Expect to see In the Kingdom of Ice: The Grand and Terrible Polar Voyage of the USS Jeannette, by Outside magazine’s Hampton Sides, (RH.Doubleday; RH Audio; RH Large Print) on this week’s best seller lists.

Based on newly-released documents, it tells the story of an ill-fated polar expedition, one that is less well-known than those of the Shackleton or Scott expeditions. Like those stories, says USA Today, “the struggles of DeLong and his crew to survive and work their way out of their dire predicament somehow make an even more compelling story than a hypothetical one of ultimate conquest.”

The book has received a string of enthusiastic reviews, including in The Wall Street Journal, and the Washington Post. The author was interviewed on NPR’s Aug. 2nd Weekend Edition Saturday, causing it to climb Amazon’s sales rankings.

 A book trailer, gives an idea of the story, but for a taste of the writing, listen to a sample of the audio (hint: be sure to listen through to the end).

As we noted earlier, media attention has been growing for a book that follows the experiences of three women in the military, Soldier Girls: The Battles of Three Women at Home and at War, by Helen Thorpe (S&S/Scribner; Dreamscape audio). Today, the daily New York Times reviewer, Michiko Kakutani, adds her voice,  calling it “compelling” and saying Thorpe “gives us a dynamic understanding of what it’s been like for Guard members who unexpectedly found themselves shipped off to the front lines of the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, their lives and plans disrupted, their families thrown into disarray.”

It will also  be available in audio from Dreamscape on Sept. 2 (audio download on OverDrive).

Struggling to answer the eternal question, “What’s new that’s good?”

LibraryReads to the rescue. The September list, released this morning, marks the first anniversary of the program, which means we now have a total of 130 titles to draw from (all are listed on our downloadable spreadsheet, with ordering information and alternate formats, LibraryReads-All-Titles-Through-Sept 2014).

The number one title for the monthis Smoke Gets in Your Eyes: And Other Lessons from the Crematory by Caitlin Doughty, (W. W. Norton,  9/15), which Patty Falconer of Hampstead Public Library, NH, describes as, “Part memoir, part exposé of the death industry, and part instruction manual for aspiring morticians. First-time author Doughty has written an attention-grabbing book that is sure to start some provocative discussions.”  It is also on the Indie Next List for September.

Check Edelweiss and NetGalley for digital ARC’s of the titles you’d like to be ready to recommend; they are generally available until publication day, so you have at least two weeks read them.

And don’t forget to nominate your favorite upcoming titles, with publication dates of October and after (how-to specifics here).

LibraryReads also provides  FREE downloadable marketing materials so you can easily:

• Post online banner ads on your library’s website

• Include LibraryReads-recommended titles in your library’s newsletter

• Print copies of the monthly flyer to post on your community bulletin board and have available as handouts

• Print copies of the horizontal banner for patrons to use as bookmarks

Helen Thorpe’s new book, Soldier Girls: The Battles of Three Women at Home and at War, (S&S/Scribner; Dreamscape audio), released last Tuesday, examines an under-covered story, women in the military, by following three women who were deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan.

The book has received a wide range of attention. It’s People magazine’s latest  “Book of the Week,” and is covered in the 8/10 NYT Book Review, among other publications

The author was interviewed in Elle magazine, on yesterday’s Weekend Edition, as well as on the Daily Show with Jon Stewart.

Several libraries are showing heavy holds on light ordering.

Featured yesterday on NPR’s Weekend Edition Sunday, was Richard Flanagan, the author of one of the books on the Man Booker Award long list, The Narrow Road to the Deep North (RH/Knopf).

The author is a favorite of Seattle Public Library’s David Wright who says he is, “a consummate stylist, but with a style that is in service to the realities he’s writing about, which are often deeply painful and tragic. That is certainly true in The Narrow Road to the Deep North, which depicts with a fair amount of detail the horrific experience of POWs in WWII (Flanagan’s father was a survivor of the Thai-Burma death railway) … He is so skillful in showing how these events affect mens’ lives … his writing is devastating, generous, and deeply caring.”

