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Awards, News & Best of the Year

Katherine Rundell wins Waterstones Book of the Year 2023 for her “instant classic” Impossible Creatures (Bloomsbury). The Guardian has coverage. Alice Winn won the 2023 Waterstones debut fiction prize for In Memoriam (Knopf; LJ starred review), earlier this year.

AudioFile showcases the Best Audiobooks of 2023. 

Publishers Lunch aggregates "The Best of the Best Books of 2023."

The New Yorker releases its Best Books of 2023.

WSJ names the 10 best books of 2023. 

Former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger who “shaped the nation’s cold war history,” has died at the age of 100. NYT has an obituary. Widely known as a diplomat and scholar, Kissinger published his most recent book, Leadership: Six Studies in World Strategy (Penguin Pr.; LJ starred review), in 2022. 

A coalition of publishers launch weeklong #ReadPalestine campaign. Publishers Weekly reports. 

New Title Bestsellers

Links for the week: NYT Hardcover Fiction Best Sellers | NYT Hardcover Nonfiction Best Sellers | USA Today Best-Selling Books

Fiction

Inheritance by Nora Roberts (St. Martin’s) receives No. 4 on the NYT Hardcover Fiction Best Sellers list and No. 8 on the USA Today Best-Selling Books list.

Alex Cross Must Die by James Patterson (Little, Brown) survives No. 9 on the NYT Hardcover Fiction Best Sellers list and No. 19 on the USA Today Best-Selling Books list.

The Ball at Versailles by Danielle Steel waltzes into No. 13 on the NYT Hardcover Fiction Best Sellers list. 

Jujutsu Kaisen, Vol. 21 by Gege Akutami (VIZ Media) debuts at No. 6 on the USA Today Best-Selling Books list.

One of Us Is Back by Karen M. McManus (Delacorte) surfaces at No. 11 on the USA Today Best-Selling Books list.

Tom Clancy Command and Control by Marc Cameron (Putnam) seizes the No. 13 spot on the USA Today Best-Selling Books list.

Where He Can't Find You by Darcy Coates (Sourcebooks Fire) haunts No. 14 on the USA Today Best-Selling Books list.

Nonfiction: There are no new nonfiction bestsellers this week.

Reviews

NPR reviews A Grandmother Begins the Story by Michelle Porter (Algonquin; LJ starred review): “Among the many joys to be found in Porter's book is the way she imbues everything in the world with aliveness. Dee the bison's chapters are sometimes narrated by the ground that holds her up; some chapters feature Gen's dogs, who seem to be spirits far older and more complex than their bodies might suggest. But such aliveness goes beyond the clarity of plant and animal matter.”

NYT has a paired review of, Outrageous: A History of Showbiz and the Culture Wars by Kliph Nesteroff (Abrams), and Comedy Book: How Comedy Conquered Culture—and the Magic That Makes It Work by Jesse David Fox (Farrar), two books which explore comedy and culture. 

Washington Post reviews Sonic Life by Thurston Moore (Doubleday): “Does Moore understand Nirvana better than he understands Sonic Youth? He rarely touches on his own band’s social impact or spiritual meaning — but he is willing to explain its creative mechanics, describing a ‘sonic democracy’ in which ‘the only method was to listen, feel, reveal, and refine’.” 

LitHub lists “The Best Reviewed Books of the Month.”

Briefly Noted

Vanity Fair shares details from Liz Cheney's forthcoming book, Oath and Honor: A Memoir and a Warning (Little, Brown), which arrives next week.

LA Times talks with Kate Christensen about her forthcoming novel, Welcome Home, Stranger (Harper), due out next week. 

NYT previews 8 new books for December.

LitHub shares "The 10 Best Book Covers of November."

BookRiot lists 8 dark academia and deadly game books.

NYT looks “inside the list” with a snapshot of this year’s “Inside the Best-Seller List” features.

Entertainment Weekly shares a cover reveal and excerpt from UK based author Kirsty Greenwood’s forthcoming US debut, The Love of My Afterlife (Berkley), due out in July. 
NYT provides a guide on where to start with the work of Larry McMurtry. 

JStor Daily has a story on "How American Librarians Helped Defeat the Nazis."

Authors On Air

NPR’s Fresh Air talks with Tim Alberta, author of The Kingdom, the Power, and the Glory: American Evangelicals in an Age of Extremism (Harper), about “why so many evangelicals are ardent Trump supporters.”

Musician Jon Batiste  and his wife Suleika Jaouad, author of the memoir Between Two Kingdoms (Random; LJ starred review), are featured on Netflix’s  American Symphony. USA Today has the story. NYT also has coverage.  

The NYT Book Review podcast discusses the top ten books of 2023.

NPR’s All Things Considered highlights the third season of the Apple TV+ series, Slow Horses, based on Mick Herron's “Slough House” novels. 

Ed Park, author of Same Bed Different Dreams (Random; LJ starred review), talks with B&N’s Poured Over podcast. 

Shelf Awareness rounds up the schedule for this weekend’s Book TV on C-SPAN 2, including The National Book Awards.

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