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Big Books of the Week

Eruption by Michael Crichton & James Patterson (Little, Brown) leads holds this week. USA Today reports on the collaboration; People also has coverage.

Other titles in demand include:

The Comfort of Ghosts (Maisie Dobbs, Bk. 18) by Jacqueline Winspear (Soho Crime; LJ starred review)

Summer Romance by Annabel Monaghan (Putnam)

Leather & Lark by Brynne Weaver (Zando: Slowburn)

Shelterwood by Lisa Wingate (Ballantine)

These books and others publishing the week of June 3, 2024, are listed in a downloadable spreadsheet.

Awards, News & Book Clubs

Tananarive Due’s The Reformatory (Gallery/Saga; LJ starred review) wins the Chautauqua Prize.

The Crime Writers of Canada Awards of Excellence are announced, with honors for Amanda Peters and Nita Prose. CBC has coverage.

Audiofile announces the June Earphones Award winners.

Jenna Bush Hager picks Swift River by Essie Chambers (S. & S.) for her June book club. 

The B&N book club pick is You Are Here by David Nicholls (Harper). 

Romance Writers of America declares bankruptcy, Publishers Weekly reports.

LJ shares takeaways from the U.S. Book Show. 

Bloomsbury has acquired Rowman & Littlefield Academic; Publishers Lunch has the news.

Librarians and Booksellers Suggest

Four LibraryReads and nine Indie Next picks publish this week:

Shelterwood by Lisa Wingate (Ballantine) *Good for Book Clubs

“In this emotional dual narrative, National Parks Ranger Val is determined to solve a mystery surrounding the recently uncovered gravesite of three children. Shifting to the early 1900s, the narrative expands to expose the abuse of Choctaw children and feature the women crusading against illegal child labor at the dawn of Oklahoma’s statehood.”—Erin Downey Howerton, Wichita Public Library

The Bonus Pick is Fire Exit by Morgan Talty (Tin House) *Good for Book Clubs

“Talty follows up his award-winning Night of the Living Rez with this explosive novel set on Maine’s Penobscot reservation. Blood is often seen as the glue that keeps families together. In Charles’s case, it’s what holds him apart. For more than 20 years, he watches from across a river as his daughter grows up without him on the reservation. Because of his lack of Native blood, he is exiled from his childhood home and what could have been his family. Secrets smolder and eventually grow into an inferno that reveals a truth: your heritage is yours regardless of what you know about it.”—Kelly Currie, LibraryReads Board Member

It is also the #1 Indie Next pick:

“A gorgeous and all-consuming novel, Fire Exit lays bare the consequences of one man’s decisions, and his resolve to reconcile his past by taking care of his aging mother and seeking a connection with his unknown daughter. Unforgettable.”—Olivia Marchese, Author's Note, Medina, NY

Hall of Fame pick Summer Romance by Annabel Monaghan (Putnam) is also an Indie Next pick:

“I so thoroughly enjoyed this! Ali finds herself again after losing her mother and filing for divorce. Such huge losses in life that can affect you in such harmful ways—Ali rebuilds, rediscovers herself, and chooses a vibrant life again.”—Becky Schlosser, Cherry Street Books, Alexandria, MN

Debut Swift River by Essie Chambers (S. & S.) *Good for Book Clubs

“In this heartbreaking debut set in the 1980s, Diamond, a Black girl growing up in New England town, feels like a misfit.When she gets a letter from an estranged branch of the family, everything she thought she knew about herself is turned upside-down. Secrets from the women that came before her allow Diamond to realize her full potential.”—Kaite Stover, Kansas City Public Library, MO

It is also an Indie Next pick:

“Swift River will be canon for those who want to learn more about biracial experiences. Essie Chambers thoughtfully pulls the curtain back on coming of age with a parent who loves you but, due to race, is incapable of understanding your experience.”—Destinee Hodge, East City Bookshop, Washington, DC

Six additional Indie Next picks publish this week:

Service by Sarah Gilmartin (Pushkin Pr.)

“Service is slender, devastating, both timeless and inescapably pertinent to life now. This is destined to become canon for books about the underbelly of the hospitality industry and a cornerstone book about people who prey on women.”—Camden Avery, The Booksmith, San Francisco, CA

I’ve Tried Being Nice: Essays by Ann Leary (S. & S./Marysue Rucci)

“Snarky, honest, and thoughtful—maybe Ann should be the more famous spouse! This brilliant collection will have you smiling, wiping away a tear, and staring into the distance. A wonderful jaunt with an author you should get to know better!”—Hilary Kotecki, The Doylestown & Lahaska Bookshops, Doylestown, PA

Soldier Sailor by Claire Kilroy (Scribner)

“Compelling, incredibly readable, and brought me immediately back to all the overwhelming feelings of the earliest days of motherhood. This book is stunning.”—Laura Sharp, Literally, A Bookshop, Gilbert, AZ

Just Some Stupid Love Story by Katelyn Doyle (Flatiron)

“Just Some Stupid Love Story had me blushing, kicking my feet, and laughing out loud. We love an emotionally mature king and Seth is absolutely that. Molly’s sense of dry humor is every black cat’s inner monologue. A knockout debut rom-com!”—Chelsea Semonco, Four Seasons Books, Shepherdstown, WV

Bright and Tender Dark by Joanna Pearson (Bloomsbury)

