New York magazine’s Summer Guide, offers just five “beach reads,” (in contrast, the Guide recommends The City’s Top 16 Ice Creams). Included in the list is The Hypnotist which comes out tomorrow and is widely expected to be this season’s biggest Swedish thriller. The New York annotation reads, “Maximum intensity, both psychological and physical, is packed into the story of a family ruthlessly slaughtered—possibly by their own teenage son—and the haunted ex-hypnotist who teases out the buried truth.”

Holds are growing in libraries.

In a sidebar, Nicholson Baker’s forthcoming book, House of Holes (S&S, 8/9), is called “his dirtiest work yet: a 200-plus-page tour of a sex-fantasy theme park without a proper plot or central characters. It may be the raunchiest novel ever published by a major American house.” The publisher makes no bones about that; it’s subtitled, “A Book of Raunch.”

Two quite different debuts launch with high expectations this week; a Swedish thriller (The Hypnotist) and a historical novel of manners (The Heiress). In addition, many fan favorites return with books ready for beach bags.

Watch List

The American Heiress by Daisy Godwin (St. Martin’s) is the tale an early 20th-century American heiress who marries the most eligible bachelor in England. She has the money, he’s got the title, but is the price they pay worth it?This was a popular pick on our recent Galley Chat. PW calls it  ” a propulsive story of love, manners, culture clash, and store-bought class from a time long past that proves altogether fresh.” In a starred review, LJ recommends it for book clubs.

The Hypnotist by Lars Kepler (Sarah Crichton Books/Farrar, Straus and Giroux) is a debut thriller by a Swedish husband-and-wife team that’s been signed for a movie to be directed by Lasse Hallstrom, and was covered in USA Today‘s Scandi Noir roundup. Booklist says, “A cracking pace makes up for the rather-flat-seeming characters.”

Usual Suspects

Silver Girl by Elin Hilderbrand (Reagan Arthur) follows the disgraced wife of a fraudulent money manager during a summer on Nantucket. This week’s People gives it 3 of 4 stars and describes the plot this way, “What if Ruth Madoff headed for Nanctucket and got a second chance at love?.” Booklist says, “Another winner from Hilderbrand (The Castaways, 2009), who in this sensitive and suspenseful tale succeeds in portraying a seemingly unlikable character, besieged Meredith, and making her human.”

Smokin’ Seventeen: A Stephanie Plum Novel by Janet Evanovich (Bantam) finds Stephanie Plum’s name on a killer’s list.

The Devil Colony by James Rollins (Morrow) is a new Sigma Force novel with Painter Crowe, in which he uncovers a massive conspiracy with roots in Mormonism, Native American legends, Thomas Jefferson, and explorer Meriwether Lewis, to name just a few.PW calls it  “riveting,” and says, “Rollins gets better with each book, and his position at the top of this particular subgenre remains unshaken.”

Disturbance: An Irene Kelly Novel by Jan Burke (Simon & Schuster) finds the sons of serial killer Nick Parrish, now master criminals in their own right, who have formulated a plan to spring their father from prison and murder the person who put him there — investigative journalist Irene Kelly. Booklist says, “The Kelly novels have a devoted following, and its been five years since the last one, so expect considerable interest.”

Buried Secrets: A Nick Heller Novel by Joseph Finder (St. Martin’s Press) is the second novel to feature the “private spy” who finds out things powerful people want to keep hidden. PW says, “Self-effacing, wry, and ridiculously competent, Heller makes a reasonably engaging protagonist, but this thriller’s real star is the suspenseful, expertly paced plot.”

The Dog Who Came in from the Cold: A Corduroy Mansions Novel by Alexander McCall Smith (Pantheon Books) is the second novel to feature the Pimlico terrier Freddie de la Hay. He belongs to failed oenophile William French, who has been recruited by MI6 to infiltrate a Russian spy ring. Early reviews are mixed: PW finds the characters “somewhat anemic… and a lack of trenchant observations about human nature,” while Booklist and Kirkus say the fans of Smith’s many series won’t be disappointed.

