New Title Radar: Dec. 10 to 15
The number of big releases slows to a trickle next week. Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child bring back their enigmatic hero, Aloysius Xingú Leng Pendergast in a new thriller; James Patterson continues to work the popular middle-school territory and, in Young Adult, Jessica Day George wraps up her Twelve Dancing Princesses trilogy.
Reviewer Favorite
Sebastian Faulks, A Possible Life: A Novel in Five Parts (Macmillan/Holt; Dreamscape Audio and OverDrive)
British reviewers quibbled with the author’s assertion in both the book’s subtitle and trailer, that this is a novel, not a set of long short stories. It appears the question hasn’t been settled; Vanity Fair‘s online interview opens with it. The book received strong reviews in the UK, with the Independent concluding that it is “probably Faulks’s most intriguing fictional offering.” Published in September there, it hit the top ten on the Times of London’s best seller list.
Usual Suspects
Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child, Two Graves
(Hachette/Grand Central: Hachette Audio; Hachette Large Print)
This completes a trilogy within the larger series. Referred to as the “Helen Trilogy,” beginning with Fever Dream and continuing last year with Cold Vengeance, it follows the erudite detective Pendergast search for his long-missing wife, Helen. Reviewers warn that reading the previous titles is a requirement.
Michael Palmer, Political Suicide (Macmillan/St. Martin’s Press: Macmillan Audio; Thorndike Large Print)
The 18th thriller by Palmer is his second featuring Dr. Lou Welcome, a recovering alcoholic and drug addict (introduced last year in Oath of Office). Prepub reviews are less than admiring, but libraries are showing holds and it gets high marks on GoodReads.
Childrens
James Patterson and Chris Grabenstein
I Funny: A Middle School Story (Hachette/Little, Brown YR; Hachette Audio)
This is the third in Patterson’s series aimed at a once overlooked age group, which is clearly called out in the titles, beginning with Middle School, The Worst Years of My Life, and followed by Middle School: Get Me out of Here! This one features Jamie Grimm, a wheelchair bound middle schooler whose goal is to become the world’s greatest standup comedian.
Young Adult
Jessica Day George, Princess of the Silver Woods (Bloomsbury USA)
The final title in the series that reworks classic fairy tales, beginning with Princess of the Midnight Ball, (based on the Grim tale, The Twelve Dancing Princesses), and followed by Princess of Glass (based, of course, on Cinderella). This one is based on the tales of two hoods — Red Riding and Robin.
Movie Tie-in
The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey Chronicles: Art & Design (Harper Design)
This is the last of the tie-ins leading up to the Dec. 14 debut of the first in the series of movies based on J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Hobbit (you may have noticed promos nearly, well, everywhere). It is produced by the Weta Workshop, which designed the movie’s special effects and ends with a sneak peek at the second film in the series. Another behind-the-scenes book came out last month, The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey Official Movie Guide.