EarlyWord

After being short-listed four times, Julian Barnes has finally won the Booker Prize, an honor he once dismissed as “posh bingo,” for The Sense of an Ending. The news sent the book to #8 on Amazon’s sales rankings.

Originally scheduled for publication in January, the book was recently moved up to the beginning of October.

Earlier this year, the head of the judging committee, spy novelist Stella Rimington, said  she wanted people “to buy [the titles on the shortlist] and read them, not buy them and admire them,” setting off a round of controversy and launching a new, competing prize, pointedly named the Literature Prize.

Even so, The Sense of an Ending leans more towards “Literature” than towards what is commonly considered “readable.” Michiko Kakutani, reviewing it in the New York Times found it, “…dense with philosophical ideas and more clever than emotionally satisfying. Still, it manages to create genuine suspense as a sort of psychological detective story” and the San Francisco Chronicle said, “At 163 pages, Julian Barnes’ latest novel…is the longest book I have ever read,” although it invites and rewards rereading.

Other U.S reviews:

Entertainment Weekly, by Stephan Lee (Oct. 11, 2011)

Washington Post, by Jeff Turrentine (Oct. 11, 2011)

Cleveland Plain Dealer, by John Freeman (Oct. 13, 2011)

Wall Street Journal, by Sam Sacks (Oct. 17, 2011)

The Sense of an Ending Julian Barnes Retail Price: $23.95 Hardcover: 176 pages Publisher: Knopf – (2011-10-05) ISBN / EAN: 0307957128 / 9780307957122

The premiere of the second season of AMC Network’s [corrected; we earlier referred to it as USA Network’s] Walking Dead drew a total of 11 million viewers and broke basic cable ratings in several demographics.

No surprise, then, that the various compilations of the source comics also rose on Amazon sales rankings. Leading the pack is the seventh volume which arrives tomorrow:

The Walking Dead, Book 7 Robert Kirkman Retail Price: $34.99 Hardcover: 304 pages Publisher: Image Comics – (2011-10-18) ISBN / EAN: 1607064391/ 9781607064398

For those who just can’t get enough of the gore, The Walking Dead Chronicles: The Official Companion Book goes behind the scenes of the first season.

The Walking Dead Chronicles Paul Ruditis, AMC Retail Price: $19.95 Paperback: 208 pages Publisher: Harry N. Abrams – (2011-10-01) ISBN / EAN: 1419701193 / 9781419701191

The comic series creator, Robert Kirkman, published  the first in a projected series of original Walking Dead novels last week (more on Kirkman here).

The Walking Dead: Rise of The Governor Robert Kirkman, Jay Bonansinga Retail Price: $24.99 Hardcover: 320 pages Publisher: Thomas Dunne Books – (2011-10-11) ISBN / EAN: 0312547730 / 9780312547738

USA Today has added a second book blog to their Web site; “Happy Ever After,” devoted to romance novels, now joins the Book Buzz blog. Edited by romance novelist Joyce Lamb (the final title in her True trilogy, True Shot, will be published in mass market by Berkley, 12/6), it includes contributions from five other fans of the genre. In the two weeks since it launched in beta, the blog has featured reviews, author interviews and explored how authors use music to set the tone for their writing.

After learning that she was a nominee for the National Book Award for Young People’s Literature for her book Shine, Lauren Myracle got the disappointing news that the announcement was a mistake. The nominee was supposed to be the sound alike Chime by Franny Billingsley, but the committee decided to go ahead and include both books.

Now, according to a report by the Associated Press, the committee has changed their minds again and Myracle has complied with a request from NBA to withdraw Shine from consideration.

Next week, watch for Kimberly Cutter‘s fresh debut about Joan of Arc, popular YA author Ellen Hopkins‘ first adult novel, and a YA novel by Maggie Stiefvater that some are predicting could become a blockbuster. There are also new novels by Ha Jin, Amos Oz and Colson Whitehead, along with James Patterson, Iris Johansen and Chuck Palahniuk. In nonfiction, there’s a new Van Gogh bio that draws on new sources.

