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Awards, News & Book Clubs

The Otherwise Award winners are announced. Locus has details.

NYT explores the process of awarding the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction to Percival Everett’s James (Doubleday; LJ starred review), after the committee failed to reach consensus on the other three finalists.

My Friends by Fredrik Backman (Atria) is B&N’s May book club pick.

Immaculate Conception by Ling Ling Huang (Dutton) is the Good Housekeeping pick.

The Baltimore romantasy festival A Million Lives has been dubbed the “Fyre Fest of books” for underdelivering on its promises, People reports. USA Today also has coverage.

A Rhode Island District Court judge grants a preliminary injunction against the executive order dismantling the IMLS, reports Publishers Weekly. NPR also has coverage.

Chicago Tribune praises Dua Lipa’s Service95 book club, while The Guardian asks: “Is Dua Lipa the best literary interviewer?”

Reviews

NYT reviews Gulf by Mo Ogrodnik (S. & S.: Summit): “Unfortunately, the premise tying together these disparate characters is as tenuous as it sounds, resulting in a portrait of women in the Middle East that feels reductive, at times even stereotypical”; and Empty Vessel: The Story of the Global Economy in One Barge by Ian Kumekawa (Knopf): "This elegant and enlightening book is an impressive feat, especially given that its main character is, as Kumekawa admits, stubbornly uncharismatic: ‘a dumb pontoon without voice, personality or drive.’”

The Guardian reviews The Names by Florence Knapp (Pamela Dorman: Viking): “Deftly and with great tenderness she explores the complex and often horrifying effects of domestic abuse. She offers no easy answers.”

Briefly Noted

LibraryReads and Library Journal offer read-alikes for The Tenant by Freida McFadden (Poisoned Pen), the top holds title of the week.

LJ has the complete list of prepub September 2025 titles.

Elle shares the best books of spring.

NPR suggests 5 new books for the week.

NYT highlights the best books of the year so far and recommends books for Mother’s Day.

Reactor shares “Five Romantasies With Brooding Daddies.”

Entertainment Weekly writes about the 831 Stories romance fandom community.

ElectricLit lists “7 Southern Gothic Books Set in Small Towns.”

CrimeReads suggests new books by Antonio Muñoz Molina, Ron Currie, and Brian Gruel.

People highlights Barry Diller’s forthcoming memoir, Who Knew (S. & S.), which publishes May 20, and reveals details from Warhol’s Muses: The Artists, Misfits, and Superstars Destroyed by the Factory Fame Machine by Laurence Leamer (Putnam; LJ starred review).

Salon shares an excerpt from Annie Zaleski's new book, I Got You Babe: A Celebration of Cher (Running Pr.).

Benedict Cumberbatch will narrate the audiobook edition of Edward St. Aubyn’s forthcoming novel, Parallel Lines (Knopf), Kirkus reports.

Authors On Air

Vanity Fair provides a first look at the adaptation of Stephen King’s The Long Walk.

The papal conclave brings new eyes to the novel Conclave by Robert Harris and its film adaptation, GMA reports.

Dennis Kelly will adapt Andy West’s prison memoir The Life Inside (Picador) for BBC, Deadline reports.

Practical Magic 2, starring Nicole Kidman and Sandra Bullock, gets a release date of Sept. 18, 2026. The original film was adapted from the novel by Alice Hoffman. GMA has the story.

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