“Breathless anticipation” is the watchword of the week, with John Grisham releasing his first summer novel, Camino Island (PRH/Doubleday; RH Large Print; RH and BOT Audio).

Featuring plot elements that will appeal to both booksellers and librarians, it’s about hunting down handwritten F. Scott Fitzgerald manuscripts stolen from the Princeton Library. The investigation leads to a bookseller (indie, of course) on the fictional island of the title in Florida. Grisham also has a new title coming in October, titled at this point simply New Legal Thriller.

Of The Ministry of Utmost Happiness by Arundhati Roy (PRH/Random House; RH and BOT Audio), the Washington Post‘s chief critic Ron Charles writes, “We waited 20 years for [Roy’s] follow-up to The God of Small Things. It was worth it.”

The titles covered in this column, 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 5, 2017

Media Magnets

If I Understood You, Would I Have This Look on My Face?: My Adventures in the Art and Science of Relating and Communicating, Alan Alda (PRH/Random House; RH Large Print; RH and BOT Audio; OverDrive Sample).

Not a celebrity memoir, but a book by Alda about his avocation and passion, helping people to communicate better and how he has helped scientists, academics and medical professionals explain themselves more clearly. In a NYT essay, he talks about the origin of the book, when he and a dentist miscommunicated (do not read if dentists make you queasy).

Peer Picks

Three LibraryReads titles arrive this week, including the #1 pick for June, Magpie Murders by Anthony Horowitz (HC/Harper; HarperLuxe; HarperAudio).

“Susan Ryeland is a London book editor who has just received the latest manuscript from one of her most irascible authors, Alan Conway. But the manuscript’s ending appears to be missing and she learns that Conway has committed suicide. As Ryeland learns more about his death, she starts to question whether a murder has occurred and begins to investigate. Magpie Murders is a delightful, clever mystery-within-a-mystery. Horowitz shows real mastery of his craft. This is a terrific, modern take on the traditional mystery with ingenious puzzles to solve.” — Andrea Larson, Cook Memorial Library, Libertyville, IL

Additional Buzz: It is also the #1 Indie Next pick for June and a GalleyChat favorite. It is on a number of summer reading lists, including Janet Maslin’s NYT‘s preview “Books To Breeze Through This Summer” and USA Today‘s “10 hot books you won’t want to miss this summer.” It is also on Bustle‘s list of “29 New Fiction Books To Read This Summer” and AARP’s list of “Best Beach Reading 2017.”

The Alice Network, Kate Quinn (HC/ William Morrow; HarperAudio; OverDrive Sample).

“Outstanding fictional account of the Alice network, women spies in World War I, tough and determined to defeat the Germans. The story centers on Eve Gardiner, aka Marguerite, a young woman trained to spy on the Germans, and Charlie St. Clair, a young woman post WWII, pregnant, lost and finding her direction. The two meet and the story alternates chapters as Charlie is determined to find her cousin, Rose presumed dead after the war, while Eve’s story of the Alice network unfolds. A fantastic book with strong female characters.” — Ellen Firer, Merrick Library, Merrick, NY

Additional Buzz: RT Book Reveiws says it is “Lovingly crafted and brimming with details.” LJ includes it on their roundup of “Summer Escapes: Roll Out the Beach Towel with Some Genre Fiction.” They also include Magpie Murders (above).

Do Not Become Alarmed, Maile Meloy (PRH/Riverhead; RH Large Print; Penguin Audio/BOT; OverDrive Sample).

“Liv and Nora, who are cousins, decide to take their families on a cruise. Both have an eleven-year-old and a younger child as well. At one of the ports, the moms take the children out with another family they met on the ship. All goes well until the children, in a brief moment, aren’t observed and disappear. From here the nightmare begins, and the story alternates between what is happening to the children and the adults. The story is gripping and the characters are well-developed. The book explores family and marital dynamics, race, privilege, guilt, and responsibility.” — Mary Bennett, Carmel Clay Public Library, Carmel, IN

Additional Buzz: It is a June Indie Next pick. Entertainment Weekly includes it on their list of “Summer’s 20 Must-Read Books”, writing “Every parent’s nightmare comes true in Meloy’s literary page-turner.” In their separate review, the magazine gives it a B+, calling it a “taut, nervy thriller.” It is on Louise Erdrich and Emma Straub’s summer reading list for PBS as well as the lists created by Bustle, The Seattle Times, Travel and Leisure magazine, the Houston Chronicle, and Southern Living. It also made the spring book list from Parnassus Books.

Five additional Indie Next titles publish this week:

Stephen Florida, Gabe Habash (Consortium Book Sales/Coffee House Press; HighBridge Audio).

