EarlyWord

Tom Hanks returns as symbolist Robert Langdon in the film based on the Dan Brown novel, Inferno, arriving in theaters on Oct. 28th.

Below is the first trailer, released yesterday.

Like the previous two in the series, the new film stars Hanks and is directed by Ron Howard. Several years ago, Howard announced that he had reached his limit on directing Langdon movies, but clearly something drew him back in (Deadline objected at the time Howard made that statement, that the director “could use a surefire hit”).

The movies do not follow the sequence of the books:

Angels & Demons first book (2000); second movie

The Da Vinci Code, second book (2003); first movie

The Lost Symbol, third book (2009); movie in limbo

Inferno fourth book (2013); third movie

Will there be more Langdon books? Brown has said his next novel will feature the character but that it may take a while to complete. He also added that he has dozens of ideas for more titles.

Several tie-ins arrive in September (see our listing of tie-ins to current and upcoming movies)

Inferno (Movie Tie-in Edition)
Dan Brown
Trade Paperback, (PRH/Anchor)
Mass Market, (PRH/Anchor)
Audio CD (PRH/Random House Audio)
Inferno (Movie Tie-in edition en Espanyol), (PRH/ Vintage Espanyol)

A week in advance of publication, the daily NYT reviews The Gene: An Intimate History, Siddhartha Mukherjee (S&S/Scribner; S&S Audio), signaling high expectations for the book. The first consumer review, it follows stars from all four trade publications of Mukherjee’s second book after his Pulitzer Prize winner and best seller, The Emperor of All Maladies: A Biography of Cancer (S&S/Scribner, 2010).

Jennifer Senior, the NYT‘s daily nonfiction reviewer, is not as engaged as she would like to be and her review, while appreciative, expresses reservations.

She writes, “Many of the same qualities that made The Emperor of All Maladies so pleasurable are in full bloom in The Gene. The book is compassionate, tautly synthesized, packed with unfamiliar details about familiar people,” but she regrets that its deeper waters are not more clear or its narrative more personal and compelling.

As an example, on the topic of genetic reports she says: “Is there any value in knowing about the existence of a slumbering, potentially lethal genetic mutation in your cells if nothing can be done about it? (Personally, I wish he’d dedicated 50 pages to this question — it’d have offered a potentially moving story line and a form of emotional engagement I badly craved.)”

Libraries have bought it surprisingly cautiously, considering the strong trade reviews and the popularity of Mukherjee’s first book. Expect much more media attention.

We’re pleased to learn that Canada now has their own monthly list of “the 10 hottest books” as voted by staff in Canadian libraries. Modelled on our own LibraryReads program, it uses the the clever title “Loan Stars.”

The number one title for May is British author Clare Mackintosh’s debut, I Let You Go (PRH/Penguin/Berkley; Penguin Audio; BOT; OverDrive Sample).

The featured review is from Jennifer Green, Oshawa Public Library,

“Wow! This book has everything: a great story, well-developed characters, excellent pacing and plotting, and unexpected turns. I don’t normally cry when reading, but this one did it for me. What started out as an interesting, straightforward read, turned into an unexpected, well-written thriller. Can’t recommend this one enough!”

I Let You Go has also been a hit with library staff here, and is on the May LibraryReads list. Check your holds, they have outstripped ordering in many parts of the country.

Appropriately, Loan Stars also includes Canadian authors, marked on the list with a tiny Canadian flag, such as Vancouver author Madeleine Thien‘s fourth novel, Do Not Say We Have Nothing (not released in the US to date).

The June list has just been announced (look for the LibraryReads picks later this week), topped by Annie Proulx’s Barkskins, (S&S/Scribner).

As typically happens when the seasons change, and May marked the start of a new one in publishing, the NYT Nonfiction Bestseller list has undergone a notable shuffle with three new titles debuting this week.

At #3 is Shoe Dog: A Memoir by the Creator of Nike, Phil Knight (S&S/Scribner; S&S Audio; OverDrive Sample). The account of Nike’s early days and continuing dominance knocked When Breath Becomes Air (PRH/Random House) down a space.

