal cancer while on tour for his memoir, Hitch-22 (Hachette/Twelve, 2010). Despite his disease, he continued writing, even during his last days. The most recent of his 17 books, a collection of essays, Arguably, (Hachette/Twelve) came out in September.

To those who urged him to embrace religion once he knew he was dying, he retorted,

Suppose there were groups of secularists at hospitals who went round the terminally ill and urged them to adopt atheism: “Don’t be a mug all your life. Make your last days the best ones.” People might suppose this was in poor taste.

The Guardian rounds up the tributes that have been flowing in this morning, including a tweet by Salman Rushdie, “Goodbye, my beloved friend. A great voice falls silent. A great heart stops.”

The author of fifty books for children, including the classic Frances series, Russell Hoban, has died at 86 (via NYT obituary).

If you need an antidote to all the Best Books lists, try the New York Daily News list of the Most Overrated titles of the year (including the book that Esquire magazine named THE Book of the Year, The Submission by Amy Waldman).

Has Hollywood been reading the Best Books lists?

Daughter of Smoke and Bone, by Laini Taylor, swept most of the children’s Best Books lists to date (the Washington Post and the National Book Awards are the only hold-outs. The author’s Lips Touch: Three Times, however, was a nominee in 2009). Universal announced yesterday that they have acquired the rights to adapt it.

It has all the elements that Hollywood loves. It’s the first in a planned trilogy (making it franchise material à la Twilight, Harry Potter and The Hunger Games), it’s written for young adults (see previous parens), but has strong cross-over appeal (ditto) and is a supernatural romance (similarities anyone?).

The next book in the series is scheduled for publication in Sept, 2012.

Daughter of Smoke and Bone Laini Taylor Retail Price: $18.99 Hardcover: 432 pages Publisher: Hachette/LBYR – (2011-09-27) ISBN / EAN: 0316134023 / 9780316134026

Hachette Audio; 9781611132977

The HBO series Game of Thrones brought a whole new audience to George R. R. Martin’s A Song of Ice and Fire books. Get ready for season 2, based on the second title in the book series, A Clash of Kings, (RH/Ballantine, 1999).

It’s not coming until April, but HBO’s promotion machine (the second teaser trailer has already hit the screen) will keep it in on people’s radar.

Tie-in editions in trade pbk (9780345535412), mass market (9780345535429) and audio (9780449011102) are scheduled for late February.

We have asoft spot for the quirky debut novel by short story writer, Kevin Wilson, The Family Fang. Back in March, we discussed it in a special edition of GalleyChat and have enjoyed tracking its success ever since (Nicole Kidman likes it, too. She recently signed it for a movie). The latest accolade; it’s #4 on People magazine’s picks of the years Top Ten Books (Dec. 26 issue).

Like most of the other titles on People‘s list, it’s already on several others. The major exception is #9, In Zanesville, which received its first Best Book mention yesterday, when Nancy Pearl called it her favorite novel of year on NPR’s Morning Edition.

1. The Sense of an Ending, Julian Barnes, (RH/Knopf)
2. Bossypants, Tina Fey, (Hachette/Little, Brown; Hachette Audio)
3. Stories I Only Tell My Friends, Rob Lowe, (Macmillan/Holt; Macmillan Audio)
4. The Family Fang, Kevin Wilson (HarperCollins/Ecco)
5. Then Again, Diane Keaton, (RH/Random House; RH Audio)
6. The Stranger’s Child, Alan Hollinghurst, (RH/Knopf; RH Audio)
7. Steve Jobs, Walter Isaacson, (S&S;  S&S Audio;  Large print, Thorndike; Spanish Edition, RH/Vintage Books)
8. State of Wonder, Ann Patchett (Harper; Recorded Books; HarperLuxe; HarperAudio)
9. In Zanesville, Jo Ann Beard, (Hachette/Little, Brown; Audio, Dreamscape)
10. The Paris Wife, Paula McLain (RH/Ballantine; Audio; Random House and Books On Tape)

On April 23rd, a group of 50,000 “passionate readers” will be giving away a million books.

The program is “World Book Night,” an expanded version of a program that began in Britian, where it lead to an increase in book sales. Anna Quindlen has been named the honorary chair of the U.S. program.

Librarians are invited to apply to be “book givers.” Online applications are available today, at us.worldbooknight.org.

In addition to the giveaways, books will be shipped to prison libraries and military bases.

The thirty books in the program were chosen by a panel of independent booksellers, Barnes & Noble buyers, and librarians.

The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie (Hachette/ LBYR)

Because of Winn-Dixie by Kate DiCamillo (Candlewick)

Bel Canto by Ann Patchett (HarperPerennial)

Blood Work by Michael Connelly (Hachette/Grand Central)

The Book Thief by Markus Zusak (RH/Knopf Books for Young Readers)

The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao by Junot Díaz (Penguin/Riverhead); a Spanish-language edition, La breve y maravillosa vida de Óscar Wao (RH/Vintage Espanol), will also be made available.

Ender’s Game by Orson Scott Card (Macmillan/Tor)

Friday Night Lights by H.G. Bissinger (Perseus/Da Capo)

The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls (S&S/Scribner)

The History of Love by Nicole Krauss (Norton)

Housekeeping by Marilynne Robinson (Macmillan/Picador)

The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins (Scholastic)

I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou (RH/Ballantine)

The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot (RH/Broadway)

Just Kids by Patti Smith (HarperCollins/Ecco)

Kindred by Octavia E. Butler (Beacon Press)

The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini (Penguin/Riverhead)

Little Bee by Chris Cleave (Simon & Schuster)

The Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold (Hachette/Back Bay)

My Sister’s Keeper by Jodi Picoult (S&S/Atria)

The Namesake by Jhumpa Lahiri (HMH/Mariner)

Peace Like a River by Leif Enger (Grove Atlantic)

The Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingsolver (HarperPerennial)

A Prayer for Owen Meany by John Irving (RH/Ballantine)

Q Is for Quarry by Sue Grafton (Penguin/Berkley)

A Reliable Wife by Robert Goolrick (Workman/Algonquin)

The Stand by Stephen King (RH/Anchor)

The Things They Carried by Tim O’Brien (HMH/Mariner)

Wintergirls by Laurie Halse Anderson (Penguin/Viking Children’s)

Zeitoun by Dave Eggers (RH/Vintage)