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Awards & Book News

Percival Everett’s James (Doubleday; LJ starred review) and Adam Higginbotham’s Challenger: A True Story of Heroism and Disaster on the Edge of Space (Avid Reader/S. & S.) win Kirkus Prizes.

A shortlist is released for the Laurel Prize for environmental and nature poetry. 

New Title Bestsellers

Links for the week: NYT Hardcover Fiction Bestsellers | NYT Hardcover Nonfiction Bestsellers | USA Today Bestselling Books

Fiction

The Stars Are Dying by Chloe C. Peñaranda (Bramble) shines at No. 2 on the NYT Hardcover Fiction Bestsellers list and No. 11 on the USA Today Bestselling Books list.

Identity Unknown by Patricia Cornwell (Grand Central) hits No. 5 on the NYT Hardcover Fiction Bestsellers list.

The Last One at the Wedding by Jason Rekulak (Flatiron) lingers at No. 7 on the NYT Hardcover Fiction Bestsellers list.

Spark of the Everflame by Penn Cole (Atria; LJ starred review) lights up No. 13 on the NYT Hardcover Fiction Bestsellers list.

Into the Uncut Grass by Trevor Noah (text) & Sabina Hahn (illus.) (One World) ventures to No. 13 on the USA Today Bestselling Books list.

Nonfiction

Melania by Melania Trump (Skyhorse) gets No. 1 on the NYT Hardcover Nonfiction Bestsellers list and No. 2 on the USA Today Bestselling Books list.

From Here to the Great Unknown: A Memoir by Lisa Marie Presley with Riley Keough (Random) reaches No. 1 on the USA Today Bestselling Books list and No. 2 on the NYT Hardcover Nonfiction Bestsellers list.

Pivot or Die: How Leaders Thrive When Everything Changes by Gary Shapiro (Morrow) thrives at No. 10 on the USA Today Bestselling Books list.

Countdown 1960: The Behind-the-Scenes Story of the 312 Days That Changed America’s Politics Forever by Chris Wallace with Mitch Weiss (Dutton) launches at No. 11 on the NYT Hardcover Nonfiction Bestsellers list.

Play Nice: The Rise, Fall, and Future of Blizzard Entertainment by Jason Schreier (Grand Central) rises to No. 14 on the NYT Hardcover Nonfiction Bestsellers list.

Reviews

NPR’s Fresh Air reviews Annihilation by Michel Houellebecq, tr. by Shaun Whiteside (Farrar): “A sense of doom—social and personal—looms over his new novel, Annihilation, which the 68-year-old Houellebecq has said will be his last. Although far from his best, it’s a fascinating book tinged by mortality.”

NYT reviews three psychological thrillers “that will creep you out”: The Hitchcock Hotel by Stephanie Wrobel (Berkley), The President’s Lawyer by Lawrence Robbins (Atria), and The Night Guest by Hildur Knútsdóttir, tr. by Mary Robinette Kowal (Tor Nightfire).

Washington Post reviews Our Evenings by Alan Hollinghurst (Random): “It’s become something of a critical ritual to invoke Henry James when praising Hollinghurst…but the comparison dresses up the modern writer’s prose in a fur-collared overcoat and a three-piece suit. In truth, Hollinghurst’s writing is never so encumbered by James’s fusty formality and demanding complexity”; and We Have Never Been Woke: The Cultural Contradictions of a New Elite by Musa al-Gharbi (Princeton Univ.): “While many people will no doubt disagree with al-Gharbi’s account, it is one of the most historically rigorous and empirically grounded investigations of ‘wokeness’ we have.”

LitHub gathers “Five Book Reviews You Need To Read This Week.”

Briefly Noted

Pope Francis will publish Hope: The Autobiography, the first memoir from a sitting pontiff, due out in January from Random House, The Guardian reports. Publishers Weekly also has coverage.

Actor Maya Hawke will narrate a new audiobook edition of Joan Didion’s Slouching Towards Bethlehem, due out from Macmillan Audio on November 5, People reports.

Colin Kaepernick, author of a new children’s book, We Are Free, You & Me (Scholastic), answers NYT’s “By the Book” questionnaire.

NYT talks to Randy Newman and others involved in the forthcoming A Few Words in Defense of Our Country: The Biography of Randy Newman by Robert Hilburn (Hachette).

The Millions interviews Emily Witt, author of Health and Safety: A Breakdown (Pantheon).

The Guardian explains where to start with Alan Garner.

LitHub recommends “five essential books for understanding Native American history” and “seven books on making a home in a new country.”

CrimeReads suggests “cold coastal reads for brisk autumn days.”

Authors on Air

Anne Curzan, author of Says Who?: A Kinder, Funner Usage Guide for Everyone Who Cares About Words (Crown; LJ starred review) talks to LitHub’s Fiction/Non/Fiction podcast.

Today, NPR’s Fresh Air will interview Glenn Fine, author of Watchdogs: Inspectors General and the Battle for Honest and Accountable Government (Univ. of Virginia).

Shelf Awareness rounds up the schedule for this weekend’s Book TV on C-SPAN 2.

A24 will adapt Stephen King’s Fairy Tale (Scribner) into a series, Reactor reports.

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