Edelweiss recently released a list of the top 30 most-ordered summer fiction titles (earlier, we posted the top 30 nonfiction titles). Below are a few highlights (remember, however, that some publishers are not on the system, most notably, Simon and Schuster).

#1. State of Wonder by Patchett, Ann (HarperCollins/Harper) PubDate: Jun 7; this was also #1 on the previous list (which covered orders placed 60 days prior to 2/2/11).

#6.  The Last Werewolf by Duncan, Glen (Random House/Knopf) PubDate: Jul 12; this one is catching on with more booksellers (it was at #16 on the last list), RH is planning a 100,000 printing. LJ starred it; Booklist is also a fan, calling it a “violent, sexy thriller.”

#22. The Autobiography of Mrs. Tom Thumb by Benjamin, Melanie (Random House/Delacorte Press) PubDate: Jul 26; the author’s second  fictionalized look at a legendary historical figure (following last year’s  Alice I have Been), this one focuses on the wife of “the world’s shortest man,” one of P.T. Barnum’s most well-known attractions.

#23.  Iron House by Hart, John (Macmillan/Thomas Dunne Books) PubDate: Jul 12; Hart’s career has taken off quickly; he was nominated for an Edgar for his first book, The King of Lies (2006), going on to win Best Novel for his next two books, Down River (2008) and The Last Child (2010).

Join us for GalleyChat tomorrow at 4 p.m. Eastern (details here).

As prep, check out GalleyChat regular Lesa Holstine’s previews of upcoming titles on her Web site:

June’s Treasures in My Closet

June’s Hot Titles

Lesa has us intrigued by Daisy Goodwin’s debut, The American Heiress and the author’s presentation, below, seals the deal. Happily, both PW and LJ say the book delivers. 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.

Note: the book is called My Last Duchess in the UK; both that title and the British cover are featured in the video.

The librarian buzz on GalleyChat has made us a believer that S.J. Watson’s debut psychological thriller Before I Go To Sleep (Harper, 6/14) will be a hit.

As a result of the buzz, advance readers editions are now scarce, but the HarperCollins library marketing team has rounded up 25 copies for EarlyWord readers. Enter your name for a chance to win( Deadline: Wednesday, May 3, 11:59 p.m., Eastern; only open to librarians in the U.S.)

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.

Before I Go to Sleep is also available as an ebook from NetGalley (one big advantage of eGalleys; everyone on your RA team can read the title at once — no passing around scarce print copies).

While you’re on NetGalley, Kayleigh George at HC Library Marketing suggests you also consider the following titles (quotes are from the publisher’s descriptions):

Long Gone, Alafair Burke, 9780061999185, July 1; Burke’s first stand-alone, “a dark and twisting psychological thriller with the intensity and depth of Harlan Coben’s Tell No One and Laura Lippman’s What the Dead Know.”

Domestic Violets, Matthew Norman, 9780062065117, Sept 1; “In the tradition of Jonathan Tropper and Tom Perrotta … a darkly comic family drama about love, loss, and ambition.” Pbk Original.”

Miss Timmins School for Girls, Nayana Currimbhoy, 9780061997747, June 21; “a  debut novel set in India during the monsoon of 1974…the story of a conventional young girl who leaves her cloistered small town home to teach at a remote boarding school run by British Missionaries.” Pbk Original

The Woodcutter, Reginald Hill, 9780062060747, Aug 1; by the author of the Dalziel & Pascoe series, “a stand-alone psychological thriller that combines the macabre suspense of Thomas Harris and the brilliant narrative of P.D. James, in a story about a mysterious ex-con looking for vengeance in his hometown.”

Waiting for Robert Capa, Susan Fortes, 9780062000385, July 7; an “English Patient-style novel about the real-life romance between the photojournalists Robert Capa and Gerda Taro during the Spanish Civil War.” Pbk Original

Edelweiss, the company that creates electronic catalogs used by publishers reps to sell to independent booksellers, recently released a list of the top 30 most-ordered nonfiction titles, published before Aug 1.

Indies are on the lookout for titles they can handsell to their customers, so what they order is of particular interest (one caveat, however, only the publishers that use the Edelweiss system are included. While the majority of the larger publishers do so, there are a few exceptions, most notably, Simon and Schuster).

