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Big Books of the Week

The Dark Hours by Michael Connelly (Little, Brown, & Co.) leads holds this week.

Other titles in demand include: 

The Sentence by Louise Erdrich (Harper)

Never by Ken Follett (Viking)

The Dawn of Everything: A New History of Humanity by David Graeber and David Wengrow (Farrar)

Dark Tarot (Dark, Bk. 1) by Christine Feehan (Berkley)

These books and others publishing the week of November 8th, 2021 are listed in a downloadable spreadsheet.

Awards

The 2021 World Fantasy Awards are announced, including Trouble the Saints by Alaya Dawn Johnson (Tor Books: Macmillan) for best novel. 

The 2021 Scotiabank Giller $100,000 Prize winner will be revealed this evening. CBC has coverage of the finalists and how to tune in for the announcement.  

Ryann Stevenson wins the 2021 Max Ritvo Poetry Prize.

The 2022 Southern Book Prize finalists are announced. You can vote for your favorites here.  

Mercedes Lackey is named the 38th The Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America Damon Knight Memorial Grand Master.

The 2021 BFS Short Story Competition winners are announced.

Librarians and Booksellers Suggest

Four LibraryReads and four Indie Next selections publish this week:

The Sentence by Louise Erdrich (Harper)

“A weird novel that is occasionally very funny, this is set in Birchbark Books, Erdrich’s own Minneapolis bookstore, which is haunted by the ghost of its most annoying customer. The story moves through the pandemic and the explosion of protests after George Floyd’s murder, but Erdrich's warmth is always there. For readers of Isabel Allende and Tommy Orange.”—Diana Armstrong, Multnomah County Library, Portland, OR

Never Fall for Your Fiancee by Virginia Heath (St. Martin’s Griffin)

“Hugh’s the handsome nobleman and Minerva is his fake fiancee--a fully realized hero and heroine sure to win over many fans in this delightful Regency romantic comedy brimming with appealing characters. For fans of Bridgerton and League of Extraordinary Women.”—Janet Schneider, Peninsula Public Library, Lawrence, NY

Just Haven't Met You Yet by Sophie Cousens (Putnam)

“When her boss wants more like her “How did you meet?” video interviews, Laura travels to the island of Jersey to explore her parents’ story. She learns the truth about her family, makes friends, learns how to follow her passion in work, and has her own meet- cute. A well-rounded romance novel for fans of One Day in December and Good Luck with That.”—Heather McIntosh, Botetourt County Libraries, Roanoke, VA

The Donut Trap by Julie Tieu (Avon)

“Jas is lost and working in her family's donut shop. When she accidentally follows her crush on Instagram, things start to change. An all-around good book that touches on family dynamics, friendships, and issues faced by recent college grads. For fans of Get a Life, Chloe Brown and The Friend Zone.”—Suzy Card, Grapevine Library, Grapevine, TX

Four Indie Next picks arrive this week:

The Perishing by Natashia Deón (Counterpoint)

“Reading The Perishing feels like falling through a shimmering kaleidoscope of stories that, when pieced together, tell the past, present, and future of an immortal soul. It makes me excited for the future of literature.”—Caroline Barbee, Friendly City Books, Columbus, MS

Comfort Me With Apples by Catherynne M. Valente (Tordotcom)

“I raced through this novella in one sitting before bed and paid for it in my dreams, but the nightmares were worth it! Comfort Me With Apples reads like Angela Carter retelling the story of Adam and Eve: it’s lush, eerily off-kilter, sensual, and so, so creepy.”—Lauren Peugh, The Elliott Bay Book Company, Seattle, WA

I Hope This Finds You Well: Poems by Kate Baer (Harper Perennial)

“From weight loss solicitation emails to comments of appreciation to emails deriding her politics and her body, Baer uses these sources to create poems that pack a punch. A solid collection worth revisiting regularly.”—Beth Bissmeyer, Carmichael’s Bookstore, Louisville, KY

Five Tuesdays in Winter by Lily King (Grove; LJ starred review)

