Reviews and Publicity - Macmillan Library

Oprah’s Book of the Week: It’s Fine by Me

Posted on October 3, 2012 by Ali Fisher

Each week the editors of O and Oprah.com pick a book that they want to share with their readers and this week that book is Per Patterson's IT'S FINE BY ME!

"Novels about teenager angst can sometimes sound, well... teenage. Not so in the case of IT'S FINE BY ME by Norwegian writer Per Petterson, who previously wrote the haunting, spare OUT STEALING HORSES. [...]

"The tangle of this boy's mind—and the direct, graceful way it's portrayed—creates a tale that's far more adult than adolescent, one that asks the age-old question about how to deal with the past: Stay and pretend it's not happening, or run and pretend you don't care? Or... find some other way (please)."

Read the rest of the recommendation at Oprah.com.

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Monday Fun Day! (10/1/2012 Edition)

Posted on October 1, 2012 by Ali Fisher

Happy October, librarians!

- Kirkus Reviews named 10 Hot Crime Novels for Colder Days and half of them were Macmillan titles! Their list of chilly thrillers includes SALVATION OF A SAINT by Keigo Higashino, BLOOD LANCE by Jeri Westerson, YOUNG PHILBY by Robert Littell, CITY OF SAINTS by Andrew Hunt, and TARGET LANCER by Max Allan Collins.

- Congratulations to designers Charlotte Strick and Marina Drukman for their recognition in Design Observer's 2011 50 Covers Winners! The list included ORIENTATION AND OTHER STORIES by Daniel Orozco (cover design by Strick) and ADVENTURES IN ORGASMATRON by Christopher Turner (cover design by Drukman).

- Las Vegas Clark County Library District listed A KILLING IN THE HILLS by Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Julia Keller as a BookPage Notable Title.

Expect long delays on all inquiries this week. Talia and I are very busy keeping tabs on this party:

(via @penguinlibrary)

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Starred Reviews for Salvation of a Saint

Posted on September 28, 2012 by Ali Fisher

Bestselling Japanese novelist Keigo Higashino puts physics professor Manabu Yukawa on another tricky case in SALVATION OF A SAINT (after THE DEVOTION OF SUSPECT X, 2011).

And if the title sounds familiar it might be because Robin Beerbower mentioned this one during the Shout n' Share panel at BEA!

Yoshitaka, who was about to leave his wife, is poisoned by arsenic-laced coffee. His wife, Ayane, is the logical suspect except that she was hundreds of miles away at the time of the murder. The lead detective, Tokyo Police Detective Kusanagi, is immediately smitten with her so his assistant does what her boss has done for years when stymied—she calls upon Professor Manabu Yukawa.

"Higashino has taken the art and craft of mystery writing to a new level of excellence." -Library Journal (starred review)

"Howdunit, rather than whodunit, appears to be the central question of Edgar-finalist Higashino’s brilliant second mystery. [...] While readers of classic mysteries will be delighted with the elegant solution, the book will also appeal to fans of procedurals that carefully develop the relationships among the investigative team members." -Publishers Weekly (starred review)

Kirkus Reviews included it as one of their "10 Hot Crime Novels for Colder Days."

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Starred Reviews for Former People

Posted on September 27, 2012 by Ali Fisher

Your Russian history buffs will be delighted to hear that we have an dramatic non-fiction title coming soon on the final days of the Russian aristocracy, FORMER PEOPLE, and it's getting starred reviews!

FORMER PEOPLE is the first book to recount the history of the aristocracy caught up in the maelstrom of the Bolshevik Revolution and the creation of Stalin’s Russia. Filled with chilling tales of looted palaces and burning estates, of desperate flights in the night from marauding peasants and Red Army soldiers, of imprisonment, exile, and execution, it is the story of how a centuries’-old elite, famous for its glittering wealth, its service to the Tsar and Empire, and its promotion of the arts and culture, was dispossessed and destroyed along with the rest of old Russia.

"This is an anecdotally rich, highly informative look at decimated, uprooted former upper-class Russians." -Publishers Weekly (starred review)

"Sobering stories about the politics of power—its loss, its gain—and the deep human suffering that inevitably results." -Kirkus Reviews (starred review)

Beware of stampedes! Your patrons will be Russian to get at this one!

