Book News

Temple Folk by Aaliyah Bilal wins the Ernest J. Gaines Award for Literary Excellence, which is given to an emerging Black American fiction writer. Solenoid by Mircea Cărtărescu, tr. by Sean Cotter, wins the Dublin Literary Award. Ali Bryan’s Coq, Patrick deWitt’s The Librarianist, and Deborah Willis’s Girlfriend on Mars are shortlisted for the Leacock Medal for Canadian humor writing. The shortlists for Britain’s Society of Authors Awards are announced. Plus, new title bestsellers and interviews with Amy Tan, Kaliane Bradley, and Monica Youn.

YA author Daniel Aleman makes his adult debut, while Alex Segura puts comics at the center of his new thriller; plus new series titles.

Jess Armstrong, Ellie Brannigan, and Michael Sears offer sequels; Rob Osler launches a new quozy mystery series inspired by real-life Pinkerton detective Kate Warne; plus a list of forthcoming series titles.

Jenny Erpenbeck’s Kairos wins the International Booker Prize. The winners of the RNA Romantic Novel of the Year Awards and the Grand Prix de l’Imaginaire are announced. Library Reads and LJ offer read-alikes for Ruth Ware’s buzzy book of the week, One Perfect Couple. People previews Sally Rooney’s forthcoming novel, Intermezzo, due out from Farrar on September 24. Emma Törzs’s Ink Blood Sister Scribe will get a TV series adaptation. And NYT distills the essential Don Delillo.

In a surprise move, Penguin Random House dismisses two of its top editors, roiling the industry. The Aurealis Awards winners and the Highland Book Prize shortlist are announced. Atria Books will relaunch Washington Square Press as a frontlist hardcover imprint dedicated to literary fiction, nonfiction, and poetry. Summer booklists arrive, along with interviews with Kevin Kwan, Daniel Handler, Sebastian Junger, and Michael McDonald. Plus, Washington Post critic Michael Dirda offers 10 rules for reading.

One Perfect Couple by Ruth Ware leads holds this week. Also getting buzz are titles by Stephen King, Nora Roberts, Kevin Kwan, and Steven Rowley. Yepoka Yeebo’s Anansi’s Gold: The Man Who Looted the West, Outfoxed Washington, and Swindled the World wins the BIO Plutarch Award. Six LibraryReads and seven Indie Next picks publish this week. People’s book of the week is Lies and Weddings by Kevin Kwan. PBS Canvas takes a look at the trending popularity of Japanese animation and comic books in the U.S. Plus, NYT delves into Reese Witherspoon's literary empire ahead of her 100th book club pick.

Caleb Azumah Nelson wins the Dylan Thomas Prize for Small Worlds. Finalists have been selected for the Firecracker Awards, honoring the best independently published fiction, creative nonfiction, and poetry. Abrams buys Taunton Books. Plus, interviews with Hari Kunzru, Coco Mellors, Curtis Sittenfeld, and Carvell Wallace.

Winners of the CrimeFest Awards are announced. Alexis Wright’s Praiseworthy, Iman Mersal’s Traces of Enayat, and Ian Penman’s Fassbinder Thousands of Mirrors win the James Tait Black Prizes for biography and fiction. The Finnish translation of This Is How You Lose the Time War by Amal El-Mohtar & Max Gladstone wins the Helsinki Science Fiction Society’s Tähtivaeltaja Award. Plus new title bestsellers.

Bill Clinton details his life after the White House; Angela Merkel writes about her life as the first woman chancellor of the Federal Republic of Germany; several celebrities pen memoirs; and fascinating historical figures inspire biographies.