Sneak Peek: The March 2014 Indie Next list

Sneak Peek: The March 2014 Indie Next list

Indie Next logoWe're shaking off the winter blues with great news: we've got four fantastic books on the March 2014 Indie Next list, including the #1 pick! 

SHOTGUN LOVESONGS by Nickolas Butler (#1 Pick!)
Butler's atmospheric debut novel about the relationship between four friends in a little Wisconsin town is an ABA Spring 2014 Indies Introduce selection, a Maximum Shelf Awareness feature, and a "love letter to the Midwest." (Publishers Weekly)

RUNNER by Patrick Lee
There's a good reason we've been hyping this new thriller starring retired special forces operative Sam Dryden–it's got three starred reviews, sold international rights in seven countries, and the film rights were optioned by Warner Brothers with director Justin Lin (Fast & Furious 6) attached. (Now can we pleeeease get Channing Tatum to star?!)

THE WIVES OF LOS ALAMOS by TaraShea Nesbit
Nesbit's debut novel about the wives of the men who created the atom bomb is also an ABA Spring 2014 Indies Introduce selection, a Barnes & Noble Spring 2014 Discover Great New Writers selection, and has two great starred reviews with major media coverage to come.

THE BLACK-EYED BLONDE by Benjamin Black
Black's "pitch-perfect recreation" of Raymond Chandler's incomparable private eye Philip Marlowe goes "beyond mere thoughtful homage" (Publishers Weekly, starred review) when a seductive young heiress asks Marlowe to find her former lover.  

Make sure to get whitelisted on Edelweiss and get your digital review copies of these great titles! [...]

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Happy #BookBday (2/4/14 Edition)

Happy #BookBday (2/4/14 Edition)

What a lovely day for a Book Birthday! Today we wish Happy #BookBday to:

THE BOOK OF JONAH by Joshua Max Feldman
Feldman puts a modern spin on his retelling of the ancient tale, whisking his Jonah–a successful Manhattan lawyer–around the globe from Las Vegas to Amsterdam. "Feldman is clever in his use of the Jonah story, and his novel is of the same strange and enigmatic quality as the original." – Kirkus Reviews

MARSHLANDS by Matthew Olshan
In his first novel for adults, Olshan reveals the story of a prisoner who was formerly a doctor in a culture virtually snuffed out under Saddam Hussein. "Although it is easy and appropriate to take this novel as stark commentary on U.S. involvement in Iraq, its most powerful moments explore a much deeper and more abstract ambivalence about tribalism and its allure." – Booklist, starred review

STRANGE BODIES by Marcel Theroux
Theroux's weird and wonderful novel that poses questions about identity, authenticity, and what it means to be truly human has three starred pre-publication reviews, such as this one from Library Journal: “Truly enthralling... Philip K. Dick’s THE TRANSMIGRATION OF TIMOTHY ARCHER meets Stephanie Meyer’s THE HOST in this very highly recommended work.” 

THE WILY O'REILLY by Patrick Taylor
Taylor tells the origin story of Dr. Fingal Flahertie O'Reilly through warm and wryly amusing vignettes as the good doctor tends to the colourful and eccentric residents of Ballybucklebo. "Readers unfamiliar with the good doctor’s personal antics and medical adventures will be delighted to make his acquaintance, and old friends will settle in for a comfortable visit." – Booklist

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Happy Belated #BookBday (1/28/14 Edition)

Happy Belated #BookBday (1/28/14 Edition)

D'oh! We forgot to wish our new books a happy #BookBday on Tuesday! We'll keep the party going with belated best wishes for...

THE LAST ENCHANTMENTS by Charles Finch
Finch's coming-of-age tale about a Yale graduate is getting lots of attention, from People Magazine to USA Today. "In prose that glides effortlessly from scene to scene, Finch captures the fleeting time in people’s lives when their every decision, from career to lover, seems freighted with eternal consequence. Highly recommended for all collections." – Library Journal, starred review

THE QUEEN'S DWARF by Ella March Chase
In this richly imagined novel set in the Stuart court, our unique hero Jeffrey Hudson–who happens to be a dwarf–is tasked with spying on the beautiful but vulnerable queen. "Rich in detail and brimming with intriguing characters, Chase’s novel will please fans of historical fiction..." – Kirkus Reviews

A DARKLING SEA by James Cambias
This debut science fiction novel about alien races has three remarkable starred reviews, such as this one from Kirkus: “An exceptionally thoughtful, searching and intriguing debut.” 

