Archive for the ‘Politics and Current Events’ Category

Maslin Reviews McGinniss

Thursday, September 15th, 2011

We love a good headline. Today, the NYT comes close to the Variety gold standard (re: the 1929 stock market crash: “Wall Street Lays an Egg“), with “Sarah Palin Could See This Guy From Her House.”

It’s for Janet Maslin’s review of the Joe McGinniss bio of Sarah Palin, The Rogue. She’s not impressed by the book’s revelations, saying the main takeaway is that McGinniss got a kick out of “the fuss his mere presence has created.” The most she gives him is, “Mr. McGinniss puts forth a provocative case for doubting Ms. Palin’s account of Trig’s birth.”

The book comes out next week, as does Deer in the Headlights, a memoir from Levi Johnston, the father of Ms. Palin’s grandson.

Deer in the Headlights: My Life in Sarah Palin’s Crosshairs
Levi Johnston
Retail Price: $25.00
Hardcover: 304 pages
Publisher: Touchstone – (2011-09-20)
ISBN / EAN: 1451651651 / 9781451651652

THE ROGUE Embargo Broken

Wednesday, September 14th, 2011

Speaking of leaks from embargoed books making headlines, two very different sources are leaking news about Joe McGinniss’s The Rogue: Searching for the Real Sarah Palin (Crown), coming next week.

The National Enquirer writes today that the Sarah Palin in the book is very different from her public image. Only an excerpt is on the Enquirer’s site, but the UK’s Daily Mail delves into the story in depth (all you really need is the headline, “Sarah Palin snorted cocaine off 55 gallon oil drum and had affairs with NBA star and husband’s business partner: Sensational claims in new book.”)

And, in the comic strip Doonesbury, the cartoon character, faux Fox News reporter Roland Hedley, gets an advance copy of the book and tweets from it (this is only a fictional leak, since McGinniss authorized the usage). Three newspapers, The Chicago Tribune, Newsday, and The Atlanta Journal Constitution, have decided not to run the series. The Tribune editor claims the strips, “do not meet our standards of fairness,” because they “refer to allegations purportedly contained in an as-yet-unreleased book about former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin. The book is not yet available for verification or review by the Chicago Tribune.”

New Title Radar – Week of September 5

Friday, September 2nd, 2011

Several favorites from Book Expo’s Editor’s Buzz Panel will be released next week with enviable media fanfare, including debuts from Chad Harbich and Justin Torres. Plus there’s Simon Toyne‘s debut thriller, which has been sold in 27 countries, and National Book Award winner Lily Tuck‘s new novel. Usual suspects include Jacqueline Mitchard, Christine Feehan and Clive Cussler. And Thomas Friedman tops our nonfiction list with his look at four unresolved problems holding back the U.S. from supremacy, along with WWII historian Ian Kershaw‘s latest and a new memoir from Lucette Lagnado.

Watch List

Art of Fielding by Chad Harbach (Little, Brown; Hachette Large Print) is the tale of a high school shortstop destined for greatness, until he mysteriously starts to choke – a reversal that affects the fates of four others at his school. This title has been on nearly every Fall preview list, helped no doubt by a strong pitch at Book Expo’s Editor’s Buzz Panel. It was also a GalleyChat Pick of ALA – librarians who joined our post-show tweetfest said it’s “phenomenal” and  ”not to be missed.” Entertainment Weekly gives it a B+, saying that although the characters feel “underdrawn,” Harbach has “a talent for atmosphere, drawing you into his portrait of campus angst.” It’s also a Oprah Book to Watch for in September, and a September Indie Next Pick.

We The Animals by Justin Torres (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt; Blackstone Audio) is a much-praised debut novel about three biracial brothers and a dueling husband and wife who are bound by poverty and love. It was also featured on the Editors Buzz Panel at Book Expo, and was a GalleyChat Pick of ALA. In an early review, the New York Times says, ” a sense of lives doomed to struggle and disappointment pervades the writing without dragging it into lugubrious or melodramatic territory. Scenes that thrum with violence can suddenly turn tender too.”  It’s also a Oprah Book to Watch for in September, and a September Indie Next Pick.

