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Big Books of the Week

The Last to Vanish by Megan Miranda (Scribner/ Marysue Rucci Books) leads holds this week.

Other titles in demand include:

Sugar and Salt by Susan Wiggs (Morrow)

The Librarian Spy: A Novel of World War II by Madeline Martin (Hanover Square Pr.)

The Paper Caper (Bibliophile Mystery, Bk. 16) by Kate Carlisle (Berkley)

Aura of Night by Heather Graham (MIRA)

These books and others publishing the week of July 25, 2022 are listed in a downloadable spreadsheet.

Librarians and Booksellers Suggest

Three LibraryReads and three Indie Next picks publish this week:

The Last to Vanish by Megan Miranda (Scribner/ Marysue Rucci Books)

“Visitors keep vanishing from Cutter's Pass in the North Carolina mountains. Abby thinks it's a coincidence, but when the brother of the last person to disappear checks in at the inn where she has been working for 10 years, she starts to wonder if there's more to it. A good page- turner with slightly creepy vibes.”—Heidi Sandiford, Hillsdale Free Public Library, Hillsdale, NJ

It is also an Indie Next pick:

“I really enjoyed the mystery and how it unraveled for Abigail and Trey, and how the disappearances are connected. Megan Miranda is a great writer and I am always eager to read her new books — this didn’t disappoint!”—Stephanie Rivera, Chapter Two...a Bookstore, Lompoc, CA

Sugar and Salt by Susan Wiggs (Morrow)

”Margot Salton, a Texas BBQ master, sets up a new restaurant in San Francisco, sharing a kitchen with Jerome’s bakery. She has been running from a huge secret that eventually catches up to her. An intriguing story that addresses heavy topics of date rape and racism but is also full of hope and love. For fans of Rosaline Palmer Takes the Cake and Recipe For Persuasion.—Jaime Bink, Harford County Public Library, Whiteford, MD

Booked on a Feeling by Jayci Lee (St. Martin’s Griffin)

“After experiencing a panic attack during her first trial, lawyer Lizzie Chung decides to take a leave of absence and visit her childhood friend Jack. They team up to help a struggling bookstore. It brings them closer, but will their anxieties and insecurities doom their relationship? A sweet romance that deals with some serious topics. For fans of Ten Rules for Faking It and Girl Gone Viral.”—Shari Suarez, Genesee District Library, Flint, MI

Two additional Indie Next picks arrive this week:

The Boys by Katie Hafner (Spiegel & Grau)

“Sometimes a novel just settles into your heart. Such is the case with The Boys. Sweet, heartbreaking, and completely original, this novel by Katie Hafner is wholly unforgettable.”—Mary O'Malley, Skylark Bookshop, Columbia, MO

Calling for a Blanket Dance by Oscar Hokeah (Algonquin)

“This is an incredible family epic in sleek, unpretentious form. Hokeah uses his characters as crisp prisms through which we see the nature of family: vicious and precious, mournful and joyful, everything in-between. A remarkable debut!”—Amanda Qassar, Warwick’s, La Jolla, CA

In the Media

People’s book of the week is Normal Family: On Truth, Love, and How I Met My 35 Siblings by Chrysta Bilton (Little, Brown; LJ starred review). Also getting attention are A Lady's Guide to Fortune-Hunting by Sophie Irwin (Pamela Dorman Books), and The Bodyguard by Katherine Center (St. Martin’s Pr.). “New Thrillers” include: Things We Do in the Dark by Jennifer Hillier (Minotaur), Confidence by Denise Mina (Mulholland Books), and The Swell by Allie Reynolds (Putnam). The “Kid Pick” is If You Find a Leaf by Aimee Sicuro (Random House Studio).

The “Picks” section spotlights Where the Crawdads Sing, based on the bestseller by Delia Owens, Mrs. Harris Goes to Paris, based on the book by Paul Gallico, and Persuasion, based on the book by Jane Austen, on Netflix. Plus, a feature on Daisy Edgar-Jones covers the actress’s role in Where the Crawdads Sing, and includes a sidebar on author Delia Owens’s “incredible success and mysterious past.”

Reviews

The Washington Post reviews The Half Life of Valery K by Natasha Pulley (Bloomsbury): “Exhibiting all the storytelling skills that made her earlier books so readable and popular, Pulley also offers a piercing study of how a police state deforms individual psychologies, personal relationships and professional ethics.” And, Who Is Wellness For?:  An Examination of Wellness Culture and Who It Leaves Behind by Fariha Roisin (Harper Wave): "Róisín’s poignant response to her own question is that our healing must be collective, accessible and available to all."

NYT reviews How to Read Now: Essays by Elaine Castillo (Viking): “Despite its declarative title, How to Read Now is not so much an instruction manual as an earnest invitation — “a question, open-ended,” she writes. “I, too, want to know how to read now.” What emerges is an engaging and provocative conversation with a playful interlocutor who wanted me, her reader, to talk back.”

The New Yorker shares briefly noted reviews of four recent books.

Briefly Noted

Barry Windsor-Smith’s Monsters (Fantographics: Norton), wins the 2022 Eisner for Best New Graphic Novel. PW reports.

Longlists for the Polari Book Prizes are announced.

People shares an excerpt from Audrina Patridge’s new memoir, Choices: To the Hills and Back Again (Gallery), due out this week. Plus, Garth Brooks reveals the cover of his forthcoming book, Anthology Part II, The Next Five Years, due out November 15th.

Emily Hampshire tells Entertainment Weekly that the Kardashians are the inspiration behind her forthcoming graphic novel, Amelia Aierwood - Basic Witch, written with Eliot Rahal, (Z2 Comics).

The Washington Post explores the work of Lawrence Osborne, highlighting his book that the movie, The Forgiven, is based on.

Marie Myung-Ok Lee, The Evening Hero (S. & S.), writes about pigeon-holing in publishing forThe Millions.

Gizmodo previews what’s next for Marvel’s comics characters.

Silvia Moreno-Garcia and Lavie Tidhar discuss “the beasts of sci-fi and horror,” for The Washington Post.

USA Today picks five books for the week.

CrimeReads suggests 10 books out this week.

Esquire has "The Best Wellness Books For Your Mind, Body, and Spirit.”

Entertainment Weekly shares the best new books of the month.

OprahDaily suggests “new and diverse voices in Crime Fiction.”

“Diana Kennedy, cookbook author who promoted Mexican cuisine, dies at 99.”The Washington Post has an obituary.

Authors On Air

NPR’s Weekend Edition Sunday talks with Jon Raymond about his new novel, Denial (S. & S.), which is set in the future amid the effects of climate change.

CBS Sunday Morning invites viewers to experience“the library of the 21st century.”

The Geek’s Guide to the Galaxy podcast talks with Ben Riggs, author of Slaying the Dragon: A Secret History of Dungeons & Dragons (St. Martin’s), about D&D novels, marketing, and the downfall of TSR.

New trailers were unveiled at Comic-Con this weekend. Good Morning America shares a new trailer for the forthcoming Prime series The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power, based on the books by J.R.R. Tolkien.

GMA also shares a new trailer for the forthcoming film Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves, based on the role-playing game with assoc. titles.

There is also a new trailer for The Sandman, based on the book by Neil Gaiman. Tor has details.

Marvel releases first trailer for Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, with assoc. titles. Essence has the story.

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