Some highlights from the list:

At number one is Erik Larson’s In the Garden of Beasts (Random House/Crown, 5/10). The next book after the author’s best selling The Devil in the White City (sadly, the movie of that title, which once boasted Leonardo DiCaprio in the lead, is now listed by Variety as a  one of “…a bounty of scripts based on bestsellers and cult classics collecting dust at every studio”). In the new book, Larson again explores an influential era of history through the eyes of a few players, in this case, the American ambassador to Germany and his family in Berlin during Hitler’s early years.

The #5 title, Lost in Shangri-La by Mitchell Zuckoff arrives today. The true WWII story of two servicemen and a WAC who survived an airplane crash in New Guinea, arrives with enthusiastic pre-pub reviews and drew comparisons to Unbroken by GalleyChat readers.

At #26 is a title many librarians fell in love with at ALA MidWinter, The Reading Promise by Alice Ozma, (Hachette/Grand Central Publishing, 5/3). The 22-year-old author is a passionate advocate of reading. Fortunately, for those who didn’t attend, there is a video of the event (see below).

Prepub reviews are strong; it  even touched Kirkus‘s famously cold heart, “A warm memoir and a gentle nudge to parents about the importance of books, quality time and reading to children.” It’s also on the IndieBound Next List for May.

Yesterday’s news about the forthcoming publication of a Sarah Palin tell-all, titled Blind Allegiance to Sarah Palin, by former aide Frank Bailey, sent the book up Amazon’s sales rankings to #119. Described as a “chilling expose” by the publisher, the book is due May 24th.

Palin just launched a new Web site, fueling speculation that she will run for President in 2012.

Blind Allegiance to Sarah Palin: A Memoir of Our Tumultuous Years Frank Bailey, Jeanne Devon Retail Price: $26.00 Hardcover: 400 pages Publisher: Howard Books/ S&S – (2011-05-24) ISBN / EAN: 1451654405 / 9781451654400

Another crictical look at Palin is coming in September by journalist Joe McGinniss, titled The Rogue. McGinniss was in the spotlight last year when his move to a home next door to Palin’s sparked a feud between the two. At the time, McGinnis said the response from Palin and her supporters reveals her “…power…to incite hatred and her willingness and readiness to do it.”

Bailey’s manuscript was leaked to the press in February, raising claims that McGinnis was the source, as part of an effort to reduce the rival title’s “marketability.”

The Rogue: Searching for the Real Sarah Palin Joe McGinniss Retail Price: $25.00 Hardcover: 336 pages Publisher: Crown – (2011-09-20) ISBN / EAN: 0307718921 / 9780307718921

Random House Audio; 9780307941282

The merit badge at left is for all our GalleyChat regulars (thanks to Ali at Macmillan Library Marketing, who found it for us on the Badger site). Those huge TBR piles are not to be ashamed of, they’re to be celebrated!

Based on Tuesday’s GalleyChat, the one you MUST move to the top of your TBR pile is Before I Go to Sleep, a debut by S.J. Watson (Harper, 6/14). It was first mentioned in our December chat and has gained steam ever since. About a woman with amnesia, trying to piece together her life by writing a daily journal, it’s described as creepy and enthralling (for more about it, listen to the title presentation from HarperC’ollin’s MidWinter buzz session). It’s clearly hot; galleys are now scarce. UPDATE: You can get it as an eGalley through NetGalley.

We love to hear about regional successes. The Baltimore and Raleigh contingents were buzzing about a first novel by a 71-year-old North Carolina author, Anna Jean Mayhew, The Dry Grass of August (Kensington; 4/1). The author’s warm, engaging style is showcased on a local TV show appearance, below, and even more so on the local NPR interview with Frank Stasio. GalleyChatters compare the book to both The Secret Life of Bees and The Help. It’s in trade paperback, making it easier on the budget.

Interest seems to be expanding beyond the region; some litbraries in other parts of the country are showing holds.

