Unshelved readers, welcome to the blog! And if you’re here independently, that might be even better. The Library Services team here at Random House has chosen 4 books from our Fall 2010 Adult List which we think you absolutely must be aware of (and of which you–or your library’s automatic-buy system–may not be already aware).

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

Join Erica tomorrow as she represents Random House during Library Journal’s Webcast Book Buzz!

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

Last night, during the spin cycle at my neighborhood laundromat, I plopped myself down on the stoop outside to enjoy the summer evening air and finished David Nicholl’s acclaimed novel, One Day. The story of the friendship of Dexter Mayhew and Emma Morley (”Dex and Em, Em and Dex”) the book provides snapshots of them from the late 1980’s to 2000’s on July 15th of each year. In alternating perspective, the reader is able to be a fly on the wall as the pair navigate their twenties and thirties, the highs and the lows, both together and apart.

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

So I just finished two weeks of grand jury duty where I spent my workdays sitting in a room with 22 other people hearing mutliple cases and voting on whether to indict the defendants. A case would come, we’d vote, and then we’d wait for another. Sometimes the wait time was 20 minutes and sometimes it was two hours. This means I had a lot of time to read so of course I flew through some wonderful books!

I started by finishing the last few chapters of Revolution by Jennifer Donnelly. Out in October from Random House Children’s this engrossing historical read combines the story of a troubled teen growing up in contemporary Brooklyn with that of a rebellious young woman living during the French Reniassance.

Next came Dracula in Love, a staff favorite and an alternate take on Bram Stoker’s classic from the point of view of his love interest, Mina Murray. It has been heralded as Twilight for grown-ups and I agree!

After Dracula I tried a non-Random House title, Matched, which is the newest in dystopian YA fiction and would definitely appeal to fans of The Hunger Games.

From there I did a little more cheating and buried my nose in two titles I’d been told to read for a while now: The Shadow of the Wind and The Help. Both were excellent reads.

Now it is back to the grind and while I find I very much enjoyed all my reading time, I’m glad to be back amongst my wonderful colleagues. What have you all been reading lately?

-Marie

Hot off the press and the ALA conference, our newly updated One Book, One Community catalog highlights the Random House, Inc. titles we think are the best bets for your community programs! 

For help planning your One Book, One Community program contact us at library@randomhouse.com.  We can answer questions about author availability, quantity discounts, and provide additional information about our titles, as well as preview copies.

To request a printed copy of our catalog, send your address to library@randomhouse.com and we’ll send one right out to you!

Bloomwood fans rejoice!

Becky is back… this September!

I know you all already have this one on your lists but I figured I’d pop in and let you know how much I’m enjoying Sophie Kinsella’s latest Becky adventure, Mini Shopaholic. Here’s a little teaser for you: Minnie, the bundle of joy who made her appearance at the end of Shopaholic & Baby is now a terrible two. And her favorite word, of course… “MINE!”

Becky and Luke are still living with Becky’s Mum and Dad and a very timely financial crisis has struck the nation and threatened to put the brakes on Becky’s little habit…

Once again, I wish I were Sophie Kinsella. It must be so fun to write these books.

-Marie

The rest of the gang is away at BEA so I thought I’d say a quick “hello” and share with you a great book I’ve recently read.

Lisa Grunwald’s new novel, The Irresistible Henry House began with a barebottomed baby.  Says Grunwald of coming across Joan’s photo: “I clicked on the photograph and read that he had been a “practice baby,” an infant supplied by a local orphanage to Cornell’s home economics ‘practice house,’ where college students learned home-making, complete with a live baby…” Turns out the first baby in the Cornell University program was Joan Domecon (for Domestic Economics) who lived in the practice house for one year in 1919.

What must it have been like for these babies? And who did they turn out to be?  These types of questions inspired Henry House, the title character who has had a way with the ladies his entire life. (I could practically see the dough eyes and gorgeous smile myself.) Brought into a university “practice house” at just a few months old, he is placed in the care of Martha Gaines, a no-nonsense expert who has been doing this for a long time thankyouverymuch. In the hey day of Dr. Spock and his childcare revolution, Martha struggles with her own maternal instincts while instructing her students not to spoil the baby. Eventually Henry becomes the one practice baby to stay.