Birds of Paradise by Diana Abu-Jaber (Norton; author’s backlist on OverDrive) is the story of a damaged family grappling with the implications of the teenage daughter’s decision to run away at age 13. This was another Book Expo Editors Buzz panel book that became a GalleyChat favorite – librarians said it may be Abu-Jaber’s breakout. It’s also a September Indie Next Pick. Early reviews are uniformly positive. PW says, ” Abu-Jaber’s effortless prose, fully fleshed characters, and a setting that reflects the adversity in her protagonists’ lives come together in a satisfying and timely story.”

Sanctus by Simon Toyne (HarperCollins; Blackstone Audio Books; HarperLuxe) is the first in a projected trilogy of thrillers in the Dan Brown tradition, about an ancient sect of monks on a mountain near the fictional Turkish city of Ruin, who have been protecting a secret since before the Christian era. Kirkus says, “One hopes for a more tightly structured narrative next time around, but the right ingredients are all here.” The announced first printing is 100,000 copies.

 

Those Across the River by Christopher Buehlman (Ace; Blackstone Audio) is a debut horror novel about a college professor-turned-would be author who comes face to face with his past and a violent family secret at his family’s rural Southern estate. Library Journal‘s Barbara Hoffert was strong on this one in her BEA summary, and the LJ review calls it “a creepy, suspenseful, and well-crafted debut.”

 

I Married You for Happiness  by Lily Tuck (Atlantic Monthly; author’s backlist on OverDrive) is a wife’s reflections on her 42 years of marriage to her mathematician husband, set on the night of his death. It’s Tuck’s first book since she won the National Book Award in 2004 for The News from Paraguay. Kirkus says, “Does the couple’s mutual happiness provide a Hegelian synthesis? Not quite, though Tuck’s crisp writing is a joy.”

 

Usual Suspects

Second Nature: A Love Story by Jacquelyn Mitchard (Random House; Center Point Large Print; author’s backlist on OverDrive) explores the tumultuous life of a woman whose beauty is lost–then restored–after a fire.

Prey: A Novel by Linda Howard (Ballantine; Random House Audio; Thorndike; author’s backlist on OverDrive) follows rival Montana wilderness guides forced to cooperate against a killer on their trail.

Dark Predator by Christine Feehan (Berkley; Penguin Audiobooksauthor’s backlist on OverDrive ) continues the supernatural Carpathian series.

The Race: An Isaac Bell Adventure by Clive Cussler and Justin Scott (Penguin; Penguin Audiobooks; Thorndike; author’s backlist on OverDrive) is a mystery set in the early days of aviation featuring Bell, chief investigator for the Van Dorn Detective Agency.

Young Adult

Shelter: A Mickey Bolitar Novel by Harlan Coben (Putnam Juvenile; author’s backlist on OverDrive) takes place after Mickey witnesses his father’s death, his mom goes to rehab, and he’s forced to live with his estranged uncle Myron and switch high schools. This is Coben’s first YA novel.

 

 

Nonfiction

That Used to Be Us: How America Fell Behind in the World It Invented and How We Can Come Back by Thomas L. Friedman and Michael Mandelbaum (Farrar, Straus and Giroux; Macmillan Audio; Thorndike Large Print) outlines the four major problems the U.S. is not grappling with: globalization, infotech shake-up, out-of-control energy consumption, and lasting deficits.

Living Beyond Your Feelings: Controlling Emotions So They Don’t Control You by Joyce Meyer (FaithWords; Hachette Audio; author’s backlist on OverDrive) is a Biblical take on managing emotions. PW says, “Meyer focuses on learning to think biblically, speak biblically, and then see lives and emotions transformed. Her many fans will not feel disappointed in her latest work.”

