May 23rd, 2011 By: Nora Rawlinson
Summer Reading, 2011
With the Memorial Day weekend coming up, we can look forward to summer reading roundups. The L.A. Times gets a jump on the season, with picks in nine categories, including audio books.
EarlyWord
News for Collection Development and Readers Advisory Librarians
May 23rd, 2011 By: Nora Rawlinson
Oprah Book Club May Live On
The Oprah Show sprints to its conclusion on Wednesday. In 1996, the show introduced Oprah’s Book Club. Although those segments didn’t bring the highest ratings, Oprah tells USA Today that she is “going to try to develop a show for books and authors” on her network, OWN.
What are low ratings for television are huge for publishing. The “Oprah Effect” has been unsurpassed in its influence on book sales; Oprah editions of the 70 titles in the club sold an estimated 55 million copies, according to USA Today’s source.
In a separate article, the AP analyzes the sales of specific titles, saying they present a “surprisingly erratic pattern” from title to title. The top Oprah author? Eckhart Tolle.
But the other living authors in the club have also found their lives transformed. In USA Today, Wally Lamb, author of two Oprah picks (She’s Come Undone and I Know This Much Is True) describes what it was like to get the news, twice.
May 20th, 2011 By: Nora Rawlinson
SILVER SPARROW on NPR
Favorite new fact of the day; bigamy is so common that many churches have smelling salts on hand to revive the widow when another wife walks in the door.
We learned this via Michelle Norrs’s interview with Tayari Jones about her novel, Silver Sparrow (Algonquin, 5/24; Audio, Audiogo; Large Print, Thorndike) on NPR’s All Things Considered.
The book, opens with the words, “My father, James Witherspoon, is a bigamist.” Norris asks if the story is based on Jones’s own life. She’s gotten that question a lot, says Jones, noting. “It’s funny, when it comes to memoir, we want to catch the author in a lie. When we read fiction, we want to catch the author telling the truth.” And, no, he is not a bigamist, but Jones uses the story of two separate families to explore how a father can be a different person to each of his children.
The book, which had early buzz on GalleyChat, is also the #1 pick on the June Indie Next list.
May 20th, 2011 By: Charlotte Abbott
New Title Radar – Week of May 23
In addition to Silver Sparrow, (above) several new titles releasing next week are getting buzz; David McCullough turns his eyes to Paris and the effect it’s had on Americans who went there; former Sarah Palin aide, Frank Bailey publishes his tell-all, and we’ll get up close and personal with the guys of ESPN.
Fiction
Children and Fire by Ursula Hegi (Scribner) is set in Burgdorf, Germany, the fictitious town where her bestselling novels Stones from the River and The Vision of Emma Blau took place, and tells the story of a day in 1934 that changed the townspeople’s lives. Booklist says “Hegi excells at detailing the minutiae of the routine as ordinary citizens are either lulled into complacency or forced to confront their own dark night of the soul.” Audio; Tantor (an interview with the author is also on the Tantor site)
Nonfiction
Those Guys Have All the Fun: Inside the World of ESPN by James Andrew Miller and Tom Shales (Little Brown) is a 770-page oral history of ESPN that’s promises lots of dirt on the sports channel’s executives and talent. A well-kept embargo has had the desired effect, driving the media crazy and bringing advance speculation in many places, including the New York Times. In another effective marketing ploy, publisher Little, Brown, lifted the embargo earlier this week, bringing even more attention. As a result the book’s been on the Amazon Top 100 since May 12, and today is at #4 and rising. The authors’ previous title, the 2002 Live From New York: An Uncensored History of Saturday Night Live, as Told By Its Stars, Writers and Guests, is also rising.
Blind Allegiance to Sarah Palin: A Memoir of Our Tumultuous Years by Frank Bailey (Howard Books) is an account by the former Alaska governor’s 2006 campaign manager and transition team leader. Bailey says it’s based on 60,000 emails he sent or received while working for Palin, and is being investigated by the Alaska state attorney’s office for using unreleased state records.
The Greater Journey: Americans in Paris by David McCullough (Simon & Schuster) tells the story of American artists and scientists who studied in Paris, and how what they learned there changed America. PW calls it “an entertaining chronicle.”
Growing Up in Heaven by James Van Pragh (HarperOne) is the bestselling medium’s view of children in the afterlife and their connection to the living.
Children’s/Young Adult
The Warlock: Secrets of the Immortal Nicholas Flamel by Michael Scott (Delacorte Press Books for Young Readers) is the fifth installment in the bestselling series. No news yet on what is happening with the film adaptation of the series; rights were signed up over a year ago.
Movie Tie-ins:
One Day (Movie Tie-In Edition) by David Nicholls (Vintage) revisits Dexter Mayhew and Emma Morley over the course of 20 years on the anniversary of the day they met. Anne Hathaway and Jim Sturgis star in the movie releasing August 19, 2011. Trailer is here.
