Want to get the latest book news delivered to your inbox each day? Sign up for our daily Book Pulse newsletter.

Big Books of the Week

Happy Place by Emily Henry (Berkley; LJ starred review), leads holds this week.

Other titles in demand include:

Small Mercies by Dennis Lehane (Harper; LJ starred review)

The Last Remains by Elly Griffiths (Mariner)

In the Lives of Puppets by TJ Klune (Tor; LJ starred review)

The Way of the Bear by Anne Hillerman (Harper)

These books and others publishing the week of Apr. 24, 2023 are listed in a downloadable spreadsheet.

Awards, News, & Banned Books

The LA Times Book Prize winners are announced. 

The 2023 IPA Prix Voltaire shortlist is announced. 

The BookPeople 2023 Book of the Year shortlists are announced.

The 2023 Grand Prix de l’Imaginaire shortlist is announced.

The 2023 Xingyun Awards finalists are announced.

PBS Canvas explores “The most banned and challenged books of 2022.”

A new report from PEN America finds a rise of censorship efforts across the U.S. NYT reports. 

CBS Sunday Morning has a feature on the fight over banning books.

The Library of Congress, the oldest federal cultural institution in US, celebrates a birthday today. FoxNews reports. 

Librarians and Booksellers Suggest

Five LibraryReads and six Indie Next picks publish this week:

Happy Place by Emily Henry (Berkley; LJ starred review)

“Though they broke up six months ago, Wyn and Harriet pretend they’re still together to avoid disrupting their college friends’ last annual getaway to a cottage in Maine. This book takes the fake relationship trope to a whole new level with switching timelines that reveal how this former couple got to where they are now. Every character is flawed but lovable, and their banter is delightful. Emily Henry fans may have a new favorite!”—Molly Thatcher, Charleston County Public Library, Charleston, SC

It is also the #1 Indie Next pick: 

“Happy Place is absolute magic, bottled up and delivered in the form of saccharine summer days, happiness, teary moments, and newfound longing. Emily Henry is the master of the romance novel and Happy Place is her best one yet!”—Robin Limeres, Phoenix Books, Burlington, VT

The Last Remains by Elly Griffiths (Mariner)

“Dr. Ruth Galloway faces the closing of the archaeology department at the University of North Norfolk while DCI Harry Nelson considers retirement. Both are at a crossroads personally and professionally when the skeleton of a former archaeology student is found after disappearing fifteen years ago. This intricate mystery is full of red herrings and local color, and features characters who continue to grow in a way that is seldom seen in series.”—Stacey Lunsford, Irvin L Young Memorial Library, Whitewater, WI

Moorewood Family Rules by HelenKay Dimon (Avon)

"Jillian Moorewood is out of jail after covering for the crimes of her grifting family. She heads home to the family mansion to take back control of the business and force them into legitimate jobs, but none of her extended family wants to change. Quirky characters, a hot bodyguard, attempts on her life, and a battle worthy of Succession keeps readers engaged to the end."—Linda Quinn, Fairfield Public Library, Fairfield, CT

Mastering the Art of French Murder by Colleen Cambridge (Kensington)

"In Paris after WWII, Julia Child, her husband Paul, sister Dort, and Tabitha, a half French American ex-pat, are all recent arrivals. The romance, sights, sounds, and food of the city are delightful enough; add a murder committed with one of Julia’s knives, and a wonderful series is born. For fans of culinary mysteries, historical mysteries, and City of Light."—Jennifer Winberry, Hunterdon County Library, Flemington, NJ

It is also an Indie Next pick:

“Murder most foul in Paris, the city of Julia Child and her new neighbor, Tabitha Knight. While Tabitha learns to cook from Julia, she finds herself in the middle of a murder, and the weapon is one of Julia's prized knives!”—Tina Greene-Bevington, Bay Books, Suttons Bay, MI

In the Lives of Puppets by TJ Klune (Tor; LJ starred review)

"Clearly if you need a book about a robot that’s guaranteed to have you break out into heaving sobs, this is the novel for you. Klune’s masterful retelling of Pinocchio–a little bit science fiction, a little bit dystopian, and a little bit book-clubby–is a sure-fire winner with so much appeal on so many levels it should prompt readers of all genres to step into something new and original. For fans of The Maker of Swans and The Night Circus.”—Douglas Beatty, Baltimore County Public Library, Baltimore, MD

It is also an Indie Next pick:

“For a book that’s inhabited by androids and machines, this is one of the most human books I’ve read in a long time! Klune always creates works of art and this was no different. It’s right up there with The House in the Cerulean Sea.”—Kristen Kessler, The Book Rack, Oak Harbor, WA

Three additional Indie Next picks publish this week:

Monsters: A Fan's Dilemma by Claire Dederer (Knopf)

“Claire Dederer tackles the timeless question of what to do with the art of monstrous men in this insightful book, through a feminist lens which critiques capitalism as well as cancel culture. A fantastic book for all who consume.”—Mary Wahlmeier Bracciano, Raven Book Store, Lawrence, KS

With My Little Eye by Joshilyn Jackson (Morrow)

“Wow! A roller coaster ride combining Dungeons and Dragons with Agatha Christie. Joshilyn Jackson continues to refine her mystery/suspense cred in this compelling whodunnit. Great for beach reading or any other time!”—Diana Robinson, Eagle Eye Book Shop, Decatur, GA

Small Mercies by Dennis Lehane (Harper; LJ starred review)

“Lehane is one of the best writers of his generation. He depicts Boston like no one else can, and the story, the characters, as well as the deep dive into the social fabric of a place make this a must read.”—Cody Morrison, Square Books, Oxford, MS

In The Media

People’s book of the week is Happy Place by Emily Henry (Berkley; LJ starred review). Also getting attention are Cloud Girls by Lisa Harding (HarperVia), and Small Mercies by Dennis Lehane (Harper; LJ starred review). A “New in Nonfiction” section highlights The Wager by David Grann (Doubleday), Remedies for Sorrow: An Extraordinary Child, a Secret Kept from Pregnant Women, and a Mother's Pursuit of the Truth by Megan Nix (Doubleday), and Go Back and Get It: A Memoir of Race, Inheritance, and Intergenerational Healing by Dionne Ford (Bold Type Books). 