The End: The Defiance and Destruction of Hitler’s Germany, 1944-1945 by Ian Kershaw (Penguin Press; author’s backlist on OverDrive) is an examination of the last year of the Third Reich as it struggled to survive the dual challenge of defeating the Soviets coming from the East and the Allies advancing from the West, by one of the foremost experts on WWII, Hitler and Nazism. PW says, “Kershaw’s comprehensive research, measured prose, and commonsense insight combine in a mesmerizing explanation of how and why Nazi Germany chose self-annihilation.”

The Arrogant Years: One Girl’s Search for Her Lost Youth, from Cairo to Brooklyn by Lucette Lagnado (Ecco) is the author’s exploration of her mother’s upbringing in Cairo and her own in Brooklyn, New York. In a starred review, Booklist said, “Lagnado is spellbinding and profoundly elucidating in this vividly detailed and far-reaching family memoir of epic adversity and hard-won selfhood.” This one was also presented at the Editors Buzz Panel at ALA Annual New Orleans. A section about Lagnado’s mother working in the cataloging dept of Brooklyn P.L. is poignant. In the beginning, the work gives her a liberating new sense of self, but a new supervisor removes all the joy from the job.

Cheney Memoir Getting Response

Wednesday, August 31st, 2011

The promotion for former Vice President Dick Cheney’s memoir In My Time (Threshold/S&S, 8/30) continues this morning with excerpts in USA Today, focusing on his “unflattering” portrayals of many he worked with during his time in office (including the President).

The one who bears the brunt of the Cheney treatment, former Secretary of State Colin Powell, has gone on the record, calling Cheney’s comments “cheap shots.” (Cheney also has some words for Powell’s successor, Condoleezza Rice. No word from her yet; she may be saving it for her own memoir, coming from Crown in Nov., No Higher Honor).

In My Time went to #1 on Amazon sales rankings late yesterday, where it continues today.

New Title Radar – Week of July 18

Friday, July 15th, 2011

Next week brings various views of the post-9/11 world, including a book that examines ten years worth of evidence about the attacks (The Eleventh Day) and another that looks at upheavals in the Middle East after bin Laden’s death (Rock the Casbah). In fiction, publishers continue to fill the beach reading pipeline.

Watch List

Pigeon English by Stephen Kelman (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt) follows 11-year-old Harri Opuku, a recent Ghanaian immigrant in London’s housing projects, as he investigates the apparent murder of one of his classmates. LJ says, “If your patrons liked Roddy Doyle’s Paddy Clarke Ha Ha Ha and if they rooted for Jamal Malik in Slumdog Millionaire, they will love Harri Opuku.”

Rising Star

Killed at the Whim of a Hat by Colin Cotterill (Minotaur Books) launches a new mystery series featuring one of Thailand’s hottest crime reporters, who’s roped into running a down-at-the-heels resort purchased by her possibly senile mother and stumbles into murder. It has THREE starred reviews, from LJ, PW and Booklist, which says “Cotterill combines plenty of humor with fascinating and unusual characters, a solid mystery, and the relatively unfamiliar setting of southern Thailand to launch what may be the best new international mystery series since the No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency.” Librarians on GalleyChat agree that it’s a fun read.

Usual Suspects

Burnt Mountain by Anne Rivers Siddons (Grand Central) explores a disintegrating marriage and familial betrayal in rural North Carolina. Kirkus says, “Siddons is at her usual incisive best at skewering the mores of socially pretentious Southerners, and her prose is limpid and mesmerizing, but the Grand Guignol denouement beggars belief.”

Happy Birthday by Danielle Steel (Delacorte) follows a mother-daughter duo—one a Martha Stewart-style lifestyle guru, the other a shy, gifted chef—both facing turning points, and each about to find love when she least expects it.

Justice by Karen Robards (Gallery Press) is the latest adventure featuring criminal attorney Jessica Ford, as she defends the victim of a rape case involving a sentor’s son.