Shoe Dog has received a lot of press, as we pointed out in an earlier Titles to Know column. Knight appeared on CBS Sunday Morning, Good Morning America, The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, the Charlie Rose show on PBS, and NPR’s Marketplace. USA Today and The Wall Street Journal [subscription may be required] also posted stories. It is a NYT‘s “Inside the List” feature too.

Taking the #10 spot is Old Age: A Beginner’s Guide, Michael Kinsley (PRH/Tim Duggan; Random House Audio; BOT; OverDrive Sample).

Kinsley, a journalist and contributor to Vanity Fair, who learned at age 43 that he had Parkinson’s disease, explores how the Baby Boomer generation might approach aging.

It got triple treatment in the NYT‘s. Dwight Garner reviewed it for the Books of the Times section in which he writes: “Mr. Kinsley possesses what is probably the most envied journalistic voice of his generation: skeptical, friendly, possessed of an almost Martian intelligence. If we ever do meet Martians, or any alien civilization, he has my vote as the human who should handle Earth’s side of the initial negotiations.”

Author Phillip Lopate reviewed it for The New York Times Book Review, writing: “If it’s possible for a book about illness and death to be delightful, this one fills the bill.” It is also featured in an Inside The New York Times Book Review Podcast.

The Washington Post, The Wall Street Journal [subscription may be required], Vanity Fair, and NPR’s All Things Considered, This American Life, and The Diane Rehm Show provided coverage as well.

Breaking onto the list at #15 is Are We Smart Enough to Know How Smart Animals Are?, Frans de Waal (Norton; Blackstone Audio; OverDrive Sample), a book on animal intelligence that argues that the human view of animal intelligence is limited by our own narrow thinking and lack of empathy.

It too is getting wide attention. As we pointed out in the same Titles To Know that featured Shoe Dog, it has been a People pick, which called it “an astonishing study of animal intelligence [that] has the makings of a classic — and is one fascinating read.” The New York Times Book Review and NYT’s “Inside the List” feature it as well.

Additional coverage is in The New Yorker, The Washington Post, The Atlantic, Psychology Today, Wired, New York Post, and NPR’s Science Friday and The Diane Rehm Show.

Checking holds Old Age is doing best in libraries, with holds soaring past a 3:1 ratio. Both Shoe Dog and Are We Smart Enough are under that ratio in most locations.

Which titles changed fates with these newcomers? Slipping out of the top 15 rankings is Girls and Sex (Harper) which fell to #16 and Dark Money (PRH/Doubleday) which is at #19. Love That Boy (PRH/Harmony) fell off the list completely.

Rising on the Amazon charts on the strength of an interview on NPR’s Weekend Edition Saturday is Chris Cleave’s Everyone Brave Is Forgiven (S&S; S&S Audio; OverDrive Sample).

The Library Reads pick, GalleyChatter hit, and Indie Next selection is currently #88 on Amazon’s Top 100 and is definitely headed for the best seller lists.

NPR’s Lynn Neary talks with Cleave about his own family’s WWII history, the Blitz in London and the Siege of Malta, and the pervasive racism of the era. Of his family he says:

“One of the bravest things that people in that generation did was to trust each other and was to trust themselves to fall in love. They fell in love sort of differently from the way we do. My real-life grandparents only met nine times before they were engaged. And so my grandmother’s engagement ring had these nine tiny stones on it, one for each time. And that was one of the bravest things they did. It wasn’t just that they were very stoical and that they endured so much. It was that they had faith in each other.”

The novel is receiving conflicting reviews. In the Washington Post, David L. Ulin, former editor  of the Los Angeles Times, says the author has problems tackling the grave effects of war, “None of the characters here is truly changed, not at the deepest level, which gives the book something of a shopworn quality.” On the other hand, The Guardian says: “With Everyone Brave Is Forgiven Cleave cements his reputation as a skilful storyteller, and a sensitive chronicler of the interplay between the political and the personal.”

The upcoming week’s arrivals may seem meager, after the onslaught of new titles last week.

Two marque authors have new books coming, and both are children’s titles.

Sherman Alexie is getting kudos for his first foray into picture books, Thunder Boy Jr. illustrated by Yuyi Morales, whose Viva Frida, was both a Caldecott Honor Book and the winner of the Pura Belpré Illustrator Award last year.