Watch List

The Maid: A Novel of Joan of Arc by Kimberly Cutter (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt) is a debut that captures the bloody warfare and nasty politics of 15th Century France through the eyes of young Joan herself, based on the author’s own journey from Joan’s birthplace in Domrémy to Rouen, the site of Joan’s burning at the stake. PW calls it “a dynamic page-turner” and Kirkus calls it “a thoughtful retelling.” Below, the author explains what drew her to the subject.

Triangles by Ellen Hopkins (Atria Books; S&S Audio) is this popular YA author’s first novel aimed at adults, about three friends, one in a marriage on the downswing, another searching and finding intimacy and moral compromise, and a third trying to hold her complex life together, told in the author’s signature free verse. PW calls it “a raw and riveting tale of love and forgiveness that will captivate readers,” but Library Journal cautions that “at 544 pages, it’s indulgent, and some of the poems seem contrived and clunky.”

Literary Returns

Nanjing Requiem by Ha Jin (Pantheon) the National Book Award and PEN/Faulkner Award winning author’s sixth novel focuses on the atrocities committed by the Japanese occupiers in 1937 Nanjing, and the heroism of a female missionary who sheltered 10,000 people in the face of brutality. LJ says, “readers should be aware of the book’s relentless, graphic horror. Jin’s loyal readers will notice a bluntness—jarringly effective here—different from his previous works, as if Jin, too, must guard himself against the horror.”

Scenes from Village Life by Amos Oz, translated by Nicholas de Lange (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt) explores the sometimes hidden, often melancholy aspects of life in a fictional Israeli village in eight finely wrought, interconnected stories. LJ says it “reminds us of the creepy unsureness that underlies all ‘village’ life, rural or urban—and not just in Israel. Highly recommended.”

Zone One by Colson Whitehead (Doubleday) marks yet another shift in direction for this critically praised author, who offers a wry take on the post-apocalyptic horror novel in which plague has sorted humanity into two types: the uninfected and the infected, the living and the living dead. Booklist gives it a starred review, calling it a ” deft, wily, and unnerving blend of pulse-elevating action and sniper-precise satire.”

Usual Suspects

Bonnie by Iris Johansen (St. Martin’s; audio, Brilliance; large type, Thorndike) is the latest mystery featuring forensic sculptor Eve Duncan, as she enters the final phase of her painstaking journey to find her daughter Bonnie’s remains and her killer. LJ says it “drags on for about 100 pages too long and loses the success of its earlier parts with too many twists that are remedied too easily.”

The Christmas Wedding by James Patterson and Richard DiLallo (Little, Brown; large type, Thorndike;  Hachette Audio) again abandons the thriller for a title that sounds (and looks) more like a Nicholas Sparks’s novel. It features a widow who suddenly decides to re-marry on Christmas Day, to one of three suitors. Kirkus says, “The authors maintain the suspense, with Gaby and her brood riding a roller-coaster of family problems, right up to the wedding day. A perfect plot for a Meryl Streep or Diane Lane happily-ever-after movie.” This is Patterson’s second outing with coauthor DiLallo who shared writing credits on Alex Cross’s Trial (Little, Brown, 2009).

Damned by Chuck Palahniuk (Doubleday; audio, Blackstone) is the story of the 13 year-old daughter of a self-absorbed movie star mother and a financial tycoon father who collect Third World orphans. Booklist says,”Palahniuk’s latest is no Fight Club (1996) or Choke (2001), his two best, but with frequent laughs and a slew of unexpected turns, readers will find in it a certain charm.” Holds to copies are heavy in some libraries.

