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Big Books of the Week

The Last One at the Wedding by Jason Rekulak (Flatiron) leads holds this week. 

Other titles in demand include:

What Does It Feel Like? by Sophie Kinsella (Dial)

Identity Unknown by Patricia Cornwell (Grand Central)

Melania by Melania Trump (Skyhorse)

Murder Island by James Patterson & Brian Sitts (Grand Central)

These books and others publishing the week of October 7, 2024, are listed in a downloadable spreadsheet.

Librarians and Booksellers Suggest

Five LibraryReads and five Indie Next picks publish this week:

The Wedding Witch by Erin Sterling (Avon)

“This entertaining, romantic romp has it all: flirty banter, an unusual premise, and even time travel! Tamsyn and Bowen are drawn to each other, especially when a curse sends them 50 years into the past. The characters are interesting and fleshed-out in their own right, and when they get together, it’s magical!”—Jody S. USS Liberty Memorial Library, WI

The Last One at the Wedding by Jason Rekulak (Flatiron)

“Maggie is getting married, and her dad is thrilled to be invited, even though they have been estranged for three years. Why the estrangement? The answer to that question and other crazy rumors about the family hosting the event fuel this engaging, suspenseful read. This will appeal to readers who enjoy hard-to-guess plot twists.”—Andrienne Cruz, Azusa City Library, CA

It is also an Indie Next pick:

“What is more powerful: love or money? This book takes the reader on a twisty journey of how far one will go to help their kids and do the right thing, even when they don’t want (or need) help.”—Tara Goldberg-DeLeo, Mystery Lovers Bookshop, Oakmont, PA

Hall of Fame pick Swordcrossed by Freya Marske (Bramble) is also an Indie Next pick:

“In this vibrant story, a struggling heir hires a charming con artist to be his swordsman at his upcoming wedding. Through sword-fighting practice and an unexpected mystery, white-hot desire sparks and they risk losing everything they hold dear.”—Joshua Lambie, Underground Books, Carrollton, GA

What Does It Feel Like? by Sophie Kinsella (Dial), is also a Hall of Fame pick.

The bonus pick is The Nightmare Before Kissmas by Sara Raasch (Bramble).

“Coal Claus, the reigning heir to Santa, is horrified to find that his father has arranged his marriage to his childhood friend, Iris, the Easter Princess. When Halloween objects, Prince Hex and Coal enter a competition for her hand. If only they weren't so attracted to each other! This delightful rom-com can only end one way, happily ever after, while saving Christmas.”—Alicia Ahlvers, LibraryReads Board Member

Three additional Indie Next picks publish this week:

American Teenager: How Trans Kids Are Surviving Hate and Finding Joy in a Turbulent Era by Nico Lang (Abrams)

“Following eight trans and nonbinary teenagers, American Teenager shows us that there is no one way to be trans — or a teen. At their heart, these trans teens dream of what’s after high school, gossip, dread tests and class assignments, and try to figure out life.”—Kristin Saner, Fables Books, Goshen, IN

The Stone Witch of Florence by Anna Rasche (Park Row)

“When a thief steals holy relics from churches in Florence during the outbreak of the Black Plague, one woman formerly accused of witchcraft and exiled is brought back to investigate by a deceitful, powerful bishop. A fascinating historical read.”—Jane Simons, The Dog Eared Book, Palmyra, NY

The Elements of Marie Curie: How the Glow of Radium Lit a Path for Women in Science by Dava Sobel (Atlantic Monthly)

“There’s a very short list of biographers whose books I’ll read no matter the subject. And there is an even shorter list of science communicators who make complex subjects both accessible and fascinating. At the center of that Venn diagram is Dava Sobel. A deeply satisfying read!”—Susan Tunis, Bookshop West Portal, San Francisco, CA

Reviews

NYT reviews Slaveroad by John Edgar Wideman (Scribner): “Indeed, when Wideman doesn’t indulge in showy provocation or hyper self-consciousness, he tells and retells powerful, miry tales in Slaveroad that are incantatory, transporting and incendiary.” LA Times also reviews: “This author revels in the shattering and the reconfiguring of language, in tinkering with the English lexicon, bending it to his authorial will.”

NYT also reviews Melania by Melania Trump (Skyhorse): “If there’s a plain truth in Melania, it’s that she loves her son, Barron, and will protect him at all costs; and sincerely cares for imperiled children”; The Hidden Globe: How Wealth Hacks the World by Atossa Araxia Abrahamian (Riverhead): “Finding solace in a place without borders makes for a nice conclusion, but it skips over the question of what to do about the rest of the world—the hidden globe of Abrahamian’s title. The answer might require another book”; and Diary of a Crisis: Israel in Turmoil by Saul Friedländer (Verso): “Friedländer writes modestly of his wish to see the diary through to a conclusion of the war and the release of the hostages, but the entries end before the winter.” There is a paired review of Loot: How Israel Stole Palestinian Property by Adam Raz, tr. by Philip Hollander (Verso), and The Gates of Gaza: A Story of Betrayal, Survival, and Hope in Israel’s Borderlands by Amir Tibon (Little, Brown). 

Washington Post reviews The Road to Wisdom: On Truth, Science, Faith, and Trust by Francis S. Collins (Little, Brown): “Political judgment—and disagreement—doesn’t fit easily into Collins’s vision of wisdom as the marriage of true facts and true faith”; The Message by Ta-Nehisi Coates (One World): “The best part about Coates’s book is its adamant faith in the almost talismanic authority of the written word”; The Oceans of Cruelty: Twenty-Five Tales of a Corpse-Spirit; A Retelling by Douglas J. Penick (NYRB Classics): “In Penick’s rendering, the vetala is at once without substance and substantial”; Rejection by Tony Tulathimutte (Morrow): “Each narrative accelerates and accelerates before spectacularly crashing, as if self-annihilation is the only way out for characters who feel so entrapped by circumstance and category that they have nothing left to lose”; Lesser Ruins by Mark Haber (Coffee House): “What emerges in the end is an ode to distraction, an entire book composed of distractions that are, paradoxically, absorbing”; and The Notebook: A History of Thinking on Paper by Roland Allen (Biblioasis): “Like the many examples it covers, Allen’s history of the notebook both instructs and entertains.”

Briefly Noted

The Millions releases “The Great Fall 2024 Book Preview.”

CrimeReads suggests 10 new books for the week. 

People shares “20 Scary Books to Read This Halloween.”

T&C highlights cozy books for fall.

Salman Rushdie announced he will publish a series of novellas, his first works of fiction since his stabbing in 2022. The Guardian has the story. 

The Guardian has a new interview with Pulitzer Prize winning author Barbara Kingsolver.

Amanda Knox will release a new book, Free: My Search for Meaning (Grand Central), in March 2025. People reports.  Hulu has greenlit a limited series based on Amanda Knox’s story, with filming to begin in October. Variety has details.

People shares how Carrie Underwood inspired Yvette Manessis Corporon, Daughter of Ruins (Harper Muse), to become a writer. 

NYT profiles author Lore Segal at the age of 96.

Novelist Robert Coover has died at the age of 92. NYT has an obituary. 

Authors On Air

NPR’s Wild Card talks with Margaret Atwood about her new collection Paper Boat: New and Selected Poems, 1961–2023 (Knopf; LJ starred review).

Caroline Choe, Banchan: 60 Korean American Recipes for Delicious, Shareable Sides (Chronicle), visits GMA today.

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