Two big-budget adaptations open this week, both based on classics.

Opening Friday is Steven Spielberg’s The BFG, based on the childrens novel by Roald Dahl. As we noted earlier, Deadline Hollywood reported that it got a 4-1/2 minute standing ovation when it premiered at the Cannes film festival.

A tie-in came out in May: The BFG Movie Tie-In, Roald Dahl (Penguin/Puffin Books; Paperback; $7.99; Audio tie-in, Listening Library; OverDrive Sample).

Despite the enthusiasm from audiences at Cannes, Variety, predicts disappointment at the box office, noting that Spielberg has not had a major hit in several years, “The man who ushered in the summer blockbuster era with Jaws hasn’t done as much escapist fare in recent years, preferring to spend his time on historical dramas such as last winter’s Bridge of Spies and War Horse. That may have been artistically fulfilling, but didn’t result in many financial windfall.”  In addition, The BFG has to go up against Finding Dory, which continues to dominate box offices after two weeks in theaters.

Spielberg’s next project, an adaptation of Ernest Cline’s Ready Player One, set for release in March, 2018, may reverse the trend, says Variety, since it is “appears to be more mainstream.” Seeming to prove that, each new casting announcement causes a spike in the book’s sales.

The Legend of Tarzan is the other big opening this week. In this live-action take on the familiar story, Tarzan has left Africa for the high life as an aristocrat in England, but is offered a job as a trade emissary to Congo that returns him to his jungle home and plenty of trouble. Variety predicts it will also be a disappointment, saying that “The failure of sequels such as Alice Through the Looking Glass and The Huntsman: Winter’s War has led some analysts to suggest that audiences are rejecting the overly familiar and are desperate for more original entertainment.”

The film stars Alexander Skarsgård in the title role, alongside Samuel L. Jackson, Margot Robbie, Djimon Hounsou, Jim Broadbent and Christoph Waltz.

There is no direct tie-in.

Also opening this week is Life, Animated, a Sundance award-winning documentary following the life of Owen Suskind (son of author Ron Suskind) who was diagnosed with autism at age 3. Unable to speak as a child, Owen found a way to communicate through classic Disney animated films. Variety calls it “captivating” and The Hollywood Reporter says it is “radiant.”

A tie-in is set for release after the film opens, Life, Animated: A Story of Sidekicks, Heroes, and Autism, Ron Suskind (Hachette/Kingswell; on sale July 12). The original hardback was published in 2014.

Our Kind of Traitor opens July 1 and stars Ewan McGregor, Damian Lewis, and Stellan Skarsgård. Unlike the recent TV adaptation of le Carré’s The Night Manager, this project is getting less than rave reviews. As we noted earlier The Hollywood Reporter says it is “High-toned but ho-hum” while The Independent calls it “entertaining but very lightweight.”

The tie-in was released earlier this month: Our Kind of Traitor: A Novel (Movie Tie-In), John le Carré (PRH/Penguin Books; OverDrive Sample).

Holds Leaders

The Games, James Patterson, Mark Sullivan, (Hachette/Little, Brown; Hachette Audio; Hachette Large Print; OverDrive Sample)

Currently, Patterson has only 4 books on NYT Best seller lists — the first two titles in his new trade paperback original series BookShots, which debuted last week on the combined list, 15th Affair at #14 on the hardcover fiction list after 7 weeks  and Jacky Ha-Ha on the Childrens Middle Grade list after 13 weeks. So it’s high time to publish a new title.

Next week’s title is the next in the Private series about a private security agency cleverly named Private. Head of the agency Jack Morgan heads to Rio to provide security for the Summer Olympics, as he did  the 2012 Olympics in London in Private Games.

First Comes Love, Emily Giffin, (PRH/Ballantine; RH Audio; BOT; OverDrive Sample)

Griffin comes off her #1 NYT best seller of last year with a new title told from the perspective of two very different sisters, one who has a traditional family, but envies her sister’s single life. Of course, the single sister is desperate for a child. This one is described by PW as “Giffin at her finest, a fantastic, memorable story.” Kirkus agrees, “Giffin’s fans will be pleased with this fast-paced, witty, and thoughtful new offering.”

The titles covered here, and several other notable titles arriving next week, are listed with ordering information and alternate formats, on our downloadable spreadsheet, EarlyWord New Title Radar, Week of June 27, 2016

Advance Attention

Crisis of Character: A White House Secret Service Officer Discloses His Firsthand Experience with Hillary, Bill, and How They Operate, Gary J. Byrne, (Hachette/Center Street; Hachette Audio)

As we wrote earlier this month, this embargoed title, the latest in a line of books aimed at discrediting Hillary Clinton, has topped Amazon’s sales rankings for weeks. Byrne is a  former Secret Service officer who was assigned to the White House when Bill Clinton was in office. Politico reports that Secret Service veterans “blast writer Gary Byrne for having ‘underlying motives.'”

Consumer Media Picks

We Are Not Such Things: The Murder of a Young American, a South African Township, and the Search for Truth and Reconciliation, Justine van der Leun (PRH/Spiegel & Grau; OverDrive Sample)

Free-lance journalist van der Leun discovers some uncomfortable truths about  a story that made headlines in its day. During the Clinton administration, a young American activist was murdered in South Africa. Her parents, in an amazing act of grace, forgave the killers.The only book reviewed in the current issue of Entertainment Weekly, which gives it and A- and says, it is  “a story steeped in extraordinary characters and circumstances …a dense and nuanced portrait of a country whose confounding, convoluted past is never quite history”

Peer Picks

Two June LibraryReads titles come to the shelves this week.

