Tom Wolfe and John Grisham go head to head with new novels next week – and so far, Wolfe is getting the lion’s share of media attention, but the Grisham title is showing the most holds. Meanwhile, watch out for Jami Attenberg‘s potential breakout, The Middlesteins. Usual suspects include Debbie Macomber and Karen Kingsbury, while YA authors P.C. Cast and Gena Showalter team up on a paperback original, and A.S. King and Becca Fitzpatrick deliver new hardcovers. In nonfiction, Jerry Sandusky’s accuser, “Victim One,” unmasks himself upon the publication of his book, while former Goldman Sachs honcho Greg Smith reveals why he left the company. The Onion and Thomas Bouchon provide humorous and culinary relief.

Watch List

The Middlesteins by Jami Attenberg (Hachette/Grand Central) may be the surprise hit of the season, according to our Crystal Ball. Comparisons to The Corrections are underscored by a blurb from Jonathan Franzen himself (who rarely gives blurbs), “The Middlesteins had me from its very first pages, but it wasn’t until is final pages that I fully appreciated the range of Attenberg’s sympathy and the artistry of her storytelling.” The tale of a Jewish husband and wife in suburban Chicago whose marriage unravels after 40 years, as the attorney wife nears 350 pounds, it’s on People‘s list of ten Hot Fall Titles and described as “The sleeper hit of the fall” on CBS This Morning‘s fall book roundup (9/17). Entertainment Weekly throws some rain on this parade, giving it just a “B” and saying, “Attenberg’s slender fourth novel is an intriguing dysfunctional-family story told from multiple, fast-shifting points of view, but it never sits still long enough to truly explore the complicated minds of its characters. It’s a deeply sympathetic novel that could use a little more insight.”

The Art Forger by Barbara A. Shapiro (Workman/Algonquin; HighBridge Audio; Thorndike Large Print, Jan.) was a librarians Shout ‘n’ Share pick at BEA and is the #1 Indie Next Pick for November. It’s about an art world pariah who gets drawn into a forgery scheme, and has to dig into an unsolved art heist to clear her name. It gets a “B+” in the current Entertainment Weekly: “Shapiro’s plot seems rushed at times. Still, she’s done meticulous research and has such interesting things to say about authenticity — in both art and love — that her novel becomes not just emotionally involving but addictive.”

Returning Favorites

Back to Blood by Tom Wolfe (Hachette/Little, Brown; Hachette Audio, read by Lou Diamond Phillips; Hachette Large Print) has been dubbed by one critic as “Bonfire of the Miamians” and comes with a full PBS documentary, Tom Wolfe Gets Back to Blood, airing on Friday. As we’ve noted, major reviewers have weighed in extensively this week, ahead of the novel’s release next Tuesday, October 23, with most saying it’s got Wolfe’s usual manic prose, obsession with class and status, and wide range of characters – which is fine if you liked his other books.

The Racketeer by John Grisham (Random House; RH Audio and Large Print; BOT Audio) is the other major title going on sale on Tuesday, and somewhat overshadowed in the media by Tom Wolfe. Still, as we wrote earlier, the New York Times‘s Janet Maslin says it shows Grisham’s “rekindled vigor,” perhaps because he has “gone back to what he does best, storytelling rather than crusading.”

Usual Suspects

Angels at the Table: A Shirley, Goodness, and Mercy Christmas Story by Debbie Macomber (RH/Ballantine; Random House Audio; BOT Audio; Thorndike Large Print) finds three seasoned angels shadowing an apprentice angel in Times Square at Christmas. This is Macomber’s first book with her new publisher, Ballantine.

The Bridge by Karen Kingsbury (S&S/Howard Books; S&S Audio; Thorndike Large Print) is a Christmas story about a Tennessee bookstore named The Bridge that struggles to survive declining book sales and the rise of e-books. It’s been rising on Amazon sales rankings – at #99 as of October 18.

Young Adult

After Moonrise by P.C. Cast and Gena Showalter (Harlequin) is a paperback original in which two bestselling YA authors team up to deliver two paranormal love stories.

Ask the Passengers by A. S. King (Hachette/LBYR; BOT Audio) is about a character who sends messages to people in planes flying overhead, who feel “bursts of unexplainable love that prompts them to do certain things.” The author is a Printz Honor Prize Winner. It has found fans on both our August and September YA GalleyChats. One called it “phenomenal” and “by far, one of the most beautiful books I’ve ever read. And inspiring.” Another reader commented, “Can’t wait for my teens to read it.”

Finale (Hush, Hush Saga) by Becca Fitzpatrick (S&S BYR, S&S Audio) began rising on Amazon on October 17. Previous titles in this series have hit the NYT list; Hush, Hush , Crescendo and Silence.

Movie Tie-In

Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy,  translated by Louise Maude and Alymer Maude (RH/Vintage) is the official tie-in to the movie, starring Keira Knightly and Jude Law, to be released November 9. Other translations are also available (see our rundown, here). Vintage will also release the screenplay, by Tom Stoppard, on November 13.

Embargoed

Silent No More: Victim 1’s Fight for Justice Against Jerry Sandusky by Victim One (RH/Ballantine) is written by the young man who testified dramatically at the child molestation trial of Former Penn State coach Jerry Sandusky. Victim One’s identity was kept a secret until late  yesterday when it was revealed in promos for an interview by ABC’s Chris Cuomo, to air on ABC’s 20/20 tonight and for a People magazine interview, to appear, with excerpts from the book, in the issue on stands next Friday.

Nonfiction

Why I Left Goldman Sachs: Or How the World’s Most Powerful Bank Made a Killing but Lost its Soul by Greg Smith (Hachette/Grand Central; Hachette Audio and Large Print) grew out of the author’s eponymous op-ed in the New York Times, which went viral. The book details what the author sees as the decline of the storied investment bank, after he started at Goldman Sachs at age 21 in 2001 and left in 2011 as the head of the United States equity derivatives business in Europe, the Middle East, and Africa.