A YA title that got several mentions is Bumped by Megan McCafferty (Balzer & Bray/Harperteen; 4/26). Called an “interesting take on the dystopia trend,” the title comes from the central plot point; it’s 2036 and a virus has rendered everyone over the age of 18 infertile, so teens are being paid to procreate. Obviously, this one is quite different from the author’s frothier Jessica Darling series (Sloppy Firsts, etc).

Aside from specific titles, there were comments on reading galleys as eBooks, such as those offered by NetGalley & S&S’s GalleyGrab. Two people noted an unexpected benefit; they’re discovering more debut authors as a result.

To download a transcript of the discussion by title, click here. Please join our next GalleyChat, May 3, from 4 to 5 pm (Eastern).

Please join us for anther lively GalleyChat tomorrow, April 5, from 4 to 5 p.m. Tell us what galleys you’re loving and find out which ones to move to the top of your TBR pile (info. on how to join here).

Of the over 40 titles that were discussed GalleyChat in March, the following forthcoming debuts got the most mentions:

Before I Go To Sleep, S. J.  Watson, (Harper, May 25)
Described by one GalleyChatter as “…creepy and haunting, and yet not so scary you couldn’t read it before bed.” Another said it’s “almost as good as last year’s breakout thriller Still Missing.” (by the way, Chevy Stevens’ second book Never Knowing arrives in July)

Booksellers are also enthusiasts; it’s #17 on the most-ordered forthcoming fiction list from Edelweiss.

The Night Circus, Erin Morgenstern, (Doubleday, Sept, 13)
Several asked about this one, because of advance buzz. The description, “It’s a magical competition, with a love story and fascinating cast of characters,” plus that “it’s about two musicians and a circus that only appears at night” brought even more interest.

The book has been blurbed by a diverse range of writers — Tea Obreht, Brunonia Barry and Danielle Trussoni — indicating it walks the literary/commercial line. Arguing for the commercial side, it made movie news back in January, when a film deal was announced, and is backed by a 175,000-copy first printing. And on the literary, it’s a Barbara Hoffert Pick in LJ‘s Prepub Alert

Tiny Sunbirds, Far Away, Christie Watson, (Other Press, May 10)
Advance buzz also brought interest in this debut set in contemporary Nigeria, but few had read it yet. Booklist has just reviewed it, saying it tells a story of “culture clash without heavy messages, but the issues are sure to spark intense discussion.”

The galley is available on NetGalley. We hope to hear more about it in tomorrow’s discussion.

Fans of George R.R. Martin’s A Song of Fire and Ice series have been waiting, none to patiently, for the next volume in the series. On his Web site today, Martin finally announces an end to the six-year wait; the next volume in the series, A Dance with Dragons, will be published on Tuesday, July 12.

Addressing fans who have had their hopes dashed in the past, Martin acknowledges,

Yes, I know.  You’ve all seen publication dates before: dates in 2007, 2008, 2009.  None of those were ever hard dates, however.  Most of them… well, call it wishful thinking, boundless optimism, cockeyed dreams, honest mistakes, whatever you like.

This date is different.   This date is real.

The book will be huge, literally, at more than 900 pages.

A Dance with Dragons (Song of Ice and Fire) George R.R. Martin Retail Price: $35.00 Hardcover: 1008 pages Publisher: Bantam – (2011-07-12) ISBN / EAN: 0553801473 / 9780553801477

Entertainment Weekly simultaneously posted the news and also an exclusive new trailer for the HBO Game of Thrones series, an adaptation of A Song of Ice and Fire, which begins April 17.

The official Web site is at HBO.com.

We’re  always on the lookout for insight on which forthcoming titles will become hits, so we’re excited to find a new tool; Edelweiss, the company that produces online catalogs for publishers, has released lists of titles most-ordered titles through their system. Since most of the orders come from independent booksellers, the lists offer a interesting look at the upcoming months.

We’ve posted the Fiction and Nonfiction lists, which represent the top 30 titles ordered during the previous two months (only the publishers that use the Edelweiss system are included, representing the majority of the larger publishers, with a few exceptions, most notably, Simon and Schuster). You’ll notice that few of the repeat blockbuster authors appear on the lists; most independent booksellers find they don’t do as well in their stores (which is clearly reflected on the Indie Best Seller lists).