 We Could Be Beautiful, Swan Huntley (RH/Doubleday; RH Audio/BOT; OverDrive Sample), has already appeared on several summer book previews and is this week’s People magazine’s “Book of the Week,” which calls it a “riveting psychological thriller [that] takes you inside the world of Manhattan’s elite — and keeps you on tenterhooks.”

“Wealthy art collector Catherine spends her time fussing over her tiny boutique card shoppe so that she can feel like a productive member of society. She meets the handsome and refined William Stockton, yet something seems just a little too good to be true. The plot thickens as long hidden family secrets emerge. Huntley certainly knows how to build up the suspense. This debut novel includes some nice plot twists and Catherine’s character evolves favorably. Recommended for fans of psychological fiction.” — Mary Vernau, Tyler Public Library, Tyler, TX

Missing, Presumed, Susie Steiner (PRH/Random House; RH Audio/BOT; OverDrive Sample).

“This is a thoughtful police procedural about a missing person case and the secrets that come to the surface when a feisty detective becomes relentless in finding the truth. Edith is a successful college student from a well-known family, but all is not what it seems. Detective Manon Bradshaw is feeling the pressure to quickly resolve the case. What sets this apart from other detective stories is how the lead character is brought to life; she exposes her melancholy and it adds a satisfying mix to the thrills. Recommended for fans of Tana French.” — Andrienne Cruz, Azusa City Library, Azusa, CA

Three titles booksellers enjoyed also publish this week:

A Certain Age, Beatriz Williams (HC/William Morrow; HarperAudio).

“Open the pages of A Certain Age and be drawn into Williams’ rich, atmospheric world of Manhattan in the 1920s — a world where society pages hint at gossip, speakeasies tease with gin, and secrets and hidden desires lie just below the polished veneer of the fashionably dressed and well-bred families of the city. This deft retelling of Richard Strauss’ comic opera Der Rosenkavalier is simply exquisite.” —Dawn Rennert, The Concord Bookshop, Concord, MA

A Hundred Thousand Worlds, Bob Proehl (PRH/Viking; Penguin Audio/BOT).

“Nine-year-old Alex and his mom, Valerie — the ex-star of a superhero TV show — make their way across the country, Comic-Con by Comic-Con, toward a future of inevitable loss. They visit the fallen heroes, wise women, and wizards of pen-and-ink who have all shaped the story of their lives. Pushed and pulled by so many other people’s stories, can Alex and Valerie learn to write their own?” —Cat Nichols, Bookshop Santa Cruz, Santa Cruz, CA

Soft in the Head, Marie-Sabine Roger, translated by Frank Wynne (PRH/Pushkin Press; OverDrive Sample).

“Two disparate individuals pass the time counting pigeons in the town park and finally make each other’s acquaintance: Marguerite, a retired and lonely 80-something plant scientist, and Germain, an unemployed, undereducated, dim-witted 45-year-old who lives in a trailer behind his mother’s house. Soon, Marguerite is reading to Germain, who eventually overcomes his childhood aversion and begins to read himself. This is a lovely story of the redeeming qualities of civil conversation, the possibility of friendship bridging many years and inquiring minds, and the worlds opened up through reading.” —Darwin Ellis, Books on the Common

Tie-ins

Pete’s Dragon Junior Novel: With 8 Pages of Photos From The Movie!, Disney Book Group (Hachette/Disney Press) ties in to the new Disney re-vamp of their 1977 musical film of the same name,  about a young boy and his friendly (and often invisible) dragon.

The new film changes the story and stars Bryce Dallas Howard, Robert Redford, and Karl Urban. It opens Aug. 12.

For our full list of upcoming adaptations, download our Books to Movies and TV and link to our listing of tie-ins.

After nearly a decade of writing novels to steady but muted notice, Paul Tremblay may have broken through.

Tremblay won the Bram Stoker award this year for A Head Full of Ghosts (HC/William Morrow, June 2015; paperback, May 10, 2016; HarperAudio; OverDrive Sample),  a novel that earned him comparisons to Shirley Jackson’s The Haunting of Hill House by io9, a rave in the NYT, and the attention of Stephen King.

Now Tremblay is back with Disappearance at Devil’s Rock (HC/William Morrow; HarperAudio; OverDrive Sample). NPR reviewer Jason Heller, a senior writer at The A.V. Club, says is “it’s even more head-spinning” than his Stoker winner.

Heller calls the book a “dizzying emotional vortex” full of “immediacy [and] immaculate storytelling” and says Tremblay’s “characters are rendered vividly and sensitively. The ambience is all shadows.”

Terrance Rafferty, in a round-up of new horror titles in the NYT, says that Tremblay (among others he highlights) is the heir to Joyce Carol Oates, Peter Straub, and Edgar Allan Poe and that his book “is never, at any point, exactly what you expect it to be.”

Tor.com offers a rave review, concluding: “Tremblay left me speechless, breathless, deeply unsettled and impossibly impressed. I love being genuinely scared by a book, so Disappearance at Devil’s Rock left me with a giant smile, too … In a summer of great horror releases, this one is among the very best.”

Holds are over a 3:1 ratio at several libraries we checked while others have yet to order or are showing circ. about equal to copies.

