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Big Books of the Week

Shadow of Doubt by Brad Thor (Atria/Emily Bestler) leads holds this week. 

Other titles in demand include:

Dark Restraint by Katee Robert (Sourcebooks Casablanca)

A Sorceress Comes To Call by T. Kingfisher (Tor; LJ starred review)

The Pairing: Special 1st Edition by Casey McQuiston (St. Martin’s Griffin; LJ starred review)

House of Glass by Sarah Pekkanen (St. Martin’s)

The Lost Coast by Jonathan Kellerman & Jesse Kellerman (Ballantine)

These books and others publishing the week of August 5, 2024, are listed in a downloadable spreadsheet.

Librarians and Booksellers Suggest

Nine LibraryReads and eight Indie Next picks publish this week:

August’s top pick is House of Glass by Sarah Pekkanen (St. Martin’s):

“Best interest attorney Stella Hudson is assigned as counsel for nine-year-old Rose during the family’s custody case. Working with the child—mute after witnessing the tragic death of her nanny—Stella begins to uncover something quite sinister and so unnerving that it may put her own life in jeopardy. This suspenseful, thrilling novel is perfect for fans of The Push by Ashley Audrain.”—KC Davis, LibraryReads Ambassador

Hall of Fame pick The Pairing: Special 1st Edition by Casey McQuiston (St. Martin’s Griffin; LJ starred review) is also an Indie Next pick:

“The Pairing is Casey McQuiston’s masterwork. This was sensual, lush, and decadent in all the best ways. I fell in love with Theo and Kit, and I can’t wait to reread it and experience the magic all over again.”—Amanda Olmstead, The Book Burrow, Pflugerville, TX

Hall of Fame pick A Sorceress Comes To Call by T. Kingfisher (Tor; LJ starred review) is also an Indie Next pick:

“In T. Kingfisher’s retelling of the Goose Girl fairytale, there’s an emphasis on found family, and finding strength in yourself that you didn’t know you had. I would like Hester and Cordelia to be my new best friends, please and thank you.”—Cora Kelly, Bear Pond Books, Montpelier, VT

Other Hall of Fame titles include Dark Restraint by Katee Robert (Sourcebooks Casablanca) and The Seventh Veil of Salome by Silvia Moreno-Garcia (Del Rey).

The Truth According to Ember by Danica Nava (Berkley; LJ starred review)

“Ember aspires for a better job than her current dead-end one. After repeated failure, she lies by writing ‘White’ on her resume instead of ‘Native American,’ landing her the job. But now she can’t stop lying, even when she meets the hot IT guy at the office. With heartfelt storylines about family and identity, this steamy debut rom-com is a must-read.”—Migdalia Jimenez, Chicago Public Library

It is also an Indie Next pick:

“Ember is tired of her dead-end job, of being broke, and never getting ahead as a Chickasaw woman. So, she lies. As these lies pile up, how can Ember be real? Emotional, witty, and tender, this debut Native rom-com is a perfect workplace romance!”—Coco Zephir, Phoenix Books, Essex Junction, VT

Strange Folk by Alli Dyer (Atria)

“Lee moves her children from their sterile life in California to the small Appalachian town where she grew up. The children discover the literal magic rooted in their ancestral homestead. With an unreliable narrator and a pace that never lets go, this impressive debut novel is about the love one feels for family and how to reconcile that with the deeply flawed human beings they might be.”—Katherine Hunnicutt, Naperville Public Library, IL

The Dead Cat Tail Assassins by P. Djèlí Clark (Tor.com; LJ starred review)

“Clark’s novella, set in a new fantasy world, features a well-crafted conundrum in which Eveen the Eviserator is sent on a mission to kill a younger version of herself. This tale is filled with gods and assassins, Clark’s trademark wit, and fascinating characters.”—Jessica Trotter, Capital Area District Libraries, MI

It is also an Indie Next pick:

“When undead assassin Eveen is contracted to kill a person who appears to be her own younger self, forbidden magics and lethal shenanigans ensue. This is a delicious, funny, unexpectedly heartwarming story with just the right amount of viciousness.”—Milo Michels, University Book Store, Seattle, WA

The bonus pick is After Oz by Gordon McAlpine (Crooked Lane).

Four additional Indie Next picks publish this week:

Mystery Lights by Lena Valencia (Tin House)

“Mystery Lights is a collection of dark and beautiful short stories that will leave you breathless. A woven tapestry of women and girls living their lives amongst the desert and its mysteries.”—Elisa McIntosh, The Bookstore Plus Music & Art, Lake Placid, NY

The Unmothers by Leslie J. Anderson (Quirk; LJ starred review)

“Anderson beautifully blends a small-town mystery with the supernatural (and a little feminist rage) to deliver this cathartic punch of a story. If you loved the what-the-hell-is-going-on energy of classic X-Files, then read this book.”—Jennifer Martin, Tattered Cover Book Store, Denver, CO

Hum by Helen Phillips (S. & S./Marysue Rucci)

