New to The New York Times Best Sellers 9/21/14

Seven titles made their debut on The New York Times Best Sellers: Hardcover Fiction list this weekend 9/21/14, six of them are the next installments in on-going, popular series. (To place a hold on any book, click it's book cover. For more information about each book, scroll down.)

Personal by Lee Child: (Mystery/Suspense)

Jack Reacher finds himself working for the State Department and the CIA to track down the American sniper who took a shot at the president of France and is possibly targeting the G-8 summit packed with world leaders. (Book 19 in the Jack Reacher Series; start with The Killing Floor)

Somewhere Safe with Somebody Good by Jan Karon: (Christian Fiction)

While Father Tim Kavanagh struggles with ambivalence about returning to the pulpit in Mitford, his adopted son, Dooley, falls passionately in love with an aspiring veterinarian against the backdrop of a mayoral reelection campaign and the opening of a new cafe. (Book 10 in the Mitford Years series; start with At Home in Mitford)

The Bone Clocks by David Mitchell: (Science Fiction)

Interweaves six narratives spanning the period between 1984 and the 2030s to chronicle a secret war between a cult of soul-decanters and a small group of vigilantes who would take them down.

The Secret Place by Tana French: (Mystery)

Investigating a photograph of a boy whose murder was never solved, aspiring Murder Squad member Stephen Moran partners with detective Antoinette Conway to search for answers in the cliques and rivalries at a Dublin boarding school. (Book 5 in the Dublin Murder Squad mysteries; start with In the Woods)

The Eye of Heaven by Clive Cussler and Russell Blake: (Adventure/Suspense)

Discovering an artifact-filled, perfectly preserved Viking ship in the ice during an Arctic expedition, Sami and Remi Fargo investigate a legend about a fabled Toltec object, only to be targeted by treasure hunters and crime cartels. (Book 6 in the Fargo Adventure series; start with Spartan Gold)

Dark Blood by Christine Feehan: (Paranormal Romance)

An elite werewolf killer, Zev Hunter, begins to question both his past and his purpose after he is nursed back to consciousness by a member of the Dragonseeker clan. (Book 26 in the Dark series; start with Dark Prince)

Son of No One by Sherrilyn Kenyon: (Paranormal Romance)

Skeptic photographer Josette reluctantly takes employment with a paranormal group before being drawn to condemned immortal Cadegan, whose inner demon is determined to consume Josette's soul. (Book 24 in the Dark-Hunter series; start with Fantasy Lover)

The New York Times Best Sellers - September 14, 2014

Seven books made their debut on the New York Times Best Seller List this week (click here for the full list of combined print and e-book fiction.) Click the book cover below to reserve your copy today:

The Long Way Home by Louise Penny: Enjoying a peaceful retirement, former Quebec homicide detective Armand Gamache reluctantly agrees to help a neighbor search for her missing estranged husband and teams up with two former colleagues on a search that reveals the workings of a damaged mind.

The Homecoming by Robyn Carr: When Seth, whose professional football career ended before it could start, returns to Thunder Point, he struggles to convince his childhood neighbor and best friend Iris to forgive him for breaking her heart.

Private Down Under by James Patterson and Michael White: The employees of the Sydney, Australia office of the investigation company Private are celebrating their branch's incorporation when a bloody young man staggers into the office and the agency's caseload suddenly fills up, in the latest novel of the series following Private Berlin.

The Hot Zone by Jayne Castle: Trying to move on from her tragic past, Sedona Snow—while managing a small hotel and tavern, filled with rowdy ghost hunters, on Rainshadow Island with her faithful sidekick, Lyle—catches the attention of a new Guild boss in town who has special plans for her.

The Broken Eye by Brent Weeks: Kip, Teia and Karris fight to survive a secret war between the nobles, rebels and an ancient order of stealthy assassins in the latest addition to the New York Times best-selling series following The Blinding Knife.

