New Title Radar: August 20 – 26
Among the books arriving next week is one that ran into some unexpected challenges. The bio of Joe Paterno was recently called by the NYT “perhaps one of the most unfortunately timed books of 2012.” Our “Watch List” looks at some titles that librarians have been buzzing about. Among the usual suspects in Kathy Reichs‘ latest and, in nonfiction, the novelist Paul Auster reflects on aging.
Watch List
The Roots of the Olive Tree by Courtney Miller Santo (HarperCollins/Morrow; Harperluxe)
A BEA librarian’s Shout ‘n’ Share pick, described as “Set in olive groves in California, five generations of women clash as they try to protect their secrets. Think Falcon Crest–plenty of soap opera and melodrama, but in a really good page turning, ‘I love that character!!’ kind of way. Customers are going to love this one.”
The Orchardist by Amanda Coplin (Harper; Thorndike Large Print)
Can it be? The second debut in one week set in an orchard? This was also a BEA Librarians Shout ‘n’ Share pick and has been picked for B&N Discover Great New Writers program and is a Flavorwire “Must Read,” for August with this description; “William Talmadge is a reclusive orchardist, living peacefully in a lush valley in the Pacific Northwest — until two sisters appear on his land, wild, pregnant escapees from a brothel. Talmadge takes them in, but someone is looking for them. Coplin’s eloquent first novel is a harrowing triumph, a sparkling, utterly unsentimental ode to the capacities of the human heart.”
Stranger in the Room by Amanda Kyle Williams (RH/Bantam)
The author’s second book is the second in a series, following The Stranger You Seek, which features wise cracking private investigator Keye Street. Librarians on GalleyChat say she is a great protagonist; also a Shout ‘n’ Share pick.
Usual Suspects
Bones Are Forever by Kathy Reichs (S&s/Scribner; S&S Audio; Thorndike Large Print)
There’s a one-day laydown for this next title in the Bones series. Reichs, who bases the series about a forensic anthropologist on her own career (she commented on the search for a missing woman in Winnipeg this week) is also the producer for the Bones series on Fox TV. It was just signed for an eighth season.
Trickster’s Point by William Krueger (S&S/Atria; Thorndike Large Print)
The twelfth in the author’s series about Minnesota private eye Corcoran “Cork” O’Connor.
You Are the Love of My Life by Susan Richards Shreve (Norton; Center Point Large Print)
Gets the lead review in People magazine this week and is designated a “People Pick, ” saying “Don’t be put off by the sappy titles. This finely crafted novel about a woman haunted by family secrets packs a smart punch.”
Lionel Asbo: The State of England by Martin Amis (RH/Knopf)
Amis again satirizes his home country in this tale of a dysfunctional family (one of the characters feels uncomfortable about having sex with his Granny; he’s fifteen, she’s thirty nine). It is scheduled for a cover review in the New York Times Book Review this weekend as well as a feature on NPR’s Weekend Edition Saturday. Amis will submit himself to the Colbert treatment on Comedy Central in early September.
One Last Thing Before I Go by Jonathan Tropper (Penguin/Dutton; Penguin Audio; Thorndike Large Print)
Entertainment Weekly give this one an A-, saying, “Like Tropper’s exceptional last novel, This Is Where I Leave You, it’s a heartfelt look at irreparable mistakes and damaged masculinity that balances its bleak circumstances with dark humor.” The previous title is being adapted for a movie starring Jason Bateman, Zac Efron, Goldie Hawn, and Leslie Mann and rights have been acquired by Paramount for the new title.
Nonfiction
Paterno by Joe Posnanski (Simon & Schuster; S&S audio; Thorndike Large Print)
As Posnanski was completing his book on the famous Penn State coach, his subject suddenly came under a cloud. Because of remarks the author made as the news broke, some have speculated that the book will be a whitewash. Posnanski addresses those questions himself in USA Today. S&S decided to hold off on the author’s book tour (including 9/6 event at the Free Library of Philadelphia) but he is scheduled for appearances on The Today Show and NPR’s All Things Considered, on Aug. 30.
Winter Journal by Paul Auster (Macmillan/Holt; Macmillan Audio; Thorndike Large Print)
Novelist Paul Auster’s first book was a memoir, The Invention of Solitude, published in 1985 when he was 35 and his father had just died. Now 65, Auster begins this second memoir on the subject of aging with the words “You think … you are the only person in the world to whom none of these things will ever happen.” People magazine gives it 3.5 of 4 stars, calling it “intensely moving.”
Young Adult
The Rise of Nine by Pittacus Lore (aka, James Frey and Jobie Hughes)
Book three in The Book of Four series is getting promo on the Entertainment Weekly “Shelf Life” blog.
Over You by Emma McLaughlin and Nicola Kraus
The book tour kicks off at Nordstrom’s for this, the second YA novel by the authors of The Nanny Diaries. An excerpt appears in the September issue of Teen Vogue.