EarlyWord is the home of GalleyChat, monthly online discussions where library staff share excitement about upcoming books. More information here.
Summaries of chats and announcements are posted to the right. Use them to add to your own TBR piles and for collection development.
Links on the far right of the site offer information useful to readers advisors.
Hope to see you during our next chat,
GalleyChatters
Diane Sawyer’s Primetime interview last night with Jaycee Dugard sent her memoir, A Stolen Life (S&S), to #1 on Amazon sales rankings; the audio rose to #147. Dugard is also scheduled for Good Morning America, tomorrow, the book’s release date.
Next week in fiction, two buzzy titles arrive: NBA finalist Dana Spiotta returns with her third novel and British author Glen Duncan delivers a literary werewolf thriller for adults. In nonfiction, Jaycee Dugard tells the story of her kidnapping and 18 years as a captive of her abductor and will appear on major evening and morning news shows, while journalist Ben Mezrich returns with a real-life NASA-related adventure.
Stone Arabia by Dana Spiotta (Scribner) is the third novel by this National Book Award finalist, about a conflicted artist in Southern California and his sister, who is convinced he’s a genius. PW says its “clever structure, jaundiced affection for Los Angeles, and diamond-honed prose” make this “one of the most moving and original portraits of a sibling relationship in recent fiction.” It also gets an early review in New York magazine, which calls it “good, sly fun, but … also tender, rueful, and shrewd.”
The Last Werewolf by Glen Duncan (Knopf) is a literate page-turner about a 201-year-old werewolf who is the last of his kind. It’s getting a big push from the publisher, buzz from early readers, and has been mentioned at BEA’s Shout and Share as well as on our very own GalleyChat. This one’s a fun (and dirty!) read.
Iron House by John Hart (Thomas Dunne Books) is the story of two orphaned boys separated by violence. It’s the fourth literary thriller by this award-winning writer, whose last book (The Last Child) was a bestseller. This one has an announced 200,000-copy first printing and is the #1 Indie Next pick for August.
A Dance with Dragons by George R.R. Martin (Bantam) is the long awaited fifth installment of the epic fantasy A Song of Ice and Fire series. It already had a strong fan base that was expanded by HBO’s Game of Thrones, based on the first book. Its been in the Amazon Top Ten for a month. Recent news stories about spoilers surfacing on fan sites on the Web are just adding to the excitement.
Quinn by Iris Johansen (St. Martin’s) is a follow-up to Eve that delves deep into the life and psyche of Eve Duncan’s lover and soul mate, Joe Quinn. As a ruthless killer closes in, long-held secrets are gradually revealed. LJ, PW and Booklist all say it’s a pulse-pounder.
Then Came You by Jennifer Weiner (Atria) is the story of four women whose lives intertwine in creating a child through reproductive technology. LJ says, “fans of Marian Keyes, Anna Maxted, and other authors of serious chick lit will thoroughly enjoy this title for its humor mixed with a sympathetic portrayal of real women’s lives and challenges.”
Blood Work: An Original Hollows Graphic Novel by Kim Harrison (Del Rey) brings the authors popular urban crime fantasy series to visual form.
Dragon’s Oath by P.C. Cast and Kristin Cast (St. Martin’s Griffin) is the first in a new mini-series of novellas, and tells the story behind the fencing instructor in the bestselling House of Night series.
Forever by Maggie Stiefvater (Scholastic) concludes the Wolves of Mercy Falls werewolf trilogy.
A Stolen Life by Jaycee Dugard (Simon & Schuster) is a memoir by a woman who was kidnapped in 1991 at age 11 and endured 18 years of living with her abductor and his wife, bearing and raising his child before she was discovered in 2009. This one has an impressive news lineup. It’s on the cover of the July 18 issue of People, with an excerpt and a brief Q&A with Diane Sawyer about her two-hour interview with Dugard, to air on ABC’s PrimeTime July 10th. Sawyer says that her spirit “will astonish you” and that “everything she says makes you stop and examine yourself and your life.” She is also scheduled for Good Morning America on July 12th.
