Editor’s Note:  Robin Beerbower is EarlyWord‘s regular “GalleyChatter” columnist. She was recently profiled by Rebecca Vnuk in Booklist Online’s Corner Shelf.

Below are her picks of the titles brought up during our most recent GalleyChat. Join us for the next one, Tuesday, Nov. 4th, 4 to 5 p.m., EDT — #ewgc.

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GalleyChat participants never fail to present a glorious mish-mash of titles with hardly any repeats from the previous months.  Here is a small sampling of the top titles mentioned during the last chat. As usual, a complete list of all 65 titles mentioned during the chat is available here.

Need a good “readalike” author for Diana Gabaldon? I’ve had great success in suggesting Susanna Kearsley to my library patrons and her next book A Desperate Fortune  (Sourcebooks Landmark, April) is a timeslip contemporary romance blended with a little history.  New Rochelle Public Library’s Beth Mills thoroughly enjoyed it, saying she loved Kearsley’s two main characters, and the cover is especially enticing. [Note: Sourcebooks has republished several of Kearsley’s backlist titles]

Bookmobiles hold a special place in the hearts of librarians so it’s not surprising that a fable about a group of misfits escaping abuse and injustice by fleeing in a gigantic bookmobile has already received high praise. Nancy Russell (Columbus Metropolitan Library) said David Whitehouse’s Mobile Library (Scribner/S&S, January)  is “witty and whimsical, this adventure story is sure to warm your heart.“

The Return of Two Favorite Book Group Authors! 

Anticipation is high for two novels by favorite book club authors who haven’t published novels in several years. In Anita Diamant’s new historical novel, The Boston Girl (Scribner/S&S, December), a grandmother born to immigrant parents narrates the story of her early 20^th century life. It has received much love from 11 peers on Edelweiss, and many reviewers on Good Reads are saying it’s a great “comfort read.” [Note that Diamant’s first book, The Red Tent, has been made into a two-part series, which will air on Lifetime, 12/7/2014 & 12/8/14; trailer here]

Years after they were first published, book groups continue to discover Stephanie Kallos’ Broken for You, (2005) and Sing Them Home (2008), so it’s good news that her next novel, Language Arts (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt), is due to arrive next June.  Cynthia Baskin, a devoted GC participant, says that it’s a “a deeply moving story of ex-spouses and their young-adult autistic son, and how their pasts and presents inform their independent and cooperative futures. It maintains the top-notch standard set by Kallos’ earlier books, Broken for You and Sing Them Home.”

Memoirs, Travel, and Archeology

Kate Mayfield’s The Undertaker’s Daughter, (Gallery/S&S, January) earned a spot as one of Darien Library’s Jennifer Dayton’s favorite memoirs and according to her it has all of the elements needed for a good life story: death, alcoholism, mental illness, infidelity, and ultimately love and forgiveness. She adds “…think To Kill A Mockingbird but with dead bodies.”

Lives in Ruins: Archaeologists and the Seductive Lure of Human Rubble, Marilyn Johnson (HarperCollins, November) was a LibrayReads choice, and Stephanie Chase (newly appointed director of Oregon’s Hillsboro Public Library) said “Marilyn’s skill at sharing her adventures and the adventures of her subjects is fantastic: engaging, readable, and leaving the reader hunting for more information.”

Janet Lockhart (Wake County Public Libraries, Cary, NC) loved the memoir by Anna Lyndsey, Girl in the Dark, (Doubleday/RH, March), saying it is a, “Riveting memoir of woman suffering from rare condition that makes her super sensitive to light. Gave me insight into another person’s life while at the same time illuminating my own.” Another memoir of someone going through the impossible is The Kindness Diaries: One Man’s Epic Quest to Ignite Goodwill and Transform Lives Around the Word, Leon Logothetis (Readers Digest/S&S, December). Without a penny in his pocket, Leon travels the world depending on the altruism of strangers, and is the perfect book for readers who desire something inspiring and uplifting. There is no DRC so for a print copy email our marketing friends at Simon & Schuster (see Library Marketing — Adult]

Spicy Variety

Earlier this year Collette McBeth’s Precious Thing (a great Gone Girl read alike and a LibraryRead pick) was well liked by Chatters, so were thrilled to find out the author’s new title, The Life I Left Behind (Minotaur/Macmillan) will be out in February. The narration by the ghost of a murdered victim may not sound like everyone’s cup of tea, but Jennifer Winberry says it’s worth reading as the “characters are so good, the way they relate to each other and get involved with each other is AMAZING!”