The Washington Post‘s Ron Charles, in a rare departure from covering adult titles, calls this book about a child who, as a “Jr.” wants his own name, “ebullient.” He adds that it not only fulfills Alexie’s goal “to help correct an ongoing problem: the lack of brown-skinned kids in literature,” but also captures “a child’s desire to establish his own special quality.”

John Grisham publishes the sixth title in his 13-year-old lawyer-in-training series for middle-graders, Theodore Boone: The Scandal, (PRH/Dutton Young Readers).

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 May 9, 2016

Peer Picks

You’re probably still working your way through the bounty of peer picks from last week. Here’s three more Indie Next titles to add to your list

LaRose, Louise Erdrich (HC/Harper; Harper Audio).

“When a hunting accident results in the death of his neighbor’s son, Landreaux Iron follows native tradition and offers his own son, LaRose, to the bereaved family. Thus begins a powerful story of anger, love, hurt, and joy among a group of families and neighbors living in a small community in the North Dakota hinterland. Erdrich’s luminous prose captures each character’s struggle to overcome their worst impulses – whether it’s a handicapped man’s long-nurtured quest for revenge, or the pain of a mother withholding her love from her daughter – and reaches into the distant past to reveal the story of the young boy’s namesake, the original LaRose. Muted on the surface, but with a heart that beats strong, Erdrich’s latest novel is a book to be treasured.” —Peter Sherman, Wellesley Books, Wellesley, MA

It is also this month’s Pennie Pick, selected by Costco’s book buyer, Pennie Clark Ianniciello. It made Entertainment Weekly‘s “Hottest Fiction” list and The Washington Post‘s “Best Books to Read in 2016” selections. The Millions and Flavorwire picked it at the start of the year.

Valiant Ambition: George Washington, Benedict Arnold, and the Fate of the American Revolution, Nathaniel Philbrick (PRH/Viking; Penguin Audio; BOT; OverDrive Sample).

“History buffs will welcome this serious and interesting salvaging of the American Revolution from the mists of legend and folklore. Reading this book also is a reminder that the messy, often disturbing politics of our own time are not unique, that idealism conflicts with power struggles, that both war and building a nation can have destructive consequences, and that revolutionaries and traitors both galvanize a movement. Complex, controversial, and important.” —Susan Thurin, Bookends on Main, Menomonie, WI

The Wall Street Journal also named it one of ‘The Hottest Spring Nonfiction Books’ [subscription might be required].

The Mirror Thief, Martin Seay (PRH/Melville House; OverDrive Sample).

“Three stories are linked in this outstanding debut by criminal pursuits and Venice — not so much the actual place, but the idea of that place: in the late 1500s Venice, Italy, a man schemes to steal the most guarded technology of the day — a mirror; in 1950s Venice Beach, California, a thief discovers a mysterious text that seems to have unusual insights about that stolen mirror; and in 2015, a soldier purses the thief in The Venetian Hotel in Las Vegas to retrieve the book about the mirror. As the stories draw together, Seay’s thrilling novel dazzles at every turn. Unexpected and amazing, The Mirror Thief will leave readers breathless.” —Jeremy Ellis, Brazos Bookstore, Houston, TX

Tie-ins

There are no tie-ins arriving this week. For our full list of upcoming adaptations, download our Books to Movies and TV and link to our listing of tie-ins.

Captain America: Civil War dominated global box office sales in advance of its opening in the U.S. this weekend, with The Wrap offering a list of why critics love it so. Meanwhile The Jungle Book continues to reign over all comers stateside. We’ll soon know if the superhero squad is a match for team Mowgli, but either way, Disney (which has a hand in both films) is set for a very good year.

Only one film adaptation comes out next week, Love & Friendship.

It is an adaptation of an unfinished Jane Austen novella, Lady Susan, an early effort by Austen published posthumously. Writer/director Whit Stillman finished the story to his own design and adapted it very freely. Kate Beckinsale, Chloë Sevigny, Xavier Samuel and Stephen Fry star.