Sex on the Moon: The Amazing Story Behind the Most Audacious Heist in History by Ben Mezrich is the story of a fellow in a NASA program who schemed to steal rare moon rocks as a way to impress his new girlfriend. The author wrote Accidental Billionaires (the basis for the movie The Social Network). Our own view is that the details about the space program will be catnip for space junkies (and even those who are not – the James Bond stuff they have at the Johnson Space Center is amazing), but the central character doesn’t have the celebrity value of Mark Zuckerberg, so it may not draw a wider audience. It is currently being developed for a movie, by the same production team that created Social Network, but with Will Gluck (Easy A) directing, rather than David Fincher.
I’m Feeling Lucky: The Confessions of Google Employee Number 59 by Douglas Edwards (Houghton Mifflin) is the story of Google’s rise from the perspective of the company’s first director of marketing. PW says, ” The book’s real strength is its evenhandedness” and that it’s “more entertaining than it really has any right to be,” though Kirkus finds it less focused than it could be, given all the other books written about Google.
Of Thee I Zing: America’s Cultural Decline from Muffin Tops to Body Shots by Laura Ingraham and Raymond Arroyo (Threshold) criticizes the contemporary American culture of consumerism.
Chicago journalist Brenda Wilhelmson appeared on The Today Show yesterday to promote her alcoholism and recovery memoir. The book is currently at #184 on Amazon sales rankings. It was not reviewed prepub.
 |
|
Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy
In a story in today’s New York Times, Chip McGrath tries valiantly to come up with some news from the memoir by Eva Gabrielsson, Stieg Larsson’s longtime companion, “There Are Things I Want You to Know” About Stieg Larsson and Me.” (Seven Stories Press, 6/21; Audio, Tantor Media, 6/21).
Basically, there is a manuscript for another Millennium novel on Larsson’s laptop, which she has but isn’t telling anyone where it is, and it features Lisbeth Salander and Mikael Blomkvist.
She may be willing to complete it herself (the story notes that Gabrielsson’s “straightforward tone and terse, unadorned style are unlikely to provide much support for the conspiracy theorists,” who believe she is the actual author of Larsson’s books), but then again, maybe not. Discussing that issue with McGrath, she muses, “How long are we going to kid ourselves? Stieg is dead. Maybe we just have to accept that — all the readers and me, too.”
Library holds are light.
Gabriellson also appeared on the Today Show:
Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy
Former New Orleans mayor made national TV appearances yesterday to promote his self-pubbed book, Katrina’s Secrets: Storms After the Storm (coming tomorrow from Amazon’s self-publishing division, CreateSpace; although it is listed as “Volume 1,” there is no indication of when a Volume 2 will be published).
On the Daily Show, Jon Stewart asked why he went the self-publishing route; he said that he was worried that a traditional publisher would make changes to his “voice.”
What is Nagin doing now? Nagin’s response, “Disaster consulting” brought a big laugh.
| The Daily Show With Jon Stewart | Mon – Thurs 11p / 10c | |||
| Ray Nagin | ||||
|
||||
Nagin also appeared on the Today Show:
Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy
The Today Show site also offers an excerpt from the book. As a result of the attention, it received a bump on Amazon’s sales rankings, but still only rose to #1,223.
Jon Stewart interviewed author Maziar Bahari about his book, Then They Came for Me, (RH, June 7; Tantor Audio; EPUB eBook, OverDrive) on The Daily Show on Monday. Bahari is an Iranian journalist and filmmaker. His father was imprisoned and tortured under the Shah’s regime and his sister, under Khomeini’s. He drew on the memory of his family’s strength to survive his own imprisonment and torture.
Stewart, who is clearly moved by the book (he posted an extended two-part interview on his Web Site) also revealed that he is working with the author on a film about the story.
As a result of the appearance, the book, which came out yesterday, rose to # 78 on Amazon Sales Rankings
Extended Interview, Part One
Part Two
Former VP Dick Cheney’s memoir In My Time, will be released on August 30th, reports the AP. It is being published by Threshold Editions, S&S’s conservative imprint run by former Cheney aide Mary Matalin.
According to Cheney’s co-author, his daughter Liz Cheney, her father will make appearances to promote the book, despite his heart disease.
