reviews

The 2022 Firecracker Awards finalists are announced. There is a new banned book subscription service called Getting the Banned Back Together. At the top of the best sellers lists are The Summer Place by Jennifer Weiner, The Lioness by Chris Bohjalian, A Sacred Oath: Memoirs of a Secretary of Defense During Extraordinary Times by Mark T. Esper, and How the World Really Works: The Science Behind How We Got Here and Where We're Going by Vaclav Smil. Author interviews feature Colton Haynes and Stephanie Foo. There is adaptation news for Margalit Fox’s The Confidence Men: How Two Prisoners of War Engineered the Most Remarkable Escape in History.

Wesley Morgan wins the 2022 William E. Colby Award for The Hardest Place: The American Military Adrift in Afghanistan's Pech Valley. NPR Books Editor Petra Mayer is honored with posthumous Kate Wilhelm Solstice Award. The 2022 Nommo Awards shortlist is announced. The 2022 Premios Kelvin finalists are announced. LibraryReads and LJ offer read-alikes for Christina Lauren's buzzy book, Something Wilder. Colin Kaepernick will publish a memoir. Margaret Atwood’s Stone Mattress adaptation casts leads. Alan Moore’s The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen gets a reboot and Spiderhead gets a trailer. 

This user-friendly resource, a collaboration between Adam Matthew Digital and Sage Research Methods, is designed to introduce undergraduate students to research methodologies and primary sources. Although aimed primarily at undergraduate students, graduate students new to their field or needing a refresher will also find it useful. Overall, this is a solid choice for institutions supporting undergraduate research in the arts and humanities.

Science, social science, humor, & more.

The 2021 Bram Stoker Awards are announced, with My Heart Is a Chainsaw by Stephen Graham Jones taking the top award. Burning Man: The Trials of D. H. Lawrence by Frances Wilson wins the Plutarch Award for best biography of the year. The 2022 Ohioana Book Award finalists are announced along with shortlists for the 2022 Indie Book Awards and the 2022 Seiun Awards. The Woman in the Library by Sulari Gentill tops the June Library Reads list. The Atlantic and Zando partner to launch the new imprint, Atlantic Editions. Plus, The Believer literary magazine returns to its original publisher, McSweeney’s. 

Something Wilder by Christina Lauren (Gallery) is the top holds title of the week (5/16/22). LibraryReads and Library Journal offer read-alikes for patrons waiting to read this buzziest book.

A picnic book is as essential as a blanket, for reading outdoors is a sublime pleasure that spring invites with blossoms and bright blue skies. Just as what fills a picnic hamper or take-out bag is customizable and endless in its variety, so too are reading choices. Here are a few suggestions based on form.

Christina Lauren’s Something Wilder leads holds this week. Three LibraryReads selections and four Indie Next picks publish this week. People’s book of the week is This Time Tomorrow by Emma Straub. Entertainment Weekly releases its 2022 Summer Preview. The Fortnum & Mason Food and Drink Awards 2022 are announced. The U.S. Book Show kicks off next week. The Atlantic expands its book section. Plus, Stephen King weighs in on the new Firestarter film.