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Starred Review for The Paris Review’s Object Lessons

Posted on September 26, 2012 by Ali Fisher

Writers and short story enthusiasts, rejoice! The Paris Review is out to celebrate the power of brief stories with their new compendium, OBJECT LESSONS: The Paris Review Presents the Art of the Short Story.

The exceptionally cool thing about this anthology is that the contents (all originally printed in The Paris Review) were selected and are introduced by twenty contemporary authors. It's an excellent resource for writers, students, or any of your patrons who want to understand fiction from a writer’s point of view.

"This anthology of short stories selected by some of the great practitioners of our time is bound to be read and studies for years to come." -Library Journal (starred review)

"The editors call this a guide for young writers and readers interested in literary technique, and the book achieves that purpose while also serving as a tribute to the role the Paris Review has played in maintaining the diversity of the short story form. The collection reminds us that good stories are always whispering into each other’s ears." -Publishers Weekly

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Tuesday Fun Day! (9/25/2012 Edition)

Posted on September 25, 2012 by Ali Fisher

Happy Tuesday, all!

- Tupelo Hassman's debut GIRLCHILD has been shortlisted for the 2012 Flaherty-Dunnan First Novel Prize! This prize, awarded by The Center for Fiction and the American Booksellers Association, is awarded to the best debut novel of the year. The winner will be announced on December 11th, 2012 at the Center for Fiction Annual Benefit & Awards Dinner. See all of the nominees here.

Raisin 20 years banner

- We're celebrating 20 years of small-town Mysteries starring feisty amateur sleuth Agatha Raisin! Reviews for M.C. Beaton's latest (ehem, twenty-third!) Raisin Mystery, HISS AND HERS, praise Beaton for continued quality and fun in her long-running cozy series.

"Kudos to 20 years of sleuthing for Agatha Raisin, a standard-bearer for the cozy." -Library Journal

"This well-written series is still going strong and will appeal to fans of Sue Ann Jaffarian and Mary Daheim." -Booklist

Sign in to our Mystery community site CriminalElement.com to read an excerpt and enter to win the entire twenty-two volume set of Agatha Raisin Mysteries!

- Looking for the next 50 SHADES OF GREY read-alike? Try ANYTHING HE WANTS from from self-published phenomenon Sara Fawkes! The popular e-series will be available in a single paperback in November from St. Martin's Press. Read about the acquisition.

- There's news on the e-book lending front: "Macmillan Poised to Test Library E-book Model." (via Publishers Weekly)

- And your cat needs one of these:

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The 2012 Shamus Award Nominees!

Posted on September 18, 2012 by Ali Fisher

pwa logo The Private Eye Writers of America (PWA) shortlisted two excellent Minotaur mysteries and a great Forge mystery for the 2012 Shamus Award for Best PI Hardcover! See our nominees below:

BYE BYE, BABY
by Max Allan Collins

THE HIGHLY EFFECTIVE DETECTIVE CROSSES THE LINE
by Richard Yancey

A BAD NIGHT’S SLEEP
by Michael Wiley

Michael Wiley is a previous Shamus Award finalist for his first novel, THE LAST STRIPTEASE. Sign up for CriminalElement.com to read excerpts from A BAD NIGHT'S SLEEP and BYE BYE, BABY. You'll also get access to a lot of exciting material for mystery lovers!

See all of the 2012 nominees here!

The winner will be announced on October 5th, 2012 during the PWA banquet at Bouchercon in Cleveland, Ohio.

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Monday Fun Day! (9/17/2012 Edition)

Posted on September 17, 2012 by Ali Fisher

Happy Monday, librarian buddies!

I'm back from my mini-vacation to the West Coast (photo on the right from Seattle's Chihuly museum) and I'm so ready to talk about Fall titles.

- You're invited to the AAP's annual Librarians' Sneak Peek Book Preview on Wednesday, October 10th, 2012 at Random House in NYC! See the official invitation for more details and a reservation link (RSVP by October 5th).

