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Big Books of the Week

The Making of Another Major Motion Picture Masterpiece by Tom Hanks, illus. by R. Sikoryak (Knopf), leads holds this week. NYT reviews: “Moviemaking, Hanks would remind us, can be a rising tide, not in the depressing new climate change way, but the old optimistic American lift-all-boats way.” Hanks discusses his “novel approach to movies” with CBS Sunday Morning. Plus, The Atlantic writes “How Tom Hanks became Tom Hanks.” 

Other titles in demand include:

The Collected Regrets of Clover by Mikki Brammer (St. Martin’s)

The House on Prytania by Karen White (Berkley)

100 Morning Treats: With Muffins, Rolls, Biscuits, Sweet and Savory Breakfast Breads, and More by Sarah Kieffer (Chronicle)

The Private Life of Spies and the Exquisite Art of Getting Even: Stories of Espionage and Revenge by Alexander McCall Smith (Pantheon)

These books and others publishing the week of May 8th, 2023 are listed in a downloadable spreadsheet.

Librarians and Booksellers Suggest

One Indie Next pick publishes this week:

To Shape a Dragon’s Breath: The First Book of Nampeshiweisit by Moniquill Blackgoose (Del Rey)

“To Shape a Dragon’s Breath is all the things a good fantasy series opener should be—immersive, thoughtful, and captivating. This alternate history of New England and its colonization will be a hit for fans of Babel and House of the Dragon!”—Julia DeVarti, Books Are Magic, Brooklyn, NY

In The Media

People’s book of the week is Swamp Story by Dave Barry (S. & S.). Also getting attention are Honeybees and Distant Thunder by Riku Onda, tr. by Philip Gabriel (Pegasus), and The Secret Book of Flora Lea by Patti Callahan Henry (Atria). A “new in nonfiction” section highlights Wildflower: A Memoir by Aurora James (Crown), Excellent Advice for Living: Wisdom I Wish I’d Known Earlier by Kevin Kelly (Viking), and American Breakdown: Our Ailing Nation, My Body’s Revolt, and the Nineteenth-Century Woman Who Brought Me Back to Life by Jennifer Lunden (Harper Wave). 

The “Picks” section spotlights Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret., based on the book by Judy Blume, Peter Pan & Wendy, based on the play “Peter Pan; or, the Boy Who Wouldn’t Grow Up” by J. M. Barrie on Disney+, Queen Charlotte: A Bridgerton Story, based on the book series by Julia Quinn on Netflix, and Tom Jones, based on the book The History of Tom Jones, a Foundling by Henry Fielding, on PBS. 

There is a feature on Andrew McCarthy, Walking with Sam: A Father, a Son, and Five Hundred Miles Across Spain (Grand Central), and how the trek with his son brought them together. People Home highlights the Peacock show The Gentle Art of Swedish Death Cleaning, based on the book by Margareta Magnussen. Plus, Joanna Gaines, Magnolia Table, Vol. 3: A Collection of Recipes for Gathering (Morrow Cookbooks), shares a recipe.

Reviews

The Washington Post reviews Hot and Bothered: What No One Tells You About Menopause and How To Feel Like Yourself Again by Jancee Dunn (Putnam): “Dunn’s well-researched, womanist point of view is powerful, if somewhat inconsistent. She rightly derides U.S. health professionals’ lack of menopause training but also argues against a medicalized approach”; Parfit: A Philosopher and His Mission To Save Morality by David Edmonds (Princeton Univ.): “Parfit’s philosophy was philosophy at its best, and Parfit is an excellent introduction to that philosophy and the life in which it grew to occupy such a central role”; and Don’t Tell Anybody the Secrets I Told You by Lucinda Williams (Crown): “Songwriting was a way for Williams to process her traumatic early years, to talk about it without really talking about it, even if she didn’t always realize it.”

LA Times reviews I Thought You Loved Me by MariNaomi (Amble Pr.): “The book uses a barrage of techniques—scrapbook, comics, collage, reprinted letters, text—to fill the page and fill in the past.”

NPR reviews Traffic: Genius, Rivalry, and Delusion in the Billion-Dollar Race to Go Viral by Ben Smith (Penguin Pr.): “The close relationship between social media and news is no accident.”

Briefly Noted

The 35th Annual Publishing Triangle Award winners are announced.

The 2022 Horror Writers Association Lifetime Achievement and Service Awards are announced. 

The Fogarty Literary Award shortlist is announced.

The Mary Gilmore Award 2023 shortlist is announced.

The 2023 Future Worlds Prize shortlist is announced. Locus has details.

Slate talks with Curtis Sittenfeld, Romantic Comedy (Random; LJ starred review), about how she wrote a “non-cheesy” romance novel.

Lindsey Rogers-Seitz discusses forgiving her husband in the aftermath of her son’s hot-car death in her new memoir, The Gift of Ben: Loving Through Imperfection (Wellness Writers Pr.), with FoxNews Digital.

The Rumpus has a new conversation with Kelly Link, White Cat, Black Dog: Stories (Random). 

T&C considers the madness of King George, as explored by the Netflix series, Queen Charlotte: A Bridgerton Story, based on the book series by Julia Quinn. 

The Atlantic takes a fresh look at Frog and Toad, based on the books by Arnold Lobel on Apple TV+. 

Alexander Larman, The Windsors at War: The King, His Brother, and a Family Divided (St. Martin’s), writes about “The Lesson King Charles III Learned From His Notorious Great Uncle,” for Time.

Alex Pappademas adapts his new book, Quantum Criminals: Ramblers, Wild Gamblers, and Other Sole Survivors from the Songs of Steely Dan, written with Joan LeMay (Univ. of Texas), in an essay for LA Times.

LitHub looks at “every Pulitzer Prize for Fiction winner of the 21st century.” The Pulitzer Prizes will be announced today.

USA Today shares 5 books for the week.

Esquire recommends the best books for Spring. 

CrimeReads has 10 new books for the week and 9 novels that evoke Agatha Christie’s enduring legacy.

CBC suggests 10 Canadian books to read during Asian Heritage Month.

NYT shares “The Romance Novels We’re Loving in 2023.”

ElectricLit  lists 7 books to make you want to ride a bike. 

Shondaland has “10 Books for First-Time Literary Fiction Readers.”  And BookRiot asks: “What is literary fiction anyway?”

Authors On Air

CBS Sunday Morning talks with Andy Cohen about his new book, The Daddy Diaries: The Year I Grew Up (Holt), and how becoming a parent changed him. 

NPR’s Morning Edition chats with Bryan E. Robinson, author of the new book, Chained to the Desk in a Hybrid World: A Guide to Work-Life Balance (NYU). 

The second season of Prime’s The Summer I Turned Pretty, based on the book by Jenny Han, will premiere July 14 with three episodes. People reports.

NYT’s Book Review podcast discusses book bans and what to read in May.

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