A few highlights:

Fiction

At #1 is State of Wonder by Ann Patchett, coming from Harper in June. Libraries, of course, have already placed their orders.

Surprisingly few libraries are showing orders for #12 title, The Kid by Sapphire (Penguin Press, Jul 5). It’s the sequel to Push, which was the basis for the last year’s surprise box office hit, Precious.

At #16 is The Last Werewolf by Duncan, Glen (Knopf, Jul 12); a new entry in the paranormal category that few libraries have ordered yet.

On GalleyChat, librarians have been talking about the thriller Before I Go To Sleep by Watson, S. J. (Harper, Jun 1) which appears at #17.

Nonfiction

Tina Fey has already been getting kudos for her New Yorker essay, “Confessions of a Juggler,” which offers a preview of her forthcoming book Bossypants (Reagan Arthur/Hachette, Apr 5), at #1.

Few libraries seem to have ordered the #2 title, Boomerang by Lewis, Michael (Norton, Jun 13).

We’re not surprised to see the new book by Eric Larson, author of the beloved Devil in the White City (fingers crossed that the movie with Leonardo DiCaprio sees the light of day and does it justice) at #3 with his upcoming book about an American family in Berlin in 1933,  In the Garden of Beasts (Crown/ Random House, May 10).

On our special edition of GalleyChat, the #7 title,  Lost in Shangri-La by Zuckoff, Mitchell (Harper; May 1), emerged as a favorite with librarians as well.

On Friday, we tried an experiment with GalleyChat. Our “regular” GalleyChats are free-for-alls, featuring librarians talking about their recent finds. This time, we focused on just two forthcoming titles, which were presented at the HarperCollins Buzz session at Midwinter.

The GallyChat group particularly loved the WWII survival story Lost in Shangri-La. One of the participants, Lesa Holstine, gives it this shorthand Twitter description, “One of the unknown episodes of WWII. Plane crash with military, survivors encounter with tribe & rescue attempts,” (read her review on Lesa’s Book Critiques). Readers said it’s for fans of other survival tales, like Into Thin Air, Unbroken and Endurance (about the Shakleton Expedition).

It was also considered a good teen crossover title, especially for girls interested in WWII, since one of the survivors was a member of the Women’s Army Corps.

The book already has starred reviews by Kirkus and Library Journal and several librarians said that after reading it, they plan to order more for their libraries.

Lost in Shangri-La Mitchell Zuckoff Retail Price: $26.99 Hardcover: 400 pages Publisher: Harper – (2011-05-01) ISBN / EAN: 0061988340 / 9780061988349

Larger Print; HarperLuxe; 9780062065049; $26.99
Audio; Books on Tape; UNABR; 9780307917256; $40

The second book, Family Fang, is the first novel by an author well known for his short stories. This one is a tale of a family of performance artists who create events in shopping malls that result in chaos, as a protest against superficiality. The parents call this art, their two children, who are unwilling participants, call it “making a mess.”

Most admitted that the book was outside their reading comfort zone, but were glad they read it. They found the relationship between the siblings touching and an evolving mystery kept them reading. Jennifer Dayton of Darien (CT) Library summarizes it well,

Family Fang will be a critical success, but it is also that rare breed that is also very readable. I went into it reluctantly and got sucked in immediately.  I found the characters of the siblings to be not only endearing but very real. You just had to feel for those poor kids being born into that wacky insanity. It offers lots of good discussion points (e.g., art vs. real life, what constitutes child abuse), making it book-group-worthy.

Family Fang Kevin Wilson Retail Price: $23.99 Hardcover: 320 pages Publisher: Ecco – (2011-08-01) ISBN / EAN: 0061579033 / 9780061579035

Keep your eyes open; we plan to do more special editions of GalleyChat, focusing on specific titles. Meanwhile, the next GalleyChat, Regular Edition, will be on Tuesday, March 1, 4 to 5 p.m. Eastern.

Yesterday’s GalleyChat was like readers advisory for readers advisers and raised several titles to the top of participants’ TBR piles.

