Titles to Know and Recommend, Week of June 6, 2016
The holds leaders arriving this week are:
End of Watch, Stephen King, (S&S/Scribner; S&S Audio)
Stephen King is poised to join his son on best seller lists. Joe Hill’s The Fireman, arrived at #1 on the NYT list last week and is currently at #8. King’s new title completes the trilogy that began with Mr. Mercedes and continued in Finders Keepers.
Dishonorable Intentions, Stuart Woods, (PRH/Putnam; Penguin Audio; BOT)
The House of Secrets, Brad Meltzer, Tod Goldberg, (Hachette/Grand Central; Hachette Audio; Hachette Large Print)
With co-author Tod Goldberg Meltzer introduces a new series that will appeal to the conspiracy-minded.
The is also the week when James Patterson ups his output with the first two titles in his new trade paperback original series, BookShots (see earlier story).
The titles covered here, and several other notable titles arriving next week, are listed with ordering information and alternate formats, on our downloadable spreadsheet, EarlyWord New Title Radar, Week of June 6, 2016
Peer Picks
Three LibraryReads titles come out this week,
Grunt: The Curious Science of Humans at War, Mary Roach (Norton; Brilliance Audio; OverDrive Sample), a quirky, funny, nonfiction foray that looks at science and warfare. Expect a wave of publicity with excerpts, interviews, and reviews in major sources.
“With courageous curiosity, journalistic persistence, and a wry empathetic sense of humor, Roach once again delves into a fascinating topic few of us would openly explore. She writes about the issues confronting the military in its attempt to protect and enable combat troops. Roach brings to our attention the amazing efforts of science to tackle all the challenges of modern warfare. Grunt is another triumph of sometimes uncomfortable but fascinating revelation.” — Darren Nelson, Sno-Isle Libraries, Marysville, WA
It is a summer reading pick by the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, a list widely syndicated in regional newspapers.
Homegoing, Yaa Gyasi (RH/Knopf; RH Audio; BOT; OverDrive Sample).
“An engaging family saga following two half-sisters – one who marries into privilege and one sold into slavery – and their descendants as they navigate the politics of their separate countries and their heritage. Each is directly affected in some way by the choices of the past, and finding the parallels in the triumphs and heartbreak makes for an engrossing read.” — Amanda Monson, Bartow County Library System, Cartersville, GA
Gyasi earned a $1 million advance for her debut, which gives it a publicity hook, but it is also appealing to reviewers. It addition to being a LibraryReads pick, it is an Indie Next selection and is on four summer reading lists: The New York Times, Entertainment Weekly‘s top 10 choices, B&N, and Buzzed. It is reviewed today on the NYT site (in print, it will appear in the upcoming NYT Sunday Review)
Lily and the Octopus, Steven 
Rowley (S&S; S&S Audio; OverDrive Sample)
“Rowley has lovingly captured what it is like to be totally invested in caring for another life, another heart. This book is a true gift for anyone who has experienced the loss of a dog, but especially for those of us who have nursed a beloved dog through an illness even though you both knew it was going to be a losing battle. A special bond is formed there, and the story of Lily and Ted illustrates it so perfectly.” — Mary Coe, Fairfield Woods Branch Library, Fairfield, CT
It is also an Indie Next pick and a B&N summer reading list selection.
Four additional Indie Next picks hit the shelves as well, two of which are also on the widely-syndicated St. Louis Post-Dispatch’s summer reading list, Marrow Island and Wintering.
Marrow Island, Alexis M. Smith (HMH; RH Audio; BOT; OverDrive Sample).
“After an earthquake destroyed the oil refinery on Marrow Island and killed her father, Lucie Bowen left. Twenty years later, she returns to the Puget Sound and discovers her friend Kate is now living on this toxic island with members of ‘The Colony.’ Set in the Pacific Northwest, Marrow Island is a mystery/thriller that encompasses communal living, natural and man-made disasters, and what can happen when we tinker with the ecosystem and try to play a larger role.” —Tracy Taylor, The Elliott Bay Book Company, Seattle, WA
Wintering, Peter Geye (RH/Knopf; Blackstone Audio; OverDrive Sample).
