Kate Merlene

Pankaj Mishra wins the Weston International Award for his nonfiction work. The Frank R. Paul Award winners are announced. Seattle Worldcon 2025 announces Brandon O’Brien as its poet laureate. LibraryReads and LJ offer read-alikes for India Holton’s buzzy book The Ornithologist’s Field Guide to Love. NYT examines the rise and fall of the Romance Writers of America. Harper Alley will expand to publish adult graphic novels. People highlights Kaia Gerber’s literary platform, Library Science. Plus, PW previews Comic-Con, which kicks off in San Diego tomorrow.

Jo Callaghan wins the Theakston Old Peculier Crime Novel of the Year. Sales of Kamala Harris’s and J.D. Vance’s books have skyrocketed after this week’s news. The Imadjinn Award winners are announced. Sabrina Fielding wins the inaugural Montreal Fiction Prize. Catalina by Karla Cornejo Villavicencio gets buzz and raves from NYT and Washington Post. N.K. Jemison argues why “we need speculative fiction now more than ever,” in an essay for Esquire. Fortunate Sons by Liel Leibovitz & Matthew Miller will be adapted for film. Orbit launches the new horror imprint Run for It. Plus, the Glasgow Hugo Administration releases a statement regarding fraudulent votes cast in the final ballot.

The Ornithologist’s Field Guide to Love by India Holton leads holds this week. People’s book of the week is The Seventh Veil of Salome by Silvia Moreno-Garcia. The August LibraryReads list is out, featuring top pick House of Glass by Sarah Pekkanen. Rebecca Yarros previews her forthcoming third book in the “Empyrean” series, Onyx Storm. Open Road launches a new industry podcast, The Open Book Podcast with David Steinberger, offering a behind-the-scenes look at books and publishing.

In an NYT Book Review poll, Edward P. Jones’s The Known World is voted the best work of fiction by an American writer in the 21st century so far. The Ursula K. Le Guin Prize for Fiction shortlist and the Scribe Award nominees are announced. LibraryReads and LJ offer read-alikes for buzzy book The Au Pair Affair by Tessa Bailey. In a restructuring at Hachette, Algonquin will be folded into Little, Brown, while Workman announces layoffs. Melissa De La Cruz’s Blue Bloods will get a series adaptation. Plus, a first look at Apartment 7A, a prequel to Rosemary’s Baby, based on the novel by Ira Levin.

J.D. Vance, author of Hillbilly Elegy: A Memoir of a Family and Culture in Crisis, is named Donald Trump’s running mate. The Sturgeon Award finalists are announced. Esquire examines “The Second Coming of the Sports Novel.” Interviews arrive with Deborah Harkness, Kathie Lee Gifford, Halle Butler, Madiba K. Dennie, and Liz Moore. Plus, Netflix’s The Perfect Couple, based on the book by Elin Hilderbrand, gets a trailer.

The Au Pair Affair by Tessa Bailey leads holds this week. Also getting buzz are titles by Deborah Harkness, Lev Grossman, B.K. Borison, Jessica Joyce, and Meg Shaffer. The Shirley Jackson Award winners are announced; Tananarive Due’s The Reformatory wins best novel. Eight LibraryReads and eight Indie Next picks publish this week. People’s book of the week is The Briar Club by Kate Quinn. Sex therapist and author Dr. Ruth K. Westheimer has died at the age of 96.

Lit Hub previews the most anticipated books of the second half of 2024. Viola Davis will collaborate with James Patterson on a forthcoming novel. RBmedia will acquire Dreamscape Media, including Dreamscape Publishing and Dreamscape Select. Josh Gad will release a memoir in January and actress Christina Applegate is at work on a new book about her life. Emily Henry will adapt her novel Funny Story for the big screen, while Lev Grossman's Arthurian novel The Bright Sword and Carolyn Huynh’s The Fortunes Of Jaded Women will get series adaptations. Plus, authors Kiese Laymon and Deesha Philyaw launch a new podcast called Reckon True Stories.

The CWA Dagger Award winners and longlists for the Toronto Book Awards and the Mo Siewcharran Prize are announced. NYT recounts “the Most Memorable Literary Moments of the Last 25 Years.” USA Today has a Q&A with Michigan governor Gretchen Whitmer about her new book, True Gretch. Esquire considers what AI means for publishing and goes behind the scenes of celebrity book clubs. A sequel to The Devil Wears Prada, based on the book by Lauren Weisberger, is in development at Disney, while the musical adaptation, starring Vanessa Williams and featuring music by Elton John, will be staged at London’s Dominion Theater in October.

The Briar Club by Kate Quinn leads holds this week. Also getting buzz are titles by Emily Giffin, Daniel Silva, Taffy Brodesser-Akner, Linda Castillo, and Lana Ferguson. July Book Club picks include All the Colors of the Dark by Chris Whitaker (Read with Jenna), The Love of My Afterlife by Kirsty Greenwood (GMA), The God of the Woods by Liz Moore (B&N), and The Cliffs by J. Courtney Sullivan (Reese Witherspoon). People’s book of the week is The God of the Woods. The August Indie Next list is out, featuring #1 pick The Wedding People by Alison Espach. Audiofile announces the July Earphones Award winners, and The Millions publishes its summer 2024 preview. Plus, Alice Munro’s family secrets roil the literary world.