Graphic novelist Raina Telgemeier was featured on NPR’s Weekend Edition yesterday, causing her new book Ghosts (Scholastic/GRAPHIX) to jump to #8 on Amazon’s sales rankings.

She tells interviewer Barrie Handyman that she hopes the book will serve as a way to talk to children about a difficult subject, death.

The book will be published tomorrow.

Ali Smith’s How to Be Both (RH/Pantheon; OverDrive Sample) has won the Baileys Women’s Prize for Fiction.

The novel has garnered much attention. It won the Costa Novel Award and The Goldsmiths Prize and was a shortlist title for the Man Booker.

Comparing it to “what it felt like reading Virginia Woolf, James Joyce, all of the greats,” the award committee chair tells The Guardian, “this is not a good book, this is a great book, and people are going to be reading it long after I’m dead.”

The book was printed in two versions. One begins with the story of George, a young modern woman coping with the death of her mother who becomes enthralled by the paintings of the 15^th century Renaissance artist Francesco del Costa. The other begins with the story of Francesco. Each edition contains both sections and were distributed in a random mix.

Reviews at the time of publication (Dec. 2014) were largely admiring if a bit nervous about its unusual structure.

Ron Charles wrote in The Washington Post: “Ali Smith’s playfully brilliant new novel makes me both excited and wary of recommending it. This gender-blending, genre-blurring story, which was shortlisted for the Booker Prize, bounces across centuries, tossing off profound reflections on art and grief, without getting tangled in its own postmodern wires. It’s the sort of death-defying storytelling acrobatics that don’t seem entirely possible — How did she get here from there? — but you’ve got to be willing to hang on.”

Janet Maslin told her readers in The New York Times: “Never judge a book by its structure. How to Be Both has a lot more allure than its overall rigor suggests, thanks to the obvious pleasure Ms. Smith takes in creating her peculiar parallels and exploring the questions they raise.”

Formerly known as the Orange Prize, the Baileys Award celebrates excellence in women’s writing from around the world. The shortlist included Rachel Cusk’s Outline, Laline Paull’s The Bees, Kamila Shamsie’s A God in Every Stone, Anne Tyler’s A Spool of Blue Thread, and Sarah Waters’ The Paying Guests.

“It is a crazy story,” says Jon Stewart, describing guest Bill Browder’s book,  Red Notice: A True Story of High Finance, Murder, and One Man’s Fight for Justice, (S&S; Recorded Books; OverDrive Sample). Browder was the largest foreign investor in Russia, and his investigations into various companies began exposing corruption. A young lawyer working for him ended up testifying against some of the people responsible for the corruption. As a result, he is arrested, tortured and killed.

The book was also reviewed this week in the New York Times and the Wall Street Journal. It went to #81 on Amazon’s sales rankings as a result.

Tonight, the show will feature Wes Moore, and his new book, The Work: My Search for a Life That Matters, Wes Moore, (RH/Spiegel & Grau; BOT Audio Clip; OverDrive Sample). The author’s previous book, The Other Wes Moore, was a best seller. He spoke at last year’s ALA Midwinter.

On Monday, Stewart interviewed comedian Martin Short. His book, I Must Say: My Life As a Humble Comedy Legend (Harper; OverDrive Sample) was published in November.

When The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up: The Japanese Art of Decluttering and Organizing by Marie Kondo, (Ten Speed Press; Tantor Audio) was first published, we thought it sounded downright silly. In a story in the NYT “Home and Garden” section in late October, Penelope Green tried the author’s odd methods (you are asked to assess each item in your home for whether it “sparks joy.” If it doesn’t pass the test, you discard it, first thanking it for its service). A design theorist quoted in the story says such anthropomorphism is familiar in Japanese culture, but not in Western. “Fat chance Americans will go for this,” we thought.

Then it appeared on the Nov. 16 NYT Advice Best Seller list at #4. “Just a blip,” we thought, people buying it as an amusing Christmas gift. We felt justified when it slid down to #10 the next week.

Now, deep into the new year when gift-buying season is long past, the book is at #1, where it’s been for the last month, except for one week when Dr. Phil’s 20/20 Diet pushed it to #2.

