Book Pulse
The PEN/Faulkner award for 2020 goes to Sea Monsters by Chloe Aridjis. Also in award news, The Kitschies are announced. Pennie Clark Ianniciello picks The Yellow Bird Sings by Jennifer Rosner. J.K. Rowling tweets she has experienced coronavirus symptoms. Authors writing about their bucolic quarantine experience are experiencing backlash.
Revenge by James Patterson, Andrew Holmes leads holds this week. Publication date shifts impact budgets, LibraryReads, Indie Next, and more. C Pam Zhang’s How Much of These Hills Is Gold gets some buzz. Normal People by Sally Rooney wins the 2020 Tournament of Books. Disney releases Artemis Fowl straight to Disney+. Black Widow is moving from April to November.
James Patterson is donating half a million dollars to indie bookstores to help them through the pandemic. LeVar Burton is starting a live-streaming reading series on Twitter. More book suggestions arrive, along with LJ’s list of starred reviews for April. Dav Pilkey announces Cat Kid Comic Club, coming December 1. Amazon will adapt Janelle Brown’s Pretty Things with Nicole Kidman to star and produce. Snowpiercer gets pushed forward, to May 17; there is a new trailer for it, too. NOS4A2 season two will premiere on June 1. A new Obi-Wan Kenobi series is set for Disney+.
Reese Witherspoon picks Untamed by Glennon Doyle as her April book club title. The Sinner by J.R. Ward leads eight new books onto the bestseller lists. J.K. Rowling launches Harry Potter at Home. The International Booker Prize shortlist is out. The Best Translated Book Awards longlist is out. Comics are suffering. Stephen King’s newest arrives earlier than previously scheduled. There are more April best book lists.
Valentine by Elizabeth Wetmore is the Read with Jenna book for April. Disappearing Earth by Julia Phillips is the PBS NewsHour-NYT book club title selection for the month. Baek Heena wins the Astrid Lindgren Award. The shortlist is out for the Walter Scott Prize. The Nebula awards announcement will be virtually open to the public for free and will live-stream on May 30, starting at 8 PM ET. Sally Rooney’s Normal People will air on Hulu on April 29. It has a new trailer.
Tomie DePaola, beloved creator of the award-winning Strega Nona and dozens of books for children, has died; he suffered complications after a fall. Author William Helmreich has died of coronavirus. Authors Leslie Jamison and Michael Rosen are symptomatic. The National Emergency Library gets plenty of pushback. Angie Thomas announces her next book, Concrete Rose. Samantha Irby and her new book, Wow, No Thank You: Essays, get all the buzz. The Anisfield-Wolf Books Awards are announced. Plus, plenty of adaptation news.
Texas Outlaw by James Patterson, with Andrew Bourelle, leads library holds this week. Nobody Will Tell You This But Me: A True (as Told to Me) Story by Bess Kalb is People’s Book of the Week. Andy Weir has a new novel and film deal, Project Hail Mary. Meg Cabot, Spike Lee, and Bob Dylan release work online. A librarian is helping create protective equipment for hospitals using 3-D printing. There are a bevy of "best of 2020" lists. The Business Book of the Year Awards have been announced.
Hachette and Macmillan have issued statements that they will not attend BookExpo. That means all five of the biggest publishers are out. Barnes & Noble temporarily closes more than 400 stores. Three book-based shows come to TV today: Vagrant Queen, Baghdad Central, and Dragons: Rescue Riders: Hunt for the Golden Dragon. EarlyWord updates its Diversity Titles list.
The Boy from the Woods by Harlan Coben leads 11 new books onto the bestseller lists. Much news today about publishing and the coronavirus. The Whiting Awards are announced as is the Four Quartets Prize. Spring reading lists arrive.