The book is being published tomorrow. Several libraries are showing heavy holds on light ordering.

In terms of big-name releases next week, just one title stands out as the leader in holds and copies ordered, Love Letters: A Rose Harbor Novel by Debbie Macomber, (RH/Ballantine; RH Audio; RH Large Print). It is part of a series that is a spin-off of the prolific author’s Cedar Cove books (recently adapted by the Hallmark Channel TV, starring Andie MacDowell and now in its second season).  Most libraries have ordered enough copies to fill current holds.

The titles mentioned here and more notable books arriving next week, with alternate formats, are listed on our downloadable New Title Radar, Week of 8/11:\/14.

Literary Darlings

Colorless Tsukuru Tazaki and His Years of Pilgrimage, Haruki Murakami, Philip Gabriel, (RH/Knopf; RH Audio; RH Large Print)

The hot literary novel of the season, Murakami’s latest is featured on the cover of this Sunday’s NYT Book Review. Salon calls it an understated triumph. Those who resisted reading his previous book, 1Q84, because of it nearly 1,000 page length, will be happy to know that this one is just 400 pages. Holds in libraries are not heavy, so you may have copies available to recommend.

The Narrow Road to the Deep North, Richard Flanagan, (RH/Knopf)

Picked as one of the two most interesting books on the recently released Man Booker long list (the other was Richard Powers’ Orfeo, Norton), you can expect to see reviews. In the U.K. where you can bet on such things, it now ranks third to win the prize, with odds of 8/1.

More to Recommend

Small Blessings, Martha Woodroof, (Macmillan/ St. Martin’s; Macmillan Audio)

Woodroof is the host of The Spark on NPR station WMRA in Harrisonburg, Virginia and has written about the publishing process for this, her debut novel, for NPR’s online pop culture column, Monkey See, so don’t be surprised if the book appears on an NPR show.

It is an Indie Next pick for August:

“A cast of quirky characters — a well-meaning but bumbling college professor, his agoraphobic wife, his sitcom-worthy mother-in-law, and a charming itinerant bookseller — is thrown into a whirl when a small ‘orphan’ boy appears in their midst. The power of love and caring lifts everyone above their flaws in a heartwarming story about finding love and family in unconventional ways.” —Jenny Stroyeck, The Homer Bookstore, Homer, AK

The House We Grew Up In, Lisa Jewell, (S&S/Atria)

This one ranks at #3 on Entertainment Weekly‘s “Must List — The Top Ten Things We Love This Weekmd,” with this recommendation, “It’s a subject more commonly found on A&E than in literary fiction: compulsive hoarding. In Jewell’s 11th novel, Lorelei Bird’s disorder frames this story of an English family, tracing how tragedy pulls them apart and eventually brings them together again.’

Isla and the Happily Ever After, Stephanie Perkins, (Penguin/Dutton Juvenile; BOT Audio)

If you can wrest this from the hands of your young adult readers, it’s prime for crossover. It brought raptures on YA GalleyChat as well as strong prepub reviews (Kirkus; “Engaging teen characters with page-turning love lives offer ample vicarious pleasures”) and the cover carries a lovely blurb by another crossover success, Rainbow Rowell, “Stephanie Perkins’s characters fall in love the way we all want to, in real time and for good.”

Note to Chris Bohjalian’s fans — his daughter, Grace Blewer, reads the audiobook (she is also the narrator for her father’s latest, Close Your Eyes, Hold Hands).

Click on the orange arrow for a sample:

Originally released in the 1970’s, George R.R. Martin’s out-of-print Y.A. book (or, as Martin clarifies on his blog, “actually an illustrated and edited version of a short story that I wrote back in the 70s”), The Ice Dragon, will be re-released this fall, with new illustrations by Luis Royo (publisher Tor shows several of them off here).

The publisher also explains how the book fits in to  the world of A Song of Ice and Fire.