Driven by heavy media attention, The Girls by Emma Cline (PRH/Random House; RH Audio; BOT; OverDrive Sample),

debuts on the new USA Today best seller list, landing at the #9 spot. Since that list ranks all categories and formats of books together, we can expect to see it debut much higher on the upcoming NYT Hardcover Fiction list [UPDATE: Soon after we posted this, the new NYT list was released and The Girls is #3. That list shows sales through June 18, four days after the book was published. We’ll see in coming weeks if word of mouth works in its favor].

In libraries holds continue to be very strong, running at 5:1 ratios and higher. Many libraries have ordered additional copies  to keep up with demand.

Librarian Nancy Pearl interviews one of her favorite authors, Guy Gavriel Kay for Book Lust TV this month.

The pair, who have talked several times before, start by discussing Children of Earth and Sky (PRH/NAL; OverDrive Sample), Kay’s newest book, published in May and,set in the same general world as Sailing to Sarantium (a particular favorite of Nancy’s) and Lord of Emperors. It also falls within the general universe of The Last Light of the Sun and The Lions of Al-Rassan.

Kay explains that he likes to write stand-alones rather than series as endings are very important to him and he wants each book to have its own arc. He also wants readers to enjoy every book for itself, without feeling as if they are missing an insider joke but does offer long-time readers “grace notes, small, glancing allusions to the previous books.”

The two discuss Kay’s particular brand of fantasy, which he calls a “quarter turn to the fantastic” as well as the rise of popularity of the fantasy genre in pop culture. Kay believes the rush of fantasy novels rests in the fact that the “book industry is a copy-cat industry” and much “cloning” takes place. Of his own take on fantasy, he says he likes to compress time so that readers get an immediate sense of what happens over hundreds of years.

The interview concludes with Kay detailing what he is currently reading and recommending to others: Edith Grossman’s translation of Don Quixote, Anne Tyler’s A Spool of Blue Thread, and Helen Macdonald’s H is for Hawk.

Rising dramatically on Amazon, leapfrogging over nearly 1500 titles ahead of it to move from #1,494 to #45 is White Trash: The 400-Year Untold History of Class in America, Nancy Isenberg (PRH/Viking; Tantor Audio; OverDrive Sample).

The jump coincides with a rave NYT daily review, running today on the front page of section C and also online. In it Dwight Garner calls the book “formidable and truth-dealing” and says Isenberg:

“has written an eloquent volume that is more discomforting and more necessary than a semitrailer filled with new biographies of the founding fathers and the most beloved presidents … This estimable book rides into the summer doldrums like rural electrification … It deals in the truths that matter, which is to say, the uncomfortable ones.”

The book is receiving attention from a wide range of media, including Slate, the WSJ‘s SpeakEasy podcast, and LitHub, which calls it one of “Five Books Making News This Week.” On the trade side, it has received starred reviews from Kirkus and Publishers Weekly, both of which call it “riveting.”

Holds so far are low in libraries we checked but like Evicted: Poverty and Profit in the American City by Matthew Desmond and A People’s History of the United States, by Howard Zinn, it seems destined to be a title that will spark discussion for months to come and appear on end-of-the year best lists.

The Free State of Jones leads the book-to-screen lineup this week with the Matthew McConaughey vehicle, set during the American Civil War, opening in wide release beginning June 23.

The movie recounts the true-life events of a Mississippi farmer who lead a band of rebels against the Confederate army. It is a rarity, an adaptation of a university press book, The Free State of Jones: Mississippi’s Longest Civil War, Victoria E. Bynum (U. of N. Carolina Press), with a tie-in featuring a new afterward by Bynum.

Also on June 23, Queen of the South starts its run on the USA Network, adapting Arturo Perez-Reverte’s story of female drug lords. The novel on which it is based, Queen of the South (PRH/Plume; OverDrive Sample), first published in 2005, now features new cover art advertising the show.

The novel has been adapted previously, as La Reina del Sur, which aired in 2011 on Telemundo (the American Spanish-language network owned by NBCUniversal).

The series is #4 on People magazine’s picks for the week, calling it a “satisfyingly pulpy melodrama.”

On June 24 The Fundamentals of Caring comes to Netflix. Staring Paul Rudd, Craig Roberts, and Selena Gomez, the film is based on The Revised Fundamentals of Caregiving by Jonathan Evison (Workman/Algonquin Books; OverDrive Sample). No new tie-in is available for the road-trip story of a teen with muscular dystrophy and his down-on-his-luck care giver, but the 2013 paperback now has cover art promoting the movie.

The film got nods at Sundance but as Variety reports, the market for indie self-actualization films has fallen: “Indie-comedy cliches get a crowdpleasing workout … but the theatrical market isn’t what it used to be … Already acquired by Netflix for SVOD [streaming video on demand] in a pricey pre-fest pick-up, that venue sounds like the best bet to connect with audiences.”

Several marquee authors return with new books next week, but only one has significant holds, The Pursuit  by Janet Evanovich and Lee Goldberg, (PRH/Bantam; RH Audio), the fifth book featuring con man Nicolas Fox and FBI agent Kate O’Hare.

Other well-known names are showing far fewer holds, including the latest in the series Robert Ludlum made famous, now continued by Eric Van Lustbader, The Bourne Enigma, (Hachette/Grand Central; Hachette Audio), coming in advance of the latest Bourne movie Jason Bourne  opening 7/29/16. It stars Matt Damon and Alicia Vikander.