The book is now #92 on Amazon sales rankings.
 |
|
Abridged Audio; S&S Audio — reader TBA
S&S announced this week that Jaycee Dugard’s memoir, A Stolen Life, about her 18 years in captivity after being kidnapped as a child, will be published on July 12. The AP reports the story which is syndicated widely. Separately, the AP reports that TV networks are scrambling to get an interview with Dugard.
ISBN: 9781451629187; $24.99
It will also be available simultaneously in audio (S&S Audio; 9781442344983).
Ian Brown, the author of The Boy in the Moon (St. Martin’s), a memoir about raising his severely disabled son, was interviewed on NPR’s Fresh Air yesterday (listen here). The book is also featured on the cover of the May 8 NYT BR.
As a result, the book rose to #122 (from #772) on Amazon’s sales rankings.
It takes a lot these days for a what-my-untrainable-dog-taught-me memoir to rise to the top of the category. Christian Science Monitor‘s book editor, Marjorie Kehe, dog lover herself, has seen them all, and, despite her vow to not be sucked in by another one, says that Martin Kihn’s Bad Dog (Pantheon/Knopf Doubleday, April) is just “too good to miss.” The Book Beast lists it as one of this week’s “Hot Reads”.
But what convinced us is a ringing endorsement by EarlyWord Kids contributor, Lisa Von Drasek,
On the surface this is a twelve step recovery memoir with a nod to Caroline Knapp’s Drinking: A Love Story. In the dog book category, it is less Marley and more Knapp’s Pack of Two. But really, this story of a man who sobered up, fell in love with his exuberant Bernese Mountain dog, and worked really hard to win back the human love of his life, deserves its own category. Told with humor and humility, Marty relates his dog training struggles while referencing the famous and disparate schools of thought on the subject. Readers will be rooting for him. (Spoiler — the dog doesn’t die; phew!)
Kihn’s first memoir, House of Lies: How Management Consultants Steal Your Watch and Then Tell You the Time, (Business Plus/Grand Central) has been adapted for a half-hour comedy series, starring Kristen Bell and Don Cheadle. It’s set to air on Showtime and may debut this fall.
 |
|
OverDrive, ebook.
In case you’re wondering, USA Today reports that Elizabeth Gilbert’s next book, after Eat, Pray, Love and Committed, won’t be out for quite a while. She’s planning an historical novel about 19th C botanists, but hasn’t started work on it.
Gilbert says this is the last time she will talk about EPL. She is only doing it now to help her friend, featured in the Italian section of EPL, Luca Spaghetti (YES, that’s his real name), to promote his own book about that period. It’s not working out that well, however. The USA Today story focuses on Gilbert, barely mentioning Spaghetti’s book, Un Amico Italiano: Eat, Pray, Love in Rome.
PW calls the book a “nice companion” to EPL; LJ says it’s “all good fun,” if an “opportunistic spin-off.”
 |
|
In today’s NYT, Michiko Kakutani reviews two new memoirs by former Navy Seals. She says “Both books will…leave readers with a new appreciation of the training that enabled Seal Team 6 to pull off the Bin Laden raid.”
Seal Team Six, by Howard E. Wasdin, (St. Martin’s; audio, Blackstone), a former member, comes tomorrow, in advance of its original May 24th publication date. Kakutani says it is as “visceral and as action packed as a Tom Clancy thriller,” giving readers “specifically interested in the Seals experience … a better sense of their tradecraft and day-to-day training.”
The Heart and the Fist: The Education of a Humanitarian, the Making of a Navy SEAL, (HMH, 4/11/11; audio, Tantor), by St. Louis, Mo. native, Eric Greitens, who was a member of another team that targeted Bin Laden, “is more philosophical and big picture oriented” and “concerned with the evolution of [the author’s] larger vision of public service.”
In several libraries we checked, holds are running neck and neck on the two titles.
The upcoming NYT BR features a title on the cover that has not been ordered heavily by libraries. The Boy in the Moon by Ian Brown (St. Martins) is a father’s account of raising his severely disabled son. The book was reviewed prepub by Kirkus and PW, both admiringly, but no stars.
