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Big Books of the Week

Georgie, All Along by Kate Clayborn (Kensington; LJ starred review), leads holds this week.

Other titles in demand include:

The Devil’s Ransom by Brad Taylor (Morrow)

The House at the End of the World by Dean Koontz (Thomas & Mercer)

Make a Wish by Helena Hunting (St. Martin’s Griffin)

The Bullet Garden by Stephen Hunter (Atria/Emily Bestler)

These books and others publishing the week of Jan. 23, 2023, are listed in a downloadable spreadsheet.

Librarians and Booksellers Suggest

Two LibraryReads and three Indie Next picks publish this week:

The Duke Gets Even by Joanna Shupe (Avon; LJ starred review)

“The Duke of Lockwood is visiting America to find the perfect bride—rich and scandal-free. Nellie is a wealthy heiress who purposefully ruined her reputation long ago. She uses her wealth to discreetly distribute contraceptives to women. The chemistry between Nellie and Lockwood is present from page one.”—Katie Curry, Guyandotte Branch of Cabell County Public Library, Huntington, WV

Georgie, All Along by Kate Clayborn (Kensington; LJ starred review)

“When Georgie suddenly loses her job as a personal assistant, she heads home to her parents to regroup. While there, she comes across a teenage diary and uses it to explore her life. This is a sweet, fun novel about a genuine, competent person trying to discover her true self. For fans of The Authenticity Project.”—Julie Heckert, Orem Public Library, Orem, UT

It is also an Indie Next pick:

“Kate Clayborn always delivers, and Georgie, All Along is no different. The writing is engrossing and diverting and it’s impossible not to love Georgie as she finds herself and her way. This is an excellent winter read to curl up with.”—Preet Singh, Eagle Eye Book Shop, Decatur, GA

Two additional Indie Next picks publish this week:

The Chinese Groove by Kathryn Ma (Counterpoint)

“Having suffered the profound loss of his mother during childhood, Shelley is his father’s last hope and is sent to San Francisco to achieve the American Dream. Nothing in America is as he thought. This is a funny, sweet, delightful book.”—Rachel Watkins, Avid Bookshop, Athens, GA

The Guest Lecture by Martin Riker (Grove Pr./Black Cat)

“Riker’s smart and offbeat story takes place over one night, as a newly-unemployed economics professor mulls over a lecture she’s about to give and explores her consciousness as though wandering through her own house. Funny and unique.”—Erika VanDam, RoscoeBooks, Chicago, IL

In The Media

People’s book of the week is Really Good, Actually by Monica Heisey (Morrow). Also getting attention are Wade in the Water by Nyani Nkrumah (Amistad) and The Chinese Groove by Kathryn Ma (Counterpoint). A “New in Nonfiction” section highlights Unraveling: What I Learned About Life While Shearing Sheep, Dyeing Wool, and Making the World’s Ugliest Sweater by Peggy Orenstein (Harper), In the Garden of the Righteous: The Heroes Who Risked Their Lives To Save Jews During the Holocaust by Richard Hurowitz (Harper), and Outsmart Your Brain: Why Learning Is Hard and How You Can Make It Easy by Daniel T. Willingham (Gallery).

The “Scoop” notes that Prince Harry’s new memoir, Spare (Random House), is the fastest-selling nonfiction book of all time, and compares it to other blockbuster memoirs from Barack and Michelle Obama, and Bill and Hillary Clinton. (The fastest-selling book of all time? 2007’s Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows by J.K. Rowling).

There is a feature on Pamela Anderson and her forthcoming memoir, Love, Pamela (Dey Street), due out next week along with a new Netflix documentary about her life. There is also a spotlight on Inside Edition’s Lisa Guerrero and her new memoir, Warrior: My Path to Being Brave (Hachette), and lessons learned from life in the spotlight. The late Anne Heche is featured along with her posthumous memoir, Call Me Anne (Start Publishing). Plus, Jinger Vuolo discusses how she “overcame fear and built a new life” in her new memoir, Becoming Free Indeed: My Story of Disentangling Faith from Fear (Thomas Nelson). Lastly, Flora Shedden, Supper: Recipes Worth Staying In For (Hardie Grant London), and Maya Feller, Eating from Our Roots : 80+ Healthy Home-Cooked Favorites from Cultures Around the World (Rodale), share recipes. 