Never underestimate American’s desire to organize their stuff, especially if doing so promises to change their lives.

The new NPR Morning Edition book club wrapped up today with a discussion of the first selection, Deep Down Dark: The Untold Stories of 33 Men Buried in a Chilean Mine, and the Miracle That Set Them Free by Hector Tobar (Macmillan/FSG; Macmillan Audio; OverDrive Sample; Oct), picked in December by bookstore owner and author Ann Patchett.

The book, which has hit the lower rungs of the NYT best seller list as a result of the selection, is also one of five finalists for the NBCC Nonfiction Award, announced yesterday and  has been made into a movie, titled The 33, starring Antonio Banderas, Juliette Binoche and Gabriel Byrne. Currently in post-production, the release date has not yet been announced.

The next title in the club will be announced soon; we will let you know when it is.

The next wave of readers clamoring for more graphic novels might not be the stereotypical teenage boy but his sister instead. The Wall Street Journal recently posted an article exploring the rise in female graphic novel authors and illustrators, a new focus on female characters, and the expansion of female readers. Not only have graphic novel sales grown, “outpacing the overall trade-book market” according to the article, it seems, at least in part, that women are behind those figures, expanding the market and changing the graphic novel landscape.

The new attention might be behind the recent focus on female characters in superhero comics, a world long dominated by male figures. Not only has Wonder Woman gotten more attention in 2014, but She-Hulk, Ms. Marvel, Spider-Woman, and Batgirl all saw an increase in their profiles. In the TV world, Agent Carter makes the point as well.

Female writers and artists are certainly changing the scene, offering new stories, characters, and approaches. The WSJ article features Raina Telgemeier, creator of Smile (Graphix, 2010; OverDrive Sample) and Sisters (Graphix, 2014; OverDrive Sample) and mentions Roz Chast’s Can’t We Talk About Something More Pleasant? (Bloomsbury USA, 2014; OverDrive Sample), a finalist for the National Book Award and on many best books lists.

More to Consider

Collection development and RA librarians seeking more examples might also consider This One Summer by Mariko Tamaki and Jillian Tamaki (First Second, 2014), How to Be Happy by Eleanor Davis (Fantagraphics, 2014), Through the Woods by Emily Carroll (Margaret K. McElderry Books, 2014; OverDrive Sample), and Gast by Carol Swain (Fantagraphics, 2014).

A history about books, librarians, publishers, and war is making waves. Molly Guptill Manning’s When Books Went to War: The Stories that Helped Us Win World War II (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt; OverDrive Sample) tells the true story of how the book world helped boost morale by providing American soldiers with paperback editions of titles such as A Tree Grows in Brooklyn and The Great Gatsby.

Portable versions of these books allowed soldiers to read on their down time and reminded them of home and what they were fighting for.

Manning’s book is getting glowing coverage in an array of sources including USA Today, Entertainment Weekly, Wired, The Wall Street Journal, and the Smithsonian. Such widespread attention triggers holds. Some libraries are showing a 5:1 ratio and on light ordering. The New York Times says that Manning’s book feels like “the bibliophile’s equivalent of It’s a Wonderful Life.” How can you beat that?

NPR’s Morning Edition reminded listeners of their new book club today (listen here), originally announced earlier this month, called appropriately, “Morning Reads.”

The first title, selected by Ann Patchett is Deep Down Dark: The Untold Stories Of 33 Men Buried In A Chilean Mine And The Miracle That Set Them Free, (Macmillan/FSG; Macmillan Audio; OverDrive Sample; Oct) by Hector Tobar. On several best books lists, it just cracked the NYT Hardcover Nonfiction list at #15. Many libraries are showing heavy holds on light ordering.

Patchett says she chose Deep Down Dark because it’s a book that “benefits from other people’s insights.”

To become a member of the club, listeners are asked to read the book and send in questions via tweets, #MorningReads, or on Morning Edition’s Facebook page.  Tobar will answer selected question on the show on January 20.