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Maximum Shelf: SHOTGUN LOVESONGS

Maximum Shelf: SHOTGUN LOVESONGS

Max Shelf Shotgun Lovesongs

"I had a desire to write about Wisconsin, about place, friendship, love." — Nickolas Butler

 

Shotgun Lovesongs jacketWe're enamored with SHOTGUN LOVESONGS, Nickolas Butler's debut novel about the relationship between four friends living in a small Midwest town. Other are too: it was selected by the ABA for the Spring 2014 Indies Introduce program and is this week's Maximum Shelf Awareness feature.

Hank, Leland, Kip and Ronny were all born and raised in the small town of Little Wing, Wisconsin and are now coming into their own (or not) as husbands and fathers. One stayed while others left to make good, with varying degrees of success. Seamlessly woven into their patchwork is Beth, whose presence among them—both then and now—fuels the kind of passion one comes to expect of love songs and rivalries. Now all four have returned to Little Wing in hopes of finding their place in the world. SHOTGUN LOVESONGS explores the age-old question of whether or not you can ever truly come home again and the kind of steely faith and love returning requires. 

"Butler's story of five 30-somethings seeking to make sense of how their future relates to their beginnings may focus on small town living, but it will resonate with anyone who ever struggled to reconcile dreams with financial security, true love with real life, and unwelcome changes with changes that never seem to come." — Shelf Awareness

See the full summary, review and interview with Nickolas Butler on Shelf-Awareness.com.

download review copy buttonGet whitelisted and download your e-galley on Edelweiss. Or listen to a clip of the audiobook.
Then meet Butler at PLA 2014 in Indianapolis!


Praise for SHOTGUN LOVESONGS:

"A debut novel that delves so deeply into the small-town heartland... [SHOTGUN LOVESONGS] will strike a responsive chord in any reader who has found his life reflected in a Bob Seger song." — Kirkus Reviews, starred review  

“The hearty Midwest, which thrums and beats through tiny Little Wing, Wisconsin—an Anytown, USA, if there ever was one—assumes the whole soul of Butler’s fetching debut… Readers can feel the winter cold on the other side of the neon sign and hear the peanut shells crunching underfoot.” — Booklist 

"Butler uses multiple narrators to tell the story of a group of friends, born and raised in Little Wing, Wis....  Their voices and their memories create a rich, overlapping narrative that is, at bottom, a love letter to the Midwest and its small, mostly forgotten towns." — Publishers Weekly 

"...this is a warm and absorbing depiction of male friendship. Lee and Hank's compassion toward Ronny is particularly touching, and Beth, the sole female narrator, is as nuanced and believable a character as her male counterparts. With the author's connection to indie musician Bon Iver and a movie deal already in the works, expect interest and demand."  — Library Journal

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For Your Consideration: March LibraryReads titles

For Your Consideration: March LibraryReads titles

Happy Monday to our dear librarian pals,

We’d like to remind y’all that the February 1 deadline to nominate March 2014 publications for the next LibraryReads list is just around the corner! 

Get thee to edelweiss! Download a DRC, read it, love it and nominate it! REPEAT!   

THE CAIRO AFFAIR by Olen Steinhauer

International politics are at play as an Egyptian agent, an American analyst, a CIA agent, and a bereaved wife all converge on Cairo to find out why a diplomat was assassinated. 

"THE CAIRO AFFAIR is an elegant, elaborate clockwork of mystery and deception that should draw readers in and keep them on tenterhooks as they try to figure out what is really making it all tick." Publishers Weekly, boxed signature review  

"It has become de rigeur to compare Steinhauer to le Carré, but it’s nearly time to pass the torch: for the next generation, it’s Steinhauer who will become the standard by which others are measured." — Booklist, starred review

DRC button - Cairo Affair

SHOTGUN LOVESONGS by Nickolas Butler

Butler's debut novel about the relationship between four friends in a small Midwest town was selected by the ABA for the Spring 2014 Indies Introduce program.

"The hearty Midwest, which thrums and beats through tiny Little Wing, Wisconsin-an Anytown, USA, if there ever was one-assumes the whole soul of Butler's fetching debut. Readers can feel the winter cold on the other side of the neon sign and hear the peanut shells crunching underfoot." — Booklist 

DRC button - Shotgun Lovesongs

TEMPTING FATE by Jane Green

From the New York Times bestselling author of ANOTHER PIECE OF MY HEART comes a riveting new novel about the events leading up to one woman's affair—and its aftermath.