“Spanning a college wrestler’s senior season, Stephen Florida is eerie, unsettling, and unlike anything else. It can be hard to live in Stephen’s head, but it is impossible to stop reading or to forget what you find there. Stephen is unpredictable, sympathetic, focused, frenzied, cold, and tender. He is hard to love, yet I love him. We are lucky to have a new novel like this: something you haven’t seen before, that makes you remember what good fiction is capable of.” —Tyler Goodson, Avid Bookshop, Athens, GA

Additional Buzz: HuffPost picks it as one of their “24 incredible Books You Should Read This Summer” (they also pick Do Not Become Alarmed, above). It is one of Nylon‘s “50 Books We Can’t Wait To Read in 2017” and on BuzzFeed‘s “Exciting New Books You Need To Read This Summer” list, calling it “Unsettling yet emotionally compelling.” Powells bookstore offers an interview, writing in the introduction that the main character “is one of the more exceptional characters in recent literature, and his voice, as he tries to move forward through his tightly circumscribed life, is both haunting and hilarious.”

Blackout, Marc Elsberg (Sourcebooks Landmark; OverDrive Sample).

“Already a huge bestseller internationally, Marc Elsberg’s Blackout is poised to be a sensation in the U.S. this June. In Blackout, hackers are able to take down all the electrical grids across Europe, resulting in a total blackout more far-reaching than anything previously thought possible. Once it becomes clear that this event is not a glitch and the depths of the crisis — no lights, no heat, no Internet, no cell service — become evident, chaos ensues. Piero Manzano is an activist and a former hacker whose investigation into the cause of the disaster soon makes him a prime suspect and forces him to run from the authorities. This is a taut, fast-paced thriller about a frighteningly plausible scenario.” —Cody Morrison, Square Books, Oxford, MS

The Long Haul: A Trucker’s Tales of Life on the Road, Finn Murphy (W.W. Norton; HighBridge Audio; OverDrive Sample).

“This memoir of a life spent driving trucks full of strangers’ personal belongings across the country is the book I didn’t know I needed. Finn Murphy writes engaging slice-of-life stories about his time as a long-haul truck driver while also showing the changes in the trucking industry and American life in the decades he’s spent pulling thousands of pounds up mountains, through storms, and across plains. Trucking is a solitary life, but Murphy grabbed me like a friend and took me with him on his journey.” —Jamie Thomas, Women & Children First, Chicago, IL

Additional Buzz: NYT reviews, writing it is “almost shamefully enjoyable, allowing readers to have their fix of “fabulous-life-of” porn and class outrage, too.” Murphy offers a playlist for drivers, posted on the Powells’ site.

The Essex Serpent, Sarah Perry (HC/HarperLuxe; Custom House; HarperAudio; OverDrive Sample).

“If you love mystery, Victorian England, and exploring the tension between science and religion, you will love The Essex Serpent. Many contemporary authors manage to evoke for readers that experience of reading Jane Austen or Sir Arthur Conan Doyle for the first time. The real miracle of Sarah Perry is that she manages to do so with a completely fresh voice. With beautiful sentences and characters and landscapes so well-crafted you feel you’ve been there, The Essex Serpent captures the imagination and manages to deliver the sense of wisdom only good literature can.” —Tina Ontiveros, Klindt’s Booksellers, The Dalles, OR

Additional Buzz: It has done extraordinarily well in the UK. The Guardian writes it has had “an astonishing trajectory, selling more than 200,000 copies in hardback alone – 40 times more than the initial sales target – and scooping up nominations as varied as the Costa fiction award to the Wellcome prize for books about medicine and health.” Perry beat both Sebastian Barry and Paul Beatty out and won the British Book Award, both best novel and the Book of the Year. It was also on the Baileys Women’s Prize for Fiction long list and the Dylan Thomas Prize shortlist.

The Bright Hour: A Memoir of Living and Dying, Nina Riggs (S&S; S&S Audio).

“This uplifting and affirming book will alter readers’ views about books on death. Nina Riggs’ memoir shares the story of both her ongoing battle against cancer and her mother’s valiant fight against the same disease. Both women face the realities of their situation with wonderful humor and candor. Readers will find themselves laughing out loud and sharing passages with other book lovers. As a cancer survivor myself, I felt that I was reading the ‘bright book’ of the season. The hope, spirit, and determination exhibited in these pages will provide inspiration to all, whether dealing with this disease or not.” —Nancy Simpson-Brice, Book Vault, Oskaloosa, IA

Additional Buzz: The Washington Post calls it “this year’s When Breath Becomes Air.” It is People‘s Book of the Week, calling it a “deeply affecting memoir, a simultaneously heartbreaking and funny account of living with loss and the specter of death. As she lyrically, unflinchingly details her reality, she finds beauty and truth that comfort even amid the crushing sadness.”

Tie-ins

Spider-Man Homecoming opens on July 7, spinning webs of tie-ins before it lands. It picks up after Captain America: Civil War and stars Tom Holland, Chris Evans, and Robert Downey Jr., among many others.

Spider-Man: Homecoming: The Deluxe Junior Novel by Jim McCann (Hachette/Little, Brown Books for Young Readers; also in a regular paperback edition; OverDrive Sample) will be one of the lead tie-ins. A level reader also comes out, Spider-Man: Homecoming: Meet Spidey by Charles Cho (Hachette/Little, Brown Books for Young Readers).

As the Wonder Woman film gets much love from critics, a critical tie-in hits the shelves, Wonder Woman: The Official Movie Novelization by Nancy Holder (PRH/Titan Books).

