Kate Merlene

The National Book Critics Circle Awards finalists are announced. LJ’s Barbara Hoffert is named the inaugural NBCC Service Award winner. Joy Harjo and City Lights receive lifetime achievement awards. The Rathbones Folio Prize shortlists are announced. Coverage continues for Madeline McIntosh’s resignation from PRH. February’s Read with Jenna Pick is Maame by Jessica George. GMA picks River Sing Me Home by Eleanor Shearer, and B&N selects The Snow Hare by Paula Lichtarowicz. Plus, Penguin Random House Audio acquires Playaway. 

ALA’s Youth Media Awards are announced. Longlists for the Dublin Literary Award, International Dylan Thomas Prize, and Plutarch Award are announced. The CEO of Penguin Random House U.S. will step down. HarperCollins will cut 5% of its North American workforce. Donald Trump sues Bob Woodward and Simon & Schuster over The Trump Tapes audiobook. Janice Hallett’s The Twyford Code will be adapted as a TV series. Kindred, based on the novel by Octavia Butler, has been canceled by FX.

The 2023 RUSA Book & Media Awards are announced, including the Notable Books List, Reading List, the Listen List, the Sophie Brody Medal, Essential Cookbooks, and the Outstanding References Sources list. Julie Otsuka and Ed Yong are named Andrew Carnegie Medal winners. Colleen Hoover’s Heart Bones tops holds lists. Two LibraryReads selections and two Indie Next picks publish this week. Plus, People’s book of the week is Twelve Months and a Day by Louisa Young.

John Scalzi wins the Robert A. Heinlein Award. The Oregon Book Awards finalists are announced. The Bram Stoker Awards preliminary ballot is released. The International Prize for Arabic Fiction’s longlist is announced, featuring the highest number of women authors in the prize’s history. The Evergreen Award finalists are announced. Ian Williams is named chair of the 2023 Scotiabank Giller Prize jury. LibraryReads and LJ offer read-alikes for Kate Clayborne’s Georgie, All Along. Interviews arrive with Ilyon Woo, Kathryn Ma, Rachel M. Harper, N.K. Jemisin, Jean Kyoung Frazier, Ruby Tandoh, and Saket Soni. Plus, more coverage and analysis of this year’s Oscar nominations. 

The 2023 Oscar nominations are announced, including nods for literary adaptions All Quiet on the Western Front, Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, Mrs. Harris Goes to Paris, and Women Talking. The 2022 Sarton Awards and Gilda Prize shortlists are announced. This Other Eden by Paul Harding gets reviewed. Apple TV+’s Dear Edward, based on the novel by Ann Napolitano, gets a trailer. Plus, a new online exhibit offers a close-up look at L.M. Montgomery’s original Anne of Green Gables manuscript.

Georgie, All Along by Kate Clayborn, leads holds this week. The 2023 PEN American Literary longlists are announced. Two LibraryReads and three Indie Next picks publish this week. People’s book of the week is Really Good, Actually by Monica Heisey. New memoirs by Pamela Anderson, Lisa Guerrero, Anne Heche, Mike Pompeo, and Jinger Vuolo get buzz. Arnold Schwarzenegger will write a motivational book for Penguin Press. NYT explores the appeal of the Elin Hilderbrand Bucket List Weekend. Judy Blume Forever debuts at Sundance.  Stephen King’s The Boogeyman will get a theatrical release. Plus, on its 30th anniversary, NPR declares: “The Stinky Cheese Man is aging well.”

Library of Congress names Cuban American writer Meg Medina as the new National Ambassador For Young People’s Literature. Ten librarians receive the 2023 I Love My Librarian Award. Mariana Enríquez, Ottessa Moshfegh, and Tiffany Tsao are named judges for the 2023 Desperate Literature Prize. The January and February Loanstars list is out, featuring top pick Spare by Prince Harry. LibraryReads and LJ offer read-alikes for The Cabinet of Dr. Leng by Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child. Canada Reads winner Michelle Good will publish a new essay collection in May. Interviews arrive with John Hendrickson, Stephen A. Smith, Matthew Salesses, Bonnie Bartlett Daniels, Kai Thomas, and Ilyon Woo. BookRiot reflects on the future of libraries. Plus, a new PBS American Experience documentary, Zora Neale Hurston: Claiming a Space, gets buzz.

The Cabinet of Dr. Leng by Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child leads library holds this week. Anthony Joseph wins the T.S. Eliot Prize for his poetry collection Sonnets for Albert. The February LibraryReads list is out, featuring top pick The Writing Retreat by Julia Bartz. Three LibraryReads and eight Indie Next picks publish this week. People’s book of the week is Life on Delay: Making Peace with a Stutter by John Hendrickson. Also getting attention is Master Slave Husband Wife: An Epic Journey from Slavery to Freedom by Ilyon Woo. Plus, Boris Johnson will write a memoir about his time as British prime minister.

The 2023 Walter Awards winners & honorees are announced. Colin Channer, Reyna Grande, and Celeste Ng will receive the 2023 Writers for Writers Award from Poets & Writers. The Golden Globes winners include several book-related films and series. LibraryReads and LJ offer read-alikes for Prince Harry’s memoir, Spare, as it becomes the “UK’s fastest-selling nonfiction book.” Stephen Markley, Captain Sandy Yawn, V. Ganeshananthan, Jessica Johns, and Lauren Fleshman discuss their new books. Plus, John Maxim’s “Bannerman” spy novels will be adapted for television.