Variety calls it “a supremely elegant and delicately filigreed adaptation” and says Stillman “knows just how to give [Austen’s] pointed social satire an extra stab of wink-wink postmodern drollery without breaking the spell.”

Critic David Edelstein, writing in New York magazine, says it is “a treat” and that “heretical as it sounds, Stillman has improved on his source.”

A tie-in came out last week, Love & Friendship: In Which Jane Austen’s Lady Susan Vernon Is Entirely Vindicated, Whit Stillman (Hachette/Little, Brown; OverDrive Sample). It is a mix of mash-up, send-up, and spoof, using Austen’s text as well as Stillman’s additions.

The film will debut in theaters on May 13 before streaming on Amazon Prime the following month.

UPDATE: We missed one. Hallmark’s adaptation of Karen Kingsbury’s A Time to Dance will premier May 15, at  9pm ET/PT.

In December, Hallmark premiered Part One of their adaptation of The Bridge by the “Queen of Christian Fiction.” The second part was set for release this coming December, but fans objected so strongly to the year-long wait that Hallmark moved the release date upto March.

Hallmark won’t have the same problem with A Time to Dance, which is told in a single movie.

There is no tie-in, but the book is available in both paperback and digital formats (Thomas Nelson) as well as audio (Recorded Books) and large type (Thorndike).

Taking up social media to promote the paperback edition of In The Unlikely Event (PRH/Vintage), Judy Blume has created a Tumblr page.

So far she has posted four “Tumbles,” offering a bit of background on the 1950s setting of the novel and sound clips, from Nat King Cole, the Four Aces, and Doris Day.

In The Unlikely Event is Blume’s first novel for adults in 17 years and got buzzy press coverage when it came out in hardcover last May.

Upon its publication, Blume told People magazine that it may be her last book. If that is the case, she is making the most of it.

As we wrote when it hit shelves, she launched it with a celebrity-studded tour starting with BookCon where Jennifer Weiner hosted an interview. After that, she sat down for conversations with Meg Wolitzer, Walter Mayes, Molly Ringwald, Ridley Pearson, Curtis Sittenfeld, and Nancy Pearl.

Now she is sharing songs and memories with fans on a platform that was unimaginable when she first wrote Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret and Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing.

In wading into the Tumblr waters Blume joins authors such as Neil Gaiman, Roxane Gay, John Green, and Emma Straub.

For all those who may be a bit uncertain of exactly what Tumblr is, think of it as a photo and image-rich cross between Facebook, a blog, and a scrapbook.

Receiving wide attention, most significantly in an NPR interview, Richard Russo’s Everybody’s Fool (PRH/Knopf; Random House Audio; BOT; OverDrive Sample) is rising on Amazon and holds are well past a 3:1 ratio at libraries we checked.

The Pulitzer Prizewinner (for Empire Falls, 2001) speaks to NPR’s Morning Edition Steve Inskeep about  “blue-collar guys in a blue-collar town … [at] a point in life where they are looking ahead at an uncertain future, but more importantly looking backwards and trying to, I don’t know, figure out … what has all of this added up to?”

They also discuss how Russo’s parents and grandparents, “who didn’t think of themselves as poor, but didn’t have any money,” would be mystified at the life he has created. Russo also weighs in on this year’s political season.

Not unexpectedly, the Indie Next pick is getting attention elsewhere as well.

NYT‘s reviewer Janet Maslin features it and T.C. Boyle reviews it in this coming Sunday’s NYT’s Book Review. Ron Charles adds his take in The Washington Post and The Wall Street Journal welcomes readers in by saying “it’s a madcap romp, weaving mystery, suspense and comedy in a race to the final pages.”

Entertainment Weekly gives it a strong B+, saying “Everybody’s Fool is like hopping on the last empty barstool surrounded by old friends.”

It is a sequel to Nobody’s Fool (RH, 1993) which is also rising on Amazon and is seeing strong circ. with growing holds lists.

It was made into a movie in 1994 starring Paul Newman, Bruce Willis, Jessica Tandy, and Philip Seymour Hoffman.

Skyrocketing up the Amazon charts to a high of #57 on the strength of a Michael Lewis review in Bloomberg View is The End of Alchemy: Money, Banking, and the Future of the Global Economy, Mervyn King (Norton).