Another Doctor Strange book comes out this week, long after the 2016 film has left theaters, and a few months after the February DVD release, a middle grade novel is based on the movie, Phase Three: MARVEL’s Doctor Strange by Alex Irvine (Hachette/Little, Brown Books for Young Readers; OverDrive Sample).

The “phase three” of the title is not a reference to a sequel but rather to the Marvel Cinematic Universe time line, the period of time when the Avengers have become at odds with each other.

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

An interview on NPR’s Morning Edition has sent Richard Reeves’s forthcoming book, Dream Hoarders: How the American Upper Middle Class Is Leaving Everyone Else in the Dust, Why That Is a Problem, and What to Do about It (Brookings Institution Press, June 13), soaring on Amazon. It is now ranked #27, up from a lowly #53,949.

The episode is part of the show’s “The History of Our Time” series. Steve Inskeep describes the series as investigating, the big trends “driving our history.” He interviews Reeves who says that the upper-middle class, those making six figure incomes and above, dominate the best schools, live in the best homes, and pass on the best futures to their children, at the cost of everyone else.

He calls this “opportunity hoarding.”

Reeves, now an American citizen but originally from the U.K., contends that the American class system is even worse than the system of royalty that rules his birth country. In the UK, they make no bones about the privileges of the aristocracy while in the US, we “have a class system that operates every bit as ruthlessly as the British class system but under the veneer of classless meritocracy. There isn’t even a self awareness.”

In the end, Reeves says, the upper-middle class have created a dangerous separation of themselves from the rest of society and that divide is ruinous, “They are also disproportionately powerful and the fact that they are not only separate but unaware of the degree to which the system works in their favor strikes me as one of the most dangerous political facts of our time.”

The book was not reviewed prepub and many libraries have not yet to ordered copies.

The publication of Michael Crichton’s posthumous novel, Dragon Teeth (HC/Harper; HarperLuxe, HarperAudio; OverDrive Sample), sees the routinely bestselling author back on the lists, nearly a decade after his death.

The Dino/Western/Thriller debuts at #4 this week on the USA Today‘s Best-Selling Books List.

Before his death, Crichton was a fixture on the charts and four of his novels hit the #1 spot on the USA Today list, including Disclosure, The Lost World, Airframe, and Prey. (Their list began in 1993, thus missing some of his other hits). An earlier posthumous novel, Pirate Latitudes, peaked at #9.

Expect continued attention. Film rights have been sold to National Geographic Channel for a limited series and another Jurassic World movie, starring Chris Pratt, is due out in 2018.

New to the list and landing the #1 spot is Lord of Shadows by Cassandra Clare (S&S/Margaret K. McElderry Books; S&S Audio; OverDrive Sample). It is the sequel to Lady Midnight which began a new YA series by Clare. It also debuted at #1 on the USA Today list, in 2016.

Several other books got notable bumps:

Astrophysics for People in a Hurry (Norton; BlackStone Audio; OverDrive Sample) has moved up this week from #8 to #3.

Lifted by the heartwarming Wonder trailer, R.J. Palacio’s Wonder (RH/Knopf Young Readers, 2012; Brilliance Audio; OverDrive Sample) has again moved up the list, leaping from #83 to #10.

A tie-in comes out November 7, 2017, Wonder Movie Tie-In Edition by R. J. Palacio (PRH/Knopf Books for Young Readers).

The latest in summer reading lists is USA Today‘s “10 hot books you won’t want to miss this summer.”

The choices are mostly from well-known authors, such as the I-can’t-believe-it-is-nearly-over moment for fans of P.I. Kinsey Millhone,  Y is for Yesterday by Sue Grafton (PRH/Marian Wood Books/Putnam; RH Audio; Aug. 22). The series began in 1982 with A is for Alibi. On her webpage Grafton says that Z Is For Zero will follow in fall of 2019. Grafton offers some solace, “If I have the wherewithal, I may write a Kinsey Millhone stand-alone or two.” USA Today offers an excerpt of the newest.

The single debut the paper picks is Sour Heart: Stories by Jenny Zhang (PRH/Lenny; Aug. 1). The “collection of short stories about young women in New York City has a definite Brooklyn hipster vibe,” USA Today writes. Appropriately, it’s the first book in Random House’s new imprint, with titles selected by Girls‘ Lena Dunham and Jenni Konner.

The full list is online now. We have posted the link in our Season Previews to the right.

Highlighting authors who are also bookstore owners, PBS News Hour invited two of them, Louise Erdrich, owner of Birchbark Books, and Emma Straub, who recently opened Books Are Magic in Brooklyn, to share their summer reading suggestions.

Ironically, an indicator of the success of these recommendations by indie booksellers is that several of them leapt up Amazon’s sales rankings.

Death at La Fenice: A Commissario Guido Brunetti Mystery by Donna Leon (HC/Harper Perennial, 2004; OverDrive Sample) got the biggest bump. Erdrich says “there are 25 of Donna Leon’s crime mysteries set in Venice. Venice itself becomes a character in these books … You become so wrapped up in these compelling characters, that I think you could go through all 25 this summer … Each one is better than the last.”

Sunshine State: Essays by Sarah Gerard (HC/Harper Perennial; HarperAudio; OverDrive Sample). Straub calls this essay collection about Florida “a deep dive into identity and weirdness and location and family.”