Close to Home by Lisa Jackson: Single mother Sarah McAdams' attempt to raise her two teen daughters in her childhood home turns terrifying when the dilapidated mansion is rumored to be haunted and teenage girls begin disappearing around town.

No Limits by Lori Foster: Yvette Sweeny faces unexpected danger when her grandfather's will compells her to return to her hometown, and to share a house and business with Cannon Colter, the mixed martial arts fighter who saved her life three years earlier.

Best opening lines

Check out this article from Stylist magazine on the best 100 opening lines, taken from 100 classic novels.  From Pride and Prejudice ("It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune must be in want of a wife") and Moby Dick ("Call me Ishmael") to The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy ("Far out in the uncharted backwaters of the unfashionable end of the Western Spiral arm of the Galaxy lies a small, unregarded yellow sun.") and Eat, Pray, Love ("I wish Giovanni would kiss me") these books start with a flourish and end with millions of satisfied readers.

Judging books by their covers

Did you know that the same book often gets a different cover when it's marketed in a different country?  This article from The Millions compares the British and American covers of eleven famous books, including the bestselling The Sense of an Ending, The Marriage Plot, The Art of Fielding, State of Wonder, and 1Q84.  So how important is cover art to you?  Comments welcome!

Film versions of 5 bestselling books are 2012 Oscar nominees

 

Five of the books on the Publishers' Weekly bestseller list have film versions that have been nominated for the 2012 Academy Awards.  Winners will be announced tomorrow (Sunday, February 26).  The nominees (in no particular order) are:

• Girl with the Dragon Tattoo - Forty years after the disappearance of Harriet Vanger from the secluded island owned and inhabited by the powerful Vanger family, her octogenarian uncle hires journalist Mikael Blomqvist and Lisbeth Salander, an unconventional young hacker, to investigate.
• Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy - British agent George Smiley ferrets out a mole in the Secret Service and begins his epic game of international chess with his Soviet counterpart, an agent named Karla.
• Moneyball - Tells how the Oakland Athletics general manager, Billy Beane, tried to use statistics to find better players without resorting to the larger budgets big-market teams were able to employ.
• The Help - Aibileen is a black maid in 1962 Jackson, Mississippi, raising her seventeenth white child. She eventually writes a tell-all book about what it's really like to work as a black maid in the white homes of the South with a grown white child she has raised and another black maid.
• Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close - Oskar Schell, the nine-year-old son of a man killed in the World Trade Center attacks, searches the five boroughs of New York City for a lock that fits a black key his father left behind.

Check out the bestselling books that inspired these Oscar-nominated films at your Community Library!

Grisham's 'Firm' on NBC

NBC is launching a new drama starring Josh Lucas based on John Grisham's bestselling 1991 legal thriller The Firm.  More of a sequel than a retelling, the TV series picks up years after main character Mitch McDeere breaks free from his former employer, a mob-controlled law firm.  Visit this article from Entertainment Weekly's "Inside TV" for trailers from the new show.

New 'In Death' Novel

Can't get enough of J.D. Robb's "In Death" series?  Then you probably know that the newest book in the series, New York to Dallas, has just come out, immediately jumping to second place on the New York Times bestseller list (superceded only by Kathryn Stockett's ever-popular book The Help).  In this newest series installment, Lt. Eve Dallas is pursued by a revenge-obsessed child molester whom she had sent to prison early in her career.  New York to Dallas is the 33rd book in this wildly popular series of thrillers; the complete and chronologically ordered list of titles is available here.

The Power of Self Control

A relative newcomer on the New York Times bestseller list is Willpower, a nonfictional book that helps readers achieve their goals through the power of self-control.  The publisher describes this book as: "A forefront psychologist and a New York Times science writer draw on a landmark study linking will power to glucose levels, identifying the pivotal roles of healthy eating and sleeping in achieving personal goals while outlining strategic recommendations for establishing self-control habits."  Interested?  Reserve a copy today!

Bestselling Book-to-Movie Adaptations of All Time

For many, summertime is movietime, but between trips to the movie theater, why not check out one of the five bestselling books that have been turned into movies? The Telegraph reports on these five titles.