The Onion Book of Known Knowledge: A Definitive Encyclopedia of Existing Informationby The Onion (Hachette/Little, Brown; Hachette Audio) is the 8th book by the award-winning humor website. With typical bravado, the authors proclaim that this comprehensive reference source is “the last book ever published.”

Bouchon Bakery by Thomas Keller and Sebastien Rouxel (Workman/Artisan) collects recipes for the French classics this famous chef loved while apprenticing in Paris.

As media attention on the election heats up, publishers are playing it safe with no-brainers, like the Rolling Stones 50, a tribute to the decades-old British rock band, and a home design book by talk show host Nate Berkus, or review-driven titles like historian Henry Wiencek’s new look at Thomas Jefferson and his slaves.  In fiction, Justin Cronin‘s followup to his blockbuster post-apocalyptic vampire novel is eagerly awaited, but is already disappointing a few reviewers. A title to watch is a cozy English novel about the Queen playing hooky. Usual suspects include Nelson DeMille, Iris Johansen, Patricia Cornwell and YA author P.C. Cast. Plus movie tie-ins to Twilight, Silver Linings and Spielberg’s Lincoln.

Watch List

Mrs. Queen Takes the Train by William Kuhn (HarperCollins; Dreamscape Audio) finds the bored Queen of England leaving the palace on a walkabout, in search of fun. It has been popular among librarians on our GalleyChat on Twitter, one of whom said, “It’s jam packed full with great Palace insider gossip and details. In the year of the Diamond Jubilee, royal watchers will eat this up! It’s fun and light.”

The Twelve by Justin Cronin (RH/Ballantine; BOT Audio;  Wheeler Large Print) is the second installment in the trilogy that began with the hit The Passage, a post-apocalyptic vampire novel by an author previously known for his quiet literary novels. This one is getting early press attention, including a profile in last week’s NYT Magazine. The L.A. Times warns, however, “even the most devoted fans may notice a bit of a sophomore slump.” The Washington Post‘s Ron Charles, says the previous title was “the scariest, most entertaining novel I’d read in a long time…Now, finally, comes the long-awaited second volume, and as much as it pains me to say it, The Twelve bites.” Entertainment Weekly is more generous, giving it a B+, even though it “doesn’t always match The Passage‘s dexterous storytelling and almost-plausible world creation…it’s still an unnerving and mostly satisfying tale of existential-threat disaster and its harrowing aftermath.”

Usual Suspects

The Panther by Nelson DeMille (Hachette/Grand Central; Hachette Audio; Hachette Large Print) finds Former NYPD detective John Corey and his FBI agent wife, Kate Mayfield, hunting a mastermind of the Al Qaeda attack on the USS Cole in 2000. Kirkus calls it, “quintessential DeMille: action-adventure flavored with double-dealing and covert conspiracy.”

Sleep No More by Iris Johansen (Macmillan/St. Martin’s; Thorndike Large Print) is the 14th Eve Duncan novel. This time the forensic sculptor, who has spent many novels investigating the disappearance of her daughter, discovers that she has a half-sister. PW says, “Series fans will be pleased to discover that Beth, like Eve, is a strong woman who has endured many trials in her past.”

The Bone Bed by Patricia Cornwell (Penguin/Putnam; Penguin Audio; Thorndike Large Print) finds forensic expert Kay Scarpetta digging into a case involving a missing paleontologist. LJ says, “Cornwell has been struggling lately; see what happens, and buy for her fans.”

Angel’s Ink: The Asylum Tales (Harper Voyager trade pbk original) marks the launch of The Asylum Tales, a new series by the New York Times bestselling author of the Dark Days novels. This one features a magical tattoo artist. An ebook-only short story (available on OverDrive), The Asylum Interviews: Trixie came out in September to whet appetites.

The Secret Keeper by Kate Morton (S&S/Atria) has been big on GalleyChat. Some think it’s her best; “Family secrets, suspense. Another winner.” This week’s People magazine concurs, giving it 4 of 4 stars and saying,”Morton weaves an intriguing mystery, shifting between past and present and among fully realized characters harboring deep secrets.”

Young Adult

Hidden by P.C. Cast, Kristin Cast (St. Martin’s Griffin; Macmillan Audio; Thorndike Large Print) is the 10th installment in the House of Night series by this mother-daughter writing team.

Nonfiction

The Rolling Stones 50 by The Rolling Stones with Mick Jagger, Keith Richards, Charlie Watts and Ronnie Wood (Hyperion) commemorates the band’s long history and survival in photos. Kirkus says it’s a “soulless corporate birthday party that sheds no new light on its well-traveled subjects.”

Master of the Mountain: Thomas Jefferson and His Slaves by Henry Wiencek (Macmillan/FSG ; HighBridge Audio) is the latest from the 1999 National Book Critics Circle Award winner for The Hairstons: An American Family in Black and White. Here, Wiencek “deftly explores the economic calculus behind Jefferson’s gradual cooling toward emancipation and eventual acceptance of human capital as a great ‘investment opportunity,” according to LJ.

The Things That Matter by Nate Berkus (Speigel & Grau) is an illustrated guide to creating a home full of meaningful things, by the designer who got a push from Oprah and now has his own talk show.

Movie Tie-Ins

The Twilight Saga: The Complete Film Archive: Memories, Mementos, and Other Treasures from the Creative Team Behind the Beloved Motion Pictures ties into the November 16 release of (can you believe it?) the the last installment in the Twilight series, Breaking Dawn, Part 2.

The Silver Linings Playbook by Matthew Quick (Macmillan/FSG/Sarah Crichton Books) ties in to the movie to be released on November 21, starring Bradley Cooper, Jennifer Lawrence and Robert DeNiro. It won the top prize at the Toronto Interntional Film Festival.