Fort Freak: A Wild Cards Novel, ed. by George R. R. Martin (Tor Books) Martin, whose Game of Thrones is a hit on HBO, is the editor of this long running anthology series set in a shared universe. This volume includes contributions from authors Cherie Priest, Melinda M. Snodgrass, David Anthony Durham, Stephen Leigh, Paul Cornell, Kevin Andrew Murphy, Mary Anne Mohanraj, Victor Milan, and John Jos. Miller.

Fallen by Karin Slaughter (Delacorte Press) brings together Slaugher’s Grant County and Atlanta characters for a second time, after Undone. Booklist says, “With its relentlessly grim depiction of the desperate circumstances of those trapped by deep-seated poverty, Slaughter’s latest entry in her series overlays the standard police procedural with a burning sense of social justice.”

Nonfiction

Starting Over by La Toya Jackson and Jeffré Phillips (Gallery) chronicles the fifth Jackson sibling’s challenges in life and her feelings about the death of her brother Michael.

None of the much-anticipated “next Stieg Larsson’s” have come close to that author’s uber-best-selling popularity. The latest contender, The Snowman by Jo Nesbo, Knopf, landed on the NYT Hardcover Fiction list, where it is now at #13 after 4 weeks, slipping from a high of #9, making it unlikely to touch the Larsson record. Still, it’s quite an achievement for a book in translation.

For fans who want more, USA Today offers a list of “Scandie Lit” coming out this summer (all are international best sellers). Below are their picks, with our annotations:

The Inspector and Silence: An Inspector VanVeeteren Mystery by Swedish writer Hakan Nesser, Pantheon, 6/14 — the fifth title in the series to be translated into English; excellent prepub reviews.

The Hypnotist by Lars Kepler, FSG, July 5 — Expected to be a major success (it’s one of People‘s Picks for the summer, calling it “spellbinding”), this first novel by a Swedish husband-and-wife team, it’s been signed for a movie, to be directed by Lasse Hallstrom.

Bad Intentions: An Inspector Sejer Mystery by Karin Fossum, HMH, 8/9; Fossum has been called the “Norwegian queen of crime.”

Call Me Princess by Denmark’s Sara Blaedel, Pegasus,  8/17; the publisher compares this “Danish crime queen” to both Stieg Larsson and Camilla Lackberg. This is her American debut.

The Keeper of Lost Causes by Danish author Jussi Adler-Olsen. Dutton, 8/23; winner of several Danish crime fiction prizes, Adler-Olsen has dominated Danish best seller lists, but most of his books have not been translated into English. PW gives this one a starred review, “Stieg Larsson fans will be delighted.”

Not on the USA Today list

Until Thy Wrath Be Past, by Swedish crime writer Asa Larsson, SilverOak/Sterling 8/9; SilverOak is a new imprint that focuses on Scandinavian crime; they brought Three Seconds by Roslund & Hellstrom to the US. It was on the NYT Hardcover Fiction list for four weeks in January, rising to #8.

You may have heard about filmmaker Werner Herzog’s taped reading of  G*T*F*T*S at the launch party for the book at NYPL last night. Happily, someone has posted it on YouTube:

And, here’s the official Samuel L. Jackson version, from Audible and Brilliance:

The news about this season’s most popular gift book, Go The F@@k to Sleep by Adam Mansbach (Akashic Books, published yesterday) just keeps coming. Audible is offering a downloadable audio version with Samuel L. Jackson reading (free download now available here). Brilliance will be releasing a physical audio version in mid-July (both Audible and Brilliance are owned by Amazon). Jackson is scheduled to read from the book on the Letterman Show on Thursday. You can see a clip of him reading the book for the audio here.

There have been stories about another audio version featuring Werner Herzog. It appears that recording was made for the book launch at NYPL last night (a take-off on the many Herzog impersonators who have read actual childrens’ books on YouTube, to hilariously chilling effect, such as this reading of Where’s Waldo?). It’s not clear, however, whether the Herzog version will be released as an audiobook.