The graphic novel of the moment (and perhaps the year) is Richard McGuire’s Here (Random House/Pantheon, 12/9/14), an experimental, time-bending, tour de force that Chris Ware calls “a work of literature and art unlike any seen or read before” in his Guardian review. Ware knows what he is talking about, having re-created the comics scene in 2012 with Building Stories (Random House/Pantheon).

McGuire’s book floats through decades, centuries, millennia, as it highlights tiny moments in time, overlapping them in space so that readers see multiple events at once in the same location. The artwork is as compelling as the concept, precisely drawn, finely observed, and charmingly surprising at times.

Review after review after review lauds McGuire’s creation, which he has been working on for 25 years, all pointing out its significance and its place alongside the masterworks of Ware and Art Spiegelman.

Holds are building around the country, with some libraries yet to receive copies and some yet to purchase. Where copies are in circulation holds generally exceed a 3:1 ratio. As we posted earlier, McGuire’s book and work is also the subject of an exhibition at the Morgan library.

Actor John Cleese (of Monty Python fame) appeared on NPR’s Fresh Air this Tuesday, which may have sparked demand for his new memoir, So, Anyway (Random House/Crown Archetype; OverDrive Sample). The interview includes several  clips of Cleese’s performances (Cleese judges an early one as “distinctly uninspired”). Unfortunately, the planned audio version of the book is now listed as “postponed indefinitely.”

Holds are up across the country with some libraries showing hold ratios over 10 to 1.

Advance attention to Cleese’s memoir might have been buried under the recent flurry of celebrity comedian accounts including:

Yes, Please by Amy Poehler (Harper Collins/Dey Street Books; Harper Audio, Oct. 28)

Neil Patrick Harris: Choose Your Own Autobiography (Random House/Crown; RH Audio, Oct 14)

I Must Say by Martin Short (Harper Collins, Nov 4)

Even This I Get to Experience by Norman Lear (Penguin; Penguin Audio, Oct 14)

Brief Encounters by Dick Cavett (Macmillan/Holt; Macmillan Audio, Oct. 28)

The new biography of Bob Hope, Hope: Entertainer of the Century by Richard Zoglin (Simon & Schuster; Brilliance Audio, Nov. 4th)

When French author Patrick Modiano won the Nobel Prize this year, only a handful of his 30 books were available in the U.S. in English.

In a press release, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt announced today that they have acquired the rights to the author’s latest novel, So You Don’t Get Lost in the Neighborhood (French title, Pour que tu ne te perdes pas dans le quartier). They did not announce an anticipated release date.

As the Washington Post reports, this is not happy news for the founder of one of Modiano’s long-time U.S. publishers, David Godine, who tells the Post, “Money is what this business is all about, There is no venality that exists more than the venality that exists after the Nobel Prize is awarded.” He also notes that the company has done well with Missing Persons, one of the few books available in the U.S. at the time of the Nobel announcement, adding, “if you’re going to read a Modiano, that’s the one to read.”

Last month, the University of California Press, reprinted Dora Bruder, one of Modiano’s more well-known books. In addition, Yale University Press released Suspended Sentences: Three Novellas, (reviewed recently in the Washington Post).

Calling her as “The Cover Girl For A New Kind Of Ballet,” CBS Sunday Morning featured African-American ballerina Misty Copeland.

Her autobiography, Life in Motion: An Unlikely Ballerina, (S&S/Touchstone; Tantor Audio), published in hardcover in March, is coming out in trade paperback this week.

She also published a children’s picture book in September, Firebird, illus. by Christopher Myers, (Penguin/Putnam) picked as a best book of the year by NPR:

“The book is for very young dancers who may not see many people who look like them in the world of ballet. It’s illustrated by Christopher Myers, whose collagelike work is painterly, vivid and emotional. Copeland’s writing and Myers’ art draw you into a beautiful world, rich with color, texture and drama. For all budding young artists who maybe don’t have role models they can relate to, this little book provides some inspiration.

Despite the  popularity of the Little House on the Prairie novels, their source material, Laura Ingalls Wilder’s actual autobiography, has never been published. That was corrected last month by the South Dakota State Historical Society Press, with the release of Pioneer Girl: The Annotated Autobiography.

Although the cover of the book paints a romantic picture, the real story is much grittier and is written for adults.