Team of Rivals; Lincoln Film Tie-in Edition by Doris Kearns Goodwin (S&S trade paperback; S&S audio tie-in) ties in to Stephen Spielberg’s Lincoln, starring Daniel Day Lewis. It opens in a limited run on November 9, releasing nationwide on November 16, and is based on the later sections of  Team of Rivals.

The excitement in the upcoming week is in nonfiction, starting with a new collection of Beatle John Lennon‘s private letters, a new Barbra Streisand bio by William J. Mann, and a biography of photographer Edward Curtis by Timothy Egan, along with a YA adaptation of Navy Seal Eric Greitens‘s bestselling memoir. Usual suspects include James Patterson (with Marshall Karp), Robert K. Morgan and the man known as the “Stephen King of children’s literature,” R L Stein, delivers his first adult horror novel (thanks for the correction; this is actually his second book for adults, after his 1995 title, Superstitious).

Nonfiction

The John Lennon Letters by John Lennon, edited by Hunter Davies (Hachette/Little, Brown; Hachette Audio) collects the beloved Beatles private letters to family, friends, strangers, and lovers from every point in his life, with annotations by Hunter Davies, author of  the authorized biography The Beatles (1968).

Hello, Gorgeous: Becoming Barbra Streisand by William J. Mann (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt; Thorndike Large Print) focuses on the singer’s breakthrough years in the Sixties, when she starred in Funny Girl on Broadway and recorded three platinum albums. PW says, “Combining extensive interviews (some anonymous) and exhaustive archival research, Mann balances intimate personal details with audience reactions and critical acclaim to etch an indelible portrait of the artist as a young woman.”

Short Nights of the Shadow Catcher: The Epic Life and Immortal Photographs of Edward Curtis by Timothy Egan (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt; Dreamscape Audio) is the Pulitzer Prize-winning biographer’s account of 19th C portrait photographer Edward Curtis, who gave up a thriving career to chronicle more than 80 Native American tribes before their way of life disappeared. The result was Curtis’s classic 20-volume set, The North American Indian, which took 30 years to complete and left him divorced and destitute. Kirkus says, “Lucent prose illuminates a man obscured for years in history’s shadows.”

Jesus Today: Experience Hope Through His Prescence by Sarah Young (HarperCollins/Thomas Nelson) is the second book from the missionary and breakout author of Jesus Calling.

There Was a Country: A Personal History of Biafra by Chinua Achebe (Penguin Press; Penguin Audiobooks) blends political analysis, history, and personal reminiscences of the Nigerian civil war of 1967-70 in a coming of age memoir. The author best known for the novel Things Fall Apart, which has sold ten million copies worldwide since 1958. Kirkus says, “a powerful memoir/document of a terrible conflict and its toll on the people who endured it.”

Nonfiction – Young Adult

The Warrior’s Heart by Eric Greitens (HMH Young Readers) adapts the author’s bestseller The Heart and the Fist for teen readers, focusing on the youthful adventures that led him to become a humanitarian and a Navy SEAL. Kirkus says Greitens retraces his coming of age “with well-deserved pride but not self-aggrandizement,” and says it’s “as thought provoking as it is entertaining.”

Usual Suspects

NYPD Red by James Patterson and Marshall Karp (Hachette/Little, Brown; Little Brown Large Print; Hachette Audio) finds the NYPD on high alert when a deranged killer strikes a series of red carpet celebrity events.

Red Rain by R L Stein (S&S/Touchstone; Simon & Schuster Audio) is the first second adult horror novel by the bestselling author of the  Goosebumps and Fear Street series, involving a hurricane and psychopath. PW says it “fails to compel.”

Character names as movie titles are currently in vogue. There’s the two Jacks — Jack Reacher (based on Lee Child’s One Shot, in theaters 12/21) and Jack Ryan (based on Tom Clancy’s character, scheduled to arrive a year later) — as well as Alex Cross (based on James Patterson’s character, Oct 19).

Just released is a trailer for Parker, based on the character featured in 24 novels by Donald Westlake, writing as Richard Stark. The U. of Chicago Press, which has been reissuing the novels, describes Parker as displaying “chilling tenacity and laconic anticharm.” The former is on full display in this trailer; not so sure about the latter.

The movie, directed by Taylor Hackford and starring Jason Statham and Jennifer Lopez, opens Jan. 25.

Parker has been featured in several earlier movies. The most famous are Point Blank, 1967, with Lee Marvin in the lead (for some reason, the character’s name was changed to “Walker”) and Mel Gibson in Payback, 1999 (again the name was changed, this time to “Porter”).

The University of Chicago Press is releasing Flashfire as a tie-in (like the other Parker novels, the publisher is making them available in ebook via OverDrive. An audio is being released by AudioGo).

To recognize libraries for their support of Attica Locke’s new book The Cutting Season, HarperCollins Library Marketing is offering an opportunity for a library to host an event with the author.

To enter, please fill out the form here, including information on how you would make an Attica event special.

Proposals are being solicited until October 12, 2012.  The visit would occur before the end of this calendar year.

The UK’s Observer just reviewed the book, saying, “Belles, balls and bloody deeds mingle to dazzling effect in Attica Locke’s evocation of the deep south past and present.”

Team Attica Locke member Columbus (OH) Metropolitan Library has built up substantial holds on the book because of staff recommendations and are hosting a Facebook chat with Attica on Oct. 23rd.

Believe it or not, J.K. Rowling‘s first novel for adults, The Casual Vacancy, is not the only book going on sale next week, though it will surely get a lion’s share of media attention. The other lion of the week is rocker Neil Young, who delivers his first memoir. Other noteworthy nonfiction includes a compilation of President John F. Kennedy’s audio tapes and transcripts, put together by the John F. Kennedy Library and historian Ted Widmer. In adult fiction, there’s a debut novel from popular memoirist J.R. Moehringer, and a BEA Buzz panel pick by Antoine Wilson. Usual suspects include Tim LaHaye and Craig Parshall and Deepak Chopra – and in YA fiction, there’s a mystery from adult author Francine Prose.