Split Second by Catherine Coulter (Putnam) continues the FBI Thriller series with agents Dillon Savich and Lacey Sherlock, this time locking horns with a serial killer who has ties to Ted Bundy. Booklist says, “Told from several points of view, including the serial killer’s, the novel moves quickly, thanks to short chapters and numerous plot twists. One plot element, the appearance of a magic ring, requires significant suspension of disbelief and proves jarring in this otherwise realistic and, in the main, riveting story.”

Portrait of a Spy by Daniel Silva (Harper) is an espionage thriller whose protagonist is both an art enthusiast and secret agent.

Robert Ludlum’s The Bourne Dominian by Eric Van Lustbader (Grand Central Publishing) continues Robert Ludlum’s story of Jason Bourne, a rogue secret agent who has lost his memory. Publishers Weekly says, “it’s a testament to Lustbader’s skills that he can keep everyone in place and blazing away without losing track of the ongoing plot. While one needn’t have read the earlier volumes, knowledge of the last two or three would help keep things straight.” This is the fourth in the Bourne series written by Lustbader. Of course, Ludlum’s Bourne titles have been made into successful movies, starring Matt Damon. The first of the series to be written by Lustbader, The Bourne Legacy, is currently in pre-production as a movie, but this time without Damon. The planned release date is Aug. 3, 2012.

Star Wars: Choices of One by Timothy Zahn (LucasBooks) is a new adventure for Luke Skywalker and friends set during the original trilogy.

Nonfiction

The Triple Agent: The al-Qaeda Mole who Infiltrated the CIA by Joby Warrick (Doubleday) is a Pulitzer Prize–winning Washington Post intelligence reporter’s investigation of the intelligence failures that allowed a suicide bomber to kill seven CIA agents in Afghanistan. LJ says, “Warrick’s straight journalistic report, without editorializing, is highly recommended both to those who follow the U.S. war on terror and to all readers of spy and espionage thrillers.”

The Eleventh Day: The Full Story of 9/11 and Osama bin Laden by Anthony Summers and Robbyn Swan (Ballantine) uses a decade of new information to analyze the 9/11 attacks.

Rock the Casbah: Rage and Rebellion Across the Islamic World by Robin Wright (Simon & Schuster) is look at the upheaval in the Middle East following Osama bin Laden’s death and the recent uprisings that delivers the stirring news that jihadism is fading, and Arab nations are finally entering the modern world. Kirkus ays that it is “more journalism than deep analysis, [and] paints a vivid portrait of dramatic changes in the Islamic world.”

Swing Your Sword: Leading the Charge in Football and Life by Mike Leach (Diversion) is a look at the unorthodox career path and coaching techniques that helped Leach take the Texas Tech Red Raiders to numerous bowl games, achieving the #2 slot in national rankings and being voted 2008 Coach of the Year before being unceremoniously fired at the end of the 2009 season.

New Title Radar – Week of July 11

Friday, July 8th, 2011

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.

Watch List

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.

 

 

Rising Star

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.

Usual Suspects

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.

Young Adult Fiction

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.

Nonfiction

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.

On THE DAILY SHOW This Week

Monday, June 20th, 2011

Former mayor of New Orleans, Ray Nagin appears on The Daily Show with Jon Stewart tonight. His book about his experiences during Hurricane Katrina, is published through self-publisher CreateSpace, which is owned by Amazon. He will also appear on The Today Show this morning, followed by appearances on MSNBC and CNN.

Katrina’s Secrets: Storms After The Storm (Volume 1)
C. Ray Nagin
Retail Price: $17.99
Paperback: 340 pages
Publisher: CreateSpace – (2011-06-01)
ISBN / EAN: 146095971X / 9781460959718

Journalist Mitchell Zucokff appears on the show on Wednesday. His book about a little-known event during WWII is showing heavy holds in many libraries.

Lost in Shangri-La: A True Story of Survival, Adventure, and the Most Incredible Rescue Mission of World War II
Mitchell Zuckoff
Retail Price: $26.99
Hardcover: 400 pages
Publisher: Harper – (2011-04-26)
ISBN / EAN: 0061988340 / 9780061988349

Navy Seal Memoirs

Monday, May 9th, 2011

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.