The Ice Dragon
George R. R. Martin, Luis Royo

Macmillan/ Tor Teen: October 21, 2014
9780765378774, 0765378779
Hardback / With dust jacket
$14.99 USD / $17.50 CAD
Ages 12 to 18, Grades 7 to 12

Attending the recent PBS press tour were Tom Branson, Lady Edith, Anna Bates, and Lady Mary (in real life, Downton Abbey cast members Allen Leech, Laura Carmichael, Joanne Froggatt, and Michelle Dockery). Parade magazine examines the few hints they gave about what the new season may bring. The Christian Post, of all places, thinks they’ve sussed out some spoilers. The season begins in the U.S. on Jan. 4, but U.K. audiences will get to see it this fall.

A tie-in has been announced, complete with an “exclusive cover reveal” (based on the set photo, above) by Entertainment Weekly. Titled A Year in the Life of Downton Abbey, it is organized by month and includes “research on great houses in 1924 and detail on how the production operates over the year,” says the author Jessica Fellowes, niece of the show’s creator, Julian Fellowes.

A Year in the Life of Downton Abbey: Seasonal Celebrations, Traditions, and Recipes
Jessica Fellowes, Julian Fellowes
Macmillan/St. Martin’s: October 28, 2014
9781250065384, 1250065380
Hardback / With dust jacket
$29.99 USD / $34.50 CAD

Also coming,

Downton Abbey: Rules for Household Staff
by “Carson” (the show’s head butler )
Macmillan/St. Martin’s Griffin: November 25, 2014
9781250066329, 1250066328
Hardback / Paper over boards
$14.99 USD / $17.50 CAD

Teaser trailer:

Publishing, like the fashion industry, and unlike most of the rest of us, views August as the beginning of the fall season. The first full week of the month, however, are early days, so there’s just a few reliable big names to take the spotlight (the real heat doesn’t begin until the last week of August, with a new James Patterson).

The titles mentioned here, and more, are listed on our downloadable spreadsheet, with alternative formats, EarlyWord New Title Radar, Week of 8/4/14.

Usual Suspects 

Leading in holds and numbers of copies ordered by libraries is The Lost Island by Douglas Preston & Lincoln Child, (Hachette.Grand Central; Hachette Audio; Hachette Large Print), the third in the Gideon Crew series, in which the Crew is ordered to steal the Book of Kells. Booklist stars it and calls it “sparkling.”

The man & dog detective team, Chet and Bernie, are back in their seventh punny title, Paw and Order by Spencer Quinn (S&S/Atria; Recorded Books).

Another familiar team, coming in a distant third in holds and orders, is father and son authors, W E B Griffin and William E. Butterworth with the first title in their new series set during the Cold War, Top Secret: Clandestine Operations #1 (Penguin/Putnam,Brilliance).

Several titles will be grabbing attention in the news media.

Media Hits

Building a Better Teacher: How Teaching Works (and How to Teach It to Everyone), Elizabeth Green, (Norton)

Reminding us that the beginning of the school year is around the corner, an excerpt of this book was featured on the cover of last Sunday’s NYT Magazine.

The Invisible Bridge: The Fall of Nixon and the Rise of Reagan, Rick Perlstein, (S&S; Brilliance Audio)

It’s the 40th anniversary of Nixon resigning over the Watergate scandal (last week, both The Nixon Tapes and John Dean’s The Nixon Defense were published). Perlstein’s book is featured on the cover of this Sunday’s NYT Book Review, “In what has become his signature style, Rick Perlstein has hoovered up a staggering array of … revealing figures and anecdotes to recount that grim time in his engrossing new book … The Invisible Bridge is the third doorstop volume in this man of the left’s mission to explain the rise of the right.” Much more media is line up, including NPR’s Fresh Air.

