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Big Books of the Week

Iron Flame by Rebecca Yarros (Entangled: Red Tower) leads holds this week. NYT has a profile on Yarros and her best-selling series. 

Other titles in demand include:

Resurrection Walk by Michael Connelly (Little, Brown)

My Name Is Barbra by Barbra Streisand (Viking)

Bookshops & Bonedust by Travis Baldree (Tor; LJ starred review)

The Proof of the Pudding by Rhys Bowen (Berkley)

These books and others publishing the week of November 6, 2023, are listed in a downloadable spreadsheet.

Librarians and Booksellers Suggest

Nine LibraryReads and nine Indie Next picks publish this week:

Hall of Fame pick A Power Unbound by Freya Marske (Tor.com) is also an Indie Next pick:

“In the culminating tale of my favorite fantasy romance trilogy, Freya Marske does it all: a darkly romantic enemies-to-lovers story, a compelling magical adventure, and beautifully queer found family. I want everyone to read these books!”—Kira Apple, Charis Books & More, Atlanta, GA

The Good Part by Sophie Cousens (Putnam) and Hunt on Dark Waters by Katee Robert (Berkley) are also Hall of Fame picks.

The notable nonfiction pick is Dolls of Our Lives: Why We Can’t Quit American Girl by Mary Mahoney & Allison Horrocks (Feiwel & Friends). 

A Grandmother Begins the Story by Michelle Porter (Algonquin; LJ starred review)

“A young Métis woman seeks to learn about her heritage as her mother tries to reconcile their lost years while protecting her daughter from what she perceives as the sins of her own mother. Told from the point of view of five generations of women, this is a beautiful and affecting debut.”—Jennifer Winberry, Hunterdon County Library, NJ

The Manor House by Gilly Macmillan (Morrow)

“Childhood sweethearts Nicole and Tom win the lottery and are thrust into a life of splendor, including a dreamy glass mansion. When Tom turns up dead in the pool, Nicole doesn't know whom she can trust—was Tom’s death a tragic accident or is someone trying to get a piece of the winnings? Macmillan’s latest is perfectly paced suspense.”—Kaite Stover, Kansas City Public Library, MO

Class: A Memoir of Motherhood, Hunger, and Higher Education by Stephanie Land (Atria: One Signal)

“Life after Maid is where Class begins, and takes us to the heart of systemic inequity that exists in this country. Unflinchingly honest and gripping, this is a memoir that is either relatable, pivotal, and/or eye opening. It will change readers.”— Jesica Sweedler DeHart, Neill Public Library, WA

It is also an Indie Next pick:

“A memoir I couldn’t put down! The author’s struggle to rise out of poverty while raising a child and trying to earn a college degree is so admirable and inspiring. I would love another follow-up book to find out where her journey takes her!”—Lorilee Sugden, Linden Tree Children’s Books, Los Altos, CA

The Future by Naomi Alderman (S. & S.)

“What would happen if three companies (think Amazon, Facebook, and Twitter), were removed from the world and their money put to saving the planet and all of the people on it? Alderman once again places the reader in a world that is falling apart, run by greedy billionaires who don't care what damage they do as long as they keep making more money. Look into The Future and get an idea of how that might go.”—Linda Quinn, LibraryReads Ambassador

It is also an Indie Next pick:

“Gripping speculative fiction/CliFi. Naomi Alderman has a knack for crafting a future with enough detail to make it feel breathtakingly possible, but not overdrawn. When I finished, I wanted more time with these people and in this world.”—Liz Whitelam, Whitelam Books, Reading, MA

Bookshops & Bonedust by Travis Baldree (Tor; LJ starred review)

“In this worthy prequel to Legends & Lattes, a young Viv is laid up in the quiet town of Murk after her enthusiastic inexperience leads to a serious injury. She gradually assembles a group of friends including a swear-happy bookshop owner, a mercenary turned baker, and an irrepressible Gallina, eager to join Rackham’s Raiders. Murk doesn’t stay quiet for long with Viv around, and there’s plenty of coziness in the bookshop, eating delicious baked goods, and flirting with a new friend.”—Lauren Abner, KY Dept for Libraries & Archives, KY