Young Adult

The Scorpio Races by Maggie Stiefvater (Scholastic; Audio from Scholastic) is a new YA book from the author of Shiver and Linger, about a beachside contest that’s often fatal to the riders of a fierce breed of man-eating water horses, who rise from the sea. Booklist predicts it will appeal to lovers of fantasy, horse stories, romance, and action-adventure alike, this seems to have a shot at being a YA blockbuster.”

Beautiful Chaos by Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl (Little, Brown Books for Young Readers) is the third supernatural novel in the bestselling Beautiful Creatures series, set in a small Southern town.

Memoir and Biography

My Long Trip Home: A Family Memoir by Mark Whitaker (Simon & Schuster) is a personal and familial memoir from an executive v-p of CNN Worldwide, who is the biracial son of Syl Whitaker, a grandson of slaves who became a prominent African studies scholar, and Jeanne Theis, a white refugee from WWII Nazi-occupied France whose father helped rescue Jews. Kirkus says, “It’s difficult to follow the many names and threads, especially in the first half, but the writing comes across as honest and wholly engaging.”

Van Gogh: The Life by Steven Naifeh and Gregory White Smith (Random House) is a new biography written with the full cooperation of the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam, and tapping a wealth of previously untapped materials.

History

Lions of the West: Heroes and Villains of the Westward Expansion by Robert Morgan (Shannon Ravenel/Algonquin) chronicles the expansion of the U.S. across the North American continent in the early 19th century.

Current Events

Suicide of a Superpower: Will America Survive to 2025? by Patrick J. Buchanan (Thomas Dunne/St. Martins; Macmillan Audio) blames what the author calls the downfall of the United States on the country’s ethnic and religious diversity.

It Is Dangerous to Be Right When the Government Is Wrong: The Case for Personal Freedom by Andrew P. Napolitano (Thomas Nelson) is an argument by the former judge and current Fox commentator against giving some powers to the federal government.

The heavy advertising for the movie The Big Year, opening on Friday, doesn’t mention that it’s about a real-life marathon bird-watching competition, or that it’s based on a journalist’s account of the actual event.

The movie stars Owen Wilson, Rashida Jones, Jack Black and Steve Martin.

Most libraries own the book, published in 2005 to strong reviews.

The Big Year: A Tale of Man, Nature, and Fowl Obsession Mark Obmascik Retail Price: $15.00 Paperback: 268 pages Publisher: Free Press – (2005-02-01) ISBN / EAN: 0743245466 / 9780743245463

This is the time of year when I get requests for a Halloween read aloud, but one that’s not too scary, please!

After The Little Old Lady Who Was Not Afraid of Anything, by by Linda Williams (Harper, 1986), The Ghost of Sifty Sifty Sam by Angela Shelf Medearis (Scholastic, 1997) and Hoodwinked by Arthur Howard (Harcourt, 2001), I start to come up dry. I was delighted to see the following newcomers join the pack of old favorites for the little ones’ story time.

Creepy Monsters, Sleepy Monsters by Jane Yolen, illustrated by Kelly Murphy, Candlewick, July, 2011. Ages 3+

The cuddliest, sweetest monsters this side of Monsters inc. We follow the furry, multi-eyed, spiky teethed creatures as they leave school and hip-hop, tumble and slither home in the dusky evening light.  Yolen’s spare rhyming text makes this the perfect unscary, scary good-night story.

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The 13 Nights of Halloween, written and illustrated by Guy Vasilovich, Harper, July, 2011. Ages 5 and up.

Riffing on the Twelve Days of Christmas, the text sings, “On the first night of Halloween, my mummy gave to me, a bright, shiny skeleton key. On the second day of Halloween my mummy gave to me, a 2- headed snake and a bright, shiny skeleton key.”  Vasilovich’s cheerfully gruesome illustrations abound with visual puns (the 3 baseball “bats” are flying mammals in sports caps). Begs to be sung aloud at holiday program.

