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Big Books of the Week

25 Alive by James Patterson & Maxine Paetro (Little, Brown) leads holds this week.

Other titles in demand include:

A Mind of Her Own by Danielle Steel (Delacorte)

How To Seal Your Own Fate by Kristen Perrin (Dutton)

The Amalfi Curse by Sarah Penner (Park Row)

Julie Chan Is Dead by Liann Zhang (S. & S.)

These books and others publishing the week of April 28, 2025, are listed in a downloadable spreadsheet.

Librarians and Booksellers Suggest

Five LibraryReads and eight Indie Next picks publish this week.

Hall of Fame pick The Amalfi Curse by Sarah Penner (Park Row) is also an Indie Next pick:

“One woman caught between love and duty, another between her father’s dying wish and the deceit of her company. Both will have to use their wits, and give up a part of themselves, to surmount seemingly impossible hurdles.”—Ariel Hardee, Ruby's Books, Folsom, CA

The Staircase in the Woods by Chuck Wendig (Del Rey)

“Four friends are haunted when another climbs a mysterious staircase and never comes down. Years later, they decide to rescue the boy they lost. What they find is a haunted house preying on their personal nightmares. A coming-of-age story reminiscent of Stranger Things and It—plus all the perfect scary things that Wendig is known for.”—Kimberly McGee, Lake Travis Community Library, Austin, TX

It is also an Indie Next pick:

“This creepy—or rather terrifying—novel connects everything one wants and needs from a great (if not horrific) read. Be prepared to find yourself tense all the way to the end! Not for the faint of heart!”—Kirsten Hess, The End Bookstore, Allentown, PA

How To Seal Your Own Fate by Kristen Perrin (Dutton)

“This second book in the ‘Castle Knoll’ series has Annie involved in another mystery of long past and current murders. Annie realizes she’s being set up when all of the clues point to her. Readers will love that this book builds so well on the last one, and wonder just how many secrets exist in this small rural town.”—Linda Quinn, LibraryReads Ambassador, CT

The Correspondent by Virginia Evans (Crown) *Good for Book Clubs

“Sybil’s life has centered around her correspondence with both people she knows and with strangers. Why she finds writing easier than conversing soon becomes clear, and her sadness and remove are explained through the events of her past and in her encroaching blindness. The plot unfolds with wonderful character development.”—Mary Robinson, Vernon Area Public Library District, IL

It is also an Indie Next pick:

“The Correspondent is an homage to the written word. As Sybil writes her letters, we journey through her life. Through her grief, her friendships, her family, her loves, and her regrets, we are gifted an indelible character.”—Mary McBride, Monstera's Books, Overland Park, KS

Bat Eater and Other Names for Cora Zeng by Kylie Lee Baker (MIRA; LJ starred review)

“In the midst of the COVID pandemic of 2020, Cora’s haunted by her deceased sister and stalked by a serial killer as her chaotic life spirals further out of control. The journey to finding her way back to some semblance of normal won’t be easy. Readers seeking a book blending slasher and bio-horror need look no further.”—Jolie Hanlon, Girard Free Library, OH

It is also an Indie Next pick:

“For anyone who enjoys 2000s Japanese horror movies. This is the only work of fiction I’ve read that has successfully incorporated the COVID pandemic without feeling contrived. The commentary about anti-Asian racism is poignant.”—Jennifer Kirnec, Old Ways Books, Bluffton, IN

Four additional Indie Next picks publish this week:

The Sea Gives Up the Dead: Stories by Molly Olguín (Red Hen)

“There is no getting away from death here. However, there’s a subtlety that resonates throughout the wonderfully smooth and lithe prose that makes these tales a joy to read. Absolutely fantastic!”—Randy Schiller, Left Bank Books, St. Louis, MO

My Best Friend’s Honeymoon by Meryl Wilsner (St. Martin’s Griffin)

“If you’re a sapphic who’s been in love with your best friend, have a seat. Wilsner paints a picture of exactly what that feels like and cranks up the spice. If you've ever been there, this book is beautiful catharsis.”—Katey Salogar, Literati Bookstore, Ann Arbor, MI

The Road to Tender Hearts by Annie Hartnett (Ballantine)

“How many bad decisions can one family make and still survive? What starts as the road trip from hell does, indeed, create tender hearts. Come along for a feel good read that takes no prisoners.”—Anita Gett, Main Street Books, Davidson, NC

The Lilac People by Milo Todd (Counterpoint)

“Focusing on the experiences of queer and trans people during World War II, Milo Todd tells stories of suffering, survival, and resilience without leaning into unnecessary trauma. A timely and powerful novel.”—Hezekiah Olorode, Old Town Books, Alexandria, VA

In the Media

People’s book of the week is Notes to John by Joan Didion (Knopf). Also getting attention are Favorite Daughter by Morgan Dick (Viking) and Climbing in Heels by Elaine Goldsmith-Thomas (St. Martin’s).

