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Big Books of the Week

The Madness of Crowds by Louise Penny (Minotaur: St. Martin’s; LJ starred review), leads holds this week.

Other titles in demand include:

Lightning Strike by William Kent Krueger (Atria; LJ starred review)

The Guide by Peter Heller (Knopf; LJ starred review)

Bombshell (Hell’s Belles, Bk. 1) by Sarah MacLean (Avon; LJ starred review)

These books and others publishing the week of August 23rd, 2021 are listed in a downloadable spreadsheet.

Librarians and Booksellers Suggest

One LibraryReads selection and four Indie Next picks arrive this week:

Bombshell (Hell’s Belles, Bk. 1) by Sarah MacLean (Avon; LJ starred review)

“Scandalous Sesily Talbot has always longed for her sister’s friend, American Caleb Calhoun, but he has never shown her anything but disdain. But after one of her midnight trysts goes awry, he has to keep her out of trouble and they can no longer deny their mutual attraction. MacLean does dialogue with the best of them, and I love to see a group of women standing up for other women!”—Diana Platt, Kansas City Public Library, Kansas City, MO

Four Indie Next selections publish this week:

Feral Creatures by Kira Jane Buxton (Grand Central)

“Feral Creatures is dark, hilarious, and apocalyptic. It has all the same heart, tenderness, bizarre humor, and hilarity as Hollow Kingdom. This is a follow-up not to be missed!”—Michelle Malonzo, Changing Hands, Tempe, AZ

Lightning Strike by William Kent Krueger (Atria; LJ starred review)

“In this prequel set in 1963, we meet 12-year-old Cork’s family as his father investigates a murder. Even as Cork believes he will never be a cop, we can see Cork’s inevitable future as an investigator.”—Carol Blizzard Dunn, Northwind Book & Fiber, Spooner, WI

The Guide by Peter Heller (Knopf; LJ starred review)

“This follow-up to The River is just as pitch perfect, with each bit of suspense doled out at just the right time. You don’t need to read The River before reading The Guide, but it will definitely deepen the experience.”—Paul Swydan, The Silver Unicorn Bookstore, Acton, MA

The Love Songs of W.E.B. Du Bois by Honorée Fanonne Jeffers (Harper)

“This is the best book I’ve read this year. An ambitious debut novel tracing the history of one family against the backdrop of American history and showing the stories that are remembered and the ones that are forgotten.”—Benedict Tanter, Main Point Books, Wayne, PA

In the Media

September’s issue of Entertainment Weekly is out now. The “Must List” includes A Slow Fire Burning by Paula Hawkins (Riverhead), Inferno by Jonathan Hickman and Valerio Schiti (Marvel), Matrix by Lauren Groff (Riverhead), Hulu’s series, Nine Perfect Strangers, based on the book by Liane Moriarty, and Marvel’s What If? , which has associated titles. A “Must List” from actor Jeff Daniels highlights The Warmth of Other Suns by Isabel Wilkerson (Random House).

Book coverage includes a feature story on Sally Rooney, Beautiful World, Where Are You (FSG), and a review of The Archer by Shruti Swamy (Algonquin), which gets a B+. There is an appreciation for Lauren Groff’s Fates and Furies (Riverhead; LJ starred review), ahead of her September release, Matrix, (Riverhead), and a Q&A with Cecily Strong, This Will All Be Over Soon (S. & S.). There is a literary “mood board” with Chandler Baker, The Husbands, (Flatiron). Plus, memoir picks include: Seeing Ghosts by Kat Chow (Grand Central), Three Girls from Bronzeville: A Uniquely American Memoir of Race, Fate, and Sisterhood by Dawn Turner (S. & S.; LJ starred review), Beautiful Country by Qian Julie Wang (Doubleday), and Misfits: A Personal Manifesto by Michaela Coel (Henry Holt). EW online also has a first-look at Liane Moriarty's forthcoming book, Apples Never Fall (Henry Holt). 