Kristin Hannah is among the top women’s fiction writers and patrons will be anxious to read her next book, The Nightingale (St. Martin’s/Macmillan, February). Janet Lockhart said of this story of two sisters and their challenging relationship during WWII, “Good family fiction with a complex characters and dynamics; the characters got under my skin.”  Edelweiss is showing lots of love from peers and on  GoodReads, it has already received 4 and 5 stars.

Anyone who loved Gone with the Wind (and who doesn’t!), will be excited about Kate Alcott’s A Touch of Stardust (Doubleday/RH, February), the story of the passionate love affair between Clark Gable and Carole Lombard during the filming of the movie. And if that isn’t enough to get us interested, the publisher teases us further by saying Kate Alcott, who married into the Mankiewicz Family (of Citizen Kane, Cleopatra, & All About Eve fame), weaves into the novel delicious never-before-told stories from the period.

Now wasn’t that a nice variety? Join us next month on November 4 (4:00 p.m. EST) for even more great books you will be adding to your TBR lists. And, as usual, please “friend me” on Edelweiss to keep up with the titles I’m anticipating.

The first trailer has just been released for Ron Howard’s upcoming movie In the Heart of the Sea. Scheduled to arrive in theaters on March 13, it is based on Nathaniel Philbrick’s book of the same title.

Related Books

Philbrick won the 2000 National Book Award in Nonfiction for In the Heart of the Sea, about the Essex, a Nantucket ship hunting whales in the South Pacific in 1819, when it was stalked and eventually sunk by a sperm whale, setting the crew adrift for 90 days.

Philbrick also published a version for young readers, Revenge of the Whale, (Penguin/Puffin, 2004).

The movie stars Chris Hemsworth as the whaling ship Essex’s first mate Owen Chase. His account of the story, published in 1821, inspired Herman Melville (played byBen Whishaw in the movie) to write Moby Dick. Chase’s book is still available in several editions, including The Loss of the Ship Essex, Sunk by a Whale, (Penguin Classics, 2000) with an introduction by Philbrick.

Tie ins (for tie-ins to all upcoming book adaptations, check our Edelweiss catalog):

In the Heart of the Sea: The Tragedy of the Whaleship Essex (Movie Tie-in)
Nathaniel Philbrick
Penguin, Trade Paperback January 27, 2015
9780143126812, 0143126814

Audio: January 27, 2015
Nathaniel Philbrick, Scott Brick
9781611763577, 1611763576

Editor’s Note: Robin Beerbower is EarlyWord‘s regular “GalleyChatter” columnist. In her day job, Robin is the readers’ advisor and homebound services coordinator for the Salem [OR] Public Library. Enthusiastic about the importance (and fun) of reading books ahead of publication, she tirelessly tracks down galleys, making her an authority on what to read next. She is also very active on the Edelwiss Community Board, using it to spot titles and gauge developing buzz among librarians (you can join in; just register on Edelweiss and “friend” Robin). Below is her latest:

Three titles that garnered rave reviews during past GalleyChats also recently received top accolades from People (Laird’s Neverhome, Hachette/Little, Brown and St. Mandel’s Station Eleven, RH/Knopf) and Entertainment Weekly (Station Eleven and Sarah Waters’ The Paying Guests, Penguin/Riverhead). Also, Station Eleven made the National Book Award Longlist! Are there a few crystal balls in library offices? No, we’re just a group of librarians with discerning eyes as to what will popular with readers.