Also showing few holds is Bill O’Reilly’s young readers version of his best seller about the attempt on the life of the Republican icon, The Day the President Was Shot: The Secret Service, the FBI, a Would-Be Killer, and the Attempted Assassination of Ronald Reagan, (Macmillan/Holt; Holt)

The titles covered here, and several other notable titles arriving next week, are listed with ordering information and alternate formats, on our downloadable spreadsheet,EarlyWord New Title Radar, Week of June 20, 2016

Peer Picks

Only one LibraryReads selection arrives this week, but it is the #1 librarian pick for June, Vinegar Girl, Anne Tyler (PRH/Hogarth; RH Audio; BOT; OverDrive Sample).

“The newest entry in the Hogarth Shakespeare series brings The Taming of the Shrew into the modern world. Kate is stuck in a life taking care of her absent minded professor father and her sister, Bunny. When her father suggests a marriage of convenience in order to secure a green card for his lab assistant Pyotr, Kate is shocked. This is a sweet and humorous story about two people, who don’t quite fit in, finding each other. Tyler’s wonderful writing updates and improves on the original.” — Catherine Coyne, Mansfield Public Library, Mansfield, MA

It is a summer reading pick from B&N and the St. Louis Post-Dispatch as well as an Indie Next pick for July.

Tyler’s latest is part of an ongoing series transforming Shakespeare’s plays. Margaret Atwood will take on The Tempest in October in a new novel entitled Hag-Seed. Jo Nesbø, Gillian Flynn, and Tracey Chevalier are also part of the project, which extends through 2021.

Booksellers suggest four titles this week:

As Good as Gone, Larry Watson (Workman/Algonquin).

“After the death of his wife, Cal Sidey abandoned his children for the life of a solitary ranch hand in Montana. Years later, in 1963, his son Bill asks his father to return home to look after his grandchildren, while Bill tends to a family emergency. The powerful story of Cal’s visit is a tragedy of narrowly missed moments as he attempts reentry into a world that no longer has any place for his old-fashioned and violent ways. The prose is clear and lovely, every character is strongly drawn, and Cal Sidey captured my heart while breaking it. Watson has given us a grand Western tragedy, spare and harrowing.” —Kathi Kirby, Powell’s Books, Portland, OR

So Much for That Winter: Novellas, Dorthe Nors and translated by Misha Hoekstra (Macmillan/Graywolf Press; OverDrive Sample).

“Inventive and emotionally charged, the two novellas in So Much for That Winter bridge the gap between melancholy and humor. Told in a series of lists and headlines, these stories of the aftermath of two relationships are witty examinations of love and heartbreak in an age of technological detachment and shortened attention spans. Nors’ relentlessly paced vision of modern life should not be missed.” —Emily Ballaine, Green Apple Books, San Francisco, CA

It is also a summer reads pick by B&N.

My Last Continent, Midge Raymond (S&S/Scribner; S&S Audio).

“Suspense and love intertwine against the starkly beautiful backdrop of Antarctica in this wonderful debut. Deb is a researcher devoting her life to the magnificent penguins that populate this remote corner of the world, where the ice-choked waters set the stage for the tragic collision of a supersized cruise liner and mountainous iceberg. When Deb discovers the man she loves is aboard the doomed ship, the poles of her world shift, as she must now focus on rescuing the one person who has saved her from her self-inflicted solitude. Raymond does a masterful job building the tension while the dramas of both the past and present unfold.” —Luisa Smith, Book Passage, Corte Madera, CA

Disappearance at Devil’s Rock, Paul Tremblay (HC/William Morrow; HarperAudio; OverDrive Sample).

“When a young boy goes missing, his mother and sister begin finding pages from his diary revealing secrets they had never suspected. Where did he go, and why won’t his friends tell anyone the truth? Tremblay peels back the layers of a quaint New England town to expose the ugly underbelly of family life in the U.S. Disappearance at Devil’s Rock is a shocking, scary, and disturbing read, the result of a powerful storyteller at work, and it solidifies Tremblay’s reputation as a master of psychological suspense.” —William Carl, Wellesley Books, Wellesley, MA

Tie-ins

Tie-ins this week get off to an explosive start with two editions marking the upcoming summer blockbuster, the sequel to the 1996 film Independence Day, one for adults and one for young readers.

Independence Day: Resurgence: The Official Movie Novelization, Alex Irvine (PRH/Titan Books)
Independence Day Resurgence Movie Novelization: Young Readers Edition, Tracey West (S&S/Simon Spotlight).

20 years after humans turned back the alien invasion, an even larger force is descending on Earth. The film stars Liam Hemsworth along with returning favorites from the first film: Jeff Goldblum, Bill Pullman, Judd Hirsch, and Vivica A. Fox. Will Smith is not returning. The movie opens June 24.

Another long-in-the making film is Cell, based on the Stephen King novel of the same name. A new tie-in edition with fresh cover art is being released (S&S/Pocket Books; OverDrive Sample).

King’s 2006 horror tale follows a band of survivors trying to locate a mysterious signal that, sent over the cell phone network, turns humans into raging killers. It stars John Cusack, Samuel L. Jackson, and Isabelle Fuhrman. It came out last weekend on VOD and will open in a limited number of theaters on July 8.