People "Picks" book of the week is Seeing Ghosts by Kat Chow (Grand Central). Also getting attention are Tin Camp Road by Ellen Airgood (Riverhead), and The Reading List by Sara Nisha Adams (William Morrow).  A “Star Picks" section highlights The Grace Year by Kim Liggett (Wednesday Books), One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel Garcia Marquez (Harper Perennial), and I Am a Girl from Africa by Elizabeth Nyamayaro (Scribner). The "Picks" section recommends Chapelwaite, based on the short story "Jerusalem’s Lot" by Stephen King on Epix, and Marvel’s What If?, with associated titles.

An excerpt from the August 31st paperback release of Finding Freedom: Harry and Meghan by Omid Scobie and Carolyn Durand (Dey Street Books) highlights lessons the couple has learned. Also, Fabio, king of the romance cover, shares how he stays sexy. Plus, Ashley Christensen and Kaitlyn Goalen, It's Always Freezer Season: How to Freeze Like a Chef with 100 Make-Ahead Recipes (Ten Speed Press), and Rodney Scott, Rodney Scott's World of BBQ : Every Day Is a Good Day (Clarkson Potter) share summer recipes.

Reviews

NPR reviews The Dating Playbook by Farrah Rochon (Forever: Grand Central): “an absolute romp, packed with humor, brilliant banter, and — of course — sex appeal.”

The Washington Post reviews Mrs. March by Virginia Feito (Liveright: Norton): “It is equally a novel of psychological suspense, mystery, crime and horror. Especially horror. Some of its more visceral scenes aren’t easy to forget.”

USA Today reviews The Guide by Peter Heller (Knopf; LJ starred review), giving it 3 out of 4 stars: “making a cautionary tale on the widening divide between the haves and have nots in the era of COVID-19 go down so smooth is a tall order too, and Heller accomplishes that nicely.”

The Guardian reviews The Women of Troy by Pat Barker (Doubleday): “There’s an unutterably bleak message here about the cycles of violence that follow the use of rape as a weapon of war; in less grim moments, the novel also functions as the stirring tale of a resourceful teenage heroine navigating a misogynist dystopia.” Also, On Freedom: Four Songs of Care and Constraint by Maggie Nelson (Graywolf Press): “Rarely have so many words been used in a supposedly non-academic book to so little effect, Nelson’s endless sub-clauses, justifications and equivocations growing all over every page – all over everyparagraph – like barnacles on a rock.”

Briefly Noted

Myriam J. A. Chancy, author of the forthcoming What Storm, What Thunder (Tin House), talks about the 2010 Haiti earthquake and implores us, “do not look away.” NPR has the perspective.

Laurence Jackson Hyman talks with Shondaland about his mother’s new book, The Letters of Shirley Jackson by Shirley Jackson (Random). 

The Millions interviews Meghan O'Gieblyn about God, Human, Animal, Machine: Technology, Metaphor, and the Search for Meaning (Doubleday).

Bustle talks with #Merky Books Prize Winner, Jyoti Patel about finding her voice and writing from the heart.

The NYT has a feature on Michaela Coel and Misfits: A Personal Manifesto (Henry Holt), adapted from one of her speeches. 

PBS Canvas has a profile and a look back at Aaliyah’s legacy. The biography, Baby Girl: Better Known as Aaliyah by Kathy Iandoli (Atria), was published last week. 

Salon examines the books of HBO’s hit show, White Lotus.

Bustle writes about Bookstagram drama, romances that flip the script on The Bachelor, and the fairytale that’s inspired recent stories.

ARC’s of Sally Rooney’s Beautiful World, Where Are You (Farrar; LJ starred review), have been sold online for hundreds of dollars, highlighting a recent trend. The Guardian reports.

USA Today picks five books for the week.

CrimeReads suggests 10 books out this week.

The Washington Post has a beach-read refill.

The Guardian has the best books about islands.

Buzzfeed lists books that reimagine Greek mythology.

Kerri Arsenault, Mill Town (St. Martin’s), takes the Book Marks Questionnaire.

"Jill Murphy, children’s author and illustrator, dies aged 72."  The Guardian has an obituary.

Authors on Air

Margaret Truman’s Capital Crimes series will be adapted as a TV series. Deadline reports.

NPR's Morning Edition talks with Kat Chow about her new book, Seeing Ghosts (Grand Central).

Cecily Strong, This Will All Be Over Soon (S. & S.), is on Tamron Hall today.

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