The NYPL/Akashic press release describes the book as,

…a bedtime book for parents who live in the real world; profane, affectionate, and radically honest. California Book Award-winning author Adam Mansbach’s verses perfectly capture the familiar—and unspoken—tribulations of putting our little angels to bed for the night. He begins a conversation about parenting in the process, granting us permission to admit our frustration, and laugh at its absurdity. Bright and whimsical hand-painted illustrations by Ricardo Cortés evoke the traditional bedtime story in clever contrast to Mansbach’s hilarious verses. Go the F**k to Sleep is beautiful, subversive, and pants-wettingly funny—a book for parents new, old, and expectant.

Target has said they will only carry the book only if it is shrink-wrapped (it is not currently available on their Web site), while Wal-Mart has refused to carry it at all. In New Zealand, a Christian group, Family First, has called on booksellers not to stock the book. The head of the New Zealand Booksellers Assoc. responded to the local press that Family First “needed a sense of humour.”

The book is also be available in eBook format from Open Road (available on OverDrive).

After publishing 9 books in Nalini Singh’s Psy-Changeling series as original mass market paperbacks, Berkley decided to release the tenth title in the series, Kiss of Snow, in hardcover. The gamble has paid off; the book landed at #9 on the 6/19 NYT Hardcover Fiction Best Seller list.

It received a starred review from Booklist ; “Singh proves she’s the alpha author of paranormal romance… Even readers who have not previously followed the series will be thrilled with Singh’s tale.”

We can’t help being amused by the difference between the American and British covers (American on the left, if you hadn’t guessed already).

Adam Mansbach, author of the phenomenally successful faux-bedtime book, Go The F@@k To Sleep made his first TV appearance on The Today Show on Friday.

As the author has said earlier, a G-rated version is in the works, planned for release around Christmas.

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

Summer fiction gets full emphasis next week, with a debut thriller by S.J. Watson, a second novel from J.Courtney Sullivan, author of the bestselling debut Commencement, and Pen/Faulkner winner Kate Christensen’s latest. Usual suspects include Jeffrey Deaver, Tom Clancy, Dorothea Benton Frank and an adult novel from Ann Brashares.

Buzz Titles

Before I Go to Sleep by S.J. Watson (HarperCollins). We’ve been talking about this title for months. Soon, we will find out how the public responds to this disturbing psychological thriller in which an amnesiac desperately tries to uncover the truth about who she is — and who she can trust. 
In the New York Times, Janet Maslin writes in her “critic’s notebook” on summer beach reads that it has “the summer’s single most suspenseful plot.” Holds are as high as 13 to 1 in libraries we checked.

The Astral by Kate Christensen (Doubleday) finds the PEN/Faulkner Award-winning author exploring marriage, friendship and parenthood among aging bohemians in rapidly changing Brooklyn. Kirkus calls it “a masterpiece of comedy and angst,” NPR reviewer Alan Cheuse gives it a thumbs up, and it’s a People Pick for summer in the June 14 issue.

Maine by J. Courtney Sullivan (Knopf) follows three generations of Irish Catholic women who converge on a family beach house, seeking acceptance from one another while struggling for self-acceptance. By the author of the bestselling debut novel Commencement, this one has also gotten some mentions on our very own Galley Chat and is a People Pick for summer.

……………

Usual Suspects

Carte Blanche by Jeffery Deaver (Simon & Schuster) is a new James Bond thriller – with 007 as a thirty-something veteran of the war in Afghanistan. USA Today interviews Deaver, who’s the bestselling author of the Lincoln Rhyme and Kathryn Dance series of thrillers.

Folly Beach: A Lowcountry Tale by Dorothea Benton Frank (Morrow) is the story of a woman picking up the pieces after her equity-trader husband commits suicide in the wake of the 2008 economic crash. Kirkus doesn’t give it high marks for “scene-craft,” but there’s no denying the popularity of the series.

Against All Enemies by Tom Clancy (Putnam) finds an ex-Navy Seal fighting a dark conspiracy on the U.S./Mexican border.

