EarlyWord

Just nine days before it was scheduled to debut in theaters, the adaptation of Tulip Fever has been moved to Feb. 2017.

Variety reports that  no explanation was offered as to why the film was pushed back, even though it was “thought to be a potential awards contender.” Playlist writes that the move signals a lack of faith in the final product.

It is based on the novel by Deborah Moggach, who also wrote The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel. Tom Stoppard (Shakespeare in Love) wrote the screenplay and the film stars Alicia Vikander, Zach Galifianakis, Judi Dench, and Christoph Waltz. A tie-in has not yet been issued, although the paperback edition is headlined with “Now a Major Motion Picture.”

Here is the preview:

Definitely opening this week is The Infiltrator, recounting the true crime story of the take down of one of the world’s most notorious drug kingpins.

Playing an undercover agent, Bryan Cranston moves from cooking drugs on the small screen in his hit show Breaking Bad, to trying to shut down their production on the big screen. He is joined by John Leguizamo and Diane Kruger.

Reviews are strong thus far. Variety says, “Bryan Cranston gets a film role worthy of his ability to break bad in a tensely exciting true-life drama.”

The Wrap calls it “addictive,” and while The Hollywood Reporter has some issues with the “boilerplate crime drama,” it praises “Cranston’s ace performance.”

The film opens July 13. The tie-in came out on June 21, The Infiltrator: My Secret Life Inside the Dirty Banks Behind Pablo Escobar’s Medellín Cartel, Robert Mazur (Hachette/Back Bay).

The adaptation of the hit 1984 movie Ghostbusters opens July 15, featuring the all-female cast of Melissa McCarthy, Kristen Wiig, Kate McKinnon, and Leslie Jones. The remake has been dogged by haters on the internet, who don’t want to see the classic tampered with. An early review from Variety duns the movie for being an overly reverent remake.

There’s a range of tie-in titles, listed in the June 13th Titles to Know column. Already on shelves are two novelizations, a version written for ages 8-12, Ghostbusters Movie Novelization, Stacia Deutsch (S&S/Simon Spotlight), and the full novelization, issued by a different publisher, Ghostbusters, Nancy Holder (Macmillan/Tor; OverDrive Sample).

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.

See our Tie-ins catalog for full details.

The Marshall Project (named in honor of Thurgood Marshall, the first African-American justice of the U.S. Supreme Court) has released a core list of titles on criminal justice.

Not only is the list useful for collection building, the leading title, The New Jim Crow, Michelle Alexander (Perseus/PGW/Legato/The New Press; OverDrive Sample), soared on Amazon, rising to #6 in an impressive leap from #90.

Other titles on the list rose as well.

Between the World and Me: Notes on the First 150 Years in America, Ta-Nehisi Coates (PRH/Spiegel & Grau; BOT; OverDrive Sample), moved up to #8, jumping from #47.

Just Mercy: A Story of Justice and Redemption, Bryan Stevenson (PRH/Spiegel & Grau; BOT; OverDrive Sample) gained as well, bumping up to #95, from #137).

The full list of ten titles is available online, along with a longer list of titles the topic.

Rising on Amazon, moving from #734 to #12, is Unbroken Brain: A Revolutionary New Way of Understanding Addiction, Maia Szalavitz (Macmillan /St. Martin’s Press; OverDrive Sample).

The leap to just outside the top 10 coincides with a long interview on NPR’s Fresh Air. Host Terry Gross talks for over 30 minutes with the author, a former addict who became a journalist.

Szalavitz’s book offers a new way to think about addition and treat its sufferers. Part of the conversation centered on the limitations and problems with 12-step programs. Szalavitz says:

“The only treatment in medicine that involves prayer, restitution and confession is for addiction [which] makes people think that addiction is a sin, rather than a medical problem … we need to get the 12 steps out of professional treatment and put them where they belong — as self-help.”

Caught with 2.5 kilos of cocaine at age 20, Szalavitz also talks about not going to prison, and why:

“being white and being female and being a person who was at an Ivy League school and being privileged in many other ways had an enormous amount to do with … why I was not incarcerated and why I’m not in prison now. I think our laws are completely and utterly racist. They were founded in racism, and they are enforced in a thoroughly biased manner.”

