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Awards & Booklists

The National Book Foundation will present Art Spiegelman with the 2022 Medal for Distinguished Contribution to American Letters. Publishing Perspectives has details.

Margaret Hickey wins he 2022 Danger Prize. Books + Publishing has details.

LA Times shares “11 books to read during Hispanic Heritage Month.”

T&C has “20 of the Best Books About Queen Elizabeth II,” and “17 Books About the Royal Family.”

Big Books of the Week

Oath of Loyalty by Vince Flynn and Kyle Mills (Atria/Emily Bestler Books) leads holds this week.

Other titles in demand include:

Blowback by James Patterson and Brendan DuBois (Little, Brown)

Nona the Ninth by Tamsyn Muir (Tordotcom; LJ starred review)

Marple: Twelve New Mysteries by Various (Morrow)

The Ballad of Never After by Stephanie Garber (Flatiron)

These books and others publishing the week of Sept. 12, 2022 are listed in a downloadable spreadsheet.

Librarians and Booksellers Suggest

Two LibraryReads and five Indie Next picks publish this week:

People Person by Candice Carty-Williams (Gallery/Scout Pr.)

“Dimple Pennington might have accidentally killed her ex and reaches out to her four half-siblings—all raised by their mothers and sharing a neglectful father—in a panic. They learn the kind of family they can be as they deal with the fallout and their abandonment issues in this dark comedy.”—Julie Graham, Yakima Valley Libraries, Yakima, WA

It is also an Indie Next pick:

“Meet the Penningtons: Five siblings from four mothers, raised in London with no support from their father and with vastly different backgrounds. Somehow, they mesh. People Person makes their growing bond a hilarious triumph of family.”—Myles Mickle, Village Square Booksellers, Bellows Falls, VT

Bindle Punk Bruja by Desideria Mesa (Harper Voyager; LJ starred review)

“Luna is both a daughter of Mexican immigrants trying to establish herself in the 1920s Kansas City underworld and a bruja, an earth witch who can read emotions and bend others to her will. Complex character relationships enhance this entertaining historical fantasy. For fans of The Chosen and the Beautiful and The Gods of Jade and Shadow.”—Gwen Inman, Anne Arundel County Public Library, Annapolis, MD

It is also an Indie Next pick:

“Half-Mexican, white-passing witch Rose dreams of owning her own illegal jazz club in 1920s Kansas City while refining her inherited powers in a sexist, racist society. Bindle Punk Bruja is fun, sexy, and downright dangerous—so is Rose.”—Karen Valenzuela, Cellar Door Books, Riverside, CA

Three additional Indie Next picks publish this week:

The Ski Jumpers by Peter Geye (Univ. of Minnesota Pr.)

“This book is about so much more than ski jumping. A stunning story of family, trauma, secrets, and forgiveness, of finding peace as we grow older. You will grow attached to every single character in this storytelling masterpiece.”—Kristen Sandstrom, Apostle Islands Booksellers, Bayfield, WI

Bliss Montage: Stories by Ling Ma (Farrar)

“A stunning, haunting collection. In these stories, the mundane meets the fantastic in a web of intrigue, walking the line between thriller and horror in a genre of Ma’s own. A must read for fans of dystopian sci-fi and magical realism.”—Meghana Kandlur, Seminary Co-Op Bookstores, Chicago, IL

Nona the Ninth by Tamsyn Muir (Tordotcom; LJ starred review)

“Every book in this series somehow surpasses the last in writing, plot, character development, and sheer off-the-wall entertainment. Without spoilers, I’ll just say that you are going to love Nona as much as Nona loves you (and Noodle).”—Brooke Williams, Bookends & Beginnings, Evanston, IL

In the Media

People has a fall preview of must-read books, highlighting fiction: Our Missing Hearts by Celeste Ng (Penguin Pr.; LJ starred review), Demon Copperhead by Barbara Kingsolver (Harper), Sweet, Soft, Plenty Rhythm by Laura Warrell (Pantheon; LJ starred review), Lucy by the Sea by Elizabeth Strout (Random), and The Furrows: An Elegy by Namwali Serpell (Hogarth). 

Highlighted nonfiction includes: Token Black Girl: A Memoir by Danielle Prescod (Little A), Friends, Lovers, and the Big Terrible Thing: A Memoir by Matthew Perry (Flatiron), The Gospel of Wellness: Gyms, Gurus, Goop, and the False Promise of Self-Care by Rina Raphael (Henry Holt & Co.), The Extraordinary Life of an Ordinary Man: A Memoir by Paul Newman (Knopf), and A Heart That Works by Rob Delaney (Spiegel & Grau).

For Mystery & Thriller: Killers of a Certain Age by Deanna Raybourn (Berkley; LJ starred review), The Bullet That Missed by Richard Osman (Pamela Dorman: Viking), Double Exposure by Ava Barry (Pegasus), A World of Curiosities by Louise Penny (Minotaur), and The Rising Tide by Ann Cleeves (Minotaur; LJ starred review). 

Plus, Young Adult: Call Him Jack: The Story of Jackie Robinson, Black Freedom Fighter by Yohuru Williams and Michael G. Long (Farrar), The First Thing About You by Chaz Hayden (Candlewick), Nothing More to Tell by Karen M. McManus (Delacorte), We Deserve Monuments by Jas Hammonds (Roaming Brook Pr.), and The Silent Stars Go By by Sally Nicholls (Walker Books US: Candlewick).

