Reviews /booknews

The 2021 Porchlight Business Book Awards Longlist is announced. Interviews share insights from Charlie Jane Anders of Even Greater Mistakes, Kim Perell of Jump: Dare to Do What Scares You in Business and Life, Peter Wohlleben of The Hidden Life of Trees: What They Feel, How They Communicate-Discoveries from A Secret World, Gene Kwak of Go Home, Ricky!, Elissa Washuta of White Magic, Michael Tubbs of The Deeper the Roots: A Memoir of Hope and Home, Kerry Rea of The Wedding Ringer, Dwyane Wade of Dwyane, Anne Applebaum of Twilight of Democracy: The Seductive Lure of Authoritarianism, and Rosemary Mosco of A Pocket Guide to Pigeon Watching: Getting to Know the World’s Most Misunderstood Bird. Adaptation news for Caitlin Rother’s Death on Ocean Boulevard: Inside the Coronado Mansion Case.

The 2021 National Books Awards winners are announced, including Jason Mott for Hell of a Book and Tiya Miles for All That She Carried. Stephen Graham Jones wins the 2021 Mark Twain American Voice in Literature Award (MTAVL) for The Only Good Indians. The Nyabola Prize shortlist is out. The Dark Hours by Michael Connelly, Never by Ken Follett, The Sentence by Louise Erdrich, Will by Will Smith, and The Dawn of Everything: A New History of Humanity by David Graeber and David Wengrow top the best sellers lists. Illuminating conversations include Randon Billings Noble of A Harp in the Stars: An Anthology of Lyric Essays, Jonathan Lee of The Great Mistake, Farah Ali of People Want to Live, Jeffrey Cranor and Janina Matthewson of You Feel It Just Below the Ribs, Nikole Hannah-Jones of The 1619 Project: A New Origin Story. Adaptation news for Douglas E. Richards’ Mind’s Eye book series and graphic novels published by TKO Studios.

Empire of Pain: The Secret History of the Sackler Dynasty by Patrick Radden Keefe wins the Baillie Gifford Prize. Anne Wattel wins the Prix Joël-Champetier Award and The Letras Boricuas Fellows are announced. The 72nd Annual National Book Awards Ceremony will be broadcast tonight, which includes Nancy Pearl's lifetime achievement award. The Lincoln Highway by Amor Towles tops Amazon's Best Books of 2021 list. The 2021 Kirkus Best of the Year list is released. Interviews arrive with Nikole Hannah-Jones, Dwyane Wade, Mayukh Sen, Brian Baumgartner, Michael Tubbs, and Jonathan Karl. Plus, Sloane Crosley's forthcoming Cult Classic is due out in June.

Two leading authors look back to look ahead. 

Cooking and eating in the United States.

From early Tudor England to post–World War II.

Debuts, series wrap-ups, and big-name authors. 

Rachel Kapelke-Dale's debut novel, The Ballerinas, gathers buzz as the #1 pick for both LibraryReads and Loan Stars. Matt Haig wins the W H Smith’s Author of the Year 2021 award. Emily Stewart wins the Helen Anne Bell Poetry Bequest Award. ALA welcomes the removal of “Aliens” and “Illegal aliens” as subject headings. Sweden's Storytel buys audiobooks.com and Spotify acquires audiobook distributor Findaway. Time writes about librarians dealing with increased book banning efforts. Star-studded recordings of Terry Pratchett's Discworld series are on the way.

Mercy by David Baldacci leads holds this week. Four LibraryReads and eight Indie Next titles publish this week. The December Issue of Entertainment Weekly is out with features on Outlander, Emily Ratajkowski, and a pop-culture gift guide. People's book of the week is Five Tuesdays in Winter by Lily King. The 1619 Project: A New Origin Story ed. by Nikole Hannah-Jones & the New York Times Magazine gets reviewed. The New York Times & NYPL releases its 2021 Best Illustrated Children’s Books list. National Book Award finalist Hanif Abdurraqib is featured. Plus, remembrances arrive for beloved NPR books editor Petra Mayer who died suddenly on Saturday.