Too Much and Not the Mood: Essays by Durga Chew-Bose (Macmillan/FSG Originals; OverDrive Sample). Another Straub pick, she says it “looks like a work of art and is a work of art. They are essays about identity, and family, and becoming an adult.”

Coming out next week, the LibraryRead’s title, Do Not Become Alarmed by Maile Meloy (PRH/Riverhead; RH Large Print; Penguin Audio/BOT; OverDrive Sample) also leaped.

Warning “that it’s almost cruel to recommend for vacation reading … because it is [about] a vacation gone extremely, horribly, horribly wrong,” Straub says “it’s an incredibly gripping thriller. It’s one of those books that you really will stay up late to read … it’s so delicious when you get one of those books.”

The full list of titles the pair suggests is on the PBS website.

Both author/bookselers also contributed to a similar story by the NYT recently, joined by Ann Patchett, Jonathan Lethem, Jeff Kinney, Judy Blume. Blume, who owns Books & Books in Key West, Fla. also suggests Sunshine State.

Editors Note: Each month, librarians gather for our online GalleyChats to talk about their favorite forthcoming titles. GalleyChatter columnist Robin Beerbower rounds up the most-mentioned titles from this month’s chat below.

Click on the titles to download or request digital galleys. If you fall in love with any of these titles, remember to nominate them for  LibraryReads. Deadlines for those still eligible are noted in red.

Please join us for the next GalleyChat, Tuesday,
June 6, 4 to 5 p.m. ET, 3:30 for virtual cocktails. Details here.
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Beach reading may be on most people’s minds, but GalleyChatters are thinking ahead to books for next year’s discussion groups. The following will provoke discussions and are so engrossing they will make it easy to ignore the siren call of the pool.

Sure Bets

In Janelle Brown’s literary suspense novel, Watch Me Disappear (PRH/Spiegel & Grau, July; RH Audio/BOT), the wife in what appears to be the perfect family never returns from a solo hike causing her husband and daughter to ride an emotional roller coaster. Kim McGee of Lake Travis (TX) Community Library is a fan saying, “After a year, Jonathan is ready to declare Billie deceased. However, some stories refuse to go quietly and father and daughter uncover some things about Billie that may reveal more than they wanted to know. The epilogue is particularly powerful and devastating, shining a light on the question, do we really know the person whom we put on a pedestal?”

Another book dealing with motherhood and secrets similar to Watch Me Disappear and Emma Donoghue’s Room is Fierce Kingdom by Gin Phillips (PRH/Viking; PRH Large Print; RH Audio/BOT; July). Andrienne Cruz of Azusa City (CA) Library says, “Joan and her son Lincoln are at the zoo when something happens. Fiercely protective of her son’s safety, Joan exposes her innermost feelings and thoughts to the reader – what do people in her situation really think and do? Filled with agonizing and tense moments, this book offers some fresh perspective to an ongoing threat in an otherwise humdrum society.”  Kim McGee adds, “It starts off with a bang (pardon the pun) and never slows down for a second. “ [Ed. Note: See our recent EarlyReads chat with the author].

Peculiar People

Joe Jones from Cuyahoga County (OH) Public Library, one of GalleyChat’s regular contributors, recommends two books with very different plots.  Spoonbenders, Daryl Gregory (PRH/Knopf, PRH Large Print; RH Audio/BOT; June), is a novel about a psychic family exposed as frauds who end up retiring from the business, but turns out teen Matty may just have a few hidden talents. According to Joe, “Throw in plenty of humor, secret government agencies, the mob, and even the Russians and we have one wild ride that keeps you guessing what crazy thing will happen next. The best part though is the characters. Each one is so well drawn and will have you experiencing the whole range of emotions as you read their stories.” Add this to your list of books about dysfunctional families.

The idea of past lives is an enticing topic in fiction and Joe discovered a twist on the theme in Reincarnation Blues by Michael Poore (PRH/Del Rey, August; LibraryReads deadline: June 20), which features a character nearing the end of his many lives. Joe says, “To achieve perfection. 10,000 chances are what the Universe gives us. Milo is in love with Death, aka Suzie. With only a handful of lives left he needs to figure it all out or face oblivion. Poor gives us a love story for the ages as Milo and Suzie tempt fate when they try to be a couple. By the time we reach the final page, we realize we knew what was coming all along and it’s truly not the end but the journey that matters. And what a journey it is!”

Debuts

Filled with memorable female characters, Molly Patterson’s Rebellion (HarperCollins/Harper, August; LibraryReads deadline: June 20), a multi-generational family novel, was applauded by Jen Dayton of Darien, collection development librarian from Darien (CT) Library. “As Hazel’s children clean out the farmhouse that their family has called home for three generations seemingly meaningless items are tossed to the side. As the story unfolds we are taken to China with a missionary aunt who never returns, witness a young woman in 1890 struggling with infertility and the loneliness of frontier life, and see a young Hazel herself coming to grips with young widowhood.”