Holds are spiking at several libraries we checked.

It’s a week with a cornucopia of titles recommended by peers (see below).

Fans need no recommendations for Daniel Silva’s latest, The Black Widow, (HarperCollins/ Harper; HarperAudio; HarperLuxe) the 16th novel featuring Gabriel Allon the Israeli art restorer/assassin/spy. In a starred review, Kirkus notes that this one  “is marked by a subtle shift in emphasis. Allon remains as compelling as ever, but Silva is clearly preparing readers for a world in which his hero takes a supporting role.”

If holds are any indication, and we think they are, Linda Castillo is headed for a higher spot on best seller lists with the eighth outing of her Amish-county mystery series, Among the Wicked, (Macmillan/Minotaur; Macmillan Audio; OverDrive sample), also a LibraryReads pick (see below). In 2013,  Lifetime adapted the first novel in the series, Sworn to Silence as the TV movie An Amish Murder. Her book tour includes several libraries.

The titles covered in this post, 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 July 11, 2016

Advance Attention

Freedom: My Book of Firsts, Jaycee Dugard, (S&S; S&S Audio)

This follows Dugard’s 2011 memoir about being kidnapped at 11 and held for 18 years,  A Stolen Life. Propelled by media attention, including an overview by Diane Sawyer on 20/20, the first book was #1 on the NYT Hardcover Nonfiction list for four weeks. She will again be interviewed by Sawyer on 20/20 tonight.

The Voyeur’s Motel, Gay Talese, (Grove Press; OverDrive Sample)

Talese’s new book was embroiled in
controversy last week after the Washington Post questioned its accuracy. In a review in the daily NYT, Dwight Garner says the author, who at first said he could no longer support the book, then changed his mind, ‘is right to stand by his book.”

Consumer Media Picks

People Book of the Week:

 You’ll Grow Out of It, Jessi Klein, (Hachette/Grand Central; Hachette Audio; OverDrive Sample)

The head writer for Inside Amy Schemer, says People, “will make you laugh out loud, but she exhibits a vulnerability and self-deprecating sweetness too.”

Also picked:

  
The House at the Edge of Night, Catherine Banner, (Random House; OverDrive Sample)

People — this “four-generation saga is set on an island near Sicily … The island is fictional, but consider this dreamy summer read your passport.”

Welcome to the Goddamn Ice Cube: Chasing Fear and Finding Home in the Great White North, Blair Braverman, (HarperCollins/Ecco; HarperAudio; OverDrive Sample)

An Indie Next pick, we covered this title  last week. In addition to being a People pick in the new issue, this memoir gets an A- from Entertainment Weekly’s top book critic, Tina Jordan, saying it “a remarkable … coming-of-age tale set largely on the Norwegian tundra — where she trained sled dogs — and in Alaska. … It’s amazing to watch as she develops backbone and grit, determined not to let anyone or anything stand between her and the icy landscape she loves so much.”

Peer Picks

A number of librarian picks arrive this week, all featured on the July LibraryReads list.

Among the Wicked: A Kate Burkholder Novel, Linda Castillo (Macmillan/Minotaur; OverDrive Sample).

“In the small Amish locale of Painters Mill, police chief Kate Burkholder decides to take an undercover assignment in a community where the death of a young girl was reported. Her long time love, Agent John Tomasetti, is reluctant with her decision because of the lack of communication he will have with her. Burkholder begins to unfold the true horrors on the local farm and unearths the dangers the town officials suspected. She finds herself trapped in a life threatening cat and mouse game. This ongoing series is a true gem and a personal favorite.” — KC Davis, Fairfield Woods Branch Library, Fairfield, CT

The Last One, Alexandra Oliva (PRH/Ballantine Books; RH Audio/BOT).