King, a former governor of the Bank of England, offers a plan to create transparency and stability in high stakes banking, the kind that lead to the crash of 2008.

Lewis (Flash Boys) writes under the headline “The Book That Will Save Banking From Itself” says if King’s book “gets the attention it deserves, it might just save the world.”

King’s plan is to:

“Separate the boring bits of banking (providing a safe place to deposit money, facilitating payments) from the exciting ones (trading) … the riskier assets from which banks stand most to gain (and lose) would then be vetted by the central bank, in advance of any crisis, to determine what it would be willing to lend against them in a pinch if posted as collateral.”

This process would determine if a bank were solvent or not and prevent it from betting with taxpayer money rather than its own.

Showing strong circulation on low ordering at libraries we checked, The End of Alchemy has the potential to take off like Thomas Piketty’s Capital in the Twenty-First Century, (Harvard/Belknap Press, 3/12/14) as readers have proven their interest in serious books on very serious subjects.

Reading Lewis’s review offers a reminder of why his own nonfiction is so readable. He shares a telling anecdote about King, who was his professor at the London School of Economics:

“I’d been working at the London office of Salomon Brothers for maybe six months when one of my bosses came to me with a big eye roll and said, ‘We have this academic who wants to sit in with a salesman for a day: Can we stick him with you?’ And in walked Professor King … He took the seat next to me and the spare phone that allowed him to listen in on my sales calls. After an hour or so, he put down the phone. ‘So, Michael, how much are they paying you to do this?’ he asked, or something like it. When I told him, he said something like, ‘This really should be against the law.’”

At #1 on the NYT Hardcover Graphic Books Best Seller list after 201 weeks is Batman: The Killing Joke, by Alan Moore and Brian Bolland. (DC Comics, 2008; originally published in 1988; a B&W version, Batman Noir: The Killing Joke will be published in August), which tells the story of the origins of Batman’s archenemy The Joker, portrayed as an unsuccessful comedian who turns to crime to support himself and his pregnant wife.

An animated movie based on the iconic title, created in direct response to a petition from fans, is set to premiere at San Diego Comic-Con in July with a planned release on digital HD on July 23 and Blu-ray and DVD on August 2.

Releasing titles on digital HD ahead of the other versions is a new approach recently used for Deadpool to such strong sales that it is likely to become the norm.

Below is the recently released trailer:

Several of Moore’s earlier works, including Watchmen, have been adapted in to movies, but he asked to have his name removed from all of them.

If you’ve been rooting for the film adaptation of Jeannette Walls’ best selling memoir The Glass Castle, (S&S/Scribner, 2005), you’ll cheer at the news that the main cast in nearly in place, signaling that the film may finally move forward after having been originally signed four years ago.

Actress Sarah Snook, reports Deadline, is in negotiations to play the sister of Brie Larson who stars as Walls, a role originally assigned to Jennifer Lawrence. Naomi Watts and Woody Harrelson will play their parents.

In The Glass Castle Walls writes the harrowing story of her childhood, growing up with dysfunctional, sometimes homeless  parents, to eventually become a well-respected journalist. A best seller in hardcover, it had its biggest success in trade paperback, and was in the top ten on that NYT list for over two years straight, returning many times since, including a run last summer.

Get ready for another Goosebumps movie. The Hollywood Reporter writes that Sony is closing deals with the director and writer of the first Goosebumps movie with hopes that Jack Black will return to star.

Based on the bestselling book series by R.L. Stine, the first film was not a “massive hit” says the site, but “was a solid performer for the studio.” That seems to be enough to keep going with a long hoped-for franchise, so long hoped-for that even before the first film hit theaters in October 2015, sites such as Screen Rant were reporting on the sequel.

The Hollywood Reporter says the series took 18 years to adapt to film, making the sequel blindingly quick. The books were adapted for TV in the mid to late 90s and occasionally still run on streaming services.

We posted two stories on the possible bump for the books, pointing out tie-in editions and the reissue of Classic Goosebumps (with the line “Now a Major Motion Picture” on the covers). Expect the same attention once this second film gets further along.