Discussion groups that have enjoyed Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel and The Dog Stars by Peter Heller can add David Williams’ When the English Fall (Workman/Algonquin; HighBridge Audio, July) to their roster. Heather Bistyga, librarian from Anderson, SC, raved, “The aftermath of a solar storm causes the collapse of civilization, as told through the journal of an Old Order Amish man. Although better prepared than the “English” — the rest of us — to weather the destruction of the electric grid and all electrical and electronic devices, the Amish come to realize they can no longer exist as an island in the larger society. This is a worldwide disaster writ small, rendering it exquisitely powerful and quietly terrifying. “

(North) Carolina on My Mind

Another regular contributor to GalleyChat, Janet Lockhart, collection development librarian from Wake County Public Libraries, endorses two novels set in the Appalachians in her home state of North Carolina. Both appear to be book group perfection.

Leah Weiss catches the unique spirit of the mountains in her debut novel, If the Creek Don’t Rise (Sourcebooks Landmark; Recorded Books; August; LibraryReads deadline: June 20). Janet says, “The story of Sadie Blue will haunt you like the melody of mountain ballad. Trapped in a bad marriage at a very young age, Sadie has resigned herself to being unhappy until a new teacher moves to town. Kate Shaw’s arrival is the catalyst for change in the lives of residents of the small town of Baines River — including Sadie Blue.”

GalleyChat favorite Wiley Cash, author of A Land More Kind Than Home , returns with a novel inspired by true events. Janet says of The Last Ballad (HarperCollins/Morrow; HarperLuxe, October; LibraryReads deadline: August 20) “Cash shines much deserved light on the life of Ella May Wiggins, a working mother who joined the fight to unionize mill workers in the South in the 1920s. Ella May’s determination to build a better life for herself and her children is inspiring and her bravery is breathcatching. Her voice jumps off the page and this is a beautifully written story of an extraordinary woman whose struggle for dignity and social justice raises issues that still resonate today.“

Join us for the next chat on June 3 from 4:00-5:00 (ET) with virtual happy hour from 3:30-4:00, when the focus will most likely center on treasures found at Book Expo.

After a long slog to the screen, the Amazonian Princess finally premieres on June 2 in Wonder Woman, starring Gal Gadot (Fast & Furious franchise) as the newest DC Superhero. Star Trek‘s Chris Pine plays her romantic interest and ally and Connie Nielsen, Robin Wright, Lucy Davis, and Danny Huston round out the cast.

Early takes are glowing. Entertainment Weekly reports that the film is “being hailed as a ‘blast,’ ‘so good,’ … the best to date from the DC Extended Universe. Also receiving widespread praise is Wonder Woman herself, with Gadot described as ‘absolutely phenomenal’ and ‘a legit movie star.'”

Collider writes, “Full reviews are still under embargo for the time being, but the lucky few in the first screening audiences were given permission to post reactions to social media … with the most common refrain being that Wonder Woman is the best DCEU movie thus far.”
Tie-ins include:

Wonder Woman: The Official Movie Novelization by Nancy Holder (PRH/Titan Books; OverDrive Sample)

Wonder Woman: The Deluxe Junior Novel by Steve Korte (HarperCollins/HarperFestival; OverDrive Sample; also in a pbk. edition)

Wonder Woman: I Am an Amazon Warrior, Steve Korte, Lee Ferguson (HarperCollins; OverDrive Sample)

Wonder Woman: Meet the Heroes, Steve Korte, Lee Ferguson, Jeremy Roberts (HarperCollins; OverDrive Sample)

It’s also a good time to pull out the 2014 title, The Secret History of Wonder Woman by Jill Lepore (PRH/Knopf; RH Audio/BOT; OverDrive Sample).

Fourth graders Harold Hutchins and George Beard, along with Captain Underpants himself, fly into movie theaters on June 2, when the animated film version of Captain Underpants premieres. It is based on the best selling 12-book series by Dav Pilkey (Scholastic) and stars Kevin Hart, Jordan Peele, Thomas Middleditch, Ed Helms, Nick Kroll, and Kristen Schaal.

PW offers a feature on the series and its path to the movies. No reviews are available yet but there has been plenty of media attention for the theme song by “Weird Al” Yankovic.

In addition to the many books in the series, the Official Handbook (Captain Underpants Movie) by Kate Howard (Scholastic; OverDrive Sample) was recently released.

On the small screen, Still Star-Crossed premieres on ABC Monday, May 29. A new Shonda Rhimes project, it is a costume historical set in the world of Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet.

The story picks up after the deaths of the two lovers, as their families continue to battle one another and is a departure for the hitmaker behind such very contemporary shows as Scandal and Grey’s Anatomy.

It is based on the novel Still Star-Crossed by Melinda Taub (PRH/Delacorte, 2013 – currently listed as OP). Kirkus gave the YA novel a starred review, calling it “A perfect blend of the intimate and the epic, the story both honors its origin and works in its own right … [a] spectacular sequel.”

Critics have not been as kind to the TV version.

Entertainment Weekly gives it a C, calling it “a sluggish, stilted mess.”

Variety says it is “too wispy and indistinct to make much of an impression … The show has all the earnest energy — and stilted moments —you’d expect to find in a high-school play, albeit one with a uniformly swoon-worthy cast and an exceptional budget for candles and corsets.”

