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June Book Club Picks

Oprah picks Nightcrawling by Leila Mottley (Knopf; LJ starred review), for her book club. The LA Times has a profile and interview with the teen poet-novelist. Datebook reviews: “As a writer, Mottley channels the natural prose of everyday life, the way people and cities breathe and spit and shiver. It is unflinching writing, the kind that soothes even as it strikes; the darkest, most denigrating passages are reliably followed by the light.” The Guardian also reviews, calling it a "dazzling debut."

Reese Witherspoon selects Counterfeit by Kirstin Chen (Morrow) for her June book club.

The GMA June pick is More Than You'll Ever Know by Katie Gutierrez (Morrow). LA Times talks with Gutierrez about “representation in thrillers, the ethics of true crime and the double lives we all lead.”  NYT says in a review: " I can hear the book club discussions now."

B&N releases The Best Books of 2022 (So Far).

Reviews

NYT reviews Horse by Geraldine Brooks (Viking; LJ starred review): “Call it a prolonged case of post-Watership Down stress disorder, but most books with animal themes make me want to run like hell; chances are the creatures are going to suffer or die at the hands of abusers or predators. In Horse, though, Lexington is ennobled by art and science, and roars back from obscurity to achieve the high status of metaphor. It’s us human beings who continue to struggle.” And, Wastelands: The True Story of Farm Country on Trial by Corban Addison (Knopf): “Corban Addison hasn’t written a polemic about hog factories, like my paragraph above. He has calmly assembled a legal thriller, full of energy and compassion, that addresses issues of real importance, like the works of John Grisham and Scott Turow.” Also, The Adventures of Miss Barbara Pym by Paula Byrne (William Collins): “For devotees of Pym’s novels, ardent if not legion, Byrne’s book will be a welcome companion. For more casual fans, its appeal may be more limited.” And, Everything I Need I Get from You: How Fangirls Created the Internet as We Know It by Kaitlyn Tiffany (MCD x FSG Originals): “Tiffany is at the height of her powers when she is describing, with touching specificity, why it might make sense for a person to invest serious time and money into a bunch of cute boys singing silly love songs.” Plus, a critical review of the musical based on Sarah Silverman’s memoir, Bedwetter. Lastly, there are short reviews of three recent memoirs.

NPR reviews The Facemaker: A Visionary Surgeon’s Battle to Mend the Disfigured Soldiers of World War I by Lindsey Fitzharris (Farrar): “In The Facemaker, Fitzharris, a historian of science and medicine, has written a riveting, old-fashioned, man-meets-the-moment account of Gillies' work in the field of plastic surgery, before 'plastic surgery' as a field officially existed.” And, Maxine Hong Kingston: The Woman Warrior, China Men, Tripmaster Monkey, Hawai'i O ne Summer, Other Writings by Maxine Hong Kingston, ed. by Viet Thanh Nguyen (Library of America): “Re-reading these books today, I've been struck by how much of what I now think of as conventional wisdom became so because of her unconventional work. In a way, Maxine Hong Kingston truly is an outlaw knot-maker, but her work doesn't make anyone go blind — it helps us to see.” 

The Washington Post reviews Tracy Flick Can't Win by Tom Perrotta (Scribner): “For the moment, suffice it to say that although Witherspoon’s note-perfect performance may never be forgotten, Perrotta has reclaimed the name Tracy Flick from the bucket of misogynist punchlines.”

LA Times reviews The Kingdom of Sand by Andrew Holleran (Farrar): “This sad, beautiful book captures the sensations Holleran's characters are chasing — as well as the darkness that inevitably comes for them, and us.”

Briefly Noted

The July Loanstars list is out, featuring #1 pick: The Daughter of Doctor Moreau by Silvia Moreno-Garcia (Del Rey).

Library Reads and LJ share read-alikes for The Woman in the Library, by Sulari Gentill (Poisoned Pen; LJ starred review), the buzziest book of the week.

Autostraddle interviews Imogen Binnie, author of the seminal trans novel, Nevada (Farrar), which is re-released this week.

NPR has an interview with Marwa Helal about her new book of poetry, Ante body (Nightboat Books). 

Esquire admits: “We Owe Tracy Flick An Apology.”

NYPL shares a booklist for Caribbean-American Heritage Month.

The Washington Post shares the best audiobooks to kick off the summer.

NPR has 8 books to celebrate Pride Month.

Parade has list of 20 LGBTQ+ books.

NYT highlights newly published books for the week.

USA Today shares June’s top rom-coms.

AV Club previews this summer’s film and TV releases for book lovers.

Wired suggests 5 comics to read after watching Ms. Marvel, now on Disney+.

The Guardian has the “top 10 novels about things that go horribly wrong on islands.”

Authors On Air

PBS Newshour talks with George Stevens Jr., My Place in the Sun: Life in the Golden Age of Hollywood and Washington (Univ. of Kentucky Pr.), about "his life, career and growing up as the son of a legendary director."

NPR's All Things Considered talks with Keri Blakinger, Corrections in Ink: A Memoir (St. Martin’s), about "her path from Olympic figure skating dreams, to drug addiction, and then to prison."

The Midnight Club on Netflix, based on the horror books by Christopher Pike, releases a trailer.  

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