What will the critics and the public be raving about in a few months? To find out, check out the following top titles from the September 9 chat. For a complete Edelweiss list of what was discussed, check here. Many are available in as egalleys; read them and remember to nominate your favorites on LibraryReads.

Storytelling at Its Best

There’s nothing like a good story to keep us reading and three titles stood out for their gripping plots.

A couple of us were so excited to chat about Greer Macallister’s The Magician’s Lie (Sourcebooks Landmark, January), we could hardly wait until the official chat time began. The story of a female illusionist in the early 1900s who flees her show after her husband is found hacked to death and is caught by the local constable kept us enthralled. Sharron Smith said the tale was hypnotic and the eerie dark tone reminded me of Goolrick’s A Reliable Wife.

Judging from the excited responses when I mentioned Fiercombe Manor, Kate Riordan (Harper, February), the gothic novel is alive and well. With its English manor setting, threads of madness, and hints of hauntings, it’s an obvious homage to Kate Morton, Victoria Holt, Sarah Waters, and Daphne du Maurier. Before reading, Google “Owlpen Manor” to see the house that inspired the setting.

Maria Dueñas’s first book, The Time In Between was a beautifully told epic story, and her follow-up, The Heart Has Its Reasons (S&S/Atria, November) is another clear winner. Beth Mills (New Rochelle Public Library) said this story of a female professor moving from Madrid to San Francisco and becoming obsessed with an exiled writer who died years before is “an absorbing read—it ties in academic politics, 20^th century Spanish history and early California history.”

Character Studies

It’s unanimous that GalleyChatters love Stewart O’Nan’s ability to build sympathetic characters and his next book, West of Sunset (Penguin/Viking, January) with its focus on F. Scott’s Fitzgerald’s last years in Hollywood doesn’t disappoint. In her Edelweiss review Darien Library’s Collection Development manager Jennifer Dayton said “This is a portrait of a man drowning in longing for lost chances, lost loves and lost worlds. I loved it.”

Appearing on the Booker Man 2014 longlist (but alas, not the shortlist), Us, David Nicholls (Harper, October), the witty story of a man trying to save his marriage of 30 years after his wife announces she wants a divorce, was very popular with readers. According to Janet Lockhart (Wake County Libraries, NC), Nicholls “blends humor and sadness with great dialog and engaging characters.”

Virginia Woolf is hot again — in the publishing world anyway. She’s featured in two new novels. Jennifer Winberry (Hunterdon County Library, NJ) is anticipating Vanessa and her Sister, (RH/Ballantine,December), a “biofic” about Virginia Woolf and her sister, saying “I’m very much looking forward to this as I’m addicted to Virginia Woolf & all things Bloomsbury.” Then Adeline: A Novel of Virginia Woolf, Norah Vincent (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, April), the imagined story of the events prior to Woolf’s suicide was posted on Edelweiss after our GalleyChat .

The Rest of What We Loved

Back in May Jill LePore impressed the audience with her spirited presentation at the BEA librarians’ breakfast and since then anticipation has been building for The Secret History of Wonder Woman (RH/Knopf, October), the amazing account of how Wonder Woman came into existence along with a crucial bit of feminism history.

I haven’t read many graphic novels but I am now addicted to Lucy Knisley’s series of personal experiences that started with Relish: My Life in the Kitchen and continued with An Age of License. Her latest, Displacement (WW Norton/Fantagraphics, February), received high praise from collection development librarian Janet Lockhart who said “Knisley is single handedly turning me into a graphic novel reader.”

I loved Michael Kardos’s The Three-Day Affair (2012) and was sorry it didn’t get the attention it deserved, so I’m keeping fingers crossed his newest, Before He Finds Her  (Grove Atlantic, Mysterious Press) will find a bigger audience of thriller lovers in February. This fast moving plot about a man who murdered his wife and may be looking for his missing daughter is told from multiple viewpoints and is perfect for Harlan Coben and Linwood Barclay readers.