The First Family Detail: Secret Service Agents Reveal The Hidden Lives Of The Presidents, Ronald Kessler (RH/Crown Forum)

Kessler made a big splash in 2009 with his first book on the Secret Service, in which he managed to get some agents (who are supposed to carry their stories to the grave) to dish about the people they had protected, causing it to rise to #3 the NYT Nonfiction best seller list. Here, he uses that method again to make claims about the Clintons, who have already issued a statement, saying, “With Klein [Blood Feud], Halper [Clinton Inc.] and [author Ronald] Kessler, we now have a Hat Trick of despicable actors concocting trashy nonsense for a quick buck, at the expense of anything even remotely resembling the truth.” Tabloids are already having a field day with some of the claims.

Soldier Girls: The Battles of Three Women at Home and at War, Helen Thorpe (S&S/Scribner; Dreamscape audio)

We suspect libraries will have to scramble to buy more copies of this one. The subject is appealing, the undertold story of women at war, and the method is personal, journalist Helen Thorpe followed three women soldiers, who were deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan, for 12 years. Prepub reviews are strong, with both PW and Kirkus starring it. The author is set to appear on The Daily Show with Jon Stewart on August 5 as well as on NPR’s Weekend Edition on August 10.

For those who just want “something good to read,” below are six titles that are already hits with you colleagues.

Librarian Picks

The Magician’s Land, Lev Grossman, (Penguin/Viking; Penguin Audio)

LibraryReads recommendation:

“Even if you haven’t read the first two books in the wonderful Magicians Trilogy, you will enjoy the escapades of Quentin Coldwater. Now 30 years old, Quentin finds himself back at Brakebills, experiencing school from the teacher’s side of the desk. But his adventures are far from over! Although I’m not generally a fantasy reader, I’ve been rooting for Quentin ever since I first picked up this series and am sad to see it end.” — Kelly Currie, Delphi Public Library, Delphi, IN

The Syfy channel has greenlighted a pilot for an adaptation of the trilogy.

2 A.M. at The Cat’s Pajamas, Marie-Helene Bertino, (RH/Crown)

This verdict from Library Journal is convincing; “By the fourth sentence of the first page, readers will fall in love with debut author Bertino .. This assured, moving, brilliantly funny tale of music, mourning, and off-kilter romance entrances with its extraordinarily inventive language. Be prepared for a quick reread of this novel to try to answer the question: How did Bertino do that?” — Beth Andersen, formerly with Ann Arbor Dist. Lib., MI

A Colder War, Charles Cumming, (Macmillan/St. Martin’s; Macmillan Audio)

Booklist stars this one, saying, “Over several novels, Cumming has established himself, along with Olen Steinhauer, as one of the best of today’s old-school espionage novelists.” Naturally, it’s also recommended for fans of John le Carre, on readers’s minds again because of the attention to the adaptation of his A Most Wanted Man, starring Philip Seymour Hoffman.

Bookseller Picks (Indie Next)

#1 Pick: Painted Horses: A Novel, by Malcolm Brooks, (Grove Press)

During the influential BEA Editors Buzz Panel, Grove publisher Morgan Entrekin, compared Painted Horses to another book he published and championed, Cold Mountain. Booksellers are sharing his enthusiasm, making it the #1 Indie Next pick for August, with the following annotation:

“Brooks sweeps post-WWII American prosperity, ancient native traditions, and the rush to tame the still-wild West together in a novel driven by diverse and deeply realized characters that come together in a heart-pounding story. Catherine Lemay is a talented young archeologist defying the traditions of a ‘man’s world’ by accepting the challenge to explore a Montana canyon slated for flooding for hydroelectric power. What she discovers is beauty, history, threats, and John H — a former mustanger, Army veteran, and enigmatic canyon dweller. Far from her comfortable New York home, Catherine embraces Montana’s stark conditions and with John H uncovers both secrets of the region and truths within herself. A breathtaking debut!” —Cheryl McKeon, Book Passage, San Francisco, CA

In the Kingdom of Ice:The Grand and Terrible Polar Voyage of the USS Jeannette, Hampton Sides(RH.Doubleday; RH Audio; RH Large Print)

Indie Next annotation:

“Sides tells more than a fateful story of exploration, he brings to life an entire era of discovery and the passions that drove it. We meet a wild newspaper magnate who, in addition to racing carriages at midnight in the nude, exiled himself to France after drunkenly urinating in his then-fiancée’s grand piano; an obsessive German cartographer who staunchly believed in a warm, open polar sea at the North Pole; and a strong-willed captain who fell madly in love with the impossible, glaciered grandeur of Earth above the 80th parallel. The meeting of these three eccentric minds led to the voyage of the USS Jeanette, and Sides tells the ship’s tragic story well in cinematic prose with a keen sense of his characters and their changing world.” —Michael Wallenfels, University Book Store, Seattle, WA

The Library Journal review adds, “Using De Long’s correspondence with his wife as an especially effective tool to bring the explorer to life,”

The Home Place, Carrie La Seur, (HarperCollins/ Morrow; HarperLuxe)

Indie Next annotation:

“Alma Terrebonne, a rising star in a Seattle law firm, has left behind her complicated family and past tragedies in Billings, Montana, until one morning when a call for help pulls her back. Returning to identify her sister, dead apparently from exposure, and to care for her 11-year-old niece, Alma is overcome by guilt, fragile family relations, powerful memories from the past, and the hold the family homestead has over her. Both a tense, page-turning police procedural and a delightful romance with carefully drawn characters, The Home Place will resonate with the reader long after the book is finished.” —Darwin Ellis, Books on the Common, Ridgefield, CT

[Ed. Note: This post is by EarlyWord’s GalleyChatter, Robin Beerbower]

Our monthly GalleyChats are setting new records, with more librarians and more titles (over 77 in July’s active session; more than a title a minute). It’s a great jolt for those who may be suffering reading doldrums.

While many professed their love for titles that came up during the previous month’s chat — Caitlin Doughty’s Smoke Gets in Your Eyes, Liane Moriarty’s Big Little Lies, David Mitchell’s The Bone Clocks, (now on the Man Booker longlist) — many new titles were recommended, especially for fans of mysteries and memoirs. Check here for a complete list–July 8 GalleyChat Titles.

Hot Mysteries

Mysteries were a hot topic with three in particular garnering accolades. The group was excited to hear that Louisiana librarian Ashley Weaver has published her debut mystery, Murder at the Brightwell, (Minotaur/Macmillan, October).

Set in a fashionable seaside resort during the 1930s and featuring a wealthy young woman as the sleuth, New York librarian Janet Schneider said this is “sort of a  Dorothy L. Sayers/Downton Abbey combo.”

G. M. Malliet’s newest book, A Demon Summer, (Macmillan/Minotaur, October), was recommended as a solid entry in the British Max Tudor series. Library patrons (and librarians) eagerly awaiting Louise Penny’s next book,  The Long Way Home (Macmillan/Minotaur, August), can quell their impatience by trying one of Malliet’s earlier titles as a temporary fix, (caution: they may end up hooked).

Margaret Maron’s popularity has been growing and her August release of Designated Daughters, (Hachette/Grand Central) which promises to expose Judge Deborah Knott’s family secrets, was met with great enthusiasm by multiple participants.

Espionage and romance were both included with Vicki Nesting (St. Charles Parish Library) raving about Dana Haynes’ sequel to Ice Cold Kill, Gun Metal Heart (Macmillan/Minotaur, August) with the return of former Shin-bet agent Daria Gibron. Vicki’s GoodReads review calls it, “Frenetically fast-paced and fun international thriller. Conspiracies, double crosses and drones — oh my!”

And for contemporary romance fans, Heroes are My Weakness, Susan Elizabeth Phillips (HarperCollins/Morrow, August), adds wit to create a pleasing froth. Beth Mills (New Rochelle Public Library) said Phillilps does her “usual smooth storytelling along with amusing riff on Gothic elements a la Victoria Holt.” Sixteen Edelweiss peers have also added their love. No surprise it’s on the LibraryReads list for August. Collection development librarians will want to keep a close eye on this.

Spine Tinglers

You can get ready for Halloween now with spine-tingling galleys of books geared for release this fall.