The NYT reviewer is Roger Rosenblatt, who also wrote movingly about dealing with his own family tragedy, his daughter’s death and helping to raise her young children in a memoir, Making Toast.
 |
|
The lead-up to summer continues with more thrillers and series in fiction, Erik Larson’s latest, and the early release of a memoir by a former member of Navy Seals team that hunted Bin Laden.
The Snowman by Jo Nesbø (Knopf) is a thriller about a Swedish expert (UPDATE; as is pointed out in the comments, that should be “Norwegian expert”) on serial killers in a country that prides itself on not having any – and a strong contender for the Stieg Larsson mantle. Library Joural raves “this work is being compared to Peter Høeg’s Smilla’s Sense of Snow among others. Apt comparisons, but they don’t go far enough. This is simply the best detective novel this reviewer has read in years.” It’s also Nesbo’s first book since Stieg Larsson’s publisher picked him up. The Washington Post ran a major feature about him on Thursday, sending The Snowman up Amazon’s sales rankings (to #145 from #361). It’s also the #3 Indie Next pick for May.
Faith by Jennifer Haigh (HarperCollins) explores the impact of sexual misconduct allegations on a Catholic priest’s family. It’s the latest from the author of Mrs. Kimble, a debut that’s beloved by many librarians. The new novel has been eliciting strong enthusiasm on on our GalleyChat. People magazine gave it 3.5 of 4 stars in the 5/18 issue, calling it “haunting” and “heart-wrenching.” It gets a 150,000-copy first printing.
Blood Trust by Eric Van Lustbader (Forge) finds National security adviser Jack McClure and Alli Carson, the psychologically damaged daughter of the recently deceased U.S. President, in their third adventure, this time involving international terrorism and sex slavery. Library Journal says, “Buy a copy for the name recognition from the author’s work on Robert Ludlum’s Bourne series, but don’t expect rave responses from readers.”
Buried Prey by John Sandford (Putnam) is the 21st novel to feature Lucas Davenport of the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension, and finds him reopening the case that made his name when new evidence emerges. PW says, “Expert plotting and a riveting finish make this one of Sandford’s best.”
In the Garden of Beasts: Love, Terror and an American Family in Hitler’s Berlin by Erik Larson (Crown) is a work of literary nonfiction about the experiences of U.S. ambassador to Germany William E. Dodd and his family in Berlin in the early years of Hitler’s rule. Early reviews have been strong, but some librarians say it’s slower going than Larson’s beloved The Devil in the White City.
Seal Team Six: Memoirs of an Elite Navy Seal by Howard E Wasdin (St. Martin’s) is by a former member of the counterterrorism unit that killed Osama bin Laden (see our earlier story). Unsurprisingly, publication was pushed up to make the most of the current news cycle. The author has been on several TV shows, including a Dateline special on NBC.
Transition: The Story of How I Became a Man by Chaz Bono (Dutton) is a memoir of the author’s 40 year struggle to reconcile his gender identity and the body he was born into, as the child of Cher and Sonny Bono. LJ notes that “interest will be sparked as much by Bono’s high profile as by his story.”
Lies That Chelsea Handler Told Me by Chelsea Handler is the latest from the stand up comedian and late-night talk show host on the E! network.
Mr. Popper’s Penguins by Richard and Florence Atwater, the classic chidren’s story of a house painter who receives a large crate of Antarctic penguins, is being made into a movie. In this incarnation, however, Mr. Popper (Jim Carey) is a modern day businessman with a swanky NYC apartment. The movie opens 6/16 (trailer here).
With Mother’s Day and Memorial Day approaching, new titles are dramatically on the increase – particularly fiction and celebrity memoirs. Here’s a look at what’s ahead for next week.
The Sisters Brothers by Patrick deWitt (Ecco) is a picaresque novel about two hired guns, the fabled Sisters brothers, set against in the California Gold Rush. Librarians have been buzzing about it on Galley Chat and it’s a May Indie Next pick.
The Story of Beautiful Girl by Rachel Simon (Grand Central) is an unlikely love story about a young white woman with a developmental disability and an African-American deaf man, both locked away in an institution in Pennsylvania in 1968, who fall deeply in love and escape together, finding refuge with a retired schoolteacher. It’s the #1 Indie Next Pick for May. It’s also the author’s fiction debut (although she wrote a well-received memoir, Riding in the Bus with My Sister).
