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Awards & News

Anne Michaels wins the Giller Prize for her novel Held (Knopf), CBC reports. Read more about the finalists here.

Agustín Fernández Mallo wins the Cercador Prize for The Book of All Loves, tr. by Thomas Bunstead (Fitzcaraldo).
The Salam Award winners are announced, Locus reports. 

CBC highlights the five finalists for the Hilary Weston Writers’ Trust Prize for Nonfiction. The winner will be announced tonight. 

The Aspen Words Literary Prize longlist is announced. 

Earlyword’s November Galleychat spreadsheet is out now.

HarperCollins confirms a deal to sell authors’ work to an AI company, InfoDocket reports.

Barnes & Noble sells Union Square Publishing to Hachette. Publishers Weekly has coverage.

Independent distributor National Book Network announces it will close next year, Publishers Weekly reports.

Publishers Group West, a division of Ingram Publisher Services, will distribute McNally Editions starting January 1, Shelf Awareness reports. 

Publishing Perspectives reports from the Sharjah International Book Fair.

Reviews

Vulture reviews The City and Its Uncertain Walls by Haruki Murakami, tr. by Philip Gabriel (Knopf; LJ starred review): “All in all, The City and Its Uncertain Walls is a frustratingly literal book. Murakami is a sentimentalist at heart, and the novel isn’t shy about reminding readers that its titular walls are a metaphor, in part, for the similarly vertiginous barriers that separate one human heart from another.” Slate also reviews: “Knowing that it has taken the novelist more than four decades to reach this destination only adds to the fulfillment of this final and very welcome arrival.”

NYT reviews two books “filled with Christmas miracles”: Time of the Child by Niall Williams (Bloomsbury; LJ starred review) and Brightly Shining by Ingvild Rishøi, tr. by Caroline Waight (Grove). 

Washington Post reviews Cher: The Memoir, Part One by Cher (Dey Street): “Her hearteningly profane voice still emerges and, with it, the question of why she’s writing a memoir in the first place.”

Briefly Noted

LitHub highlights 23 new books for the week. 

Washington Post shares the “11 best science fiction and fantasy books of 2024.”

People shares details from Growing Up Urkel by Jaleel White (S. & S.; LJ starred review). 

Stephen King previews and shares an excerpt from his new forthcoming novel, Never Flinch (Scribner), due out May 27. Entertainment Weekly has the story. 

Cher talks with USA Today about her new book, Cher: The Memoir, Part One (Dey Street).

Bill Clinton chats with People about his new memoir, Citizen: My Life After the White House (Knopf).

Ruth Ware announces a sequel to her bestselling book, The Woman in Cabin 10. The Woman in Suite 11 (Gallery/Scout) will publish in July 2025. Kirkus has the story.

LA Times has an interview with Jim O’Heir about his new book, Welcome to Pawnee: Stories of Friendship, Waffles, and Parks and Recreation (Morrow).

Vogue talks with television writer Sarah LaBrie about her memoir, No One Gets To Fall Apart (Harper). 

Bustle talks with Patrick Radden Keefe about “sweat equity, Hollywood memoirs, and toggling between projects.”

Christie’s announces its first auction dedicated to science fiction and fantasy, including rare books like The Dune Bible and a first edition of Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein. Locus has the story. 

The Atlantic considers: “What the Internet Age Is Taking Away From Writers.”

Legendary guidebook publisher Arthur Frommer has died at the age of 95. NYT reflects on his life and legacy. 

Japanese poet Shuntaro Tanikawadies has died at the age of 92. The Guardian has an obituary. 

Poet, scholar, and literary critic Sandra M. Gilbert dies at the age of 87. NYT has an obituary. 

Authors on Air

Josh Brolin, From Under the Truck: A Memoir (Harper), discusses sobriety with GMA.

Prue Leith, Life’s Too Short To Stuff a Mushroom: Really Good Food without the Fuss (Carnival), shares kitchen hacks with NPR’s Life Kit.

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