Just a few days ago it was Clive Davis‘s The Soundtrack of My Life that was everywhere, from disclosing his bisexuality to a rebuke from Kelly Clarkson, but now the Sheryl Sandberg Lean In juggernaut is beginning. As she tells the NYT, the aim is not just to share ideas through a book to “run a social movement.” Her Lean In Circles are “half business school and half book club,” with “precise” membership requirements and guidelines. The question is “will more earthbound women, struggling with cash flow and child care, embrace the advice of a Silicon Valley executive whose book acknowledgments include thanks to her wealth adviser and Oprah Winfrey?” Sandberg has enlisted corporate sponsors (including American Express, Google, Sony, and Johnson & Johnson) and Cosmo magazine will feature a 40-page supplement on her ideas in their April issue. All of which is teeing up “Why Women Still Can’t Have It All” advocate Anne-Marie Slaughter–whose own book, also from the Random House Inc. umbrella, isn’t scheduled until spring 2014, when the Sandberg paperback should be ready.
The re-release of Roderick Thorp‘s Nothing Lasts Forever–the basis of the Die Hard movies–received coverage following the strong opening of the latest movie in the franchise, which far outperformed the adaptation of Kami Garcia’s Beautiful Creatures, which had disappointing box office even though the promotion has boosted book sales. (EW says the problem was the movie version disappointed core fans.) From TV, we have ABC’s Nightline dubbing new adult books such as Colleen Hoover‘s Slammed as “smut fiction,” depicted as “the old Harlequin romances set in modern times, with younger characters, many of whom are in college, coming of age and often exploring their sexuality.”
USA Today looked at this week’s new Navy SEAL book by Rorke Denver and next month’s combo offering of SEALs and snipers from Glen Doherty and Brandon Webb. We’ve been featuring these books and more on our Books in the News carousel at the Bookateria home page, which also currently bills the debut of next week’s HBO adaptation by Tom Stoppard of Ford Maddox Ford‘s Parade’s End; Mackenzie Bezos‘s forthcoming second novel, from one of traditional publishing’s esteemed gatekeepers, Michiko Kakutani’s enthusiastic pre-publication review for Mohsin Hamid’s March release; and Lisa Moore‘s February winning this year’s Canada Reads competition.
Finally, for still more, we feature a selection of the week’s biggest new releases, including Michael Hainey‘s After Visiting Friends (popular with reviewers).