Judy Moody and the NOT Bummer Summer by Megan McDonald (Candlewick) is headed to movie theaters the week after next. Trailer is here. Several tie-ins are being published, for various ages; see our full list here.
May 19th, 2011 By: Nora Rawlinson
GARDEN OF BEASTS, SNOWMAN Best Sellers
Two books we issued Heavy Holds Alerts for recently are now official USA Today best sellers and headed for the NYT lists.
Erik Larson’s In the Garden of Beasts, enters the list at #12, indicating it will land in the top five on the upcoming NYT nonfiction list (dated 5/29). As USA Today notes in the Book Buzz column, this is the highest position yet for the author on their list.
Jo Nesbo’s The Snowman, considered a leading contender for the Stieg
Larsson mantle, enters the USA Today list at #51; expect to see it in the NYT fiction top ten (just below the last in the Larsson trilogy).
Back in September of 2008, we issued a Heavy Holds Alert for Girl with the Dragon Tattoo. The next week, it hit the USA Today list, but a bit higher, at #34, proving yet again that library hold patterns are predictors of success.
May 19th, 2011 By: Nora Rawlinson
New Kindle Tipping Point
Amazon has declared many landmarks for Kindle books outselling print, but all have been with an asterisk (comparison made to paperback sales only, comparison includes free Kindle downloads, time period follows a gift-giving season when many people received Kindles as gifts).
But today’s news release may signal an actual tipping point. Amazon announced that, since April 1, they have sold 105 Kindle books for every 100 in print, whether hardcover or paperback.
In addition, they say they have sold more than three times as many Kindle books than they did for the same period last year.
No actual numbers are included, so it is still nearly impossible to ferret out what percentage Kindle sales represents of the total book business.
May 19th, 2011 By: Nora Rawlinson
COFFINS OF LITTLE HOPE Gaining Traction
In her May interview on Seattle’s NPR station, WKUO, Nancy Pearl says she’s been reading two “wonderful novels” [listen here] that she will be talking about on an upcoming interview on the NPR’s national Morning Edition show.
The first, The Coffins of Little Hope, by Timothy Schaffert, (Unbridled, 4/19), also receives a strong endorsement from Ron Charles this week in the Washington Post, Janet Maslin last month in the NYT and is awarded four of a possible four stars in the 5/16 issue of People magazine, in a review describing it as,
Memorably narrated by octogenarian obit writer Essie Myles, this is a witty, sometimes profound story about media, mortality and rash acts undertaken in the name of love.
Author Timothy Schaffert appeared in early May at the Omaha Public Library. In a promo on the local morning tv show, he offers an intriguing description of the plot (don’t worry; the intro from the show’s rather excitable hosts, who clearly have not read the book, is mercifully brief).
It is published by indie press Unbridled Books. Founded in 2003, the press has built a strong reputation in just a few years for discovering literary fiction (one of their major breakouts is The Singer’s Gun by Emily St. John Mandel, a finalist for the Indie Booksellers Choice award).
The other favorite Nancy mentions is Emily Alone by Stuart O’Nan (Viking/Penguin, March 17). She says both in it and The Coffins of Little Hope the authors allow you to get to know a character in depth, both the good and the bad, similar to what Evan Connell achieved with Mrs. Bridge and Elizabeth Strout with Olive Kitteridge.
May 19th, 2011 By: Nora Rawlinson
Dick Cheney’s Memoir Announced
Former VP Dick Cheney’s memoir In My Time, will be released on August 30th, reports the AP. It is being published by Threshold Editions, S&S’s conservative imprint run by former Cheney aide Mary Matalin.
According to Cheney’s co-author, his daughter Liz Cheney, her father will make appearances to promote the book, despite his heart disease.
The book is now #92 on Amazon sales rankings.
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Abridged Audio; S&S Audio — reader TBA
May 18th, 2011 By: Nora Rawlinson
The First Look at Katniss
The new issue of Entertainment Weekly, on stands this Friday, features the first photos from the set of Hunger Games and an interview with the movie’s star Jennifer Lawrence; brief excerpts are on EW’s PopWatch blog.
The movie is currently scheduled for release on 3/23/2012.
For the rest of the cast, the National Post offers a handy who’s who, up to the recent casting of Woody Harrelson as Haymitch and Stanley Tucci as Caesar Flickerman.
May 18th, 2011 By: Nora Rawlinson
The Next John Grisham Title Announced
Just in time for BEA, Doubleday has announced that the next John Grisham legal thriller is The Litigators. On sale 10/25, It will also be available as an ebook for library lending. The cover below is just a placeholder; the final will be unveiled later.
THE LITIGATORS by John Grisham
Doubleday
On-Sale Date: 10/25/11
HC: 9780385535137
E-book: 9780385535250
There will be more Grisham this fall. He is co-producing a series for NBC, based on his first major success, The Firm. It was adapted as a movie, starring Tom Cruise, in 1993.
