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Big Books of the Week

Expiration Dates by Rebecca Serle (Atria) leads holds this week.

Other titles in demand include:

The #1 Lawyer by James Patterson & Nancy Allen (Little, Brown)

James by Percival Everett (Doubleday; LJ starred review)

The Princess of Las Vegas by Chris Bohjalian (Doubleday)

Kill for Me, Kill for You by Steve Cavanagh (Atria)

These books and others publishing the week of March 18, 2024, are listed in a downloadable spreadsheet.

Librarians and Booksellers Suggest

Four LibraryReads and eight Indie Next picks publish this week:

James by Percival Everett (Doubleday; LJ starred review)

“In this superb counterpoint to Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, we get the point of view of the enslaved character Jim. Through Jim’s eyes, readers experience many of the familiar events from Twain’s novel. However, this narrative reveals more details and realities of the horrible state of slavery. With added storylines of Jim’s humor and family dedication, this book stands out as an illuminating addition to the American classic.”—MarySue Waterman, Westport Library, CT

It is also the #1 Indie Next pick:

“Percival Everett, deep into his brilliant career, adds another indelible novel into his vast canon. James reimagines an emblematic—and yes, problematic—American classic and asks about life, history, and our cultural psyche.”—Stephen Sparks, Point Reyes Books, Point Reyes Station, CA

The Mystery Writer by Sulari Gentill (Poisoned Pen)

“This intriguing mystery delves into the world of book publishing. Theo is an aspiring author who meets one of her childhood idols, Dan. As they grow closer, Dan is murdered and Theo becomes embroiled in scandal and conspiracies as she tries to solve his murder and outrun those who mean her harm - before she or someone she loves is next. This novel has a million twists that will keep readers guessing until the last page.”—Lauren Maxwell, Geneva Public Library District, IL

Hall of Fame pick Expiration Dates by Rebecca Serle (Atria) is also an Indie Next pick:

“I came for Rebecca Serle’s signature magical realism and romance, and stayed for the free will vs. determinism conversation. A quick, enjoyable read that I cried during. Love is a net. It can catch you long after someone is gone.”—Lindsay Makowicki, Bank Square Books, Mystic, CT

The Princess of Las Vegas by Chris Bohjalian (Doubleday) is also a Hall of Fame pick. 

Six additional Indie Next picks publish this week:

The Tree Doctor by Marie Mutsuki Mockett (Graywolf)

“Verdant, potent, real, The Tree Doctor explores so much about relationships as one woman lives through the isolation—the unexpected wintering of one pandemic year along the California coast. This book is the spring that arrives at last.”—Melinda Powers, Bookshop Santa Cruz, Santa Cruz, CA

Secrets of the Octopus by Sy Montgomery & Warren K. Carlyle IV (National Geographic)

“If you’re not already in love with octopuses, Montgomery’s new book will seduce you. For those in love, you’ll be filled with more. Perhaps most interesting are the funny, weird, and intense emotional human-octopus relationships.”—Kay Wosewick, Boswell Book Company, Milwaukee, WI

The Woods All Black by Lee Mandelo (Tor.com)

“A visceral queer revenge story wrapped in the mists of post-WWI Appalachia. Mandelo’s rabid, religious community unsettles with its modern parallels. But it’s his eerie, possibly unhealthy forest that will drag you in and refuse to let go.”—Christy Peterson, Vintage Books, Vancouver, WA

Memory Piece by Lisa Ko (Riverhead)

“I finished Memory Piece on a family trip, and found myself thinking of it when I woke up and itching to get back to it. I’ll remember Giselle, Ellen, and Jackie—their friendships, art and community making, and survival—for a long time!”—Jhoanna Belfer, Bel Canto Books, Long Beach, CA

Annie Bot by Sierra Greer (Mariner)

“Annie is an AI-enabled sex doll that learns from her mistakes to please humans. What happens when her intelligence turns inward?  A novel about power, intimacy, artificial intelligence, and an imperfect relationship under patriarchy.”—Jennifer Carney, Sidetrack Bookshop, Royal Oak, MI

Rainbow Black by Maggie Thrash (Harper Perennial)

“The setting: 1980s New Hampshire, a society roiled by suppressed memories. The characters: two young teens, parents convicted of child abuse arising from these memories. Maggie Thrash does not shy away in this compelling story.”—Willard Williams, Balin Books, Nashua, NH

In the Media

People’s book of the week is Expiration Dates by Rebecca Serle (Atria). Also getting attention are Notes from the Henhouse: On Marrying a Poet, Raising Children and Chickens, and Writing by Elspeth Barker (Scribner) and The Divorcées by Rowan Beaird (Flatiron). “Novels of a New World” include Memory Piece by Lisa Ko (Riverhead), The Morningside by Téa Obreht (Random), and Annie Bot by Sierra Greer (Mariner).

The “Picks” section spotlights Peacock’s Apples Never Fall, based on the novel by Liane Moriarty. There is an Oscars recap and a feature on Charles Spencer and his new memoir, A Very Private School (Gallery). Plus, recipes from Sabrina Ghayour, Flavor (Aster), and Lidey Heuck, Cooking in Real Life: Delicious & Doable Recipes for Every Day (S. & S./Simon Element).