“A literary murder mystery with unexpected twists. It’s been 20 years since Karlie, Joy's friend, was murdered. Will a long-forgotten letter Joy finds from Karlie help reopen the case? A great read for book clubs true crime fans.”—Karin Pinto, Second Flight Books, Lafayette, IN

Triple Sec by TJ Alexander (Atria/Emily Bestler; LJ starred review)

“TJ Alexander is a master of writing interesting, believable characters in love; in this book, you get three instead of two! The characters have realistic struggles, but the book never gets mired down and remains charming throughout.”—Shana Hausman, All She Wrote Books, Somerville, MA

In the Media

People’s book of the week is Soldier Sailor by Claire Kilroy (Scribner). Also getting attention are There Is No Ethan: How Three Women Caught America’s Biggest Catfish by Anna Akbari (Grand Central) and Housemates by Emma Copley Eisenberg (Hogarth). “New Historical Fiction” includes Shelterwood by Lisa Wingate (Ballantine), Malas by Marcela Fuentes (Viking), and The Ballad of Jacquotte Delahaye by Briony Cameron (Atria). 

The “Picks” section spotlights Robot Dreams, based on the graphic novel by Sara Varon. There is a feature on actor and director Griffin Dunne, whose new memoir, The Friday Afternoon Club: A Family Memoir (Penguin Pr.), arrives June 11; People online has more. Actor Steve Guttenberg pens a tribute to his dad, Time To Thank: Caregiving for My Hero (Post Hill), and discusses it here. James Patterson completes Michael Crichton’s last novel, Eruption (Little, Brown). Plus, a recipe from Gaby Dalkin’s What’s Gaby Cooking: Grilling All the Things (Abrams).

Reviews

NYT reviews Fire Exit by Morgan Talty (Tin House): “Talty writes with an awareness that capital ‘C’ culture can be both all-defining in life and also a mere detail. Yes, we can feel deeply connected to a group, but that tie isn’t going to fend off life’s tumults”; Triumph of the Yuppies: America, the Eighties, and the Creation of an Unequal Nation by Tom McGrath (Grand Central): “McGrath, the former editor in chief of Philadelphia magazine, makes this open pursuit of wealth his central theme as he alternates among snapshots of yuppies, the national political scene and major figures in American business”; Old King by Maxim Loskutoff (Norton): “The evils of ever-encroaching technology and environmental degradation are admirably presented by Loskutoff not as the bugaboos of an unhinged crank, but as real-life conflicts in the ecotone of town and wild country”; Brat by Gabriel Smith (Penguin Pr.): “Instead of resolving his novel’s many mysteries, Smith explores how this family navigates the disputed borders of its shared memories, pondering what it means to choose one story over another—as well as the consequences of refusing to choose, especially in the wake of grief”; We Refuse: A Forceful History of Black Resistance by Kellie Carter Jackson (Seal): “Her book is not an instruction manual for activists. But she does suggest that every era gets the protest movement it needs and deserves. History—complicated, cleareyed and unrepentant—is her warning and her weapon of choice”; Ambition Monster: A Memoir by Jennifer Romolini (Atria): “However overstuffed, Ambition Monster offers an entertaining and highly relatable account of the struggle to avenge the people we once were. It also illuminates the empty promises of a life built on nothing but external metrics of achievement”; and When Women Ran Fifth Avenue: Glamour and Power at the Dawn of American Fashion by Julie Satow (Doubleday): “Julie Satow has written a group biography of the department-store doyennes who ran the show—and these places in their heyday really were a form of theater—for the male founders and owners whose names adorned the facades.” Plus, more reviews from the weekend.

Washington Post reviews Miss May Does Not Exist: The Life and Work of Elaine May, Hollywood’s Hidden Genius by Carrie Courogen (St. Martin’s; LJ starred review): “Author Carrie Courogen couldn’t get the comedian to cooperate, but Miss May Does Not Exist is still packed with great material.”

LA Times reviews Drums & Demons: The Tragic Journey of Jim Gordon by Joel Selvin (Diversion): “The biggest problem with the book is that despite Selvin’s laudable efforts to make Gordon whole, the drummer just wasn’t that interesting, especially compared with the artists he worked with.”

Briefly Noted

Time shares “The Best Books of 2024 So Far.”

Amazon’s editors select the best books of June.

People highlights the best books of the month.

NYT recommends eight comics for Pride Month.

CrimeReads suggests 10 new books for the week.

LA Times shares “16 romance novels to heat up your summer.”

June’s Costco Connection catches up with author K.A. Linde, whose new book, The Wren in the Holly Library (Entangled: Red Tower), publishes this week. 

NYT bids adieu to Jacqueline Winspear’s Maisie Dobbs and Susan Elia MacNeal’s Maggie Hope.

Queer Asian authors Ryka Aoki, Vichet Chum, Justinian Huang discuss their work at Entertainment Weekly.

EW’s “must list” includes Ruth Ware’s latest book, One Perfect Couple (Gallery; LJ starred review).

Author Caleb Carr died last week at the age of 68. Carr recently published My Beloved Monster: Masha, the Half-Wild Rescue Cat Who Rescued Me (Little, Brown). NYT has an obituary, and NPR has a remembrance.

Authors on Air

Netflix will adapt Jessica Goodman’s YA thriller They’ll Never Catch Us as a series, Deadline reports.

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