Osama Bin Laden Books

Tuesday, May 3rd, 2011

Digital publishing has given new meaning to the term “instant books.” As the Wall Street Journal reports, some publishers are planning to release e-books about Osama Bin Laden.

Random House is publishing an e-book collection of essays by various authors next week,  Beyond Bin Laden: America and the Future of Terror.

The Free Press is releasing an e-book based on Peter Bergen’s The Longest War: The Enduring Conflict between America and Al-Qaeda, which came out in January. (The Free Press is an imprint of Simon & Schuster, which doesn’t make e-book editions available for library lending).

In print, St. Martin’s Press is in the fortunate position of already having a book in the pipeline, SEAL Team Six: Memoirs of an Elite Navy SEAL Sniper by Howard E. Wasdin, a former member of the group credited with killing bin Laden. Originally scheduled for May 24, it is being rushed in to print and is now expected to arrive the middle of next week. Hollywood has also come knocking; according to the Hollywood Reporter, the book’s agent has been fielding calls from studios interested in film rights.

In the NYT “Arts Beat” blog, Michiko Kakutani provides a useful roundup of eight earlier titles, many of which overlap with a separate list on the Huffington Post.

New Title Radar: Week of May 1

Friday, April 29th, 2011

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.

Watch List

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.”

Returning RA Favorites

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.

Usual Suspects

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)

Celeb Memoirs

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.

More Nonfiction

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.

Children’s

The Kane Chronicles: Book Two: Throne of Fire by Rick Riordan

(Hyperion Books)

BLIND ALLEGIANCE

Wednesday, April 20th, 2011

Yesterday’s news about the forthcoming publication of a Sarah Palin tell-all, titled Blind Allegiance to Sarah Palin, by former aide Frank Bailey, sent the book up Amazon’s sales rankings to #119. Described as a “chilling expose” by the publisher, the book is due May 24th.

Palin just launched a new Web site, fueling speculation that she will run for President in 2012.

Blind Allegiance to Sarah Palin: A Memoir of Our Tumultuous Years
Frank Bailey, Jeanne Devon
Retail Price: $26.00
Hardcover: 400 pages
Publisher: Howard Books/ S&S – (2011-05-24)
ISBN / EAN: 1451654405 / 9781451654400

Another crictical look at Palin is coming in September by journalist Joe McGinniss, titled The Rogue. McGinniss was in the spotlight last year when his move to a home next door to Palin’s sparked a feud between the two. At the time, McGinnis said the response from Palin and her supporters reveals her “…power…to incite hatred and her willingness and readiness to do it.”

Bailey’s manuscript was leaked to the press in February, raising claims that McGinnis was the source, as part of an effort to reduce the rival title’s “marketability.”

The Rogue: Searching for the Real Sarah Palin
Joe McGinniss
Retail Price: $25.00
Hardcover: 336 pages
Publisher: Crown – (2011-09-20)
ISBN / EAN: 0307718921 / 9780307718921

Random House Audio; 9780307941282

Tina Fey Set to Rock

Friday, April 1st, 2011

Tina Fey‘s memoir Bossypants is set to dominate the media next week, after not just one but two excerpts in The New Yorker. The star of TV’s 30 Rock has also done an interview with In Style, in which she discusses how she juggles acting, screenwriting, producing and being a mother.

Reviewing the book in Slate, Katie Roiphe praises Fey for cutting her way through the male-dominated comedy world with “tough feminism” delivered with humor.

Holds are high at libraries we checked, any many libraries have more copies on order.