For the many who love to hate IKEA, Horrorstör, by Grady Hendrix, (Quirk/RH, September) is a sure hit. Chatter Kristi Chadwick attests, “It jumps well between amusing and creepy (which kind of describes Ikea itself).” Set in the fictional Orsk Furniture store and formatted like a retail catalog, the haunted store plot mixes well with social commentary. Also, take a close look at the clever jacket.

Also popular with those who like to be scared was The Boy Who Drew Monsters, Keith Donohue (Picado/Macmillan, October), the story of a boy whose drawings come to life (as the Macmillan rep characterizes it,  “think Tim Burton”). GalleyChat regular Janet Lockhart (always spot on in her recommendations) calls it,  “An elegantly written tale that is truly bonechilling and reminds me of Thomas Tryon, Shirley Jackson and Neil Gaiman.”

The other eerie read that has been mentioned over the past three chats is Sarah Waters’ The Paying Guests (Riverhead/Penguin, September). In her Edelweiss review, San Diego Library’s Jenne Bergstrom said, “Its agonizing tension and gorgeous sexy romance make this a perfect beach or airplane read, but the sharp characterization and elegant writing will satisfy your craving for literary substance.”

Revealing Memoirs

I’ve never paid much attention to Joe Perry, the “brooding” lead guitarist of Aerosmith, or even been a fan of the band, but I was glued to his new memoir Rocks: My Life in and out of Aerosmith, (Simon & Schuster, October). It was searing and honest, and I developed a new-found admiration for his dedication to his art and relationships — and yes, he does “tell all” about Steven Tyler.

Other memoirs by famous men discussed were Not My Father’s Son, Alan Cumming (Dey Street/HC, October) and As You Wish, Cary Elwes (Touchstone/S&S, October). Collection development administrator Tracy Babiasz (Alachua County Library District, FL) said of Scottish actor Cumming’s unflinching story of his brutal upbringing, “Amazing memoir! I felt it in my toes!” Charmer Cary Elwes’ BEA appearance was a huge draw and fans of the Princess Bride movie have been raving about his personal behind-the-scenes stories of the filming.

Under the Radar

Thorndike Press’s Mary Smith selects fiction for large print publishing and has a good eye for under-the-radar titles. Her latest recommendation is Five Days Left, Julie Lawson Timmer (Amy Einhorn/Penguin, September) and says this story of a woman with only five days left to live has “lots of great topics for book discussion. Might need some Kleenex too.”  It could also be the perfect readalike for JoJo Moye’s Me Before You. Also note that Five Days Left is the next title in Penguin’s First Flight program on EarlyWord.

That’s it for this month! Join us this coming Tuesday, August 5 for our next GalleyChat and please friend me if you want notifications of what I’m anticipating on Edleweiss.

[Ed. Note: This post is by EarlyWord’s GalleyChatter, Robin Beerbower]

June 3 found us involved with another rousing GalleyChat session, with many participants abuzz about their Book Expo America encounters with gracious and fascinating authors. Attendees were especially enthused about their suitcases bulging with treasured galleys of forthcoming books. Here is a small sampling of some of the BEA offerings along with a few other recommended titles (those of you going to ALA may want to seek these out).

As usual, it’s impossible to summarize the huge amount of books mentioned, so check here for all of the titles — June 3 GalleyChat. You can also friend me for continual updates on what I’m anticipating.

Rising to the top of the list is one of the most anticipated books of the summer, Deborah Harkness’s third (and final) title in the All Souls trilogy, The Book of Life (Penguin/Viking, July). A few GalleyChatters who attended BEA received a print galley and the responses have been very enthusiastic. Lucy Lockley of St. Charles City-County Library said, “Great conclusion to fascinatingly detailed series! Fans of the series will not be disappointed.” Good news; you can request it on NetGalley; approvals begin June 15.

The self-effacing David Mitchell charmed the BEA Random House breakfast audience and many are excited to read his forthcoming book that weaves six narratives and covers over forty years, The Bone Clocks (Random House, September). It will clearly be heavily promoted; a huge banner for it hung over the Javits Center. During GalleyChat, Elliott Bay Bookstore staff member Kenny Coble said, “Brilliant. I love it as much as Cloud Atlas. I still think about it constantly.”

