Ten Titles to Know, Week of 6/26
The lead title next week, in terms of holds and library orders is One Plus One by Jojo Moyes, (Viking/Pamela Dorman; Recorded Books; Thorndike). British author Moyes published 12 novels in the same number of years, recently breaking onto best seller lists in 2012 with Me Before You, a novel about the relationship between a quadriplegic and his caregiver that also looked at the issue of assisted suicide. It was such a departure for the author that she worried it would be a tough sell, but it was quite the opposite.
To signal that this book was not a traditional romance, it was given a distinctive all-type cover. The book turned out to be so successful that the format is now being applied to all of Moyes’s novels (see above; a before and after of one of her earlier romances and its just-released paperback reincarnation). Me Before You was followed the next year by The Girl You Left Behind (Penguin/Pamela Dorman; Thorndike), a historical romance, which was more familiar territory for Moyes.
One Plus One is a contemporary romance and a LibraryReads pick:
“A single mom, her math genius daughter, her eye-shadow-wearing stepson, a wealthy computer geek and a smelly dog all get into a car…it sounds like the start of a bad joke, but it’s actually another charming novel from Jojo Moyes. It’s more of a traditional romance than Me Before You, but will also appeal to fans of quirky, hard-working characters. A quick read and perfect for summer.” — Emily Wichman, Clermont County Public Library, Milford, OH
Also showing heavy holds are two very different romances, as indicated by their covers, the second book in Jude Deveraux Nantucket Brides trilogy, For all Time (RH/Ballantine; Thorndike) and Sherrilyn Kenyon, Born of Fury (Macmillan/St. Martin’s Press; Macmillan Audio)
Readers Advisory
Dollbaby. Laura Lane McNeal, (Penguin/Pamela Dorman)
One of the titles in our Penguin Debut Authors program (see our online chat from last week), this is also a LibraryReads pick:
“In this coming-of-age story set in the Civil Rights era, Ibby is dropped off at the home of her eccentric grandmother in New Orleans after the death of her beloved father. Filled with colorful characters, family secrets and lots of New Orleans tidbits, this book will appeal to fans of Saving Ceecee Honeycutt.” — Vicki Nesting, St. Charles Parish Library, Destrehan, LA
Last Night at the Blue Angel, Rebecca Rotert, HarperCollins/Morrow
The HarperCollins Library Marketing team are big fans of this debut and buzzed it at ALA Midwinter (listen to the Book Buzz here). About a jazz singer and her young daughter in 1960’s Chicago, it has inspired raptures among the prepub reviewerss. LJ — “Rotert’s musical background informs Naomi’s passion for performance, but it is her heartbreaking portrait of Sophie [her daughter], so wise yet so vulnerable, that readers will remember long after the final page.” It was starred by Booklist and Kirkus left behind the snark to call it a “tale that’s poignant, poetic and heart-wrenching throughout.”
Liberty’s Torch: The Great Adventure to Build the Statue of Liberty, Elizabeth Mitchell, Atlantic Monthly Press
This patriotic holiday, recommend a book that debunks many of our notions about our most famous monumental sculpture. Originally planned for a spot overlooking the newly constructed Suez Canal, by a French sculptor trying to make a name for himself, it was finally, and reluctantly, accepted by the U.S. There’s even a weird Real Housewives of New York connection. One of the “housewives,” Countess LuAnn de Lesseps gets her title from her marriage to one of the descendants of the builder of the Suez Canal, Ferdinand de Lesseps.
In the Media
Friendship, Emily Gould, (Macmillan/FSG)
Featured in the New York Times “Fashion & Style” section last week, former Gawker editor Gould has made a living by talking about herself. Her 8,000 word confessional was featured on the cover of the NYT Magazine in 2008. The NYT says, “a case could be made that Ms. Gould’s warts-and-all brand of self-exposure anticipated a wave of confessional writing that paved the way for Girls, Lena Dunham’s quasi-autobiographical hit on HBO.”
Her novel is about young women in New York who are very much like herself (of course). Booklist calls it “a savvy first novel that, in piercing prose, zeroes in on modern ennui and the catalysts that force even the most apathetic out of their complacency.”
Diary of a Mad Diva, Joan Rivers, (Penguin/Berkley)
Speakng of oversharing — as the publisher’s promo says about this author, “You know what she says out loud. Can you imagine what she writes in her diary?” and goes on to say:
Anais Nin, Anne Frank and Sylvia Plath wrote the world’s most famous diaries. And where are they today? Dead. But the world’s OTHER great diarist, Joan Rivers, is alive and kicking. And complaining.
In the extraordinary tradition of The Habit of Being: Letters of Flannery O’Connor and George Orwell’s Diaries, comes an intimate and enriching glimpse into the mind of the most illuminating woman-of-letters of her generation—the provocative exploration of an age in which she has lived on and on and on and on.
Tie-ins
Outlander (Starz Tie-in Edition), Diana Gabaldon (RH/Bantam trade pbk; RH/Dell, Mass Mkt Pbk)
Series begins on STARZ, 8/9/2014.
A Most Wanted Man, John le Carre, (S&S/Scribner; S&S Audio)
This is one of Philip Seymour Hoffman’s final movies (God’s Pocket, based on the book by Pete Dexter, was released on May 9; he will also appear in the two upcoming Mockingjay movies). The movie opens in a limited run on July 25.
Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy
Several tie-ins are being released for what is expected to be Marvel’s huge summer blockbuster, which opens Aug. 1, including Marvel’s “first prose novel,” Rocket Raccoon & Groot: Steal the Galaxy! See our full list of tie-ins on our downloadable spreadsheet — Guardians of the Galaxy Tie-ins
Rocket, a gun-totting raccoon and Groot, his companion/body guard, a tree (shown in the latest trailer, below) are expected to be a particular hit with kids.