“The Last One tells the story of twelve contestants who are sent to the wilderness in a Survivor-like reality show. But while they’re away, the world changes completely and what is real and what is not begins to blur. It’s post-apocalyptic literary fiction at it’s best. With a fast pace and a wry sense of humor, this is the kind of book that will appeal to readers of literary fiction and genre fiction alike. It points out the absurdity of reality television without feeling condescending. As the readers wake up to the realities of a new world, it becomes difficult to put down.” — Leah White, Ela Area Public Library, Lake Zurich, IL

Nine Women, One Dress, Jane L. Rosen (PRH/Doubleday; RH Audio/BOT; OverDrive Sample).

“Nine Women, One Dress sends the reader on a journey with many characters and the little black dress of the season. From the soon-retiring dress designer and the first-time runway model, to the retail salespeople and an actor, this book relates how the dress touches and, often profoundly, changes the lives of all. Even though there were many characters in this book, the author immersed the reader into their lives. Romance, humor, and irony spark the plot as the dress travels from one life to another. A charming read!” — Kristin Fields, Farnhamville Public Library, Farnhamville, IA

Siracusa, Delia Ephron (PRH/Blue Rider Press; Penguin Audio/BOT; OverDrive Sample).

“Michael and Lizzie are vacationing with another couple and their daughter, named Snow. As the story unfolds, the reader is introduced to infidelities. Ephron does a tremendous job in exposing the frailties of relationships and it feels like being intimate with other people’s problems but without the guilt. Engaging and tough to put down. Great summer read!” — Andrienne Cruz, Azusa City Library, Azusa, CA

Deadline Hollywood reports a film adaptation is in the works.

All Is Not Forgotten, Wendy Walker (Macmillan/St. Martin’s Press; Macmillan Audio).

“A dark, twisty, intricately-plotted psychological thriller about a teen girl, assaulted after a party, as she tries to regain her memories of the event after taking a controversial drug that erases traumatic memories. Walker’s many plot and character threads are carefully placed, and she weaves them all together into a satisfying, shattering conclusion. I’m betting we’ll be seeing this title in a LOT of beach bags over the summer.” — Gregg Winsor, Johnson County Library, Roeland Park, KS

It is also an Indie Next pick for July.

The other bookseller picks coming out this are:

The Trouble with Goats and Sheep, Joanna Cannon (S&S/Scribner; S&S Audio; OverDrive Sample)

“Best friends Grace and Tilly spend England’s sweltering summer of 1976 sleuthing for clues to uncover the reason for their neighbor’s disappearance. They go from house to house, neighbor to neighbor, investigating as only guileless little girls can do. While they’re at it, they also look for god in the most unusual places. As the mystery of the neighborhood is slowly revealed, so are the many secrets behind every door on the avenue. If you loved A Man Called Ove, you will love The Trouble With Goats and Sheep. Funny, quirky and profound!” —Cathy Langer, Tattered Cover Book Store, Denver, CO

Pond, Claire-Louise Bennett (PRH/Riverhead Books; OverDrive Sample)

“A brilliant and captivating debut, Bennett’s Pond is a strange, beautifully layered work of fiction, from its quirky and contemplative narrator’s interior life to the vivid and charming descriptions of rural Irish life. Perhaps the most surprising aspect of this book is its warm invitation to celebrate solitude. Bennett writes as if in a lush, landscaped dream, each story chapter going forward, circling back, and ending in the middle of the protagonist’s musings upon her everyday experiences. Pond is utterly original, by turns hilarious and poignant, a refreshing and simply delightful read.” —Angela Spring, Politics & Prose, Washington, DC

Miss Jane, Brad Watson (Norton).

“At first, I was uncomfortable reading about the life Jane Chisolm has to lead due to a genital birth defect and assumed that I would be sad for her throughout the book, but this is so beautifully written and unsentimental in its depiction of Jane’s quiet strength and courageous acceptance of her life that I fell in love with her quite quickly. While all the supporting characters have their own peculiarities, they are tender and endearing to Jane and that helped me to understand how she endured and was loved so fully. Everyone should read this extraordinary book and feel, as I did, the joy of this remarkable woman.” —Nancy Banks, City Stacks Books and Coffee, Denver, CO

The Heavenly Table, Donald Ray Pollock (PRH/Doubleday; RH Audio/BOT).