The “Picks” section spotlights Another Simple Favor, based on the novel A Simple Favor by Darcy Bell, and Andor, with supporting Star Wars titles, on Disney+.

People online shares the best books of the month.

Reviews

NPR reviews The Secret Life of a Cemetery: The Wild Nature and Enchanting Lore of Père-Lachaise by Benoît Gallot, illus. by Daniel Casanave, tr. by Arielle Aaronson (Greystone): “This slim volume by Benoît Gallot, its enthusiastic head conservator since 2018, is as crammed with quirky facts as the 110-acre cemetery is crammed with burial plots.”

Washington Post reviews The Determined Spy: The Turbulent Life and Times of CIA Pioneer Frank Wisner by Douglas Waller (Dutton): “In The Determined Spy, Douglas Waller avoids both traps. Instead, he gives detailed and nuanced treatment to both Wisner’s outsize role in the early CIA and his disease, leaving judgment to the reader”; Little Bosses Everywhere: How the Pyramid Scheme Shaped America by Bridget Read (Crown): “Little Bosses Everywhere is more about the scammers and their stratagems than it is about the scammed. Even by the end of the book, it remains somewhat difficult to fathom why so many people are taken in by what seems like such an obvious grift”; and three campy crime novels: The Really Dead Wives of New Jersey by Astrid Dahl (S. & S.), Murder in the Dressing Room by Holly Stars (Berkley; LJ starred review), and The Favorites by Layne Fargo (Random).

NYT reviews The Golden Hour: A Story of Family and Power in Hollywood by Matthew Specktor (Ecco): “The Golden Hour has an appropriately retro, hard-boiled texture, as if John Lahr’s biography of his own father, Bert, Notes on a Cowardly Lion, were sprinkled into one of Norman Mailer’s nonfiction novels.” Plus, there are additional reviews from the weekend.

Briefly Noted

CrimeReads suggests 10 new books for the week.

WSJ highlights 15 books for the week.

NYT has an interview with Isabel Allende, whose forthcoming novel My Name Is Emilia del Valle (Ballantine), publishes next week.

Francis Ford Coppola’s Megalopolis: An Original Graphic Novel (Abrams Comic Arts) will be published in October, Kirkus reports.

Entertainment Weekly previews the new biography Gandolfini: Jim, Tony, and the Life of a Legend by Jason Bailey (Abrams).

People has an interview with Sarah Penner about the research she did for her latest book, The Amalfi Curse (Park Row).

Time checks in with libraries amid detrimental funding cuts.

At CrimeReads, Liann Zhang, author of Julie Chan Is Dead (S. & S.), discusses why the world of influencers is perfect for a mystery.

Literary scholar and novelist Valentin-Yves Mudimbe has died at the age of 83. NYT has an obituary.

Authors on Air

Bill Belichick talks with CBS Sunday Morning about his new book, The Art of Winning: Lessons from My Life in Football (Avid Reader: S. & S.).

NPR’s Short Wave talks with Drew Harvell about her new book, The Ocean's Menagerie: How Earth’s Strangest Creatures Reshape the Rules of Life (Viking).

USA Today previews everything we know about the new Hunger Games: Sunrise on the Reaping film.

Emma Mackey has been cast as the White Witch In Greta Gerwig’s forthcoming Narnia movie on Netflix, Deadline report.

Actor Ed Helms, author of SNAFU: The Definitive Guide to History’s Greatest Screwups (Grand Central), will be on CBS Mornings today. Tomorrow, he will visit The View and Live with Kelly and Mark.

Zarna Garg, This American Woman: A One-in-a-Billion Memoir (Ballantine), is on Today.

Christie Brinkley, Uptown Girl (Harper Influence), visits The View.

José Andrés, Change the Recipe: Because You Can’t Build a Better World Without Breaking Some Eggs (Ecco), will appear with Kelly Clarkson today and The Tonight Show tomorrow.

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