Here we go!

The False Friend by Myra Goldberg – This amazing book-club choice explores “the adults that children become” through the lens of a tragic childhood incident swept so far under the rug that it’s almost become the truth. As Booklist says, “Readers are kept guessing until the final pages and, as in Bee Season, Goldberg uses beautiful, emotionally descriptive language to keep us with one ear to the ground, listening for the slow, quiet footsteps of creeping tragedy.”

Vampire Knits by Genevieve Miller – All this time your patrons are spending around vampires is going to cause them to discover a few things they might want to have. How to disguise your bottle of blood? A blood-bottle cozy, of course. How to keep your hands warm on a fall foliage stroll with an undead guy? Bellisima mittens! How to avoid the whole black-cape cliche? With the dead-sexy Sidhe Shrug. 28 thirst-practical knitting projects for your vamp-crazy patrons. (Is there any other kind?)

Mr. Toppit by Charles Elton – A family’s trying brush with fame takes center stage here, while the elusive Mr. Toppit himself lurks behind the curtain. Great reads so far: “Elton skillfully weaves together postwar England and a terrifyingly modern L.A., as well as the hopes and disappointments of frustrated mothers, neglected children, and clandestine lovers. While beautifully written and graced with a unique story line, it is Elton’s characters who drive the novel and give it a depth uncommon in debuts.” Publishers Weekly, Starred

Luka and the Fire of Life by Salman Rushdie – Sir Rushdie once again takes on the YA-crossover novel with unmatched grace. This one was written for his second son and features a teenage protagonist named Luka who, in order to save his comatose father, must enter a magical world and steal the Fire of Life, a flame so ludicrously unattainable it makes the Golden Fleece look like a Blue Light Special. Says Kirkus in their starred review, “Brilliant wordplay throughout…A celebration of storytelling…and a colorful, kick-up-your-heels delight.”

We do have a limited quantity of Advance Readers Copies for the three fiction titles here, so if you are interested in getting your hands on The False Friend, Mr. Toppit, or Luka, send an email to library@randomhouse.com specifying which book you are interested in and your library’s mailing address. We’ll choose winner randomly at the end of the week.

Hope this helps your fall collections! For more updates and tips, be sure to follow this blog on your RSS feeds!

-RHLibrary

This is in addition to a recent Salon.com profile, a hilarious New York Observer piece, and a pending, heretofore elusive New York Times review. Pretty soon, maybe it will be unnecessary for Tao (or his army?) to put stickers of his new book’s jacket on newspaper dispensers in the West Village, as I personally witnessed last weekend.  

Dennis Johnson of Melville House must be clicking his heels right about now, having recognized early-on the author’s talent, originality, and uncanny ability to self-promote in outrageous ways (e.g. selling “shares” of his book to fans as he was writing). According to the profile, Tao was rejected by some 25 publishers before landing at Melville. (If nothing else, the man is polarizing.)

Normally, with the release of a Tao Lin book, I would advise New York City-area librarians to stock up, but with these national publicity hits coming, I might amend that piece of advice, and tell everyone to stock up.

-David

I’ve consulted 1001 CHILDREN’S BOOK YOU MUST READ BEFORE YOU GROW UP and made an exciting discovery.  I’ve never read EMILY OF NEW MOON by Lucy Maud Montgomery!  So I turn to the classics for the moment.  But what should come next?

What are your favorite, must-read books in children’s literature?

-Erica

Reissued last week by New York Review Books, the 1965 J.R. Ackerley memoir MY DOG TULIP, which Truman Capote called “One of the greatest books ever written by anybody in the world,” will soon be released as an animated motion picture! An article in yesterday’s NY Times covers the films unique method of animation, which is paradoxically hand-drawn using special computers. Woah. One could think of it as a sort of “Green Animation.” Very nifty.

“In its own quirky fashion, Ackerley’s wry valentine to his beloved pet is as much a book about the difficult art of living and loving as it is a dog story.”
— Publishers Weekly

Here’s the schedule for the film’s nationwide roll-out:
Film Forum, New York City, September 1
Ritz at the Bourse, Philadelphia, October 1
Kendall Square Cinema, Boston, October 15
Embarcadero Center Cinema, San Francisco, October 15
Shattuck Cinema, Berkeley, October 15
Nuart Theatre, Los Angeles, October 22
Ken Cinema, San Diego November 5
Varsity Theatre, Seattle, November 5
E Street Cinema, Washington DC, November 5
Chez Artiste, Denver, November 12

-David

OK, if you have money to burn, these book clutches from Kate Spade are pretty cute.  But if not, why not simply clutch a book instead?  We’ve got Great Expectations, The Importance of Being Earnest, and even some new fabulous covers to complement your outfit.  Some of my personal favorites are Shanghai Girls and The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo.  Sure, you can’t keep your lipstick in them, but they are a bit more useful when you are stuck on the bus (and quite a bit cheaper).

