Two best selling authors returning next week, Nelson DeMille with his first book since 2012, Radiant Angel, (Hachette/Grand Central; Hachette Audio) and Clive Cussler with the 10th in his Oregon Files series, Piranha, (Penguin/ Putnam; Brilliance Audio; Wheeler Large Print). A debut gets a leg up from Entertainment Weekly and the NYT Book Review in the contest for The Book of Summer 2015, Kent Haruf’s final novel arrives, as well as several other titles with strong  recommendations from peers in libraries and bookstores.

The titles covered here, and several more notable titles arriving next week, are listed, with ordering information and alternate formats, on our downloadable spreadsheet, EarlyWord New Title Radar, Week of May 25, 2015

Advance Attention

Hand Drawn Jokes for Smart Attractive People, Matthew Diffee, (S&S/Scribner)

Review Attention

The Rocks, Peter Nichols, (Penguin/Riverhead; Penguin Audio; OverDrive Sample)

This gets double coverage in the new issue of Entertainment Weekly, on the “Must List; the Top 10 Things We Love This Week”  (“heartbreaking yet funny”),  it is reviewed in the issue. It’s also reviewed by Kate Christensen in the upcoming  NYT Book Review.

 

Starred by PW and Kirkus, it also is an Indie Next pick:

This enchanting tale set against the backdrop of the beautiful Mediterranean is a bittersweet double love story told in reverse. The Rocks begins with a dramatic, shocking event and then moves backward in time to reveal the 60-year-old secret that caused the unraveling of a marriage and forever altered the lives of the two families involved. A page-turning family saga with a mystery at its core, this is the perfect book to usher in a summer of great reading!” —Adrian Newell, Warwick‘s, La Jolla, CA

Peer Picks

Our Souls at Night, Kent Haruf, (RH/Knopf; RH & BOT Audio)

An Indie Next #1 and LibraryReads pick, this is the author’s final book, published after his death last year. As the Wall Street Journal reports, he knew he was dying as he wrote it. “Normally, it took him six years or more to write a novel. But in a rush of creative energy, he wrote a chapter a day.”  He finished it in 45 days.

LibraryReads recommendation:

Beautiful, elegant and poignant, this novel is a distilled experience of Haruf’s writing. The story of how two elders attempt to poke at the loneliness and isolation that surrounds them will stick with me for a long time to come. I’m amazed at how Haruf says so much with such spare prose. He will be missed. — Alison Kastner, Multnomah County Library, Portland, OR

The Water Knife, Paolo Bacigalupi, (RH/Knopf; Brilliance Audio)

Both an Indie Next and a LibraryReads pick (plus stars from PW & LJ)

Bacigalupi’s novel looks at the possible struggle for water rights in the southwestern United States. Reading Bacigalupi’s novel made me thankful for the current easy access to clean drinking water, yet fearful for our future. A great read for any fan of dystopian fiction.– Lindsay Atwood, Chandler Public Library, Chandler, AZ

Dietland, Sarai Walker, (HMH; Highbridge Audio)

Indie Next, stars from Kirkus & LJ

“Meet Plum, a woman who has forever defined herself by her obesity and who gets through her daily routine by looking forward to the life that will come after her weight-loss surgery. When Plum discovers that she is being followed by a strange girl, her life is changed forever. While Plum embarks on her journey of self-acceptance, a violent feminist crusade takes the world by storm. As the two storylines converge, readers witness an unexpected transformation. This is a fun, no-apologies-offered debut!” —Tess Fahlgren, Fact & Fiction, Missoula, MT

Tie-ins

Of the movie and TV tie-ins releasing this week (for a list of all upcoming movie/tv ties-ins, check our Edelweiss collection), the adaptation that’s making the most impact is based on Jesse Andrews’ Me and Earl and the Dying Girl, (Abrams, 2012). As a result of the buzz, the book hit the NYT YA best seller list for the first time last week and continues this week.

The hit of this year’s Sundance Film Festival, the screening won a standing ovation, the Audience Award for best drama, as well as the Grand Jury Prize, over-the-top reviews and Oscar predictions (see our list of other book adaptations in the early Oscars pool). The movie opens in limited release on June 12.

Official Site: meandearlmovie.com
Tie-in: Me and Earl and the Dying Girl (Movie Tie-in Edition), Jesse Andrews, (Abrams/Amulet Paperbacks)

A second trailer was released this week:

This entry was posted on Friday, May 22nd, 2015 at 1:10 pm and is filed under 2015 -- Summer, New Title Radar. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.