RUSA Book and Media Awards Are Announced | Book Pulse

The RUSA Book and Media Awards are announced, including the Notable Books List, Reading List, Listen List, Essential Cookbooks, Dartmouth Medal, and Outstanding References Sources List. Percival Everett’s James and Kevin Fedarko’s A Walk in the Park: The True Story of a Spectacular Misadventure in the Grand Canyon win Andrew Carnegie Medals. Cold Crematorium: Reporting from the Land of Auschwitz by József Debreczeni is awarded the Sophie Brody Medal. The Crash by Freida McFadden leads holds this week. People’s book of the week is Going Home by Tom Lamont. Plus, ALA responds to the U.S. Department of Education regarding book bans.

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RUSA Book and Media Awards

The 2025 RUSA Book and Media Awards were announced this weekend, including the Notable Books List, Reading List, Listen List, Essential Cookbooks, Dartmouth Medal, and Outstanding References Sources List. Watch the announcement here.

The 2025 Andrew Carnegie Medal winners are announced, with James by Percival Everett (Doubleday; LJ starred review) winning the Andrew Carnegie Medal for Excellence in Fiction, and A Walk in the Park: The True Story of a Spectacular Misadventure in the Grand Canyon by Kevin Fedarko (Scribner) winning the Andrew Carnegie Medal for Excellence in Nonfiction.

Cold Crematorium: Reporting from the Land of Auschwitz by József Debreczeni, tr. by Paul Olchváry (St. Martin’s), receives the Sophie Brody Medal.

Big Books of the Week

The Crash by Freida McFadden (Poisoned Pen) leads holds this week.

Other titles in demand include:

Good Dirt by Charmaine Wilkerson (Ballantine)

Out of the Woods by Hannah Bonam-Young (Dell)

The Oligarch’s Daughter by Joseph Finder (Harper)

Tell Me What You Did by Carter Wilson (Poisoned Pen)

These books and others publishing the week of January 27, 2025, are listed in a downloadable spreadsheet.

Librarians and Booksellers Suggest

Four LibraryReads and eight Indie Next picks publish this week.

The Hall of Fame pick is The Crash by Freida McFadden (Poisoned Pen).

Tell Me What You Did by Carter Wilson (Poisoned Pen)

“Poe, a popular true-crime podcaster, has the tables turned on her when a caller claims to know her past. Poe took out her mother’s killer years ago, but the caller says she got the wrong person. This tightly wound cat-and-mouse game asks all kinds of moral questions and readers will enjoy the many twists and turns.”—Kimberly McGee, Lake Travis Community Library, Austin Texas

Out of the Woods by Hannah Bonam-Young (Dell)

“In this follow-up to Out on a Limb, high school sweethearts Sarah and Caleb find that over a decade into marriage, their relationship has changed. They resolve to rekindle things through a weeklong couples retreat, camping in the wilderness. This second-chance romance features flashbacks and great character backstories that elevate it from the typical trope.”—Cari Dubiel, Twinsburg Public Library, OH

It is also an Indie Next pick:

Out of the Woods is one of the best marriage-in-distress romances I have ever read. Not only do we get to see Sarah and Caleb work on things, but we also get to see where it all started. Have tissues handy—Bonam-Young’s writing is beautiful.”—Preet Singh, Eagle Eye Book Shop, Decatur, GA

Good Dirt by Charmaine Wilkerson (Ballantine) *Good for Book Clubs

“When Ebby was a child, she witnessed her older brother's murder. Years later, after being ditched at the altar, she escapes to France to start over, only to find her ex-fiancé, Henry, and his new girlfriend. Ebby is forced to confront Henry and the trauma of her brother’s death. Through a treasured heirloom pottery jar, the novel chronicles the history of Ebby’s family and its resilience.”—Alison Zaya, Pollard Memorial Library, MA

Seven additional Indie Next picks publish this week:

elseship: an unrequited affair by Tree Abraham (Soft Skull)

“Tree Abraham’s elseship recounts a tale of unrequited love between her and her housemate via striking prose and mixed media visuals. This book serves as both an emotional autopsy of the heart and a case study of true unconditional love.”—Emma Fong, Books Inc., San Francisco, CA

Too Soon by Betty Shamieh (Avid Reader)

Too Soon explores love and freedom in the confines of history through three Palestinian American women: Arabella travels to the West Bank to direct a gender-swapped Hamlet, her grandmother Zoya’s flight from the Nakba in 1948 Jaffa, and her mother Naya’s life in a forced marriage.”—Olivia Marchese, Author’s Note, Medina, NY

Penitence by Kristin Koval (Celadon)

