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Remembering Paul Auster

Paul Auster, author of “The New York Trilogy,” has died at the age of 77. NYT has an obituary, an appraisal of Auster’s work, and a guide to his best books. The Guardian has a remembrance, shares a life in pictures, and highlights the author’s most memorable quotes. NPR’s Morning Edition reflects on Auster’s life, New Statesman examines Auster’s literary legacy, and Publishers Weekly has a list of Auster’s books and reviews. BBC, Deadline, Financial Times, LitHub, and People have coverage as well.

Awards, Book Clubs & News

The Christian Book Award winners are announced, including All My Knotted-Up Life: A Memoir by Beth Moore (Tyndale House; LJ starred review), which is named Christian Book of the Year. Publishers Weekly has coverage. 

The Walter Scott Prize for Historical Fiction shortlist is announced. 

Jenna Bush Hager selects Real Americans by Rachel Khong (Knopf) for her May book club. It is also the B&N pick for May. 

Audiofile announces the May 2024 Earphones Award winners. 

Amazon editors pick the best books of May. 

People highlights memoirs, fiction, and nonfiction by Asian authors.

Arnaud Lagardère steps aside as CEO of Hachette, as he is facing criminal charges, Publishers Lunch reports. The Bookseller also has coverage. 

Former national security advisor H. R. McMaster will publish a memoir, At War with Ourselves: My Tour of Duty in the Trump White House (Harper), on August 27, AP reports. People also has coverage.

Reviews

NYT reviews I Just Keep Talking: A Life in Essays by Nell Irvin Painter (Doubleday): “I Just Keep Talking is full of surprises, and it ends with something I haven’t seen in a while: gratitude for social media.” There is also a paired review of My Brother, My Land: A Story from Palestine by Sami Hermez (Redwood: Stanford Univ.; LJ starred review) and The Tale of a Wall: Reflections on the Meaning of Hope and Freedom by Nasser Abu Srour, tr. by Luke Leafgren (Other Pr.): “It is sobering—and frightening—to imagine what stories will emerge from the current invasion, which has turned the prisons of Palestinian existence into slaughterhouses.”

Washington Post reviews Real Americans by Rachel Khong (Knopf): “In this big, market-friendly novel, the characters feel designed and polished for a broad sensibility. But, like Kong Tee, an artist who mentored May throughout her childhood within a harsh patriarchy, Khong affirms that it is ‘an artist’s work to be attuned to everything,’ particularly small moments.”

Autostradle reviews Like Love: Essays and Conversations by Maggie Nelson (Grove): “As with so much of what is addressed in the pieces collected in the text, this is Nelson’s retrospective of shorter works spanning the last 24 years. They aren’t situated chronologically or thematically, but you can see her evolution as a critic, thinker, and person in the world as you move through the different essays.”

WSJ shares April’s best reviews.

Briefly Noted

LibraryReads and Library Journal offer read-alikes for The Demon of Unrest: A Saga of Hubris, Heartbreak, and Heroism at the Dawn of the Civil War by Erik Larson (Crown), the top holds title of the week.

LJ has new prepub alerts.

Parade shares new releases this week.

The Guardian shares the best paperbacks arriving in May. 

Sarah Jakes Roberts talks about her new book, Power Moves: Ignite Your Confidence and Become a Force (Thomas Nelson), with Ebony.

Geoffrey Mak, Mean Boys: A Personal History (Bloomsbury), explains how “mean boys control our culture,” at Esquire.

Dorothy Chan, Return of the Chinese Femme (Deep Vellum), answers 10 questions at Poets & Writers. 

Clare Beams discusses her new novel, The Garden (Doubleday), with Reactor.

People highlights Owen Elliot-Kugell’s forthcoming memoir, My Mama, Cass (Hachette), which publishes next week. 

A. J. Jacobs, The Year of Living Constitutionally: One Man’s Humble Quest To Follow the Constitution's Original Meaning (Crown), shares “the five weirdest things about the Constitution” with Entertainment Weekly.

In People, Liana Finck previews 10 unsolicited tips for new moms from her new book, How To Baby: A No-Advice-Given Guide to Motherhood, with Drawings (Dial).

Authors on Air

Leigh Bardugo discusses her latest book, The Familiar (Flatiron; LJ starred review), with NPR’s Fresh Air.

NPR’s Consider This delves into Shakespeare: The Man Who Pays the Rent by Judi Dench and Brendan O’Hea (St. Martin’s; LJ starred review).

Ava Chin discusses her book, Mott Street: A Chinese American Family’s Story of Exclusion and Homecoming (Penguin Pr.), on NPR’s Code Switch.

Jeffrey Archer’s novels will be adapted for film and TV for Asia and Middle East markets. Hollywood Reporter has the story. 

LitHub shares “The Literary Film & TV You Need to Stream in May.”

BookRiot rounds up this month’s adaptations. 

Hoopla has partnered with Pokémon to offer a new Bingepass for library patrons.

Jess Damuck, Health Nut: A Feel-Good Cookbook (Abrams), and Carley Fortune, This Summer Will Be Different (Berkley), will be on GMA tomorrow. 

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