“I was hooked from the first delightful and strange story in this new collection by the brilliant Lily King. Her focus is razor sharp and her storytelling pierces the heart. A great follow up to Writers & Lovers.”—Jamie Southern, Bookmarks, Winston-Salem, NC

In the Media

The People “Picks” book of the week is The Lyrics: 1956 to the Present by Paul McCartney (Liverlight: Norton). Also getting attention are Our Country Friends by Gary Shteyngart (Random; LJ starred review), and The Collective by Alison Gaylin (Morrow). An “Engrossing New Memoirs” section features My Body by Emily Ratajkowski (Metropolitan: Macmillan), I Keep Trying To Catch His Eye: A Memoir of Loss, Grief, and Love by Ivan Maisel (Hachette), and Baggage: Tales from a Fully Packed Life by Alan Cumming (Dey St.; LJ starred review). The “Picks” section highlights Marvel’s Eternals, based on associated titles, and Dexter: New Blood, based on the series by Jeff Lindsay, on Showtime.

There are features on Will Smith and his new memoir, Will (Penguin Random House), Kal Penn, You Can't Be Serious (Gallery), and The Art of Bob Mackie by Frank Vlastnik and Laura Ross (S. & S.). Plus Drew Barrymore, Rebel Homemaker: Food, Family, Life, written with Pilar Valdes (Dutton), David Chang and Priya Krishna, Cooking at Home: Or, How I Learned to Stop Worrying About Recipes (And Love My Microwave): A Cookbook (Clarkson Potter), and Chrissy Teigen, Cravings: All Together: Recipes to Love: A Cookbook, written with Adeena Sussman (Clarkson Potter), all share recipes.

Reviews

USA Today reviews The Sentence by Louise Erdrich (Harper): "a hard-won love letter to readers and to booksellers, as well as a compelling story about how we cope with pain and fear, injustice and illness. One good way is to press a beloved book into another’s hands. Read The Sentence and then do just that.”  NPR also reviews: "everyone at Birchbark is delighted when bookstores are deemed an 'essential' business during the pandemic, making books as important as 'food, fuel, heat, garbage collection, snow shoveling, and booze.' No arguments here. And I'd add The Sentence to the growing list of fiction that seems pretty 'essential' for a deeper take on the times we're living through."

The NYT reviews The Lyrics: 1956 to the Present by Paul McCartney (Liverlight: Norton): “The Lyrics makes clear that McCartney has written on a high level long past his Beatles years, and even the weakest lyrics in the books have a character all their own: a feeling of giddy playfulness and unguarded experimentation. They’re a joy to read because they exude the joy their maker took in their making.” And, Indigo: Arm Wrestling, Snake Saving, and Some Things In Between by Padgett Powell (Catapult): “Powell seems to me all of these things: a champion in the shadows, a rare creature, a delicious hybrid — and a major American writer, if one whose name isn’t on the tip of everybody’s tongue these days.” And, On Consolation: Finding Solace in Dark Times by Michael Ignatieff (Metropolitan): “takes the erosion of organized religion as a given, and is directed at secularists who still seek meaning and purpose: nonbelievers, not nihilists. Still, Ignatieff believes that holy texts of all denominations can be mined for comfort and insight even by the faithless, for a spirituality as customized as one of those Sweetgreen salads.”

NPR reviews The Waiting by Keum Suk Gendry-Kim, tr. by Janet Hong (Drawn & Quarterly; LJ starred review): “While fully acknowledging the plight of biological family members separated along the North-South border during the Korean War, 'The Waiting' also celebrates the beauty of found-family bonds forged to mitigate the destructive forces of history.” And, How To Marry Keanu Reeves in 90 Days by K. M. Jackson (Forever: Grand Central): “a rollicking rom-com full of fun, complex characters, laugh-out-loud one-liners and the kind of delicious banter that keeps you smiling from page one to the very end.”