Also look out for Goosebumps: Most Wanted, another series reissuing the most “notorious, creepiest, ghouliest Goosebumps characters.” The most recent is Here Comes the Shaggedy (Goosebumps: Most Wanted #9), R.L. Stine (Scholastic, Feb. 2016).

Below is the preview from the first film:

Our GalleyChatter columnist, Robin Beerbower takes a look at some of the titles to watch out for at next week’s BEA, below.

Please join our next GalleyChat, June 7, 4:00-5:00 (ET) to discuss discoveries from the show.

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There are bound to be more galleys snagged than can be jammed in a suitcase at the upcoming Book Expo America  (Wed., May 11 through Fri., May 13), so choosing wisely is paramount. Below is a rundown of highly anticipated titles road tested by our devoted GalleyChatters. All are available as Digital Review Copies, so you can live vicariously, even if  you’re not going to the show.

Click here for our Edelweiss list of titles that will be promoted at various BEA programs.

Reader Favorites for 2016—So Far

Paulette Jiles’ News of the World (HarperCollins/Morrow, October), the story of an elderly widower taking an orphaned girl, once held captive by the Kiowa, back to her relatives is receiving effusive praise on Edelweiss, making it a sure bet to become a hit with  readers and book groups. Virginia Stanley of HarperCollins will be talking it up during the AAP Annual Librarians’ Book Buzz—Part 1 and galleys will be given away in the HarperCollins booth (check at the booth for times). Janet Lockhart describes it as, “Stupendous writing, characters that get under your skin and burrow deep into your heart, great pacing, and an ending that makes you cry with joy and relief. My favorite book of 2016 so far.” Also check out HC’s BEA galley guide here.

Colson Whitehead is speaking on the Big Authors Panel II at Library Journal’s Day of Dialog and the Adult Book and Author Breakfast, and will be signing Underground Railroad (PRH/Doubleday, September).  Jessica Woodbury, blogger and
Book Riot contributor, calls this novel about a young woman escaping slavery in Georgia, “a spectacular book.” She also says, “The beauty of this book is that while it has that deep communal feel of folk tale, it also lives vibrantly through its characters. I cannot remember another book about this era that so completely brought the world to life in my mind. Just do yourself a favor and get this book.”

Vicki Nesting of St. Charles Parish Library, Destrehan, LA, gives top praise for Thomas Mullen’s Darktown (S&S/Atria/37 INK, September) by saying  “This one is definitely going on my “best of 2016” list!” and adds, “In a powerful mystery set in 1948, two of Atlanta’s first black police officers struggle to solve the murder of a young black girl against tremendous odds.” Mullen will be at the BEA Editors’ Buzz Panel and signing books in the S&S booth (check at the booth for times).

More Anticipated Novels

Vicki Nesting also recommends The Other Einstein by Marie Benedict (Sourcebooks Landmark; October) as an excellent addition to the “woman-behind-the-famous-man” category of historical fiction. She says, “Mileva Maric, a brilliant physicist and mathematician, left her Serbian homeland to study physics at a prestigious university in Zurich. There she met Albert Einstein and the two were immediately drawn to one another. This is a completely absorbing and utterly believable story of a brilliant woman forgotten by history.” Sourcebooks will have plenty of copies in their booth, plus the author will be appearing in the Hot Fall Fiction 2016 session and doing an in-booth signing.  Also check their booth for galleys of Greer Macallister’s excellent novel about Pinkerton’s first woman detective, Girl in Disguise, (March, 2017).

A book GalleyChatters say is sure to be in everyone’s hands this summer is Blake Crouch’s mind-twisting Dark Matter (PRH/Crown, July). Stephanie Chase, Library Director of Hillsboro (OR) Library said, “Awesome combination of thriller, science fiction, and speculative alternate-history style fiction. This is the book you should recommend to all your readers this summer, for its fast pace and thought-provoking treatment of what happens when we make one choice over another.” Crouch wrote the Wayward Pines trilogy published by Amazon Publishing and developed into a series on Fox TV (Season 2 begins May 25). He will sign those books during in one of the Autographing Sessions and Dark Matter in the PRH booth.