Debuts

Among the debut novels, The Tiger’s Wife, by Téa Obreht, won a prediction that it will be one of the biggest books of the year. At 25, Obreht’s the youngest of the New Yorker’s 20 Under 40 fiction writers, as well as the National Book Foundation’s 5 under 35 (selected by no less than Colum McCann, Let the Great World Spin). The Village Voice said what many of us were thinking when they called her the “Best New York Writer Young Enough to Make You Slit Your Wrists.”

All of that acclaim arrived months before her first book, coming in March (a chapter was published in The New Yorker in 2009 and another story, “Blue Water Djinn” in Aug — subscription required for both).

The Tiger’s Wife: A Novel Tea Obreht Retail Price: $25.00 Hardcover: 352 pages Publisher: Random House – (2011-03-08) ISBN / EAN: 0385343833 / 9780385343831

Another debut getting several nods is So Much Pretty, which also comes with a rave from Booklist, and an unlikely comparison, “A mixture of The Lovely Bones and The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo.”

So Much Pretty: A Novel Cara Hoffman Retail Price: $25.00 Hardcover: 304 pages Publisher: Simon & Schuster – (2011-03-15) ISBN / EAN: 1451616759 / 9781451616750

The debut psychological thriller, Before I Go To Sleep, is about a woman who has lost her memory. The husband she wakes up with each morning is thus a perplexing stranger, as is the face in the mirror. One GalleyChatter warns, “you’ll never see the end coming!” Be sure to check out HarperCollins Director of Library Marketing, Virginia Stanley, presenting it at the HarperCollins Spring Summer Buzz session.

Before I Go To Sleep: A Novel S. J. Watson Retail Price: $25.99 Hardcover: 368 pages Publisher: Harper – (2011-06-01) ISBN / EAN: 0062060554 / 9780062060556

Memoirs

Several memoirs were mentioned (it’s probably the sheer number of memoirs that brought about Sunday’s rant about “oversharing” in the NYT BR).

My own favorite is Andre Dubus’s Townie. After his riveting speech at Midwinter (he managed to make you feel that he was not only talking directly to you, but he was actually flirting with you), I knew Townie would be my plane reading. Not only did it live up to my heightened expectations, but it made a cross-country flight in a middle seat almost bearable.

Given the current fascination with both memoirs and  chefs, it’s no surprise that there are several chef memoirs on the horizon.

Grant Achatz, writes about founding Alinea and overcoming tongue cancer in Life, on the Line. (Gotham/Penguin, March)

Season to Taste by Molly Birnbaum (also featured in HarperCollins Book Buzz) is by an aspiring chef who loses her sense of smell (Ecco, June).

Blood, Bones and Butter: The Inadvertent Education of a Reluctant Chef, by Gabrielle Hamilton (RH, March);  one  GalleyChat participant called it  “amazing” and a book she is still talking about. It also arrives with stellar prepub reviews (Booklist, “lusty, rollicking, engaging-from-page-one memoir”).

Please join us for the next GalleyChat on Tuesday, March 1, 4 to 5 p.m., Eastern (details here).

We’re looking forward to hearing what everyone is reading on GalleyChat tomorrow (4 p.m., Eastern — more info here).

To prime the pump, one of our regulars, Robin Beerbower, Readers Advisor at Salem (OR) Public Library, offers the following:

1) Jennifer Haigh, Faith, Harper, May — Like many of you, I adore this author and have loved everything she’s written (she’s the author of Mrs. Kimble, one of my top book group recommendations). An estranged daughter returns to Boston to help her Catholic family through the fallout of a scandal.

2) Michael Parker, The Watery Part of the World, Algonquin, April —  Michael Rockliff, who heads up library marketing at Workman, sent me this (Mike first introduced many of us to A Reliable Wife, so when he talks, we listen). It looks fantastic with one of the best cover art I’ve seen in a long time.  It’s based on the disappearance of Aaron Burr’s daughter, Theodosia, who disappeared in 1813 while going from South Carolina to New York.

3) Tayari Jones, Silver Sparrow, Algonquin, May — Another one from Michael. He’s really jazzed about this one. Almost looks like a cross between The Help and The Girl Who Fell From the Sky (in style, not plot).

4) Chevy Stevens, Never Knowing, St. Martins, July — Just got a bound manuscript of this one. Loved Still Missing, a GalleyChat favorite, and this looks as good, if not better.