“After murdering the tyrannical owner of the land they farmed on the Georgia/Alabama border, three brothers make a desperate run for Canada and manage, along the way, to acquire national reputations as the kind of ruthless outlaws who are immortalized in dime store novels. This is a rollicking and ribald adventure story, populated with shady characters and told in vivid, sparkling prose reminiscent of Patrick DeWitt’s The Sisters Brothers — and there is hardly a higher compliment.” —Alden Graves, Northshire Bookstore, Manchester Center, VT

Selecting it for their summer reading list, the Chicago Tribune said, it “has been likened to the work of Flannery O’Connor, Cormac McCarthy and the Coen Brothers.”

Tie-ins

The big tie-in news comes a bit late in the day as a key tie-in for The Secret Life of Pets is hitting shelves after the movie opens on July 9 (others came out in May).

The Secret Life of Pets: The Deluxe Junior Novelization (Secret Life of Pets), David Lewman (PRH/Random House – also in a paperback, non-deluxe version) pubs this week.

The animated film is getting flat reviews, as we wrote, with the Den of Geek offering a typical reaction, “I’m sure it’ll make lots and lots of money … I’m less sure that lots and lots of people will love it.”

Nerve Movie Tie-In, Jeanne Ryan (PRH/Speak; Blackstone Audio; OverDrive Sample).

The debut YA SF thriller, about an online, voyeuristic, version of truth or dare was called a page-turner by  Kirkus, if beholden to books like The Hunger Games.

The film adaptation stars Emma Roberts, Dave Franco and Juliette Lewis and opens July 27.

Florence Foster Jenkins: The Inspiring True Story of the World’s Worst Singer, Nicholas Martin and Jasper Rees (Macmillan/St. Martin’s Griffin).

Starring Meryl Streep and Hugh Grant, this bio-pic about a real life socialite who could not sing a note opens in the US on Aug. 12.

It has already aired in the UK where it got strong reviews. The Guardian gave it 4 out of 5 stars, saying it is a “very likable, frequently hilarious, yet still poignant tragi-comedy.” The Telegraph (pre-Brexit) agrees, giving it the same star rating and saying, it feels like “a classic postwar studio comedy – a pillowy paean to silliness, and the perfect antidote for sobering times.”

Life, Animated: A Story of Sidekicks, Heroes, and Autism, Ron Suskind (Hachette/Kingswell) is also out behind its movie release date.

As we reported in an earlier Hitting Screens round-up, the Sundance award-winning documentary following the life of Owen Suskind (son of author Ron Suskind) opened over the July 4th holiday.

It got great early reviews with Variety calling it “captivating” and The Hollywood Reporter saying it is “radiant.” Later reviews were still strongly positive but less glowing.

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

Whether it’s word of mouth, or the multiple picks from various mid-year best books roundups, The Girls by Emma Cline (PRH/Random House; RH Audio; BOT; OverDrive Sample), is moving up best seller lists.

It jumped four spots on the USA Today list (which combines all books in all formats and for all ages), rising to #8, its highest ranking to date and has moved up the NYT Combined Fiction list to #5, also its highest spot on that list. Several libraries have increased their orders to meet holds, which remain well above a 3:1 ratio at many libraries across the country.

The novel is still getting attention, yesterday BuzzFeed selected it as one of “4 Great Books to Read in July,” saying that it “will terrify you, shock you, haunt you — in all the right ways.”

Best of the year lists must be good for book sales. After doing a single annual list for many years, the Amazon Editors added a second, mid-year review of “Best Books so Far” a few years ago. As the Seattle Times writes in a a story about the Amazon Book Review and its editors, “The ultimate aim [of the best books lists], after all, is to sell books.” While the article also claims that the impact of the picks is hard to measure, there is at least one yardstick, whether the books rise on Amazon’s sales rankings (not to mention the multitude of metrics that Amazon’s tech gurus do not make public. You can’t help but feel the editors are very aware of how well their choices do).

The top title on this year’s midyear list, Top 20 Picks of the Best Books of the Year So Far, did indeed move up Amazon’s sales rankings. Lab Girl by Hope Jahren was in the 600’s, after hitting a high of #13 when it was released in April. The Amazon pick brought it back up in to the 200’s.