Penitence tells the story of a small-town Colorado murder, woven with the guilt and anger of another loss from many years ago. Touching on youth incarceration, families, love, and trust, this debut makes me want to see what Kristin Koval will bring next.”—Gail Dickson, The Bookstore of Glen Ellyn, Glen Ellyn, IL

The Harder I Fight the More I Love You: A Memoir by Neko Case (Grand Central)

“Electric, angry, joyful, scrappy, and full of life. The Harder I Fight the More I Love You is a powerful work that is moving even if you are not familiar with Neko’s music. A celebration of the power of art and being our true selves in the world.”—Caleb Masters, Bookmarks, Winston-Salem, NC

Blob: A Love Story by Maggie Su (Harper)

“Sure, Vi finds a sentient blob outside of a drag show in her Midwest college town, and sure she tries to turn that blob into the perfect boyfriend. But at its core, Blob is about falling back in love with the parts of yourself that you thought you lost forever.”—Mikey LaFave, Avid Bookshop, Athens, GA

Tartufo by Kira Jane Buxton (Grand Central)

Tartufo is the ideal breakout novel for readers who don’t know Kira Jane Buxton. Replace talking crows and apocalyptic futures with a Tuscan village that’s seen better days and a truffle of epic proportions. A book that’s sure to delight!”—Susan Tunis, Bookshop West Portal, San Francisco, CA

We Could Be Rats by Emily Austin (Atria)

“In her latest novel, Austin captures the bittersweet heart of growing up and growing apart. Told over the course of Sigrid’s attempts at a suicide note, Austin guides the reader though Sigrid’s disenchantment with equal humor and heartbreak.”—Alea Lopes, The Oxford Exchange, Tampa, FL

In the Media

People’s book of the week is Going Home by Tom Lamont (Knopf). Also getting attention are How To Share an Egg: A True Story of Hunger, Love, and Plenty by Bonny Reichert (Ballantine) and Save Me, Stranger: Stories by Erika Krouse (Flatiron). “Immersive Winter Reads” include A Gorgeous Excitement by Cynthia Weiner (Crown), Sit, Cinderella, Sit: A Mostly True Memoir by Lisa Cheek (She Writes Pr.), and Witchcraft for Wayward Girls by Grady Hendrix (Berkley; LJ starred review).

There is an interview with Naomi Watts about her new book, Dare I Say It: Everything I Wish I’d Known About Menopause (Crown). Plus, Joanna Gaines discusses her new children’s book, The World Needs the Wonder You See, illus. by Julianna Swaney (Tommy Nelson), and her personal bookshelf.

Reviews

NYT reviews Good Dirt by Charmaine Wilkerson (Ballantine): “Wilkerson masterfully weaves these threads of love, loss and legacy through Old Mo’s journey as well as the ongoing mystery of Baz’s murder. The result is a thoroughly researched and beautifully imagined family saga, with a moving and hopeful ending”; and A Perfect Frenzy: A Royal Governor, His Black Allies, and the Crisis That Spurred the American Revolution by Andrew Lawler (Atantic Monthly): A Perfect Frenzy is a sharp-eyed look at the messy, sometimes absurd, often cruel birth pangs of a nation. It prompts readers to question the simplistic narratives that have shaped our understanding of this pivotal period in American history.” There are also short reviews of new horror titles. Plus, more reviews from the weekend.

Washington Post reviews To Save the Man by John Sayles (Melville House): “Both tender and harrowing, To Save a Man once again demonstrates Sayles’s dogged commitment to unearthing the buried truths that contour the ground beneath our feet”; and The Harder I Fight the More I Love You: A Memoir by Neko Case (Grand Central): “Turns out her high lonesome sound comes from a dark lonesome place, and going there on the page is the same tender pain as listening to her.”

Briefly Noted

The U.S. Department of Education has ended investigations into book bans, NYT reports. ALA released a statement in response. PEN America also issued a statement critical of DOE’s language on book bans. Shelf Awareness has coverage.

CrimeReads suggests 10 new books for the week.

WSJ selects 11 books for the week.

People shares the best books of the month.

USA Today talks with TikTok star Sabrina Brier about her new audiobook, That Friend (S. & S.), due out this week.

Authors on Air

Kate Winkler Dawson discusses her book The Sinners All Bow: Two Authors, One Murder, and the Real Hester Prynne (Putnam) on NPR’s Weekend Edition Sunday.

On CBS Sunday Morning, comedian Pete Davidson and author Dav Pilkey discuss the appeal of Pilkey’s Dog Man books. Plus, Washington Post book critic Ron Charles recommends new books in a new “Book Report” segment.

Christopher Nolan’s adaptation of Homer’s 8th century epic The Odyssey is set to shoot on “Goat Island” in Sicily, Variety reports.

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