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Little Goblins Ten by Pamela Jane, Illustrated by Jane Manning, Harper, July, 2011. Ages 4 and up

We count up the monsters, ghosts, zombies, werewolves and mummies in this Halloween retelling of the preschool classic, Over in the Meadow. “Leap!” said the father. “We leap,” said the ten. “So they laughed and they leaped in the deep green glen.” The final spread brings everyone together for a final count and find.

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Never Kick a Ghost and Other Silly Chillers by Judy Sierra, pictures by Pascale Constantin, Harper, July, 2011. Ages 5 and up

An easy-to-read compendium of short shivery tales, rhymes and jokey epitaphs from award winning folklorist and poet, Judy Sierra.

Go to the stacks for her classic, The House that Drac Built (HMH, 1998) illustrated by Will Hillenbrand.

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What’s in the Witch’s Kitchen? written and illustrated by Nick Sharratt, Candlewick, July, 2011. Ages 4 and up.

A lift-the-flap trick or treat, asks readers if something nice or something icky lurks behind the cupboard door, or in the bowl, or in the toaster. Pull the flap to the right, it could be “crunchy hot toast.” Pull it to the left, ”A grumpy, burnt ghost.”

In its first week of publication, Michael Lewis’s Boomerang; Travels in the New Third World, (Norton, 10/3; S&S Audio) arrives at #1 on the Indie Hardcover Nonfiction List (we also hear that it will be at #2 on the upcoming NYT list).

After four weeks on the Indie Hardcover Fiction Bestseller list, the heavily-promoted debut, The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern (Doubleday, 9/13; Audio, RH Audio and Books on Tape; Large Print,Center Point), moves back up to #1, after spending one week in the #2 position.

Also notable, The Cat’s Table by Michael Ondaatje (Knopf; Random House Audio; Books on Tape), arrives at #4  in its first week of publication.

Finalists for the National Book Awards were announced yesterday. Winners will be announced at The National Book Awards Ceremony on Wednesday, November 16, 2011, in New York City. It will be hosted by actor, and author, John Lithgow.

In fiction, it’s no surprise that the most celebrated literary debut of the year and the Orange Prize winner, Téa Obreht ‘s The Tiger’s Wife is a finalist. Other celebrated literary novels, Chad Harbach’s The Art of Fielding and Jeffrey Eugenides’ The Marriage Plot did not make the cut, however.

The judges also included a book from a small press startup, Lookout Press. Last year, they sent libraries (as well as the book’s publisher) scrambling when Jaimy Gordon won for Lord of Misrule, from tiny press, McPherson & Co. Lookout, launched in January, is an imprint of the Creative Writing Program at University of North Carolina Wilmington.

• Andrew Krivak —  The Sojourn — Bellevue Literary Press
• Téa Obreht — The Tiger’s Wife — Random House
• Julie Otsuka — The Buddha in the Attic — Knopf
• Edith Pearlman — Binocular Vision —Lookout
• Jesmyn Ward —Salvage the Bones — Bloomsbury USA

Librarian Nancy Pearl was an early enthusiast of The Hare with Amber Eyes, by Edmund de Waal, (Pbk, Picador, 8/23; Hdbk, FSG, 2010), calling it the best memoir she read last year. It’s been on the Indie Best Seller list since it was published in trade paperback in August, moving up to #8 last week. Nancy interviews de Waal on Seattle’s cable channel.

De Waal inherited a collection of tiny Japanese carvings from a great uncle. In trying to figure out why he had been chosen as the recipient, de Waal saw it as beginning of a story, which turned out to be a book about his family (and what a family it was. One of his ancestors, Charles Ephrussi, is included in Renoir’s painting, The Luncheon of the Boating Party). It is also the story of a Jewish family living in Europe from 1870 to 1938, which as de Waal says, is the story of figuring out where you belong and how to make sense of yourself “as an outsider in the middle of society.”

He reveals that he is going to write another book, about “the history of the color white” (as unlikely as that sounds, listening to him describe it, we have to agree with Nancy that it sounds “fabulous”).

