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Book News & Awards

LJ releases the virtual galley guide for the 2021 American Library Association annual conference.

Sudhir Hazareesingh wins the 2021 Wolfson History Prize with Black Spartacus (Picador: Macmillan).

Tsitsi Dangaremba wins the 2021 PEN Pinter Prize. Africanews reports.

Emma van Straaten wins the 2021 Discoveries Women’s Prize for Fiction.

New Title Bestsellers

Links for the week: NYT Hardcover Fiction Best Sellers | NYT Hardcover Nonfiction Best Sellers | USA Today Best-Selling Books

Fiction

Golden Girl by Elin Hilderbrand (Little, Brown and Company) opens at No. 1 on the NYT Hardcover Fiction Best Sellers list and No. 2 on the USA Today Best-Selling Books list.

Freed by E L James (Bloom: Sourcebooks) starts at No. 1 on the USA Today Best-Selling Books list.

Malibu Rising by Taylor Jenkins Reid (Ballantine) climbs to No. 2 on the NYT Hardcover Fiction Best Sellers list and No. 3 on the USA Today Best-Selling Books list.

The Other Black Girl (Atria; LJ starred review) debuts at No. 6 on the NYT Hardcover Fiction Best Sellers list.

One Last Stop by Casey McQuiston (St. Martin’s Griffin; LJ starred review) arrives at No. 6 on the USA Today Best-Selling Books list.

My Hero Academia, Vol. 28 by Kohei Horikoshi (VIZ Media) shines at No. 9 on the USA Today Best-Selling Books list.

Seven Days in June by Tia Williams (Grand Central) heats up to No. 14 on the NYT Hardcover Fiction Best Sellers list.

Nonfiction

How the Word Is Passed: A Reckoning with the History of Slavery Across America by Clint Smith (Little, Brown) speaks at No. 1 on the NYT Hardcover Nonfiction Best Sellers list.

After the Fall: Being American in the World We’ve Made by Ben Rhodes (Random House) climbs to No. 4 on the NYT Hardcover Nonfiction Best Sellers list.

Chainsaw Man, Vol. 5 by Tatsuki Fujimoto (VIZ Media) cuts to No. 7 on the USA Today Best-Selling Books list.

Somebody's Daughter by Ashley C. Ford (Flatiron: An Oprah Book) lives at No. 9 on the NYT Hardcover Nonfiction Best Sellers list.

Rememberings: Scenes from My Complicated Life by Sinéad O’Connor (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt) starts at No. 13 on the NYT Hardcover Nonfiction Best Sellers list.

Reviews

NPR reviews We Need New Stories: The Myths That Subvert Freedom by Nesrine Malik (Norton): “Written in the aftermath of Donald Trump's Electoral College win in 2016, the book is framed by the former president's myriad blunt dishonesties.”

NYT reviews Mercury Rising: John Glenn, John Kennedy, and the New Battleground of the Cold War by Jeff Shesol (Norton): “Shesol dutifully relates the arc of Glenn’s life, from his humble origins in small-town Ohio to his 24-year career in the United States Senate. Most of the book, though, narrates the ups and downs of Glenn’s struggles to become the first American to circle the Earth, an ambition that culminated in the triumphant flight of his Friendship 7 capsule on Feb. 20, 1962.” Also, All That She Carried by Tiya Miles (Random House; LJ starred review): ““All That She Carried” is a remarkable book, striking a delicate balance between two seemingly incommensurate approaches: Miles’s fidelity to her archival material, as she coaxes out facts grounded in the evidence; and her conjectures about this singular object, as she uses what is known about other enslaved women’s lives to suppose what could have been.”

Washington Post reviews The Other Black Girl by Zakiya Dalila Harris (Atria; LJ starred review): ““The Other Black Girl” dutifully and honestly recapitulates the literary world’s debates about how to redress its long legacy of anti-Blackness.” Also, The Ugly Cry by Danielle Henderson (Viking): "“The Ugly Cry” is a vivid, voice-y, richly textured read; it is also profoundly sad, and must have been spectacularly difficult to write."