This year, several other publications, those with a less vested interest, have followed the trend of mid-year reviews, including Entertainment Weekly (best fiction and nonfiction, ranked lists of ten titles each), New York Magazine (ten titles) and Time (eighteen titles).

Many of these titles became best sellers, but the lists are helpful for discovering overlooked gems that could use a circulation boost.

Across the four lists, 51 separate titles got nods. No title made all four.

Three books are the clear consensus winners, selected by three of the four list makers:

• Lab Girl, Hope Jahren (PRH/Knopf; BOT; OverDrive Sample) (Amazon’s #1 pick, Entertainment Weekly, Time)

• The Gene: An Intimate History, Siddhartha Mukherjee (S&S/Scribner; S&S Audio; OverDrive Sample) (Amazon, Entertainment Weekly, Time)

• The Girls by Emma Cline (PRH/Random House; RH Audio; BOT; OverDrive Sample). (Amazon, Entertainment Weekly’s #1 fiction pick, NY Magazine)

Eleven other titles made two of the four lists.

Amazon and Entertainment Weekly selected:

• Evicted: Poverty and Profit in the American City, Matthew Desmond (PRH/Crown; BOT; OverDrive Sample)
• Grunt: The Curious Science of Humans at War, Mary Roach (Norton; Brilliance Audio; OverDrive Sample)
• LaRose, Louise Erdrich (HC/Harper; Harper Audio; OverDrive Sample)
• When Breath Becomes Air, (PRH/Random House; BOT; OverDrive Sample) (Entertainment Weekly’s #1 nonfiction pick)

Amazon and Time selected:

• The Fireman by Joe Hill (HC/William Morrow; HarperAudio; OverDrive Sample)
• Kill ‘Em and Leave: Searching for James Brown and the American Soul, James McBride (PRH/Spiegel & Grau; RH Audio/BOT; OverDrive Sample)

Entertainment Weekly and Time selected:

• Sweetbitter (PRH/Knopf; Random House Audio; BOT; OverDrive Sample)
• The Vegetarian (PRH/Hogarth; BOT; OverDrive Sample)

NY Magazine and Time selected:

• The Association of Small Bombs, Karan Mahajan (PRH/Viking; Blackstone Audio; OverDrive Sample)
• What Is Not Yours Is Not Yours (PRH/Riverhead; Recorded Books; OverDrive Sample)

Many of these titles received media attention when they hit shelves and in the months following. For example, Lab Girl got a rave review from NYT‘s Michiko Kakutani and was the focus of a Slate “Audio Book Club” feature; The Girls was a #1 Indie Next selection and a top summer reading pick and is currently a best seller; and The Vegetarian won the Man Booker International award.

See our catalog for a running list of all mid-year picks. Links to each of the round-ups are in the column to the right (replacing the Summer Preview links).

A trailer for the comic book based on Neil Gaiman’s short story, “How to talk to Girls at Parties,” (available online in both text and audio) was just released and is getting picked up by many entertainment news sites.

The graphic novel, released on Tuesday, is also set to be adapted as a movie, starring Elle Fanning, Nicole Kidman and Alex Sharp. Gaiman is the executive producer for the project, set to begin filming in November.

Neil Gaiman’s How to Talk to Girls at Parties
Neil Gaiman, Gabriel Bá, Fábio Moon
Dark Horse Books,:July 5, 2016
9781616559557, 1616559551
Hardcover
$17.99 USD, $23.99 CAD

Back when she was eight years old, Hilde Lysiak, founder and publisher of The Orange Street News got major media attention, featured on the Today Show.

Lysiak went on to scoop older reporters on a murder case, bringing controversy over whether a child should be involved in such activities, even more national media coverage, and a 2016 Tribeca Disruptive Innovation Award from the Tribeca Film Festival.

Now, the news that she has a deal to write four books for Scholastic and has brought interest in film and TV rights to her story.

The first in the book series, titled Hilde Cracks the Case, will be published in 2017, under Scholastic’s early chapter books imprint, Branches.