Mike and Dave Need Wedding Dates: And a Thousand Cocktails, Mike Stangle, Dave Stangle (S&S/Gallery Books; OverDrive Sample; S&S Audio; also in mass market). A comic collection of essays and stories becomes the basis for the next Zac Efron romp. He and Adam DeVine star opposite Anna Kendrick and Aubrey Plaza in this tale of two brothers, who, in an effort to keep a low profile at their sister’s wedding, search for dates – only to discover the women they take to the ceremony are beyond even their definition of wild. The film opens July 8.

The Infiltrator: My Secret Life Inside the Dirty Banks Behind Pablo Escobar’s Medellín Cartel, Robert Mazur (Hachette/Back Bay). The nonfiction account ties to the July 13 film starring Bryan Cranston, Diane Kruger, Benjamin Bratt, John Leguizamo and Amy Ryan. It tells the story of a US Customs special agent who takes out the international financial systems that supplied money-laundering services to the drug kingpin Pablo Escobar.

For our full list of upcoming adaptations, download our Books to Movies and TV and link to our listing of tie-ins.

A boon for advisors looking for SFF (Science Fiction and Fantasy) titles that will be getting attention from fans is io9‘s newly released summer reading list.

Titles that have already been featured on general list include The Fireman by Joe Hill (HC/William Morrow; HarperAudio; OverDrive Sample), already a best seller, and Dark Matter by Blake Crouch (PRH/Crown; RH Audio; BOT). io9 says that they “really loved” Hill’s newest, calling it “a terrifying, exhilarating ride from beginning to end, … quite possibly Hill’s best novel to date.” Of Crouch’s buzzy new stand-alone, they say it is “a fast-paced thriller that deals with alternate worlds and paths not taken.”

Other favorites are Life Debt: Aftermath (Star Wars), Chuck Wendig (PRH/Del Rey; RH Audio) and The Obelisk Gate, N. K. Jemisin (Hachette/Orbit). Fans know Wendig for his bridge books filling in the story between the recent Star Wars film and the previous story line of the series. io9 says this newest “looks to be just as exciting as the originals.” Of The Obelisk Gate, the site offers, “The Fifth Season was a masterpiece of fantasy literature, rejecting long-held conventions and tropes, and we’re excited to see what Jemisin does next to upend genre.”

Authors and titles that might be new to SFF fans include:

False Hearts, Laura Lam (Macmillan/Tor; OverDrive Sample). io9 says it is “a debut novel that we’ve been getting excited about, an interesting cyberpunk mystery that meshes together the future of biotechnology and murder.”

Underground Airlines, Ben Winters (Hachette/Mulholland Books). A book about slavery set in the present day, the site says it shows every indication of being “a riveting alternate history thriller.”

Behind the Throne, K. B. Wagers (Hachette/Orbit). Saying it is “poised to be the next exciting space opera, one with plenty of action, intrigue, and adventure,” io9 points out that publishing imprint Orbit has a great track record with space adventures, publishing both James S.A. Corey and Ann Leckie.

There are more selections, including nonfiction. The full list is online.

Attention is growing for Susan Faludi’s In the Darkroom (Macmillan/Metropolitan Books; OverDrive Sample) and while holds have yet to take off, Pulitzer Prize-winning Faludi is known for making a splash. It is a good bet that her memoir will gain steam.

It is a timely story, about  Fluid’s relationship with her father, who had sex reassignment surgery late in life, as well as Faludi’s own relationship with her parent, after an almost complete estrangement.

During NPR’s Fresh Air  yesterday, Maureen Corrigan reviewed the memoir, saying it is “sprawling … a wide-ranging exploration of the concept of identity [that offers] a literary, even Gothic feel.”

As parent and adult child spend time together in a crumbling house, which, say  Corrigan points even has a locked attic, Faludi explores her childhood memories as contrasted to her new reality, seeking to find answers about identity, past and present, Corrigan says the search is “compelling, exhausting, messy and provocative.”

In a review posted online today and set to run on the front page of this coming  Sunday Book Review, The New York Times calls the memoir “rich, arresting and ultimately generous.”

Entertainment Weekly gave it an A- late last week, saying “It’s a gripping and honest personal journey—bolstered by reams of research—that ultimately transcends family and addresses much bigger questions of identity and reinvention.”

The Wall Street Journal [subscription may be required] and Elle each offer takes as well while the Guardian ran an illustrated illustrated extract from the book.

As far as ambitious seasonal reading goes, O Magazine takes the cake thus far, offering 60 titles. A list that long is bound to include many the others have not, as well as expected titles, such as The Girls, Modern Lovers, Homegoing, and Before the Fall.

Among the dozen unique fiction selections is Dating Tips for the Unemployed, Iris Smyles (HMH/Mariner; OverDrive Sample) gets the nod with the comment that the mix of novel and autobiography is “A flat-out joy to read.”

Hot Little Hands, Abigail Ulman (PRH/Spiegel & Grau; RH Audio; OverDrive Sample). The magazine calls this debut collection of short stories “sardonic, smart, and thoroughly modern.”

Native Believer, Ali Eteraz (Consortium/Akashic Books; OverDrive Sample) tells the story of a modern secular Muslim living in the age of terrorism. O calls it a “wickedly funny Philadelphia picaresque.”

The Noise of Time, Julian Barnes (PRH/Knopf; OverDrive Sample). This fictional account of the real life Russian composer Dmitri Shostakovich imagines a creative life living under the eyes of Stalin. O says it is “exquisite.”

