Bookpulse

The finalists for the Cundill History Prize are announced, the winners of the Ned Kelly Award for Australian crime writing, the shortlist for the Endeavour Award for SFF by Pacific Northwest authors is announced, and the winners of the Rhysling Awards for speculative poetry are announced. The Garnett Girls by Georgina Moore wins an Isle of Wight Book Award. A federal judge has ordered an Arkansas library to stop segregating controversial books into special “social sections.”

The shortlist for the Goldsmiths Prize and the finalists for the Writers’ Trust of Canada Balsillie Prize for Public Policy are announced. Reese Witherspoon announces her first novel, a thriller cowritten with Harlan Coben and due out next fall. Plus, new title bestsellers and interviews with Ta-Nehisi Coates, Kate McKinnon, Lola Milholland, and Kate Conger and Ryan Mac.

The National Book Award Finalists are announced, as are the longlist for the Saif Ghobash Banipal Prize for Arabic Literary Translation and Audiofile’s October 2024 Earphones Award winners. The 2024 slate of MacArthur Fellows includes writers Ling Ma, Juan Felipe Herrera, Jason Reynolds, and Jericho Brown. Reese Witherspoon selects Society of Lies by Lauren Ling Brown for her October book club. The October book club pick for both Read with Jenna and B&N is The Mighty Red by Louise Erdrich. According to NYT, Jimmy Carter, who turned 100 yesterday, is the most prolific author of all ex-presidents.

Shortlists for the T.S. Eliot Prize and the Polari Prize are announced. The Atwood Gibson Writers’ Trust Fiction finalists are announced. Jenna Bush Hager selects Louise Erdrich’s The Mighty Red for her October book club. StokerCon 2025 announces guests of honor including Joyce Carol Oates, Gaby Triana, and Tim Waggoner. October booklists arrive. Plus, it’s Stephen Graham Jones Day (#SGJday), in honor of new reissued editions of six of his previously out-of-print titles.

The Boyfriend by Freida McFadden leads holds this week. Also getting buzz are titles by Ina Garten, Louise Erdrich, Malcolm Gladwell, James Patterson and David Ellis, and Nita Prose. Seven LibraryReads and seven Indie Next picks publish this week. People’s book of the week is Love Can’t Feed You by Cherry Lou Sy. Plus, LitHub previews “The Literary Film & TV You Need to Stream in October.”

Costanza Casati’s Clytemnestra wins the Goldsboro Books Glass Bell Award. David Waldstreicher wins the George Washington Prize for The Odyssey of Phillis Wheatley: A Poet’s Journeys Through American Slavery and Independence. Winners of the Alberta Book Publishing Awards are announced. Plus, Page to Screen and interviews with Emmanuel Acho, Elizabeth Strout, Garth Greenwell, and Lauren Elkin.

Shortlists for the Wolfson History Prize and the British Academy Book Prize are announced. The Treaties We Break by Tina Shah wins the Mo Siewcharran Prize for unpublished fiction writers from Black, Asian, mixed heritage and minority ethnic backgrounds. Llano County, TX, told the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals that it should hand politicians near total authority over what books can go on public library shelves. Plus new title bestsellers and interviews with Richard Osman, Isabella Hammad, Paola Ramos, Uzo Aduba, and Myriam J.A. Chancy.

The Washington State Book Award and Dream Foundry Award winners are announced. Elly Griffiths wins Author of the Year at the BA Conference Awards. LibraryReads and LJ offer read-alikes for Sally Rooney’s Intermezzo. Interviews arrive with Janice Hallett, Elyse Graham, Ed Burns, Kenny G, Ashley Spencer, David Sedaris, Aaron Zebley, and Wright Thompson. The Kingdoms of Savannah by George Dawes Green will get a TV adaptation, and Garth Greenwell’s What Belongs to You goes to the opera. Plus, NYT delves into the “Strega Nona September” TikTok trend, inspired by the children’s books by Tomie dePaola.

Banned Books Week is underway, with newly released reports from PEN America and ALA on book challenges in the U.S. Sally Rooney’s Intermezzo garners rave reviews, including a four-star review from USA Today. Interviews arrive with Law Roach, Ashley Spencer, Robert A. Caro, Shayna Maci Warner, Elizabeth Strout, Morgan Talty, Wright Thompson, and Stephen Colbert and Evie McGee Colbert. Influential critic Fredric Jameson has died at the age of 90.