DATE:Tuesday, August 17th

TIME: 3:00pm – 4:00pm EST

Everyone loves the September 1 Fall Announcements issue from LJ, but what if those pages could talk to you? Register for the Fall Book Buzz 2010 and you’ll find out about read-alikes and new series titles, get tidbits about new authors and old favorites, and maybe even get the chance to win a galley giveaway or two!

REGISTER FOR THIS FREE WEBCAST TODAY AT www.libraryjournal.com/FallBookBuzz2010

PANELISTS
Katelynn Knutson, Marketing Associate, Greenleaf Book Group
Virginia Stanley, Director of Library Marketing, HarperCollins Publishers
Erica Melnichok, Associate Marketing Manager, Random House
Michael Rockliff, Director, Library Sales and Marketing, Workman/Algonquin

MODERATOR
Anna Katterjohn, Book Review editor, Library Journal

If you haven’t yet read The 19th Wife, you’d better get on it. Historical fiction fans will especially love it! Read my review of the book in a past issue of our Random Revelations newsletter here.

-Marie

August 5th, 2010, Los Angeles, CA – Radical Publishing is proud to announce that Disney has acquired the film adaptation of OBLIVION, based on Radical Publishing’s illustrated novel created by Tron: Legacy director, Joseph Kosinski, written by Rex Mundi creator, Arvid Nelson, and with illustrations by Andrée Wallin. OBLIVION will be directed by Joseph Kosinki and will be produced by Radical’s President and Publisher, Barry Levine, and Kosinski. Radical Studios’ Executive Vice President Jesse Berger is signed on as Executive Producer. Kosinki is repped by Verve and Anonymous Content while Radical is repped by CAA and David Schiff.

In a future where the Earth’s surface has been irradiated beyond recognition, the remnants of humanity live above the clouds, safe from the brutal alien Scavengers that stalk the ruins. But when surface drone repairman Jak discovers a mysterious woman in a crash-landed pod, it sets off an unstoppable chain of events that will force him to question everything he knows.

“We’re thrilled to partner with Joe Kosinski on OBLIVION,” said Barry Levine, president of Radical Pictures.  “Joe is one of the most creative forces in filmmaking today.  From the moment he teamed with Radical to produce the book and film, he had such a clear vision of the OBLIVION landscape and universe.  Add to that Joe’s successful partnership with Disney on Tron: Legacy, and you have all the ingredients for a phenomenal action/adventure film.”

OBLIVION, the 128-page illustrated novel, will be released in Summer 2011 and will feature prose, combined with over 40 fully painted landscape renderings. OBLIVION will be distributed worldwide through Random House.

The dialogue is witty (at times hilarious) and sharp, the characterization pitch-perfect and the plot all-too-familiar as Nicholls addresses the idea that life is fluid – full of ever-changing currents that ebb and flow within friendship, career, romance and everything inbetween. Sorry for the bad generalization there. Simply put, this book is a delightful yet simultaneously moving read and the British pop culture references captured this Anglophile’s heart. Thank you, Mr. Nicholls, for including many references to rocket. You made me feel so cultured and “in-the-know.”

Random House loved this book so much they gave all of us two copies – one to keep and one to share. I would love to share my extra copy with one of you. Comment below for your chance to win!

-Marie

Sam Raimi, the director of “Evil Dead,” et al. has taken an interest in the movie project “Earp: Saints for Sinners” based on the graphic novel of the same name published by Radical. “Earp” reimagines its gunslinging title character (Wyatt, that is) and his brothers, along with his comrade-in-spurs Doc Holliday, in a whole new environment–the Future–where everything is ravaged and pretty much the only city left standing is Las Vegas.  (Read the full story on Hollywood Reporter.)

I’m excited to see what Raimi can do with this one. Radical is great at coming up with borderline-crazy “what if” scenarios that can easily turn into films. Another being looked at is “Oblivion,” which was actually written by “Tron Legacy” director Joseph Kosinski.

-David