New at your library: Bestselling impulse checkouts

In a hurry? Just stopping in to pick up a hold? The next time you come to your community library, consider borrowing an impulse item, conveniently located in the check-out line. In this spot, your community library offers multiple copies of both magazines and bestselling books such as Stieg Larsson's Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest, Tom Clancy's Dead or Alive, Clive Cussler's Crescent Dawn, and David Baldacci's Hell's Corner. Additional bestsellers are located on the tops of the New Book section shelves,and include John Grisham's The Confession, Brandon Sanderson's Towers of Midnight, Sarah Palin's America by Heart, and the posthumously published Autobiography of Mark Twain.

New Arrival on the NYT Bestseller List

In its very first week on the New York Times bestseller list, Patricia Cornwell's newly released Port Mortuary has taken first place. The book is the 18th in the popular Kay Scarpetta series and features the mysterious death of a young man and the trouble it causes for Kay and her new forensic center in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Newcomers to the series should start with book 1, Postmortem, which also holds the honor of being the first novel ever to win the Edgar, Creasey, Anthony, Macavity, and French Prix du Roman d'Adventure awards in one year.

Revisiting Harry Potter

The newest Harry Potter movie, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part 1 continued the blockbuster tradition of the franchise by grossing $125.1 million during its opening this past weekend. All this hype has renewed interest in the books that preceded the movies. In case you missed the books or want to see what the fuss is about, here is the complete seven-book Harry Potter series, in order:


1: The Sorcerer's Stone
2: The Chamber of Secrets
3: The Prisoner of Azkaban
4: The Goblet of Fire
5: The Order of the Phoenix
6: The Half Blood Prince
7: The Deathly Hallows

Harry Potter fans can also enjoy books that are supplemental to the series, such as The Tales of Beedle the Bard or Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, and don't forget that Mastics-Moriches-Shirley Community Library also has the movies, audio recordings, and video games inspired by these bestsellers.

I Hope They Serve Beer in Hell

This morning, local radio station 106.1 WBLI interviewed Max Tucker, a self-proclaimed playboy and author of I Hope They Serve Beer in Hell. This former bestseller shares the carefree experiences of the author, who, according to the publisher's book description, takes pride in being "socially inappropriate and sexually irresponsible." The book has been made into a movie which just came out on DVD, and is also available to Mastics-Moriches-Shirley Library patrons in ebook format.

An Ocean of Stories

This morning, NPR reviewed the newly-published biography telling the story of an usually capricious, sometimes dangerous, but always beautiful entity: the Atlantic Ocean. In his new book Atlantic: Great Sea Battles, Heroic Discoveries, Titanic Storms and a Vast Ocean of a Million Stories, bestselling author Simon Winchester blends history and anecdote, geography and reminiscence, and science and exposition to relate the saga of the Atlantic Ocean. Mastics-Moriches-Shirley Library's copy of this book has just arrived on the shelf in the New Books section: be the first to check it out!

And if this book sparks your interest, you might also want to try the nonfictional work Deep Atlantic: Life, Death, and Exploration in the Abyss, or Buried at Sea, the fast-paced fictional account of a young man whose enigmatic employer leads him into a dangerous chase across the length and breadth of the mighty Atlantic Ocean.

Non-Spooky Ghost Stories

Who says that Halloween reading needs to be frightening and gory? Here are two former bestsellers narrated by the recently-departed, exploring the often taboo topics of death and the afterlife with curiosity and compassion.

The Lovely Bones (2002) by Alice Sebold

The spirit of fourteen-year-old Susie Salmon describes her murder, her surprise at her new home in heaven, and her witness to her family's grief, efforts to find the killer, and attempts to come to terms with what has happened.

The Peony Pavilion (2007) by Lisa See

Peony, the cloistered daughter of a wealthy scholar in seventeenth-century China, returns after her death as a well-meaning ghost to haunt her former fiancé, who has married another.