One Summer by David Baldacci (Grand Central) is a family drama about learning to love again after a terminally ill man’s wife is killed in a car accident. Kirkus calls it “creaky” and “contrived.”

Sisterhood Everlasting by Ann Brashares (Random House) follows the heroines of the mega-selling YA series – Tibby, Lena, Carmen and Bridget – as they start lives of their own, now that the jeans they shared as teenagers are long gone.

The cover of the upcoming NYT BR (6/26) is devoted to Eleanor Henderson’s Ten Thousand Saints (Ecco, 6/7). For once, the NYT BR may be ahead of the pack; this debut novel, which arrived just this week, has so far received scant consumer media attention.

It was chosen by Sherryl Connelly in the NY Daily News as one of her summer reads set in New York. She describes it this way, “Eleanor Henderson’s novel of coming of age in ’80s New York, Ten Thousand Saints (6/7), has a literary edge as well as landmark sites (CBGB) and turning points (the emergence of AIDS).”

It also arrives with a cover blurb from Ann Patchett, “The best thing I’ve read in a long time.”

The publisher has high expectations; it was released with a 500,000 copy first printing.

The new issue of People magazine (6/20; not available online yet) lists their picks of “Great Summer Reads.”  Below are the fiction (and one nonfiction) titles. The listing also includes “Books for Cooks” and “Fun for Kids'”

Sister, Rosamund Lupton, Crown, June 7 — a debut that is on several other summer reading lists

Marriage Confidential, Pamela Hagg, Harper, May 12 — Nonfiction; Subtitle: The Post-Romantic Age of Workhorse Wives, Royal Children, Undersexed Spouses and Rebel Couples Who Are Rewriting the Rules

Sisterhood Everlasting, Ann Brasheres, Random House, June 14 — The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants, ten years later

The Ghost of Greenwich Village, Lorna Graham, Ballantine, 6/28  — debut about a young woman who moves to NYC and finds her apartment has ghosts

Robopocalypse, Daniel H. Wilson, Doubleday, 6/7 — there’s a lot of excitement about this thriller which looks at what would happen if our technology banded together and took control (a world of Hal’s). Spielberg has the rights, but what is most important is that Nancy Pearl calls this a “really good book.”

The First Husband, Laura Dave, Viking, May 12 — People calls it a “fresh, funny take on the search for a soul-mate.”

Long Gone, Alafair Burke, Harper, 6/21 — People says this mystery/thriller is “fast-paced fun.”

Maine, J. Courtney Sullivan, Knopf, 6/14 — following up on her best-selling debut, Commencement, this book uses the seasonal cliche of a family coming together in a summer beach house.

The Astral, Kate Christensen, Doubleday, 6/14 — People calls it “delicious social satire by the author of The Great Man.”

The Hypnotist, Lars Kepler, FSG, 6/21 — One of the many books expected to be “the next Stieg Larsson.” It may have the goods; People calls it “spellbinding.”

Escape, Barbara Delinsky, Doubleday, July 5 — A woman fulfills her dream of escaping from her everyday world.

What Alice Forgot, Liane Moriarty, Amy Einhorn/Putnam, June 2 –Alice wakes up thinking she’s 29 and in love with her husband, when she is really 39 and definitely not. From Amy Einhorn, an editor with a good track record for spotting the “sweet spot” between literary and commercial.

Summer Rental, Mary Kay Andrews, St. Martin’s, June 7 — Set on North Carolina’s Outer Banks, People says it is “worth a visit.”

The little book that began as a Tweet continues to build steam. Go The F@@K to Sleep, by Adam Mansbach, (Akashic), a faux-bedtime story that gives vent to parents’ frustrations in trying to get their little ones to shut their eyes, gets a second NY Times story today, a week in advance of its release date (the original October pub date was moved up, both because of the media attention, but also because it gets it on shelves in advance of Fathers Day. The publisher has seen this as a gift items for adults from the beginning).

