New Title Radar, Week of Aug. 12
Among the books arriving next week with waiting holds queues, is Debbie Macomber’s next, Rose Harbor in Bloom, (RH/Ballantine; RH & BOT Audio; RH Large Print), released in time to take advantage of the Hallmark series based on Macomber’s earlier books, starring Andie MacDowell.
Those who enjoy a bit of torture with their serial killers, will be looking forward to the next Chelsea Cain title featuring the ultimate mean girl, Gretchen Lowell in Let Me Go (Macmillan/Minotaur; Thorndike) as well as Swedish author Arne Dahl’s Bad Blood, (RH/Pantheon; BOT Audio), about a literary critic whose tortured dead body is found in Newark airport (is this an author’s revenge fantasy?). It’s starred by Booklist: “Dahl has established himself as one of the leading voices in Scandinavian crime fiction.”
Titles highlighted here are also listed on our downloadable spreadsheet, New Title Radar, Week of Aug 12
Watch List
Women of a Dangerous Age, Fanny Blake, (Macmillan/Thomas Dunne)
Former British publisher Fanny Blake’s second novel about two women who meet on a trip to India, each of them pondering major shifts in their romantic lives, got just one prepub review, from Booklist, which deems it merely a “pleasantly diverting read” for fans of JoJo Meyers. Wendy Bartlett at Cuyahoga P.L. is buying more than that review would warrant. She sees it this way, “Think Susan Sarandon and Geena Davis hit The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel. Library’s power customers are women between 45-70. I am always on the lookout for books that target this audience. It’s chic lit for cynical older women like me who know shopping actually doesn’t solve anything, but leaving your husband may. I’m betting they’ll grab this one.”
Awards Contender
The People in the Trees, Hanya Yanagihara, (RH/Doubleday; Dreamscape Audio)
In a starred review, Kirkus calls this title part of “that rare subgenre of literature, the anthropological novel, ” (drawing comparisons to Ann Patchett’s State of Wonder, Barbara Kingsolver’s The Poisonwood Bible, and Peter Matthiessen’s At Play in the Fields of the Lord). PW also stars it; “Driven by Yanagihara’s gorgeously complete imaginary ethnography on the one hand and, on the other, by her brilliantly detestable narrator, this debut novel is compelling on every level—morally, aesthetically, and narratively.”
Librarian Favorite
The Color Master: Stories, Aimee Bender, (RH/Doubleday)
Libraries are credited with making Bender’s novel, The Particular Sadness of Lemon Cake, a best seller (former RH library marketer, Marcie Purcell was a major and effective proponent). Fans of that book, about a girl who tastes the emotions of the person who created the food she eats, will recognize similar elements in the title story about an apprentice who learns how to create clothing that looks like natural objects, a feat she can only achieve this when she allows her emotions free reign. Entertainment Weekly aptly says that reading Bender is “like having a very clever, very melancholy friend describe their dreams to you in vivid, fantastical detail. ”
Timely Topics
The Big Disconnect: Protecting Childhood and Family Relationships in the Digital Age, Catherine Steiner-Adair, Teresa H. Barker, (Harper)
Author Steiner-Adair was quoted recently in a USA Today story about Anthony Weiner’s sexting behavior. Given the media’s fascinated with the shifts brought about by the digital revolution, we can expect attention for this book that uses cautionary real-life tales to show that today’s families “are embracing technology at the expense of face-to-face engagement.” PW prescribes it as “required reading for all parents.”
The Smartest Kids in the World, Amanda Ripley, (Simon & Schuster)
Here’s a clue: the smartest kids aren’t Americans. Parents will be clamoring to read this examination of how other countries educate better. Kirkus calls it, “A compelling, instructive account regarding education in America, where the arguments have become ‘so nasty, provincial, and redundant that they no longer lead anywhere worth going” and PW says, ‘This timely and inspiring book offers many insights into how to improve America’s mediocre school system.” Media attention is beginning; the Daily Beast covers it today and the Wall Street Journal published a story by the author last week.
Unbeatable: Notre Dame’s 1988 Championship and the Last Great College Football Season St. Martin’s Press
We may not know much about football, but we do know that Notre Dame fans give new meaning to the word, so we’ll go out on a limb and suggest you increase your order for this book that details the team’s stellar 1988 comeback year. PW notes it is, “A mostly pedestrian sports book that will appeal to Notre Dame’s legions of fans.” The emphasis needs to be on the latter point.
Let Freedom Ring: Stanley Tretick’s Iconic Images of the March on Washington, Kitty Kelley, (Macmillan/Thomas Dunne Books)
Known for her muck-raking books on celebrities, Kelley has recently abondoned that to publish books based on the photos left to her by her close friend, Stanley Tretick. Last year, she published Capturing Camelot, a collection of his photos of the Kennedys. This book contains his photos of the March on Washington. The fiftieth anniversary of that historic event will be commemorated at the end of this month,