starred review

NEWS OF THE WORLD is the #1 LibraryReads Pick for October!

September 8, 2016

It is our heartfelt pleasure to announce that News of the World by Paulette Jiles has been voted by public librarians as the #1 LibraryReads pick for October!

News of the World is a stunning work of historical fiction that follows an aging war veteran whose solitary existence traveling post-Civil War Texas reading news to the people is interrupted when he takes a job transporting an orphaned girl across Texas to her adoptive aunt and uncle. Beautiful, sparse, and heart-wrenching, this a book that will stick with you long after the last page. Just check out some of the librarian praise:

"My respect for Paulette Jiles grows with every novel she writes, and News of the World is her best work yet… She writes with great clarity, understanding, and a forgiving heart."
— Nancy Pearl, librarian, bestselling author, literary critic

"News of the World has everything. 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…. I feel sorry for the book I read next. News of the World is a hard act to follow."
— Janet Lockhart, Wake County Public Library, Raleigh, NC

"The language is lyrical and spare and wonderfully evocative, so that by the end of the book, readers will have a hard time returning to the contemporary world. Surely one of the best books of the year."
— Vicki Nesting, Assistant Director, St. Charles Parish Public Library

News of the World goes on sale October 4th. Download the egalley from Edelweiss here.

If you voted, thank you so much for the support you've shown this book. If you didn't vote, please visit LibraryReads.org for more details on this wonderful program! The deadline for the November list is September 20th.

-Chris

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3 Starred Reviews for I CONTAIN MULTITUDES by Ed Yong + an Interview with FRESH AIR’s Terry Gross

August 24, 2016

In case you didn't know, the human body plays host to roughly 40 trillion microbes, consisting of bacteria, fungi, viruses, and archaea. Before you rush out for an industrial-size container of Purell, give Ed Yong's I Contain Multitudes a read. The cornucopia of microbes within us play vital roles within our bodies in ways we're just beginning to understand.

Check out some of the praise in the form of the three starred reviews below!

“An exceptionally informative, beautifully written book that will profoundly shift one’s sense of self to that of symbiotic multitudes.”
—Kirkus

“Yong makes a superb case for his position by interviewing numerous scientists and presenting their fascinating work in an accessible and persuasive fashion.” —Publishers Weekly

“Bottom line: don’t hate or fear the microbial world within you. Appreciate its wonders. After all, they are more than half of you.” —Booklist

Head on over to EarlyWord.com to listen to Fresh Air host Terry Gross interview Ed about his book and the fascinating unseen world of the microbiome. Click here for the interview. I Contain Multitudes is on sale now, so visit HC.com to get your copy!

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HIDDEN FIGURES by Margot Lee Shetterly—Two Starred Reviews and a Movie Trailer!

August 19, 2016

With Hidden Figures by Margot Lee Shetterly going on sale in less than a month, you won't have to wait much longer to dive into this incredible, inspiring, goose bump inducing true story of NASA's "human computers"—the brave, brilliant, charismatic African-American female mathematicians who were integral to America's position at the forefront of the space race. To top off all the excitement surrounding this very important release, Hidden Figures just received starred reviews from both Library Journal AND Booklist!

From Library Journal: "Shetterly's highly recommended work offers up a crucial history that had previously and unforgivably been lost. We’d do well to put this book into the hands of young women who have long since been told that there’s no room for them at the scientific table."

From Booklist: "This an is incredibly powerful and complex story, and Shetterly has it down cold. The breadth of her well-documented research is immense, and her narrative compels on every level. The timing of this revelatory book could not be better, and book clubs will adore it."

Hidden Figures goes on sale September 6th, so there's still time to download the egalley from Edelweiss. Click here to get your copy! Also, be sure to check out the Hidden Figures official website, www.hiddenfigures.com, for more details and photos, such as the below photo of Christine Darden, one of the human computers, as she poses in a Langley wind tunnel with a supersonic aircraft model in the early 1970s (NASA).

And lastly, have you seen the trailer for the upcoming Hidden Figures feature film, starring Taraji P. Henson, Octavia Spencer, and Janelle Monáe? If not, check it out below because it looks amaaazing! The film hits theaters January 13th.

-Chris

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The Buzz is Growing for the Wonderfully Strange NICOTINE by Nell Zink

August 5, 2016

The buzz for Nell Zink's Nicotine is lighting up faster than a decade-old Marlboro, and consider it no surprise: this is a wonderfully strange book with some serious bite but also no shortage of warmth.

The story of a young woman who returns to her recently deceased father's childhood home only to find it inhabited by a colorful cast of squatters who double as pro-smoking advocates, Nicotine delves into issues of race, gender, class, politics, and so much more, and it approaches these sensitive topics…well, not so much with sensitivity, but with honesty, grace, and wicked storytelling injected with keenly observant humor.

Nicotine just received a starred Kirkus review, who calls it “A rich, rewarding tale of love, rebirth, and chewing tobacco…Zink does such an incredible job of depicting weirdos as real, smart, vulnerable, complicated people. Social satire with a sharp wit and a big heart.”

Library Journal adds, “[Zink] writes with tongue firmly in cheek. Her jaded worldview, leavened by a well-honed sense of the absurd, reveals itself as she skewers millennials and boomers alike for failing to live up to their once tightly held convictions.”

And from The Millions, “Few writers have experienced Zink’s remarkable arc, and by all appearances, Nicotine seems unlikely to slow her winning streak.”

Nicotine is also one of our suggestions for the October LibraryReads list. The deadline to vote is August 20th, so download an egalley from Edelweiss here, give it a read, and vote! We can't wait to hear what you think at librarylovefest@harpercollins.com.

-Chris

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What I’m Reading: THE TERRANAUTS by T.C. Boyle

July 27, 2016

Today I declare T.C. Boyle my spirit author (you know, like a spirit animal only…an author). In pictures, he is often donning a well-worn leather jacket, a barely perceptible grin on his face, as if he and the world just shared a profound yet slightly dirty joke. Check his twitter and you'll see he's found a way to turn his 140 characters into something almost literary. He exudes cool. And, most importantly, he is a fantastic writer. Author of the New York Times bestselling The Harder They Come, Boyle looks to have another winner on his hands with The Terranauts, on sale October 25th.

Boyle is a master of observing human nature, pitting our greatest ideals against our most debilitating flaws. While The Harder They Come confronted America's legacy of violence and anti-authoritarianism, The Terranauts examines humanity's ecological future. Following four men and four women voluntarily sealed inside a three-acre, glass ecosphere for two years in what is heralded as humanity's greatest experiment (or its most expensive PR stunt), The Terranauts quickly dives into the depths of the human psyche when placed in the most extreme of circumstances. Thrilling to the very end, The Terranauts was just declared by Library Journal in a starred review as "one of Boyle’s best—and quite possibly one of the best of the year." Booklist, in a starred review, calls Boyle "a virtuoso storyteller and a connoisseur of hubris" who "mesmerizes and provokes."

The good news is egalleys are available now on Edelweiss. The better news is if you prefer a physical galley, email us at librarylovefest@harpercollins.com and we'll be glad to send you a copy. The best news would be for you to read it, love it, let us know, and cast your vote for LibraryReads! Nominations are due August 20th!

-Chris