Reviews+
Dog Man: For Whom the Ball Rolls by Dav Pilkey leads 14 books onto the bestseller lists this week. Nicholas Sparks wins his defamation case. The Ripped Bodice bookstore launches its next Great Big Romance Read. Early sketches from The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupery have been found.
Spider-Man, James Bond, and The Matrix are in the news. Saga: Compendium One by Fiona Staples, Brian K Vaughan, Ninja: Get Good: My Ultimate Guide to Gaming by Tyler "Ninja" Blevins, and Thank You for My Service by Mat Best get buzz. There are still more stories to tell in the Star Wars world, as Galaxy's Edge: Black Spire by Delilah S. Dawson proves.
NPR picks 100 Favorite Funny books, plus this year's summer reading poll. Doxology by Nell Zink is the book of the day. Jason Reynolds and Ibram X. Kendi are teaming up on Stamped: Racism, Antiracism, and You: A Remix of the National Book Award-winning Stamped from the Beginning.
The Last Widow by Karin Slaughter leads holds this week. Author Paule Marshall has died. The Calculating Stars: A Lady Astronaut Novel by Mary Robinette Kowal wins the Hugo Award. George R.R. Martin talks about how he feels free now that HBO's GOT is over. Several political books feature in forthcoming news.
Top picks come from Jussi Adler-Olsen, who folds our current refugee crisis into his latest mystery, and Donna Leon, whose visits to Venice with Comissario Guido Brunetti will never grow stale. In addition, check out sure-to-be-popular mysteries ranging from Christi Daugherty’s Revolver Road to Daniel Friedman’s Running Out of Road, plus works by Tom Bouman, Jude Deveraux, Deanna Raybourn, and others.
The winners of the 2019 Hugo Awards have been announced. Below are the titles that LJ and SLJ have reviewed, with links to that coverage. For the full list, see www.thehugoawards.org.
Grabbed-from-the-headlines picks include Susan Fowler’s Whistleblower, about her challenge to Uber’s management; Adrienne Martin on running for local office and winning; Tanya Selvaratnam on her abuse by New York State Attorney General Eric Schneiderman; and independent reporter Frank Smyth on the NRA. More newsworthy titles include several election runup books on the liberal side and Ross Douthat representing a more conservative view about society today.
Where'd You Go Bernadette? leads a handful of adaptations today and through next week. Robert Macfarlane wins the Wainwright Golden Beer book prize and The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry wins one of the 1944 Retro Hugo Awards. The September LibraryReads list is out, topped by Red at the Bone by Jacqueline Woodson.
The Inn by James Patterson with Candice Fox leads nine new bestsellers onto the lists. Barack Obama posts his summer reading list—and sends book sales soaring. The NYT Magazine publishes poems and stories by 16 notable authors that bring African American history to life.