The Sport of Kings, C.E. Morgan (Macmillan/FSG; Macmillan Audio; OverDrive Sample). Horse racing and the aftershocks of slavery intertwine in this “sprawling, magisterial Southern Gothic for the 21st century.”

In nonfiction new choices include two titles addressing past decades and several books spanning history and modern times:

Witness to the Revolution: Radicals, Resisters, Vets, Hippies, and the Year America Lost Its Mind and Found Its Soul by Clara Bingham (PRH/RH; OverDrive Sample) provides “A gripping oral history of the centrifugal social forces tearing America apart at the end of the ’60s,” while Never a Dull Moment: 1971 The Year That Rock Exploded, David Hepworth (Macmillan/Henry Holt; OverDrive Sample) offers “A revelatory account of the bombshell 365 days that gave birth to … the music that made us.”

The Cook Up,by D. Watkins (Hachette/Grand Central; Hachette Audio; OverDrive Sample), a tale of family and drugs, O calls this “An East Baltimore bildungsroman memoir about hope, hustle, and getting out while you can.”

How the Post Office Created America: A History, Winifred Gallagher (PRH/Penguin) details the early history of mail service. O promises that, as unlikely as it sounds, the book is “invigorating.”

The full list of titles is available online.

See our catalog for a running list of all summer picks. Links to each of the summer previews can be found in the column to the right.

This chat has now ended. You can read the archived version below.

For more on the Penguin Young Readers Program, click here.

Fed by a growing buzz from literary as well as foodie outlets, Stephanie Danler’s debut novel, Sweetbitter (PRH/Knopf; Random House Audio; BOT; OverDrive Sample), is developing an impressive holds list at many libraries we checked, topping a 6:1 ratio in some areas.

The New York Times has spotlighted the author, who lived in the city and worked in its restaurants and wine stores, in four separate pieces, most recently this week’s profile in the Style section, following Danler as she goes on tour, promoting her book at a local indie bookshop, in an  interview with Gabrielle Hamilton, the chef/author of Blood, Bones and Butter: The Inadvertent Education of a Reluctant Chef.

Daily NYT‘s reviewer Dwight Garner offered his take in mid-May, calling it “an unpretentious, truth-dealing, summer-weight novel … [that] grows darker than you might expect.” In her NYT Sunday Book Review piece, Gabrielle Hamilton gave it a to-die-for anointment, calling it “brilliantly written” and the “Kitchen Confidential of our time.”

Entertainment Weekly gives the novel an A- and The Wall Street Journal offers an illustrated profile [may require subscription].

Bon Appétit magazine headlines it as “the Summer’s Hottest Beach Read” in their podcast interview and offers an excerpt in the print and online issue.

More interviews abound. The foodie site Grub Street offers one full of insider details. Vanity Fair has one too, talking poetry and sex. NPR’s Weekend Edition Sunday, Vogue, Refinery29, and even The Paris Review, that bastion of literary taste, offer interviews, with The Paris Review calling the book “riveting.”

Sweetbitter landed on the USA Today best-seller list the first week of June, taking the #32 spot, which the paper calls “a strong showing for a new writer” and given that the list integrates all types and audiences of books (mixing paperback and hardback, fiction and nonfiction, adult, teen, and children’s) it is indeed a good opening number.

It also made the NYT Fiction Hardcover list on June 12, at #12 and is holding on to the #16 spot this week.

It is a summer reading pick by the Amazon Editors, Harper’s Bazaar, The Wall Street Journal, and Glamour. It is also a hit with GalleyChatters and a May LibraryReads selection.

Debuting at the #2 spot on this week’s NYT Hardcover Fiction Best Seller list is the very buzzy Before the Fall, Noah Hawley (Hachette/Grand Central; OverDrive Sample).

As we reported the breakout novel by the creator of the Fargo TV series is racking up impressive hold figures and is getting a great deal of attention as the media predicts a hit.

It’s not the only new entry. Nearly half of the top 10 titles ae new to the list this week.

As might have been expected The Emperor’s Revenge, Clive Cussler and Boyd Morrison (PRH/G.P. Putnam’s Sons; Penguin Audio; BOT; OverDrive Smaple) takes the #1 spot. All Summer Long, Dorothea Benton Frank (HC/William Morrow; HarperAudio; OverDrive Sample) debuts at #3, while, as we predicted, Alan Furst’s A Hero of France (PRH/Random House; S&S Audio; OverDrive Sample) hits the list at #7.

Just outside the top 10, debuting at #14 (tied with #13) is Modern Lovers, Emma Straub (PRH/Riverhead Books; Penguin Audio; BOT; OverDrive Sample), another very buzzy title which is high on the summer reading lists.

Falling out of the top ten to make room for the new arrivals are The City of Mirrors, which slipped from #1 last week to #11, The Fireman, All the Light We Cannot See, and Everybody’s Fool.

Next week, fans of Terry Pratchett will have the bittersweet pleasure of reading the novel which was completed in 2013, before his death last year. The Long Cosmos. Terry Pratchett, with Stephen Baxter (Harper; HarperLuxe) is the final title in the Long Earth series.

Below are highlights of other titles coming out next week. They are listed, along with several other notable titles arriving next week, with ordering information and alternate formats, on our downloadable spreadsheet, EarlyWord New Title Radar, Week of June 13, 2016.

Holds Leaders

Among the holds leaders this week are three authors who long ago achieved marquee status (i.e., their names are in larger type than the titles on their book jackets) and a rarity among holds leaders, a debut novel.