CNN has already written it off, saying it “feels like an over-reach, a show for English lit majors whose parting won’t evoke much sorrow, sweet or otherwise.”

No tie-in has been announced.

For their holiday weekend edition, the New York Times Book Review takes a look at summer books. Among the titles picked by Janet Maslin is a book of essays arriving next week that sounds like ideal beach reading for those who enjoy a little shade with their sun (with a fitting cover image), We Are Never Meeting In Real Life: Essays by Samantha Irby, (PRH/Vintage; RH Audio/BOT; OverDrive Sample). Describing the author as a “frank and madly funny blogger,” Maslin highlights the opening essay which contrasts Irby’s own wardrobe to “Bachelorette” contestants, “I don’t wear evening gowns and booty shorts every day. I wear daytime pajamas and orthopedic shoes, and lately I have become a big fan of the ‘grandpa cardigan.’ ”

Also arriving this week is a book by another funny essayist, David Sedaris, Theft by Finding: Diaries (1977-2002) (Hachette/Little Brown; Blackstone Audio; OverDrive Sample). As the subtitle notes, it is based on his diaries, giving fans a view of the raw materials of the more polished essays in his eight bestselling books. Library Journal attests it will appeal to more than die-hard Sedaris fans, “even the more casual reader will be drawn in, as the author comes into his own as a writer and a person.”

With more gentle humor, Mo Willems publishes a stand-alone that is sure to become a baby shower staple, Welcome: A Mo Willems Guide for New Arrivals (Hachette/Disney-Hyperion). Written in faux safety manual/waiterspeak it will appeal more to new parents than to kids.

The titles covered in this column, 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 May 29, 2017

Media Magnets

Al Franken, Giant of the Senate, Al Franken (Hachette/Twelve; Hachette Large Print; Hachette Audio; OverDrive Sample).

The Senate’s most well-known humorist (intentional, that is), has already raised hackles with his new book. Ted Cruz has labeled the chapter devoted to him “obnoxious and insulting,” a phrase Franken would surely have loved as a jacket blurb.

She Persisted: 13 American Women Who Changed the World, Chelsea Clinton (PRH/Philomela Books; Listening Library; OverDrive Sample).

That other famous first daughter’s new book is aimed at young girls and takes its title from the phrase Mitch McConnell used to vent his frustration over failing to silence Elizabeth Warren. The book is getting attention for the person it does not include, Clinton’s mother. She explains to Entertainment Weekly that she feared “her story [would] overwhelm the book.”
The titles covered here, and several more notable titles arriving next week, are listed with ordering information and alternate formats, on our downloadable spreadsheet, EarlyWord New Title Radar, Week of May 29, 2017

Peer Picks

One LibaryReads title comes out this week, White Hot: A Hidden Legacy Novel by Ilona Andrews (HC/Avon; HarperAudio; OverDrive Sample).

“After rereading the first Hidden Legacy book, I plunged immediately into White Hot. I wasn’t disappointed. Nevada is trying to return her life to a semblance of normal, “normal” being without powerful, sexy, and very dangerous Prime Rogan. Rogan hasn’t stopped thinking about Nevada and hasn’t stopped wanting her. And what Rogan wants, he eventually gets. The action in White Hot was faster, the plot more intricate, and the characters became even more real. I cannot wait to read book three!” — Heather Cover, Homewood Library, Birmingham, AL

Additional Buzz:
RT Book Reviews gives it 4.5 stars and makes it a Top Pick, HeroesandHeartbreakers.com praises its “combination of fresh world building, kick-ass heroines and touching relationships.” Kirkus starred, writing “An enthralling paranormal romance from a master of the genre.” HappyEverAfter offers an excerpt.

Three June Indie Next titles land this week.

Touch, Courtney Maum (PRH/G.P. Putnam’s Sons; Penguin Audio/BOT; OverDrive Sample).

“Sloane is a strong, independent businesswoman working as a trend forecaster. While at an innovative company, Sloane finds that the very technology that is supposed to connect people to one another is actually tearing them apart. The entire story is both hilarious and slightly terrifying as it tells of a future where we outsource intimacy to strangers and lead very isolated lives. Touch is a warning about what can happen if we become too attached to the technology in our lives and a great reminder to put the phone down and connect with others in person.” —Kristen Beverly, Half Price Books, Dallas, TX

Additional Buzz: It makes a number of best of the month lists including BuzzFeed‘s “Exciting New Books You Need To Read This Summer,”Bustle‘s “The 15 Best Fiction Books Of May 2017,” InStyle‘s “7 Books You Won’t Be Able to Put Down This Month,” Glamour‘s “New Books by Women You’re Guaranteed to Love This Summer,” and Refinery29‘s “Favorite Books Of 2017 – So Far.” In starred reviews Booklist calls it an “incisive, charming, and funny novel,” while PW says it is “a perceptive, thought-provoking read.” Interview Magazine calls it “sweet and funny … A sharp yet feeling satire.” The Millions offers an interview.

Extraordinary Adventures, Daniel Wallace (Macmillan/St. Martin’s Press; Recorded Books; OverDrive Sample).