The “Picks” section spotlights Dead Ringers, based on the book Twins by Bari Wood and Jack Geasland, on Prime Video. There is a feature on Luke Russert and his forthcoming memoir, Look for Me There: Grieving My Father, Finding Myself (Harper Horizon). People Online details the moment he learned of his father's death. Also, there is a feature on Minka Kelly’s new memoir, Tell Me Everything (Henry Holt & Co.). Plus, Danny Trejo, Trejo's Cantina : Cocktails, Snacks & Amazing Non-Alcoholic Drinks from the Heart of Hollywood, written with Hugh Garvey (Clarkson Potter), and Kristin Cavallari, Truly Simple: 140 Healthy Recipes for Weekday Cooking (Rodale), share recipes. 

Reviews

NYT reviews Salvage This World by Michael Farris Smith (Little, Brown & Co.): “All in all, Salvage This World is a bruising, bracing read by a hell of a writer. If you consider life too short for uninspired sentences or nondescript locales, this book is for you.”; The Rediscovery of America: Native Peoples and the Unmaking of U.S. History by Ned Blackhawk (Yale Univ. Pr.): “A historian at Yale and a member of the Te-Moak Tribe of Western Shoshone, Blackhawk rejects the myth that Native Americans fell quick and easy victims to European invaders.”; Small Mercies by Dennis Lehane (Harper; LJ starred review): “Lehane masterfully conveys how the past shapes the present, lingering even after the players are gone.”; An Honorable Exit by Éric Vuillard, trans. by Mark Polizzotti (Other Pr.): “Vuillard places himself in a long tradition of satirical writing stretching as far back as Petronius’s Satyricon.”; The Eden Test by Adam Sternbergh (Flatiron): “The Eden Test is deliciously entertaining, but its portrait of a marriage in trouble is nuanced and serious, hopeful and melancholy. There are real impacts under its glitter.”

The Washington Post reviews Happy Place by Emily Henry (Berkley; LJ starred review): “Happy Place is funny at points, but it is also the closest that Henry has come to writing an old-school melodrama, a heart-rending plot that struggles to express the inexpressible.”

Time reviews Monsters: A Fan's Dilemma by Claire Dederer (Knopf): “anyone looking for easy answers has come to the wrong place. This isn’t a prescriptive book. In places, it’s a bit squirrelly: Dederer makes us privy to the process of wrestling with these problems, but she knows she can’t solve them.”

WSJ reviews Parfit: A Philosopher and His Mission to Save Morality by David Edmonds (Princeton Univ. Pr.): “in this superb biography, Mr. Edmonds makes a compelling case that Parfit’s over-the-top devotion to his work produced significant and potentially influential advances in moral philosophy.”

The Guardian reviews August Blue by Deborah Levy (Farrar): “Her style is full of gaps and sharp edges, circling around questions of gender and power, inheritance, autonomy and lack.”

Briefly Noted

Matthew Perry will remove an insult to Keanu Reeves in future print editions of his memoir, Friends, Lovers, and the Big Terrible Thing (Flatiron). LA Times reports. 

Hilary Mantel had an unpublished Jane Austen satire, to be titled Provocation. The Guardian shares an exclusive excerpt featuring Mr. Darcy. 

USA Today shares 5 books for the week.

CrimeReads has 10 new books for the week. 

LitHub offers “8 books that demand to be read outside.”

WSJ lists “13 Books We Read This Week.”

Tor highlights “10 Eco-Fiction Novels Worth Celebrating.”

Vulture recommends “7 Great Audiobooks to Listen to This Month.”

Authors On Air

Actress Rachel McAdams discusses Judy Blume’s Are You There God, It’s Me Margaret on CBS Sunday Morning. There is also a feature and interview with broadway legend Chita Rivera and an excerpt of her new memoir, Chita: A Memoir (HarperOne).

NPR’s Weekend Edition Sunday talks with Stephen Buoro about his new book, The Five Sorrowful Mysteries of Andy Africa (Bloomsbury).

A new trailer arrives for American Born Chinese, based on the book by Gene Luen Yang. 

Before I Let Go by Kennedy Ryan (Forever; LJ starred review) is in development from Peacock. Deadline reports. 

Chita Rivera, Chita: A Memoir (HarperOne), will visit The View today. 

Rainn Wilson, Soul Boom: Why We Need a Spiritual Revolution (Hachette Go), will appear on The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon. 

Laura Dern, Honey, Baby, Mine: A Mother and Daughter Talk Life, Death, Love (and Banana Pudding) written with Diane Ladd (Grand Central), visits with Seth Meyers. 

Michelle Obama,The Light We Carry: Overcoming in Uncertain Times (Crown; LJ starred review), will visit with Drew Barrymore.

Want to get the latest book news delivered to your inbox each day? Sign up for our daily Book Pulse newsletter.