It is also an Indie Next pick:

“This prequel to Legends & Lattes celebrates the magic of bookselling as Viv recovers from injury and recuperates a faltering little bookshop. Complete with in-universe bodice rippers, quiet romance, and more delicious baked goods!”—Miriasha Borsykowsky, Phoenix Books, Essex Junction, VT

Five additional Indie Next picks publish this week:

The Happy Couple by Naoise Dolan (Ecco)

“A funny, perceptive study of a couple hurdling toward marriage for reasons unclear to everyone involved. Told by the couple as well as family and friends, The Happy Couple observes a (doomed) modern relationship from all sides.”—Julia Lewis, Fountain Bookstore, Richmond, VA

Same Bed Different Dreams by Ed Park (Random; LJ starred review)

“Same Bed Different Dreams is a monumentally funny and epically mind-bending novel that opens doors you may never have even realized were doors. Ed Park has gifted us something truly remarkable.”—Stephen Sparks, Point Reyes Books, Point Reyes Station, CA

The Vulnerables by Sigrid Nunez (Riverhead)

“This book was my cure! All of my thoughts, feelings, and experiences living in our complex current moment in time turned into a beautiful novel. Elegant prose. Wise delivery. Cozy feelings. Sigrid Nunez is a must read!”—Rachel Brewer, Carmichael’s Bookstore, Louisville, KY

The Liberators by E.J. Koh (Tin House)

“E.J. Koh tells an epic saga with poetic grace: four generations deal with the legacy of Japanese and American colonization in South Korea, divisions within Korea itself, and with various loves and betrayals along the way.”—Rick Simonson, The Elliott Bay Book Company, Seattle, WA

The Madstone by Elizabeth Crook (Little, Brown)

“A literary Western about a young mother, her son, and the man charged with getting them across Texas while fleeing vengeful outlaws. Beautifully written with great characters, this is sure to please fans of Paulette Jiles or Larry McMurtry.”—Cody Morrison, Square Books, Oxford, MS

In the Media

People’s book of the week is Above the Salt by Katherine Vaz (Flatiron). Also getting attention are World Within a Song: Music That Changed My Life and Life That Changed My Music by Jeff Tweedy (Dutton) and Class: A Memoir of Motherhood, Hunger, and Higher Education by Stephanie Land (Atria: One Signal). A “New in Style & Fashion” section highlights Dressing the Part: Television’s Most Stylish Shows by Hal Rubenstein (Harper), CBK, Carolyn Bessette Kennedy: A Life in Fashion by Sunita Kumar Nair (Abrams), and It’s So You: The Joy of Personal Style by Kate Spade New York (Abrams).

The “Picks” section spotlights Nyad, based on the autobiography Find a Way: The Inspiring Story of One Woman’s Pursuit of a Lifelong Dream by Diana Nyad, on Netflix, and All the Light We Cannot See, based on the novel by Anthony Doerr, also on Netflix.

This week’s cover feature says farewell to actor Matthew Perry, author of the memoir Friends, Lovers, and the Big Terrible Thing (Flatiron). There is a feature on actor Mark Harmon’s next chapter and his forthcoming book, Ghosts of Honolulu: A Japanese Spy, A Japanese American Spy Hunter, and the Untold Story of Pearl Harbor, written with Leon Carroll (Harper Select), due out next week. Joan Collins has a new memoir: Behind the Shoulder Pads: Tales I Tell My Friends (Permuted Pr.). Plus recipes from Snoop Dogg, Goon with the Spoon, written with Antonis Achilleos (Chronicle), and Marcela Valladolid, Familia: 125 Foolproof Mexican Recipes To Feed Your People (Voracious).