"A SCARLET LETTER for the 21st century." — Kirkus Reviews

DRC button - Tempting Fate

PRECIOUS THING by Colette McBeth

"Debut author McBeth’s GONE GIRL-style psychological thriller will be a widespread hit for fans of dark drama with questionable narrators, including S. J. Watson’s BEFORE I GO TO SLEEP (2011), Sabine Durrant’s UNDER YOUR SKIN (2013), and Karen Perry’s THE INNOCENT SLEEP (2013)." Booklist, starred review

DRC button - Precious Thing

I REMEMBER YOU by Yrsa Sigurdardottir

"In a departure from her series featuring lawyer Thora Gudmundsdottir, Iceland’s queen of suspense combines modern crime detection with mysticism to chilling effect. Nordic mystery writers can raise goosebumps as few others can, and Sigurdardottir shows she’s one of the best."  Booklist, starred review

Let’s not forget the buzz that’s been building for this gem

DRC - I Remember You

THE HAVEN by Carol Lynch Williams

For the teens at The Haven, the world beyond the towering stone wall that surrounds the premises is a dangerous unknown and always has been since the hospital was established in the year 2020. It was built to help control the Disease that claims limbs and lungs-and memories-but what if it's not the safe place it claims to be? Award-winning YA novelist Williams' new novel is "Deliciously enigmatic." — Kirkus Reviews

DRC - The Haven

PROVIDENCE RAG by Bruce DeSilva

“Edgar-winner DeSilva melds moral dilemmas with a suspenseful plot in his third novel featuring Providence, R.I.–based reporter Liam Mulligan, his best yet.” — Publishers Weekly, starred review

Go beyond the book and read this Publishers Weekly interview with DeSilva.

DRC - Providence Rag

 

For more March LibraryReads title suggestions, view our collection on Edelweiss. Happy reading and happy nominating!

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Happy #BookBday (1/7/14 Edition)

Happy #BookBday (1/7/14 Edition)

It's our first #BookBday of the new year! We couldn't be more proud of these new releases:

RADIANCE OF TOMORROW by Ishmael Beah
This lyrical, haunting novel about a village trying to reclaim peace after war is a January Indie Next pick and is getting tons of media attention from the Washington Post, the New York Times Book Review, USA Today, TIME magazine, People magazine, NPR's "Morning Edition," "The Colbert Report," Shelf Awareness, and much more. Don't miss your chance to hear Beah speak at ALA Midwinter 2014 in Philadelphia!

THE EXILES RETURN by Elisabeth de Waal
Set in the ashes of post-World War II Vienna, de Waal's stunning novel follows a number of exiles, each coming to terms with a city in painful recovery. "De Waal’s acid, eyewitness drama of malignant prejudice, innocence betrayed, the disintegration of the old order, and love transcendent has the same jolting immediacy as the novels of Iréne Némorisky as well as deeply archetypal dimensions. Another de Waal triumph of illumination." – Booklist

BEFORE I BURN by Gaute Heivoll
Heivoll's "thrilling and poetic novel" (Booklist, starred review) that "reads like a top-tier crime story" (Publishers Weekly, starred and boxed review) was inspired by a real-life arson spree that deeply affected him as he grew up in Norway. You'll see another rave review in the January issue of Harper's magazine, with more attention to come from the New York Times Book Review, the Wall Street Journal, the Boston Globe, the Chicago Tribune, the L.A. Times, and NPR's "Weekend All Things Considered."

DREAMS OF THE GOLDEN AGE by Carrie Vaughn
In this "worthy, rich and thoughtful sequel" (Booklist) to AFTER THE GOLDEN AGE, Celia West is now a mother and a powerful businesswoman who works hard to keep her city and her daughters Anna and Bethy safe. Meanwhile Anna and her friends are practicing to become a team of vigilante superheroes–something that comes to good use when Celia discovers a new archvillain, the Executive.

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BITTER EDEN – “a jewel of a tale…”

BITTER EDEN – “a jewel of a tale…”

Today we want to tell you about a little gem that might not be on your radar: BITTER EDEN by Tatamkhulu Afrika, one of South Africa’s most revered poets. Based on the author’s own capture in North Africa and his experiences as a prisoner-of-war in World War II in Italy and Germany, this frank and beautifully wrought novel deals with three men who must negotiate the emotions that are brought to the surface by the physical closeness of survival in the male-only camps. 

