Reviews+

Rachel Khong’s Real Americans, the May B&N Book Club selection, garners reviews and buzz. The Ondaatje Prize releases its 2024 shortlist. The Tomorrow Prize finalists and Green Feather winner are announced. T.J. Newman’s Worst Case Scenario arrives August 13, in a new two-book deal with Little, Brown. USA Today talks with librarian Mychal Threets. Gypsy Rose Blanchard announces a  forthcoming memoir, Time To Stand, due out from BenBella Books in January 2025.

The Demon of Unrest: A Saga of Hubris, Heartbreak, and Heroism at the Dawn of the Civil War by Erik Larson leads holds this week. Also getting buzz are titles by Jeneva Rose, Danielle Steel, Rachel Khong, and Catherine Mack. Three LibraryReads and eight Indie Next picks publish this week. People’s book of the week is Daughters of Shandong by Eve J. Chung. And crime writer CJ Sansom has died at the age of 71.

The winners of the Windham-Campbell Prize are announced. Enter Ghost by Isabella Hammad wins the Aspen Words Literary Prize. Sid Marty wins the inaugural Al and Eurithe Purdy Poetry Prize for his collection Oldman’s River: New and Collected Poems. The Canadian Science Fiction and Fantasy Association has announced the ballot for the 2024 Aurora Awards. The Booker Prize is urged to consider a name change over its link to slavery.

The longlist for the Theakston Old Peculier Crime Novel of the Year is revealed. Oakland, CA, poet laureate Ayodele Nzinga receives a Rainin Arts Fellowship. Abrams ComicArts is launching a new adult-geared manga imprint, Kana. Caroline Peckham and Susanne Valenti will rerelease their BookTok-beloved self-published “Zodiac Academy” romantasy series under their new publishing company Dark Ink. Plus interviews with Robinne Lee and Salman Rushdie and new title best sellers.

PEN America announces two award winners: Javier Fuentes’s Countries of Origin for debut novel and The Blue House: Collected Works of Tomas Tranströmer, tr. by Patty Crane, for poetry in translation. The Women’s Prize for Fiction shortlist is announced, featuring books by Anne Enright, V.V. Ganeshananthan, Kate Grenville, Isabella Hammad, Claire Kilroy, and Aube Rey. NYPL’s Dorothy and Lewis B. Cullman Center for Scholars and Writers selects its class of 2024–25 fellows. A climate fiction prize will launch at Hay Festival on June 2. The U.S. Senate passes the TikTok bill, setting up legal and First Amendment challenges. Plus, LibraryReads and LJ offer read-alikes for Funny Story by Emily Henry, the top holds title of the week. 

These novels span centuries, featuring a woman-centered Trojan War retelling, a midwife in 14th-century Provence, a 1920s jazz era singer, and two World War II stories.

History highlights include an exploration of the Wild West, a book about the discovery of Ernest Shackleton’s Endurance, a history of moutaineering, and a look at reproductive rights pioneers; plus two hit podcasts receive book treatments.

PEN America cancels its 2024 literary awards ceremony, originally set for April 29, due to controversy over its stance on the war in Gaza. The LA Times Book Prizes are announced. Yoko Ono is honored with the MacDowell Medal. The 2024 Age Book of the Year Award shortlists are announced. Actor Josh Brolin announces a new memoir, From Under the Truck, which arrives in November. Helen Mirren, Pierce Brosnan, and Ben Kingsley will star in the film adaptation of Richard Osman’s The Thursday Murder Club. Plus, Yaa Gyasi’s Transcendent Kingdom will be adapted for film.

Funny Story by Emily Henry leads holds this week. Also getting buzz are titles by Sally Hepworth, Elly Griffiths, Douglas Preston, and Nancy Thayer. People’s book of the week is Real Americans by Rachel Khong. Winners of the O. Henry Prize for Short Fiction are announced, as are the CWA Dagger longlists. Kevin Kwan’s Crazy Rich Asians is headed to Broadway as a musical. And philosopher Daniel C. Dennett has died at the age of 82.