Below is the archived version of the latest GalleyChat. Watch for our summary of top titles in the next two weeks.

Please join us for the next GalleyChat, Tuesday, Aug. 2, 4 to 5 p.m., Eastern (3:30 for virtual cocktails).

More information on how to join here.

In a rare documentary look at a print genre, steampunk is examined in the film Vintage Tomorrows,  that begins airing on July 19th via VOD and digital.

The film features interviews with authors, inventors, fashion designers, musicians, and artists. Highlighted authors include William Gibson, Bruce Sterling, Cherie Priest, China Miéville, Cory Doctorow, and Gail Carrier. Also available is a companion, Vintage Tomorrows, published by O’Reilly.

Variety reports that the movie, which originally screened at last year’s Comic-Con, was acquired by  Samuel Goldwyn Films and the release date is set to coincide with this year’s Comic-Con.

An author many of you met via our Penguin First Flights Debut author program, Natalie Baszile is about to gain wider recognition. A 13-episode series based on her novel Queen Sugar (Penguin/Pamela Dorman; Thorndike; 2014), will get a two-night premiere on Oprah’s network, OWN September 6th and 7th.

The first two episodes in the 13-part series are directed by Ava DuVernay, who worked with Oprah on the film Selma. All the rest of the episodes will also be directed by women. DuVernay told People magazine, “If Game of Thrones can have all men for the last 3 seasons, Queen Sugar can have all women and show what a fantastic show can be made from our hands and our minds.”

Set in Southern Louisiana, the novel is about three sibling who inherit their father’s sugar cane plantation, It was selected as a book of the week by Oprah’s O magazine, saying, “In Queen Sugar, two bulwarks of American literature—Southern fiction and the transformational journey—are given a fresh take by talented first-time novelist Natalie Baszile.”

Teaser is available here.

The Traitor’s Wife, Allison Pataki (S&S/Howard; S&S Audio; OverDrive Sample) got a big boost from Kathie Lee Gifford yesterday. The Today Show host named the novel as her “favorite thing” of the week. You can watch it here, but a warning, KLG doesn’t say much about it, just that it’s one of her favorite “historical fiction novels” and it’s about  Benedict Arnold’s wife, Peggy Shippen, who was “such a slut,” to which co-host Hoda chimes in “So juicy! So juicy!” That was enough to make it rise dramatically on Amazon, jumping from a sales rank of #9,217 to #33.

They also mention that it’s being made into a major motion picture.

It also tops the Huffington Post‘s list of “10 Books That All Hamilton Fans Must Read!” saying:

“Apparently Alexander Hamilton had success with the ladies. And you know one lady in particular who caught his eye? Peggy Shippen, the beautiful and beguiling young wife of patriot-turned-traitor Benedict Arnold … The rumors and reports were that Hamilton, who was in Arnold’s home the day the plot was thwarted, was so moved by chivalrous concern and empathy for the poor Peggy that he brought her flowers in bed.”

Coming off the long holiday weekend, the media is wondering what went wrong at the box office for Steven Spielberg’s critically acclaimed The BFG., based on the book by Roald Dahl.

Opening this week is a childrens movie that is the opposite of The BFG, panned by critics, but expected to do very well.

Secret Life of Pets opens July 8. The animated film follows the adventures of pets when no owners are watching. It stars the voices of Louis C.K., Eric Stonestreet, and Kevin Hart.

Reviews are generally flat for the comic romp created by the same team that made “the ultra-successful Despicable Me and Minions movies.”  The Guardian gives it 3 out of 5 stars and calls it “silly but funny.” Indiewire gives it a B-, saying “It may be technically impeccable, but it’s something less than a feeling.” The reviewer for Den of Geek says, “I’m sure it’ll make lots and lots of money … I’m less sure that lots and lots of people will love it.”

It is not based on a book but there are tie-ins, as we reported in the May 30 Titles to Know.

The other wide-release film this week is Mike and Dave Need Wedding Dates. The raucous and bawdy comedy came out first as a memoir, written by brothers Mike and Dave Stangle with the intent of using it as a bid to get a movie contract.