Foreign Agent, Brad Thor, (S&S/Atria; S&S Audio)

Thor, a favorite of conservative talk shows, was interviewed on the Glenn Beck Show on Sirius Radio at the end of May. Discussing Donald Trump’s candidacy, which neither support (Beck has said that, although he doesn’t disagree with many of Trump’s policies, he feels he is “deeply flawed and dangerous as a human being“), Thor made a comment that, according to a Sirius Radio statement, “may be reasonably construed by some to have been advocating harm against an individual currently running for office, which we cannot and will not condone.” As a result, the show was suspended for a week. Thor will have plenty of opportunities to talk about that story next week as he is scheduled for interviews on several Fox-TV shows as well as on Beck’s radio show to promote his new book, the 15th in his Scott Harvath series

Bay of Sighs: Book Two of the Guardians Trilogy, Nora Roberts, (PRH/Berkley; Brilliance Audio)

The second in Roberts’ original trade paperback paranormal romance trilogy, following Stars of Fortune.

Here’s to Us, Elin Hildebrand, (Hachette/Little, Brown: Hachette Audio

The next in her Nantucket-based series. Hilderbrand’s previous recent title, The Rumor, brought her to a new level on best seller lists;

Rivaling Hildebrand is a brand-new author, Emma Cline (see Peer Picks, below). Holds are strong everywhere, but sky high at to Hennepin Public Library, which will host an appearance by the author next week.

Advance Attention

I’m Just a Person, Tig Notary, (HarperCollins/Ecco)

The memoir by the comic who appears on Transparent and on radio in This American Life, was featured in last week’s People magazine. Upcoming is an Amazon series about her life.

In the Darkroom, Susan Faludi,(Macmillan/Metropolitan Books)

People magazine, listing it as one of their summer reading picks, calls this a “A fascinating memoir” by the feminist author (Backlash) about her efforts to come to terms with her estranged father, after he has goes through a late-life sex-reassignment surgery. Definitely not a feminist, her father, now a woman, tells her, “Men have to help me. It’s one of the great advantages to being a woman. You write about the disadvantages of being a woman, but I’ve only found advantages!”

Appearing on several summer reading lists, it will be covered widely. In one of the first reviews, Laura Miller in Slate says that the book’s “complexity fascinates.” Entertainment Weekly gives it an A- and says, “It’s a gripping and honest personal journey—bolstered by reams of research—that ultimately transcends family and addresses much bigger questions of identity and reinvention.”

Consumer Media Picks

Sons and Daughters of Ease and Plenty, Ramona Ausubel, (PRH/Riverhead)

People magazine’s “Book of the Week” is also on several summer reading previews. Set in the “60’s and ’70’s, it’s about couple with two children, who suddenly faces the fact that their fairly luxurious lifestyle will not longer be funded by the largess of their parents.

Peer Picks

Librarians and booksellers offer readers ten titles this week. The LibraryReads selections include the return of several series as well as two debuts, while the Indie Next picks highlight a buzzy summer reading favorite.

Books librarians recommend include:

The Invisible Library, Genevieve Cogman (PRH/Roc; OverDrive Sample).

“Directed by powerful librarians, agents roam alternate realities searching out special volumes for their mysterious library’s collections. Irene is a spy for the library but something is a little off about her current mission; there’s something strange about her new assistant that she can’t quite put her finger on and worse, the requested volume has already been stolen. Cogman’s engaging characters and a most intriguing imagined world are sure to delight readers, especially bibliophiles.” – Beth Mills, New Rochelle Public Library, New Rochelle, NY

Read our online chat with the author here.

Under the Harrow, Flynn Berry (PRH/Penguin; Blackstone Audio; OverDrive Sample).

“Nora leaves London to visit her sister, Rachel, in the countryside often. But this trip is different – a silent house, a dead dog hanging from the railing and so much blood. Nora stays, trying to help the police solve the case. She thinks it might have something to do with the unsolved attack on Rachel when she was just a teen but it could be someone new. This story is thrilling and quietly gripping. We become as obsessed as Nora in finding her sister’s killer and what if he strikes again?” – Kimberly McGee, Lake Travis Community Library, Austin, TX

Stiletto, Daniel O’Malley (Hachette/Little, Brown; Hachette Audio; OverDrive Sample).

“In the long-awaited sequel to The Rook, negotiations between two highly secret organizations, one based on science and reason and the other on the supernatural, are continuing. Odette and Pawn both come to the forefront of the story as we get more of the history of the groups and why mortal enemies would want to join forces. With its blend of intricate world-building and fantastical situations, Stiletto both surprised me and made me laugh.” – Mary Bell, Wilbraham Public Library, Wilbraham, MA

It is a summer reading pick, selected by the Amazon Editors.

Widowmaker, Paul Doiron (Macmillan/Minotaur; OverDrive Sample).

“Doiron delivers a novel of intensifying suspense. The brooding and flawed Bowditch deals with a newly revealed family secret that sets him off on a search for the truth. His personal mission leads him into danger as he chases a vigilante through the wintry Maine woods. Doiron perfects his storytelling with a richly detailed setting and admirable sense of timing. You’ll want to go back to the previous Bowditch adventures while awaiting the next installment. Highly recommended for fans of Nevada Barr and C.J. Box.” – Mamie Ney, Auburn Public Library, Auburn, ME

Booksellers offer suggestions this week for books coming out in June and July:

The #1 June pick is The Girls, Emma Cline (PRH/Random House; Random House Audio; OverDrive Sample).