Bossypants
Tina Fey
Retail Price: $26.99
Hardcover: 288 pages
Publisher: Reagan Arthur Books – (2011-04-05)
ISBN / EAN: 0316056863 / 9780316056861

Large Print; Little, Brown, 9780316177894

Other Notable Titles on Sale Next Week

One Hundred Names for Love: A Stroke, A Marriage and the Language of Healing by Diane Ackerman (Norton) is the author and naturalist’s memoir of her husband’s battle to recover from a stroke. It’s eagerly awaited by librarians on GalleyChat and O Magazine made it one of “18 picks for April”. In a starred review, Booklist called it “A gorgeously engrossing, affecting, sweetly funny, and mind-opening love story of crisis, determination, creativity, and repair.”

Gangster Government: Barack Obama and the New Washington Thugocracy by David Freddoso (Regnery) is a critique of the President’s administration by the author of The Case Against Barack Obama.

I’m Over All That: And Other Confessions by Shirley MacLaine (Atria) shows the actress hasn’t changed her core beliefs. Booklist calls it “a witty little memoir” and sums up her stances: “Reincarnation, yes; against organized religion, yes; still interested in acting, mostly.” And sex? Not so much.

Pastor’s Book Trailer Gets Buzz

Friday, March 11th, 2011

Thanks to a controversial video trailer for Love Wins: A Book about Heaven, Hell, and the Fate of Every Person Who Ever Lived by Rob Bell, the book’s publication date has been pushed up by a week. In the video, the Grand Rapids, Michigan mega-church pastor and bestselling author of Velvet Elvis leans toward “universalism ─ a dirty word in Christian circles that suggests everyone goes to heaven and there is no hell,” as CNN.com’s “Belief Blog” puts it.

On March 14, Bell will be the subject of a New York Times profile, and will appear on Good Morning America and Nightline.

Several libaries we checked did not have copies on order. Others showed holds of up to 10:1 on light ordering.

Love Wins: A Book About Heaven, Hell, and the Fate of Every Person Who Ever Lived
Rob Bell
Retail Price: $22.99
Hardcover: 224 pages
Publisher: HarperOne – (2011-04-01)
ISBN / EAN: 006204964X / 9780062049643

Other Notable Nonfiction On Sale Next Week…

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DRESSMAKER Author Stitches Up Newsweek

Friday, March 4th, 2011

Next Week’s Notable Nonfiction

Gayle Tzemach Lemmon, author of The Dressmaker of Khair Khana: Five Sisters, One Remarkable Family, and the Woman Who Risked Everything to Keep Them Safe, will receive  major media exposure next week. She has written the cover story about Hilary Clinton for Tina Brown’s newly-redesigned Newsweek, which debuts next week (with a weekly book section!). The book will be featured on several NPR shows, including Morning Edition, it will be excerpted in USA Today and several reviews are scheduled.

Lemmon’s book is the story of an Afghan woman who became an entrepreneur under the Taliban, employing over 100 women, despite being banned from schools and offices, in the vein of Three Cups of Tea.

Libraries are showing modest reserves on modest orders, but interest could increase as Lemmon makes her media rounds.

The Dressmaker of Khair Khana: Five Sisters, One Remarkable Family, and the Woman Who Risked Everything to Keep Them Safe
Gayle Tzemach Lemmon
Retail Price: $24.99
Hardcover: 288 pages
Publisher: Harper – (2011-03-01)
ISBN / EAN: 0061732370 / 9780061732379

Memoir to Watch

The Source of All Things: A Memoir by Tracy Ross (Free Press) is an exploration of the author’s childhood sexual abuse. Kirkus says, “Ross’s seesawing of emotions left her in a constant state of flux, but this uncertainty of emotion is one of the narrative’s primary strengths. Ross continually explores the boundaries of father-daughter intimacy, never demonizing her stepfather, but instead, humanizing him—a far more difficult task.”

 

Usual Suspects

The Money Class: Learn to Create Your New American Dream by Suze Orman (Spiegel and Grau) reassesses the American Dream — home, family, career, retirement — in view of current economic realities.

Then Everything Changed: Stunning Alternate Histories of American Politics: JFK, RFK, Carter, Ford, Reagan by Jeff Greenfield (Putnam) is the veteran CBS News reporter and commentator’s journey in what-ifs, based on his extensive research, and has a 100,000 printing. PW calls it “fun but insubstantial.”