The Hollywood Reporter‘s review is damning, but it is expected to be a blockbuster, starring as it does Zac Efron and Adam DeVine opposite Anna Kendrick and Aubrey Plaza. A tie-in came out on June 21.

Already disappointing horror fans is the film version of Stephen King’s Cell. Even though King adapted his own novel, working on the screenplay with Adam Alleca (The Last House on the Left), reviews are not good.

Horrorfreak News says it is an “absolute disaster … A disappointment and an embarrassment – for all those involved … With all of the mega-talent surrounding this production, I have to ask, “Seriously, what happened here?’”

BloodyDisgusting says “Given the absurdity of the premise, you’d think Cell would be an entertaining ride. It’s not. It’s gratuitously grim and gloomy, with no real message to drive this misery home … The story packs absolutely no punch and the solid stable of actors look bored.”

The film was released on June 10th on VOD and opens, without much promotion, in a limited run of theaters on July 8. A tie-in came out last week.

Our Little Sister, a Japanese film with subtitles, is opening in LA and NYC on July 8, to be followed by a wider release later. It is based on the manga series Umimachi Diary by Akimi Yoshida.

It received modest to glowing reviews when it aired at Cannes. The Guardian said the “sweetly tender movie … is superbly unforced and unassuming, finding delicate notes of affirmation and optimism and discreetly celebrating the beauty of nature and family love. It is watercolour cinema with nothing watery about it.”

The Hollywood Reporter, on the other hand, sums it up as “Generous spirited, pristinely shot and, quite frankly, somewhat dull.”

No tie-in edition was issued and the series was not published in the US. The author wrote the Banana Fish series, published in the U.S. by Viz Media.

It may be a record-breaking week for the record-breaking James Patterson. Five new titles arrive with his name on them. Four are from his new series of short original paperbacks, BookShots (at least two are published the first of each month. July is one of the bonanza months), plus a YA title, Treasure Hunters: Peril at the Top of the World. In addition, the paperback version of NYPD Red 4 is being released.

The first two titles in the BookShots were published last month. Both are still on the NYT Mass Market list after 3 weeks. Both are readily identifiable as Patterson products.  Cross Kill extends his most popular series, the one he writes solo, Alex Cross, and Zoo 2 arrived as the second season of the TV adaptation of Zoo launched.

This month’s titles may not fare as well. Only one is from an established Patterson series, Women’s Murder Club. The other three are romances, with one of them being, as Patterson tells Al Roker on the Today Show, “A kind of Fifty Shades of Grey, but maybe a little better story.”

He doesn’t reveal the title, but we’re guessing Little Black Dress, (Hachette/Bookshots; Hachette Audio) is his Fifty Shades readalike. A cover blurb reads, “Slip into something … irresistibly sexy” and the plot description reads, “Magazine editor Jane Avery spends her nights alone with Netflix and Oreos — until the Dress turns her loose. Suddenly she’s surrendering to dark desires, and New York City has become her erotic playground. But what began as a fantasy will go too far . . . and her next conquest could be her last.”

It is co-written by Emily Raymond, who has written two YA titles with Patterson, First Love and The Lost.

The other two romance titles are in the sub-series BookShots Flames. Holds are light on these two (and Patterson’s name is not a prominent on the covers).

The McCullagh Inn in Maine, Jen McLaughlin, James Patterson (Foreword by), (Hachette/Bookshots; Hachette Audio)

McLaughlin is a best selling self-pubbed author. This is her first with Patterson and it will be followed by A Wedding in Maine: A McCullagh Inn Story in January (9780316501170).

Learning to Ride, Erin Knightley, James Patterson (Foreword by), (Hachette/Bookshots; Hachette Audio). Kingsley has written seven historical romance novels. This is her first with Patterson.

The title with the most holds, is, unsurprisingly more identifiable as a Patterson title, an extension of the Women’s Muder Club hardcover series. Still, holds are just 20% of those you’d see for a hardcover release in the series.