“We are all Edsel Bronfman. Or at least those of us who have spent a substantial portion of our lives as terribly awkward introverts with no social skills and a complete lack of romantic experience or opportunity are. Daniel Wallace’s new novel had me cringing with recognition and laughing out loud as his 34-year-old protagonist is launched on an absurd and hilarious journey of self-discovery and transformation initiated by a mysterious phone call from a timeshare saleswoman. Extraordinary Adventures is a quirky, sweet, heartfelt, and offbeat romance that displays the imaginative playfulness Wallace is known for.” —Josh Niesse, Underground Books, Carrollton, GA

Come Sundown, Nora Roberts (Macmillan/St. Martin’s Press; OverDrive Sample).

“This is the story of the Bodine family, which runs a successful ranch resort. As you learn about Bodine Longbow, who helps to run the family business, and her new relationship, you also learn about Bodine’s Aunt Alice, who took off when she was 18 and never came home. The family never learned what happened to Alice, so when she is found alive they have to find out to keep her from disappearing again. Come Sundown is suspenseful, slightly creepy, and also touching. I would recommend this to anyone who enjoys a mystery with some romance.” —Linda Keifer, Hockessin Bookshelf, Hockessin, DE

Additional Buzz: Kirkus stars, writing, “Roberts always tells a good story that balances romance and suspense, but in this title, the narrative is deeper, the mystery is more layered … Roberts moves into another level of exploring physical and emotional trauma and the powerful balm of family and love.”

Tie-ins

Two tie-ins come out this week attached to the Wonder Woman movie.

Wonder Woman: The Deluxe Junior Novel by Steve Korte (HC/HarperFestival; OverDrive Sample; also in a regular, pbk. edition)

Wonder Woman: The Art and Making of the Film by Sharon Gosling (PRH/Titan Books).

The film arrives in theaters on June 2nd, starring Gal Gadot (Fast & Furious franchise) as the Amazonian Princess. Star Trek‘s Chris Pine plays her romantic interest and ally. Connie Nielsen, Robin Wright, Lucy Davis, and Danny Huston round out the cast.

See our earlier posts for additional tie-ins as well as background reading.

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

Minutes after it was released yesterday the first full trailer for Game of Thrones became the #1 trending video on YouTube, where it remains today.

Hollywood Life breaks down of the key elements and Entertainment Weekly uncovers new revelations. Even a brief animated gif of the leader of the White Walkers gets a thorough analysis.

Season seven begins on July 16 and will consist of seven episodes.

Beginning with the previous season, the TV series has now moved beyond the books. As a result, there is no tie-in.

Sofia Coppola’s The Beguiled got its moment in a screening at Cannes Wednesday morning. Entertainment Weekly calls it “a film that radiates with thrilling, deliciously dark southern gothic flair.” Starring Nicole Kidman, Colin Farrell, Elle Fanning, and Kirsten Dunst, it is based on the 1966 Thomas Cullinan novel, A Painted Devil (see our earlier post for a more on the novel and its adaptations).

The Guardian writes “With its hilariously fraught psychodynamic, the film has hints of Black Narcissus and the famous Diet Coke ad about office workers admiring a perspiring worker slaking his thirst” and continues, “Coppola tells the story with terrific gusto and insouciant wit.”

On Twitter, New York Magazine’s senior editor wrote that the film was “ravishingly shot, with a ‘damn she’s good’ MVP performance from Kirsten Dunst”

Others were not as impressed. Variety misses the pulp aspects of the 1971 adaption and writes “If you’re the sort of moviegoer who favors good taste over sensation, restraint over decadence, and decorous drama over porno leering, then you may actually like Coppola’s coolly pensive and sober new version of The Beguiled. But anyone else may wonder what, exactly, the movie thinks it’s doing.”

The Independent says it is Coppola’s “worst work.”

Set during the Civil War, the plot involves a group of women sequestered in a girls boarding school in the South, whose lives are turned upside down by the appearance of a wounded Union soldier. The movie is scheduled to debut in theaters on June 30th. A tie-in will be published on June 6, The Beguiled: A Novel (Movie Tie-In) by Thomas Cullinan (PRH/Penguin Books, Trade Paperback; OverDrive).

IndieWire explores Coppola’s adaptation and her jitters about appearing at Cannes for the first time since 2006, when her movie Marie Antoinette was poorly received.

Pamela Paul who oversees all of the New York Times book coverage, including the Book Review, was featured on NPR’s Fresh Air yesterday, ostensibly to talk about her new book My Life with Bob: Flawed Heroine Keeps Book of Books, Plot Ensues (Macmillan/Henry Holt and Co.; OverDrive Sample), but most of the interview focused on her day job.

Explaining the differences between reviews in the daily paper and the Sunday Book Review, she says that the daily reviews begin with the critic, who chooses which books to review. For the Book Review, the editors choose the books, but more importantly who will review them. Trying to imagine who New York Times readers would most want to read on a particular book is the  most creative and “delicious” part of the process, she says, resulting in pairings such as Bill Clinton on Bob Caro‘s fourth book on LBJ, or Michael Lewis on former Treasury Secretary Timothy F. Geithner’s memoir.