Major Comeback

EMBARGOED: The Casual Vacancy by J.K. Rowling (Little Brown; Hachette Audio) comes with a big question: does J.K. Rowling’s first book for adults have a fair chance at success, given the wildly outsized expectations that come with being the author of the Harry Potter series? Her first and only U.S. interview about the book will be on September 26, on ABC’s Good Morning America (7:00-9:00 AM), World News with Diane Sawyer (6:30 PM), and Nightline (11:35 PM-12:00 AM), and will re-air on Good Morning America on September 27.

Watch List

Sutton by J.R. Moehringer (Hyperion; Hyperion Audio; Thorndike Large Print) is a debut novel about the bank robber and folk hero Willie “The Actor” Sutton, by the author of the popular memoir The Tender Bar. It begins in 1969, after Sutton’s release from Attica prison at age 68, as he looks back on stealing more than $2 million over 40 years (often in costume) and his three impressive prison breaks. Entertainment Weekly‘s review begins, “There’s a quality to J.R. Moehringer’s writing that makes you feel you aren’t stepping into a book so much as a dimly lit but welcoming bar…He brings a raconteur’s grace and rhythm to his first novel.” The reviewer admits that the ending is unsatisfying, “But isn’t closing time always a bit of a letdown when you don’t want an entertaining night to end?”

Panorama City by Antoine Wilson (HMH; Blackstone Audio) was a BEA Editors Buzz Panel pick about a self-described “slow-learner” recovering from a traumatic accident, who composes a letter about what it takes to be “a man of the world” to his unborn son and pregnant wife. Booklist says, “Readers who enjoy Mark Haddon and Greg Olear will appreciate Wilson’s authorial voice, which blends Oppen’s good-natured naiveté and humorous asides with incisive cynicism.”

The Secret Book of Frida Kahlo by F. G. Haghenbeck (S&S/Atria) is a fictional biography of the beloved Mexican painter’s life, chronic illness and many loves, based on Kahlo’s unpublished notebooks, including actual recipes tied to her most important moments and relationships. Kirkus says, “despite the repetitiousness and pretentious hyperbola that drags on this novel, Kahlo remains a rich character and inevitably irresistible.”

Love Anthony by Lisa Genova (S&S/Gallery; S&S Audio; Thorndike Large Print) follows two grieving mothers who meet by chance in Nantucket, and help each other heal and move on. Kirkus says, “There’s a point in the narrative where one of the characters becomes so engrossed in reading a book that she loses track of time. Readers of Genova’s latest excellent offering might very well find the same happening to them.”

Usual Suspects

Brink of Chaos by Tim LaHaye and Craig Parshall (Zondervan; Zondervan Audio; Thorndike Large Print) is the third installment in The End series of political apocalyptic thrillers.

God: A Story of Revelation by Deepak Chopra (HarperOne) is a “teaching novel” by the popular author of Jesus and Buddha, that aims for a better understanding of God by profiling 10 historical figures: Job, Socrates, St. Paul, Shankara, Rumi, Julian of Norwich, Giordano Bruno, Anne Hutchinson, Baal Shem Tov and Rabindranath Tagore. Kirkus says, “Of particular interest are the humorous, humble Baal Shem, the brilliant, witty Shankara and the visionary Julian, a man Chopra calls ‘the most touching figure in this book’.”

Young Adult

Confessions of a Murder Suspect by Maxine Paetro  and James Patterson (Hachette/Little, Brown; Hachette Audio) begins a new teen mystery series from the team behind the Women’s Murder Club series for adults. PW is not impressed: “The intriguing setup loses cohesion… For writers with their crime-writing experience, Patterson and Paetro show little interest in common sense, motivation, or believable storytelling.”

The Turning by Francine Prose (Harper Teen) is the story of a teen who takes on a spooky summer job caring for two orphans on a remote island, inspired by Henry James’s Turn of the Screw. PW says, “Remaining true to the ambiguous nature of the original, Prose (Touch) masterfully builds suspense. Like Adele Griffin’s Tighter (2011), this spin on the classic tale is an enticing blend of gothic elements and psychological complexities.”

The Other Normals by Ned Vizzini (HarperCollins/Balzer + Bray) is the story of a 15 year-old whose parents take away his role-playing game guides and send him to camp to get socialized by the author of It’s a Funny Story. Kirkus says, ” Though the world building is thin at times, there are some moments of genuine pathos and terror, with the final climactic fight scene leaving plenty of room for sequels. Great geeky fun.”

Nonfiction

Listening In: The Secret White House Recordings of John F. Kennedy, selected and with introduction by Ted Widmer, foreword by Caroline Kennedy (Hyperion) makes available for the first time selections from the 256 hours of JFK’s presidential conversations that were taped on hidden recording systems in the Oval Office and in the Cabinet Room. It includes two 75-minute CDs and covers decisions related to the Cuban Missile Crisis, the Space Race, Vietnam, and the arms race, compiled by John F. Kennedy Library and historian Widmer.

Waging Heavy Peace by Neil Young (Penguin/Blue Rider; Penguin Audiobooks) is  a memoir by the iconic rocker, whose career spans 50 years, from playing with Buffalo Springfield and Crosby, Stills, & Nash to Crazy Horse and becoming the “godfather of grunge.”

One Last Strike: Fifty Years in Baseball, Ten and a Half Games Back, and One Final Championship Season by Tony La Russa (Harper/ Morrow; HarperLuxe) is the story of the St. Louis Cardinals unusual end-of-season run and victory in the 2011 World Series, by their manager.

The Chew: Food. Life. Fun. by The Chew with contributions from Mario Batali, Gordon Elliott, Carla Hall, Clinton Kelly, Daphne Oz and Michael Symon (Hyperion) is a companion cookbook to The Chew, a daytime show on ABC-TV.