While many are excited to sell it, the NYT notes,

Still, Akashic [the publisher] has encountered resistance from some retailers. While the book has a clearly identified reader demographic — parents of young children — some of the stores whose shoppers fit that profile have refused to carry it. Wal-Mart, for instance, has declined to sell the book.

What about libraries? A check of catalogs at several large library systems shows half have ordered it. Curiously, there are not as many holds as one might expect.

If you’re still on the fence, EarlyWord Kids correspondent, Lisa Von Drasek, offers this review.

Despite its completely inappropriate language and the fact that it is being tracked as a children’s book on the Amazon lists, this satire on every sickly sweet “good night” picture book is spot on for sleep deprived “billyburg” hipster parents [Ed Note: “billyburg” refers to the Williamsburg neighborhood of Brooklyn].

The rhyming text captures the frustrations of the grown-up dealing with the umpteenth request for a glass of water, the billionth story as the manipulative toddler who refuses to “go the f*** to sleep.”

It reads aloud well with a sickly sweet voice supported by over-the-top cute painting of sweeping landscapes and pudgy wide awake, wide eyed babies plopped in the middle.

Is it for the children’s collection? No.

Will it be the highlight of an adult only  new parents gathering?  Yup.

Go the F@@K to Sleep is also coming out on June 14 as an eBook from Open Road Media, which DOES make its books available to libraries via OverDrive. An enhanced ebook version will be published later. Brilliance is also releasing an audio version on Aug. 3.

Jon Stewart interviewed author Maziar Bahari about his book, Then They Came for Me, (RH, June 7; Tantor Audio; EPUB eBook, OverDrive) on The Daily Show on Monday. Bahari is an Iranian journalist and filmmaker. His father was imprisoned and tortured under the Shah’s regime and his sister, under Khomeini’s. He drew on the memory of his family’s strength to survive his own imprisonment and torture.

Stewart, who is clearly moved by the book (he posted an extended two-part interview on his Web Site) also revealed that he is working with the author on a film about the story.

As a result of the appearance, the book, which came out yesterday, rose to # 78 on Amazon Sales Rankings

Extended Interview, Part One

Part Two

Summer debuts arrive in force, fueled by strong hype from BEA, in the case of Daniel Wilson’s Robopocalypse. There are plenty of returning fiction favorites, including a posthumous offering from E. Lynn Harris, and a much-anticipated new novel by Ann Patchett. In nonfiction, watch for a rising memoir about a young journalist who decides to follow Eleanor Roosevelt’s advice and do something every day that scares her.

Watch List

Robopocalypse by Daniel H. Wilson (Doubleday) is a thriller set in the near future, about what happens when our technology unites and turns against us. Nancy Pearl said it’s a “really good book” in her interview at BEA, where it was heavily promoted, and USA Today tips it as a hot summer read, but critic Ron Charles calls it a suspense-less “groaner” in the Washington Post. Steven Spielberg will direct the film version, which he signed based on a 100 page sample he saw before the book was acquired by Jason Kaufman – the editor who discovered Dan Brown.

Sister by Rosamund Lupton (Crown) is a debut thriller about a woman investigating her sister’s death, which she is convinced was not a suicide.  It’s garnered enthusiasm from librarians on the Early Word Galley Chat, and is an Indie Next Pick for June. LJ calls it “beautifully written with an unexpected twist at the end.”

The Borrower by Rebecca Makkai (Viking/Penguin) is a debut novel about a librarian and a young boy obsessed with reading who take a crazy road trip from Missouri to Vermont. Of this Indie Next #4 pick for June, LJ says, “Librarians may beef that Lucy’s reading suggestions and Makkai’s descriptions of library practice are not current, but the general public probably won’t notice. Overall, a stylish and clever tale for bibliophiles who enjoy Jasper Fforde and Connie Willis.”

Returning Favorites

State of Wonder by Ann Patchett (Harper) ) takes place deep in the Amazon jungle, where a pharmaceutical researcher searches for her missing mentor. In the New York Times, Janet Maslin is equivocal, finding it not quite up to Patchett’s usual standard. People, however, gives it their highest accolade; four stars and a “People Pick.” The Wall Street Journal has an interview with the author.