- Two very different novels of ours made Kirkus Reviews' list of 10 Must-Read September Sci-Fi and Fantasy Books:

JANE: THE WOMAN WHO LOVED TARZAN by Robin Maxwell

"In this centennial celebration of Edgar Rice Burroughs' original TARZAN story, Maxwell retells the classic from the perspective of Jane Porter. [...] JANE is the first version of the Tarzan story written by a woman and authorized by the Burroughs estate."

THE RAPTURE OF THE NERDS by Cory Doctorow & Charles Stross

"What do you get when you cross the tech-savvy minds of Doctorow and Stross? You get the mind-warping, near-future THE RAPTURE OF THE NERDS, where a group of humans known as the Tech Jury Service are tasked with assessing whether new, possibly disruptive inventions should be released to the general public."

See their full SF/F recommendation list here. Also, there's a #TorChat on Twitter this Wednesday at 4pm Eastern. Moderator @pnh will be chatting with Cory @doctorow and Charlie Stross @cstross! Details here.

- We updated our Man Booker Prize shortlist post to include SWIMMING HOME by Deborah Levy which will be published in the U.S. by Bloomsbury USA in October! We also added links to MediaBistro's Man Booker Prize longlist excerpt "playlist" and downloadable posters for libraries.

- And finally: ARCTIC FOX PUP!

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Man Booker Shortlist Includes Bring Up the Bodies!

Posted on September 11, 2012 by Ali Fisher

BRING UP THE BODIES, Hilary Mantel's rich historical follow up to her previous Man Booker Prize-winning novel, WOLF HALL, has landed her on the shortlist once again!

Though he battled for seven years to marry her, Henry is disenchanted with Anne Boleyn. She has failed to give him a son and her sharp intelligence and audacious will alienate his old friends and the noble families of England. When the discarded Katherine dies in exile from the court, Anne stands starkly exposed, the focus of gossip and malice.

At a word from Henry, Thomas Cromwell is ready to bring her down. Over three terrifying weeks, Anne is ensnared in a web of conspiracy, while the demure Jane Seymour stands waiting her turn for the poisoned wedding ring.

UPDATE:

We actually have two titles on the shortlist; Bloomsbury USA will be publishing SWIMMING HOME by Deborah Levy in the U.S. in October!

As he arrives with his family at the villa in the hills above Nice, Joe sees a body in the swimming pool. But the girl is very much alive. She is Kitty Finch: a self-proclaimed botanist with green-painted fingernails, walking naked out of the water and into the heart of their holiday. Why is she there? What does she want from them all? And why does Joe's enigmatic wife allow her to remain?

See the full 2012 Man Booker Prize shortlist here!

MediaBistro put together a "playlist" of excerpts from the longlist here and you can download library posters of the UK versions of the books here!

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Starred Reviews for The Beautiful Mystery

Posted on September 7, 2012 by Ali Fisher

As the last note of the chant escaped the Blessed Chapel a great silence fell, and with it came an even greater disquiet.

The silence stretched on. And on.

These were men used to silence, but this seemed extreme, even to them.

So begins THE BEAUTIFUL MYSTERY, the eighth entry in Louise Penny's award-winning and New York Times bestselling Chief Inspector Gamache series.

This mystery brings Chief Inspector Armand Gamache and Jean-Guy Beauvoir to the monastery of Saint-Gilbert-Entre-les-Loups, deep in the wilderness of Quebec. Between growing vegetables, tending chickens, making chocolate and singing, one of the monks planned and committed a violent murder.

"Traditional mystery fans can look forward to a captivating whodunit plot, a clever fair-play clue concealed in plain view, and the deft use of humor to lighten the story’s dark patches. On a deeper level, the crime provides a means for Penny’s unusually empathic, all-too-fallible lead to unearth truths about human passions and weaknesses while avoiding simple answers." -Publishers Weekly (starred review)

"This heart-rending tale is a marvelous addition to Penny’s acclaimed series. Fans won’t be disappointed." -Library Journal (starred review)

"There is always something mammoth roiling away beneath the surface of Penny’s novels—but this time the roiling is set against the serenity of the chanting, producing a melody of uncommon complexity and beauty." -Booklist (starred review)

Readers' Advisory librarians take note, Kirkus Reviews said, "The most illuminating analogies are not to other contemporary detective fiction but to THE NAME OF THE ROSE and MURDER IN THE CATHEDRAL."

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