Friday, September 21, 2012

SIBA Recap: Books I'm Excited About Part 1

Like other trade shows, SIBA is a great place to learn about all the new, upcoming titles that are creating a buzz.  You have dinner with authors or you hear them talk on panels, and their stories strike a chord with you.  Another SIBA feature is a rapid-fire presentation from all the publishers reps about their personal favorites.  Then you also stop by the publisher booths, and something catches your eye.  It comes at you from all directions, and it is sometimes more stimulation than a book geek can handle.  I have really REALLY attempted to narrow my own "hot list" down to two posts.    
  
Indiscretion - Charles Dubow (February 2013):  This one was a rep pick from Harper Collins, set in the present day and follows a wealthy and glamorous husband and wife whose idyllic life is upended when they meet an impressionable and ambitious young woman.  It has been described as compelling, engrossing, fun, sexy and sophisticated.  When Dawn from Harper Collins was talking about it, she was flushed!
The Longest Race - Ed Ayres (October 2012):  I'm always looking for inspiration to run just one more mile, and when I stopped by Workman Publishing, this caught my eye.  It is written by a gentleman who has been running competitively for 55 consecutive years, and is his gripping account of an iconic ultra marathon, with insights about running and its connection to human endurance.  
Out of the Easy - Ruta Sepetys (February 2013):  I didn't even need to know what this book was about.  Just having read Sepetys' "Between Shades of Grey" (NOT to be confused with the smarmy trashy crap with a similar name) was enough.  Still, just so you know, this one takes place in 1950, and is about a 17 year-old daughter of a New Orleans hooker who wants to leave the life behind but gets drawn into a murder investigation.
Walking the Amazon - Ed Stafford:  This one was a rep pick by Penguin.  It is an account of the first man to ever walk the entire length of the Amazon river.  It took him 860 days, and required him to outwit dangerous animals and machete-wielding indigenous people, as well as negotiate injuries, weather and his own fears and doubts.
People Who Eat Darkness - Richard Lloyd Parry:  This was a rep pick as well, and is true crime, my favorite!  It was compared to "In Cold Blood" and was described as dark and unputdownable.  It is a story about a 21 year-old woman who stepped out into the vastness of Tokyo and disappeared forever.    

Spillover:  Animal Infections and the Next Human Pandemic - David Quammen (October 2012):  It helped that this was a rep pick from W.W. Norton, but I will never forget reading "The Hot Zone".  This book explores the horrifying truths about diseases that spread from animals to humans.  Sleepless nights ahoy!










Reconstructing Amelia - Kimberly McCreight (April 2013):  Sorry, I couldn't find cover art for this one.  It was a rep pick by Harper Collins that had everyone from this publisher a-flutter.  A working, harried single mother gets a call from her daughter's private school that she has been caught cheating.  But when she arrives at the school, she learns that in fact her daughter is dead because of a spontaneous suicide.  Devastated, the mother attempts to cope, until she receives an anonymous text saying "She didn't jump".  This one is described as a psychological page-turner, and compared to Tana French (CAREFUL!  Few compare!) and Jodi Picoult.



I realize that is a lot to lay on you in one post.  Stay tuned next Friday for more!  





18 comments:

bermudaonion said...

I am out of the loop - most of those books are new to me. I am extremely excited about Out of the Easy!!

Kerry Ann @Vinobaby's Voice said...

Oh, the possibilities! Thanks for giving me some more books to add to my "to read" list.

Ti said...

Your book picks are a little dark! I added that one book about the Amazon to my list.

Natalie~Coffee and a Book Chick said...

I am so sad that I didn't get a chance to see you all at SIBA. I hope next year it works out and work doesn't get in the way!

The Ruta Sepetys book is on my wish list, I can't wait to start that one! The Longest Race looks great, I haven't heard of that so I'll look to pick that up, too. If you get a chance, listen to the audio for "Born to Run" by Christopher McDougall, it's fascinating and makes you want to run more. I loved listening to it on my runs!

Beth(bookaholicmom) said...

I am excited to see Ruta Sepetys has a new book coming out! I thought "Between Shades of Gray" was brilliant! I can't wait to see what you think of her new book!

Alyce said...

The Ruta Sepetys book looks like it will be quite a departure from her other book (which I loved). I am excited about the nonfiction books that you listed - those are going straight to the wish list!

Julie P. said...

Great post and all were new to me!

Melissa (Avid Reader) said...

Ohhh a new book from Ruta Sepetys! Yay!

Literary Feline said...

I hadn't heard of any of these books either--but I'm usually just hearing about them as they come out anyway. LOL I'm especially curious about Ruta Sepetys' book!

Anonymous said...

Don't go getting any ideas from the The Longest Race book.

JoAnn said...

Looks like you have some great new titles - all unfamiliar to me. I'm especially interested in People Who Eat Darkness and Spillover.

Darlene said...

I'd love to read Ruta's newest book! Like you I don't even care what it's about. I'd still want to read it.

Anonymous said...

I'm excited about many of these too. I don't think I could actually post everything that I'm excited about from SIBA. There's way too much.

Unknown said...

I love the sound of Spillover and Walking the Amazon, although I suspect the man who walked the Amazon would be freaked out if he read Spillover before starting his trek!

Zibilee said...

I don't think I brought home any of these, except two, so I will be reading your reviews with a lot of excitement! I still have to begin my posts on SIBA, and the incredible time I had there. Your books look amazing!

Jenners said...

I'd be curious about The Longest Race after reading Haruki Murakami's account of his ultra marathon. The Amazon ones sounds good too. And comparisons to Tana French????? WOW.

techeditor said...

I've noticed that since the popularity of that 50 SHADES OF GREY book (or whatever it's called), loads of books with lots of sex are being promoted much more than I ever remember. I'm afraid INDISCRETION might be one of those books. No thanks

techeditor said...

I'm curious to read SPILLOVER. I wonder if it's like Richard Preston's HOT ZONE or DEMON IN THE FREEZER. I really liked both of those.