The Moment by Douglas Kennedy (Atria Books) is the tale of a travel writer’s loves and betrayals, set in Cold War Berlin, by an American-born author who’s better known abroad (his nine previous novels have sold over five million copies, and he was awarded France’s Chevalier de L’Ordre des Arts et des Lettres). Kennedy spoke at a ALA MidWinter, at a panel hosted by LJ‘s Barbara Hoffert, who said “if other readers end up as engrossed as I was, then this is the year that Kennedy becomes a household name in America.” Early reviews are also positive, and it gets a 100,000-copy print run.
The Year We Left Home by Jean Thompson (S&S) chronicles the lives of the Erickson family as the children come of age in 1970s and ’80s America, as they grow out of their rural Iowan roots. It’s the #5 May Indie Next pick, and Entertainment Weekly gives it an A-: “even minor characters receive the full attention of the author’s prodigious talents; each one is drawn so vividly that they never feel less than utterly real.”
Caleb’s Crossing by Geraldine Brooks (Viking/Penguin) gets a 350,000 printing and is the #8 Indie Next pick for May.
Doc by Mary Doria Russell (Random House) is the #2 Indie Next Pick for May.
The Butterfly’s Daughter by Mary Alice Monroe (GalleryBooks) gets a 100,000-copy printing.
Sixkill by Robert B Parker (Putnam) is the last Spenser novel completed by Parker before his death in January 2010, and has a 300,000-copy print run. But this is not the last we’ll see of Parker – there are two revamped series coming. On September 13, Parker’s Jessie Stone series will continue with Robert B. Parker’s Killing the Blues, by a writer producer and screenwriter Michael Brandman, who co-wrote and co-produced the television movies featuring Tom Selleck as Jesse Stone. And in Spring 2012, the longrunning Spenser PI series will continue, written by Ace Atkins, whose last few novels have been published by Putnam. He begins a new series of his own with The Ranger, starting in June.
Dead Reckoning by Charlaine Harris (Ace Books) Sookie Stackhouse #11
The Devil’s Light by Richard North Patterson (Scribner)
10th Anniversary by James Patterson and Maxine Paetro (Little Brown)
There are several celebrity memoirs coming out next week – in fact, May is such a big month for them that USA Today featured several in a round up (remember when we thought the genre was dead?).
If You Ask Me: And of Course You Won’t by Betty White (Putnam)
My Lucky Life in and Out of Show Business: A Memoir by Dick Van Dyke (Crown Archetype) is slated for a lot of media. USA Today has an early interview, and Van Dyke will appear on Entertainment Tonight on May 3, The View on May 4, NPR’s Morning Edition on May 4 or 5, and the Today Show on May 5.
Does the Noise in My Head Bother You?: A Rock ‘n’ Roll Memoir by Steven Tyler (Ecco) is on the cover of the May 2 issue of People. On May 4, Tyler will be on Good Morning America.
Good Stuff: A Reminiscence of My Father, Cary Grant by Jennifer Grant (Knopf) is a memoir by the dapper film star’s only child, from his brief marriage to Dyan Cannon. Kirkus is not a fan: “It sounds like a lovely life, but it makes for an irritating reading experience.” On May 1, Parade will run an excerpt and the author will appear on CBS Sunday Morning.
From This Moment On by Shania Twain (Atria) is the mega-selling country singer’s memoir of her hardscrabble Canadian childhood. She will be on Oprah on May 3 and the Today Show on May 4; plus a show called “Why Not? With Shania Twain” will debut on OWN May 1.
The Reading Promise: My Father and the Books We Shared by Alice Ozma (Grand Central) wowed the crowd at MidWinter ALA and at the AAP Author Buzz panel. Indies like it, too. It’s on the May Indie Next list and is one of the indies’ most-ordered titles for summer.
A Singular Woman: The Untold Story of Barack Obama’s Mother by Janny Scott (Riverhead Books) is written by a Pulitzer Prize-winning New York Times reporter.
The Kane Chronicles: Book Two: Throne of Fire by Rick Riordan
(Hyperion Books)