Safari: A Photicular Book by Dan Kainen, text by Carol Kaufmann (Workman) recreates a Kenyan safari featuring eight animals portrayed with a new technology that resembles a 3-D movie on the page, in the next leap after the publisher’s best selling Gallop.

Movie Tie-in

Killing Them Softly (Cogan’s Trade Movie Tie-In Edition) by George V. Higgins (RH/Vintage Crime/Black Lizard) ties in to the movie starring Brad Pitt from the Weinstein Company, which was recently rescheduled to the end of November, to move it into consideration for an Oscar. (Deadline, 9/11/12)

Attica Locke appeared on NPR’s Morning Edition today, the release day of her second mystery, The Cutting Season, (HarperCollins; HarperLuxe; Dreamscape Audio; audio and ebook on OverDrive).

HarperCollins reports that more is coming — in People, USA Today, and O Magazine (we’ve rounded up the media attention to date on the Team Attica Locke Facebook page. Be sure to “like” it).

Libraries around the country are getting the word out about The Cutting Season. Kaite Stover, Kansas P.L, selected it for the Oct. FYI Book Club, a special partnership the library has with the Kansas City Star.  The library picks a book, the paper writes about it and together the promote online chat that Kaite leads (see the September pick, The Song of Achilles, here).

Librarians are also reviewing it on their web sites (see this one on my library alma mater, Baltimore County PL’s web site).

Let other libraries know what you are doing by posting to the Team Attica Locke Facebook page.

One of the titles on our  Watch List breaks into the Amazon top 100 today, the debut historical mystery, The Malice of Fortune by Michael Ennis (RH/Doubleday; RH Audio; BOT; Thorndike).

It was featured on NPR’s All Things Considered last night, with a strong hook; “What would happen if two of the biggest names of the Renaissance — Niccolo Machiavelli and Leonardo da Vinci — teamed up as a crime-fighting duo? … The mystery novel pairs the ruthless political philosopher and the genius inventor and artist together as an unlikely detective team on the trail of a serial killer.”

It is currently at #82 on Amazon sales rankings, with an “up” arrow.

Most libraries have ordered lightly and are beginning to show holds.

Author Lee Child appeared on CBS This Morning yesterday to talk about his new book, A Wanted Man  (Delacorte Press; RH Large Print; RHAudio). The interview begins with comments about the striking physical difference between Child’s character, Jack Reacher, who is six-feet-five and 250-pounds, and Tom Cruise, who plays the lead in the upcoming movie, Jack Reacher. Child insists that Cruise is a “fantastic” Reacher, “How? I don’t know. He’s an actor. That’s what they do.”

Child was involved in the making of the film (including a cameo) and was writing A Wanted Man during production. He says the energy of the movie influenced the pacing of the new book.

Jack Reacher, the movie is scheduled for release on 12/21. It’s based on Child’s 9th title in the Jack Reacher series, One Shot. The new book is the 17th.

Hitting a series high on the new USA Today bestseller list is the 12th title in Laurie King’s Russell & Holmes mysteries, Garment of Shadows (RH/Bantam; Recorded Books; Thorndike large print).  It debuts at #59. The previous title, The Pirate King, was on the list for one week at #88.

King’s series features Mary Russell, who teams up with Sherlock Holmes in the first title in the series, The Beekeeper’s Apprentice and later becomes his partner and wife.

Holmes has enjoyed a recent revival, with two hit films starring Robert Downey Jr.; Sherlock Holmes 3 is in development. A third season is also in the works for the BBC’s Sherlock, a co-production with PBS’Masterpiece.

This fall, CBS begins a new prime-time series, Elementary, which features Holmes as a 21st-century Manhattanite, played by Jonny Lee Miller, aided by Dr. Joan Watson played by Lucy Liu. It premieres Sept. 27.

We’re thrilled that so many libraries have answered our call to make Attica Locke’s The Cutting Season, (HarperCollins; HarperLuxe; Dreamscape Audio; audio and ebook on OverDrive) a best seller and to also prove that libraries build buzz.

A few other strong voices have joined Team Attica Locke. The NYT‘s Janet Maslin gave the book an outstanding review nearly two weeks before publication and Dennis Lehane has picked it as the first title in his imprint at HarperCollins.

But we think librarians have even more powerful voices.

If you haven’t joined Team Attica Locke yet, it’s time to get on board; The Cutting Season comes out next week. UPDATE: We now have a Team Attica Locke FaceBook page where we are gathering information on media coverage, as well as what libraries are doing. Please Like it.

The publisher is now out of print galleys, but you can still get an egalley from Edelweiss. Hurry; as of next week, when the book is released, the egalley will no longer be available (you will have until Oct. 3rd to read it).

The HarperCollins Library Marketing Team has set up an easy way to get The Cutting Season, as well as other HarperCollins titles, without having to wait for approval:

1) Register on Edelweiss

2) Send an email to librarylovefest@harpercollins.com to tell them you have registered.  You will receive a confirmation email that you are a VIP.

3) Go to The Cutting Season page on Edelweiss and hit “Download Review Copy” bar on the right. Follow the Edelweiss instructions to download it to your specific reading device.

The Cuyahoga Library staff is behind the book and have created the following poster at the request of their branch staff (click on the image for a larger version). Guess what? Holds are building there. They encourage you to create your own versions.

No Easy Day, the book about the killing of Osama bin Laden that has been in headlines for days, is already facing media competition from Bob Woodward’s new book, an analysis of Obama’s efforts to restore the economy, which arrives on Tuesday. Two of the fall’s most anticipated novels also arrive – from Pulitzer Prize-winners Michael Chabon and Junot Diaz. There are also a handful of debuts to watch, including two that were featured on this year’s BEA Editor’s buzz panel. Usual suspects include Beverly Lewis, Richard Castle, J.D. Robb, Jamie Freveletti, Lee Child, and Michael Brandman.

