, we covered what rights the major U.S. agencies will be selling at next month's Frankfurt Book Fair. Below are the big books the largest U.S. trade houses will be shopping.
Random House
One of the big titles RH will be shopping is Tyra Banks's children's series, Modelland. The model–turned–talk show host has a trilogy that the publisher says "combines the fashion world with a dystopian setting." Book one is slated for July 2011. On the adult side, from Ballantine, is Jonathan Kellerman's Mystery (Mar. 2011), another thriller featuring psychologist/amateur detective Alex Delaware. From one of the house's biggest new authors, Janet Evanovich, is the 17th entry in her multimillion-copy Stephanie Plum series, which Bantam is releasing in June 2011. (RH poached Evanovich from St. Martin's Press this summer, signing her to a four-book deal.) Little Random has Ann Brashares's Sisterhood Everlasting (June 2011), which marks the fifth entry in the author's Sisterhood series, which is now following four adult best friends. From David Brooks is Success Story: A Tale of Love, Neurons, and Fulfillment (Mar. 2011), in which the author explores "how human beings and communities flourish." From Spiegel & Grau is Jay-Z's Decoded (Nov. 2010), the story of the multihyphenate "told through lyrics, images, and a powerful and surprising personal narrative."
Penguin
There are two titles Penguin is shopping from Putnam, The Secret Soldier by Alex Berenson and Berlin 1961 by Frederick Kempe. In Soldier (Feb. 2011) Berenson, a former New York Times reporter, delivers a novel about a CIA agent on a critical mission in the Middle East. Kempe's book, timed to the 50th anniversary of the Berlin crisis of 1961, is "a fresh and thought-provoking look at the forces and personalities behind one of the epic dramas of the cold war." From Amy Einhorn Books is Eleanor Brown's debut, The Weird Sisters (Feb. 2011), a novel about three sisters returning to their childhood home and the conflicting feelings they have about their town and each other. From Viking is Kim Edwards's The Lake of Dreams (Jan. 2011), a novel about "a daughter confronting the truths underlying her family's history" by the author of the bestselling The Memory Keeper's Daughter. From Pam Dorman Books is Laura Harrington's Alice Bliss (June 2011), a debut coming-of-age novel about a family dealing with grief. From Riverhead is Meghan O'Rourke's memoir, The Long Goodbye (June 2011), about the emotional toll of the death of the author's mother, who died on Christmas Day 2008; O'Rourke is the culture critic at Slate and a two-time Pushcart Prize winner. From Dutton is bestseller Julie Garwood's The Ideal Man (Aug. 2011), a contemporary romance from the author of Fire and Ice. Portfolio has Microsoft cofounder Paul Allen's autobiography, Idea Man (Apr. 2011). And from Ace is Heaven's Shadow by David S. Goyer and Michael Cassutt (July 2011), a new sci-fi adventure from the screenwriter-director duo about astronauts on a mission to intercept a UFO heading toward Earth.
Simon & Schuster
From Free Press is Gordon Brown's The Crisis, the Next Crisis, and What Happens Next (Dec. 2010), which the publisher calls the first work from a major leader to follow the global financial crisis and offer a solution to fix it. From Lawrence Krauss is A Universe from Nothing: Why There Is Something Rather Than Nothing (Feb. 2012), in which the physicist explains "how our universe can—and did—arise from nothing." Then there's Marci Shimoff's Love for No Reason: 7 Steps to Creating a Life of Unconditional Love (Jan. 2011), in which the author introduces "a new paradigm for love" and "an inner state of being that doesn't depend on external circumstances." From Scribner is Mary Buffett and David Clark's Warren Buffett and the Art of Stock Arbitrage (Nov. 2010); the authors of Buffettology look at the billionaire's arbitrage and special situations investing, which have "long been considered the most powerful and profitable of [Buffett's] investment operations." From Alexandra Styron is the memoir, Reading My Father (Apr. 2011), in which the famous scribe's daughter chronicles her life with the brilliant but troubled author; as S&S explains, the theme of Alexandra's childhood was "to navigate the tempest of her father's titanic personality." Touchstone has Philippa Gregory's The Lady of the Rivers (Oct. 2011), the last title in the author's historical romance trilogy covering the War of the Roses era in England. And from the house's flagship imprint is Bob Woodward's Obama's War (Sept. 2010), the famed journalist's look inside the Obama White House.