“Helen Phillips takes us on a wild, anxious ride into the (near?) future: an AI-driven world. Fast-paced and tense, Hum ponders the current state of technology and its effect on human behavior. A brilliant, futuristic page-turner!”—Caroline Buchta, Andover Bookstore, Andover, MA

Five-Star Stranger by Kat Tang (Scribner)

“A completely modern look at the way we live, regarding hurt, protection, and connection. As the protagonist tries to make himself into a blank slate so he can rent himself to strangers, the faded outline of his real self keeps threatening to peek through.”—James Crossley, Leviathan Bookstore, St. Louis, MO

In the Media

People’s book of the week is Hum by Helen Phillips (S. & S./Marysue Rucci). Also getting attention are Group Living and Other Recipes: A Memoir by Lola Milholland (Spiegel & Grau) and The Pairing: Special 1st Edition by Casey McQuiston (St. Martin’s Griffin; LJ starred review). “Parenting Perspectives” titles include Wanted: Toddler’s Personal Assistant; How Nannying for the 1% Taught Me about the Myths of Equality, Motherhood, and Upward Mobility in America by Stephanie Kiser (Sourcebooks), Plays Well with Others by Sophie Brickman (Morrow), and Five-Star Stranger by Kat Tang (Scribner). 

The “Picks” section spotlights Deadpool & Wolverine, based on associated titles. There is a feature on photographer Marc Hom’s new book, Re-Framed (teNeues), and a feature on the success of Colleen Hoover. People also highlights Our Biggest Fight: Reclaiming Liberty, Humanity, and Dignity in the Digital Age by Frank H. McCourt Jr. (Crown). Plus, there are recipes from Caroline Chambers, What To Cook When You Don’t Feel like Cooking (Union Square & Co.; LJ starred review), and Sulhee Jessica Woo, Let’s Make Some Lunch: Recipes Made with Love for Everyone (DK). 

Reviews

NYT reviews Beautiful Days: Stories by Zach Williams (Doubleday): “Two or three very good stories might not sound like much. But if he can keep that percentage up for two or three more collections, we might be staring before long at Selected Stories of Zach Williams”; Circle of Hope: A Reckoning with Love, Power, and Justice in an American Church by Eliza Griswold (Farrar): “It’s not a book of heroes and villains. It’s instead about a collection of people who possess great conviction and endure and inflict immense hurt in the face of conflict”; Paris 1944: Occupation, Resistance, Liberation: A Social History by Patrick Bishop (Pegasus): “Bishop’s story remains a celebration of a historical moment when individual gusto and gumption, from within and without, overcame authoritarian might. That is why we still have Paris”; and Scattered Snows, to the North: Poems by Carl Phillips (Farrar): “Less enchanted readers might long for more euphonies, or more various symbols, or just find Phillips repetitive. But he ends up no more so than life, than snows that prefigure the end of an empire or leaves that change in the fall.”

Washington Post reviews The Art of Power: My Story as America’s First Woman Speaker of the House by Nancy Pelosi (S. & S.): “Whether you agree with Pelosi’s policies, The Art of Power leaves readers with a disconcerting question: What will become of the political process in America if people as courageous as Pelosi decide that running for office is simply not worth the risk?”; and The Most by Jessica Anthony (Little, Brown): “The Most is darkly funny in its own way, and in the end is less a comedy than a smoldering, Cheeveresque mediation on mid-century, middle-class disappointment.”

The Guardian reviews There Are Rivers in the Sky by Elif Shafak (Knopf; LJ starred review): “You can feel overwhelmed by the sheer volume of information, and the almost breezy briskness with which it is relayed, but it is balanced by the delicacy of Shafak’s observations about human dynamics, the furtiveness of her characters’ most deeply held emotions and desires.”

Briefly Noted

Audiofile announces the August Earphones Award winners.

The August Costco Connection features C.J. Box and his book Three-Inch Teeth (Putnam), which releases in paperback this week.

The Wedding People by Alison Espach (Holt; LJ starred review) is the Read with Jenna and B&N book club pick for August. 

Amazon editors select the best books of August, as does People.

CrimeReads suggests 10 new books for the week. 

“Alexander Waugh, Literary Scion of a Literary Dynasty, Dies at 60.” NYT has the obituary. 

Authors on Air

Former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi discusses her new book, The Art of Power: My Story as America’s First Woman Speaker of the House (S. & S.), on CBS Sunday Morning. Pelosi will also appear on GMA today and on CBS Mornings tomorrow. 

John J. Sullivan, Midnight in Moscow: A Memoir from the Front Lines of Russia’s War Against the West (Little, Brown), will be on CBS Mornings.

Supreme Court Justice Neil Gorsuch, Over Ruled: The Human Toll of Too Much Law, written with Janie Nitze (Harper), also visits CBS Mornings. 

Melissa Urban, The New Whole30: The Definitive Plan To Transform Your Health, Habits, and Relationship with Food (Rodale), will visit GMA today.

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