It was featured on the PBS Newshour last night:

The Wall Street Journal also featured the book this week.

Holds are heavy in most libraries. According to the official web site, PioneerGirlProject.org the book is now temporarily out of stock, and is expected to resume shipping in mid-January.

For fans who cannot get their hands on the book, the project’s blog offers a fascinating look at the extensive research behind it, such as the effort to verify the story of a teacher who improvised an igloo out of an overturned sleigh to protect his children during a freak blizzard.

Last night was the premiere of The Interview, a satire about an assassination attempt on the leader of North Korea. Recently, through a series of hacked emails, it’s been revealed that Sony ordered that the movie be toned down due to fears about reactions from North Korea.

The night before, Jon Stewart’s audience gained some perspective on the North Korean culture from Suki Kim, author of Without You, There Is No Us: My Time with the Sons of North Korea’s Elite,  (RH/Crown; BOT; OverDrive Sample). As a teacher in a private school, Kim saw how the future leaders of the country are being trained.  “All their lives are about ‘The Great Leader’ — they took ‘Great Leader’ classes every day. They did ‘Great Leader Duties’.” She says they had no knowledge of the outside world and her students didn’t have access to computers and hadn’t even heard of the internet.

Stewart ended the interview with, “It’s a book like no other book I’ve ever read. It’s a look into a society, a culture but objective and humanizing and terrifying. Really, an amazing book.”

Libraries we checked are showing heavy holds on light orders.

In the midst of all the assessments of the best books of the year, it’s refreshing to look forward to some new titles coming out next week.

All the titles covered here, and a few other notable titles arriving next week, are listed, with ordering information and alternate formats, on our downloadable spreadsheet, EarlyWord New Title Radar, Week of Dec. 8, 2014

 The Boston Girl, Anita Diamant, (S&S/Scribner; S&S Audio; Thorndike)

Diamant’s fifth novel arrives just after the airing of a Lifetime two-part series based on her first and most well-known novel, The Red Tent.  The author is profiled in the Boston Globe (unfortunately, a review of Lifetime‘s adaptation, in the same issue is not positive). The story of a Jewish immigrant growing up in early-20th-century Boston, as told by her 85-year-old self to her granddaughter. Booklist, calls it, a “graphic, page-turning portrait of immigrant life in the early twentieth century” and it has a significant amount of “love” on Edelweiss.

Here, Richard McGuire, (RH/Pantheon)

McGuire broke new ground when his 1989 comic strip was first published in Art Spiegelman’s Raw magazine. This new book-length version is being celebrated with an exhibit at the Morgan library, which has been covered in the Atlantic magazine and in the New York Times. An interview with the author is coming on NPR’s Weekend Edition Sunday.

Moriarty, Anthony Horowitz, (Harper)

We urged you back in October to read the galley of this book. It is People’s Book of the Week, 12/15/14 and an IndieNext pick:

“I’ve been reading Sherlock Holmes pastiches for 20 years, but I’ve never read anything as devious as this! After the famous encounter between Holmes and Moriarty at Reichenbach Falls, Inspector Athelney Jones and Pinkerton Agent Frederick Chase are thrown together to combat the rising shadow of an American crime boss looking to take over Moriarty’s empire. Horowitz wisely does not try to imitate Doyle’s style, but instead comes up with a unique voice with several parallels to the Holmes and Watson dynamic. As soon as you finish, you’ll want to read it again with a new appreciation for Horowitz’s masterful plotting. Exquisitely done!” —Steven Sautter, Books Inc., San Francisco, CA

Irene: The Commandant Camille Verhoeven Trilogy, Pierre Lemaitre, (Quercus/MacLehose)

IndieNext, Dec — “This extremely suspenseful, fast-paced crime novel is not for the fainthearted. Its graphic violence may turn some readers away, but those who stick through the opening scenes will be richly rewarded by following Commander Verhoeven’s pursuit of a monstrous serial killer who models his gruesome crimes on scenes from classic crime novels. The intense action is enriched by scenes from Verhoeven’s domestic life, as well as the interactions among the distinct personalities of his Paris detective squad.” —Joe Strebel, Anderson’s Bookshops, Naperville, IL