The “Picks” section spotlights the new Starz's show The Serpent Queen, based on the book Catherine de Medici: Renaissance Queen of France by Leonie Frieda, and Last Light on Peacock, based on the novel by Alex Scarrow. Plus, Molly Yeh, Home Is Where the Eggs Are (William Morrow Cookbooks; LJ starred review), and Tara Bench, Delicious Gatherings: Recipes to Celebrate Together (Shadow Mountain), share recipes.

September's Rolling Stone’s Pop Culture picks recommends How We Roll: The Art and Culture of Joints, Blunts, and Spliffs by Noah Rubin (Chronicle).

Food Network’s “Books for Cooks” highlights fall releases: Jacques Pépin Art Of The Chicken: A Master Chef's Paintings, Stories, and Recipes of the Humble Bird by Jacques Pépin (Harvest), Rice Is Life: Recipes and Stories Celebrating the World's Most Essential Grain by Kristin Donnelly, Ken Lee, & Caryl Levine (Chronicle), and The Whiskey Cookbook: Sensational Tasting Notes and Pairings for Bourbon, Rye, Scotch, and Single Malts by Richard Thomas (Cider Mill Pr.).

Reviews

NYT reviews Before We Were Trans: A New History of Gender by Dr. Kit Heyam (Seal Press): “Before We Were Trans is a book that moves far beyond mere representation by managing to be both intellectually rigorous and exciting to read.” And, Sugar Street by Jonathan Dee (Grove Pr.; LJ starred review): “Bleak as all this may sound, it’s in the methodical unpacking of how a human being might effectively cease to exist without actually committing suicide that Sugar Street is at its most enthralling.”

The Washington Post reviews How Not to Drown in a Glass of Water by Angie Cruz (Flatiron): “How Not to Drown in a Glass of Water delivers a sense of the enduring worth of relationships, life experiences and determination as currencies in a difficult world.” Also, My Government Means To Kill Me by Rasheed Newson (Flatiron): “Much like Trey being schooled by Rustin ‘with such a light touch,’ readers of My Government Means to Kill Me may not even realize they’re “getting smarter about gay culture and politics.”

LA Times reviews Bliss Montage: Stories by Ling Ma (Farrar): “the entire collection might as well have been written for 'Peking Duck’ and 'Office Hours,’ two powerhouses so absorbing that you’ll pray Ma spins them off into future novels.”

The Guardian reviews Giuliani: The Rise and Tragic Fall of America's Mayor by Andrew Kirtzman (S. & S.; LJ starred review): “Although Kirtzman emphasises the juvenile self-righteousness that made Giuliani hesitate between careers as a Catholic priest and a prosecutor, this moral zealot emerged from Brooklyn at its shadiest and most subterranean.”

NPR reviews Dinners with Ruth: A Memoir on the Power of Friendships by Nina Totenberg (S. & S.): “let's face it, this memoir is a romp through Washington's glitterati — Republican and Democrat alike — penned by a reporter who thrives on it. What's not to enjoy about being in Totenberg's sparkling company for an entire book?” And, If I Survive You by Jonathan Escoffery (MCD; LJ starred review): “If I Survive You is an extraordinary debut collection, an intensively granular, yet panoramic depiction of what it's like to try to make it — or not — in this kaleidoscopic madhouse of a country.”

Briefly Noted

The Atlantic has a feature interview with Ian McEwan, whose new novel, Lessons (Knopf), releases this week.

NYT profiles Kate Beaton and her new graphic memoir, Ducks: Two Years in the Oil Sands (Drawn & Quarterly). Slate also talks with Beaton, about “about leaving Cape Breton, looking back on her younger self, and feeling like the only young woman in a hundred-mile radius.”

Bustle talks with Betty Gilpin about breasts and her new book, All the Women in My Brain: And Other Concerns (Flatiron).

Entertainment Weekly shares details from Kelly Ripa’s forthcoming memoir, Live Wire: Long-Winded Short Stories, due out from Dey Street Books September 27.

USA Today picks five books for the week.

CrimeReads suggests 10 books out this week.

The Washington Post recommends three audiobooks for fall.

Author Nicola Yoon recommends 6 YA love stories at NYT.

Bustle highlights 30 erotic romances trending on TikTok.

“Diane Noomin, Who Helped Bring Feminism to Underground Comics, Dies at 75.” NYT has an obituary.

"Spanish novelist Javier Marías dies at home in Madrid aged 70." The Guardian has an obituary. 

Authors On Air

NPR’s Morning Edition talks with Dallas Mavericks' CEO Cynt Marshall about her new book, You’ve Been Chosen: Thriving Through the Unexpected (Ballantine), and her rise in corporate America.

NPR’s All Things Considered talks with Sean Rubin, This Very Tree: A Story of 9/11, Resilience, and Regrowth (Henry Holt), in which the central character “is a tree that was planted at the Twin Towers in the 1970s and stands tall in New York City's Freedom Plaza once again.”

Entertainment Weekly shares the new trailer for Percy Jackson and the Olympians, set to release in 2024 on Disney+.

A sc-fi series adaptation of Rick McManus's Empty Earth is in development. Deadline reports. 

Jennette McCurdy, I'm Glad My Mom Died (S. & S.), will visit The View today.

Edward Enninful, A Visible Man (Penguin Pr.), visits Tamron Hall.

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