Both Nancy and de Waal are enthusiastic about Ali Smith’s new novel, There But for the, published last month, and reviewed in both The NYT Book Review, and The Washington Post.

There But For The: A Novel Ali Smith Retail Price: $25.00 Hardcover: 256 pages Publisher: Pantheon – (2011-09-13) ISBN 9780375424090

For a week, the New York Film Festival has been promoting last night’s showing of a work-in-progress by an unnamed “major director.” Turns out it was Martin Scorsese’s Hugo, based on Brian Selznick’s Caldecott-winning The Invention of Hugo Cabret (Scholastic, 2008). It’s the director’s first family movie and his first use of 3-D.

The Reuters’s reviewer said it is so good that Martin Scorsese may have just “saved 3D” (The Lion King seems to have already done that. Disney may kill it again, however, with their planned re-release of four more titles in that format). He also regards it as “less of a children’s film than Scorsese’s cinematic history lesson, and his valentine to the early days of cinema.”

On the other hand, influential critic Ann Thompson (former Deputy Film Editor at The Hollywood Reporter, she now runs her own movie news site, Thompson on Hollywood) found both the lead actor and the first half of the movie “awkward and stiff.”  There is a lot riding on it. Thompson notes, “It’s a $120-million borderline art film aimed at families who may or may not buy into this elaborately 30s period Brit movie set in Paris with two tweens (Asa Butterfield and Chloe Moretz) on an adventure.”

The movie opens Nov. 23.

Below is a behind-the-scenes video, featuring Scorsese, released on the Web yesterday.

Tie-in:

The Hugo Movie Companion:A Behind the Scenes Look at How a Beloved Book Became a Major Motion Picture Brian Selznick Retail Price: $19.99 Hardcover: 256 pages Publisher: Scholastic Press – (2011-10-01) ISBN / EAN: 0545331552 / 9780545331555

A trailer for The Raven, a film featuring John Cusack as a fictional Edgar Allan Poe, was released on Oct. 7th, the 162nd anniversary of the writer’s death. Also on that day, the film’s director, James McTeigue as well as one of the lead actors, laid a wreath on Poe’s grave in Baltimore. The AP story about the event also notes the sad story that funding was withdrawn from Baltimore’s Poe House and it now faces closure.

It would probably cost less than the film’s catering budget to keep the museum open.

The premise of the movie is that a serial killer is mimicking Poe’s stories. At first Poe is a suspect, but soon becomes one of the investigators. It opens March 9, 2012.

The trailer includes a reference to The Pit and the Pendulum. Poe fans — can you spot other references?

(Caution: be sure to swallow your coffee before watching)

Two major feature films based on the Grimm fairy tale, Snow White and the Seven Dwarves, debut next year, prompting CinemaBlend.com to do a faceoff (they pick Charlize Theron, above left, over Julia Roberts, right, as the better Evil Queen; Disney’s earlier version separates the two. Nice collars, ladies).

How will the movies differ? According to Entertainment Weekly, Universal’s Snow White and the Huntsman is ” more of a dark action-adventure” and Relativity’s as yet untitled movie is “more fanciful, family-friendly fairy tale.”

Is there really a rivalry, or is it just in the minds of the media? At least one of the people involved is feeling competitive. Entertainment Weekly quotes Tarsem Singh, director of The Hunstman, “They’re so far behind us, there’s no point in watching [what’s going on with that production]. It’s a different type of film.”

Untitled Snow White [UPDATE: Title is Mirror, Mirror]

Release Date — March 16, 2012

Director — Tarsem Singh

Snow White — Lily Collins

The Evil Queen — Julia Roberts

Description —  According to IMDB, “In a twist to the fairy tale, the Huntsman ordered to take Snow White into the woods to be killed winds up becoming her protector and mentor in a quest to vanquish the Evil Queen.” Entertainment Weekly says that, of the two movies, it’s the “more fanciful, family-friendly fairy tale.”

