New & Upcoming

Abrams will release The Oprah Winfrey Show: Reflections on an American Legacy on November 15th. According to Publishers Weekly, an initial printing of 500,000 copies has been ordered.

Here’s more from the release: “The book chronicles the full 25 years of ‘The Oprah Winfrey Show’ with unforgettable highlights and images, as well as essays about its indelible impact and most important themes by well-known individuals across a wide variety of areas and interests.”

Nonfiction writer Deborah Davis will write the narrative text. The book will feature a forward by poet Maya Angelou and essays by Pulitzer winner Toni Morrison and Nobel laureate Elie Wiesel. All three of these authors were featured in Oprah’s book club.

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Novelist Jodi Picoult has finished editing Between the Lines, a YA novel she co-wrote with her daughter. Publication has been set for June 2012.

Here’s more from Picoult’s Facebook announcement: “Color me happy! My daughter Sammy and I JUST finished editing the young teen chapter book we co-wrote, BETWEEN THE LINES … it’s about a prince who wants to break free from his fairytale existence … and the girl who falls for him while she’s reading. It’s sweet and romantic and funny — and to celebrate, we’re going out for ribs!!”

According to The Book Case, the mother-daughter duo will tour to promote the title. Picoult is not the first writer to partner with her daughter on a writing project.

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The Millions collected a list of 66 highly anticipated new titles coming out in the second half of 2011. The listed included George R.R. Martin with A Dance with Dragons in July, Haruki Murakami with 1Q84 in October and Stephen King with 11/22/63 in November.

Here’s more from the article: “But, even as fans look forward to books from these favorites, there will undoubtedly be many new discoveries in the coming months as well, some of which, hopefully, we can introduce you to today. The list that follows isn’t exhaustive — no list could be — but these are some of the books we’re looking forward to.”

The list excluded forthcoming children’s and YA books. In the coming months we will see Every Thing On It by Shel Silverstein (September), The Son of Neptune by Rick Riordan (October)  and Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Cabin Fever by Jeff Kinney (November). What titles are you looking forward to in the second half of 2011?

Author Neil Gaiman hopes to write a sequel to his novel, American Gods. According to an interview with MTV News, the novelist has a “boxful of stuff” he would include in the sequel.

Gaiman explained: “The first book was very much about the grifters and the lowlifes, and you don’t really get to see much of the new gods and you don’t really get a sense of those gods who are doing incredibly well in America. In the second book, I definitely want to go into both of those things.”

Gaiman (pictured, via) released the 10th anniversary edition of American Gods on June 21st. This edition (the author’s preferred text version) contains 12,000 additional words–expanded chapters, essays and interviews.

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Bibliophiles and film fanatics can look forward to a plethora of book-and-documentary projects. Simon & Schuster announced that rock artist Pearl Jam has signed a deal with them; the illustrated self-portrait, Pearl Jam Twenty, will be released in September.

Here’s more from the press release: “Published and in celebration of Pearl Jam’s twentieth anniversary and in conjunction with Cameron Crowe‘s definitive documentary film and soundtrack of the same name, Pearl Jam Twenty is an aesthetically stunning and definitive chronicle of their two decades as a band.”

The video embedded above features the trailer for HBO’s Bobby Fischer Against The World. We reported earlier on the books Bobby Fischer and Living in the Material World: George Harrison; the accompanying films will be available later this year.

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Filmmaker Kevin Smith will partner with AMC to create a reality television series set in Smith’s comic book shop, The Secret Stash. Smith enjoys reading comic books and graphic novels and usually hosts a panel at San Diego Comic Con every year.

A three-day shoot will take place from June 14th to June 16th at the Red Bank, New Jersey shop. The director is casting comic lovers from the New York tri-state area between the ages of twenty-one to thirty-five.

Here’s more from the Facebook announcement: “He’s [Smith] not looking for actors, he’s looking for real people who live and breath the comic book lifestyle. Must be funny outgoing and have a knowledge and passion for comics, superheroes, movie memorabilia and everything that goes with it.” (via Shelf Awareness)

HarperCollins will posthumously publish Micro by Michael Crichton in November. Prior to his passing in 2008, Crichton (pictured, via) had written about one-third of the book.

According to USA Today, nonfiction writer Richard Preston finished remaining two-thirds of the manuscript. Preston consulted Crichton’s outline, reference materials, and notes to complete the novel.

Preston explained: “For me, it was an irresistible challenge to finish the novel, and I was driven by a desire to honor the work and imagination of one of our time’s most visionary and creative authors.” (via Publishers Weekly)

Bestselling author Suzanne Collins (pictured, via) is writing a new picture book. According to The New York Times, the untitled project will be her “most autobiographical work to date,” using  family members’ names and illustrations inspired by family photos.

This new project will focus on war, a theme present in her two series, The Underland Chronicles and The Hunger Games. Collins’ grandfather, uncle, and father all served in military careers, and the novelist will write about war for teenage audiences.

Collins explained: “I specifically want to do this book, one as a sort of memory piece kind of honoring that year for my family, and two, because I know so many children are experiencing it right now — having deployed parents. And it’s a way I would like to try and communicate my own experience to them.”

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Richelle Mead (pictured, via) wrote theVampire Academy series about two supernatural best friends.

The series concluded last year with Last Sacrifice. GalleyCat has learned more exclusive details about Bloodlines, the forthcoming Vampire Academy spin-off series.

Q: What characteristics of the Vampire Academy series will be retained in the spin-off, Bloodlines?
A: We’re essentially keeping the same paranormal world, so we’ll have all the same creatures and rules that we know from the first series—along with many of the same characters. And even though the narrator has a different style from Rose [Hathaway], many of the things readers know from my writing will be there: humor, lots of emotion, and those dreaded cliffhangers!

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Novelist Stephen King has finished a new installment in his Dark Tower series. Entitled The Dark Tower: The Wind Through the Keyhole, the book will be published next year.

King (pictured, via) conceived the genre-bending fantasy series when he was 19-years-old. Over the course of his career, King has published seven books and a short story about the fantasy world.

The novelist explained the new book on his blog: “I realized there was at least one hole in the narrative progression: what happened to Roland, Jake, Eddie, Susannah, and Oy between the time they leave the Emerald City (the end of Wizard and Glass) and the time we pick them up again, on the outskirts of Calla Bryn Sturgis (the beginning of Wolves of the Calla)? … It won’t tell you much that’s new about Roland and his friends, but there’s a lot none of us knew about Mid-World, both past and present. The novel is shorter than DT 2-7, but quite a bit longer than the first volume—call this one DT-4.5. It’s not going to change anybody’s life, but God, I had fun.” (Via Matt Staggs)