5) Patrick DeWitt, The Sisters Brothers, Ecco, May — I’m excited to read this one because the author is from Oregon and it’s getting some good pre-pub buzz, most recently from Jonathan Evison, author of West of Here.  A historical novel about assassin brothers who travel from Oregon to the CA gold country. (Note: we’ve also heard from Wendy Bartlett, Coll. Dev. Manager at Cuyahoga, who says she’s buying extra copies — “after the popularity of True Grit, the ironic Western may be big.”)

6) Michael Lukas, The Oracle of Stamboul, Harper, Feb — Beautifully told historical novel (almost a fable) set in Turkey and featuring a young prodigy who changes the course of history. We shared the ARE with one of our library patrons who also loved it, calling in “haunting.”

Robin also put together a list of all the titles that came up in the last GalleyChat.

Thanks, Robin!

Author Ben Mezrich’s book, Accidental Billionaires, was the basis for the movie The Social Network, which is not only a success at the box office, but just won Golden Globes for best drama, best director and best writer (for the screenplay by Aaron Sorkin). It is also surrounded by Oscar buzz.

The production team that put together Social Network has turned its attention Mezrich’s next book, Sex on the Moon, coming in July. According to the L.A. Times, it is,

…the story of Thad Roberts, a once-promising young scientist working for NASA who back in 2004 hatched a crazy plan to steal highly prized moon rocks from his bosses at the Johnson Space Center and sell them on the Internet. The motivation: wanting to impress his girlfriend (i.e., “giving her the moon”).

The L.A. Times wrote about the heist in 2004.

Sex on the Moon: The Amazing Story Behind the Most Audacious Heist in History Ben Mezrich Retail Price: $26.95 Hardcover: 304 pages Publisher: Doubleday – (2011-07-12) ISBN / EAN: 0385533926 / 9780385533928

The current issue of Time magazine includes their Summer Entertainment Package, a list of 76 things to do this summer, through August, including a dozen books to read and 5 book-based movies to watch.

Several titles are no surprise;  Stephenie Meyer’s The Short Second Life of Bree Tanner,  the much hyped The Passage by Justin Cronin and the final volume in Suzanne Collin’s Hunger Games series,  Mockingjay.

Time calls David Mitchell, the author of The Thousand Autumns of Jacob de Zoet, “The most consistently interesting novelist of his generation”…

The Thousand Autumns of Jacob de Zoet: A Novel David Mitchell Retail Price: $26.00 Hardcover: 496 pages Publisher: Random House – (2010-06-29) ISBN / EAN: 1400065453 / 9781400065455

..is sold by the publishers claim that The Cookbook Collector, by Allegra Goodman is “Sense and Sensibility for the digital age.”

The Cookbook Collector: Allegra Goodman Retail Price: $26.00 Hardcover: 416 pages Publisher: The Dial Press – (2010-07-06) ISBN / EAN: 0385340850 / 9780385340854

RH Audio; UNABR; 9780307736857; $22.50
Books On Tape: UNABR; 11 Cd’s; 9780307736864; $40.00
OverDrive WMA Audiobook

…and calls  The Disappearing Spoon by Sam Kean, “nonfiction to make you sound smart over summertime gin and tonics: the human history behind the periodic table.”

The Disappearing Spoon: And Other True Tales of Madness, Love, and the History of the World from the Periodic Table of the Elements Sam Kean Retail Price: $24.99 Hardcover: 400 pages Publisher: Little, Brown and Company – (2010-07-12) ISBN / EAN: 0316051640 / 9780316051644

But they do the best job of selling Gary Shtenygart, Super Sad True Love Story,  …”basically, this is a love story between an old-school, book-loving throwback and a steely, beautiful, postmodern woman — set in crumbling, toxic, illiterate, impoverished near-future America. It’s ridiculously witty and painfully prescient, but more than either of those, it’s romantic.”

Super Sad True Love Story: A Novel Gary Shteyngart Retail Price: $26.00 Hardcover: 352 pages Publisher: Random House – (2010-07-27) ISBN / EAN: 1400066409 / 9781400066407

Online, Time offers a video intro to the package, with only a few of the books, however (a short ad in the beginning):