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Big Books of the Week

The Running Grave by Robert Galbraith (Mulholland) leads holds this week.

Other titles in demand include:

The Armor of Light by Ken Follett (Viking)

Bright Lights, Big Christmas by Mary Kay Andrews (St. Martin’s)

12 Months To Live by James Patterson and Mike Lupica (Little, Brown)

The Fragile Threads of Power by V.E. Schwab (Tor)

The Wake-Up Call by Beth O’Leary (Berkley)

These books and others publishing the week of September 25, 2023, are listed in a downloadable spreadsheet.

Librarians and Booksellers Suggest

Four LibraryReads and three Indie Next picks publish this week:

The Museum of Failures by Thrity Umrigar (Algonquin)

“Remy Wadia is back in Bombay to adopt a child and to check in on his estranged mother, but nothing is working out as planned. As necessary truths are finally shared, Remy is forced to rethink his entire life. A beautifully written, heart- warming, and welcoming glimpse into the Parsi community and the complications of family.”—Jessica Trotter, Capital Area District Libraries, MI

Bonus pick Land of Milk and Honey by C Pam Zhang (Riverhead) is also an Indie Next pick:

“Zhang’s gorgeous prose sets a stark contrast between a world destroyed and a seemingly pristine utopia. While darkness pervades this literary thrill ride, thoughtful questions about humanity save the reader from total madness.”—Page Berger, Barrett Bookstore, Darien, CT

Hall of Fame pick The Fragile Threads of Power by V.E. Schwab (Tor) is also an Indie Next pick:

“Like all of Schwab’s books, this will draw you in and dazzle you with her worldbuilding and characters, and keep you on the edge of your seat. A spectacular addition to the world of the Shades of Magic series!”—Melissa Fox, Watermark Books & Café, Wichita, KS

Hall of Fame pick Bright Lights, Big Christmas by Mary Kay Andrews (St. Martin’s) is also an Indie Next pick:

“Nothing gets you in the holiday spirit like a festive read. Mary Kay Andrews delivers in her latest holiday story. Centered in NYC, the most spirited holiday city, this is a perfect read to enjoy in front of a Christmas tree and a cozy fire.”—Angela Sides, Monkey and Dog Books, Fort Worth, TX

In the Media

People’s book of the week is Wellness by Nathan Hill (Knopf: LJ starred review). Also getting attention are The Unsettled by Ayana Mathis (Knopf; LJ starred review) and Death Valley by Melissa Broder (Scribner). A “New in Picture Books” section highlights Something, Someday by Amanda Gorman, illus. by Christian Robinson (Viking Books for Young Readers), A Walk in the Woods by Nikki Grimes, illus. by Jerry Pinkney and Brian Pinkney (Neal Porter Books), and Stickler Loves the World by Lane Smith (Random House Studio). 

The World Central Kitchen Cookbook: Feeding Humanity, Feeding Hope by José Andrés (Clarkson Potter) is highlighted. Plus, there is a feature on former special assistant to President Donald Trump and his chief of staff Mark Meadows, Cassidy Hutchinson and her new memoir Enough (S. & S.). 

Reviews

Washington Post reviews The Armor of Light by Ken Follett (Viking): “It is Follett’s generosity and adeptness with historical detail and nimble depictions of technical matters that set this book, like its predecessors, above mere historical melodrama”; The Enchanters by James Ellroy (Knopf): “The dramatis personae and glossary are not quite enough to render all of it lucid. Mostly, though, the effect is carnivalesque—literary roller coaster meets Tilt-A-Whirl”; Democracy Awakening: Notes on the State of America by Heather Cox Richardson (Viking): “In Richardson’s telling, nearly every move Trump makes in his benighted term in office is anti-democratic—and documented”; and The Mysterious Case of Rudolf Diesel: Genius, Power, and Deception on the Eve of World War I by Douglas Brunt (Atria): “A novelist making the turn to nonfiction biography, Brunt has found a worthy subject.”

NPR reviews Black AF History: The Un-Whitewashed Story of America by Michael Harriot (Dey Street): “Despite the book’s abundant humor, at no point does Harriot shy away from the brutality inflicted upon Black people since before this country’s founding.”

NYT reviews Night Watch by Jayne Anne Phillips (Knopf): “Night Watch, about a woman and her daughter in a genteel asylum in West Virginia around the time of the Civil War, is sludgy, claustrophobic and pretentious. Each succeeding paragraph took something out of me”; The End of Eden: Wild Nature in the Age of Climate Breakdown by Adam Welz (Bloomsbury): “This is a disturbing and important book, a calm depiction of catastrophe, as if Vermeer had decided to paint some kind of terrifying slow-motion atrocity”; What About Men?: A Feminist Answers the Question by Caitlin Moran (Harper): “What About Men? is written in Moran’s usual confessional style—except that she’s defending the very people we’ve grown accustomed to her poking fun at”; The Unsettled by Ayana Mathis (Knopf; LJ starred review): “Together, the melding of history and fiction in Mathis’s moving prose reveals a fundamental truth: Black folks want to lead a life of self-determination, free from white supremacist oppression”; Penance by Eliza Clark (Harper): “What Penance asks us to examine is that very desire of ours to know exactly what happened; the reader is just as impatient as Carelli to set Joan aside in order to spend time in the minds of her killers”; The Iliad by Homer, trans. by Emily Wilson (Norton): “Wilson’s translation of Homeric Greek is always buoyant and expressive”; and The Invisible World by Nora Fussner (Vintage; LJ starred review): “Yes, there are plenty of thrills, but readers are more likely to be kept up at night because they can’t put the story down than because of any truly terrifying scares.”

Briefly Noted

Hollywood studios, WGA reach tentative deal to end the 146-day strike. Washington Post reports. Deadline, THR, and Variety all have coverage.

NYT talks with Kerry Washington about her new memoir, Thicker than Water (Little, Brown, Spark). USA Today shares details from the new book. Washington also discusses her new memoir with LA Times and People.

Millie Bobby Brown, Nineteen Steps, written with Kathleen McGurl (Morrow), talks TikTok and animals with Entertainment Weekly. 

USA Today shares books to read during the transition from summer to fall. 

CrimeReads suggests 10 new books for the week.

USA Today highlights Karen Pence’s new memoir, When It’s Your Turn To Serve: Experiencing God’s Grace in His Calling for Your Life (Broadside).

Washington Post offers a perspective on Holly by Stephen King (Scribner) and the nuance of the character’s autism. 

Authors on Air

CBS Sunday Morning talks Cassidy Hutchinson and her new memoir, Enough (S. & S.), and the fallout from her testimony before the January 6th Committee.

NPR’s Weekend Edition reports on protestors in Florida defying the state’s education policies by reading from banned books.

NYT Book Review podcast looks at the new Zadie Smith novel and the controversy around Drew Barrymore and the National Book Awards.

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