O'Reilly, Dunham, King Lead Parade of Fall Books

(from usatoday.com
by Bob Minzesheimer)


Labor Day is 13 weeks and countless cookouts and picnics away. But after four days at BookExpo, the annual convention in New York, booksellers and publishers are buzzing about the big books of the fall, their busiest season. Here's a look at five titles certain to land at or near the top of the best-seller list:

Killing Patton (Sept. 23) by Bill O'Reilly and Martin Dugard is the fourth in a breezily written you-are-there-kind-of-history series. Killing Lincoln (2011), Killing Kennedy (2012) and Killing Jesus (2013) have spent a total of 159 weeks on USA TODAY's Best-Selling Books list. General George S. Patton Jr., died in a mysterious car collision in 1945 after being relieved of his duties by Gen. Dwight Eisenhower.

Not That Kind of Girl: A Young Woman Tells You What She Has 'Learned' (Sept. 30) by Lena Dunham, the 28-year-old star and creator of the HBO hit comedy Girls, is a collection of autobiographical essays. At BookExpo, Dunham said she'll offer "my skewed version" of Helen Gurley Brown's 1982 advice guide, Having It All. (For Brown, all meant love, sex and money.) Dunham also will explore the "affect of misogyny on women who think that feminism is an issue somehow handled by our mothers."

The Innovators: How a Group of Inventors, Hackers, Geniuses and Geeks Created the Digital Revolution (Oct. 7) by Walter Isaacson, builds on Steve Jobs, his No. 1 best-selling 2011 biography. At BookExpo, Isaacson said, "Almost every great innovator in the book had a great collaborator," unlike Jobs' singular, uncompromising vision. When people ask him, "How can I be just like Steve?' Isaacson replies, "It''s actually not the best way to be a leader. You can be a really nice collaborator, which provides sustained innovation."

Let Me Be Frank With You (Nov. 4) by Richard Ford links four novellas about Frank Bascombe, the protagonist in Ford's trilogy, The Sportswriter (1986),Independence Day (1995) which won the Pulitzer Prize, and The Lay of the Land (2006). At BookExpo, Ford, 70, said he thought he was done with Bascombe, a former sportswriter and retired New Jersey real estate agent. But in 2012, when Hurricane Sandy hit the Jersey shore -- Bascombe territory – Ford decided, "I have a vocabulary" to write about the "consequences of loss" and ultimately prevailing, he said.

Revival (Nov. 11) by Stephen King offers a terrifying tale about fanaticism and addiction in an New England town blessed (or cursed) with a charismatic preacher. At 66, King remains the master of literary horror and shows no signs of slowing down. After last year's No. 1 best seller, Doctor Sleep, King has another novel, Mr. Mercedes, that's out Tuesday.