The reader follows Henry through his odd childhood and into an adolescence filled with grim realizations and burning questions. Grunwald accurately captures the inner turmoil of resentment mixed with love and forges ahead as Henry attempts to reconcile his own complicated identity. Add to this a background that involves Disney’s California, a very Sixties New York, and the Beatles’ London and the result is a delightful mixture of fact and fiction, character and place. Grunwald seems to have hit a topical gold mine (I wanted to Google “practice baby” late into the night!) and fleshed it out with just the right amount of  psychology, history, and narrative. Bravo!

If you do not yet have this on your shelves you must get it! Be sure to point your patrons in the direction of the baby photo in the back. You’re sure to hook a few that way!

-Marie

No doubt your younger patrons are anxiously awaiting their impending summer freedom and are chomping at the bit for some great reads, bounding up to your reference desk with eyes full of anticipation.

Or not.

Whether you are met with more reluctance than voraciousness at your branch, you are all surely in need of some great books to recommend.

Enter Random House Academic’s new 12 Best Bets For Summer Reading brochure and Summer Reading webpage. Both resources are chock full of the newest graphic novels, adventures, could-be classics, and biographies… a collection your kids will dig. The Summer Reading webpage also features free teacher’s guides, articles for professional development, links to lesson plans, author biographies, and an educational calendar marking key anniversaries with teachable book suggestions.

Dear Oh-So-Helpful Librarians!

First of all, thank you so much for all of your great suggestions. I’d never heard of many of the books and they certainly gave me food for thought. I’m sure you have all been unable to sleep and on the edge of your seats waiting to find out which book I ended up picking up. Turns out I found a recent Random House release on my shelf that sparked my fancy, though I am almost certain a blog suggestion will be next on the list. That book is… drumroll please…

The Wives of Henry Oades by Johanna Moran. Based on newspaper article, it is the story of a British family that has relocated to New Zealand where,  mother, Margaret, and the four children are kidnapped by native Maori. Presuming them all lost for good, father, Henry, picks up the pieces and moves to Berkeley, California (home of my alma mater!) where he meets and marries a young widowed mother, Nancy. Then Margaret and the children surface and turn up on the new couple’s doorstep…

I must say I’m really liking this one so far. It is a quick, engrossing read and I’m fascinated by the link to true events.  I received many suggestions via comments on the blog post and on Facebook. This is proof positive of what I have long believed to be true: who better to turn to when you don’t know what to read next than a librarian?

Check out my letter to see what was suggested. You may also find the post here on Facebook! Feel free to add to the growing list! One can never get enough good book recommendations, right?

Many thanks again,

Marie

PS – Want to enter to win a FREE finished copy of The Wives of Henry Oades? Simply sign up for our book group e-newsletter and watch your inbox over the next few days!

Dear Wonderfully Knowledgable Librarian,

Today I come to you with open ears (well, eyes) and an open heart. I have a problem and am in need of your help.

I. am in. a reading. rut.

Tragic, I know.

The books I’ve picked up the last couple of nights just aren’t doing it for me and I’m kind-of, sort-of know what I’m in the mood for but nothing I grab off the shelves satisfies me. Don’t you hate that? So I figured I would lean on you, my one-stop circulation specialist shop, to see what you recommend I delve into next.

Last week I was reading something fairly modern with a mystery twist to it. And it lost me. For now anyway. I want something rooted a bit more in history but not too historical fiction-y (Read – no Tudors, princesses, or queens right now. I love them but they can wait.) Perhaps I want a contemporary classic? I do love coming-of-age stories. Or since we are flirting with Spring here in New York City, maybe I’m in the mood for something light and airy but not too fluffy? It is hard to say.

So, please give me the best you got and I promise I will take all your wonderful suggestions to heart. Also, if you are in the same boat I am, unburden your heart and perhaps someone can throw you a line.

Thanks in advance!

-Marie

PS – Don’t worry about crossing publisher lines. We have been known to cheat a little here. I won’t tell if you won’t!

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