“It is tempting to inhale Wintering in a great rush because it is such a suspenseful, wild, and dangerous survival story. That would be a mistake. Geye magically conveys the starkness, beauty, and despair of the northern Minnesota borderlands in prose that deserves to be savored. He gives us characters with deep, complex interior lives who struggle with secrets, love, and damaged relationships. A powerful father-son story and a landscape revealed in breathtaking detail make this a novel to read with care and wonder.” —Tripp Ryder, Content Bookstore, Northfield, MN
Goodnight, Beautiful Women, Anna Noyes (Perseus/PGW/Legato/Grove Press/Recorded Books; OverDrive Sample).
“These interconnected stories set in Maine and around the Northeast coast announce a startling new writer of strong literary fiction. Noyes’ women yearn, stumble, get back up, make terrible mistakes, strive, keep dark secrets, take off, come back again, and fumble toward love. An extraordinarily raw voice that will remind readers of Rebecca Lee and Elizabeth Strout.” —Melanie Fleischman, Arcadia Books, Spring Green, WI
Grief Is the Thing with Feathers, Max Porter (Macmillan/Graywolf Press; OverDrive Sample).
“This novel in verse begins with the death of a wife and mother told through the eyes of her husband, her two sons, and, unexpectedly, a crow. Crow — one part trickster-god, one part guardian, and wholly unpredictable — descends upon this fractured family to watch over them in their grief and guide them back to the land of the living. Porter’s phrases and descriptions startled me with their clarity, and undid me with their simple and unexpected poignancy.” —Emily Crowe, Odyssey Bookshop, South Hadley, MA
Tie-ins
Star Trek Beyond opens on July 22, 2016, marking the 50th anniversary of the first Star Trek TV broadcast. Chris Pine and Zachary Quinto return as Captain Kirk and Commander Spock and Idris Elba comes aboard as well.
Two tie-ins are available thus far, both supporting the franchise rather than serving as direct adaptations of the movie.
Star Trek The Official Guide to Our Universe: The True Science Behind the Starship Voyages, Andrew Fazekas (PRH/National Geographic)
The Star Trek Book, Paul Ruditis (PRH/DK; OverDrive Sample).
It is a busy year for le Carré adaptations. After the success of The Night Manager comes the feature film Our Kind of Traitor. Starring Ewan McGregor, Damian Lewis, Stellan Skarsgård, it opens July 1.
The tie-in is Our Kind of Traitor: A Novel (Movie Tie-In), John le Carré (PRH/Penguin Books; OverDrive Sample).
Thus far the movie is getting mixed reviews. The Hollywood Reporter says it is “High-toned but ho-hum,” The Independent calls it “entertaining but very lightweight,” but the UK version of Den of Geek says it is “a breath of fresh air. Warmly recommended.”
For those who want to know more about the author, PRH/Viking will publish le Carre’s memoir, The Pigeon Tunnel: Stories from My Life, in Sept.
The next Ice Age animated film, opening July 22, brings three tie-ins starting with Ice Age: Collision Course: The Junior Novel, J.E. Bright (S&S/little bee books).
The fifth movie in the series features all the usual characters, plus a few more, as they try to save the world from an asteroid collision. Also out is the storybook Volcano to the Rescue!, Mike Teitelbaum (S&S/little bee books) and two leveled readers by Suzy Capozzi: Scrat’s Space Adventure (S&S/little bee books; also in paperback) and Welcome to Geotopia (S&S/little bee books; also in paperback).
Finally, there is a new Warcraft, tie-in, Warcraft Official Movie Novelization, Christie Golden (PRH/Titan Books; OverDrive Sample).
This is in addition to Warcraft: Durotan: The Official Movie Prequel, Christie Golden (PRH/Titan Books), which we wrote about in early May.
For our full list of upcoming adaptations, download our Books to Movies and TV and link to our listing of tie-ins.