Best Staged Plans by Claire Cook (Hyperion) is the tale of an empty nester reinventing her life, and is an Indie Next #5 Pick for June. PW says, “there is a lot going on in this sometimes wacky tale of an ambitious micromanager forced to accept that the whole world cannot be staged, but there’s never any doubt Sandy will embrace her less than perfect life.”

No One in the World: A Novel by E. Lynn Harris and R.M. Johnson (Simon & Schuster) was completed by Johnson after bestseller Harris’s untimely death.  It’s a tale of estranged twins — one a defense attorney, the other a criminal — reconciling to organize their late father’s estate – with a gay twist, of course.

Murder One by Robert Dugoni (Touchstone) is the fourth installment in the series featuring Seattle attorney David Sloane. LJ and PW agree it’s the best yet in the series. You can watch Nancy Pearl interview him on Book Lust.

Usual Suspects

Hit List by Laurell K. Hamilton (Berkley) is installment #20 of the Anita Blake, Vampire Hunter series. PW finds it “as punchy as her first foray.”

Young Adult

Theodore Boone: The Abduction by John Grisham (Doubleday) is the sequel to the author’s bestselling foray into YA fiction with a “kid lawyer.”

Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children by Ransom Riggs (Quirk Books) is about a tightly wound but ordinary teenager who is unusually susceptible to the creeps and the willies, Her story is told within a framework of 50 vintage photographs. LJ says, “It’s an enjoyable, eccentric read, distinguished by well-developed characters, a believable Welsh setting, and some very scary monsters.”

Nonfiction

Demonic: How the Liberal Mob Is Endangering America by Ann Coulter (Crown)  is the authors eighth indictment of the current American political scene.

My Year with Eleanor: A Memoir by Noelle Hancock is a young journalist’s account of her year spent following Eleanor Roosevelt’s classic advice to “do something every day that scares you.”  Booklist says, “with the greatest of ease, Hancock weaves a funny, compelling, true story of self-discovery.” She was on the Today Show this week.

In today’s New York Times, Janet Maslin turns her attention to a book that has appeared on most summer reading lists, Ann Patchett’s State of Wonder (Harper; coming out next week, June 7).

She say that Patchett proved herself able to “coax unrelated elements into magically coherent narratives” in her novels Bel Canto and Run, but that this one is “unexpectedly meandering” and takes a long time to hit its stride. When it does, however, she says it rises to the level of author’s usual work.

The Memorial Day weekend brings media roundups of the big summer titles (inevitably, with the word “hot” in the headline); the L.A. Times was the first out last week; USA Today‘s and the NYT’s both arrived today).

Meanwhile, here’s the titles to look forward to next week.

Fiction

To Be Sung Underwater by Tom McNeal (Little, Brown) is the story of a Los Angeles wife and mother reevaluating her marriage and the carpenter she left in her Nebraska past. The Wall St. Journal praises its prose and plot, and it’s an Indie Next #4 Pick for June.

Dreams of Joy by Lisa See (Random House) revisits Shanghai Girls sisters Pearl and May in this story of life in Communist China. Library Journal says, “Readers of historical fiction will appreciate the authentic details that See weaves into her novel. You don’t have to read Shanghai Girls to love this book, but if you have, this sequel will make you want to reread its predecessor.”

Movie Tie-ins

Snow Flower and the Secret Fan by Lisa See (Random House) ties in to the movie directed by Wayne Wang (The Joy Luck Club, Maid in Manhattan and Because of Winn-Dixie) coming July 15. Check out the trailer here.

Nonfiction

Alexander McQueen: Savage Beauty by Andrew Bolton (Metropolitan Museum of Art) is a look at the highlights of the fashion designer’s career, tying into a current exhibit at New York’s Metropolitan Museum. The book is currently at #174 on the B&N.com bestseller list.

The Seed by Jon Gordon (Wiley) is a business fable by the bestselling author of The Energy Bus and Soup, which explains how to embark on a quest for meaning and passion behind work.