Comparisons to Jacqueline Mitchard’s Deep End of the Ocean is enough to make most of us want to read Tim Johnston’s Descent (Workman/Algonquin, January) but Kaite Stover goes further, saying it is “moving, absorbing, and lyrical in telling the story of a family’s anguish at the disappearance of a child.” And nine other Edelweiss users agree giving it “much love.” Oprah, are you paying attention?

So what is destined to become hits with both the critics and the public? We shall see. In the meantime, if you want to test your psychic skills, join our next GalleyChat on October 7 from 4:00-5:00, Eastern, (more details here), and if you want to keep up on what I’m anticipating on Edelweiss, “friend me.”

Wolf Hall: Parts 1 & 2, the Royal Shakespeare Company’s adaptation of the first two books in Hilary Mantel’s Tudor trilogy, Wolf Hall and Bring Up the Bodies, has been a has been a hit in London and is now set to make its American debut on Broadway April 9 next year. The production is over 5 1/2 hours long, which can be viewed in two consecutive parts (with a dinner break), or on separate days.

Perhaps feeling some competition,  the executive producer of the upcoming BBC TV adaptation of Wolf Hall, commented in a recent essay in The Guardian, “I would like to clarify that the BBC commissioned the six-hour mini-series long before it was produced for the stage.” Starring Mark Rylance as Thomas Cromwell and Damian Lewis (Homeland) as Henry VIII, filming was under way in various historic British locations this summer. No release dates have been announced.

The author is at work on third book in the series, The Mirror and The Light, (she and the stage play’s producer both say they hope it will also be adapted). No publication date has been announced, but some sources say it is due next year.

The stage adaptation will be released in book form this coming February. According to the publisher, it  also”contains a substantial set of notes by Hilary Mantel on each of the principal characters, offering a unique insight into the plays and an invaluable resource to any reader looking for an even deeper understanding of Mantel’s historical creations.”

Wolf Hall & Bring Up the Bodies: The Stage Adaptation,  (Macmillan/Picador)
Hilary Mantel, Mike Poulton (adapted by)
Macmillan/Picador: February 24, 2015
9781250064172, 1250064171
Trade Paperback
$16.00 USD

EDITOR’S NOTE — Be sure to check out the great offer in the comments section.

As a respite from the heat, NPR’s Morning Edition interviewed Ann Cleeves, the author of a series of mysteries set in Scotland’s sub-polar “wild and bleak” Shetland Islands.

The most recent title is in the series, the fifth, is Dead Water, (Macmillan/St. Martin’s/Minotaur; Feb, 2014). The sixth, Thin Air, is due next year.

The books are the basis for Shetland, a popular BBC One series in the U.K. (it hasn’t been broadcast in the U.S.)

Below are the titles in the series (first four are currently available in trade paperback from Macmillan Minotaur/Thomas Dunne Books):

• Raven Black 
• White Nights 
• Red Bones 
• Blue Lightning 
• Dead Water, (Macmillan/St. Martin’s/Minotaur; Feb, 2014)

Calling a new book “One of the Great Horror Novels of All Time” is high praise. The Cleveland Plain Dealer’s influential reviewer Laura DeMarco applies it to a novel by Icelandic author Yrsa Sigurdardottir, saying, “I have read a lot of horror fiction, and a lot of psychological suspense books, and I Remember You, (Macmillan/St. Martin’s Griffin, also in trade pbk, both, March 25), ranks among the scariest, right up there with the best of Stephen King and Peter Straub. It’s that good. And that scary. And, ultimately, that moving.”

Sigurdardottir, known for her mysteries, makes a departure in this standalone, which, says DeMarco, “chills with sounds and smells and shadows, not blood.”

DeMarco mentions that the covers of the American and U.K. editions were changed from the original, which Icelanic fans complained was too terrifying. Link here to see it on the Candian version (Icelanders must be sensitive).

Librarian Nancy Pearl interviews physician and best-selling author, Carol Casella about her new book, Gemini (S&S; Recorded Books, 3/4/14).

We’re feeling French this morning.

