GalleyCat Reviews

We’ve collected the books debuting on Indiebound’s Indie Bestseller List for the week ending April 22, 2012–a sneak peek at the books everybody will be talking about next month.

(Debuted at #3 in Hardcover Fiction) The Innocent by David Baldacci: “America has enemies–ruthless people that the police, the FBI, even the military can’t stop. That’s when the U.S. government calls on Will Robie, a stone cold hitman who never questions orders and always nails his target.
But Will Robie may have just made the first–and last–mistake of his career…” (April 2012)

(Debuted at #4 in Hardcover Nonfiction) Let’s Pretend This Never Happened by Jenny Lawson: ”For fans of Tina Fey and David Sedaris—Internet star Jenny Lawson, aka The Bloggess, makes her literary debut. Jenny Lawson realized that the most mortifying moments of our lives—the ones we’d like to pretend never happened—are in fact the ones that define us.” (April 2012)

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Here are some handpicked titles from our New Books section. Want to include your book? Just read our Facebook Your New or Upcoming Book post. Don’t forget to include your title’s exact release date and a link.

Vamplayers by Rusty Fischer: “When Lily and her two Sisters, Alice and Cara, are called out to their latest assignment, she figures it’s just another run-of-the-mill gig: spot the Vamplayer (part vampire, part player), identify the predictably hot, trampy girl he’s set his eyes on, and befriend her before the Vamplayer can turn her to do his bidding.” (February 2012)

Whole Latte Life by Joanne DeMaio: ”Sara Beth Riley never dreamt she’d walk straight out of her life. Actually she’d never dreamt a lot of things that had happened this year … From being kidnapped by her own best friend, to throwing her wedding rings into the Hudson River, to calling an old love in France, to getting inked with said best friend, painting the passionate constellation of these choices into permanence. But mostly, she could never have dreamt what started it all. How could it be that her mother’s unexpected death, and the grief which lingered painfully long, turned her into the woman she was finally meant to become?” (March 2012)

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We’ve collected the books debuting on Indiebound’s Indie Bestseller List for the week ending April 15, 2012–a sneak peek at the books everybody will be talking about next month.

(Debuted at #1 in Hardcover Fiction) Calico Joe by John Grisham: ”In the summer of 1973 Joe Castle was the boy wonder of baseball, the greatest rookie anyone had ever seen.  The kid from Calico Rock, Arkansas dazzled Cub fans as he hit home run after home run, politely tipping his hat to the crowd as he shattered all rookie records. Calico Joe quickly became the idol of every baseball fan in America, including Paul Tracey, the young son of a hard-partying and hard-throwing Mets pitcher.” (April 2012)

(Debuted at #10 in Hardcover Nonfiction) A Natural Woman by Carole King: “A memoir by the iconic singer-songwriter chronicling her story from her beginnings in Brooklyn through her remarkable success as one of the world’s most acclaimed musical talents, to her present day as a leading performer and activist.” (April 2012)

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Here are some handpicked titles from our New Books section. Want to include your book? Just read our Facebook Your New or Upcoming Book post. Don’t forget to include your title’s exact release date and a link.

The Chronicles of Copper Boom: Party Overkill by Tara O’Donnel: “When Kingston Cobre needed a safe hideout from the cops,a rich kid’s birthday bash was last on his list. Lucky for him,a demand for entertainment and his reptilian looks got him an instant invite. That good luck didn’t last long as he wasn’t the only guest with a hidden agenda and special powers…The Chronicles of Copper Boom shows how thin the line is between being a superhero or villain.” (April 2012)

Extra Innings by Bruce E. Spitzer: “The novel resonates with the consequences of the major issues we face in our world today — the steroids debate in sports, global warming and flooding (Fenway is now an island), corporate greed, technology run rampart and the moral ambiguity of war. Most of all, this novel is about second chances and redemption, triumphing over adversity, and the search for meaning in this life and the next. Flawed in his first life, Williams must decide in the second, what’s more important, a chance to win his first World Series, or a chance to be a better man?”

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We’ve collected the books debuting on Indiebound’s Indie Bestseller List for the week ending April 12, 2012–a sneak peek at the books everybody will be talking about next month.

(Debuted at #1 in Hardcover Fiction) Sacré Bleu by Christopher Moore: “ In July 1890, Vincent van Gogh went into a cornfield and shot himself. Or did he? Why would an artist at the height of his creative powers attempt to take his own life . . . and then walk a mile to a doctor’s house for help? Who was the crooked little “color man” Vincent had claimed was stalking him across France?” (April 2012)

(Debuted at #1 in Paperback Fiction) Fifty Shades of Grey by E.L. James: “When literature student Anastasia Steele goes to interview young entrepreneur Christian Grey, she encounters a man who is beautiful, brilliant, and intimidating. The unworldly, innocent Ana is startled to realize she wants this man and, despite his enigmatic reserve, finds she is desperate to get close to him. Unable to resist Ana’s quiet beauty, wit, and independent spirit, Grey admits he wants her, too—but on his own terms.”

