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Big Books of the Week

All the Colors of the Dark by Chris Whitaker (Crown) leads holds this week. 

Other titles in demand include:

A Novel Love Story by Ashley Poston (Berkley)

Resurrection by Danielle Steel (Delacorte)

A Happier Life by Kristy Woodson Harvey (Gallery)

Husbands & Lovers by Beatriz Williams (Ballantine)

These books and others publishing the week of June 24, 2024, are listed in a downloadable spreadsheet.

Librarians and Booksellers Suggest

Five LibraryReads and four Indie Next picks publish this week:

Hall of Fame picks include Husbands & Lovers by Beatriz Williams (Ballantine), A Novel Love Story by Ashley Poston (Berkley), Incidents Around the House by Josh Malerman (Del Rey), and Tangled up in You by Christina Lauren (Hyperion Avenue).

Love Letters to a Serial Killer by Tasha Coryell (Berkley; LJ starred review) *Debut

“Twisty denouements abound in this psychological suspense about a woman falling for a suspected serial killer as she corresponds with him in jail. The author is able to depict the questionable choices of a down-on-her-luck woman who naively becomes entangled with a dangerous man. This is a darkly humorous, sexy, and entertaining thriller.”—Andrienne Cruz, Azusa City Library, CA

Four Indie Next picks publish this week:

A Happier Life by Kristy Woodson Harvey (Gallery)

“Harvey delivers another beautiful and heartfelt novel filled with romance, mystery, and her signature Southern charm. A multigenerational story told through dual timelines, A Happier Life invites readers to deeply savor its pages.”—Susan McBeth, Adventures by the Book, San Diego, CA

Honey by Isabel Banta (Celadon)

“A pitch-perfect reclamation of the ’90s and early ’00s pop craze, for anybody who listened to boy bands, girl groups, or their solo spin-offs. This story doesn’t end like Britney’s, or Christina’s—it gives pop stars the endings they deserve.”—Drew Broussard, The Golden Notebook, Woodstock, NY

All the Colors of the Dark by Chris Whitaker (Crown)

“An utterly beautiful and haunting story. No one writes characters like Whitaker—they’re flawed, but you can’t help but love them. I will be thinking about Patch and Saint for a very long time and can’t wait to sell the book!”—Elizabeth Barnhill, Fabled Bookshop & Café, Waco, TX

Bear by Julia Phillips (Hogarth)

“Bear is a haunting novel set on a remote island off the Pacific Northwest coast. Two sisters dream of a better life off the island, when a strange bear appears and changes their lives. This story, fairy tale, allegory, will stay with you.”—Elyse Adler, Parnassus Books, Nashville, TN

In the Media

People’s book of the week is Bear by Julia Phillips (Hogarth). Also getting attention are Moral Injuries by Christie Watson (Harper) and How the Light Gets In by Joyce Maynard (Morrow). A “Celebrating Black Authors” feature includes Little Rot by Akwaeke Emezi (Riverhead), Night Flyer: Harriet Tubman and the Faith Dreams of a Free People by Tiya Miles (Penguin Pr.), and Magic Enuff: Poems by Tara M. Stringfellow (Dial).

The “Picks” section spotlights Treasure, based on the novel by Lily Brett; The Bikeriders, based on the photobook by Danny Lyons; Apple TV+’s Land of Women, based on the Spanish-language novel by Sandra Barneda; and Prime’s My Lady Jane, based on the YA novel by Cynthia Hand, Brodi Ashton & Jodi Meadows. Plus, recipes from Khushbu Shah, Amrikan: 125 Recipes from the Indian American Diaspora (Norton; LJ starred review), and Deuki Hong, Koreaworld, written with Matt Rodbard (Clarkson Potter).

Reviews

NYT reviews The New Breadline: Hunger and Hope in the Twenty-First Century by Jean-Martin Bauer (Knopf): “What makes The New Breadline so compelling, though, are not the big debates it touches on but the small details Bauer shares from a realm that usually operates out of the public eye”; Frostbite: How Refrigeration Changed Our Food, Our Planet, and Ourselves by Nicola Twilley (Penguin Pr.): “Perhaps one should not watch sausage being made; if so, it’s no better to follow that sausage all the way to market, as Frostbite does. Read this book at your own risk; grocery shopping will not be the same”; Woman of Interest: A Memoir by Tracy O’Neill (Harper One): “The book is a shell game of black boxes, and O’Neill wants us to feel it, ‘drowning in information, drowning in misinformation.’ And we do. We are in limbo with her, trapped between ignorance and truth, a sensation that will surely resonate with adoptees in particular”; Hombrecito by Santiago Jose Sanchez (Riverhead): “For the characters in Santiago Jose Sanchez’s debut novel, Hombrecito, migration also induces a metaphysical fracture—it cleaves space from time, suspends a country in a nostalgic yesterday, freezes home in memory”; and Practice by Rosalind Brown (Farrar): “At its best, Practice conveys the hesitancy, extravagance and naiveté of a young mind discovering what writing can do.” Plus, there are short reviews of “4 Fun, Flirty New Romance Novels”: We Could Be Heroes by Philip Ellis (Putnam), Lady Eve’s Last Con by Rebecca Fraimow (Solaris), The Paris Affair by Maureen Marshall (Grand Central), and Twelfth Knight by Alexene Farol Follmuth (Tor Teen).

Washington Post reviews 1974: A Personal History by Francine Prose (Harper; LJ starred review): “She spares no one, including herself. Intentionally or not, with this book she is making the case that she was indeed meant to be a writer. On this we will always agree”; and A Gentleman and a Thief: The Daring Jewel Heists of a Jazz Age Rogue by Dean Jobb (Algonquin): “Perfect crime after perfect crime, millions of dollars’ worth of rings and pearls and bracelets and cuff links in break-in after break-in. The first few are marvels. The gall of this man! The nerves of steel! The natty suit! The feckless rich people and police! But even with some slight variations, they quickly become numbingly repetitious.”

WSJ reviews Crooked Smile: What It Took To Escape a Decade of Homelessness, Addiction, & Crime by Jared Klickstein (Bombadier): “It is sobering to be confronted with the horrors of addiction, of course. But the most compelling aspects of Crooked Smile (now we know where the book’s title comes from) have to do with Mr. Klickstein’s no-nonsense way of thinking about his ordeals.”

The Guardian reviews The Ministry of Time by Kaliane Bradley (Avid Reader/S. & S.): “This book is a sparkling delight.”

Briefly Noted

The Glass Bell Award longlist is announced. 

CrimeReads suggests 10 new books for the week.

WSJ shares 17 books for the week. 

People highlights the best books of the month. 

NYT profiles physician Freida McFadden’s rise as the fastest-selling thriller writer in the U.S.

People shares an excerpt from Richard Osman’s forthcoming book, We Solve Murders (Pamela Dorman: Viking), which arrives September 17.

NYT talks with Tomi Adeyemi about her latest book, Children of Anguish and Anarchy (Holt). 

Washington Post celebrates audio narrators for Audiobook Appreciation Month, while Time shares “The Best Audiobooks for Roadtrips of Any Length.”

Authors on Air

NPR’s Shortwave talks with Ferris Jabr about his new book, Becoming Earth: How Our Planet Came to Life by (Random).

Steve Guttenberg, Time To Thank: Caregiving for My Hero (Post Hill), visits Live with Kelly and Mark today.

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