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Awards, News, & Book Events

John Grisham and Celeste Ng will speak at the U.S. Book Show, which is now open for registration, Publishers Weekly reports. Librarians and booksellers can attend the virtual event, which runs May 23-26, free of charge.

Registration is open for LJ Day of Dialog, which will be held virtually May 5, featuring a close-up look at the biggest forthcoming books for summer/fall 2022. 

Carter Malkasian wins the 2022 Lionel Gelber Prize, for The American War in Afghanistan (Oxford Univ. Pr.).

The 2021 Australian Shadows Awards are announced. Locus has details.

The New York Public Library's Dorothy and Lewis B. Cullman Center for Scholars and Writers selected its class of 2022-2023 Fellows, including fiction writers Claire Luchette, Daniel Saldaña París, Brandon Taylor, and C Pam Zhang.

The National Endowment for the Humanities announces grants. NYT reports.

L. Ron Hubbard’s 2022 Writers & Illustrators of the Future Awards are announced. 

Blackstone Publishing ends library embargo, reports Publishers Weekly.  

Reviews

NYT reviews Constructing a Nervous System by Margo Jefferson (Pantheon; LJ starred review): “But this is a book for deep submergence, not quick flipping. This is appointment reading. Clear the schedule and commit.” And, Supertall: How the World's Tallest Buildings Are Reshaping Our Cities and Our Lives by Stefan Al (Norton): “Al is a mostly enthusiastic booster of the supertalls, sometimes to the point of excess or cliché, like when he calls them ‘the cathedrals of our time,’ or writes that ‘truth is stranger than fiction: That’s the story of architecture today.’ But then the social challenges that supertall buildings present bring him back down to earth, as it were, and he recovers his clear and critical eye.” Plus, Seek and Hide: The Tangled History of the Right to Privacy by Amy Gajda (Viking): "Gajda, who was a journalist before becoming a law professor, is a nimble storyteller; even if some of her conclusions are bound to be contentious, she’s an insightful guide to a rich and textured history that gets easily caricatured, especially when a culture war is raging."

The Washington Post reviews Sea of Tranquility by Emily St. John Mandel (Knopf): “is an elegant demonstration of Mandel’s facility with a range of tones and historical periods.” And, Memphis by Tara M. Stringfellow (Dial): “Stringfellow has a lush, romantic style that’s often the only counterweight to the grim details of her story.” Plus, The Fabulous Clipjoint by Fredric Brown (American Mystery Classics: Norton): “These days, The Fabulous Clipjoint — its title refers to the city of Chicago — plunges the reader into a desperate, working-class America now better known through William Lindsay Gresham’s precisely contemporary novel Nightmare Alley…”

USA Today shares the best reviewed rom-coms for April, featuring The No-Show by Beth O’Leary (Berkley), which earns 4 out of 4 stars.

Briefly Noted

The May 2022 Loan Stars list is out, featuring top pick Book Lovers by Emily Henry (Berkley; LJ starred review), due out May 3.

LibraryReads and Library Journal offer read-alikes for The Investigator by John Sandford (Putnam; LJ starred review), the buzziest book of the week.

People has a cover feature on Viola Davis, sharing details about the bullying and trauma she writes about in her forthcoming memoir, Finding Me (HarperOne).

Elle has an interview with Valerie Biden Owens about her new book, Growing Up Biden (Celadon), and being “her brother’s keeper.”

LA Times has a feature on Black Flag guitarist Greg Ginn through the new book, What I See: The Black Flag Photographs of Glen E. Friedman by Glen E. Friedman (Akashic).

Slate has an essay about Marie Yovanovitch’s new memoir, Lessons From The Edge: A Memoir (Mariner), and the “officials who really did obstruct” [Trump’s] agenda.

Jackass star Stephen Steve-O Glover previews his forthcoming book, A Hard Kick in the Nuts: What I’ve Learned from a Lifetime of Terrible Decisions, written with David Peisner (Hachette), for Entertainment Weekly.

The Millions releases its top ten list for March. 

Kaia Gerber recommends 5 books that changed her life for Vogue.

Tor shares “13 Gothic Horror Books That Will Unsettle You in 2022.”

Bustle highlights 20 TikTok-recommended erotic and steamy novels. 

T&C suggests 11 enemies-to-lovers books for your post Bridgerton binge.

Popsugar breaks down the differences between Apple TV's Pachinko, and the book its based on by Min Jin Lee.

Authors On Air

NPR’s Fresh Air talks with J. David McSwane, Pandemic, Inc.: Chasing the Capitalists and Thieves Who Got Rich While We Got Sick (Atria/OneSignal: S. & S.), about financial predators who profited from the COVID health crisis.

NPR’s Morning Edition talks about Brooklyn Public Library’s efforts to challenge censorship and book bannings.

PBS Canvas covers a major retrospective at the New Museum in New York, featuring the life and work of artist Faith Ringgold. Faith Ringgold: Politics / Power by Faith Ringgold with text by Michele Wallace and Kirsten Weiss (Weiss Publications) was published March 22.

The trailer for Hulu’s Conversations with Friends, based on the book by Sally Rooney, is out now, featuring new music by Phoebe Bridgers. Vulture covers the show, which premieres on May 15. 

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