The Trial: A BookShot: A Women’s Murder Club Story, James Patterson, Maxine Paetro, (Hachette/Bookshots; Hachette Audio)

Below are more titles that will draw attention this week. All are listed, along with and several other notable titles arriving next week, in  our downloadable spreadsheet, EarlyWord New Title Radar, Week of July 4, 2016

Advance Attention

Julian Fellowes’s Belgravia,  (Hachette/Grand Central; Hachette Audio; OverDrive Sample)

This is the hardcover compilation of a book published as an ebook serial earlier this spring. It was launched to some excitement from the media, both because Fellowes is the creator of  Downton Abbey and because of the format. The Atlantic declared that it represented,  “The Triumph of the Serial,” but it seems the public did not share that view.

The UK trade publication, The Bookseller, explores where Belgravia went wrong, blaming it on mishandling of the medium, but perhaps the fault lies with the content. The Seattle Times damns it as “rather dull.” Comparing it to Downton Abbey, the reviewer says it “feels like a respectable but socially inferior cousin; it might get invited to dinner, but only out of obligation.”

The audio is read by the great Juliet Stevenson (OverDrive Sample here) delivering a line worthy of Maggie Smith as the dowager Countess of Grantham,

“She was at that period of her life that almost everyone must pass through, when childhood is done wth and a faux maturity untrammeled by experience gives one a sense that anything is possible, until the arrival of real adulthood proves conclusively that it is not.” seem to have either captured the public’s imagination or had the commercial success that it might have done.”

Fellowes is scheduled to appear on NPR’s Diane Rehm Show on Thursday, Jul 07 2016.

Here Comes the Sun, Nicole Dennis-Benn. (Norton/Liveright; Highbridge Audio; OverDrive Sample)

If you attended the AAP/LibraryReads Librarian Author lunch at BEA, you will remember the author’s becoming overwhelmed as she said she wrote this book for family and friends she left behind in Jamaica. The NYT interviews the author and also reviews the book, saying. “This lithe, artfully-plotted debut concerns itself with the lives of those for whom tourists can barely be bothered to remove their Ray-Bans, and the issues it tackles — the oppressive dynamics of race, sexuality and class in post-colonial Jamaica — have little to do with the rum-and-reggae island of Sandals commercials.” The Miami Herald agrees, “Here Comes the Sun arrives in the season of the beach read, but with eloquent prose and unsentimental clarity, Dennis-Benn offers an excellent reason to look beyond the surface beauty of paradise. This novel is as bracing as a cold shower on a hot day, a reminder that sometimes we need to see things as they are, not as we wish they would be.”

Trump and Me: Donald Trump and the Art of Delusion by Mark Singer, (PRH/Tim Duggan Books)

An updated version of an essay published in the New Yorker 20 years ago. Despite its age, writes the Telegraph, it “offers clearer insight into the mind of the presumptive Republican nominee than any of the detailed biographies written over the years.”

Amid mixed to downright terrible reviews, and questions about whether it’s possible to make a non-racist version of Edgar Rice Burroughs’ Tarzan, the latest incarnation, The Legend of Tarzan is bringing new attention to a fascinating real-life character, 19th C black human rights advocate, George Washington Williams. Played by Samuel L. Jackson in the movie, which opens on Friday, he travels with Tarzan to Africa.

Williams actually did travel to the Congo in 1890 (but did not encounter the fictional Tarzan). Appalled by what he saw there, he tried to shame King Leopold of Belgium in a long open letter about the horrors the Congolese were suffering under Belgian rule (more on Williams from MoviePilot).

Both Jackson and director David Yates tell Variety that Williams deserves a film of his own. Unfortunately, however, this movie may not make the best case for it. The LA Times writes, “Part comic relief, part valued ally, Williams is an altogether puzzling script component, and Jackson’s habit of sounding like he just stepped out of Pulp Fiction does not help things.”

For more about Williams and this period, two backlist titles are available:

George Washington Williams: A Biography, written by the Presidential Medal of Freedom recipient John Hope Franklin (Duke UP, 1998)

King Leopold’s Ghost: A Story of Greed, Terror, and Heroism in Colonial Africa, Adam Hochschild (HMH/Mariner; OverDrive Sample)

An award-winning best seller, it was the basis for a 2006 documentary.