8 Titles To Make You An R.A. Guru, Week of 9/22/14
Get ready for the following books, arriving next week.
All the titles listed here, and several more notable titles arriving next week, are listed, with ordering information and alternate formats, on our downloadable spreadsheet,New Title Radar, Week of 9/22/14.
Leading the Holds Lists
Bones Never Lie, Kathy Reichs, (RH/Bantam; RH Audio; RH Large Print); OverDrive Sample
Reichs, a forensic anthropologist, made the general public aware that there is such a thing through her Bones series featuring, Temperance Brennan. She appears in two forms next week, in the 17th title in the book series, as well as in the tenth season of Bones, which begins on Fox this coming Thursday.
Killing Patton: The Strange Death of World War II’s Most Audacious General, Bill O’Reilly, Martin Dugard, (Macmillan/Holt; Macmillan Audio; Wheeler L.P.) OverDrive Sample
This is that rare exception, a book of history that gets coverage in Page Six of the New York Post.
National Book Award Nominee
Skink–No Surrender, Carl Hiaasen, (RH/Knopf Books for Young Readers; RH/Listening Library) OverDrive Sample
Hiassen transitions well. An investigative reporter, he began writing novels for adults with a humorous twist that went on to become best sellers. His first novel for kids, Hoot, 2002, won the Newbery Medal. This, his first novel for teens, is on the longlist for the National Book Award for Young People’s literature. Many adult readers are familiar with Skink, who appeared in six books, beginning with Double Whammy. In the one, he helps a teen find his missing cousin.
LibraryReads Picks
Rooms, Lauren Oliver, (HarperCollins/Ecco; HarperLuxe; Blackstone Audio)
LibraryReads recommendation:
“A family comes to terms with their estranged father’s death in Oliver’s first novel for adults. Told from the perspective of two ghosts living in the old house, this unique story weaves characters and explores their various past connections. Great book!” — Rachel Fewell, Denver Public Library, Denver, CO
Horrorstor, Grady Hendrix, (Quirk Books; Blackstone Audio)
LibraryReads recommendation:
“You know how some horror movies would work better as novels? Horrorstor is that book, perfectly capturing everything that is terrific about the horror genre. In its catalog-style pages, you’ll find a hefty dose of satire, as a Scandinavian furniture store is transformed overnight into a prison. With characters that you’re rooting for and terror that creeps up on you, Horrorstor will keep you up all night in the best possible way.” — Donna Matturri, Pickerington Public Library, Pickerington, OH
If you have a hard time imaging a novel in the form of a catalog, it may be even harder to imagine that novel as an audiobook, but the Blackstone sample indicates that they’ve pulled it off.
Horrorstor was one of EarlyWord Kids Correspondent Lisa Von Drasek’s discoveries at Book Expo this year, It also became a GalleyChat favorite and was recently featured in the blog Boing Boing.
In the Media
A Deadly Wandering: A Tale of Tragedy and Redemption in the Age of Attention, Matt Richtel, (HarperCollins/Morrow; HarperAudio), OverDrive Sample
If you heard Richtel speak at this year’s BEA/AAP Librarians Lunch, you won’t forget his quiet passion about the dangers of texting and driving, as illustrated by one young man’s life that was ruined by a moment’s inattention. The basis for the book is Richtel’s New York Times articles about “distracted driving,” which won him a Pulitzer Prize in 2010. This week, his article, “Trying to Hit the Brake on Texting While Driving” appeared in the business section, as did a second one, “A Texting Driver’s Education,” excerpted from the book.
How to Build a Girl, Caitlin Moran, (Harper; HarperAudio), OverDrive Sample
“A British version of Almost Famous, delivered from a female perspective and set two decades later … dirtier and funnier … it’s a sexual coming-of-age story as much as anything else — and one that, crucially, has a hard, glowing kernel of class awareness,” says Dwight Garner in a review in the NYT this week. Lena Dunham, to whom Moran has also been compared, contributes a blurb, featured in a bright pink spot on the cover, “I have so much love for Caitlin Moran.” Dunham’s own book, Not That Kind of Girl, (Random House; RH Audio), arrives in a couple of weeks.
The Short and Tragic Life of Robert Peace: A Brilliant Young Man Who Left Newark for the Ivy League, Jeff Hobbs, (S&S/Scribner; S&S Audio), OverDrive Sample
One of the titles that New York magazine dubbed, “the hottest of Book Expo 2014,” (all but one of which has gone on to receive major attention), this is the true story of the author’s former Yale roommate, who seemed to be on the path to success after a rocky start. It gets a gotta-read-it cover review in the 9/21 New York Times Book Review and the author is slated for an interview on NPR’s Morning Edition on Tuesday.