The Washington Post reviews  Will by Will Smith (Penguin Random House): "You like him despite the evident calculation at play: His foundational insecurity is part of his appeal; even while consciously selling his own vulnerability, he inadvertently reveals its true depths. And so, despite Will feeling more like part of a corporate strategy than a work of real introspection (even the acknowledgments redirect you to Smith’s Instagram), you’d probably still vote for him." And, Cokie: A Life Well Lived by Steven V. Roberts (Harper): “Cokie was also a lifelong advocate for women, in the workplace and in their personal lives. Fortunately, this book is full of those kinds of stories, with Cokie at the heart of it all.”

The LA Times reviews The Waiting by Keum Suk Gendry-Kim, tr. by Janet Hong (Drawn & Quarterly; LJ starred review): “For Gendry-Kim, this is the point, and the contradiction: The impossibility of life is that, even as we ponder its paths, real or imagined, we have no choice but to live it on its own terms.” And, A Salad Only the Devil Would Eat: The Joys of Ugly Nature by Charles Hood (Heyday: Ingram): “Reading Hood’s work will make you feel smarter but, even more crucially in this dire age, more open to the sublime.”

Briefly Noted

LA Times covers the Authors Guild response to the anti-trust suit against PRH/S.&S. merger. Vanity Fair also weighs in on the suit.  

Sourcebooks announced the acquisition of BES Publishing, formerly Barron’s Educational Services. Publishing Perspectives has details. 

The Minneapolis Star Tribune has an interview with Louise Erdrich about her latest book, The Sentence  (Harper), "a ghost story set in a Minneapolis bookstore very much like Erdrich's own."  AARP also talks with Erdrich about "navigating between Native American and white Cultures​."

Huma Abedin and Hillary Clinton share details from Abedin’s new memoir, Both/And: A Life in Many Worlds (Scribner), at New York City's 92nd Street Y. People has the story.

Ken Follett talks about writing nonfiction and memoir (he won't do it--insists his life is too boring), during press conference launch for Never (Viking). The Bookseller has more.  

Entertainment Weekly shares an exclusive excerpt from My Name’s Yours, What’s Alaska?: A Memoir by Alaska Thunderfuck 5000 (Chronicle Books). 

Slate explores recent thrillers that grapple with the complexities of being a Black woman in the workplace. 

LA Times asks “What books are being targeted at school libraries?”

USA Today picks five books for the week.

CrimeReads suggests 10 books out this week. And, "Soft Boiled Mysteries for Women Over 50."

The Seattle Times recommends 6 books for Fall. 

T&C has "Five Books About Princess Diana If You’re Obsessed With the Royals."

“Kevin Buckley, foreign correspondent and magazine editor, dies at 80.”The Washington Post has an obituary.

Authors On Air

CBS Sunday Morning has an interview with Debby Applegate, author of  Madam: The Biography of Polly Adler, Icon of the Jazz Age (Doubleday), and shares an excerpt from the book. 

NPR’s Fresh Air Weekend includes an interview with Paul McCartney, The Lyrics: 1956 to the Present (Liverlight: Norton), about the Beatles’ final days.

NPR’s Morning Edition interviews John McWhorter about his new book, Woke Racism: How a New Religion Has Betrayed Black America (Portfolio).

NPR’s Book of the Day features Oh William! by Elizabeth Strout (Random).

PBS Newshour talks with Pulitzer Prize winner and Minneapolis resident Louise Erdrich, The Sentence (Harper), about the “city’s upheaval in 2020 amid the pandemic and the police killing of George Floyd.” The Newshour also has an interview with Nick Offerman, Where the Deer and the Antelope Play: The Pastoral Observations of One Ignorant American Who Loves To Walk Outside (Dutton), about ”acting, the pandemic, and hiking ‘on purpose’.”

Tamron Hall, As the Wicked Watch (Morrow) discusses "writing fiction and her challenging, ever-changing career path," on Salon Talks. 

Kal Penn, You Can't Be Serious (Gallery), will be on with Jimmy Kimmel tonight and Dr. Michael Eric Dyson, Entertaining Race: Performing Blackness in America (St. Martin’s: Macmillan), will visit James Corden.   Tomorrow, Will Smith, Will (Penguin Random House) visits with Jimmy Fallon, and Adam Schiff Midnight in Washington: How We Almost Lost Our Democracy and Still Could (Random House)  will drop by The View.

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