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This GalleyCat editor loves playing the Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon Game, connecting celebrities to actor Kevin Bacon in six connections or fewer. Would the same game work in the 21st Century literary world?

On the Morning Media Menu today, cultural critic Mark Dery (pictured) talked about his new collection of essays, I Must Not Think Bad Thoughts. While pondering Christian comic creator Jack Chick and YouTube trends, Dery also outlined a version of the Bacon game that could be played with New York Times book critic Michiko Kakutani.

Check it out: “The fact that the reviewer is instantly known to the reviewed creates a very odd kind of interaction. The tendrils of social media reach out rhizomatically and seem to connect everybody to everybody. We’re all in the Kevin Bacon game at this point–you know, seven degrees of Michiko Kakutani. Consequently, everybody who reviews you is a friend of a friend of a friend on Facebook or you retweeted them on Twitter or you rubbed elbows with them somehow in cyberspace. And that makes for peculiar social dance.”

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Here are some handpicked titles from our New Books section. Want to include your book? Just read our Facebook Your New or Upcoming Book post. Don’t forget to include your title’s exact release date and a link.

Gospel Hollow by Jesse Jordan: “One evening in 1995, Tommy Hull’s mother put him to bed, kissed him goodnight, and walked downstairs. She has not been seen since. Now a twenty-six-year-old bartender self-medicating his debilitating panic attacks with booze and Xanax, Tommy thinks he may have found a way to discover what happened to her. But to do so he’ll have to gather together the violent, damaged men of his past for one night and force from them the truth he believes lies hidden within.” (April 2012)

Sikander by Salahuddin Khan: ”It’s 1986. Seventeen-year-old Sikander dreams of studying and living in America. But enraged after a father-and-son confrontation over an unintended indiscretion about the family, he feels compelled to leave his comfortable Peshawar, Pakistan home. He soon encounters Afghan mujahideen fighters who persuade him to join their struggle against the occupying Soviets.” (April 2012)

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You can read all the online book reviews in the world, but nothing beats real-world conversations between readers, and authors. You can share your work at the third West Coast edition of the Mediabistro Book Club on July 18th in Los Angeles.

If you are an author or publicist looking to participate, you can follow this link to apply. The deadline is May 18, 2012 at 11:59 PM (PT). If you are a reader, mark your calendar–the next installment of our free book club will feature four authors from different genres, tons of book giveaways and plenty of practical conversation. The location will be announced soon.

Check it out: “Mediabistro.com is proud to announce the July mediabistro book club, where authors can highlight their latest work to mediabistro party attendees. At the event, four authors will mingle and share drinks with mediabistro.com’s influential audience and read a five minute selection from their work. To be considered, submit your application by May 18. You will be notified of your acceptance one month prior to the party.”

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We’ve collected the books debuting on Indiebound’s Indie Bestseller List for the week ending April 05, 2012–a sneak peek at the books everybody will be talking about next month.

(Debuted at #1 in Hardcover Fiction) Elegy for Eddie: A Maisie Dobbs Novel by Jacqueline Winspear: “Maisie Dobbs takes on her most personal case yet, a twisting investigation into the brutal killing of a street peddler that will take her from the working-class neighborhoods of her childhood into London’s highest circles of power.” (March 2012)

(Debuted at #1 in Hardcover Nonfiction) Drift: The Unmooring of American Military Power by Rachel Maddow: “Sensible yet provocative, dead serious yet seri­ously funny, Drift will reinvigorate a ‘loud and jangly’ political debate about how, when, and where to apply America’s strength and power–and who gets to make those decisions.” (March 2012)

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We’ve collected the books debuting on Indiebound’s Indie Bestseller List for the week ending March 25, 2012–a sneak peek at the books everybody will be talking about next month.

(Debuted at #1 in Hardcover Nonfiction) Imagine: How Creativity Works by Jonah Lehrer: “From the bestselling author of How We Decide comes a sparkling and revelatory look at the new science of creativity. Shattering the myth of muses, higher powers, even creative ‘types,’ Jonah Lehrer demonstrates that creativity is not a single ‘gift’ possessed by the lucky few. It’s a variety of distinct thought processes that we can all learn to use more effectively.” (March 2012)

(Debuted at #3 in Hardcover Fiction) Stay Close by Harlan Coben: “Megan is a suburban soccer mom who once upon a time walked on the wild side. Now she’s got two kids, a perfect husband, a picket fence, and a growing sense of dissatisfaction. Ray used to be a talented documentary photographer, but at age forty he finds himself in a dead- end job posing as a paparazzo pandering to celebrity-obsessed rich kids. Jack is a detective who can’t let go of a cold case-a local husband and father disappeared seventeen years ago, and Jack spends the anniversary every year visiting a house frozen in time, the missing man’s family still waiting, his slippers left by the recliner as if he might show up any moment to step into them.” (March 2012)

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