“Evie Boyd is a lonely 14-year-old adjusting to her parents’ recent divorce and an emotional break with her childhood best friend. She encounters a wild and enchanting group of girls and is immediately drawn into their world of reckless abandon. Seduced by their thrilling, cult-like family hidden in the California hills, Evie finds herself pulled into events that will lead to unspeakable violence. Cline’s captivating prose strips bare the deep desires and vulnerability of teenage Evie as she struggles for acceptance. The Girls is an enthralling and haunting novel that will linger with readers long after the last page.” —Tarah Jennings, Mitzi’s Books, Rapid City, SD

The consensus top summer read title, selected by Entertainment Weekly, People, NYT, WSJ, USA Today, Amazon Editors, Buzzfeed, and the syndicated St. Louis Post-Dispatch list. Entertainment Weekly writes it “is so accomplished that it’s hard to believe it’s a debut.” Reviewers have been mostly positive about the book, with the exception of the NYT‘s Dwight Garner, under the headline, “The Girls Has a Great Start. Too Bad About the Rest.”

Brighton, Michael Harvey (HC/Ecco; HarperAudio; OverDrive Sample).

“Gritty, thrilling, and full of twists, Harvey’s first novel to be set in his hometown of Boston is cause for celebration. Its namesake neighborhood is as richly textured as the characters in this deeply moving crime story about two friends haunted by their shared past of violence. While it will certainly appeal to fans of Dennis Lehane’s Mystic River, Brighton sings with a fresh Bostonian voice that is all its own.” —Thomas Wickersham, Brookline Booksmith, Brookline, MA

Barkskins, Annie Proulx (S&S/Scribner; S&S Audio).

“This multigenerational saga follows the fortunes of the Sel and Duke families from early Colonial days to the present, spanning centuries and continents as they make their living not only from the bounty of the land but also from the ravaging and destruction of it. As always, Proulx is brilliant at creating a story that flows impeccably, and her nature writing is some of the most beautiful and evocative to be found in modern literature. This novel is an epic work, a fictional Silent Spring that will linger with readers long after completion.” —Bill Cusumano, Square Books, Oxford, MS

It also, of course, was featured in many summer reading previews, selected by the Amazon Editors, B&N, Buzzfeed, USA Today, and the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. The author is scheduled to appear on NPR’s All Things Considered today, June 10 and is profiled in today’s Wall Street Journal.

If I Forget You, Thomas Christopher Greene (Macmillan/Thomas Dunne; OverDrive Sample).

“Twenty years ago, Margo and Henry fell in love, lost each other to a fierce misunderstanding, and went their separate ways — to marriages, children, and a second-best kind of happiness. Now, a chance encounter holds out hope for reconciliation and the joy of true love. Greene tells this story by jumping back and forth in time and between narrators, while readers wonder ‘will they or won’t they?’ Read this one for the story and the superb style. One of the best books I have read this year.” —Linda Bond, Auntie’s Bookstore, Spokane, WA

I’m Thinking of Ending Things, Iain Reid (S&S/Gallery/Scout Press; S&S Audio; OverDrive Sample).

“With his debut novel, Reid sets an extremely high bar for all future psychological thrillers. The entire story takes place in little over 24 hours as Jake and his girlfriend travel to meet and have dinner with his parents. In the narration by the unnamed girlfriend, something unsettling surfaces early and builds with the passage of every page. Readers will become riveted, reading faster and faster as the ‘unsettling’ becomes frightening, and then terrifying. Recommended for all who enjoy a good mind-twisting scare!” —Nancy Simpson-Brice, The Book Vault, Oskaloosa, IA

Another summer reading pick, selected by the Amazon Editors.

The Insides, Jeremy P. Bushnell (PRH/Melville House; OverDrive Sample).

“With wildly inventive ideas, compelling suspense, and surprising emotional depth, The Insides captured my attention and imagination right from the start. Bushnell is a playful and adventurous writer, coloring outside the lines of genre, breaking the real world open and building his own between the cracks. In a feat of literary street magic, he blends the ordinary and the surreal together into a harmony that feels perfectly right and true even as it disorients the senses The result is a quirky paradox of a novel: fierce yet tender, lighthearted yet severe, weird yet natural.” —Jason Foose, Changing Hands Bookstore, Tempe, AZ

Tie-ins

The reboot of Ghostbusters dominates the tie-ins with five titles forthcoming.

There are two novelizations. Out this week is the version written for ages 8-12, Ghostbusters Movie Novelization, Stacia Deutsch (S&S/Simon Spotlight). Following that, on June 28th, is the full novelization, issued by a different publisher, Ghostbusters, Nancy Holder (Macmillan/Tor; OverDrive Sample).

The supernatural comedy opens July 15th and stars Melissa McCarthy, Kristen Wiig, Kate McKinnon, and Leslie Jones. So high are expectations that action figures are forthcoming as well from a range of producers including Lego and Mattel.

Additional tie-ins include the Ghostbuster’s Handbook, Daphne Pendergrass (S&S/Simon Spotlight) and two leveled readers Proud to Be a Ghostbuster (S&S/Simon Spotlight; OverDrive Sample; also in pbk.) and Who You Gonna Call? (S&S/Simon Spotlight; OverDrive Sample; also in pbk.) both by David Lewman.

For our full list of upcoming adaptations, download our Books to Movies and TV and link to our listing of tie-ins.