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Awards & Buzzy Books News

Cormac McCarthy will publish two interlinked novels with Knopf this fall. The Passenger arrives in October and Stella Maris will be out in November, with a box set release scheduled for December 6th. NYT reports. USA Today has coverage, as does The Guardian.

Bob Dylan will publish The Philosophy of Modern Song (S. & S.), “a master class on the art and craft of songwriting,” on November 8th, marking Dylan’s first book in nearly 18 years. LA Times has the story.

Poet Sonia Sanchez will be awarded Edward MacDowell Medal. PBS Canvas has coverage.

The final 2021 Nebula Awards ballot is announced. Locus reports. Tordotcom has more. 

The 2022 Baen Fantasy Adventure Award finalists are announced.

The 2021 Plutarch Award longlist is announced. 

Ukraine Booklists & Perspective

LJ has a booklist for "What To Read About Ukraine, Now."

LitHub recommends books with an Eastern European perspective.

NYT writes about refugee literature amidst the current situation in Ukraine.

NPR writes about the vital role libraries are playing in Ukraine. 

The Millions explains “how Shakespeare can help us understand the Russian invasion of Ukraine.”

NYPL shares a resource guide to credible organizations providing aid in Ukraine. 

Reviews

USA Today reviews Read Dangerously: The Subversive Power of Literature in Troubled Times by Azar Nafisi (Dey Street Books), giving it 4 stars: "Nafisi’s dispatches are eloquent essays on literature’s power to comfort the afflicted and afflict the comfortable. In addressing them to one she loves dearly, she provides a built-in layer of warmth and understanding. But she still hits hard."

NYT reviews Booth by Karen Joy Fowler (Putnam): “If it sounds tedious to witness an author grapple with tension for 470 pages, that would be an accurate forecast of the reading experience.”

LA Times reviews Eleutheria by Allegra Hyde (Vintage): “Individual tensions generate unexpected crackle, but everyone’s caught in the same toxic knots, their environment collapsing around them. The upshot is a first novel way outside the norms: a work of imagination rather than autobiography.”

The Washington Post reviews Comedy Comedy Comedy Drama by Bob Odenkirk (Random): "Though Odenkirk, 59, has had plenty of successes, Comedy is largely a study in the sad-clown paradox, a story about moody tenacity in the face of either fear of failure or failure itself."

Briefly Noted

The March Earlyword GalleyChat is out, featuring lots of early buzz for Shelby Van Pelt’s forthcoming debut, Remarkably Bright Creatures (Ecco), due out May 3rd.

Azar Nafisi talks with LA Times about Read Dangerously: The Subversive Power of Literature in Troubled Times (Dey Street Books). The Rumpus also talks with Nafisi about the "state of the country, the intimacy of letters, and the need to read dangerously." Plus, Nafisi discusses tyranny and the power of stories with ElectricLit. 

USA Today talks with Dolly Parton about her “dream-chasin’ country music story”, Run, Rose, Run, written with James Patterson (Little, Brown). AARP also talks with the duo about their collaboration.  

Shondaland talks with Jill Gutowitz about her new book of essays, Girls Can Kiss Now (Atria), and “the value of pop culture.” Autostraddle also has a conversation with Gutowitz. 

Chuck Klosterman answers a Q&A about his book, The Nineties: A Book (Penguin Pr.; LJ starred review), at The Washington Post.

Reshma Saujani, author of the forthcoming book, Pay Up: The Future of Women and Work (and Why It's Different Than You Think) (Atria: One Signal), makes the case for ending mom-shaming at OprahDaily.

Tordotcom shares an excerpt of John M. Ford’s forthcoming fantasy epic, Aspects (Tor), due out April 5th.

BookRiot offers a primer on women’s fiction.

Datebook examines 3 new books about U.S. health care. 

NYT recommends newly published books for the week.

Allegra Hyde, Eleutheria (Vintage), suggests “8 Utopian Books for Dystopian Times,” at ElectricLit.

Martha Beck, The Way of Integrity: Finding the Path to Your True Self (The Open Field: PRH), shares her favorite books with OprahDaily.

HipLatina shares "10 Empowering Latina Characters in Literature."

ElectricLit highlights “7 Literary Characters Who Famously Refused to Get a Smartphone.”

Authors On Air

NPR’s Fresh Air talks with Amy Bloom about her book, In Love: A Memoir of Love and Loss (Random), her husband’s Alzheimer's diagnosis, and “her quest to help him end his life in the manner he chose.”

NPR’s Morning Edition has an interview with Roger Lowenstein about his new book, Ways and Means: Lincoln and His Cabinet and the Financing of the Civil War (Penguin Pr.; LJ starred review).

Margaret Atwood and Ken Steacy's graphic novel War Bears (Dark Horse), is being adapted as an animated television series. CBC has the story.

The FX’s miniseries Under the Banner of Heaven, based on the book by Jon Krakauer, gets an April 28th release date on Hulu. Deadline reports.

Danny Pellegrino, How Do I Un-Remember This? (Sourcebooks) visits Drew Barrymore tomorrow.

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