Watch List

The Yellow Birds by Kevin Powers (Hachette/Little, Brown; Thorndike Press; Hachette Audio) was pretty close to THE pick of BEA this year, based on publisher Michael Pietsch’s passionate promo during the Editors Buzz panel (he has a good track record with debuts; he promoted The Art of Fielding at last year’s BEA). One of many war novels this season, this one is by an actual veteran of the Iraq war. The title comes from a chillingly violent military marching song. It gets early reviews from NPR’s Alan Cheuse and from the NYT‘s Michiko Kakutani, who says it “stands with Tim O’Brien’s enduring Vietnam book, The Things They Carried, as a classic of contemporary war fiction.”

Those We Love Most by Lee Woodruff (Hyperion/Voice; Thorndike Press) is a debut novel that follows a family after the loss of its oldest child. LJ says, “surely some of this heartfelt, honest novel stems from the author’s own real-life journey with her husband [ABC News’ Bob Woodruff], who was severely injured while reporting on the war in Iraq [and with whom she co-wrote the memoir In an Instant]. Overall, this is solid contemporary fiction, sure to please readers who enjoy Sue Monk Kidd and Anna Quindlen.” It’s featured in today’s USA Today.

The People of Forever Are Not Afraid by Shani Boianjiu (RH/Crown/Hogarth) was another stand-out on the BEA Editor’s Buzz Panel. It’s a debut novel about three small-town, 18 year-olds in the Israeli Defense Forces, each young woman trying to balance teenage concerns with the continual threat of war. Kirkus is a little skeptical, “Not for the squeamish. Readers will either embrace the complexity of the writing or become maddeningly lost as the author meanders through a hot, dry country devoid of tenderness.”

The Malice of Fortune by Michael Ennis (RH/Doubleday; RH Audio; BOT; Thorndike) takes readers behind Machiavelli’s The Prince, as Niccolo Machiavelli and Leonardo da Vinci join forces to stop a serial killer in  early 16th-century Italy. The new issue of Entertainment Weekly gives it a B+, saying, “Nothing says ‘back to school’ quite like … a hefty novel about the politics of 16th-century Italy. Luckily, this one reads like a pulpy mystery. Inspired by the real-life assassination of Juan Borgia, an illegitimate son of Pope Alexander VI, and a series of serial-killer murders…”

Found: The Secrets of Crittenden County, Book Three by Shelley Shepard Gray (HarperCollins/Avon Inspire; Thorndike Large Print) is the conclusion to this Amish mystery trilogy and was a BEA Shout ‘n’ Share pick by Cuyahoga’s Wendy Bartlett: “If you only typically buy big Amish writers like Beverly Lewis[who also has a new book out this week, see below] and Suzanne Woods Fisher, you should add Shelley Shepard Gray to your top echelon of must-haves… This a mystery series, but each title is very much a gentle read.”

Returning Favorites

Telegraph Avenue by Michael Chabon (Harper; HarperLuxe) is a tale of a black family and a white family in Oakland, California that mines pop culture influences from Kung Fu and ’70s Blaxploitation films to vinyl LPs, jazz and soul music. On all the “big books of the fall” lists, it’s already getting heavy review attention; from Entertainment Weekly, the L.A. Times, Slate, and the Wall Street Journal. Expect many more.

This is How You Lose Her by Junot Diaz (Penguin/Riverhead; Penguin Audio; Thorndike Large Print) is a story collection by the Pulitzer Prize-winning author of The Brief, Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao, that explores passion, loss and human weakness. Also on every fall preview, it’s reviewed in this week’s Entertainment Weekly, the L.A. Times and The Economist (which begins, “Sraightforward writing about male lust is rare. Writing that reveals the price exacted by such lust is rarer still”).

Black Dahlia & White Rose by Joyce Carol Oates (Harper/Ecco; Dreamscape Audio) is a collection of short fiction from the National Book Award winner, and ranges from a tale of a friendship between two doomed women – Marilyn Monroe and Elizabeth Short – to an account of an otherworldly infidelity.

Usual Suspects

The Bridesmaid by Beverly Lewis (Bethany House; Bethany Large Print, Pbk; Thorndike Large Print, Hdbk) is the latest novel set in Amish country about a young woman in a secret courtship, by this internationally published author of Christian fiction. This one comes with a trailer. One-day laydown.

Frozen Heat by Richard Castle (Hyperion; Hyperion Audio) is the fourth novel in the series featuring NYPD Homicide Detective Nikki Heat, in which her mother’s cold case finally thaws.

Delusion in Death by J.D. Robb (Putnam Adult; Wheeler Large Print; Brilliance Audio) is the 36th novel featuring Eve Dallas, of the New York Police and Security Department. This outing involves a home grown terrorist.

Robert Ludlum’s The Janus Reprisal by Jamie Freveletti (Hachette/Grand Central; Hachette Audio; Thorndike Large Print) stars Army microbiologist Lt. Jon Smith, who must identify and stop a biological warfare plot.

A Wanted Man by Lee Child (Delacorte Press; RH Large Print Publishing; RHAudio) is the 17th Jack Reacher novel. Kirkus says, “In this latest attempt to show Reacher enjoying every possible variety of conflict with his nation’s government short of outright secession, Child (The Affair, 2011, etc.) has produced two-thirds of a masterpiece.”

Robert B. Parker’s Fool Me Twice: A Jesse Stone Novel by Michael Brandman (Penguin/Putnam; Thorndike Press; Random House Audio) is the second Jesse Stone novel in which Bradman channels Robert B. Parker. PW says, “More is less as the unrelated story lines compete with each other for depth, even if the larger-than-life lead is able to take them all in stride.”