Reviews

NYT reviews The Divorcées by Rowan Beaird (Flatiron): “In Beaird’s painstakingly constructed world, there are no decent men or decent marriages, and you’d best not rely on the other women, either”; One Way Back: A Memoir by Christine Blasey Ford (St. Martin’s): “To her credit, you never really feel you’re drowning, reading One Way Back. But boy do you long for a nice hot shower afterward”;  The Notebooks of Sonny Rollins by Sonny Rollins (New York Review; LJ starred review): “As an editor, Reese writes sensitively about Rollins’s music but somehow never misses an opportunity to miss an opportunity”; The Morningside by Téa Obreht (Random): “By weaving in folklore and ample wonder, Obreht gives her climate fiction ancient roots, forcing us to reckon with the ruined world that future generations will inherit, while reminding us that even in the face of catastrophe, there’s solace to be found in art”; The Ancient Art of Thinking For Yourself: The Power of Rhetoric in Polarized Times by Robin Reames (Basic Books): “Reames’s book is intelligent and well intended but likely to be of only fitful value as a path through our polarized discourse”; With Darkness Came Stars: A Memoir by Audrey Flack (Penn State Univ.): “Some of the most profound passages in With Darkness Came Stars involve messy collisions of family and creative desire”; The New York Game: Baseball and the Rise of a New City by Kevin Baker (Knopf): “One hopes for a second volume from Kevin Baker, every bit as good as this one”; On Gaslighting by Kate Abramson (Princeton Univ.): “Like its spiritual forebear, Harry G. Frankfurt’s On Bullshit, Abramson’s close examination of a phenomenon is a helpful and enlightening, if dense and academic, effort”; Jaded by Ela Lee (S. & S): “The book balances the heavy subject of rape with a darkly funny treatment of work culture”; and Bad Animals by Sarah Braunstein (Norton): “Braunstein’s sharp-witted, ravishing novel shows how insensitivity can be an aphrodisiac….” Plus more reviews at NYT Books.

Washington Post reviews American Mother by Colum McCann with Diane Foley (Etruscan): “In this unusual literary partnership, it’s the novelist who takes top billing. American Mother is the work of ‘Colum McCann with Diane Foley,’ not vice versa. Her story has become his, retold through his characteristically agile prose and with strategies he has used in fiction”; Your Absence Is Darkness by Jón Kalman Stefánsson, tr. by Philip Roughton (Biblioasis): “Even in this golden age of literary translation, even with such accolades, it can be challenging for a foreign writer to attract readers in a competitive market. And Roughton’s translation, while solid, can sometimes come off as rigid, with puzzling results”; Memory Piece by Lisa Ko (Riverhead): “There is much to admire in Memory Piece. The originality. The vastness. The main characters’ depth and breadth. The reflections about who or what gives a life meaning. Also: Ko does something interesting with race”; and No Judgment: Essays by Lauren Oyler (HarperOne): “For the most part, the prose in the book sweats to be chatty, with the result that it often has the slightly plaintive quality of a text message from an older parent intent on using outdated slang.”

The New Yorker has briefly noted book reviews. 

NBCC board members review the 2024 NBCC Award finalists at LitHub.

Briefly Noted

The 2024 Future Worlds Prize shortlist is announced. Locus has details. 

The April LibraryReads list is out, featuring top pick The Husbands by Holly Gramazio (Doubleday).

CrimeReads suggests 10 new books for the week. 

Forbes lists “The 25 Top Historical Fiction Books Of All Time.”

Esquire selects “The Best Books of 2024 (So Far).”

Elle previews “The Best (and Most Anticipated) Mystery and Thriller Books of 2024, So Far.”

Chris Bohjalian discusses “misdirection, multiple POVs, and the lure of Las Vegas,” in his new book, The Princess of Las Vegas (Doubleday), with CrimeReads. 

LA Times talks with Cynthia Carr, author of the new book, Candy Darling: Dreamer, Icon, Superstar (Farrar).

Tana French discusses how the Western inspired her new book, The Hunter (Viking), with Slate. 

Charles Spencer talks with The Guardian about the difficult decision to write his memoir, A Very Private School (Gallery). 

People highlights Dua Lipa’s book club on the Service95 platform. 

Authors on Air

Christine Blasey Ford talks with NPR’s Morning Edition about her new memoir, One Way Back (St. Martin’s). Ford also gives an interview to CBS Sunday Morning.

Washington Post book critic Ron Charles recommends four books in a new edition of “The Book Report” on CBS Sunday Morning.

NPR’s Short Wave chats with Shohini Ghose about her book, Her Space, Her Time: How Trailblazing Women Scientists Decoded the Hidden Universe (MIT). 

Netflix partners with author Jo Nesbø to adapt his Harry Hole series. Hollywood Reporter has the story.

Dan Pashman, Anything’s Pastable: 81 Inventive Pasta Recipes for Saucy People (Morrow; LJ starred review), will be on GMA today.

Brett Gelman, The Terrifying Realm of the Possible: Nearly True Stories (Dey Street), appears on CBS Mornings.

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