A story in the NYT political blog, “The Upshot” reports the French, unlike Americans, have paid little attention to a new book by Paris School of Economics professor Thomas Piketty, Capital in the Twenty-First Century, (Harvard/Belknap Press, 3/12/14), a nearly 700-page tome modeled on Adam Smith’s The Wealth of Nations.

Esquire magazine’s blog declares you must read Piketty’s book, “If you want to understand the world, if you want to comprehend the mechanics of the forces shaping our time, if you want to know the political choices we face,” (if you’re not ready for that commitment, you can, however, get the shorthand version from The Guardian).  Paul Krugman adds his kudos to the chorus of praise in the May 8th issue of the New York Review of Books.

The book debuted on the 4/13 NYT Hardcover list at #16, dropped off for a week and is now back at #15. There even seems to be a halo effect; Adam Smith’s 1776 precursor is now at at #19 on the Nonfiction Extended list, 238 years after its original publication.

Holds on Capital are astounding in several libraries we checked and it appears it is currently out of stock at wholesalers.

Thanks to Liam Hagerty of Westcheter P.L. [NY] for the tip. If your library is experiencing unexpected holds on any titles, please email us.

Our headline for this story is a bit different from USA Today’s, “Diane Keaton Flirts Like Crazy With Matt Lauer.”

To us, it looks like she knew exactly how to take control of the interview.

It seems to have worked, Keaton’s new memoir, Let’s Just Say It Wasn’t Pretty, (Random House; RH Audio; RH Large Print) rose to #189 on Amazon’s sales rankings.

Visit NBCNews.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

Readers advisors need to have just one book on the tip of their tongues next week.

Natchez Burning, Greg Iles, (HarperCollins/Morrow; HarperLuxe; HarperAudio)

A favorite with booksellers, Iles’s first book in 6 years is an IndieNext Pick for May. It’s also catching on with librarians. Wendy Bartlett at Cuyahoga Public Library (Ohio) bet on it with a hefty order and recently alerted the staff  about it:

If James Lee Burke and John Grisham were merged in a transporter accident aboard the Enterprise, the result would be Greg Iles. And the real drama surrounding Natchez Burning, this 700-some-page novel is Iles’ own story.  Iles was severely injured in a car accident several years ago. As a result, book has been delayed and delayed. It is a kind of miracle that Greg survived, and that the book did too. Whether it’s those pent-up years of frustrated storytelling, or just Iles’ natural maturation as a novelist, I can’t tell you, but I can tell you that Natchez Burning is a great page turner with excellently drawn characters. Iles’ fans will welcome back with open arms the series anchor, Penn Cage. Now the mayor of Natchez, a long-buried civil rights era hate crime may or may not have involved Cage’s own family. Old secrets, old hatreds, and old memories are germane to the investigation, and the sense of place is rendered flawlessly. You’ll feel like you lived it.

When customers say, “I just want something good to read,” hand ‘em this one. Oh, and check out www.gregiles.com. He’s a fun writer to follow, and a pretty cool guy to boot.

Looks like the staff  is passing on the recommendation; holds are now nearly as high as the aggressive order.

Browsers may  also be grabbed by this cover blurb from Stephen King, “Natchez Burning is extraordinarily entertaining and fiendishly suspenseful. I defy you to start it and find a way to put it down.”

Ordering information for this and our selection of other titles arriving next week, is available on our downloadable spreadsheet New Title Radar, Week of 4/28/14

The lead book review in People magazine this week (the world’s  50 Most Beatutiful People issue, featuring 12 Years A Slave star Lupita Nyong’o on the cover) is for an unusual memoir. Jason Padgett a “muscled, Mullet-wearing party boy whose most profound thought involved his favorite teams and new dates.” (the New York Post puts it succinctly in their headline, “From Mullet To Math Genius“).

Today, he works with MIT scientists on fractal applications. What caused this huge change? A traumatic  brain injury that seems to have unlocked mathematical talents. People gives 3.5 of 4 stars to his memoir,  Struck by Genius, (HMH; Brilliance Audio), noting that it readers “contemplate the bizarre gifts that might lie within all of us.”