Childrens

The Secret of the Stone Frog by David Nytra (Candlewick/Toon) is a graphic fantasy that starts as Leah and Alan awaken in an enchanted forest and follows their journey home. Kirkus says, “Not much here for plot, but fans of the art of Tenniel and his modern descendants (Maurice Sendak, Charles Vess) will find much to admire in this U.S. debut.”

Nonfiction

The Price of Politics by Bob Woodward (Simon & Schuster; S&S Audio) is described by ABC News, which has the first interview with Woodard for the book, as “sweeping you-are-there account of how President Obama and the highest profile Republican and Democratic leaders in the United States Congress attempted to restore the American economy and improve the federal government’s fiscal condition.” ABC is scheduled to air Diane Sawyer’s “exclusive first interview” on Monday, followed on Tuesday by Woodward’s sit-down with George Stephanopoulos on Good Morning America and dozens of other appearances, culminating with Meet the Press a week from Sunday. The book is embargoed, but details are being reported widely, some by ABC News itself. Nancy Pelosi has already responded to Woodward’s claim that she sometimes hit mute during Obama’s phone calls. The New York Times, the Daily Beast and Politico have all managed to find copies and report extensively it. Because Woodward is an editor at  the Washington Post, they an early look and will publish excerpts on Sunday.

The End of Men and the Rise of Women by Hanna Rosin (Penguin/Riverhead) follows up on this Atlantic magazine senior editor’s story of two summers ago, about how women are more likely to succeed than men in the modern workforce. An excerpt, “Who Wears the Pants in This Economy” was featured on the cover of last Sunday’s New York Times Magazine.

Hitting new highs, Canadian Louise Penny’s eighth title in her beloved Inspector Gamache series, The Beautiful Mystery (Macmillan/Minotaur Books, Macmillan Audio; Thorndike Large Print), arrives at #2 on the Indie Hardcover Fiction Best Seller list and at  #12 on USA Today‘s list.

Designated a People Pick in the 9/3 issue, in this outing inspector Gamache of the Quebec Surete investigates the murder in a monastery, and in the process unearths painful truths behind the calm facade. Says People, “With enormous empathy for the troubled human soul — and an ending that makes your blood race and your heart break — Penny continues to raise the bar of her splendid series.”

This is the second of the series to arrive on best seller lists. Her previous title in the series, A Trick of the Light, debuted on the NYT list at #4 and stayed on for two weeks, and two more on the extended list.

Mystery writer William Kent Krueger’s previous book came tantalizingly close to hitting the NYT Hardcover Fiction Best Seller list, spending one week at #18 on the extended list. Appropriately, the twelfth title in his Cork O’Connor series, Trickster’s Point (S&S/Atria; Thorndike Large Print), lands solidly on the  list at #12 this week.

Krueger’s main character is a rural Minnesota P.I. who is half-Ojibwa Indian and half Irish. The author is known for the northern Minnesota settings. He clearly loves the region, as expressed in the trailer for his previous title, Northwest Angle.

In a recent post on is blog, God Bless Librarians, Krueger gives tribute to the person who turned him into a reader.

Lots of titles to watch next week, including librarian favorites from rising novelists Emma Straub and Tatjana Soli, Spanish sci-fi bestseller Felix J. Palma, and British debut author Morgan McCarthy. Usual suspects include Zadie Smith, James Patterson, Dale Brown and Clive Cussler and Thomas Perry – plus Elizabeth George makes her YA debut.

After dominating news all this week, No Easy Day, the eyewitness account of the killing of bin Laden is scheduled to arrive on Tuesday, but the Pentagon has warned that the author is in breach of the non-disclosure agreements he signed when he became a Navy SEAL and that “Further public dissemination of your book will aggravate your breach and violation of your agreements.”

Christopher Hitchens posthumously delivers his last words on mortality, Gretchen Rubin shares more tried and true advice on cultivated happiness, and NBA superstar Dwyane Wade reflects on his rise as a basketball player and his role as a father.

Watch List

Laura Lamont’s Life in Pictures by Emma Straub (Penguin/Riverhead; Thorndike Large Print; Dreamscape Media, read by Molly Ringwald) is the story of a farm girl’s rise (and fall) as a movie star in early Hollywood – and Riverhead’s lead debut novel for the fall. Entertainment Weekly  gives it an “A-“ saying, “Though the tale may be familiar, Emma Straub’s fantastic debut novel… brings fresh sparkle to the journey.” It’s a B&N Discover Great New Writers pick. It also had buzz during our August GalleyChat.

Breed by Scott Spencer writing as Chase Novak (Hachette/ Mulholland Books; Hachette Audio) is a medical thriller about an infertile couple who transform themselves into parents via reproductive technology, but it has an unexpected side effect, causing them to develop strange appetites that scare their twin children. Janet Maslin gave it an early review in  Thursday’s New York Times, in which she calls Spencer the “gently literary author still best remembered for the lush prose of his 1979 Endless Love…[who has] has started writing in a pulpier and more diabolical vein.”  She that, while it displays “keen antennas for sensory detail,” it is  “a gruesome book, a full-bore foray into the horror genre, so literary loveliness goes only so far. It is probably best avoided by anyone not wishing to know exactly what it’s like to eat a baby pigeon.”  The cover sports a blurb from Stephen King, “By turns terrifying and blackly funny, Breed is a total blast.” Entertainment Weekly, however, gives it just a “B,” saying, “Breed is being touted as a modern-day Rosemary’s Baby, but Spencer… delivers the camp better than he does the scares.” A followup, Brood, is in the works.

John Saturnall’s Feast by Lawrence Norfolk (Grove Press) is a historical novel set in 17th century England about a boy who’s orphaned when his mother is accused of being a witch. He goes on to become the greatest cook of his generation. PW says, “Known for intellectual prose and complex plots, Norfolk this time out attempts to interweave time and senses, reality and myth, rewarding steadfast readers with savory recipes and a bittersweet upstairs-downstairs love story.” It was a BEA Librarian’s Shout ‘n’ Share pick, and is an Indie Next pick for September.