Enchantment: The Art of Changing Hearts, Minds, and Actions by Guy Kawasaki (Portfolio) offers a new perspective on the art of influence, by the author of bestseller The Art of the Start.

Big Week for Memoirs

Friday, February 25th, 2011

The memoir category continues to grow, as proved by the large selection coming next week.

Already making headlines is Tiger, Tiger by Margaux Fragoso (FSG), the memoir of the author’s seduction and molestation, beginning at age 7, by a serial child rapist in his 50s, it follows their 15-year relationship. New York magazine reviewed it this week, calling  it “an unstable mixture of bildungsroman, dirty realism, and child pornography” and calls it “beautiful and appalling.”

Andre Dubus‘smemoir of his childhood, Townie (Norton), an EarlyWord favorite since his appearance at ALA Midwinter, has already garnered admiring reviews.

A natural outgrowth of the public fascination with celebrity chefs and their cookbooks is the celebrity chef memoir. Next week brings two with strong backing from their publishers:

Gabrielle Hamilton recently confirmed her chops as a writer with an excerpt in the New Yorker from Blood, Bones and Butter, which recounts her trajectory from a 1970s Pennsylvania childhood that disintegrated in divorce to opening her acclaimed New York restaurant Prune.

The memoir has also wrested rare praise from New York Times critic Michiko Kakutani, who says,

…the book is hardly just for foodies. Ms. Hamilton, who has an M.F.A. in fiction writing from the University of Michigan, is as evocative writing about people and places as she is at writing about cooking, and her memoir does as dazzling a job of summoning her lost childhood as Mary Karr’s “Liars’ Club” and Andre Aciman’s “Out of Egypt” did with theirs.

Blood, Bones & Butter: The Inadvertent Education of a Reluctant Chef
Gabrielle Hamilton
Retail Price: $26.00
Hardcover: 304 pages
Publisher: Random House – (2011-03-01)
ISBN / EAN: 140006872X / 9781400068722

Grant Achatz, whose Chicago restaurant Alinea was crowned the best in America by Gourmet magazine, also delivers Life, on the Line: A Chef’s Story of Chasing Greatness, Facing Death, and Redefining the Way We Eat. Co-written by Nick Kokonas, the book has a 75,000 copy first printing. An excerpt in the new issue of People (March 7) chronicles Achatz’s struggle with tongue cancer.

Life, on the Line: A Chef’s Story of Chasing Greatness, Facing Death, and Redefining the Way We Eat
Grant Achatz, Nick Kokonas
Retail Price: $27.50
Hardcover: 400 pages
Publisher: Gotham/Penguin – (2011-03-03)
ISBN / EAN: 1592406017 / 9781592406012

Other Notable Nonfiction On Sale Next Week

Getting to Heaven: Departing Instructions for Your Life Now by Don Piper and Cecil Murphey (Berkley) is an “instruction book” regarding the Christian idea of the afterlife by the author of the multimillion-selling 90 Minutes in Heaven.

Bringing Adam Home: The Abduction That Changed America by Les Standiford and Joe Matthews (Ecco) is the story of the 1981 kidnapping and murder of six-year-old Adam Walsh—son of John Walsh, host of the Fox TV series America’s Most Wanted—which went unsolved for a quarter of a century. It will get a major round of publicity, including a March 1 Q&A with the authors in USA Today, a March 2 appearance by Joe Matthews and the Walshes on the Today show; and a March 3 segment on Nightline.

Revolt!: How to Defeat Obama and Repeal His Socialist Programs by Dick Morris and Eileen McGann (Broadside Books) advocates no tax increases, weakening federal regulations and cutting social programs in the name of deficit reduction.

Moonwalking with Einstein: The Art and Science of Remembering Everything by Joshua Foer (Penguin Press) chronicles the training process of a once forgetful U.S. Memory Champion. The author was interviewed on All Things Considered on Wednesday.