Reviews

NYT reviews Cobalt Red: How the Blood of the Congo Powers Our Lives by Siddharth Kara (St. Martin’s): “The fervor of Kara’s abolitionism contrasts with his proposal for reform, which prioritizes 'accountability' from those who profit from the miners’ labor”; Black and Female: Essays by Tsitsi Dangarembga (Graywolf): “At its best, Black and Female accumulates and intertwines such details, yoking the personal and political to demonstrate how the experience of race and gender depends not on overarching essentialism but on local histories that are written on the body”; and The World and All That It Holds by Aleksandar Hemon (MCD): “We believe in Pinto’s experiences not because there may have been a person by that name, but thanks to the fierceness of the details—as when he discovers, kissing Rahela for the first time, that a newborn’s forehead doesn’t taste of heaven, nor even strawberries. It tastes of chicken liver.”

The Washington Post reviews And Finally: Matters of Life and Death by Henry Marsh (St. Martin’s): “It is these sorts of insights—exploring his fallibility, his shortcomings and even his complicity in an uncaring system—that make Marsh’s writing so powerful and that allow him to transcend the usual pathography.”

NPR reviews How To Sell a Haunted House by Grady Hendrix (Berkley; LJ starred review): “Hendrix is a contemporary horror master, and the combination of profound storytelling and unapologetic, campy gore he delivers here will surely have horror fans reading with a gleeful smile on their faces”; and This Other Eden by Paul Harding (Norton): “You could imagine lots of ways a historical novel about this horror might be written, but none of them would give you a sense of the strange spell of This Other Eden—its dynamism, bravado and melancholy.”

Briefly Noted

The 2023 PEN American Literary longlists are announced.  Finalists will be announced in February. 

NYT features Pulitzer prize-winning author Paul Harding and his latest book, This Other Eden (Norton).

Ana Reyes discusses her new book, The House in the Pines (Dutton), “evil, manipulative geniuses,” and being a Reese Witherspoon book club pick with Salon.

Kristin Chenoweth, I’m No Philosopher, But I Got Thoughts: Mini-Meditations for Saints, Sinners, and the Rest of Us (Harper Celebrate), “celebrates the joys of authentic healing,” with PopSugar. 

NYT explores the appeal of the Elin Hilderbrand Bucket List Weekend.

USA Today shares details about Tim Allen from Pamela Anderson’s forthcoming memoir, Love, Pamela (Dey Street). Vulture also covers the story, originally reported by Variety. 

Vanity Fair shares details from Mike Pompeo’s new political memoir, Never Give an Inch: Fighting for the America I Love (Broadside). 

Slate talks with Shahan Mufti about his new book, American Caliph: The True Story of a Muslim Mystic, a Hollywood Epic, and the 1977 Siege of Washington, DC (Farrar), in which “Kareem Abdul-Jabbar fits into the story of a 1977 terrorist attack.” 

Vogue highlights the new book, The Gourmand’s Egg: A Collection of Stories & Recipes by The Gourmand (Taschen).

Arnold Schwarzenegger will write a motivational book for Penguin Press, Page Six reports.

USA Today shares five books for the week. 

CrimeReads has 10 books for the week.

T&C lists “The 35 Best Books About Time Travel.”

“Marion Meade, Biographer of Dorothy Parker, Dies at 88.” NYT has an obituary.

Authors on Air

According to NPR's Weekend Edition, after 30 years, Jon Scieszka and Lane Smith’s The Stinky Cheese Man “is aging well.”

Judy Blume Forever debuts at Sundance. THR reports. USA Today also has coverage, as does Variety. IndieWire reviews, saying: “Finally, an American icon worthy of adoration.”

Due to positive test screenings, Stephen King’s The Boogeyman will get a theatrical release instead of streaming on Hulu. Tor reports. 

The Atlantic’s “Books Briefing” asks: “How Do You Adapt a Book Into a TV Show?”

Sen. Raphael Warnock, Put Your Shoes On & Get Ready! (Philomel), visits The View today. 

David Duchovny, Kepler (Dark Horse), visits with Jimmy Kimmel.

Kristin Chenoweth, I’m No Philosopher, But I Got Thoughts: Mini-Meditations for Saints, Sinners, and the Rest of Us (Harper Celebrate), will be on with Rachael Ray.

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