Readers were excited about two futuristic thrillers featuring deadly viruses, Jon Scalzi’s Lock In (Macmillan/Tor, August) and Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel (Knopf, September).

In Lock In, a widespread disease leaves some afflicted in a “locked in” state, unable to move or express emotions but aware of what is happening around them. Librarian Jane Jorgenson (Madison Public Library, Wisconsin) said, “A blending of SF and police procedural that hits every note just right.”  Station Eleven is set in a world where 99% of the population has been obliterated due to a flu and incorporates themes such as art, fame and ambition. It was selected as a BEA Buzz Book, and with four GalleyChat members recommending it (Fairfield, CT, Library’s Susan Balla said, “Yes, another dystopic novel but the characters, not the chaos surrounding them, are the focus of this story”), plus having received “much love” from 13 Edelweiss users, it is sure to be on many fall reading lists.

The first of two memoirs mentioned was Smoke Gets in Your Eyes: And Other Lessons from the Crematory by a young mortician, Caitlin Doughty (W.W. Norton, September). Janet Lockhart, Wake County, N.C., Library collection development librarian and I loved it and agree that the author makes the repellent and scary topic of dealing with human death (with the focus on cremation) comfortable and even humorous. It is clearly perfect, of course, for fans of one of the few other books to take a comedic view of the subject, Mary Roach’s Stiff. 

The other memoir enjoyed was North of Normal: A Memoir of My Wilderness Childhood, My Unusual Family, and How I Survived Both by Cea Sunrise Person (Harper, June). Alison Kastner of Multnomah, County, OR, Library called it a “reverse Wild [by Cheryl Strayed].” I was also fascinated by the author’s story of her highly dysfunctional childhood, living completely off the grid in the wilds of Canada. This is a good recommendation for anyone who liked Jeanette Winters’ The Glass Castle, and for older teens who are looking for something similar to Dave Pelzer’s A Child Called It.

Interest was also high for new titles by favorite authors, including Dennis Lehane’s The Drop (HarperCollins/Morrow, September), with the movie to be released in September. In a twist, the movie is based on Lehane’s short story, Animal Rescue. The book, also by Lehane, is based on his script for the movie.

If Liane Moriarty’s The Husband’s Secret continues just a few more weeks on the NYT best seller list, where it has been for 23 weeks, it may be joined by her next book, Big Little Lies (Penguin/Putnam, July). Note the cover art represents an exploding lollipop; a variation of the exploding rose on The Husband’s Secret.

Since Necessary Lies was released last fall, Diane Chamberlain’s emotionally charged novels of family dynamics have steadily increased in popularity and early reports indicate her next book Silent Sister (St. Martin’s Press, October) will also in demand for readers of women’s fiction.

Garth Stein, who had an unexpected hit with The Art of Running in the Rain, switches gears with a multigenerational saga cum ghost story,  A Sudden Light (Simon & Schuster, September). This one is not narrated by a dog. 

Please join us for the next GalleyChat on July 8 at 4:00 (EDT) — note, we moved the date a week later than usual, to avoid conflict for those returning from ALA.

Published by a very small press in Great Britain (it was only their second book) and coming in September from Coffee House Press in the U.S., A Girl Is A Half-Formed Thing by Eimear McBride, the author’s debut novel, won the Baileys Women’s Prize for Fiction, announced in London last night.

The book, which the 37-year-old author wrote ten years ago, was initially rejected by agents and publishers who considered it too difficult to sell. The author put it away until she tried again with Galley Beggar Press, a start-up in the author’s home town of Norwich. It received glowing reviews that acknowledged the book’s unconventional language, described by the Guardian as “devoid of commas, a fractured, poetic, pre-conscious voice, pregnant with full stops and half rhymes … But it actually feels like language anyone could read and understand. Its subject matter is the real difficulty, the story of a young girl, struggling to deal with her older brother’s illness – a brain tumour – and the abuse she experiences.” It went on to win the newly-created Goldsmith’s Prize for Literature and was published in paperback by Macmillan/Faber & Faber.

