By Shannan Starnes Rosa, MSLS
Collection Development Librarian

HITS (High Interest Title Selections) is our monthly list of titles that we predict will be the ones your patrons will be looking for and that librarians will want to know about.  Here are a few particularly significant titles coming in June.

Several of the big fiction titles this June will be part of favorite series by bestselling authors. Janet Evanovich offers number 14 in the Stephanie Plum series, while Clive Cussler’s next Oregon Files adventure will please his many fans. Readers will clamor for Lee Child’s new Jack Reacher novel, Jeffery Deaver’s new Lincoln Rhyme novel, and Laurell K. Hamilton’s latest Anita Blake. W.E.B. Griffin continues the Honor Bound series, and we’ll see a new Star Wars novel as well.

A couple of notable non-series titles include James Patterson’s new thriller about a family vacation from hell, and a must-read espionage thriller by Alan Furst. Robert B. Parker offers one of his many forays into the Western genre.

Readers of women’s fiction will enjoy a sexy new page-turner by Jackie Collins and a new romance novel by Danielle Steel as well as an historical romance by Johanna Lindsey. Romantic suspense readers will be looking for new work by Catherine Coulter, Elizabeth Lowell, and Linda Howard.

In literary fiction, Salman Rushdie explores Renaissance Florence and Mughal India, and we’ll also see new work by David Guterson and Andre Dubus III.

Notable debuts this month include a surprisingly good read by the country music team Brooks & Dunn, and an imaginative story of the moment when wolves became dogs.

Oddly enough, some of the most popular nonfiction titles on the June list involve football. Sports Illustrated commemorates Brett Favre’s career with this handsome drop-in title. Football fans will be dreaming of crisp fall days and tailgate parties with The NFL Gameday Cookbook, and they’ll also enjoy an analysis of what’s often been called the best football game ever, when the Giants and Colts faced off in 1958.

Readers of social science and current events will be interested in Dick Morris’ title on abuses of power by corporations and government, Barbara Ehrenreich’s research on the deepening inequalities in our society, and George Lakoff’s work on political psychology. 

The wars in Iraq and Afghanistan continue to stir reader interest. Notable titles this month include those by NBC News correspondent Richard Engel and the former commander of coalition forces in Iraq, Lt. Gen. Ricardo S. Sanchez. Army Ranger Nate Self recounts his experiences in Afghanistan and his subsequent battle with post-traumatic stress disorder.

For readers looking for lighter fare, David Sedaris’ latest collection of essays is not to be missed. In addition, popular comedian Lewis Black takes on religion.

Animal lovers will want to read a memoir of an activist against puppy mills, and the story of a remarkable racehorse that captured the imagination of America a century ago.

Look for these and other notable titles in our June HITS list on ipage.  Happy reading!