The author appeared on today’s CBS This Morning.

Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert get their book grooves back this week, as each of them features authors on 3 of their 4 shows.

The Daily Show with Jon Stewart

Elizabeth Warren appears on The Daily Show tonight for A Fighting Chance, (Macmillan/Metropolitan Books; Macmillan Audio), as we noted earlier. We’re betting Stewart will ask about her about an incident she recounts in the book, throwing up the first time she was on the show. Published today, it is already at #24 on Amazon’s sales rankings as the result of previous media attention.

The next day, Wednesday, Stewart features another high-profile author, Good Morning America host, Robin Roberts whose new memoir is titled Everybody’s Got Something, (Hachette/ Grand Central; Hachette Audio).

On Thursday, he turns to a book that hasn’t received as much media attention, Ramachandra Guha’s Gandhi Before India, (RH/Knopf).

The Colbert Report

Tonight, Colbert interviews George Will about his new book, A Nice Little Place on the North Side: Wrigley Field at One Hundred, (RH/Crown Archetype). He sticks with the sports theme on Wednesday with basketball coach, John Calipari and his new book, Players First.

Revealing his more literary side, Colbert declared himself a fan of George Saunders back in 2007 (while claiming he’d never read anything by him), long before the NYT Magazine made him a best seller.

He brings the author back to the show on Thursday for his newest book, Congratulations, by the way: Some Thoughts on Kindness, (RH/Knopf), an extended version of his 2013 Syracuse University graduation speech.

New information has appeared about Hillary Clinton’s next book, to be published on June 10. Announced several months ago, as Hillary Rodham Clinton New Memoir, the actual title was just revealed this morning, Hard Choices. Simon & Shuster describes it as an “inside account of the crises, choices and challenges she faced during her four years as America’s 67th secretary of state, and how those experiences drive her view of the future.”

Some wags suggest that one of those “hard choices” might be whether to run for president in 2016.

The news arrives as Senator Elizabeth Warren is about to release her book, A Fighting Chance, (Macmillan/ Metropolitan; Macmillan Audio) fueling rumors that she might run for president in 2016.

How about an all-female ticket?

Headed for a top position on best seller lists after its release next week is David Baldacci‘s third novel featuring CIA hit man Will Robie, The Target (Hachette/Grand Central; Hachette Audio; Blackstone Audio). He appeared on CBS This Morning yesterday to describe it.

Also arriving is a new thriller by Andrew Gross, Everything to Lose, (HarperCollins/Morrow; HarperLuxe; Blackstone Audio) which follows a struggling single mother faced with overwhelming temptation when she discovers a half million dollars at the scene of an accident and a posthumous book by Maeve Binchy, a collection of linked short stories about the residents of Dublin’s imaginary Chestnut Street, (RH/Knopf; RH Audio; Thorndike).

Below are several other titles to be ready for next week. Ordering information for these and other titles arriving next week is available on our downloadable spreadsheet, New Title Radar, Week of 4/21.

Making Headlines

A Fighting Chance, Elizabeth Warren, (Macmillan/Metropolitan Books; Macmillan Audio)

The news media has been all over this book, both for its skewering “of the White House Boys Club” (The Huffington Post) and speculation that its very publication indicates Warren will run for President in 2016.  The embargo was broken yesterday by the Boston Globe, followed closely by the Washington Post (conveniently offering “Everything you need to know from Elizabeth Warren’s new book”) and Politico. Official publicity starts Friday with an interview on NPR’s Fresh Air,  followed by one on CBS Sunday Morning.After that, expect to see Warren nearly everywhere, including stints on The Daily Show with Jon Stewart, ABC’s The View, and NPR’s Morning Edition.

Forcing the Spring: Inside the Fight for Marriage Equality, Jo Becker, (Penguin Press)

Some gay activists are already taking issue with this book, claiming that the author leaves out important figures in the marriage equality movement. Becker responds to the Huffington Post, “My book was not meant to be a beginning-to-end-history of the movement. It’s about a particular group of people at an extraordinary moment in time, and I hope that people will be moved by their stories.” An excerpt is the cover story of this Sunday’s NYT Magazine (the author is an NYT reporter), with the headline: ‘Mr. President, How Can We Help You Evolve More Quickly.’ Becker will  appear on NPR’s Fresh Air. Expect it to be reviewed widely.