McBride won over competition from several literary heavy weighs, including Donna Tartt, for The Goldfinch. She says she has “nearly finished” a second novel.

Publicity is ramping up for Stephen King’s upcoming novel Mr. Mercedes, (S&S/Scribner; S&S Audio; Thorndike), An exclusive excerpt is promoted on the cover of the new issue of Entertainment Weekly, on newsstands tomorrow.

King released the book’s trailer on his Web site late last week (those afraid of scary clown masks should use discretion CONGRATS to the eagle eye who notes in the comments section that this video shows the pub date as 2013!).

A second 2014 novel arrives from King this fall, Revival, (S&S/Scribner; S&S Audio; Nov. 11).

Last month, the King site posted the news we can expect another one in 2015,

Following the success of Doctor Sleep, Stephen King announced today that he will be returning to the story of Dennis Guilder in 2015 with Christine Lives, the sequel to his 1983 novel Christine. Christine Lives LIVES picks up where Christine left off, and follows the trials and tribulations of Dennis’s descent from school teacher to carnival barker as he attempts to evade the smoking tires of fate.

It is not yet listed on retailer or wholesaler databases.

Anne Rice announced on Facebook last week that her next book will revive The Vampire Chronicles series, which began in 1976 with Interview With The Vampire. The new book, titled Prince Lestat, will be published on Oct. 28 by Knopf. News sources from Variety to the New York Times and The Guardian covered the story. As a result, when the preorder links went up on Amazon yesterday, it landed at #48 on the site’s sales rankings.

In a podcast interview on The Dinner Party with Christopher Rice and Eric Shaw Quinn, co-hosted by her son, Rice said Prince Lestat will be a sequel to The Queen of the Damned because, “after that The Vampire Chronicles are kind of memoir books and backstory and other experiments.” She gives more details (including how Lestat deals with the iPhone) during the full interview — listen to it on iTunes, Episode #64, beginning at time stamp 7:00.

It’s been over a decade since the 11th volume, Blood Canticle, was published. In a 2009 statement currently still featured on the official site for the series, Rice claimed this would be the final volume; “the eleven novels of the Vampire Chronicles are best enjoyed as a complete and finished work.” On The Dinner Party she says she really didn’t think she could write a new one, but going back and reading all the books again made her feel she had more to say, so much so that she “feels this is novel one of a new incarnation” and in fact, has signed the contract for a second book. She even has casting ideas for a new film version of Lestat.

Prince Lestat: The Vampire Chronicles

On his official Web site, Stephen King announces today that he is publishing a new novel this fall, Revival, (S&S/Scribner Nov. 11, 2014) and offers this description:

In a small New England town, over half a century ago, a shadow falls over a small boy playing with his toy soldiers. Jamie Morton looks up to see a striking man, the new minister. Charles Jacobs, along with his beautiful wife, will transform the local church. The men and boys are all a bit in love with Mrs. Jacobs; the women and girls feel the same about Reverend Jacobs—including Jamie’s mother and beloved sister, Claire. With Jamie, the Reverend shares a deeper bond based on a secret obsession. When tragedy strikes the Jacobs family, this charismatic preacher curses God, mocks all religious belief, and is banished from the shocked town.

Jamie has demons of his own. Wed to his guitar from the age of 13, he plays in bands across the country, living the nomadic lifestyle of bar-band rock and roll while fleeing from his family’s horrific loss. In his mid-thirties—addicted to heroin, stranded, desperate—Jamiemeets Charles Jacobs again, with profound consequences for both men. Their bond becomes a pact beyond even the Devil’s devising, and Jamie discovers that revival has many meanings.

In June, King will publish Mr. Mercedes, described as his first hard boiled detective novel, about the hunt for a man who drove a Mercedes into a crowd of people, killing and injuring many of them, and is threatening yet another attack
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