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Remembering David McCullough

Pulitzer Prize-winning historian David McCullough has died at 89. USA Today has coverage. NYT has an obituary, as does The Washington Post. McCullough’s hometown paper, The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette has this. PBS Canvas remembers his life and work. Plus, CBS News has this remembrance. 

Awards & News

The 2022 WSFA Small Press Award finalists are announced.

Rick Lai wins the 2022 Munsey Award, presented by PulpFest. Locus has details.

According to a press release, Tom Doherty Associates will be rebranded as Tor Publishing Group. Tordotcom has the news.

Reviews

NYT reviews, Bad Sex: Truth, Pleasure, and an Unfinished Revolution by Nona Willis Aronowitz (Plume; LJ starred review): “And so she set out to discover what good sex is for her — and answer the many contradictory questions that came up along the way.“ And, Mothercare: On Obligation, Love, Death, and Ambivalence by Lynne Tillman (Soft Skull): “Tillman has in this slim memoir of the final years of her mother’s life zeroed in on an underrepresented facet of the universal contract: our queasy anxiety that the relationship might, in the end, be transactional.” Also, Nineteen Reservoirs: On Their Creation and the Promise of Water for New York City by Lucy Sante, illus. by Tim Davis (The Experiment: Hachette): “Sante has always had an underdog’s left-of-the-dial feeling for what’s been threatened or lost. The best material in Nineteen Reservoirs is about the people who had their land confiscated, in colonial fashion, and submerged." And, Kiki Man Ray: Art, Love, and Rivalry in 1920s Paris by Mark Braude (Norton): “Mark Braude’s exuberantly entertaining biography sets out to rebalance the much-told story of Left Bank Paris, in which Kiki — model, memoirist and muse — is usually cast as a bit player.” Plus, paired reviews of Panics by Barbara Molinard, trans. by Emma Ramadan (The Feminist Pr. at CUNY), and Bad Handwriting by Sara Mesa, trans. by Katie Whittemore & Frances Riddle (Open Letter).

Datebook reviews Raising Lazarus: Hope, Justice, and the Future of America’s Overdose Crisis by Beth Macy (Little, Brown): "There’s still no end in sight for the opioid crisis, but as long as Macy remains on the job, we can count on compassionate dispatches from the front lines."

USA Today reviews Heat 2 by Michael Mann and Meg Gardiner (Morrow; LJ starred review), giving it 3 out of 4 stars: “a must for fans of the film – it’s a perverse joy to spend time in Hanna and McCauley’s heads – and fans of Gardiner’s will find her stretching muscles you might not know she had. For fans of Mann’s, well, he says now he’s going to make this a movie, too.” Plus, a round-up of August's best reviewed rom-coms. 

NPR reviews The Last White Man by Mohsin Hamid (Riverhead; LJ starred review): “A deft, if narrow, Twilight Zone-type fantasy about identity, The Last White Man only seriously strains credulity at its very end.” And, Bronze Drum by Phong Nguyen (Grand Central): "Nguyen combines meticulous historical research with cinematic immediacy to illustrate the cultural chasm between Han and Lạc Việt worldviews."

Briefly Noted

CrimeReads explores how Michael Mann and Meg Gardiner created Heat 2 (Morrow; LJ starred review), “an opus of international crime.” LA Times has a feature and interview with Mann about the book, which is in talks for future film adaptation.

Shondaland talks with poet Safia Elhillo about her new collection, Girls That Never Die (One World), “myths, fear, and policing femme bodies.”

Beth Macy, author of Raising Lazarus: Hope, Justice, and the Future of America’s Overdose Crisis (Little, Brown), pens an essay on addiction for OprahDaily.

People has a cover reveal for Outlander actor Sam Heughan’s forthcoming memoir, Waypoints: My Scottish Journey (Voracious: Hachette), due out October 25th. T&C has more. 

The “Little Miss” and “Mr. Men” franchise is branching out into mental health, with 10 new titles on the way. Bustle has the story.

Amanda Jayatissa, You’re Invited (Berkley), recommends thrillers set at weddings at CrimeReads.

Ava Glass shares the inspiration for her new book, Alias Emma (Bantam; LJ starred review), and her favorite reads at Parade. 

Esquire has "The 8 Best Comedy Books of 2022."

The Guardian rounds up the best thrillers of the month.

Lithub shares “good books for bad moods.”

The Millions highlights notable new releases.

Bustle has 10 must-read books for the week.

Tordotcom previews fantasy books arriving in August.

BookRiot suggests “8 books about existential dread by Asian authors.”

Authors On Air

NPR’s Pop Culture Happy Hour podcast reviews Netflix’s The Sandman, based on Neil Gaiman’s comic book series.

Bustle compares the movie Bullet Train, to the book its based on by Kōtarō Isaka.

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