HarperCollins
From William Morrow is Meg Cabot's "Untitled Gotham Girl #2," a follow-up to the author's first title in her New York vampire series, Insatiable. Also from William Morrow is Zaak Wylde's Bringing Metal to the Children: The Complete Berserker's Guide to World Tour Domination, a "handbook of all things metal" from the former Ozzy Osbourne guitarist and founder of the band Black Label Society. From Harper is Joyce Carol Oates's memoir, A Widow's Story, in which the author writes about the death of her husband of 46 years and its "wrenching and surprising aftermath." Also from Harper is Francine Prose's My Beautiful American Life, a satirical novel set during the Bush/Cheney presidency. Also from Harper is Madeleine Albright's While I Was Growing Up: 1937–1948, in which the former secretary of state offers a window into her childhood. From It Books is Carré Otis's Beauty, Disrupted, a memoir from the model, actress, and former Mrs. Mickey Rourke about "the ugliest part of her past," including her tumultuous marriage and her issues with drugs and food. Also from It is David Wills's photography book, an untitled Marilyn Monroe retrospective, featuring a number of "intimate and rarely seen" shots of the star. From Harper Paperbacks is Gary G. Abromovitz and Bill Bonanno's The Last Testament of Bill Bonanno, a candid look inside the Mafia, by the son of notorious crime boss Joe Bonanno (head of one of the original "five families"); HC says the book could "only be published after the death of the author." From HarperOne is Heidi Klum's Project Life, which she's co-writing with psychiatrist Philip Stutz; it offers a guide to "breaking through life's barriers and getting it all."
Macmillan
St. Martin's Press is pushing John Hart's Iron House (July 2011), a new novel by the author of the bestselling The Last Child. Another SMP title is Beth Harbison's Always Something There to Remind Me (June 2011), a novel about a woman whose life is upended when an old flame resurfaces, by the author of Shoe Addicts Anonymous. On the nonfiction front SMP has Kardashian Konfidential (Nov. 2010) by Kourtney, Kim, and Khloe Kardashian, about how the reality show sisters "really live, get along (and feud)." Another nonfiction title SMP will be selling is Augusten Burroughs's This Is How: Learning to See a Deeper Truth So You Can Live a Better Life (fall 2011), a self-help style book in which the famous memoirist gives advice on "how to pick yourself up and dust yourself off after hitting rock bottom"; the author calls the book "Running with Scissors, with recipes." From the house's Minotaur imprint is Paul Doiron's Trespasser (June 2011), a follow-up to The Poacher's Son, about game warden Mike Bowditch trying to solve the murder of a young woman. Also from Minotaur is Stefanie Pintoff's The Secret of the White Rose (May 2011); the third title in the author's series featuring detective Simon Zeile, it follows the murder of a judge in turn-of-the-20th-century New York. From Thomas Dunne is Julie Cross's Tempest (fall 2011), the first entry in a YA trilogy about a 19-year-old time traveler trying to save his girlfriend's life.
Hachette Book Group
From Little, Brown Books for Younger Readers is The Daughter of Smoke & Bone (Sept. 2011), a tale of star-crossed lovers in which one is a demon and the other is an angel, from author Laini Taylor. Also from LBYR is Bianca Turetsky's Time-Traveling Fashionista (Apr. 2011), about a girl who's life becomes a time-traveling adventure after she attends a mysterious vintage fashion sale. Another LBYR entry is Frank Viva's is Along a Long Road (June 2011), about "an eventful bicycle ride," from a celebrated graphic designer and New Yorker cover illustrator. From Grand Central Press is Gwyneth Paltrow's My Father's Daughter (Apr. 2011), in which the actress shares recipes and memories inspired by (and sometimes passed from) her father. Also from GCP is James Redfield's The Twelfth Insight (Feb. 2011), the fourth book in the author's Celestine series, which kicked off with the major bestseller, The Celestine Prophecy. GCP also has Gideon's Sword by Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child, the first title in a new series by the bestselling authors featuring the character Gideon Crew, who saw his father murdered at 12 and exacts revenge 20 years later. From the new Mulholland Books is Marcia Clark's Guilt by Association (Apr. 2011), the debut legal thriller from the former L.A. prosecutor. From Little, Brown is Stacy Schiff's Cleopatra (Oct. 2010), a biography of the historical figure by the Pulitzer Prize–winning author. Also from LB is Room by Emma Donoghue, which was shortlisted for the Booker and is narrated by a five-year-old boy trapped in a small room with his mother.
Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
HMH is going to be talking up James Carroll's Jerusalem, Jerusalem: The Ancient City That Ignited the Modern World (spring 2011), the story of the city and its sweeping impact on history from the author of the bestselling Constantine's Sword. From Anthony Shadid is House of Grace: A Saga of Family, Our Town, and Home Lost and Found, a memoir by the two-time Pulitzer-winning journalist (he's the senior Middle East correspondent for the New York Times) about his family's ancestral home in Lebanon; Shadid's last book, Night Draws Near, was an NBCC finalist. And from Scott Jurek and Bill Gifford is Eat and Run, which HMH calls "a hybrid of memoir, prescription, and inspiration," in which Jurek, an ultramarathoner and vegan—he is featured in Christopher McDougall's bestselling Born to Run (Knopf, 2009)—discusses his motivation and lifestyle.