Norfolk offers a look at the surprising sophistication of English cooking in the 17th C:

The Map of the Sky by Felix J.Palma (S&S/Atria) is the Spanish author’s sequel to his bestselling take-off on H.G. Wells’ The Time Machine. Here, the action begins when a New York socialite challenges her fiance to recreate Wells’ The War of the Worlds, setting off a chain reaction across time and space. LJ says, “Palma has again managed to infuse something very familiar with a new edge and life.” This one also kicked up some buzz on GalleyChat in August, where a librarian said that the novel “brings War of the Worlds to life.”

The Forgetting Tree by Tatjana Soli (St. Martin’s Press; Tantor Media; Thorndike Large Print) was a BEA Shout ‘n’ Share pick for Cuyahoga’s Wendy Bartlett. Here’s her pitch: “This book opens with a family tragedy that occurs in the first few pages. The rest of this thoughtful book is about how we heal–or don’t–after an unspeakable tragedy. It’s set on a  citrus ranch in Southern California. Soli’s first book, The Lotus-Eaters, did very well with our customers, and was really good for book discussion. She reminds me of a young Barbara Kingsolver. Her language is simple but not plain, her characters are extremely well drawn, and the setting is like a movie it’s so easy to visualize.”

The Other Half of Me by Morgan McCarthy (S&S/Free Press) is a paperback original about two siblings who grow up in a dysfunctional aristocratic English family in Wales with secrets that go back for generations. Robin Beerbower, our go-to librarian for scary titles, says this one “is being compared to Ian McEwan’s Atonement, but I’m finding it more compelling than that. The pacing is a bit slow but it features a completely unreliable but fascinating narrator and the gorgeous writing kept me engrossed.”

Returning Favorites

NW by Zadie Smith (Penguin Press; Penguin Audiobooks) is Smith’s first novel in seven years and one of the most anticipated titles of the early fall (it even gets an early review from BusinessWeek). It focuses on three characters who have risen above their childhoods in a Northwest London housing estate in the 1970s, with varying degrees of success. Michiko Kakutani, in the NYT, expresses disappointment, calling it a “much smaller, more meager book” than Smith’s critically acclaimed debut, White Teeth. In the Washington Post, Ron Charles expresses sympathy for the author, who, “Ever since… her dazzling debut in 2000, Zadie Smith has labored under an enviable weight of critical and popular expectations.” He acknowledges that the new novel it difficult, but worth the effort: “At times, reading NW is like running past a fence, catching only strips of light from the scene on the other side. Smith makes no accommodation for the distracted reader — or even the reader who demands a clear itinerary. But if you’re willing to let it work on you, to hear all these voices and allow the details to come into focus when Smith wants them to, you’ll be privy to an extraordinary vision of our age.” Smith spoke out this week to protest the possible closing of hundreds of  local libraries in Great Britain.

Usual Suspects

Zoo by James Patterson (Hachette/Little Brown; Hachette Audio) revolves around Jackson Oz, a young biologist, who witnesses a coordinated lion ambush in Africa that spurs him to heroic action.

Tiger’s Claw: A Novel by Dale Brown (HarperCollins/ Morrow; Harperluxe; HarperAudio) is a thriller in which China and the U.S. find themselves fighting over the Pacific after a preemptive strike.

The Tombs by Clive Cussler and Thomas Perry (Penguin/Putnam; Thorndike Press; Penguin Audiobooks) is the fourth outing with multi-millionaire treasure hunters Sam and Remi Fargo, who join an archaeologist in excavating an ancient Hungarian battlefield. PW says, “this adventure series stands as one of the crown jewels in the Cussler empire.”

Young Adult

The Edge of Nowhere by Elizabeth George (Penguin/Viking) is the veteran mystery author’s first YA novel, the start of a series about a psychic 14 year-old girl who must fend for herself after her mother runs away from her stepfather. Booklist says, “what’s best here are the characters, both young and adult. There are no stereotypes, and their humanity keeps the story moving, even when the plot is tied in knots.”

Nonfiction

No Easy Day: The Firsthand Account of the Mission That Killed Osama Bin Laden (Penguin/Dutton; Penguin Audio; Thorndike recently acquired large print rights) is under embargo until Tuesday, but copies  are already out and details are being reported widely. On Thursday, the Pentagon warned the author, reports Reuters, that he “in material breach and violation of the non-disclosure agreements you signed,” and “Further public dissemination of your book will aggravate your breach and violation of your agreements.” There’s no news on how this might affect the author’s scheduled media appearances.

Happier at Home: Kiss More, Jump More, Abandon a Project, Read Samuel Johnson, and My Other Experiments in the Practice of Everyday Life by Gretchen Rubin (RH/Crown Archetype; Random House Audio; BOT) picks up where the author’s bestselling The Happiness Project left off, with ideas to simplify and enhance one’s domestic life with children. PW says, “Although it lacks the freshness and originality of her earlier book, this perceptive sequel offers elegant musings about the nature of happiness combined with concrete ways to make the place where we sleep, eat, and watch TV truly a home.”

Mortality by Christopher Hitchens (Hachette/Twelve; Twelve; Hachette Audio) is the lauded cultural critic’s look at illness, suffering, cancer etiquette, religion and his own incipient death from esophageal cancer in December 2011. PW says, “Hitchens’ powerful voice compels us to consider carefully the small measures by which we live every day and to cherish them.” 125,000 copies.

A Father First: How My Life Became Bigger Than Basketball by Dwyane Wade (HarpreCollins/Morrow) is a memoir by the NBA superstar, Miami Heat player and divorced single dad of two sons that charts his upbringing by his drug-addicted mother on Chicago’s South Side. Kirkus says, ” A refreshing chronicle of a fervent sportsman with his head and heart in all the right places.”