Reviews

NYT reviews Class: A Memoir of Motherhood, Hunger, and Higher Education by Stephanie Land (Atria: One Signal): “Land ends the book with her status unresolved—although it would have been easy enough for her to conclude on a far more gratifying note. Instead, we are left seething at the inequalities of our system”; Cross-Stitch by Jazmina Barrera, tr. by Christina MacSweeney (Two Lines Pr.): “In Jazmina Barrera’s understated and lovely debut novel, Cross-Stitch, translated from the Spanish by Christina MacSweeney, embroidery is revealed to be as quietly brutal as young womanhood, despite the shroud of innocence society often places over both”; The Revolutionary Temper: Paris, 1748–1789 by Robert Darnton (Norton): “Darnton’s book focuses on ordinary Parisians and eschews ‘ministerial intrigues that took place beyond their range of vision,’ unless such intrigues spread as rumors among the broader public”; A Nearby Country Called Love by Salar Abdoh (Viking): “A Nearby Country Called Love raises the possibility that love—or more vitally, connection—can still be forged in a difficult world”; The Picnic: A Dream of Freedom and the Collapse of the Iron Curtain by Matthew Longo (Norton): “Longo aims high: not only to revisit the field in Sopronpuszta, now ‘desolate’ and ‘emptied’ of history, but to tell us how we got ‘from tearing down the Berlin Wall to our new age of erecting barriers.’ It’s an admirable goal, and he comes close to achieving it”; and Correction: Parole, Prison, and the Possibility of Change by Ben Austen (Flatiron): “His style is informative with little sap, and he manages to make sympathetic characters out of violent men: He explains our world, its codes of conduct and how we adapt, and sometimes unravel, as we try to survive.” Washington Post also reviews: “Correction makes a compelling case that expanding access to parole—a subjective means of determining freedom that nevertheless offers people in prison ‘an opportunity to literally be seen and heard’ and for the public to ‘contend with their humanity’—can help us move forward.”

Washington Post reviews Hot Springs Drive by Lindsay Hunter (Roxane Gay Bks.): “Hot Springs is filled with memorable prose and fascinating characters—men and women desperately searching for happiness in their lives and in each other—penned by a fearless writer with an enviable eye for detail”; The Future by Naomi Alderman (S. & S.): “When Alderman chooses to linger on a character, she creates some breathtaking scenes”; and American Vikings: How the Norse Sailed into the Lands and Imaginations of America by Martyn Whittock (Pegasus): “Even as the book attempts to convey authority via citation and an evenhanded approach to the sources, its handling of existing scholarship doesn’t stand up to scrutiny.”

Briefly Noted

Class: A Memoir of Motherhood, Hunger, and Higher Education by Stephanie Land (Atria: One Signal) is GMA’s November book club pick.

Publishers Weekly reports on a new NEA study which charts a drop in reading participation. Read the study here.

LJ reports on a newly published ALA survey: “Gen Z and Millennials: How They Use Public Libraries and Identify Through Media Use.” Read the study here.

Audiofile announces the November 2023 Earphones Award winners.

CrimeReads suggests 10 new books for the week. 

Curtis Chin, author of Everything I Learned, I Learned in a Chinese Restaurant: A Memoir (Little, Brown), speaks to LA Times.

The Guardian highlights graphic novel of the month The Cliff by Manon Debaye, tr. by Montana Kane (Drawn & Quarterly).

Authors on Air

Barbra Streisand discusses her long-awaited memoir, My Name Is Barbra (Viking), with CBS Sunday Mornings. There is also a feature on how Barbra Streisand “became” Barbra. 

Anthony Doerr speaks with director Shawn Levy and screenwriter Steven Knight “about the big tweaks to the story’s ending” in the miniseries All the Light We Cannot See, based Doerr’s Pulitzer Prize–winning novel. Entertainment Weekly reports.

Stephanie Land talks with NPR’s Weekend Edition Sunday about her new book, Class: A Memoir of Motherhood, Hunger, and Higher Education (Atria: One Signal)

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