We have early rave reviews: 

“Afrika explores these relationships in depth, creating a remarkably honest and moving book. Originally published shortly after the author’s death in 2002 and based on his experiences as a POW in WWII, BITTER EDEN is a beautifully crafted, absorbing read, a careful examination of human relationships, and a rare glimpse into the complexities of life in wartime.” — Booklist

“Such a powerful, melodic, urgent and honest story of suffering, love and survival I have never quite encountered before. This is a jewel of a tale—a vital and raw piece of the true human experience—and it needs to never be forgotten. I am honored to have read it, and will pass it along to many others.” — Elizabeth Gilbert, New York Times-bestselling author of THE SIGNATURE OF ALL THINGS and EAT PRAY LOVE


NetGalley logoBITTER EDEN is available on NetGalley
. Email library@macmillanusa.com (subject line: BITTER EDEN) to get pre-approved for an e-galley. Even though BITTER EDEN is not available on Edelweiss, you can still nominate it for LibraryReads. Read our LibraryReads FAQ for more information.

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For Your Consideration: January LibraryReads titles

For Your Consideration: January LibraryReads titles

With the Thanksgiving holiday fast approaching, many of us are busy making lists. Grocery lists for the big meal, shopping lists for those Black Friday and Small Business Saturday sales, who's been naughty and who's been nice (OK, we didn't write that one)... Here's our list of new books we think are great, just in time for the January LibraryReads nomination deadline of December 1:

RADIANCE OF TOMORROW by Ishmael Beah
From the author of A LONG WAY GONE comes a “formidable and memorable novel” (Publishers Weekly) about a village trying to reclaim peace after war. “Beah, who broke our hearts with the haunting memoir of his life as a boy soldier, will render readers speechless with the radiance of his storytelling in this novel of grace, forgiveness, and a vision of a tomorrow without conflict." – Library Journal, starred review

THE LAST ENCHANTMENTS by Charles Finch
In this contemporary update of BRIDESHEAD REVISITED, William Baker is a recent graduate of Yale who embarks on a life-changing year at Oxford, complete with unexpected friendships and a romance with a beautiful and enigmatic woman. "In prose that glides effortlessly from scene to scene, Finch captures the fleeting time in people’s lives when their every decision, from career to lover, seems freighted with eternal consequence. Highly recommended for all collections." – Library Journal, starred review

THE ORPHAN CHOIR by Sophie Hannah
Sophie Hannah writes taut, psychological suspense novels and her latest takes domestic horror to a new level. Louise Beeston is haunted by choral music only she can hear. Hoping to find some peace, Louise convinces her husband, Stuart, to buy them a country house in an idyllic, sun-dappled community, but the new home brings her anything but that. Louise starts to suspect that this sinister choir is not only real, but a warning. But of what? “Absolutely haunting, in every sense of the word.” – Booklist

BEFORE I BURN by Gaute Heivoll
Heivoll's novel is inspired by a real-life arson spree that deeply affected him as he grew up in Norway. It's already received two starred reviews–Publishers Weekly called it, "A compulsively readable novel about identity and the increasingly blurred line between art and reality" and Booklist said, "Fans of IN COLD BLOOD and THE DEVIL IN THE WHITE CITY will appreciate the chilling true-crime angle, while Heivoll’s dazzling prose will quickly enchant those unfamiliar with this Scandinavian writer. An absorbing story of compulsion, obsession, and the power of desire."

For more January LibraryReads title suggestions, view our collection on Edelweiss. Happy reading and happy nominating!

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International IMPAC Dublin Literary Award 2014 nominees

International IMPAC Dublin Literary Award 2014 nominees

We're pleased to announce that Macmillan has 17 books longlisted for the International IMPAC Dublin Literary Award, which honors works of fiction with high literary merit. Nominees include:

BRING UP THE BODIES by Hilary Mantel

THE DREAM OF THE CELT by Mario Vargas Llosa

THE FORRESTS by Emily Perkins

HHhH by Laurent Binet

THE HOUSE I LOVED by Tatiana de Rosnay

THE HUNGER ANGEL by Herta Müller

IGNORANCE by Michèle Roberts

JACK HOLMES AND HIS FRIEND by Edmund White

A LADY CYCLIST’S GUIDE TO KASHGAR by Suzanne Joinson

THE LIGHT OF AMSTERDAM by David Park

MEMOIRS OF AN IMAGINARY FRIEND by Matthew Dicks

MR. PENUMBRA’S 24-HOUR BOOKSTORE by Robin Sloan

MY STRUGGLE: Book 1 by Karl Ove Knausgaard

PAINTER OF SILENCE by Georgina Harding

A POSSIBLE LIFE by Sebastian Faulks

THE TELEPORTATION ACCIDENT by Ned Beauman

TRAVELER OF THE CENTURY by Andrés Neuman

View the full list of nominees here.  

The shortlist will be announced on April 9, 2014 and the Lord Mayor of Dublin will announce the winner on June, 12 2014. Congratulations!
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