May 18th, 2011 By: Nora Rawlinson
AREA 51
Annie Jacobsen’s Area 51: An Uncensored History of America’s Top Secret Military Base rose to #2 on Amazon, as a result of the author’s appearances on two influential shows, NPR’s Fresh Air and Comedy Central’s Daily Show with Jon Stewart.
The book was embargoed and was not reviewed prepub.
One of the author’s claims received skeptical attention from Bloomberg and the SF Chronicle yesterday, Roswell Martians Might Have Been Nazi Kids From Mengele’s Lab.
Jon Stewart said, “Read it from page one; it will blow your mind.”
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Audio, Hachette Audio, 9781609410896; Large Type, Little, Brown, 9780316178075
May 18th, 2011 By: Nora Rawlinson
The PSYCHOPATH TEST
It’s been a while since Jon Stewart featured an author on his show. On Monday, he demonstrated how effective his book recommendations can be. Introducing Jon Ronson, author of The Psychopath Test, he announced “We’re big fans of your work” (Ronson also wrote The Men Who Stare at Goats, which was adapted as a movie starring George Clooney).
As a result of the appearance, the Psychopath Test rose to #3 on Amazon sales rankings. It received a mixed review from Janet Maslin in the NYT on Monday.
In libraries, holds are heavy on light ordering.
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Audio; Tantor
May 18th, 2011 By: Nora Rawlinson
Oprah/Frey, Round Two
Whatever James Frey’s reasons were to ignore the advice of friends and lawyers and return to the Oprah Show five years after his famous tongue-lashing, the appearance offered him the opportunity to bring attention to his new book, The Final Testament of the Holy Bible. And that it did; the $50 print version rose to #253 from a lowly #10,286 on Amazon’s sales rankings and the $9.99 Kindle edition rose to #69.
Although the Oprah site describes the book as “the story of the Second Coming of Christ in today’s modern world — but in James’ book, Christ is a bisexual former alcoholic who lives in the Bronx and impregnates a stripper,” that description is not in the televised interview. Oprah simply says it is “controversial” because any book that uses “Bible” in the title will be. Frey says he hopes the book will “change people’s lives for the better” by getting them to “think about God differently,” making it sound tailor-made for the Oprah audience.
It was reviewed last month by Dierdre Donahue in USA Today, who offers a more nuanced plot summary,
[The Messiah Ben] goes out to heal the world one sexual encounter at a time, though sometimes with more than one partner, among them fat lonely women, self-hating gay men and crack-addicted lap dancers. When Ben and his followers gather in secret at an upstate farm, they share the love with the kind of uninhibited variety not seen since Plato’s Retreat closed.
She counsels, “Frey is yanking your chain to sell books. Already published in the UK, Testament has received some good reviews there. Probably because it confirms many nonbelievers’ conviction that much of this country is one big David Koresh/Branch Davidian nest of sects and racism.”
Few libraries own the print edition (the ebook version is not available for library lending). Those that do are showing some holds.
May 17th, 2011 By: Nora Rawlinson
BEFORE I GO TO SLEEP; Summer’s Hottest
If you’ve been reading EarlyWord, you’ve heard plenty about S.J. Watson’s debut psychological thriller, Before I Go To Sleep.
The Wall Street Journal has now caught on to it, calling it “one of the summer’s hottest prospects.” As the article notes, Ridley Scott recently purchased the film rights.
Watson, who lives in the UK, will make one of his few US appearances at the ALTAF Mystery and Horror program on Sunday, June 26, 10:30 to noon during ALA.
May 17th, 2011 By: Nora Rawlinson
Tintin Teaser
The teaser trailer for Steven Spielberg’s 3-D performance-capture adaptation of The Adventures of Tintin, has just been released on the Web. Starring Jamie Bell (Billy Elliot, Defiance) as boy reporter Tintin, with Daniel Craig (Quantum of Solace, Defiance) as the pirate, Red Rackham, it is based on the first two books in Belgian artist Georges “Hergé” Remi’s Tintin comic series, Secret of the Unicorn and Red Rackham’s Treasure. The first in a planned trilogy, the series is a joint project between Spielberg and Peter Jackson, who will direct the second in the series.
Watch it below, or go to Apple’s trailer page to view it in HD.
It’s currently scheduled to be released on Dec. 23, but another major Spielberg project, War Horse, based on the book by Michael Morpurgo, is scheduled for the following week, so that could change.
Official Web site: TinTin.com
Little, Brown plans to publish junior novel and young reader tie-ins, using stills from the movie, rather than Herge’s original art.
In addition, LBYR is releasing new “Young Readers Editions” of the Tintin books, with original story and art, plus background material, beginning with the following this month (full list of titles available here).
We can safely assume that, as part of the series, the filmmakers do not plan to adapt the controversial Tintin in the Congo, widely regarded as not only racist, but condoning animal cruelty. In print, it is only available in the US as part of a $150 “Collectors Edition” complete set.
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