Everybody’s Got Something, Robin Roberts, (Hachette/Grand Central; Hachette Audio)

Roberts is on the cover of the upcoming issue of People magazine and the subject of a “By the Book” profile in the NYT Book Review. In this, the second memoir by the popular host of Good Morning America, Roberts writes about overcoming breast cancer only to discover five years later that she has rare blood disorder.

Notable Paperback Release 

Gone Girl, Gillian Flynn, (RH/Broadway Books)

We don’t normally list paperback reprints, but this one is particularly timely. It comes just as a the first full trailer for the movie is released amid buzz about an altered ending, which will likely draw even more people to read the book first. The tie-in paperbacks won’t be released until Aug. 26.  The movie is scheduled for Oct. 3.

Advance Review Attention

Lovers at the Chameleon Club, Paris 1932, Francine Prose, (Harper)

Edmund White’s cover review of Prose’s new novel for Sunday’s NYT Book Review, should draw in readers, both for its headline, “Divine Decadence” and for its opening lines saying that evil characters are often the most fun and that the one created by the “subtle psychologist,” Prose is “a genuinely evil character … a cross-dressing French race car driver who collaborate with the Nazis.” After praising the book’s style and ability, “like all great novels,”  to make the reader symphasize with even a repugnant character, White spends several paragraphs taking issue with aspects of the book, which he then annoyingly dismisses as a mere “quibble” and ends by calling this a “novel of great power and reach.” In the daily NYT, Janet Maslin begins her review with, “The breadth, nerve and intricacy of Francine Prose’s big new novel should surprise even her most regular readers. A bona fide page turner, Lovers at the Chameleon Club, Paris 1932 unfolds over 20 years, across an increasingly ominous Europe, among thugs and artists and poseurs who share only the danger that threatens to cramp their partying style.” She has her “quibble,” too wishing that the book  had been “slightly tighter.” Ignore the quibbles, this one sounds fascinating.

Readers Advisory 

Take a cue from fellow librarians, who picked the following titles as two of the ten LibraryReads titles for April.

Love, Nina, Nina Stibbe, (Hachette/Little, Brown)
“With a unique voice, Stibbe brings 1980s literary Camden back to life in this delightful epistolary memoir. The letters that Stibbe writes to her sister are a hoot, featuring unexpected cooking advice from the great Alan Bennett, and droll commentary on just about everything from Mary-Kay Wilmers.” — Jennifer Estepp, Queens Library, Jamaica, NY

On the Rocks, Erin Duffy, (HarperCollins/ Morrow)

“After her fiance dumps her on Facebook, Abby retreats to her apartment until her best friend invites her to spend the summer in Newport. This book is for every woman who’s been determined to put things back together after finding herself on the wrong side of social media, in the aftermath of a bad breakup, or elbow deep in Ben & Jerry’s when things fall apart.” — Sara Grochowski, Alpena County George N. Fletcher Public Library, Alpena, MI

Politicians often announce ambitions for higher office by publishing a memoir, which gives potential voters two ways to get to know the candidate, via the book itself and personal appearances to promote it.

The announcement that Senator Elizabeth Warren (D, Mass.) is publishing her memoir, A Fighting Chance, (Macmillan/ Metropolitan; Macmillan Audio) has fueled rumors that she will run for president in 2016.

The book is embargoed in advance of its release next week (although a few libraries show they have received it). The Boston Globe is the first to break the embargo, saying that Warren “portrays herself as an idealistic outsider, persistently fighting the excesses and political power of Wall Street” and that, “Even though Warren has insisted she will not run for president in the next election, the book and her heavy promotional tour will keep her in the national spotlight.”

The book rose to #230 on Amazon’s sales rankings as a result of the attention.