Gayle Forman, popular author of teen novels, will be appearing at the Librarians’ Author Lunch to talk about Leave Me (Workman/Algonquin), an adult novel about “not knowing what you’ve got till it’s gone.” Tracy Babiasz, acquisitions manager for Chapel Hill Library, NC, writes this intriguing description: “Could you imagine running away from your husband and twins? Maribeth does it, leaving them in order to find herself. Only Gayle Forman could take what might otherwise be an unsympathetic character and have me cheering for her!”

Ann Hood’s natural choice for book groups, The Book That Matters Most (Norton, August) will be available in the Norton booth. After Ava’s marriage dissolves, she joins an exclusive library book group where members select books that to them mattered the most during their lives. Over the year of discussing the books, members end up sharing their own personal problems. Rosemary Smith, Edelweiss power reader, said “the overriding message in this book is that our books, our stories have the power to save us all.” Check here for more Norton giveaways.

Anyone who loved the movie The Big Chill will enjoy Allison Winn Scotch’s In Twenty Years (Amazon/Lake Union, July, DRC for this one is only on NetGalley), the story of six college friends who reunite after 20 years. Allison’s prose rings with authenticity as they find themselves coping with complicated relationships and life choices. Allison will be signing galleys in the autographing tables area on Thursday.

Penguin Random House’s BEA breakfast is always a treat (for both food and author appearances) and Jennifer Close will be featured this year to talk about The Hopefuls (PRH/Knopf, July). Since Close’s husband works in the White House and her best friend is Joe Biden’s secretary, her inside view of Washington politics is put to good use in her “sparkling new novel,” according to Melissa Samora of Chandler (AZ) Public Library. She continues “I loved the glimpse into D.C. politics and thought the story of a marriage in transition was authentic. I found myself relating to Beth on more than one occasion. I simply loved this book and gobbled it up quickly.”

Have you heard of Advance Listening Copies? Find out what that means at the Macmillan booth where they will be holding a Galley and Advance Listening Copy Giveaway at 11:00 am on Thursday for Wendy Walker’s tense psychological suspense novel, All is Not Forgotten (St. Martin’s, July). This novel about a woman trying to peel back layers of her memory to remember who attacked her as a teen has been receiving a lot of attention from GalleyChatters over the past few months. Jen Dayton enthuses, “You will be halfway through this taut psychological thriller and think that you’ve got it all figured out. But trust me, you aren’t even close.” For a full roster of all of Macmillan’s activities, check here.

Memoir Perfect for Discussing

Creator of the popular blog Momastery, Glennon Doyle Melton is appearing at the BEA Librarians’ Dinner to talk about her memoir, Love Warrior (Macmillan/Flatiron Books, August). Melton’s courage in writing such intimate details of her collapsing marriage is commendable and this touching and inspirational account will be a winner for women’s book groups. It is a good option for readers who liked of Cheryl Strayed’s Tiny Beautiful Things: Advice on Love and Life from Dear Sugar.

Join us for a spirited GalleyChat on June 7, 4:00-5:00 (ET) when we discuss the unexpected gems we found at BEA.

A string of articles, led by The Wall Street Journal, has helped a parenting book zoom up the Amazon charts.

The Game Theorist’s Guide to Parenting: How the Science of Strategic Thinking Can Help You Deal with the Toughest Negotiators You Know–Your Kids by Paul Raeburn and Kevin Zollman (Macmillan/Scientific American/ FSG; Blackstone Audio; OverDrive Sample) combines the insight of a father of five with the expertise of an academic to offer ways to help parents game their kid’s most common and exasperating behaviors, such a lying, fighting, and not doing what they were told.

The WSJ piece [subscription might be required] leads a diverse pack of stories, including coverage in Scientific American, Slate, Live Science, and Fast Company.

Slate notes this is another example of academics pairing with writers to “create a true crossover offering, one that marries rigorous research and real scholarship with a compelling style and narrative arc that human beings actually want to read on purpose,” citing Jonathan Franzen’s book on Karl Kraus, as well as better example,   Modern Romance: An Investigation by Aziz Ansari and Eric Klinenberg (PRH/Penguin, 2015), proving once again the “Three Examples Is a Trend” theory of journalism,