Tor.com reviews Future Feeling by Joss Lake (Soft Skull): “Future Feeling is an ambitious book, one that contains exquisitely turned observations and reflections. Reading it feels like falling through a bunch of fever-dreams strung across the landscapes of New York and LA, shared among famous and non-famous queers. At moments cruel, at others funny, it’s a worthwhile read that strikes at something of the now, despite its struggles to engage fully with issues of race and class in the manner it seemed to be aiming for.”

Book Marks has "5 Reviews You Need to Read This Week."

Briefly Noted

Dave Eggers new book The Every (Vintage: Random House) will only be available in independent bookstores. Lit Hub reports.

Joyce Carol Oates writes about Dolores Hitchens’ The Cat Saw Murder (Norton) and how it fits in with golden-era mysteries. Crime Reads has the piece.

Lisa Taddeo, author of Animal (Avid Reader: S. & S), speaks with People about female rage and shares an excerpt from her debut book. Also, People interviews Poppy Jamie about her new book, Happy Not Perfect (Rodale: Random House), and how her mental health experiences influenced and shaped her writing. The Rumpus has a conversation with Alex Difrancesco, Transmutation: Stories (Seven Stories Press), with a June 22 release date, about leading readers into darkness and revealing the monsters in humanity.

NYT speaks with John Green, The Anthropocene Reviewed: Essays on a Human-Centered Planet (Dutton; LJ starred review) about wanting to write about himself in an authentic way. 

The Washington Post explores the works of Robert E. Howard.

K-Ming Chang, author of Bestiary (One World: Random House), fills out the Book Marks Questionnaire.

Lit Hub has a piece remembering Mark Baumer, author of The One on Earth (Fence: Consortium), and his contribution to works about the environmental crisis. Also, a reflection on Audre Lorde's Zami (Crossing Press: Random House).

Tor.com provides an excerpt of Star Eater by Kerstin Hall (Tor.com: Macmillan) and a cover reveal for Josh Malerman’s Pearl (Del Rey: Random House). 

The Millions offers “Taking Refuge in How: On Toni Morrison’s First Three Novels.”

The Washington Post has "We could all use a laugh. These comedic romance novels deliver."

Lit Hub has “On Leaving and Returning: A Reading List About Home” and "Reading Books About...People Reading Books?"

Crime Reads lists "24 Queer Crime Novels to Read All Year Long."

Authors on Air

NPR Fresh Air interviews Jeff Shesol, author of Mercury Rising: John Glenn, John Kennedy, and the New Battleground of the Cold War (Norton) about American competition with other countries over space exploration. Also, a review of Loki, a television series with associated titles that takes on the world of comic-cons.

Entertainment Weekly considers how X-Men comic adaptations will become part of Disney’s deal with 20th Century Fox and the Marvel Cinematic Universe. 

Author Dave Hutchinson’s novels will be adapted by Studiocanal and the team behind Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy. Deadline has the scoop.

Bryan Fuller, the creator of Hannibal, will be writing and directing an adaption of Stephen King’s Christine (Signet: Penguin) for Blumhouse Productions. Tor.com has more information.

Liam Neeson will star in an adaptation of Raymond Chandler’s Philip Marlowe character, based on The Black-Eyed Blonde. Deadline has the story.

Shadow and Act provides release dates for Fear Street adaptations, based on R.L. Stine’s series. 

Sumbul Ali-Karamali, author of Demystifying Shariah: What It Is, How It Works, and Why It’s Not Taking Over Our Country (Beacon; LJ starred review) speaks on the Keen On podcast regarding “how ancient mythologies still culminate in anti-Islam policies.” Also, an interview with Tim Madigan and Hilary Beard, The Burning: Black Wall Street and the Tulsa Race Massacre of 1921 (Henry Holt & Co.: Macmillan) on this moment in United States history.

Jenny Lawson, Broken (in the Best Possible Way) (Macmillan Audio; LJ starred review) has a conversation on the Reading Women podcast about the challenges she found in her writing process.

Barrett Swanson, author of Lost in Summerland: Essays (Counterpoint) speaks with Otherppl podcast about "searching for solace and meaning in subcultures."

The Virtual Franklin Park Reading Series features authors Hala Alyan, The Arsonists' City (HMH), Te-Ping Chen, Land of Big Numbers: Stories (Mariner: HMH), Joshua Mohr, Model Citizen (MCD: Macmillan) and more.

Neil deGrasse Tyson will be on Real Time with Bill Maher. 

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