Tie-in: Snow White: Movie Reader, Jenne Simon, Scholastic, 2/2012

Snow White and the Huntsman

Release Date — June 1, 2012

Director — Rupert Sanders

Snow White — Kristen Stewart

The Evil Queen —  Charlize Theron

Description: According to IMDB, this is “A dark twist on the classic fairy tale, in which Snow White and the seven dwarfs look to reclaim their destroyed kingdom.” Entertainment Weekly‘s calls it “more of a dark action-adventure.”

Blake Lively is the latest in a string of actresses to turn down the chance to play Elizabeth Bennett in the film version of the grandmother of all mashups, Pride And Prejudice And Zombies by Seth Grahame-Smith (Quirk Books, 2009).

The move caused TotalFilm.com to ask “Who wants to be in this thing?”

Meanwhile, another of Grahame-Smith’s mashups, Abraham Lincoln, Vampire Hunter, is in post-production and scheduled for release on June 22, 2012. Mary Elizabeth Winstead, who plays Mary Todd Lincoln in the movie, recently told The Playlist that the fimmakers worked hard to get the period details and the historical elements correct.

One of the perks of being a children’s librarian in New York is the opportunity to go to various publisher’s previews for librarians.

This week, Penguin hosted the first of the spring season. Below are my picks. Upcoming in the next few weeks are previews from Lerner, Chronicle, Random House, Harper and Little Brown.

To get your own preview, download the Jan thru April Penguin catalog here.

The Treasure Chest: Angel of the Battlefield, Ann Hood, illus by  Karl Kwasny, Grosset & Dunlap, Jan 24.

A new series from adult author Ann Hood, it’s the next step up in reading level from The Magic Tree House readers. It features twins, Felix and Maisie, who time-travel through the magic of the “treasure chest.” In each volume they meet a distinguished historic figure as a child. The first episode features Clara Barton. The second volume, Little Lion, also coming in January, features Alexander Hamilton.

Ann describes the inspiration for the series below:

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Robbie Forester and the Outlaws of Sherwood Street, by Peter Abrahams, Philomel, Jan. 19.

The number one request that I have trouble filling is for new mystery novels…not horror, not adventure, not survival, not suspense, not fantasy, but MYSTERY. Looks like I have my answer in Robbie Forester, from the author of Down the Rabbit Hole and the Echo Falls series (as well as the popular adult Chet & Bernie mysteries written under the name Spencer Quinn).

A bonus; it’s set in my town, Brooklyn.
 
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Chopsticks by Jessica Anthony and Rodrigo Corral, Razor Bill, February 2012. 12 and up

As you can see from my photo of an interior spread below, this romance is told in scrapbook style, combining photographs, illustration and text.

The combination of photos and text has worked successfully for Ms. Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children. It’s interesting to see this technique applied to a teen romance.

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Looking at Lincoln, Maira Kalman, Nancy Paulsen Books, Jan 5.

Kalman wrote a blog on the New York Times site about viewing a collection of photos of Abraham Lincoln (in Philadelphia’s Rosenbach Museum and Library), looking deep into his eyes, and … falling in love with him. The book is reformatted from the original postings with additional art.

Kalman is currently creating an illustrated column for The New Yorker based on travels to museums and libraries, beginning with the Peoples Palace, the New York Public Library (available to subscribers only).

During the preview, we were treated to a look at some of Kalman’s original art (see more interior pages here):

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Playground, 50 Cent, Razorbill, Nov. 1.

The rapper 50 Cent bases this, his first novel on his own childhood experiences with bullying. Originally planned for publication in January, it’s been moved to November 1st. Entertainment Weekly‘s “Shelf Life” blog has posted the first three chapters.

Says Rita Williams-Garcia, “50 Cent takes monster to new depths in this character who haunts and inspires. Playground is both a sly and brutally smart novel.” VOYA approves it; “this story effectively suggests various underlying issues that can lead to bullying and how anger, if not treated, can lead to greater problems.”