As to her own book, it’s based on Paul’s reading diary which she dubbed “Bob,” or “Book of Books.” What titles shaped the most powerful book review editor in the country? A large diet of Nancy Drews and frequent trips to the library to make up for a home not filled with books. As we noted earlier, prepub reviews were strong, with LJ saying, “Titles about reading and books abound, but this memoir stands in a class by itself. Bibliophiles will treasure, but the addictive storytelling and high-quality writing will vastly increase its audience.”

Libraries ordered the title very lightly. All that we checked are showing active holds lists.

In time for making summer plans this Memorial Day weekend, Entertainment Weekly has released their ranked list of the 20 must-read books of the season. It’s in the new issue featuring Wonder Woman on the cover, but not yet online.

You can play along by reading the digital review copies of the chosen titles to see if you agree. Our spreadsheet of all the titles notes which are available for direct download or request.

Entertainment Weekly, Summer Reading, 2017

The top pick is a debut, See What I Have Done by Sarah Schmidt (Atlantic Monthly Press; RH Audio/BOT; Aug. 1; DRC available). It was inspired by a dream in which Lizzie Borden poked the author in the leg and said “I have something to tell you about my father. He has a lot to answer for.” EW says, “The resulting novel is compelling, scary – and gruesomely visceral.” The Guardian is on board too, calling it “a surprising, nastily effective” work with “irresistible momentum and fevered intensity … part fairytale, part psychodrama.”

Arundhati Roy’s return to the novel form, twenty years after The God of Small Things, is #2, The Ministry of Utmost Happiness (PRH/Knopf; RH Audio/BOT; June 6). The magazine calls it “gorgeously wrought.” Vogue says “From the novel’s beginning—’She lived in the graveyard like a tree’—one is swept up in the story.”

At #3 is New People by Danzy Senna (PRH/Riverhead; Penguin Audio; Aug. 1; DRC available). Offering a killer invitation to run out and pick it up, EW says: “You’ll gulp Senna’s novel in a single sitting but then mull it over for days.” Kirkus stars and offers a rare three exclamation points, writing “A great book about race and a great book all around.!!!”

The new graphic novel by Jillian Tamaki is #4, Boundless (Macmillan/Drawn and Quarterly; May 30): EW says the book “dazzles” and that it is “lush, vibrant, and packed with emotion.” The Comics Journal opens their review with “It’s said that great works of art are meant to be viewed at a distance from eye-level. Jillian Tamaki’s Boundless, inspires this same viewing condition.”

Dean Koontz wraps up the top 5 with The Silent Corner: A Novel of Suspense (PRH/Bantam; Recorded Books; June 20; DRC available). It is the launch of a new series and features an FBI agent trying to understand what is causing happy people to kill themselves, including her husband. The Hollywood Reporter says it is already optioned for a TV series and writes that Koontz plans to write at least five more in the series.

Several other summer previews have also been released, see our links at the right, under Season Previews. We will add to it as new lists appear.

At the box office over the weekend, the YA adaptation Everything Everything brought in $12 million, outpacing the fourth in the established childrens franchise, Wimpy Kid, a disappointment with just $7.2 million.

A single adaptation airs this week. Netflix’s War Machine starring Brad Pitt begins streaming on May 26.

The film fictionalizes  Michael Hastings’s The Operators: The Wild and Terrifying Inside Story of America’s War in Afghanistan (PRH/Plume; Tantor Audio; OverDrive Sample). Pitt’s character is based on General Stanley McChrystal who was fired after Hastings’s exposé ran in  Rolling Stone.

The movie details how the fictional general, Glen McMahon, is given command of the coalition forces in Afghanistan and, because of his ego and hubris is wildly unpredictable. Written and directed by David Michôd (Animal Kingdom), it is produced by the team that created the Oscar-nominated The Big Short. Tilda Swinton, Sir Ben Kingsley, Anthony Michael Hall, and Topher Grace star alongside Pitt.

The Hollywood Reporter writes that Neflix paid $60 million to finance the film after its original supporters backed out, fearful the movie’s arch black comedy slant might anger conservative audiences.

The single review to date is a rave. The Star-Telegram says “Brad Pitt, we salute you” and goes on to say “Pitt chews scenery in this dark comedy, a spiritual cousin to such films as Dr. Strangelove and Catch-22.”

To qualify for awards, in addition to streaming on Netflix, the film will also play in a few theaters in Los Angeles and New York.

ABC News chief national correspondent and Nightline co-anchor Byron Pitts just published a book about teens who overcome horrible circumstances ranging from bullying to abuse, addiction, and getting caught up in wars, Be the One: Six True Stories of Teens Overcoming Hardship with Hope (S&S; S&S Books for Young Readers; OverDrive Sample).

It is soaring on Amazon thanks to segments on The View and other shows, moving from #52,295 to #54.

Pitts knows the ground he covers. He tells The View he was raised by a very young single mother, did not learn to read until he was 13, and struggled with stuttering well into college. He says the teens he met were all dealt a bad hand. They opened a new world to him, illustrating the African proverb, “When you pray, move your feet.”

Booklist says the book “reads like an engrossing news program…Uplifting in its message and captivating in its content.”